#800 ad wars in germany series#

In the ninth century, Turkish peoples (most likely Petchnegs and Bulgars) began migrating into the region, perhaps disrupting the stability of the Norse trade routes. This eastern trade route was one of the major sources of silver for the Vikings. Along these routes, they established trade networks with the Arabs and the Byzantine Empire. During the eighth century, the Norsemen, predominantly Swedes and Danes, pushed east and south along major rivers toward the Black Sea.

#800 ad wars in germany series#

Rather, the Viking search for trade goods and precious metalsД«egan with a series of raids in the region surrounding the Baltic Sea and on the various Slavic peoples in present-day Russia and Ukraine. The Norsemen, however, did not begin their famous raids in the west. Canute the Great, a Dane, ruled England in the eleventh century, and had a profound effect upon government and legal institutions. However, the Norse continued to have influence in England, occasionally through direct control of the Anglo-Saxon throne. The persistent threats by Viking rulers over the course of the next century facilitated the unification of the various kingdoms in England into one nation. These early raids were followed in the ninth century by a more forceful Danish invasion. The Vikings cemented their presence in the region when they founded the city of Dublin and fanned out in smaller settlements throughout Ireland and Wales. By 793, the raids had escalated and the Vikings attacked and burned the great Irish monastery at Lindisfarne, perhaps the first great ecclesiastical center of the British Isles. The first Anglo-Saxon Chronicle reported that Norseman had made small raids in northern England beginning in 750.

Western Europe certainly bore the brunt of the Viking Invasion, perhaps no peoples more than those of the British Isles. The other major group, the Norwegians, sailed in the North Atlantic to the northern British Isles. The Swedes were primarily interested in the eastern Baltic region, Russia, and trade relations with the Near East. The Danes concentrated their efforts southward in England, France, and Frisia (present-day Netherlands). Though the events of Scandinavian exploration, trade, and military expansion are collectively referred to as the Viking Invasion, or raids, the various Nordic groups actually developed different regions of interest. Historians have proposed numerous hypotheses-from domestic unrest in Scandinavia to overpopulation. No one reason can be identified as the primary catalyst for the beginning of the Viking raids. Regardless of the permanence of Viking rule, many historians of the period credit the Viking raids as the impetus for nation building in Europe, and note the proliferation of Norse law in the earliest codes of some modern European nations. The Norse established direct rule in some places, and simply plundered other locations. Norse settlements changed the political map of the Middle Ages, not only by expanding its physical bounds, but by encouraging the rise of strong local leaders and armies to defend populations from Viking marauders. Trade routes established by the Vikings promoted the flow of coins, sliver, and limited goods from the Middle East to Northern Europe. The presence of Norse raiders had a profound impact on medieval Europe. Their technologically advanced longships, skilled seamanship, and military-like raiding parties exerted Viking influence from Russia to Greenland, and established peripheral contact with the Byzantine Empire and the shores of North America. 800 to 1150, exploring the coastlines of Europe, the British Isles, and North Africa.

The Vikings, or Norsemen, of Scandinavia, were the dominant sea power in Europe from about a.d.