-
Jan 1, 1000
Iceland converts to Christianity.
The sharp contrast between the most radical pagan and Christian chieftains' views became manifest at the Alþingi. In order to avoid the breaking out of a civil war, the goðar finally agreed to appoint one of their number, the Lawspeaker Thorgeir Thorkelsson – who was a pagan – to decide the case. He announced his decision to the assembled chieftains, according to which all IIcelanders had to be baptised, but heathens were allowed to worship Odin and the other gods in secret. -
Sep 1, 1000
Olav Tryggvason killed at the Battle of Svolder.
This battle was a naval battle fought in the western Baltic Sea. Olav was killed by Svein Forkbeard and Olaf King of Sweden. -
Jan 1, 1013
Danish King Svein Forkbeard conquers England
To cement his control, Svein drives Aethelred into temporary exile. Svein dies in 1014. The Witan restores Aethelred as ruler (who subsequently dies in 1016). -
Jan 1, 1015
Norway conquered by Olaf Haraldson
Olaf Haraldson, later known as St Olaf, is traditionally regarded as a driving force behind Norway's final conversion to Christianity. Olaf's local canonisation was in 1164 confirmed by Pope Alexander III, making him a universally recognised saint of the Catholic Church. -
Jan 1, 1016
Cnut the Great conquers England.
Cnut the Great, son of Svein Forkbeard, cemented his control by marrying Aethelred's wife, Queen Emma. -
Jan 1, 1030
Olaf Haraldson killed at the Battle of Stiklestad.
At Stiklestad, Olaf met an army led by Harek of Tjøtta (Old Norse: Hárekr ór Þjóttu), Thorir Hund from Bjarkøy and Kálfr Árnason, a man who previously served Olaf. The peasant army consisted of one hundred hundred according to Snorri, which in long hundreds means 14,400, and not 10,000. Olaf received three severe wounds—in the knee, in the neck, and leaning against a large stone the final mortal spear thrust up under his mail shirt and into his belly -
Jan 1, 1066
Danish rule ends in England.
Edward the Confessor died in January 1066 without an obvious successor, and an English nobleman, Harold Godwinson, took the throne. In the autumn of that same year, two rival claimants to the throne led invasions of England in short succession. First, Harald Hardrada of Norway took York in September, but was defeated by Harold at the Battle of Stamford Bridge, in Yorkshire. Then, three weeks later, William of Normandy defeated Harold at the Battle of Hastings -
Jan 1, 1070
Danish king Sven Estridsson invades England
Arriving in Humber to claim England, a battle ensued between his forces and those of William the Conqueror. King William's defences were too strong and Sven was forced to withdraw in the summer -
Jan 1, 1079
Godred Crovan unites the Isle of Man and the Hebrides
The Battle of Scacafell or Skyhill took place about one mile (1.5 km) west of Ramsey, Isle of Man in 1079. This was during the third and final time that the Norse-Gael warrior Godred Crovan had invaded the island, finally taking it from the ruling king Fingal Godredson. Godred carried out a plundering of the island. -
Jan 1, 1085
First grant of land to Christian Church in Scandinavia
-
Jan 1, 1095
Scotland recognises Norwegian control of the Hebrides
-
Jan 1, 1098
King Magnus Barefoot of Norway takes over
King Magnus takes over the Kingdom of Man and the Hebrides. His reign was marked by aggressive military campaigns and conquest, particularly in the Norse-dominated parts of the British Isles, and he extended his rule to the Kingdom of the Isles and Dublin. He died in 1100. -
The Sacking of Iona
The Vikings swept through to the Irish monastic foundation of Iona, a small island off the western coast of Scotland (within the Inner Hebrides). -
Aquitaine is raided by the Vikings
105 Norsemen are killed by locals after their ships are blown off course in northern Acquitaine, a region of northern France. -
Coastal defences are organised by the King of France
Frankish King Charles the Great (known more commonly as "Charlemagne") organises defences against further Viking raids. -
King Gudfred of Denmark sacks Reric
The Slavic town of Reric is sacked. Merchants moved to Hedeby, located on the Danish side of the German borderland. King Gudfred repairs and extend the Danevirke against possible Frankish (French) aggression. -
The Vikings attack Iona for a second time
-
The Vikings attack Iona for a third time
-
Papal legate is captured
The Papal Legate (the personal representative of the Pope) is captured by Vikings in the North Sea whilst en route to Northumbria -
King Gudfred of Denmark raids Frisia
Frisia extends from the northwestern Netherlands across northwestern Germany to the border of Denmark and had previously been conquered by the Franks. -
Vikings threaten Paris
To prevent further sacking of Paris, the Franks pay the Vikings a tribute of bullion (bars) worth 7,000 pounds of silver not to attack. -
Floki of Rogaland
Floki of Rogaland sets out from the Faergoe Isles and discovers Iceland. -
Viking fleet penetrate Aquitaine
The fleet are driven off by the Franks twice before they successfully penetrate the stronghold of Aquitaine. -
Danes begin minting coins in Hedeby.
