Origin of the VIKINGS and their EXPANSION throughout Europe

One of the towns most loved by the general population are the vikings, being a medieval town that has been represented in hundreds of ways and that are considered one of the most interesting cultures of history. Vikings are quite different from what people usually think and to get to know them better, in this lesson from a Teacher we should talk about the Vikings. origin of the vikings.

Vikings is the word used to refer to a series of norse pirates from the Scandinavian areas of Sweden, Denmark and Norway which, for centuries, attacked and settled in many areas of Europe, especially the British Isles; but iviking invasions They also reached other areas such as Spain or Ukraine. Their large maritime capacities They took them to areas that seemed unviable at the time, such as North America, Greenland or Iceland.

Carrying out a rapid extension to all possible areas, especially thanks to its navigation and its enormous fighting capacity, it is difficult to understand its origin. Its most possible origin should be sought in numerous sources, this being that of the Scandinavian areas.

The sources that speak of the Vikings in their first raids are difficult to find, since there is a tendency to speak of looting of abbeys Christians without referring to the appearance of the aggressors and that being the reason why it is believed that the Vikings could attack lands english much earlier than the sources show us.

Scandinavian areas of Sweden, Denmark and Norway they had been occupied for centuries by various primitive tribes, whose position in cold climates and difficult to assault made them little influence from the enormous European civilizations.

It is known that, for example, the Danes had trade routes and agreements with the Romans, but the relationship between the two peoples was as distant as that of the Romans with India or China, causing that in the Scandinavian area peoples without influence were born western. Even with this, certain historians consider that the Viking peoples could have had a origin in the Germanic peoples who marched towards the Swedish area, being the reason why heViking languages ​​are of Germanic origin.

Viking peoples used to be independent from each other, alliances between villages being common but always maintaining a great autonomy, since each tribe was directed by a species of leader. At first, these peoples were farmers and fishermen, but the appearance of new weapons and improved ships started the Vikings in the looting trips, initiating the conflicts between the same Viking peoples before their departure to the rest of Europe.

Causes of the Viking invasions

In the 18th century the Scandinavian peoples they began their march towards western lands, initiating an expansion and a series of looting that were relevant during the following centuries. Some of the reasons why it is believed that the Viking invasions in Europe are:

• Viking peoples met overcrowded, the climate did not allow expansion, so they had no other option but to expand to other areas.
• The new Viking ships allow higher speed and to be able to travel more kilometers, being very useful to assault distant areas.
• The trade routes that years before had been key to the Scandinavians ended with the fall of the Romans, causing a economic vacuum in this sense.
• The constant unions of the Viking keys created great forces whose objective was to search for new lands.
• Some Viking peoples had been forced to convert to the Christianity, seeking revenge for this.
• The weakness of the European peoples made conquest easier.

To conclude this lesson on the origin of the Vikings we must talk about the first conquests of this people and, thus, understand the importance they had and what were their first conquests.

• The June 8, 793 took place considered as the first attack of the Vikings in western lands, being an attack on the abbey of Lindisfarne, a religious place used to teach new religious. After this attack the Vikings continued attacking places of worship near the coast, entering and looting quickly to get back on the ship and back home without anyone being able to do anything to stop them.
• Over the years the Vikings left settling on english soil, taking entire regions and going from being simple looters to great monarchs of English lands who fought against the British Catholic kings. The Vikings were able to beat the english and to Carolingian empire before their disunity, taking advantage of the end of the Carolingians to plunder many of their kingdoms and especially the weakest ones.
• Over the years, the Vikings they got used to english life, many of them being converted to Catholicism to be able to take English crown and arriving a a time when it was difficult to differentiate the Vikings from the English, uniting both cultures in just one.
• The Vikings were able to take lands in England, Ireland, Normandy, Iceland, the Kiev area and Greenland, forming kingdoms that were maintained for centuries and conforming, with it, one of the most important cultures in history.
• Over the years his assimilation with other cultures and civilizations it ended with what we call Vikings, although many of its characteristics remained.