Original subtitles

Subtitles by SilverStark

This is a story about the people who came sailing across the ocean.

It's a story about a long and perilous journey of upheaval,

which came to change populations and influence politics, trade,

culture, religion and entire societies.

It's a story about the Vikings,

and how they transformed the world!

For most people, the Vikings are seen only as plunderers and pirates.

But is that the whole truth?

The process of converting Scandinavia to Christianity is a long story.

They were skilled tradesmen, in part because of their ability to travel.

They're going abroad to take what they seek.

In this series we will dig deeper and gain more insight into

who the Vikings really were.

And the truth turns out to be surprising.

OpenSubtitles recommends using Nord VPN

THE LAST JOURNEY OF THE VIKINGS

In the late 700s, the Scandinavians set sail across the seas,

searching for a better life, looting and pillaging

and eventually becoming what we know as the Vikings.

Using their long ships, the Vikings began wreaking havoc

along the coasts of the Frankish Empire,

sacking villages as well as monasteries.

But even though the Vikings quickly became notorious

for their violent raids abroad, their first attacks

on the Franks were not very successful.

The Frankish defenses, built by Charlemagne,

were simply too effective

and the Franks were able to prevent the Vikings

from sailing up the great rivers,

and advance further inland.

So how were the pagan Vikings able to push into Christian Francia?

In order to answer that, we have to find out more about Charlemagne

and what happened during the very first Viking attacks on Francia.

100 DAYS IN PARIS

Charlemagne is a key figure in medieval European history

and one of the most influential rulers the continent has ever known.

His empire consisted of not only what is today France but also

present-day western Germany, northern Italy, Switzerland and Austria.

So the emperor Charlemagne was an incredibly powerful ruler

and during his reign he greatly expanded the borders of his empire

into the north towards the area of southern Scandinavia

what we now refer to as Denmark.

Charlemagne sought to spread Christianity and unite the kingdom.

This was not well received by all Vikings. They had their own beliefs.

They didn't want to be subjected to Christianity

simply because he was king.

Which Gods they worshipped was a very personal affair.

It didn't concern the ruling powers.

And it's been suggested that the way in which he did this,

not only undertaking military conquest, but also

in seeking to convert large numbers of people to Christianity

at the point of a sword...

which is even suggested to have resulted in large scale massacres.

And it has been suggested that this somehow generated the perception

that there was a need for a strike on the Christian world from Scandinavia.

And in this the early Viking raids have sometimes been presented

almost, for want of a better term, as a pagan crusade

and I certainly don't feel that this was such an important factor

in that sense.

What we have happening this time in Scandinavia is that

society is changing greatly and there is a number of social and political,

economic and ideological factors at play here.

But I'm not sure that Charlemagne's actions in expanding his empire

really did provide the primary impetus for these raids.

Charlemagne was known for his strong Christian faith,

and he wouldn't tolerate any pagans in the Frankish Empire.

In fact,

he repeatedly tried to convert other nations to Christianity by force,

including the pagan Saxons, whose religion

had strong similarities with the beliefs of the Vikings.

For example, the most important religious symbol of the Saxons

was the sacred tree Irminsul, which can be likened to the tree Yggdrasil,

an important symbol in the Norse religion of Scandinavia.

The Friesland already was very close to Denmark at the time,

especially through trade exchange.

They were very close to South Scandinavia.

Throughout the eighth century and until the early ninth century,

Saxony also gets captured and included to the Frankish realm.

Regarding those two cases, Friesland and Saxony,

there were non-Christian territories and which became.

Frankish territories and thus Christianised.

For a long time, the Frankish empire had suffered constant raids

from the Saxons, but around the year 772,

Charlemagne decides to strike back and attacks Saxony.

This time, he doesn't only want revenge;

He wants to force the Saxons to convert from their pagan beliefs

to Christianity, once and for all.

Charlemagne's servant, a scholar and monk by the name Einhard,

wrote the Francian emperor's biography -

The Vita Karoli Magni - "Life of Charlemagne".

In this biography Einhard writes "the last war that Charles undertook

was against those Northmen who are called Danes,

who first came as pirates and then ravaged the coasts of Gaul

"and Germany with a greater naval force."

He was, of course, talking about the Vikings.

When the Vikings arrived in France,

they weren't very successful in the eighth century

and early ninth.

I believe it to be mostly due to the existence of strong political

power at the time, lead by Charlemagne.

