The Viking Attacks
In 844 AD a Viking fleet attacked Nantes, Toulouse, Gijon, Lisbon and Seville, where they were defeated by the Moors and forced to retreat back to Aquitaine .
The attacks on Paris began in 848 AD, where the city was looted. Paris was once again attacked by the raiders three more times during the 860s, where the Vikings left exclusively after collecting enough riches from the city or bribes from the authorities. These series of attacks led the French leaders to fortify the city and build wooden bridges to prevent further attacks from the Norsemen.
The Vikings tried again to besiege the city of Paris in 885 AD, with a fleet of Danish Vikings led by King Sigfred and Sirric. It is told that King Sigfred requested a bribe from Charles the Fat, King of West Frankia who rejected the offer. He then attempted to take over Paris by leading 700 ships up the Seine along with 40,000 Viking warriors . The Vikings failed to enter the city despite their tireless attempts. They left a force around Paris, sailed further upriver and looted Le Mans, Chartres, and Evreux.
After participating in numerous raids alongside Norwegian King Harald Fairhair, Rollo, who was a Viking leader in the 10th century was invested by Frankish King Charles III as Duke of Normandy in 911 AD, in …show more content…
exchange for his agreement to stop the raids and provide protection to the region. His successors were known as the Normans and became nominal vassals to French kings.
Sicily, Italy
In 1072 AD, Norman mercenaries under the leadership of King Roger I, all from Viking descent, invaded the Kingdom of Sicily, which was then ruled by Muslims.
Galatia, Spain
The Viking reached a coastal Kingdom of Spain called Galatia by the mid-9th century and did what they did in other European Kingdoms, which was to loot, kill and sometimes abduct locals (especially women) in exchange for a ransom.
In 968 AD, they sacked the monastery of Curtis after killing its Bishop Sisnando Menendez of Compostela. The town of Tui followed the same fate in the same period, which led it to be abandoned by its inhabitants.
Galatia was able to defeat the Vikings in the 11th century AD, after the Bishop of Aria, recognized as a warrior bishop took control and organized an Army to fight them and defeat them.
Migrations to Eastern Europe and the Middle East.
Vikings in Baghdad
Some groups of Vikings, predominantly swedes, sailed over the Caspian Sea.
They were not only sailing on their long boats, but they were also joining caravans and riding camels, and reached places like Baghdad, which was then, ruled by the Abbasid. Ahmad Ibn Fadlan first encountered the Norsemen which he called “Rusiyyah” in the 9th century AD, while they were crossing The Russian Steppes down the River Volga and down south to the Arab world. It is believed that the Dirham was their primary motive to travel to the middle east where they traded with the locals, as silver had become their favorite mean of trade. They brought furs to the Arab markets in Baghdad in exchange for the Dirham, silk, and other
goods.
Eastern Europe
In the 9th Century AD, Rurik the Oarsman conquered Novgorod (current Russia). He was part of Scandinavian mercenaries called the Varangians who then became the Rus’ people . His Son Oleg (Oleg of Novgorod) conquered Smolensk and Kiev in the year 882 AD. Because it was a city bordering the Dnieper River it would facilitate their movements out and into Russia, considering the fact that they intended on organizing raids in Constantinople. Oleg later united the local Slavic and Finnish tribes of the region and founded the state of Kievan Rus. Cities like Russia, Ruthenia and Belarus are believed to have been named after the Kievan Rus.
The Byzantine Empire (Central Asia)
In 860 AD, a group of Varangians besieged and sacked a much vulnerable Constantinople. At that time, the Byzantine Empire was defending itself against the Muslim Arab conquerors in Asia Minor, and its whole Navy was in the Aegean and the Mediterranean Sea fighting the Normans and Arabs. By the time they could organize to retaliate, the Vikings had already pillaged Constantinople and retreated to a retreat camp.
Other migrations
By mid-9th Century AD, the Norsemen began navigating North Atlantic due to possible lack of arable land in the whole of Scandinavia and infighting between different chieftains in Norway during the reign of King Harald I . All these events led a new wave of Vikings to venture further North.
