Europe
Speculation that the world would end in the year 1000 was confined largely to Christian monks in France,
[Cantor, 1993 ''Europe in 1050'' p. 235.] as most clerks at the time used
regnal years — i.e. the fourth year of the reign of
Robert II of France, etc. The use of the
Dionysian "
anno domini"
calendar era was confined to the
Venerable Bede and other chroniclers of
universal history.
Western Europe began to cross over from the
Early Middle Ages into the
High Middle Ages beginning around 1000, as marked by numerous distinct changes in Western European life: the rise of the
medieval communes, the reawakening of widespread city life, the appearance of the
burgher class, the revival of long-distance trade that reconnected Europe with the Mediterranean world, the founding of the first
European universities, the rediscovery of
Roman law, and the beginnings of vernacular literature, to name a few. The papacy at this time remained firmly under the control of Holy Roman Emperor
Otto III — the self-proclaimed "Emperor of the World".
In Eastern Europe, the
Byzantine Empire continued to thrive during its Golden Age in what is today primarily Greece and Turkey. Constantinople, with a population of about 300,000, dwarfed the Western cities of Rome and Paris, which at this time had populations of about 35,000 and 20,000, respectively.
The
Viking Age continued in eastern and western Europe much as it had for the previous two centuries, with Viking trade, raids, and culture influencing much of European life. It was in the year 1000 that
Leif Ericsson landed in what is today
Newfoundland, naming it
Vinland.
Islamic world
The
Islamic world was experiencing a
Golden Age around the year 1000 and continued to flourish under the
Arab Empire (including the
Ummayad,
Abbasid and
Fatimid caliphates), which included what is now the
Middle East,
North Africa,
Central Asia and
Iberian Peninsula. By 1000, Muslim traders and explorers had established a
global economy across the
Old World leading to a
Muslim Agricultural Revolution, establishing the Arab Empire as the world's leading
extensive economic power.
The
scientific achievements of the
Islamic civilization also reaches its zenith during this time, with the emergence of the first
experimental
scientists and the
scientific method, which would form the basis of
modern science.
Most of the leading scientists around the year 1000 were
Muslim scientists, including
Ibn al-Haytham (Alhacen),
Abu Rayhan al-Biruni,
Avicenna,
Abu al-Qasim (Abulcasis),
Ibn Yunus,
Abu Sahl al-Quhi (Kuhi),
Abu-Mahmud al-Khujandi,
Abu Nasr Mansur,
Abu al-Wafa,
Ahmad ibn Fadlan,
Al-Muqaddasi,
Ali Ibn Isa, and
al-Karaji (al-Karkhi), among others.
In particular,
Ibn al-Haytham,
Avicenna,
Abu Rayhan al-Biruni, and
Abu al-Qasim, who all flourished around the year 1000, are considered among the greatest scientists in history.