Thus, military control was well-established.

He instituted a system of coastal defense on the Frankish coast.

He put in place not only orders to construct ships

to deter seaborne pirates,

but he also installed a coast guard system.

A system of armed groups who would watch for threats

coming from the sea and their job was primarily to stop

those forces on the beach, as it were.

At the beginning of the ninth century, the system seemed to work

quite well. In 820 we have a fairly small Viking raid

on the Frankish coast.

The Vikings make several attempts to enter Frankish waterways

to plunder and each time they are thrown out, essentially,

by this Frankish coast guard.

And when the Vikings now start attacking Francia,

Charlemagne, who has fought extended wars against people

belonging to other religions,

is determined not to let plundering pagans into his country.

The setbacks of the first attacks lead some Viking chiefs

to simply leave the Frankish Empire and focus on easier targets.

The Danish king Gudfred is one of these powerful men,

who give up on Francia and heads for other destinations.

Other Vikings decide to go a different route.

Gudfred's younger brother Halvdan, for instance, chooses not to follow

his brother's example, and instead allies himself with Charlemagne,

becoming the Danish envoy to the Frankish emperor.

For a while, it almost seems like the violent Viking attacks on Francia

have ceased for good.

During this time, the Vikings quickly become known in Europe

as bloodthirsty pirates, pillaging and looting whenever they're able to.

Their far-flung journeys outside Scandinavia

also lead to an increase in trade.

Near estuaries or where

the land met the sea or along common travel routes,

people gathered to trade.

Eventually these places became trading posts.

In the North Sea, we saw centres of production

and trade exchanges emerge.

We often call them "wics" in the context of Britain,

so they would maintain trade links with each other.

And these, collectively, provided a hub in north western Europe

for the exchange of goods across long distances.

They were also centres for handmade productions where

different types of objects were made.

Objects made out of bones and deer antlers, such as combs.

But also metallic objects

and jewellery in copper alloy, so in bronze.

Scandinavian goods were highly prized in Europe.

It would have been skins, pelts, pickled fish.

From the north, it would have been walrus tusks,

items made out of antlers or bone, honey and possibly mead,

even if it was considered somewhat exotic.

We can assume there were skilled artisans who

crafted and sold items on site.

Jewellery crafting would have been common.

They created combs and various other items out of antlers.

Carpenters, barrel makers... They made ceramic pots.

Both to sell the pots themselves, but also for the transportation of goods

in ceramic pots or barrels.

Cloth makers... An assortment of craftsmen met at these trading posts.

So it became a melting pot with a diverse gathering of people

from all over Europe.

There would have been inns, entertainment,

singers and bards there.

We can assume there were brothels as well.

There would also have been common folk, living there

with their families. People involved with trading.

In relation to those handmade productions, there was a need

to access and produce raw materials

which were necessary for those productions.

That implies the exchange networks were not only trade networks,

but also distribution networks for those resources.

It's something that emerged in Scandinavia as early as during

the eighth century where raw materials were brought from

Norway to Denmark for the production of some objects.

It also implies the appearance of a new way to exploit raw materials

beyond agriculture.

So it also attracted political interests from the elites

who saw in the possibility to control the extraction and distribution

of raw materials a way to increase their wealth.

Raiding also gives the Vikings access to another product,

one that they buy and sell at various markets.

The slave trade was an important market...

where they could buy skilled craftsmen, beautiful women,

men who possessed useful knowledge such as literate priests or monks

that could assist a king or a chieftain

to become learned or gain a better reputation.

And to learn things that ordinary people didn't know.

To possess knowledge that isn't generally known is a source of power.

They could learn these things by acquiring the right slaves

with the right knowledge.

These trading posts were important sites,

both for the exchange of goods as well as ideas,

and it was essential for rulers to maintain control over them.

It is likely that traders had to pay taxes

to those who controlled these posts.

In order to conduct trade, you had to pay taxes if you wanted

to set up a booth.

This was also a good source of income for the local chieftain or king:

A steady flow of income from the site.

Visitors to these trading posts are mainly engaged in peaceful trade,

and as the buying and selling of various goods increases,

the trading posts grow rapidly, as does their political significance.

They soon become centres of political power

and important strategic points to control.

As a result, the conflicts between the Vikings and the Franks

flare up once again.

