962

By place

Byzantine Empire

• Arab–Byzantine War: A Byzantine expeditionary force under General Nikephoros Phokas invades northern Syria and besieges Aleppo, capital of the Hamdanid emir Sayf al-Dawla. One of his high-rank officers is his nephew John Tzimiskes. In late December Aleppo is taken by storm, with the population killed or enslaved; the city is razed. The Byzantine army takes possession of 390,000 silver dinars, 2,000 camels and 1,400 mules. Nikephoros continues his campaign in the East; he attacks the fortress cities of Adana and Tarsus in Cilicia.

  Europe

• February 2 - King Otto I is crowned Holy Roman Emperor by Pope John XII at the Old St. Peter's Basilica, ending Rome's feudal anarchy. Otto's wife Adelaide is anointed as empress; the East Frankish Kingdom and the Kingdom of Italy are unified into a common realm, called the Roman Empire.
• February 13 - Otto I and John XII co-sign the Diploma Ottonianum, confirming John XII as the spiritual head of the Catholic Church. Otto recognizes John XII's secular control over the Papal States – by expanding the domain over the Exarchate of Ravenna, the Duchy of Spoleto, and the Duchy of Benevento.
• Summer - Otto I makes Oberto I, a margrave of the Obertenghi family, count palatine. He is granted the March of Obertenga and establishes his capital in Genoa. Oberto receives also the possessions of the Abbey of Bobbio.
• Otto I takes his army to lay siege at San Giulio, an island within Lake Orta, where Queen Willa has barricaded herself. She surrenders and is allowed to go free by Otto. Willa departs for Montefeltro to join her husband.
• Otto I proceeds to lay siege to Lake Garda, where the sons of Berengar II, Guy of Ivrea and Adalbert II, and their supporters are holed up. Finding severe resistance, Otto gives up the enterprise and returns to Pavia, the capital of Lombardy.
• Fall - Otto I receives news that John XII has betrayed him and entered into intrigues with Berengar II, but also with the Byzantine Empire. The letters are intercepted by Pandulf I, Lombard prince of Benevento.

  England

• Indulf, king of the Scots and Picts, dies after an 8-year reign. He is killed while fighting Vikings near Cullen, at the Battle of Bauds. Indulf is succeeded by his nephew Dub as ruler of Scotland.

  By topic

Religion

• St. Paul's Cathedral in London is destroyed by fire, but rebuilt in the same year.