LECTURE OUTLINE FOR HISTORY 203

                                                                           Prof. Martha Carlin

                                                                            Week 8: Tuesday
 
 

                                                        FRANKISH EUROPE, c. 800-1000:

                                THE NEW INVASIONS: VIKINGS, MUSLIMS, AND MAGYARS
 

793                      Vikings attack England

9th-10th C.            Carolingian empire divided, and besieged by Vikings from N., Magyars (Hungarians) from E.,
                                and Muslims (or "Saracens") from S.

    814-840             Louis the Pious

    842                    Oaths of Strasbourg sworn by Louis the German and Charles the Bald against Lothar

    843                  Treaty of Verdun divides empire among Charlemagne's 3 grandsons:
                                    Lothar (d. 855) becomes emperor and takes Middle Kingdom (Lotharingia, or Lorraine)
                                    Louis the German (d. 876) takes East Frankish kingdom (Germany)
                                    Charles the Bald (d. 877) takes West Frankish kingdom (France)

    911                    Viking leader Rolf (Rollo) is given Normandy in return for peace and conversion to Christianity

    955                    Battle of Lechfeld: Hungarian (Magyar) army annihilated by Otto I ("the Great") of Germany
 

                            THE VIKINGS:

                            Tripartite society:
                              jarls (earls; = nobles)
                                karls (churls; =  free farmers)
                                thralls (= slaves)

                            Swedish vikings:  go east to Baltics, S. Russia, Ukraine, and Byzantine Empire
                            Danish vikings:    go south and west to Francia, S. Europe, and British Isles
                            Norse vikings:     go west to British Isles, Iceland, Greenland, and Newfoundland


                                                                        Week 8:  Thursday
 

          Additional primary sources on the Vikings include:

                     Saga of Grettir the Strong (or Grettir's Saga, written in Iceland in the early 1300s,
                            concerning events in the 900s)
                        Ibn Fadlan, Risala: Description of the Rus (921)

          Additional terms include:

                        Berserk (or berserker)
                        Thing; All-Thing
                        Wer(e)gild

         Click on the following Viking artifacts:

                      Picture stone from Tängelgårda, Gotland  8th cent., showing Viking scenes

                      Viking sword (10th or 11th cent.)

                      Viking axeheads and spearheads found in London                       

                      Ranvaig's casket  Looted by the Vikings from a Scottish church and acquired by a woman
                                                    from Norway who carved on the bottom in runes "“Ranvaig owns this.”

                      Grave of  Viking woman from Cnip, on the isle of Lewis, Outer Hebrides:
                                                     skeleton, and reconstruction of her clothing, ornaments, and tools 

                      Gospel-book redeemed from Vikings   in England in the mid 9th cent. by Ealdorman Aelfred and
                                                     his wife Werburg, who gave it to Canterbury Cathedral priory.  ["Canterbury
                                                    Codex Aureus," now Stockholm, Kungliga Biblioteket, MS A. 135]