993

By place

Europe

• Spring - The 12-year-old King Otto III gives the Sword of Saints Cosmas and Damian as a gift to the convent in Essen. It symbolises the martyrdom of Cosmas and Damian, the patron saints of the city.
• Charles, duke of Lower Lorraine, dies in prison in Orléans. He is succeeded by his son Otto II, who inherits the full dukedom and pledges his allegiance to Otto III.

  By topic

Religion

• July 4 - Pope John XV issues a decree canonizing the late Bishop Ulrich of Augsburg, the first recorded canonization of a saint.

  Astronomy

• An increase in carbon-14 concentration, recorded in tree rings, suggests that a strong solar storm may have hit the Earth in either 993 or 994.