Western Civilization

their behavior to appease God’s anger, as in this ser-

mon by an English archbishop in 1014:

Things have not gone well now for a long time at

home or abroad, but there has been devastation and

persecution in every district again and again, and the

English have been for a long time now completely

defeated and too greatly disheartened through God’s

anger; and the pirates [Vikings] so strong with God’s

consent that often in battle one puts to flight ten, and

sometimes less, sometimes more, all because of our

sins.... We pay them continually and they humiliate

us daily; they ravage and they burn, plunder, and rob

and carry on board; and lo, what else is there in all

these events except God’s anger clear and visible over

this people?^7

Because there were different groups of Scandina-

vians, Viking expansion varied a great deal. Norwegian

Vikings moved into Ireland and western England, while

the Danes attacked eastern England, Frisia, and the

Rhineland and navigated rivers to enter western Frank-

ish lands. Swedish Vikings dominated the Baltic Sea

and progressed into the Slavic areas to the east. Mov-

ing into northwestern Russia, they went down the

VIKINGS

MAGYARS

MUSLIMS

WESSEX

IRELAND

Corsica

Sardinia

Sicily

Crete

Balearics

ICELAND

(^8)
(^47) –
(^865)
843 – (^882)
859 –^8
61
To Greenland
985
Atlantic
Ocean
North Sea
Mediterranean Sea
Black
Sea
Sea of
Azov
Faeroes
Shetlands
Danube
R.
800
874
800
896–911
(^844842)
(^846827904)
883
839
895
895
924
899
(^917900)
Vistul
a (^) R
.
Lisbon
Santiago
Marseilles
Lechfeld
Rome
Thessalonika
Constantinople
Kiev
Aachen
Bordeaux
Barcelona
Novgorod
NORMANDY
841

-^88

4

84

0 –^8

96

941

907

866

882

Balt^820

ic^ S

ea

(^) Dn
ieper
R.
V
olg
a^ R
.
(^) N
ile
(^) R.
(^866) – 878
0 400 800 Miles
0 400 800 1,200 Kilometers
Vikings
Magyars
Muslims
Attack routes
MAP 8.2Invasions of the Ninth and Tenth Centuries.Attacks by invading Vikings, Magyars,
and Muslims terrorized much of Europe in the ninth and tenth centuries, disrupting economic
activity and spurring the development of fief-holding. The Vikings were the biggest problem, but
they eventually formed settlements, converted to Christianity, and were assimilated.
Q Why was it important for the marauding Vikings to build sound boats and develop
good seafaring skills?
182 Chapter 8European Civilization in the Early Middle Ages, 750–1000
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