It is a common for anyone contemplating the year 2000 to ask about what happened in the year 1000. The answer is complex (as it will be for 2000) and complicated by the fact that so few documents from that time survive, only a fraction of which are originals and not later copies. Moreover, depending on the medievalist you consult, you will get radically different answers. Most will tell you that there were few apocalyptic expectations and that it was a year like any other; some (like Johannes Fried, Benjamin Arnold, Daniel Callahan, Guy Lobrichon, and Richard Landes) will tell you that a great deal happened in the way of apocalyptic expectations. The debate, after having been "settled" for over a century in favor of those who feel that an apocalytpic year 1000 is a Romantic myth, has just recently been re-opened, and it is hard to tell where the next generation of medievalists will find their consensus. The Center has recently sponsored a conference on the subject, and plans to edit a book of essays that examine the apocalyptic elements of European culture around 1000. In the meantime, while the experts wrangle, we present the following material as a guide to a wide range of readers -- from the curious layman to the most highly trained scriptorium rat.

Apocalyptic Expectations around the Year 1000
(a brief overview by Richard Landes)

Bibliography

Dossier of Apocalyptic Phenomena in the Millennial Generations (950-1040)

Documents of the Millennial Generation

The Apocalyptic Year 1000: Then and Now
(a longer article on the Year 1000 for a general audience by Richard Landes)

Giants With Feet of Clay: On the Historiography of the Year 1000
(a lengthy article for scholars on the flaws of the "Anti-terrors" argument by Richard Landes)

On the Mysteries of Good Friday, March 25, 970, 981, 992, 1065 et alia
(an introduction to apocalyptic speculation around the coincidence of the Annunciation and the Passion)

Robert II and Bertha: When the Separation?
(notes on the date of Robert's separation from Bertha)