Vikings
The Vikings are men from Scandinavia
(Denmark, Sweden, Norway).
TRADESMEN, FISHERMEN, CARPENTERS
The Vikings appear to the VI E
century after J-C, and are initially known to be tradesmen, fishermen
and especially of remarkable
carpenters.
One found many poems and chansons de
geste, written in runes (the writing of the
Vikings) which describes their civilization marked by an original religion,
dominated by the gods Odin, god of the War, and Thor,
god of the Thunder.
WHY THE VIKINGS LEAVE DO TO THEM
COUNTRY?
The destruction of the large commercial
axes as well as the decline of the Empire carolingien encourage the Vikings to
come to plunder the countries
close as of the end to the viii E century.
They move on drakkars,
long fast and light boats out of wooden which as well make it possible to sail
on the open sea as to go up the rivers using oars.
WHICH ARE GREAT FORWARDINGS VIKINGS?
The Vikings make many incursions in Ireland
(where they melt Dublin), in England
(they settle in the north of the
country) and in France. They also venture in
Spain and cross the Straits of Gibraltar, in the
Mediterranean, to join Italy in
particular. Little by little, they enhardissent and assemble very great
forwardings.
To the east, the Vikings lead many raids and seize Aachen, the capital of Carolingiens
(today in Germany). They move then towards
Russia and the
Ukraine, where they are known under the name of Varègues, and melt the
first principalities of Novgorod and Kiev (at the origin of the Russian State).
IN DISCOVERED AMERICAN CONTINENT
Sailing towards the west, the Vikings
settle in Iceland but, in 981, one as
of their, Erik the Red, is driven out country for murder. It takes the sea
and discovers an island which it baptizes
Greenland ("green ground").
His/her son, Leif Eriksson, venture even more in the west, meet Labrador
and Newfoundland and reached the
gulf of the St. Lawrence which it baptizes Vinland ("country of the
vine").
The Vikings are thus the first Europeans
to press the American continent, five centuries before Christophe Colomb!
Do the VIKINGS SETTLE IN The KINGDOM OF
FRANCE?
In France, the Vikings go up the Seine to
Paris, which must pay a heavy tribute to make them leave.They left the memory
of cruel plunderers.
It is true that the Vikings attack the
churches and with the supposed convents to contain treasures and that
testimonys which one has are precisely those of monks and priests, the only
ones who can write among the population.
In 911, the Norwegian head Rollon,
installed in the valley of the low Seine for several years, has threatened all
north of France. Incompetent to join together an army sufficient and preferring
to buy peace, the king Charles III the Simple one yields a territory to
him: Normandy ("ground of
the men of North"). In exchange, Rollon is made baptize and become its
vassal.
Starting from X E century, the raids rarefy because the
majority of the Vikings converted with Christianity; it is to them thus
interdict to take slaves in the Christian countries.
The role of the Vikings in the history
proves very significant since they integrated into Europe the countries of
north, jeté the bases of future Russia and left significant traces in Ireland,
like in England and France.
TO GO FURTHER
? Scandinavian mythology
? Great Invasions
? the Empire carolingien
? the Middle Ages
? interactivity: chronology of the Middle Ages
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