1016

By place

Europe

• March 25 - Battle of Nesjar : Olaf Haraldsson is victorious over former co-regent Sweyn Haakonsson, confirming his status as king of Norway.
• April 23 - Æthelred II, king of England, dies after a 38-year reign. He is succeeded by his son Edmund II.
• Summer - Battle of Brentford : Edmund II defeats the Danes under King Cnut the Great.
• July 6 - Battle of Pontlevoy: French forces of Fulk III and Herbert I defeat Odo II which determines the balance of power in the Loire Valley.
• October 18 - Battle of Assandun: Cnut the Great defeats Edmund II, leaving the latter as king of Wessex.
• November 30 - Edmund II dies and Cnut the Great takes control of the whole of the Kingdom of England.
• The Pisan and the Genoese republics launch a naval offensive against the Muslim strongholds of Sardinia, in particular Porto Torres, and defeat the fleet of the taifa king of Dénia, Mujāhid al-ʿĀmirī.
• Melus of Bari makes a second attempt against Byzantine-held Southern Italy. To support his cause, he hires Norman mercenaries, unwittingly triggering the rise of Norman rule over southern Italy.
• Georgius Tzul, ruler of Khazaria, is captured by a combined Byzantine Empire–Kievan Rus' force, which effectively ends Khazaria's existence.

  Arabian Empire

• January 7 - Fath al-Qal'i, governor of the Citadel of Aleppo, revolts against Emir Mansur ibn Lu'lu', forcing him to flee. Fath accepts an agreement with Salih ibn Mirdas and takes control of Aleppo.

  Asia

• March 10 - Emperor Sanjō abdicates the throne after a 5-year reign. He is succeeded by his 7-year-old cousin Go-Ichijō as the 68th emperor of Japan.