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  • mountainous terrain + fjords = strong natural boundaries

  • Communities remained independent of each other (some 30 small kingdoms)

  • sea = easiest way of communication between Norwegian kingdoms + outside world.

  • in 8th century that Scandinavians began to build ships of war + send them on raiding expeditions to initiate Viking Age.

  • North Sea rovers = traders, colonisers, explorers + plunderers

petty kingdoms of Norway = entities from which the later Kingdom of Norway was founded

  • before unification of Norway (872) + during period of fragmentation after King Harald Fairhair's death -- Norway: divided in several small kingdoms.

    • some as small as cluster of villages; others comprised several of today's counties

number of small political entities. exact number is unknown. at least 20 in the whole country

rulers might be called petty kings, herser, subkings, kings or jarls. small communities were gradually organised into larger regions, in 872 King Harald Fairhair unified the realm and became its first supreme ruler. jarldoms under the Norwegian high king

  • mid-9th century: largest chieftains of petty kingdoms started major power struggle

  • Harald Fairhair started process of unifying Norway through alliance with Earls of Lade; was able to unify country after decisive Battle of Hafrsfjord

  • set up very basics of a state administration with stewards in most important former chieftain estates.

  • son - Håkon the Good (930) - established two large things, Gulating (Western Norway) + Frostating (Trøndelag), in which king met with freemen to make decisions.

  • also established ledang (conscription-based military)

  • After death in 960, war broke out between Fairhair dynasty + the Earls of Lade in alliance with Danish kings

  • exact reasons for Vikings venturing out from homeland are uncertain (overpopulation of homeland? earliest Vikings were looking for riches, not land

 

EARLY VIKING RAIDS

  • A.D. 793, attack on  Lindisfarne monastery off the coast of Northumberland in northeastern England marked the beginning of the Viking Age

  • A.D. 795, Viking raids struck undefended island monasteries of Skye, Iona + Rathlin.

  • A.D. 799, first recorded raid in continental Europe

 

  • For several decades - hit-and-run raids against coastal targets in British Isles (particularly Ireland) + Europe (trading center of Dorestad -- frequent target after 830

  • took advantage of internal conflicts in Europe to extend activity further inland

 

CONQUESTS IN THE BRITISH ISLES

  • By mid-ninth century, Ireland, Scotland and England = major targets for Viking settlement + raids

  • gained control of Northern Isles of Scotland, Hebrides + much of mainland Scotland.

    • founded Ireland’s first trading towns: Dublin, Waterford, Wexford, Wicklow and Limerick

    • used their base on Irish coast to launch attacks within Ireland + across Irish Sea to England.

  • 862: King Charles the Bald began defending West Frankia more energetically (fortifying towns, abbeys, rivers + coastal areas) -> Viking forces began to concentrate more on England

wave of Viking attacks in England after 851

  • only one kingdom (Wessex) able to successfully resist

  • Viking armies (mostly Danish) conquered East Anglia + Northumberland; dismantled Mercia

  • 871: King Alfred the Great of Wessex = only king to decisively defeat Danish army in England.

  • Leaving Wessex -- Danes settled to north (established York as leading mercantile city)

  • first half of the 10th century, English armies led by the descendants of Alfred of Wessex began reconquering Scandinavian areas of England

  • last Scandinavian king, Erik Bloodaxe, was expelled and killed around 952, permanently uniting English into one kingdom.

 

VIKING SETTLEMENTS: EUROPE AND BEYOND

  • armies remained active on European continent throughout ninth century

    • 842: brutally sacking Nantes; attacking towns as far inland as Paris, Limoges, Orleans, Tours + Nimes

    • 844: stormed Seville

    • 859: plundered Pisa; Arab fleet battered them on way back north

ninth century, Scandinavians (mainly Norwegians) began to colonize Iceland. by late 10th century: moved even further westward to Greenland

 

DANISH DOMINANCE

  • mid-10th-century reign of Harald Bluetooth as king of newly unified, powerful + Christianized Denmark -- beginning of second Viking age

  • Large-scale raids, often organized by royal leaders, hit coasts of Europe + especially England

    • Viking raids on England beginning in 991; conquered entire kingdom in 1013

    • Knut (or Canute) to rule Scandinavian empire (comprising England, Denmark, and Norway) on North Sea

      • after death: succeeded by sons, but both dead by 1042

      • Edward the Confessor returned from exile and regained English throne from Danes

      • Upon death (without heirs) 1066: Harold Godwinesson laid claim to throne. able to defeat invasion led by last great Viking king–Harald Hardrada of Norway–at Stamford Bridge, near York

      • fell to forces of William, Duke of Normandy just weeks later. Crowned king of England on Christmas Day in 1066, William managed to retain crown against further Danish challenges

 

END OF THE VIKING AGE

  • events of 1066 in England effectively marked end of Viking Age

  • all Scandinavian kingdoms were Christian

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