Originally, I had planned to immediately jump into the realm of raids by discussing France. However, There are some things that are worth noting before we get into the fine, lovely, and often messy details. The nature of this lesson is really to cover miscellaneous concerns, mostly in chronology, motivations, and level of organization.
CHRONOLOGY
Due to the fact that I will be covering the raids based on regional location, this is an important part to stress. By looking at the map below, you will notice that, even in just the earliest stages of raiding, all regions experienced “attacks” within the same time frame.
789 – Portland, England
793 – Lindisfarne, England
799 – 105 Vikings defeated in France
809 – Papal Legate captured by Vikings in England
812 – Vikings defeated in Munster, Ireland
820 – Vikings meet resistance in France
837 – Vikings storm a Frankish Fort
839 – A Viking victory in Scotland
By these few occasions alone, it should be quite clear that raids took place all over Europe by many different, non-unified Viking bands. The point of this is to demonstrate that, although I will be doing in a certain “order,” it is not a chronological one. Also, this further demonstrates that these raids were not organized by a central leadership, nor for a central, focused cause.
MOTIVATIONS
Simply stated: money. There are some that claim that the Vikings raided Europe as if engaged in a war with Christianity. This is not very likely. Now, it is possible that some “Vikings” had an aggression towards Christianity for such reasons, but not on a shared level. Motivations varied, but largely centered around the acquisition of wealth. To them, taking wealth from others was actually an honorable act.
These raids, then, cannot always be compared to war. They can at times, but not always. there is not the motive for conquest in every raid, especially early on. Most of the time, Vikings only wanted to settle within these foreign lands, not conquer them. Later on, this is a different case, but only near the very end of the Viking Age.
ORGANIZATION
It may be pretty clear by now, but I will say it once more. These raids were independent ventures, especially early on. There was, in the beginning, no Scandinavian “kings” to speak of. Just petty-kings and chieftains. Those men funded these “missions,” but not all of the time. The main necessity was a ship. Yet, having a ship did not always mean being a chieftain. With that aside, though, these raids were not commanded by any kind of central authority; they were not conducted nor controlled by one either. Only later will kings have purposes beyond plunder, with Viking leaders like Knútr, Sveinn, and the various kings called Haraldr. To put it plainly, be wary of generalizations.
CONCLUSION
More details about raids will unravel over the next 14 weeks. This is simply the beginning. I will definitely take time during our future discussions to point out the various complexities that exist. I am sure many people are eager to learn about these raids, so I have split up many lessons to provide reasonable detail. Until then, be cheerful and open of mind!
Endnotes
[Fig. 1] This map is from the following book, but not made by the book’s author himself. The image rights belongs to Swanson Publishing Limited, 1995. The book however, is as follows: John Haywood, The Penguin Historical Atlas of the Vikings. (London: Penguin Books, 1995), 55.
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