[See also: ROYAL ADMINISTRATION AND FINANCE; SENESCHAL]
Dognon, Paul. Les institutions politiques et administratives du pays de Languedoc du XIIIe siècle
aux guerres de religion. Toulouse: Privat, 1895.
Michel, Robert. L’administration royale dans la sénéchaussée de Beaucaire au temps de Saint
Louis. Paris: Picard, 1910.
Sivéry, Gérard. “La remuneration des agents des rois de France au XIIIe siècle.” Revue historique
de droit français et étranger 28(1980):587–607.
Strayer, Joseph R. “Viscounts and Viguiers Under Philip the Fair.” Speculum 38(1963):242–55.
VIKINGS
. The raids of the Vikings struck terror into those living near the Atlantic coast or on the
rivers leading to the Atlantic in the 9th and early 10th centuries. The Norsemen were
Scandinavians who for the most part lived on coastal farms. In the late 8th century, they
developed sails for their longships, and many a Viking lord, frequently an unsuccessful
claimant to the throne of one of the numerous Scandinavian principalities, began leading
raids south-ward. Their first attack took place in England in 793, and raiding intensified
over the 9th century. The Carolingian trading center of Duurstede, sacked repeatedly, lost
all real importance. Vikings found monasteries, with their treasure and wine cellars, an
especially appealing target; some monks, such as those of Saint-Philibert, had to flee
repeatedly as each place they settled turned out to be subject to Viking attack.
The inability of the Carolingians to deal with the Viking raids was one of the signs of
governmental weakness in the second half of the 9th century. Lords who could resist
them were able to use this success in their efforts to establish strong principalities. In
885–86, the Vikings besieged Paris; Count Eudes, son of Robert le Fort, led the defense
and was elected king (r. 888–98) shortly afterward.
But the Vikings were more than raiders. They established centers for trading fur,
honey, and pitch; the “Rus” branch of the Vikings established long trade networks across
what later became Russia, reaching eventually to Constantinople. Vikings made
permanent settlements in Ireland and in the eastern part of Great Britain. In 911, the
French king Charles 111 the Simple granted Normandy (named for the Normans, or
Northmen) to their leader Rollo on the condition that he be baptized a Christian.
Constance B.Bouchard
[See also: NORMANDY; ROBERT (DUKES OF NORMANDY)]
Hodges, Richard, and David Whitehouse. Mohammed, Charlemagne and the Origins of Europe.
Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1983.
Randsborg, Klavs. The Viking Age in Denmark. London: Duckworth, 1980.
Sawyer, P.H. Kings and Vikings: Scandinavia and Europe, A.D. 700–1100. London: Methuen,
1982.
Zettel, Horst. “France, Norse in.” In Medieval Scandinavia, ed. Phillip Pulsiano et al. New York:
Garland, 1993.
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