In the year 911, the Viking chief Rollo was granted Normandy. Motivations for Viking Presence in Western Europeĭid the Vikings come to destroy? Scandinavians sacked numerous communities including Hamburg and Paris in 845, but historians agree that the Vikings were great traders as well as colonizers. ( Archaeology, November/December 2007) At the same time, Historian Charles Haskins, writing in 1915, refers to the Scandinavian’s “monopoly” of sea power, made more successful by their vessels often called “dragon ships.” These same ships carried Vikings to Constantinople as well as to North America. In 2007 the discovery of a Viking “treasure hoard” in northern England attested to the Scandinavian’s commercial motivations as well as their migratory habits.
Matthias Schultz, commenting on a highly controversial topic, at least in Britain, writes that, “Biologists at University College in London studied a segment of the Y chromosome that appears in almost all Danish and northern German men – and it is surprisingly common in Great Britain.” ( Spiegel magazine, June 16, 2011) Schultz adds that, “New isotope studies conducted in Anglo-Saxon cemeteries produced similar results.” Evidence of Extensive Migratory Patterns in the British Isles But migrations for a variety of reasons are still the accepted historical answer, according to Tierney and Painter. Evidence of climate changes impacting emerging communities is growing and can be traced to far earlier periods. What is not questioned is the scope of these migrations.Īnother reason involves changes in climate, forcing emigration to southern regions. While there is always the side of adventure that paints the Scandinavians as freebooters and, if Christian sources are to be trusted, a “scourge” ripe for conversion, historians note population concerns that might have forced migrations as well as the early consolidation and centralization of rudimentary kingdoms in Norway, Sweden, and Denmark. Historians differ as to the reasons the Danes and Norwegians traveled south, often establishing agricultural communities and commercial settlements as in the Shetlands and Orkneys.
Despite their usual depictions as pirate-types destroying churches and monasteries – a picture left by Christian chroniclers, their migrations and ultimate settlements are far more complex. The influence of the Scandinavians cannot be underestimated. Scandinavian Migrations Begin the Viking Age After Charlemagne died in 814, one of Western Europe’s most consistent threats came from the Vikings or Norsemen, Scandinavians known for plundering the British Isles and what was left of Charlemagne’s kingdom during the 9th Century. These pagan ravages had not ended when Charlemagne was crowned King of the Romans by Pope Leo III on Christmas Day in AD 800.
#FEUDAL KINGDOMS WESTERN EUROPE MAP SERIES#
The reign of Charles the Great or Charlemagne is often referred to as a renaissance, a time when Western Europe sought recovery from the barbarian ravages that helped to transform Rome from an empire to a series of self-sufficient territories.
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