Also around this time, Irish monks are driven out of the Faeroe Islands, such islands being situated halfway between Norway and Iceland. -
Vikings raid Armagh
The Vikings raid Armagh in Ireland, three times in one month. -
Viking devastation of Ireland
60 Viking longships entered into the mouth of the Boyne and another 60 sailed up to Liffey. The Vikings devastated Ireland by ravaging her churches, sanctuaries and shrines. -
Turgeis conquers Ulster
Norse leader, Turgeis, leads an impressive army into the north of Ireland, conquering Ulster (located in the north fifth of Ireland) and founding the harbor stronghold fof Dublin. This is the first time Nordic raiders winter in Ireland. -
Norse plunder the town of Nantes
Nantes is located in western France and from here the Vikings sailed up the Loire as far as Tours and attacked the whole of France. The Vikings sacked Nantes, killing the bishop -
Norse raid Spain for the first time
The Norse attacked Seville (located in the south west corner of Spain) but were driven off with heavy losses five weeks later by the Muslims (the "Moors") and retreat. Norseman also sack Lisbon (Portugal). -
Danish Vikings land in Ireland
The Danish Vikings join forces with the Irish to overcome Nordic Viking control, and soon become the rulers of Ireland. -
-
The Oseberg ship burial in Norway
The Oseberg ship was buried within a traditional burial mound. The ship contained the bodies of two women, together with various other grave items. -
Vikings raid Algeciras and Morocco
The Danish cheiftain, Hastein, joined forces with another Viking leader and led a flee of 60 dragon ships throuh the Straits of Gibraltar and raided Algeciras and the coasts of Morocco. In the process, they burnt mosques. -
Hastein sacks Luna in Italy
Hastein, with his brother Bjorn Ironside, leads his fleet to Italy, landing in Pisa and sacks Luna (which they thought was Rome at the time), a town which no longer exists. -
Rolf the Ganger's first arrival in the Seine
Rolf (also know as "Rollo") would later become known as Robert, the founder and first king of Normandy. -
The Treaty of Wedmore establishes the Danelaw
King Alfred of Wessex defeats the Danes under Guthrum at the Battle of Eddington whereupon the Danes agree to withdraw from Wessex. This culminated with Guthrum being baptised (as Aethelraed) and accepting Alfred as his adoptive father and the alleged signing of the Treaty of Wedmore. -
Forces under Sigfrid leave Amiens
Forces under Sigfrid's control are paid 12,000 pounds of silver to leave Amiens -
Eric the Blood Axe is born
Eric Haraldsson was nicknamed Eric the Blood Axe, considered to be the result of raids lead by him in Scotland later in his life. He was the favoured son of Harald Fairhair who, at the time of his birth, won the battle of Hafrsfjord and began the unification of Norway. -
King Alfred of Wessex recaptures London from the Danes
In the same year, the Siege of Paris ends after King Charles of the Franks allows the Norse to pass upriver and ravage the French countryside. -
King Odo of the Franks defeats the Norse at the Battle of Montfaucon
The Norse are defeated at the Battle of Montfaucon. This begins the retreat from the Seine valley by the Norse invaders, culminating in the payment of Danegeld to the Norse at Chezy. -
Arnulf defeats the Norse at the Battle of the Dyle
Arnulf of Carinthia, King of East Francia, defeated the Norse with the bodies of the dead blocking the river. -
Norse unsuccessfully raid Pilton and Exeter
The Danish camp at Buttington is beseiged. The Danes break out and retreat to East Anglia. Chester is captured by the Danes, who must move into Wales to replace their destroyed food stores. -
Harald Fairhair completes unification of most of Norway
-
Rus fleet is ambushed and destroyed
The Rus fleet, led by Oleg, is ambushed and destroyed by the Khazars at the Battle of Itil, on the shore of the Caspian Sea. -
Norse conquer Brittany
-
The Norse recapture Dublin.
