Vikings

The Early Middle Ages was a dark time. Not only was there the struggle between the Frisians and Franks in the 7th and 8th centuries, and then later, after the death of Louis the Pious in the 9th century, between the Frankish kings themselves, but there were also raiders on the coast: Norsemen.

Originating from Norway, Sweden, and particularly Denmark, from the end of the 8th century the Vikings began to expand their trade expeditions (raids) into Western Europe. The Norsemen had their own word for this: vikingr, to go on adventure! The Carolingians oversaw a large empire in the Frankish kingdom and, because the Frankish royal house was undergoing an internal power struggle, the coastal area lay unguarded and inviting to the Norsemen.
There was a range of reasons why the Nosemen - the Vikings - went on raids. Primarily, it was the state of social affairs in the Scandinavian region. Not yet christianzed, the Norse held fast to their old heathen practices and standards. The Scandinavian heathen culture was warlike by nature. To have prestige and power, one needed to be able to boast of heroic deeds and to own valuables. The valuables were used as gifts, to buy allegiance.
Further, there had been great population growth due to climate change. The Norse population grew at a faster rate than the land could accommodate. Because of the bountiful harvests, a hearty people developed. They were tall and strong, and they must have made quite an impression on the less fortunate, southern Franks.
Often, the raiders were the younger descendants of noble families. The young men, turned off the family estate, travelled abroad, trying to gather sufficient capital to maintain a small army. With this support, they could emphasize their claims on their inheritance and improve their position of power.

Due to the overpopulation in their own land, some Norsemen left. They settled in numerous places outside of Scandinavia, especially the British Isles. It appears they also wanted to establish a Norse empire in the lowlands, known as Frisia at the time. From about 840, the Danes Harald, Rorik and Godfried (the "Sea King") appropriated large areas of land from the Frankish kings.

Until 885, when Godfried was murdered, the Norsemen pretty much had control over all of Frisia. After that, it appears they set their sights on easier to colonize areas, such as England and Normandy, where the land didn't consist primarily of  peat bogs. Frisia had been completely devastated by the Viking violence - everything of value had been plundered. Although an end to their domination finally came, the Norsemen had ravaged the area for about a century.

Last updated: 19-3-2002