Skip to main content

Vikings, The

Format
EBook
Pages
109
ID
B00UZ0UJRY

At the height of their power in the ninth and tenth centuries, the Vikings seemed invincible – conquering, well-armed warriors whose ships
were the ultimate in seafaring technology. From island bases near the deltas of major rivers, they used the waterways to scour the
countryside, looting and burning towns, plundering merchant shipments, and stripping churches and monasteries of their gold, silver, and
jeweled treasures.
The Norsemen eventually penetrated all of England and Scotland, founded cities in Ireland, gained a powerful province in France,
controlled Frisia and the modern Netherlands, and raided lands around Spain, passing into the Mediterranean to attack Italy and North
Africa. They established the first Russian kingdom, challenged Constantinople, and provided a personal guard for the Byzantine emperor.
They settled Iceland, where they developed Europe's first republic, founded two colonies on Greenland, and explored parts of North
America five centuries before Christopher Columbus landed in the Americas. Then, like the abrupt end of a summer thunderstorm, their
adventures ceased.
Here is their dramatic story.

We hope you enjoy our work.

Please support this magazine of trusted historical writing, now in its 75th year, and the volunteers that sustain it with a donation to American Heritage.

Donate