The High King of Tara and tweleve lesser kings of Ireland are killed trying to drive the Norse from Dublin. -
Rognold captures York
At the same time, the great Viking fleet of Rognvaldr landed in Nantes, France, quickly coming to dominate the region. Nantes becomes the capital of Norse lands in Brittany. -
King Aethelstan of Wessex captures York
Aethelstan drives out Guthfrith and his men, becoming recognised by the Scots, Stathclyde Britons and Northumbrians as supreme ruler. The Danes also submitted to Aethelstan's overlordship. -
Eric the Blood-Axe becomes King of Norway
Harold Fairhair abdicates the throne. Upon hearing of Eric's assumption of the throne, Aethelstan provides Eric's half brother, Haakon, with ships and men for an expedition against Eric. Eric's rule was reputedly harsh and despotic and so he fell rapidly out of favour with the Norwegian nobility. At this propitious time, Haakon returned to Norway, found a nobility eager to accept him as king instead and ousted Eric, who fled to Britain -
First sighting of Greenland by Gunnbjorn.
Gunnbjørn was blown off course while sailing from Norway to Iceland. He and his crew sighted islands (Gunnbjörn's skerries) lying close off the coast of Greenland, and reported this find. Gunnbjørn did not land. -
Rolf the Ganger, founder of Normandy, dies.
-
Eric the Blood-Axe becomes King of Northumberland
-
Eric the Blood-Axe killed at the Battle of Stainmore
Eric's death brought about the end of the Norse Kingdom in York. -
Danish control over Norway re-established
Harald Bluetooth, the King of Denmark, would later convert the Danes to Christianity. -
Olav Tryggvason born
Olav played an important part in the often forcible conversion of the Norse to Christianity. He is said to have built the first church in Norway (in 995) and to have founded the city of Trondheim (in 997). A statue of Olaf Tryggvason is located in the city's central plaza. -
Erik the Red is banished from Iceland
Erik, after being accused of cold blooded murder, is banished from Iceland for three years. He set sail for the west and found Greenland. -
First sighting of Vinland (North America)
Bjarni Herjolfsson first sights Vinland. Greenlanders Sagantells that one year he sailed to Iceland to visit his parents as usual, only to find that his father had gone with Erik the Red to Greenland. So he took his crew and set off to find him. But in that summer, Bjarni, who had no map or compass, was blown off course by a storm. He saw a piece of land that was not Greenland. It was covered with trees and mountains and although his crew begged him to, he refused to stop and look around -
Olav Tryggvarson and Svein Forkbeard unite
Olav and Svein receive 16,000 pounds of silver as Danegeld. King Aethelread of England baptises Olav. The following year, Norway is united under Olav as King of Norway. -
The Vikings defile the Shrine of Clonmacnoise
Ota, the wife of the Norse leader Turgeis, performed pagan rites on the high altar. Turgeis later took settlement of Armagh and proclaimed himself King. The Irish later captured him and drowned him in Loch Owel. -
King Alfred of Wessex dies
How he died is unknown, although he suffered throughout his life with a painful and unpleasant illness. His biographer gave a detailed description of Alfred's symptoms and this has allowed modern doctors to provide a possible diagnosis. It is thought that he either had Crohn's disease or haemorrhoidal disease. -
Norse are driven out of Dublin
The West Saxons begin attacks against the Danelaw. -
Constantinople attacked by the Rus under Prince Oleg the Wise
Swedish Viking, Oleg the Wise, led an army of eighty thousand Rus men and two thousand ships to Constantinople (known now as Istanbul). Pince stricken, the Byzantines paid a large tribute and agreed to a commercial treaty. -
Rollo founds Duchy of Normandy.