In the year 808, the great trading post of Rerik

is suddenly attacked by the Danish king Gudfred.

Rerik was located in a region that, during the eighth century

and early ninth century, belonged to a Slavic people, the Obotrites.

In the context of the wars between the Carolingian Franks and the Saxons

the Obotrites were allies of the Carolingians.

On the opposite side, in Denmark, was King Gudfred.

And he stood with the Saxons.

What we have in Denmark at this time during the reign of Gudfred

is an attempt by the King to consolidate his power

which is at least to some extent in relation

to the increasing and antagonistic contacts between

the Danes and the Carolingians.

We know from the Frankish

written sources that in the year 808.

King Gudfred ordered the destruction of the Rerik emporium.

The destruction of Rerik was the result of Frankish expansion

towards the northern and eastern parts of Europe in general.

Rerik generated incomes that were rather significant through taxes.

I believe it was a reason, or at least a motivation, for Gudfred

to order the destruction of the city.

Because if that city was well controlled by the Obotrites,

it was a way to prevent those enemies from getting

a significant financial income.

He took with him many traders and craftsmen,

because many craftsmen gathered at these trading posts,

and brought them to the border of modern day Denmark and Germany

near Sliestorp and introduced them

to the large, emerging trading post there.

And there he basically had control over these individuals,

and these are craft specialists, specialists in trade.

They can bring in a lot of income, this income can be taxed

and this directly has consequences for Gudfred's power.

It also sends a strong message to the Carolingians that Gudfred,

the Danish King, is a force to be reckoned with

and that he now has the influence and the power to bring elements of

this North sea, Atlantic and Baltic trade under his direct control.

He also is recorded as establishing a large linear earthwork

in southern Jutland. It's called the Danevirke.

There was a long palisade, 30 kilometres long,

most likely consisting of wooden posts and trenches

designed to make it difficult to attack the site.

In all likelihood according to the archaeological evidence,

this monument was already in existence during Gudfred's reign,

so what he probably did was refortify it.

But nonetheless that indicates that he must have extensive control,

not only over a significant pool of resources, but also a pool of labour.

So from this we can infer that certainly

within Gudfred's sphere of power,

there was certainly a degree of centralised political power

allowing him to draw on his various subordinates and likely large numbers

of the general population as well.

In the early ninth century, under Gudfred's reign,

Denmark isn't a unified territory.

It isn't the same Kingdom of Denmark as it is today or as it was

during the Middle Ages with delineated borders and a single king

ruling over the territory.

This was more like regional political

entities in the eastern and western parts of Denmark,

which most likely were repeatedly fighting with one another

even if we don't have any clear reference to those.

What is mostly documented is conflicts around Gudfred

and rivals to the throne which were mostly centered

in the western part of the territory in Jutland.

Naturally, the sacking and destruction of Rerik

was a clear provocation of Charlemagne

on the part of the Danish king.

Peace negotiations were held between the two sides,

but in the end they came to nothing.

After this, Charlemagne created a permanent garrison

north of the river Elbe.

He planned to retaliate, and when the Danish king brought

hundreds of ships to raid the Frisian coastline...

Charlemagne gathered his forces to strike back.

Just before the Frankish attack, something happens.

Charlemagne is reached by a messenger.

Gudfred is dead - killed by one of his own bodyguards.

When Gudfred dies in 810,

Denmark is torn by severe internal strife,

as the Danish elites are drawn into a power struggle for the Danish crown.

But the Danish conflicts are nothing compared to what happens

when the great Frankish emperor dies, just four years later, in 814.

He had ruled France for 46 years, and during his reign,

he created a strong Christian empire,

well equipped to deal with the Viking threat.

What would happen now when he was gone?

Following Charlemagne's death, Louis the Pious was crowned.

He had four sons. And he wanted them to inherit their share

of the kingdom's lands.

So he attempted to split the kingdom between his sons.

It's easy to see how this would cause trouble. So when he died,

civil war broke out between the brothers who all wanted the throne

and as much of the land as possible.

This meant Francia's resources were spent on killing each other

instead of defending themselves from foreign Viking raids.

The instability that developed on the continent regarding the succession

of Louis the Pious, opened a breach in that defense system

which used to be effective beforehand.

After Charlemagne's death, they didn't keep that defense system.

With Louis the Pious's death and the fragmentation of the Frankish Empire

came a period of instability with a reorganisation of the territories.

