VIKINGS

Looting of Lindisfarne monastery

793

The viking attacks and his appearance on the European political scene began with the sacking of the Lindisfarne monastery.

Vikings on the French coast in Brittany

799

The Vikings begin to fan away from that area and arrive for the first time on the French coast in Brittany.

Thir first winter camp in Ireland

840

There is evidence of their first winter camp in Ireland, where, to protect themselves from the Danes, the local chiefs allied themselves with the Norwegians, who from 853 came to control Ireland

The first Viking expedition to the Mediterranean

844

When 4,000 Vikings in 54 ships sailed up the Guadalquivir River, sowing terror in the area and burning Isbiliya before being defeated by Abd al-Rahmán II in the Battle of Tablada, where more than 1000 Vikings and 400 prisoners were executed. The rest of the expedition fled losing 30 ships.

An expedition plunders the coasts of the Iberian Levant and Italian Tuscany

858

An expedition of more than 62 ships plunders the coasts of the Iberian Levant and Italian Tuscany

A first unsuccessful expedition tries to reach Constantinople

865

The revenge of the multiple looting of England and the defeat of a Danish army

878

Wessex King Alfred I the Great avenges the multiple looting of England and manages to defeat a Danish army, guaranteeing the independence of his land, although he has to recognize their dominance over the other half of England. The war would not be long in resuming, but since then the Vikings had th worst part.

Their last attack is refused an they were exupsed of their bases on the Loira

911

The last attack on the mouth of the Seine is refused, and in 931 they are expelled from their bases on the Loire. The following decade sees his last attacks on Britain.

Their attacks on the Black Sea and the Caspian.

950

In the East their presence would be more lasting, and throughout the 10th century various expeditions succeeded in their attacks on the Black Sea and the Caspian.

The last reappared

1013

The beginning of the eleventh century would see a final reappearance when in 1014 Viking rule of England was reinstated under King Canute II of Denmark. This revival is considered definitively over when King Harald III the Merciless dies at the Battle of Stamford Bridge in 1066, during dynastic conflicts in England.

The ending of the viking age

1100

The Viking Age was already drawing to a close. Sweden converts to Christianity, thus showing how Scandinavia was becoming integrated into European Christian culture. Outside their countries of origin, most of their settlements had ended up mixing with the local population and becoming acculturated. The descendants of the Vikings managed to establish themselves in Europe.