Whether you’re looking to keep track of your own important dates or are simply curious what year was 1000 years ago, this simple online calculator will give you the answer. Just enter the date you want to know about and the calculator will instantly show what year it was in the past.

The year 1000 was a transitional time for the world. The Viking Age had just ended the same year that William the Conqueror arrived in England and Christianity was spreading across Europe. In fact, Iceland and Greenland had just become Christian and Duke Mieszko I was attempting to Christianize Poland.

But life was still dominated by local customs and traditions. A monk named Dionysius Exiguus had devised a calendar that numbered years backward from Christ’s birth but was still not widely used in Europe. Most people measured the passing of time less by years than by planting and harvesting cycles, holy days and ecclesiastical festivals.

In the world of food, pigs were becoming partially domesticated so that their meat could be preserved and smoked. Nevertheless, for most people the only meat they ate was wild game like European cranes (which were hunted to extinction). And if you wanted sugar there weren’t many choices – most things were sweetened with honey. It was not a very pleasant way to live.