The Vikings

1. The Vikings Michelle Story Victoria Yang Alex Edquist

2. Chronology • 650 – The Vikings invent the longship. • 793 – Viking raids on European ports and villages begin with a raid on the English Lindisfarne monks. • 825 – The Vikings move east and establish a trading post in KievanRus, at Novorgod. • 838 – The Vikings conquer Ireland. • 850 – The Vikings conquer Scotland. • 864 – The Viking leader Rurik conquers most of early Russia. • 874 – The Vikings establish a settlement in Iceland. • 878 – The Treaty of Wedmore makes some of the Vikings accept Christianity. • 882 – Oleg conquers Kiev, and Viking trade helps make it one of the world’s richest cities. • 890 – Alfred the Great of England pushes the Vikings out of Britain.

3. Chronology • 911 – The Vikings begin raids on France. • 990 – The Vikings assault the English and demand tribute from them. • 1007 – Leif Erikson lands in Newfoundland and establishes a trading colony there. He is the first European in the New World, although the the colony does not last. • 1016 – The English ask Cnut, King of Denmark to become their king in order to avoid paying huge sums of money to the Vikings to avoid raids. • 1066 – King Harold of England battles the Danish king and wins, marking the final major Viking raid and expelling the Vikings from Britain. • 1066 – The Polish destroy the Viking’s vital trading post, Hedeby. • 1150 – Christianity is widely accepted by Vikings in Scandanavia. • 1175 – The Icelandic bishop forbids bearing arms in Iceland.

4. Conquest of British Isles

5. Viking Settlements in Europe

6. Viking Trade Routes

7. Regional Impact: Northern Europe

8. Regional Impact: Northern Europe

9. Regional Impact: Eastern Europe

10. Regional Impact: Eastern Europe

11. Important Vikings Harald 'Klak' Halfdansson Ragnar Lodbrok Leif Erikson Rurik Rollo of Normandy Cnut the Great

12. Comparisons They benefitted the area around the Volga economically by promoting trade. They made Kiev a wealthy city. They devastated the British Isles economically by raiding so extensively and demanding huge tribute payments.

13. The Vikings became Christians first in England, when the Treaty of Wedmore states they must become Christians. They spread Christianity to Scandinavia. Iceland and Greenland remained mostly pagan until almost 1200. They helped Vladimir of Kiev spread Christianity in Rus.

14. The Vikings established colonies, settlements, and cities wherever they went. They conquered all of the British Isles and maintained control there until 1000 CE. They also conquered most of Rus at the same time. They established colonies and city-states in Normandy, the Mediterranean, and Iceland, though they did not control large tracts of land in Normandy and the Mediterranean.

15. The Vikings maintained a unified culture, even though they controlled diverse and separated lands. They acted as a culturally unifying force in these areas, much like: The Roman/Byzantine Empires Charlemagne in Germany and France The Islamic caliphates

16. Change Over Time • The Vikings were pagans at first, but starting around 850 CE, Christianity spread from the Viking centers in Britain to the rest of the Vikings in other areas. Almost all Vikings were Christian by 1300 CE. • The Vikings greatly profited from raiding from 800 CE until almost 1100 CE, at which point major raids ended because of stronger European monarchs that could better protect their subjects and fewer Vikings that could afford the boats and leisure time required for raiding.

17. Change Over Time • The early Vikings allowed women equality with men in politics, but as they expanded into Europe, they adopted the local traditions of restricting women’s role in politics. • Beginning in 800, there were many small landowner Vikings who could afford to both leave their lands and buy boats to go raiding. Successful raiders used their new wealth to buy huge tracts of land. Eventually, Viking society became dominated by very few, extremely wealthy landowners and vast numbers of poor peasants, which meant that there were fewer who could afford to leave to go raiding or afford to buy boats for the same purpose.

18. Change Over Time • Between 800 and 900, the Vikings were almost exclusively raiders. By 900, they had diversified to become traders as well, especially in Eastern Europe. By 1000, they used their considerable sea-faring skills to become explorers as well. • Before 900, the Vikings maintained their unique, distinctive culture wherever they traveled. Later, however, they assimilated into the local cultures. One example of this is the introduction of Viking vocabulary into the English language.

19. Impact on Today’s Society • Viking metal is a type of heavy metal music that is characterized by its galloping pace, its keyboard-rich authentic sound, bleakness, and its dramatic emphasis on Norse mythology, Norse paganism, and the Viking Age. It is noisy, chaotic, and is often accompanied by soft keyboard melodies. • There has been enthusiasm for historical reenactment, and the seriousness and accuracy of re-enactments have increased. The largest of these groups are “The Vikings” and RegiaAnglourm. Most include an aspect of live-steel combat. • Common Scandinavian place names include those ending in -by, –thorpe, and -thwaite. These were probably named by families from other Viking villages and moved to create new centers from farming and trade. Historians are able to determine the spread of Viking settlements. • The name “Vikings” are used in various sports teams such as the Minnesota Vikings as reference to how Vikings are characterized as fast and swift. • The Vikings were the breeders of Icelandic ponies, which are still in use today.

20. If You Remember Nothing Else… • The Vikings were from Scandinavia (Sweden, Norway, Denmark). • They were the inventors of the longship: • Lief Erikson and the Vikings were the first Europeans to set foot on what would become the New World; beating Christopher Columbus by almost 500 years. • The Vikings are mostly known for being pirates and raiders, but in many areas, they were primarily traders who helped to promote trade and prosperity. • They were originally pagans, but helped spread Christianity later; they devastated the economies of Britain and the other areas they raided but promoted those of Rus and the other areas where they traded; and they influenced political structures and laws of the areas they settled.

21. Jobs Performed • Michelle Story: PIRATES charts, comparison • Alex Edquist: Chronology, change over time, putting timeline together • Victoria Yang: Modern impacts, charts/maps/images

22. Works Cited • http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/vikings/evidence_01.shtml • http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/vikings/who.html • http://historyworld.net/timesearch/default.asp?conid=2&bottomsort=21014&direction=NEXT&keywords=vikings&timelineid= • http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/vikings/religion_01.shtml • http://www.mirror.org/ken.roberts/king.alfred.html • http://www.viking.no/e/russia/index.html