We all (hopefully) might know about the invasion of England in 1066 by William the Conqueror. What you might not know is how that came to be in the first place.
In the 800s .A.D., one of the biggest problems facing Christian Europe was invasion by Vikings. The first Viking invasion on the West (before then, Vikings had only gone East to raid) was on the monastery at Lindsfarne (off the coast off England) in 793 .A.D., in the Anglo-Saxon city-state/Kingdom of Northumbria.
In the beginning, many Kings thought that they could just make the Vikings go away by bribing them with lots of gold. Sometimes that worked; sometimes that didn’t.
A lot of them may have taken, and did take it as a sign of weakness, which inspired them to return more. This was especially the case in England, but also in France. One such deal was between the King of France and a Viking named Ralf (Latinized Rollo). The descendants of Charlemagne had never been as good as the man himself; always weak and willing to give in. Finally, however, instead of gold; one King of France decided to give the Vikings something infinitely more valuable: land. It included a title, legitimacy, etc. Rollo accepted. Of course there were some conditions: conversion to Christianity, an expectation to fight against other Vikings, etc. Since they were, “Northmen,” or ,”Norsemen,” the area the settled became known as, “Normandy.” Rollo’s great-grandson was William the Conqueror himself! That is how the deal affected 1066 and World History.
In the beginning, many Kings thought that they could just make the Vikings go away by bribing them with lots of gold. Sometimes that worked; sometimes that didn’t.
A lot of them may have taken, and did take it as a sign of weakness, which inspired them to return more. This was especially the case in England, but also in France. One such deal was between the King of France and a Viking named Ralf (Latinized Rollo). The descendants of Charlemagne had never been as good as the man himself; always weak and willing to give in. Finally, however, instead of gold; one King of France decided to give the Vikings something infinitely more valuable: land. It included a title, legitimacy, etc. Rollo accepted. Of course there were some conditions: conversion to Christianity, an expectation to fight against other Vikings, etc. Since they were, “Northmen,” or ,”Norsemen,” the area the settled became known as, “Normandy.” Rollo’s great-grandson was William the Conqueror himself! That is how the deal affected 1066 and World History.
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