The Vikings

The conquerors of England after the Romans

In the year 793the Vikings attacked the monastery of Saint Cuthbert on the holy island of Lindisfarne.

In 794 they attacked Bede's monastery at Jarrow and in 795 the monastery of Jona.

They stole the ornaments, killed the monks or made them slaves.Finally they stole cattle and burned every village.

But they were not only raiders and robber as the monks said.

Others were peaceful farmers, merchants and explorers.

They went to other lands to live and farm.

They went to Russia, Persia, to the Mediterranean Sea and the Black Sea. They explored Iceland, Greenland and some of the costs of America that they called Vinland.

They could travel these distances thanks to their beautiful ships. The Vikings were good sailors and boat-builders.

We know about their ship because archeologists found some of them.

The design and costruction of these ships gradually became more sophisticated.

In the 8^th century the final steps in the development of the Viking ship were completed.

The shape of the hull became more elegant and practical.

The techniques used to construct these ship became finer. There was stronger keel to support the mast so that the ship could sail or be rowed.

With the introduction of the sail the Viking ship could go towards the north-western countries.

The basic design of the Viking ship was the same: they were double-ended with pronunced keel. But there were different types of ship depending on specific purpose they were destined for.

The most famous are the war-ships: narrow, but very long, they were speedy and manovrable, they could go on the river as well as the sea. Usually they had a crew of twenty-three oarsmen.

For long voyages with cargoes or colonists, they used ship with sails. These were stronger and wider. For local costal trade there were smaller, but wider boats with few men at the oars, five or six. The fishing

boats were still amaller to enter the fjords.

The Norvegians went to Scotland, the Shetland Isles and the Hebrides, to Ireland and the Isle Of Man.

The Danish Vikings went to the east est and south coasts of England.

At first they only attacked and raided and returned home for winter.Later they conquered Northumbria, Mercia and Est Anglia and took the towns of York, Nottingham, Thetford and London.

In 865 a large Danish army came to conquer Britain. They were from Norway and Denmark.

A part of Danish army srttled on the lands of Mercia and Northumbria. Another attacked the kingdom of Wessex.

Alfre the Great, King of Wessex, defeated the Danish King, Guthwrun in 878.

Guthwrun became Christian and went back to East Anglia.

The lands where the Danish started living and working - the Danelaw -kept their own names.

York was the second greatest Danish town after London. The city was alreadu eight hundred years old when the Viking captured it, an ancient and ruined old Roman fortress and town called Eboracum.

They gave it the name of Jorvik.

Thanks to their super ships the Vikings estabilished world wide trade links.

Most of this long-distance tradw was in luxury goods: furs, oils and fats from Arctic waters, wine from Frence and Germany, spices from the Mediterranean and the East slaves from many countries.