Which means that the military coordination which was a trait

of the Frankish kingdoms in the past,

especially under the reign of Charlemagne became

far less effective.

It also meant that the elites in the three Frankish kingdoms at the time

also had to set new positions in those territories.

And their focus shifted towards the inside and negotiations

within Frankish kingdoms.

And so what we have here is really a perfect set of circumstances

for Viking raiding groups to start not only raiding the coast,

but penetrate much further inland and to really start to cause havoc

and that's exactly what we see in the historical records.

The Carolingians did have a well-developed defensive system

in place which in theory was supposed to counter these attacks,

the kings had the ability to muster large armies often at short notice.

But at the same time, they're often hampered in their ability to do so,

simply because they cannot always count on the support

of their magnates.

Local rulers could ally themselves with the Vikings and receive

their assistance during the civil war in exchange for providing the Vikings

with shelter during the winter

or letting them freely use local resources.

The Vikings were flexible and could take on the role of ambassadors

and collaborators in many different ways.

If they had the opportunity to gain resources, they took it.

They weren't bound by rules governing what they could or couldn't do

when they were in a foreign land.

But they quickly learned that they had much to gain in Francia.

There were wealthy cities, sites for commerce,

churches and monasteries.

While the Franks are occupied with the civil war,

the Vikings finally manage to push past their defenses

and sail up the great rivers.

In search of gold, glory and ultimately land as well,

they advance deeper into the Frankish Empire than ever before.

The Vikings were fierce warriors.

If they didn't capture slaves, kill, or plunder,

they often demanded payment in order to leave towns unscathed.

Demands of large quantities of silver or gold in order to leave a town

or a stretch of the coastline in peace.

This was an even better way to plunder.

They didn't even have to fight.

They didn't have to do more than say:

"Give us money and we'll leave you alone."

The larger payments were called "geld".

One of example would be the danegeld when the English paid a

large sum of silver and gold in order to stop the Viking raids,

and they did stop, for a while.

The gelds may have kept the peace for a few years...

But they would inevitably return.

"They paid, so we'll sail there again."

It was a clever move by the Vikings,

not so much by the people who paid the geld.

What we're looking at here is no kind of concerted attempt

to extort money or land out of the Carolingians or any other societies

that these groups are coming into violent contact with.

But rather these are small groups operating very much

within their own interests.

I think that we need to look at these groups as having their own

individual objectives and goals and pursuing them in their own ways,

rather than conforming to a general strategy that may not

have actually existed within their own minds.

In March of 845, a large Danish Viking fleet consisting of 120 ships

sails up the river Seine to Paris.

The new king, Charles the Bald, had tried fighting the Vikings off

with his army but failed.

Paris had a high city wall dating back to Roman times,

and the city had several churches, inside the wall as well as outside,

on the beaches of Seine.

Two bridges led to the city, and on the mainland,

these bridges were guarded by tall stone towers.

The Vikings organised a siege on the city,

and the Francian king, Charles the Bald, was eventually

forced to pay a large amount of gold and silver as ransom for his city.

When the Vikings sailed along the rivers into Francia and

formed alliances with local rulers, they were given the opportunity

to establish themselves on land, at least for a time.

They didn't have to return home over winter.

Previously they would have left home for spring,

plundered and traded during summer, sailed back by autumn,

and spent their winters at home.

But because they could spend the winters in Francia,

the situation suddenly changed.

They began their warring and trading earlier in the year.

And they established relationships with the local residents.

This was the beginning of Viking relocation to other places.

After the events in Denmark, more and more people travel from Scandinavia

and across the seas to other countries.

It's not only armed men in search of gold and glory who make the voyage;

There are also families, with women and children.

And sometimes the journey can be very long.

The Vikings emigrated and relocated to many different parts of Europe.

Especially northward; The Faroe Islands,

Iceland and eventually Greenland.

Large areas of land are taken over or are re-populated by the Vikings.

They also came to Scotland, Ireland and England.

The Frankish civil war gives the Vikings

an opportunity to stay in Francia for considerably longer periods of time.

They manage to exploit the unrest for their own gain

and are able to remain over the winter in several places in England

as well as in the Frankish Empire.

But life in exile at a winter camp is not easy...

The majority of the information we have from the continent at the moment

is limited to the historical sources.

We know the locations where they were

setting up temporary encampments.

But archaeologically at least it's quite difficult

to identify these sites.

