The Vikings

Following the fall of the Western Roman Empire, Europe was haunted by many plagues. A major one was inflicted by raids of Scandinavian peoples who began a series of military sea expeditions in the 8th century. They came to be collectively known as the Vikings, sometimes also called Normans or Varangians.

The main reason for the expansion of the Vikings was probably overpopulation. It's also quite possible that their very first expeditions aimed at establishing business contacts. Soon, however, they learned that the lands they visited can be conquered and colonized.

Viking expeditions

The need to leave Scandinavia led the Vikings to explore virgin lands. In 874 they arrived in Iceland, until then inhabited by just a handful of Irish monks. Norwegian settlers formed a state on the island, with the power based on the rule of local chiefs and elders who made political decisions during assemblies called "things". Iceland became the cradle of magnificent medieval culture - it was the very land that set the stage for old Scandinavian written epics, the so-called Sagas, describing Viking beliefs and expeditions.

In 981 famous leader Erik the Red discovered Greenland. This led to establishing a colony there – it would survive until the 15th century. The Vikings probably also crossed the Atlantic and spent some time in Newfoundland, which would make them the first Europeans to set foot on the American land before Christopher Columbus. However, their discovery remained unknown for centuries and had no major historical significance.

Viking expansion took place in three main directions. Norwegians, those who settled on Iceland and crossed the Atlantic, also took the Faroe Islands, Shetland, Orkney, the Hebrides, Man and north-west England. Cities such as Dublin, Wexford and Limerick in Ireland were founded by Norwegian Vikings.

Danish Vikings crossed the North Sea and attacked the east coast of Britain and Western Europe. Their long boats allowed them to venture deep inland by sailing up the rivers such as the Humber, Thames, Rhine and Seine. Their vessels went as far as the Mediterranean Sea through the Strait of Gibraltar.

Swedish Vikings, known as Varangians, ventured into what is now Russia, came to Constantinople, and even reached Baghdad.

Terror of the seas

What made Viking such formidable invaders was that their attacks came from the sea where they felt confident unlike other European sailors who rarely dared to venture too far away from the shore. Easily covering long distances and attacking unexpectedly, they represented a threat that the peoples of Europe struggled to contain.

Fierce warriors, known for their fury in the battle, the Vikings were also pagans. As a result, they didn't find it religiously inappropriate to attack churches and monasteries. In fact, they made them common targets of their raids because of the rich loot to be found there. The earliest Viking attack in the British Isles involved ransacking religious communities on the islands of Lindisfarne and Iona.

In the ninth century the intensity of Viking invasions peaked. Since this coincided with attacks of Magyars and Arabs, the future of Catholic Europe was brought into question. With Vikings' skill to use rivers as communication routes, there were few places where people could feel really safe. In 930s, for example, the Vikings appeared at the mouth of the Seine, and Nantes, Paris, Orleans and many other cities along the route of the expedition up the river were looted.

Repeated invasions

The invaders returned every year and began to occupy coastal islands that they used as starting points for further invasions. Since 851 Europe's largest island - Britain - became the subject of particularly intense attacks. Around the same time, Varangians sailed the Dnieper towards the Black Sea to attack the Byzantine Empire.

When the Vikings began to settle, they blended into conquered populations quickly. It is quite surprising, consiering that they had their own original culture that included advanced arts and crafts, their own law, trade and a complex religion with a variety of gods led by Odin.

Conversion to Christianity

After settling down and establishing relations with its neighbors, the Vikings usually accepted Christian faith. In the British Isles their expansion was stopped by king Alfred the Great, and the Scandinavians who settled there were baptized in 878. In 911 a Norman chief Rollon received as a fief from Charles the Simple the lands he conquiered – they became to be known as Normandy. A year later, Rollon and his people converted to Christianity.

Vikings assimilated completely in the areas where they settled. Although their settlements covered large swathes of land, their original culture survived only in their native Scandinavia Peninsula and a few of the colonized the islands.

In the 11th century Viking expansion began to lose momentum and Scandinavia itself became a part of Christian Europe. However, the Nordic countries did not abandon expansion entirely - after a wave of raids on the British Isles, Danish ruler Cnut the Great was crowned the king of England. Following his death, the empire consisting of England, Denmark and Norway broke up. In total, the Danish dynasty ruled Britain from 1016 till 1042. In 1066 Norwegian king Harald Hardrada who claimed his rights to the English throne was killed in the Battle of Stamford Bridge, but a Norman descendant of the Vikings, William the Conqueror, became king of England after defeating king Harold II at the Battle of Hastings just 19 days later.

Important dates

• 793-795
  Vikings plunder Lindisfarne in the British Isles, invade Scotland and Ireland
• 802
  The sacking of the Iona monastery
• 840
  Vikings take Dublin
• 841
  Vikings appear at the mouth of the Seine
• 845
  The sacking of Paris
• 851
  Early Danish Viking raids on England
• ca. 860
  The first Varangian attack on the Byzantine
• 874
  Vikings reach Iceland
• 878
  Peace between the English and the Vikings in Wedmore; Danes convert to Christianity
• 911
  Rollon receives Normandy as a fief
• 981
  Erik the Red discovers Greenland
• 1013-1042
  Danish dynasty on the English throne
• 1066
  The Normans conquer England