AoKH - Vikings

The Vikings (meaning 'northmen') were the last of the barbarian tribes called Germans by the Romans to terrorize Europe. Spreading out from their homelands in Scandinavia, they struck suddenly across the seas from their dragon boats (so-called because of the dragon heads carved on the bow and stern). They began by raiding, pillaging, and withdrawing before any serious armed resistance could be mounted, but gradually grew more bold. Eventually they occupied and settled significant parts of Europe.

Being pagan, they did not hesitate to kill churchmen and loot church holdings. Feared for their ruthlessness and ferocity, they were likened to devils from hell. At the same time, they were remarkable craftsmen, sailors, explorers, and traders.

Location

The Viking homelands were Norway, Sweden, and Denmark. They and their descendants controlled, at least temporarily, most of the Baltic Coast, much of inland Russia, Normandy in France, England, Sicily, southern Italy, and parts of Palestine. They discovered Iceland in 825 (Irish monks were there already) and settled there in 875. They colonized Greenland in 985. There is strong evidence that Vikings reached Newfoundland and explored part of North America 500 years before the voyage of Columbus.

Rise to Power

Vikings began raiding and then settling along the eastern Baltic Sea in the 6th and 7th centuries. At the end of the 8th century they were making long raids down the rivers of modern Russia and setting up forts along the way for defense. In the 9th century they were ruling Kiev and in 907 a force of 2000 ships and 80,000 men attacked Constantinople. They were bought off by the emperor of Byzantium with very favorable terms of trade.

Vikings struck first in the West in the late 8th century. Danes attacked and looted the famous island monastery at Lindisfarne on the northeast coast of England, beginning a trend. The size and frequency of raids against England, France, and Germany increased to the point of becoming invasions. Settlements were established as bases for further raids. Vikings settlements in northwest France came to be known as Normandy (from the Northmen) and the residents were called Normans.

In 865 a large Danish army invaded England and they went on to hold much of England for the next two centuries. One of the last kings of all England before 1066 was Canute, who ruled Denmark and Norway simultaneously. In 871 another large fleet sailed up the Seine River to attack Paris. They besieged the city for two years before being bought off with a large cash payment and permission to loot part of western France unimpeded.

In 911 the French king made the Viking chief of Normandy a Duke in return for converting to Christianity and ceasing to raid. From the Duchy of Normandy came a remarkable series of warriors, including William I who conquered England in 1066, Robert Guiscard and his family who took Sicily from the Arabs between 1060 and 1091, and Baldwin I, king of the crusader kingdom of Jerusalem.

Economy

The Norse lived mainly on isolated farms. They supplemented their short growing seasons with hunting and fishing. Out of necessity they were all craftsmen, especially in woodworking and boat building. They traded wood, furs, amber, and marine supplies to the south and east. Trade gradually made them aware of better lands and riches that might be taken by determined warriors.

Religion

The Vikings were pagan, but gradually converted to Christianity. Alfred the Great made conversion a treaty requirement with the Danes in England. Rollo of Normandy converted to become Duke of Normandy. Missionaries eventually reached into the Viking homelands of Scandinavia.

Government

The Vikings were a warrior aristocracy like the other Germanic tribes. On raids, however, the crewmen of a ship were often considered equals. Tasks in a boat were assigned by skill. Important decisions were made on the basis of a vote. Some of these principles extended to their settlements. Iceland claims to be the oldest European democracy, tracing back to the formation of a legislature called the Althing in 930.

Military

Viking raiders fought with axes, broad swords, and knives. They wore iron helmets, but without the horns popularized in the artwork of more modern times. When raiding, they would strive to capture horses to extend their raids inland before organized resistance could develop. The mobility of their longboats meant that they could strike anywhere along the sea coast and even sail/row far up rivers.

A particularly unnerving aspect of Viking warfare were the berserks. Warriors occasionally worked themselves into such a battle frenzy that they fought like demons, half-naked, covered in tatoos. The word berzerk derives from the words for bare-chested.

Settlement in France exposed the Normans to mounted warfare which they adopted quite readily. Norman knights were instrumental in the conquests of England, Sicily, and the Holy Land.

Decline and Fall

Viking raids stopped at the end of the 10th century. Denmark, Sweden, and Norway had become kingdoms and much of their energy was devoted to running their lands. The spread of Christianity weakened the old pagan warrior values which died out. The Norse were also absorbed by the cultures into which they had intruded. The occupiers and conquerors of England became English, the Normans became Franks, and the Rus became Russians.

Legacy

The Vikings are credited with the creation of the first European parliament, the English jury system, and what were perhaps the first novels (from their sagas passed down orally).

The name Russia derives from Rus, the Finnish name for 'Swede,' given to the Vikings who took control of Kiev in the 9th century.

Viking raids strengthened the feudal system, especially in France and Germany, to the detriment of central authority. The common people turned to local nobles to defend them from raids against which the far away king could do nothing. Nobles built castles into which the common people could withdraw for safety, beginning the age of castles. The Frankish Empire of Charlemagne and much of its promise for a European revival disappeared under the hammering of Viking raids.

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Vikings