rivers to Novgorod and Kiev and established fortified
ports throughout these territories.
Early Viking raids had been carried out largely in
the summer, but by the mid-ninth century, the North-
men had begun to establish winter settlements in
Europe from which they could make expeditions to
conquer and settle new lands. By 850, groups of Norse-
men had settled in Ireland, and the Danes occupied an
area known as the Danelaw in northeastern England by- Beginning in 911, the ruler of the western Frank-
ish lands gave one band of Vikings land at the mouth
of the Seine River, a section of France that ultimately
became known as Normandy. This policy of settling the
Vikings and converting them to Christianity was a
deliberate one, since the new inhabitants served as pro-
tectors against additional Viking attacks.
The Vikings were also daring explorers. After 860,
they sailed westward in their long ships across the
north Atlantic, reaching Iceland in 874. Erik the Red, a
Viking exiled from Iceland, traveled even farther west
and discovered Greenland in 985. A North American
Viking site has also been found in Newfoundland.
By the tenth century, Viking expansion was drawing
to a close, but not before Viking settlements had been
established in many parts of Europe. Like the Magyars,
the Vikings were assimilated into European civiliza-
tion. Once again, Christianity proved a decisive civiliz-
ing force, another indication that Europe and
Christianity were becoming virtually synonymous.
The Viking raids and settlements also had impor-
tant political repercussions. The inability of royal
authorities to protect their peoples against these
incursions caused local populations to turn instead
to the local aristocrats who provided security for
them. In the process, the landed aristocrats not only
increased their strength and prestige but also
assumedevenmoreofthefunctionsoflocalgovern-
ments that had previously belonged to kings; over
time these developments led to a new political and
military order.The Emerging World of Lords
and Vassals
Q FOCUSQUESTION: What was fief-holding, and how
was it related to manorialism?The renewed invasions and the disintegration of the
Carolingian Empire led to the emergence of a new type
of relationship between free individuals. When govern-
ments ceased to be able to defend their subjects, it
became important to find some powerful lord who
could offer protection in exchange for service. The con-
tract sworn between a lord and his subordinate (known
as a vassal) is the basis of a form of social organization
that later generations of historians called feudalism.
But feudalism was never a system, and many historians
today avoid using the term.Vassalage
The practice ofvassalagewas derived from Germanic
society, in which warriors swore an oath of loyalty to
their leader. They fought for their chief, and he in turn
took care of their needs. By the eighth century, anVikings Attacking England.An illustration from an eleventh-
century English manuscript depicts a group of armed Vikings
invading England. Two ships have already reached the shore,
and a few Vikings are shown walking down a long
gangplank onto English soil.ª
The Pierpont Morgan Library, New York/Art Resource, NYThe Emerging World of Lords and Vassals 183Copyright 2017 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).
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