Iceland
874 AD is considered to be the year where the first settlements arrived in Iceland. The first group of Vikings was led by Naddoddr, who then named the island Snaeland or snow land. 435 men came with him as settlers in an unsettled land where they faced no resistance from locals. The second wave of settlers arrived led by Floki Vilgeroarson, who, according to the legend was directed to Iceland by a raven. He first landed in what is now known as Vatnsfjörður and despite losing his cattle to the harsh winter, he stayed for another year. It is reported in the Icelandic Saga that the actual name of the island was given after Floki spotted a drift ice in the fjord. Floki eventually headed back to Norway after a short stay in Iceland but returned to finally settle in Flokadalur. It is in Iceland that the Icelandic Sagas were written from the 12th to 14th century AD .
Greenland
From 986 AD, Icelanders and Norwegians settled on the Western coast of Greenland. Erik the red explored Greenland after being banned from Iceland for manslaughter. He arrived with a fleet of 14 boats and later built his estate at Erikfjord in Brattahlid, towards the end of the 10 century AD. His exploration of the land attracted more settlers who established 3 settlements, namely the Eastern settlement, the middle settlement and the Western settlement. They mixed with the local indigenous people called the Thule people and the late Dorset people.
Vineland , North America
It is possible that the Viking migration to North America was triggered by a need for timber and furs, provided by natives. In 985 AD, a trader called Bjanni Herjólfsson went on an expedition attempt from Iceland to Greenland with a fleet containing 700 people, accidentally went off course and spotted some land to the West. He reported what he had seen to Leif Erikson who then explored the area and planted a small settlement 15 years later, in Vineland .
In 1004, his brother Thorvald Eiriksson sailed to Vineland with 30 men and spent the winter at his brother’s camp. Hostilities with the locals began right after he killed a few of them. He was then, assassinated after retaliation. This did not stop the remaining Norsemen to stay and spend another year in Vineland. Five years later, another group of settlers of 130 men and women arrived in Vineland under Thorfinn Karlsefni. He reached Straumfjord and then settled in Straumsey where, at first, they coexisted with the locals, with whom they mostly exchanged furs, milk, and other goods. The activity of the Vikings on camp was based around hunting, fishing, and haymaking. Hostilities emerged after they came into contact with more indigenous people with which they sometimes engaged into deadly confrontations. After a period of 3 years, they abandoned their camp and sailed back to Greenland and then Iceland.
The attacks on Paris began in 848 AD, where the city was looted. Paris was once again attacked by the raiders three more times during the 860s, where the Vikings left exclusively after collecting enough riches from the city or bribes from the authorities. These series of attacks led the French leaders to fortify the city and build wooden bridges to prevent further attacks from the Norsemen.
The Vikings tried again to besiege the city of Paris in 885 AD, with a fleet of Danish Vikings led by King Sigfred and Sirric. It is told that King Sigfred requested a bribe from Charles the Fat, King of West Frankia who rejected the offer. He then attempted to take over Paris by leading 700 ships up the Seine along with 40,000 Viking warriors . The Vikings failed to enter the city despite their tireless attempts. They left a force around Paris, sailed further upriver and looted Le Mans, Chartres, and Evreux.
After participating in numerous raids alongside Norwegian King Harald Fairhair, Rollo, who was a Viking leader in the 10th century was invested by Frankish King Charles III as Duke of Normandy in 911 AD, in …show more content…
exchange for his agreement to stop the raids and provide protection to the region. His successors were known as the Normans and became nominal vassals to French kings.
Sicily, Italy
In 1072 AD, Norman mercenaries under the leadership of King Roger I, all from Viking descent, invaded the Kingdom of Sicily, which was then ruled by Muslims.
Galatia, Spain
The Viking reached a coastal Kingdom of Spain called Galatia by the mid-9th century and did what they did in other European Kingdoms, which was to loot, kill and sometimes abduct locals (especially women) in exchange for a ransom.
In 968 AD, they sacked the monastery of Curtis after killing its Bishop Sisnando Menendez of Compostela. The town of Tui followed the same fate in the same period, which led it to be abandoned by its inhabitants.
Galatia was able to defeat the Vikings in the 11th century AD, after the Bishop of Aria, recognized as a warrior bishop took control and organized an Army to fight them and defeat them.
Migrations to Eastern Europe and the Middle East.
Vikings in Baghdad
Some groups of Vikings, predominantly swedes, sailed over the Caspian Sea.
