Vikings: A Powerful Force In History

The Vikings were a powerful force in the history books. The Vikings had a need to raid and settle in other lands for these reasons land, revenge and wealth. The Vikings needed to raid and settle in other lands because Vikings lived in Scandinavia, in Scandinavia it is very hilly, covered in forest and had a lot of sandy soil which not idled for growing food. It is believed that the Viking raids start by the Frankish expansion. Charlemagne became the new Frankish king from 768 AD. He also forcefully converted his new subjects to Christianity. The Vikings noticed that trade was drying up and had to find a way to regain the Viking name. They started to raid other settlements and through that most Vikings became very wealth.
The Vikings left their
homeland land in sreach of new land to settle/raid. The Vikings lived a very hilly, covered in forest and had a lot of sandy soil place. Scandinavians lived on islands or peninsulas with no room to expand. The land was usually poor for farming or too mountainous to live on, and the climate was very cold. So they looked around their homeland for places to settle or conquer. The Vikings lived North America 500 years before Christopher Columbus reached close to its shores. Leif Ericson and his crew landed in now what is Greenland Canada . These two areas where good place to grow food and live, but later the Vikings were forced to leave because of hostile attacks by the indigenous people and had to return to Greenland. The Vikings also settle in England after many raids, in the land they had claimed. By 870ce they had ended the rule of every Anglo-Saxon kingdom except Wessex. England was a very good area to grow food. Stories quickly spread of how people were becoming rich in other lands and how easy it was to get rich on such raids and many Vikings joined to invade countries such as Britain, Germany, France. They eventually decided to stay in the they had raided.
Charlemagne became the new Frankish king from 768 AD adn later a Holy Roman Emperor.
He fougth for around 40 years to bring most of western a central Europe to his knees. After He also forcefully converted his new subjects to Christianity. He force baptized some Vikings to become a chirstian and thoses who didn't would be decapitated. It was one of outrageous acts against the people who refused Christianity. It is believed that the Viking raids start by the Frankish expansion. Scandinavian people had never before encountered such a threat against their cultural, political and religious traditions. The Vikings had a intelligence network of traders, the Danish people and the Norwegians people gathered the information they need on the Anglo-Saxons. Around 791CE Charlemagne had gained so much power that he could go against Denmark. The way which Charlemagne ruled was completely at odds with all their traditions. The Vikings raided many settlement and monasteries around the later years of Charlemagne's rule. After the raiding the Vikings had claimed land to settle
in.
The Vikings knew that trade the drying up and trade wasn't going to be enough for the Vikings and they knew that the Christian churches were filled with mass treasure, and was fit for flash raids.
Britain was particularly a good place to raid, as there was much to steal. The Vikings were attracted by the wealth of the Monasteries and the easy treasure to be found within. The raids offered Viking men a quick and easy way to gain wealth. A leader most likely used the stolen goods to reward his supported base. This would then strengthen his influence and power back home. The Vikings wanted many things like: coins, livestock, slaves, treasures, spices, works of art, raw materials. They probably often acquired the goods through simple trade. But their skill at sailing and boat building and violent acts, they would often find themselves in a position to take whatever they wanted. Other settlements had poor defence, the defence would be farmers and men protecting their family and would be killed easily. When all this happen the Vikings gained wealth ad land doing
so.
The Vikings were a powerful force in the history books and had a need to raid and settle in other lands for these reasons land, revenge and wealth. They were pushed out of their homeland because of poor farming land, they were threaten by Charlemagne, he threaten their cultural, political and religious traditions and took advantage of what they saw as a broken empire, started to raid and become ever rich. The Vikings were to powerful for all England (except Wessex) and all of Germany, France and Spain.