Vikings

First Viking attack on England

789

A group of men from Norway sailed to the Isle of Portland in Dorset. They were mistaken for merchants by a royal official, and when asked to come to the king's manor to pay a trading tax on their good they murdered the official.

Raid on St. Cuthbert's Monastery

793

This raid of England was at the monastery in Lindisfarne, a small holy island off the northeast coast of England.

Vikings begin raiding Ireland

795

In this raid, many important Irish monasteries were burned including Rathlin, Holmpatrick and Inishmurray.

Vikings begin raiding France

799

This was when the Vikings first attacked the Frankish Empire. This lead Charlemagne to create a defence system along the northern coast.

Viking raiders settle in northern England

867

Two rivals for the throne of Northumbria, Osberht and Ælle, were engaged in a battle outside York when a Viking force arrived. The Vikings, who had amassed a 'Great Army', equipped for conquest rather than raiding, defeated and killed both kings, and captured the city. It became Yorvik, the Viking capital in England.

First Viking settlement in Ireland

870

Over a couple of centuries, Viking ports were established at many now-major Irish cities: Dublin, Wexford, Waterford, Cork and Limerick.

Alfred the Great makes a peace treaty with the Vikings

878

In 878, King Alfred of Wessex, or Alfred the Great, made a peace treaty with Guthram, the Viking ruler of East Anglia. The treaty defines the boundaries of their lands, and states that nobody can cross into the others land without permission.

The King of France signs a treaty with the Vikings

911

The treaty of Saint-Clair-sur-Epte was signed between Charles III of France and Rollo, the leader of the Vikings, in 911. It permitted the Normans to settle Neustria in return for their protection of Charles' kingdom from any new invasion from the "northmen".

The first Viking parliament is held in Iceland.

930

A man named Grímur Geitskör was tasked with finding a suitable location for the first Icelandish assembly, or Althing. Around the same time, the owner of Bláskógar, the current name for the Þingvellir region, was found guilty of murder. His land was declared public, and then obligated to be used for assembly procedings.

Erik the Red is banished from Iceland

985

Erik the Red was sentenced to exile from Iceland in 985, for the murder of Eyiolf the Foul. He sailed west and was said to discover Greenland.

The English king pays Vikings to not attack them

991

The King of England, King Æthelred or Æthelred the Unready, met up with Olaf Tryggvason and arranged £22,000 of gold and silver would be paid to the raiders as the price of peace.

Leif Erikson reaches Labrador

1001

Leif Erikson, son of Erik the Red, sails out of Greenland and reaches Labrador in North America. He sets up a small settlement there, but it is abandoned by 1015.

Danish Chief Cnut invades England

1015

The Danish chief Cnut the Great invades England and becomes the king in 1016. He later also becomes king of Denmark and Norway.

King Edward Dies

1066

King Edward of England, also known as Edward the Confessor dies. He is succeeded by Harold Godwinson, who ruled until his death during the Battle of Hastings. His successor was the one who defeated him, William of Normandy, commonly known as William the Conqueror.