985

By place

Europe

• Summer - Henry II is restored as duke of Bavaria by Empress Theophanu and her mother-in-law Adelaide at an Hoftag assembly in Rohr. King Otto III remains under the regency of the two empresses in the Holy Roman Empire and in the Kingdom of Italy.
• Battle of Fýrisvellir: King Eric the Victorious defeats a Swedish Viking army under Styrbjörn the Strong near Uppsala.
• July 6 - The city of Barcelona is sacked by Moorish troops under Al-Mansur, the de facto ruler of Al-Andalus.

  England

• Lady Wulfrun, an Anglo-Saxon noblewoman, is granted land by King Æthelred II. She founds Heantune that later becomes the city of Wolverhampton in the West Midlands.

  Asia

• Raja Raja Chola I becomes ruler of the Chola Dynasty. During his reign he expands his domains beyond South India.

  By topic

Exploration

• Greenland is colonized by the Icelandic Viking Erik the Red.

  Religion

• July 20 - Anti-Pope Boniface VII dies under suspicious circumstances at Rome. He is succeeded by John XV as the 137th pope of the Catholic Church.