Early Vikings Essay

Many of the early Vikings did not venture far from their ancestral homes, along the coasts of Denmark, Sweden and Norway. The Vikings were a seafaring people from the late eighth to early 11th century who established a name for themselves as traders, explorers and warriors. They began to progress further into Europe in the late 700s A.D, and successfully colonized settlements in England, France, Russia and Iceland due to their mastery of ships and nautical and astrological knowledge. They also established settlements in parts of Greenland and parts of North America. They left their native homelands to explore due to socio-economic pressures, lack of arable land and living space, and the advancement of Christianity. The Vikings were a civilization
As the Viking population increased the amount of arable land decreased and food became scarce. “Poverty has forced them thus to go all over the world and from piratical raids…”(The Viking Age : A Reader The Scandanvian Homelands – page 12). Many Viking families had more than one child, which caused the eldest to get his father’s land and meanwhile the younger kids either worked on the land for their brothers or they were forced to settle their own lands elsewhere. The increasing number of families and children reduced the amount of land that was left to be sown, and soon the Viking villages experienced food shortages and land disputes. This was a major factor for the mass exodus of the Vikings into different areas of Europe and the cause of their settlements in England, Ireland, Greenland, Iceland, Russia and many other places all over Europe. As conditions in the homelands got worse, the Vikings soon began to spread out all across Europe in order to find riches. Raiding was a very desirable option amongst the Viking young and it was also an opportunity for the men who did not have any lands or any riches. Raiding and the eventual Viking expansion began with the Medieval Warming Period. Raiding gave these people a sense of excitement and adventure to travel to far and distant places to strike their riches. When these raiders came home their prestige increased, and so did their social standing. These
The Holy Roman Emperor took it upon himself to convert all the “heathens” and “infidels” of the world. “He was at great pains to improve the church reading and psalmody.”(Einhard- The Life of Charlemagne). He began preaching with the philosophy of either converting pagans or non-believers. The Holy Roman Emperor began spreading his forces of conversion over Europe and soon Scandinavia became a part of the conversion process. “Christian clerics (the only literate group in the barbarian north) are enlisted as his civil servants at Aachen, where the emperor also establishes a programme of education and cultural revival.” (The Life of Charlemagne- A centre of Christian Learning). Charlemagne enlisted many monks and missionaries to persuade the barbarians into the one and true faith. The Vikings, who were pagans, accepted Christ as another one of their gods because of their polytheism, but the monks and the missionaries did not enjoy this fact, as they believed that Jesus was supposed to be their only God and savior. As the Emperor began to expand his Christendom, he soon began to shut down trade and other services to non-Christians. Without trade from mainland Europe, Scandinavia began to choke as their lands were becoming dry and they did not have enough living space or arable land, and trading was their