They were not only sailing on their long boats, but they were also joining caravans and riding camels, and reached places like Baghdad, which was then, ruled by the Abbasid. Ahmad Ibn Fadlan first encountered the Norsemen which he called “Rusiyyah” in the 9th century AD, while they were crossing The Russian Steppes down the River Volga and down south to the Arab world. It is believed that the Dirham was their primary motive to travel to the middle east where they traded with the locals, as silver had become their favorite mean of trade. They brought furs to the Arab markets in Baghdad in exchange for the Dirham, silk, and other
goods.
Eastern Europe
In the 9th Century AD, Rurik the Oarsman conquered Novgorod (current Russia). He was part of Scandinavian mercenaries called the Varangians who then became the Rus’ people . His Son Oleg (Oleg of Novgorod) conquered Smolensk and Kiev in the year 882 AD. Because it was a city bordering the Dnieper River it would facilitate their movements out and into Russia, considering the fact that they intended on organizing raids in Constantinople. Oleg later united the local Slavic and Finnish tribes of the region and founded the state of Kievan Rus. Cities like Russia, Ruthenia and Belarus are believed to have been named after the Kievan Rus.
The Byzantine Empire (Central Asia)
In 860 AD, a group of Varangians besieged and sacked a much vulnerable Constantinople. At that time, the Byzantine Empire was defending itself against the Muslim Arab conquerors in Asia Minor, and its whole Navy was in the Aegean and the Mediterranean Sea fighting the Normans and Arabs. By the time they could organize to retaliate, the Vikings had already pillaged Constantinople and retreated to a retreat camp.
Other migrations
By mid-9th Century AD, the Norsemen began navigating North Atlantic due to possible lack of arable land in the whole of Scandinavia and infighting between different chieftains in Norway during the reign of King Harald I . All these events led a new wave of Vikings to venture further North.
Iceland
874 AD is considered to be the year where the first settlements arrived in Iceland. The first group of Vikings was led by Naddoddr, who then named the island Snaeland or snow land. 435 men came with him as settlers in an unsettled land where they faced no resistance from locals. The second wave of settlers arrived led by Floki Vilgeroarson, who, according to the legend was directed to Iceland by a raven. He first landed in what is now known as Vatnsfjörður and despite losing his cattle to the harsh winter, he stayed for another year. It is reported in the Icelandic Saga that the actual name of the island was given after Floki spotted a drift ice in the fjord. Floki eventually headed back to Norway after a short stay in Iceland but returned to finally settle in Flokadalur. It is in Iceland that the Icelandic Sagas were written from the 12th to 14th century AD .
Greenland
From 986 AD, Icelanders and Norwegians settled on the Western coast of Greenland. Erik the red explored Greenland after being banned from Iceland for manslaughter. He arrived with a fleet of 14 boats and later built his estate at Erikfjord in Brattahlid, towards the end of the 10 century AD. His exploration of the land attracted more settlers who established 3 settlements, namely the Eastern settlement, the middle settlement and the Western settlement. They mixed with the local indigenous people called the Thule people and the late Dorset people.
Vineland , North America
It is possible that the Viking migration to North America was triggered by a need for timber and furs, provided by natives. In 985 AD, a trader called Bjanni Herjólfsson went on an expedition attempt from Iceland to Greenland with a fleet containing 700 people, accidentally went off course and spotted some land to the West. He reported what he had seen to Leif Erikson who then explored the area and planted a small settlement 15 years later, in Vineland .
In 1004, his brother Thorvald Eiriksson sailed to Vineland with 30 men and spent the winter at his brother’s camp. Hostilities with the locals began right after he killed a few of them. He was then, assassinated after retaliation. This did not stop the remaining Norsemen to stay and spend another year in Vineland. Five years later, another group of settlers of 130 men and women arrived in Vineland under Thorfinn Karlsefni. He reached Straumfjord and then settled in Straumsey where, at first, they coexisted with the locals, with whom they mostly exchanged furs, milk, and other goods. The activity of the Vikings on camp was based around hunting, fishing, and haymaking. Hostilities emerged after they came into contact with more indigenous people with which they sometimes engaged into deadly confrontations. After a period of 3 years, they abandoned their camp and sailed back to Greenland and then Iceland.