Where we have had some really good archaeological research done recently

is in England - and what we found in England are,

at least two now, winter camps.

Essentially when these Viking forces were operating in the field

for long periods of time, they would often spend the winter

ensconced in some kind of temporary encampment.

Regarding the continent, for instance, there are Viking camps

on Noirmoutier island, but also on some islands on the Seine,

Jeufosse, for instance, downstream of Paris.

What we are seeing here are groups that are very different to

the early Viking raiding fleets.

These aren't just a few crews of

individuals operating opportunistically,

but rather they're very large,

comprising perhaps of thousands of people,

moving along the landscape for long periods of time.

Unlike the early raiders who would raid seasonally,

these groups were staying out in what is now France, in England,

for years and even over decades of time.

What we're not really sure about at this time is what these camps

physically looked like.

What we do see evidence for though is their occupation of the site itself

largely through evidence of metal production

and manufacturing and trade.

And the thing about these sites is that they're often detected through

through the work of metal detectorists.

So we actually have a preponderance of fragments of jewellery,

of fragmented coins, bits of silver bullion, which attest to

quite a large amount of loot being processed at these sites,

and also to substantial trade.

Everyday life in these camps

is quite simple.

Those are temporary shelters. There's no solid building,

there aren't any well-built buildings.

Those are mainly, as the name suggests, camps, basic shelter.

It was cold and damp all the time.

Even if they wore several layers of wool, which they were likely to do,

and filled their shoes with straw, they were constantly cold.

When they lived in a camp during winter, their clothes never dried.

The blankets they draped over themselves at night never dried.

Their tents never dried.

If they brought animals with them, such as horses,

the horses needed fresh water as well.

They probably didn't have much land for grazing,

even if it was better than Scandinavian winters.

It's likely that many died in these camps due to the harsh conditions.

What's interesting in what has been referenced is that we learn

that there were women and children living in those Viking camps as well.

Who were they? Did they also come from Scandinavia?

Were they part of the moving army?

Or were they captives

imprisoned during raids and destined to be

traded as slaves or to be kept as concubines or have they

become partners in their own rights?

We don't really know.

Among the camps that were studied in England,

archaeological material gives the feeling of a moving army.

We found material culture

corresponding to a small military community

that keeps moving.

For instance, in Torksey there is a big site of several hectares

with plenty of archaeological material, mostly metallic objects,

since the study was based on objects found thanks to metal detectors.

Those suggest manufacturing objects,

but, and most importantly, trading activities.

Torksey site is dated to the 870s,

a time when the great army was going around

the Anglo-Saxon territories.

One of the things I find really interesting about these sites is

what they mean for our perceptions of the later settlement

of the landscape in both England and in the Carolingian Empire.

If we're to accept that these large Viking forces were

comprised of numerous autonomous groups

coming together and acting together for a short period of time,

then what we essentially have here is the creation of,

although we call them often armies, they're actually kind of

mobile societies or polities in their own rights.

And the conditions in which they're living in these camps might actually

provide a kind of precursor to the later settlement of the landscape,

both in England and within the Carolingian Empire

because it might have been the first time that many of these groups

were coming together and inhabiting a single area in such a way.

After the death of Charlemagne, civil war raged in Francia

and the coastal defenses couldn't be maintained.

The area lay open to Scandinavians searching for gold,

glory and eventually land.

Meanwhile, there was also unrest in Denmark,

and along with usual adventurers,

there were now also other people in exile,

looking for new opportunities abroad.

During the 800s,

as the Vikings managed to push deeper into Christian Francia,

their tactics changed.

They went from pillaging small monasteries to attacking large cities

like Paris.

A common Viking strategy was to hold a city hostage,

forcing them to pay a ransom, usually gold and silver.

Despite the turbulence that plagued Francia during this period,

the Vikings would not be able to remain.

The resistance soon becomes stronger again.

And a new Frankish emperor manages to rebuild his defenses,

including those along the river Seine,

preventing further attacks on Paris.

During the years that follow,

the Vikings will instead turn towards the British Isles.

This, however, is only temporary;

The Vikings haven't finished with Francia.

When they return, they do so with a new goal - to become

an integrated part of Frankish society.

And in order to reach this,

the Vikings are willing to go to any lengths.

Subtitles: Lily Ray www.plint.com

Watch Full HD Movies & TV Shows