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{{About year|956|the car|Porsche 956}}
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[[File:Saint Dunstan.jpg|upright=1.35|thumb|[[Dunstan]], archbishop of [[Diocese of Canterbury|Canterbury]]]]
Year '''956''' ('''[[Roman numerals|CMLVI]]''') was a [[leap year starting on Tuesday]] of the [[Julian calendar]].

== Events ==
<onlyinclude>

=== By place ===
==== Byzantine Empire ====
* Summer &ndash; Emperor [[Constantine VII]] appoints [[Nikephoros II Phokas|Nikephoros Phokas]] to commander of the [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine]] field army (''[[Domestic of the Schools]]'') in the East. He gives him order to prepare a campaign against the [[Hamdanid dynasty|Hamdanid]] emir [[Sayf al-Dawla]]. Constantine makes treaties with neighbouring rulers, to seek military aid.<ref>Timothy Reuter (1999). ''The New Cambridge Medieval History, Volume III'', p. 591. {{ISBN|978-0-521-36447-8}}.</ref>
* [[September]] - [[October]] – A Byzantine fleet under [[Basil Hexamilites]] deals a crushing defeat to the Hamdanid fleet at [[Tarsus, Mersin|Tarsus]] in [[Cilicia]] (modern [[Turkey]]).

==== Europe ====
* [[Liudolf, Duke of Swabia|Liudolf]], the eldest son of King [[Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor|Otto I]] ('''the Great'''), reconciles with his father and asks again for installation as duke of [[Duchy of Swabia|Swabia]]. Otto refuses, but at the instigation of his uncle [[Bruno the Great|Bruno I]] (duke of [[Lotharingia]]) allows Liudolf to lead an expedition to [[Kingdom of Italy (Holy Roman Empire)|Italy]] to bring the vassal [[Berengar II of Italy|Berengar of Ivrea]] to heel. 
* Berengar of Ivrea dispatches a [[Lombardy|Lombard]] army under his son [[Adalbert of Italy|Adalbert II]] to counter Liudolf, while he guards [[Pavia]] himself. In two battles Liudolf defeats the Lombard forces and enters Pavia, there to receive the [[Homage (feudal)|homage]] of the Italian nobles and [[clergy]] on behalf of Otto I.
* [[June 16]] &ndash; [[Hugh the Great]], count of [[Paris]], dies at [[Dourdan]]. He is succeeded by his eldest son [[Hugh Capet]], who is recognized as [[Duke of the Franks]] by his cousin [[Lothair of France|Lothair III]], king of the [[West Francia|West Frankish Kingdom]].<ref>Timothy Reuter (1999). ''The New Cambridge Medieval History, Volume III'', p. 386. {{ISBN|978-0-521-36447-8}}.</ref>
* King [[Ordoño III of León|Ordoño III]] dies at [[Zamora, Spain|Zamora]] after a 5-year reign. He is succeeded by his half-brother [[Sancho I of León|Sancho I]] as ruler of [[Kingdom of León|León]] (modern [[Spain]]).

==== Egypt ====
* An [[earthquake]] badly damages the [[Lighthouse of Alexandria]]: one of the [[Seven Wonders of the Ancient World]].

=== By topic ===
==== Religion ====
* [[Dunstan]], an [[abbot]] of [[Glastonbury Abbey]], is sent into [[exile]] by King [[Eadwig]]. He takes refuge in [[County of Flanders|Flanders]] (modern [[Belgium]]), where Count [[Arnulf I, Count of Flanders|Arnulf I]] gives him shelter in the Abbey of [[Blandijnberg|Mont Blandin]], near [[Ghent]].<ref>Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "St. Dunstan" ''[[Catholic Encyclopedia]]''. New York: Robert Appleton Company.</ref>
</onlyinclude>

== Births ==
* [[Siegfried II, Count of Stade|Siegfried II]], count of [[Stade (district)|Stade]] (d. [[1037]])
*''probable''
**[[Adalbert of Prague]], Bohemian bishop (approximate date)
**[[Sampiro]], Spanish bishop (approximate date)

== Deaths ==
* [[February 15]] &ndash; [[Su Yugui]], Chinese [[Chancellor of the Tang dynasty|chancellor]] (b. [[895]])
* [[February 27]] &ndash; [[Theophylact of Constantinople|Theophylact]], Byzantine patriarch (b. [[917]])
* [[April 8]] &ndash; [[Gilbert, Duke of Burgundy|Gilbert]], duke of [[Duchy of Burgundy|Burgundy]]
* [[April 15]] &ndash; [[Lin Yanyu]], Chinese court official and [[eunuch]]
* [[May 19]] &ndash; [[Robert (archbishop of Trier)|Robert]], archbishop of [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Trier|Trier]]
* [[June 4]] &ndash; [[Muhammad II of Shirvan]], Muslim ruler
* [[June 16]] &ndash; [[Hugh the Great]], Frankish [[Nobility|nobleman]] (b. [[898]])
* July/August &ndash; [[Fulbert of Cambrai]], bishop<ref>H. Platelle, "Fulbert, évêque de Cambrai", ''Dictionnaire d'histoire et de géographie ecclésiastiques'', vol. 19 (Paris, 1981), 332-333.</ref>
* August &ndash; [[Ordoño III of León|Ordoño III]], king of [[Kingdom of León|León]]<ref>{{cite book|author1=H. E. L. Mellersh|author2=Neville Williams|title=Chronology of World History|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PCcOAQAAMAAJ|year=1999|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-1-57607-155-7|page=276}}</ref>
* [[August 29]] &ndash; [[Empress Fu the Elder|Fu]] ('''the Elder'''), Chinese empress consort
* September/October &ndash; [[Al-Masudi]], Muslim [[Historiography of early Islam|historian]] and [[Islamic geography|geographer]]<ref>{{cite book|title=Encyclopedia of World Biography|url=https://archive.org/details/encyclopedia1000gale|url-access=registration|year=1998|publisher=Gale Research|isbn=978-0-7876-2550-4|page=[https://archive.org/details/encyclopedia1000gale/page/329 329]}}</ref>
* [[December 21]] &ndash; [[Sun Sheng (Southern Tang)|Sun Sheng]], Chinese chancellor
* [[December 26]] &ndash; [[Wulfstan (died 956)|Wulfstan]], archbishop of [[Diocese of York|York]]<ref>{{cite book|author1=E. B. Pryde|author2=D. E. Greenway|author3=S. Porter|author4=I. Roy|title=Handbook of British Chronology|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zcgxEvGAK_kC&pg=PA224|date=23 February 1996|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-56350-5|pages=224}}</ref>
*''date unknown''
**[[Ahmad al-Muhajir]], Muslim scholar and [[imam]] (b. [[873]])
**[[Congalach Cnogba]], [[High King of Ireland]]
**[[Gandaraditya]], ruler of [[Chola dynasty|Chola Kingdom]]
**[[Zhao Hongyin]], Chinese general

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2011}}

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