Year 1041 (MXLI) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.
Events
By place
Africa
The Zirid dynasty turns down Shi'ite obedience and Fatimid rule and recognizes the Abbasids as their overlords.
Europe
December 10 – Empress Zoe of Byzantium raises her adoptive son to the throne of the Eastern Roman Empire as Michael V. Worcester rebels against the naval taxes of Harthacanute. Edward the Confessor returns from exile to inherit Harthacanute. He reduces the Navy from 60 to 32 ships this year due to the tax burden.
Asia
The number of enlisted soldiers in the Song Dynasty Chinese military reaches well over 1,250,000 troops, an increase since 1022 when there were a million soldiers.
Deaths
December 10 – Michael IV, Byzantine Emperor (b. 1010)