The Duchy of Normandy grew out of the Treaty of Saint-Clair-sur-Epte between King Charles III of West Francia and Rollo, leader of the Vikings. Rollo unsuccessfully beseiges Chartres but the forces were formidable enough to convince King Charles that the Vikings would make powerful allies -
Hacon the Good is born
Also known as Haakon, he was fostered by Aethelstan of England as part of a peace agreement with his father. Haakon was raised a Christian as a consequence. Haakon's half brother was Eric the Blood Axe. -
Olaf Guthfrithsson defeated by the English.
The Norse-Scottish army, under Olaf, was defeated by King Aethelstand at the Battle of Brunanburh. At the same time, the Norse are expelled from Brittany in France, and the Norse fleet at Limerick in Ireland are destroyed by the Dutch King of Dublin. -
Hacon the Good dies
Haakon dies after the battle of Fitjar, Stord (an island off the coast of Norway). The Battle of Fitjar at Stord was the last battle in a war between the sons of Eric Bloodaxe and their uncle King Haakon the Good for power over Norway. It also formed part of a contest between Norway and Denmark for control the area of Oslofjord. -
Erik the Red born
Erik Thorvaldsson, known as Erik the Red, is remembered in medieval and Icelandic saga sources as having founded the first Norse settlement in Greenland. -
Beginning of settlement in Greenland by Erik the Red
After spending the winter in Iceland, Erik returned to Greenland with a large number of colonists and established two colonies on its southwest coast: the Eastern Settlement or Eystribyggð, in modern-day Qaqortoq, and the Western Settlement or Vestribyggð, close to present-day Nuuk. -
Svein Forkbeard becomes King of Denmark.
In the mid 980s he revolted against his father and seized the throne. Harald was driven into exile and died shortly afterwards in November 986 or 987, making Svein the legitimate King of Denmark. -
Leif Erikson, son of Erik the Red, leaves Greenland.
He left Greenland with thirty-five men in search of another land. He landed at Labrador, and is taken to be the first European to discover America. According to the Sagas of Icelanders, he established a Norse settlement at Vinland, tentatively identified with the Norse L'Anse aux Meadows on the northern tip of Newfoundland in modern-day Canada. -
The Sacking of Lindisfarne Monastery
The Vikings sacked the monastery at Lindisfarne, a holy island located on the eastern coast of England. This was the beginning of the Viking Age. The English seemed to turn their back on the sea as they became more settled. Many monasteries were established on islands, peninsulas, river mouths and cliffs. Isolated communities were less susceptible to interference and the politics of the heartland. These preliminary raids were not followed up. -
Norse settlers in Normandy begin a pagan revival.
Sacrifice (blót) played a huge role in most of the rituals that are known about today, and communal feasting on the meat of sacrificed animals, together with the consumption of beer or mead, played a large role in the calendar feasts. In everyday practice, other foodstuffs like grain are likely to have been used instead. The purpose of these sacrifices was to ensure fertility and growth. However, sudden crises or transitions such as births, weddings and burials could also be the reason. In those -
Period: to
Archbishop Ebo of Rheims
The Archbishop undertakes missionary work in Denmark. -
Period: to
The Vikings raid Dorestad every year
Dorestad was located in the south eastern quadrant of the Netherlands -
Period: to
The sacking of monasteries continues
The Vikings continued their raids on monasteries with incredible speed and efficiency, this time those located in Scottish or Irish territory. These included Jarrow, Monkwearmouth, Rechru, St Patrick and St Columba.
