Viking Expansion

Expansion Routes

• Vikings had several routes for expansion– Across the Baltic Sea– Along the Channel (Denmark, Low Countries,

Southern England)– Along the Sea Road (Norway, Shetland, Orkney,

Scotland, Ireland, Wales)– Across the North Sea (Denmark, England)

Viking Expansion in Britain: Key Ideas

• Three stages1. Raids

• Linisfarne 793• Raids on coast• Seige of Paris

2. Invasion• 865 Great Army sweeps across the countryside for 20 years• Extort ‘danegeld’ from English

3. Settlement and Rule• No break in farming cycle• Intermarriage and assimilation• 886 peace agreed in Vikings live in the ‘danelaw’• 1016 Cnut establishes North Sea Kingdom• 965 Harold Bluetooth converts to Christianity