Viking Invasions in Europe - Summary
Image: History of navigation
Between the years 789-1000 we will find a series of expansion movements coming from the peoples of the north of Europe, being the period known as the Viking age, which is the name that was given to the historical period in Scandinavia. It was then the Scandinavian people who, through a series of races, were in charge of obtaining war spoils and slaves. Next, in this lesson from a TEACHER we bring you a summary of Viking invasions in Europe.
Index
- Brief history of the Viking people
- Invasions in Northwest Europe
- Invasions in Eastern Europe
- Invasions in Western Europe
Brief history of the Viking people.
Before entering into the series of attacks that Europe suffered with the Viking invasions, we are going to talk about the people who would undertake said looting, for this purposeWe will divide the Viking map into two parts essential:
- Denmark: This region was populated by Germanic peoples between the 5th and 6th centuries from present-day Sweden. Soon their language was taken as a mother tongue by the inhabitants of these lands. It seems that they went to sea from the year 800, at which time a strong authority had been formed in Jutland, in that way, the Danes began to trade and plunder.
- Norway: these lands were being populated by the same tribes that had arrived in Denmark, creating in this a series of communities whose activities were related to agriculture and fishing. So these were located in places on the coast or on the shore of lakes. In 800, Norway was still not unified, with about thirty independent kingdoms.
In one way or another, the 8th century will be the moment by which both areas begin to create warships to carry out looting expeditions, thus beginning the well-known Viking era. This would end in the 10th century after a list of events, one of the most important being the adoption of Christianity as the official religion.
Although there has always been talk of the violence of these peoples, we have to say that the Vikings were more than simple barbarians who sought the looting of cities, as they were the first to create a large network of commerce in northern Europe, in addition to colonizing places such as Greenland
In this other lesson we offer you a summary of the history of the vikings.
The invasions in Northwest Europe.
We continue with our summary of the Viking invasions in Europe to start talking about the attacks. One of the foci where the greatest intensity of looting attacks was carried out was precisely northwestern Europe, which was made up of England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Iceland and Greenland.
In this place we will find two types of very strong elements, firstly, the looting expeditions in all places, because the Vikings were looting and taking their cities and entire territories, taking advantage of the weakness of the different kingdoms that were in the English islands.
On the other hand, the colonization in many parts of the territory, because we will find a large number of Viking settlements, these invaders were looking for good lands, among other things and mix with the indigenous population, so we will find two good examples, one being Ireland, Scotland and Greenland.
It will be in the 11th century, when we will see the end of the expulsion of most of these population centers at the hands of the English kings, who had overcome their weakness and were in force to expel the Norwegians.
Image: History with maps
The invasions in Eastern Europe.
A totally different element to the one that we will find in the rest of Europe, will be the one known for these places. The town of the Varegos, belonged to the aforementioned towns of Switzerland that soon jumped into the sea and populated Denmark or Norway. Similarly, there were many who emigrated to Russia and Ukraine, between the 9th and 10th centuries, where they would carry out commercial deals, loot activities or sell themselves as mercenaries.
It also seems that these settled in the region of Stara Lágoda from the year 859 and in 862 there was another community in Novgorod. From there and using the great rivers they crossed the Russian continent, reaching the Middle East.
Therefore, it is not surprising the good business deals that existed between Constantinople and these peoples of northern Europe. In addition, it will be in Byzantium where many of these Varangians or Scandinavians, they would end up in the ranks of the imperial army as mercenaries.
There are many authors who think that possibly the origin of the Russian people comes from the union of the Viking peoples with the indigenous population of the place.
Image: Adriana Polis
The invasions in Western Europe.
Ending with our summary of the Viking invasions in Europe, the last place where they also looted and where they created settlements will be in the regions of France and Spain.
These two countries were heavily attacked by these peoples, the kingdom of the Franks being the one that was the most because it was closer to their population centers. This led Carlos III of France, nicknamed the Simple to make a pact with one of the Viking chiefs, Hrolf ganger, which would obtain the Duchy of Normandy in exchange for converting to the Christian Faith to help France defend itself from the attacks of the other Viking peoples. This would accept, forming a dynasty that later would carry out the conquest of England at the hands of William the conqueror.
In Spain, we will find looting actions throughout the Peninsula, from the coasts of the north to the coasts of the east, including incursions in territories far from the coasts Because the Vikings used to go up the rivers, because they knew that the greatest treasures were never kept in the coasts.
In this place we will not find many colonization foci, remaining exclusively centered in the Cíes Islands (Galicia) and in Bayona, settlements that were later used for looting expeditions and that over time were dismantled. We also know another Viking colony in Seville, which was made up of the members who attacked Al-Andalus and who were defeated and forced to work for the caliph as ranchers, since their cheeses were apparently excellent.
In this other lesson you will find a summary of the Viking invasions in Spain.
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