The Vikings: Chronology


Figure 1.--

The Pagan Vikings seemingly appear out of nowhere at the end of the 9th century. Viking traders had pursued peaceful commerce earlier and thys rumors spread in a militarized Scandanavia about the riches to be had. The traders were able to provide derails on lucrative targets. After the assault on Lindisfarn, rmors rapidly spread of their ferocity which were soon verified by actual attacks. The Vikings were feared and even envied by throughout Medieval Chrisendom. They mastered the seas and were able to strike without warning. [Haywood] And they were not limited to coastal targets. While we know them best for their attacks on Western targets. Swedis Vikings moved east using Russia's great rivers. They help form the first Slavic states an evebtully attacked Constantipople. They terrorized Christian Europe and eventually sought to settle down, eventually becoming Chrstian themselves. The Vikings would play a critical role in the developmet of two of the word's great powers. They played played a major role in developing both the English kindom and English democracy. It seems strange that such a ferocious warrior people played a role in the development of democracy, but they are part of he reason that democracy emerged first in England. They also founded Normandy in France which would also become part of the English story. Ironically the Russian state the Viking Rus helped found became the most absolute of the European monarchies.

The 8th Century

793: Vikings plunder England's famed Lindisfarne Abbey off the coast of England, one of the richest in Europe. A report announced to Christian Europe, "... the ravages of heathen men miserably destroyed God's church on Lindisfarne, with plunder and slaughter'. After Lindisfarne the prayers offered in European monastaries went, "From the fury of the Northmen, Lord deliver us ..." The monastaries were prime targets for the Vikings becausee they were great stores of wealth and the monks were not trained in combat. Anglo-Saxon kingdoms did not have stranding armies that could rapidly be mobilized to oppose seaborn landing forces. Eventually those lingdoms themselves would be assaulted by the Vikings.

794: The Scottish Isles because of their vulnerability and small populations were early conquests. The monastery at Lindisfarne was off the coast of southern Scotland/northern Engkand. The Vikings attacked Iona and the Isle of Skye the following year. Some historians note a Celtic impulse to hermitage and monasticism which combined left a string of unprotected churches and monastic communities with rich artifacts. This was a veritable magnet to the Vikings. Locations along the coast allowed access to Viking raiders. Viking settlements were soon established on Orkney and Shetland.

The 9th Century

800: The Vikings piliging Western Europe came mostly from Norway and Denmark. Swedish Vikings began moveing east into Russia, advancing along the rivers flowing south. They played an important role in founding early Russian states. The Oseberg Viking longship is buried about 800.

825: Vikings reach the Faroes.

840: Viking settlers found the city of Dublin in Ireland.

840-60: Vikings raid southern Europe and Morocco.

844: A Viking raid on Seville was s repulsed. Seville in al Andalus was a prosperous inland city. At thetime the Muslims controlled most of Spain.

860: Rus Vikings attack Byzantine Constantinople, but cannot penetrate the city's massive walls. Norwegian Vikings established a colony on the uninhabited island of Iceland. Ingolf Arnarson is often cited as the first settler. It is thought that Vikings may have heard of Iceland from Irish monks during raids along the Irish coast. Some 20,000 Vikings, mostly NorwegiansO) appear to have colonized Iceland over a 60-year period (9th century). As the island was uninhabited, land was free for the taking. Thus Vikings who at home had only a small plot or no land at all could be substantial land owners. The early settlers this set themselves up as chieftans, becoming the new aristocract. This was the power structure that new arrivals had to deal with. Many Viking settlers brought slaves taken in European raids with them, so the population of Iceland is not purely Scandinavian. The populatiion grew to 60,000 (10th century).

862: Rus Viking Ulrich founds Novgorod in modern Russia.

865-71: King Æthelred I was King of Wessex, some times called Æthelred the Unready. He paid Danegild, a silver tribute to prevent further Viking attacks. The Viking/Danish controlled area of England became known as the Danelaw.

866: Danish Vikings establish a kingdom in York, England.

871: Alfred the Great becomes king of Wessex and is locked in a life and death struggle with the Danes. .

872: Harald I gains control of Norway.

879: Rurik establishes Kiev as the center of the Kievan Rus.

878: Wessex was the last suriving Anglo-Saxon kingdom. Alfred famously emerged from the Wessex marshes and won a decisive victory at Battle of Edington which may have been fought near Westbury, Wiltshire (878). He then pursued the defeated Danes to their stronghold at Chippenham and starved them into submission. This is often seen as defeating the Viking attempt to overwealm the Anglo Saxons and the birth of England. But it left the Vikings/Danes in control of much of England.

886: Alfred divides England with the Danes under the Danelaw pact.

The 10th Century

900: Viking raiders begin substantial Mediterranean attacks.

911: The Franks buy off the Vikings. They grant Viking chief Rollo is granted land who espablishs a principlity in Normandy

941: The Rus Vikings attack Constantinople.

981: Viking leader Erik the Red discovers Greenland.

983: Erik the Red found sanctuary from Icelandic justice on Greenland. The ttlents were sustanined by trade with Europe. Walrus ivory appears to have been the most valuavle trade item.

986: Viking ships sail long the North American (Newfoundland) waters.

995: Olav I conquers Norway and proclaims it a Christian kingdom.

The 11th Century

1000: Christianity begons to reach Greenland and Iceland. Leif Eriksson, son of Erik the Red, landed on Vinland (Newfoundland) along the coast of North America. Olav I dies. Norway is ruled by the Danes.

1002: Brian Boru defeats the Norse and becomes the king of Ireland.

1010: Viking explorer Thorfinn Karlsefni attempts to found a settlement along the coast of North America.

1013: The Danes conquer England. King Æthelred flees to Normandy where he has kinsman.

1015: Vikings abandon the Vinland settlement along the the coast of North America.

1016: Olav II regains control of Norway from the Danes.

1016: The Vikings/Danes led by Canute gain control of England. Canute goes on to amass a vast Anglo-Scandanacian Empire.

1042: Edward the Confessor rules England as part of an arrangement of Canute the Great. This appears to be nutually bebeficial arrangement. Canute had the military power, but with out some arrangeent with the Saxons (Engkih) would be involved in costant costly warfare.

1050: Norwegian Vikings found the city of Oslo.

1066: The English Saxons under newly crowned Harold II decisively defeated a Norewgian Viking invasion led by Harald Hardrata at Stamford Bridge near York. Hardrada is widely seen as the last of the great Viking warriors. Harold who was half Viking himself, was subsequetly defeated and killed in the south at Hastings by Duke William. He led a Norman (French) army. The Normans spoke French and had been strongly influenced by French culture, but they had descened from Vikings who setlled along the coast, hence the name Norman or Norsemen.

The 12th Century


The 13th Century


The 14th Century

1350: Greenland's western settlement was abandoned.

The 15th Century

1450: Greenland was completely abandoned. It may have happened earlier. The last confirmed historical record from Greenland was a marriage (1408).

Sources

Folger, Tim. "Darkness at the edge of the world," Smithsonian (March 2017), pp. 28-39, 82.







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Created: 6:26 AM 3/10/2017
Last updated: 6:26 AM 3/10/2017