Chapter II Who were the Normans? Normans - briefly Who are the Normans in which countries

Normans is one of the names of the northern peoples. This is how the inhabitants of Central and Southern Europe in the 8th-11th centuries called detachments of fierce warriors who sailed from cold countries. Raids were regular, detachments turned into armies, and as a result the map of Europe was redrawn.

Numerous synonyms

The huge Frankish empire created by the representative of the Carolingian dynasty, Charlemagne, disappeared from the face of the Earth. England was captured. The Spaniards, whose country the robbers also reached, called them pagan monsters - madhouses, putting all the horror of them into the name. The British called them ascemans, that is, sailing on boats made of strong ash. In Ancient Rus' they were called Varangians. They are also known as “Vikings” (later it was proven that the Normans themselves used the term “Viking” to describe their sea voyage). We can say that the Normans are conquerors, as the Frankish poet said, “brave to excess.” Thanks to the audacity, fearlessness, and agility of the warriors, their raids were always successful, but characterized by cruelty. Their fame spread far - all European rulers were afraid of them, but they also dreamed of having them in their service.

Warriors from generation to generation

The Normans were born warriors. It was not only the harsh nature and living conditions on the shores of the northern seas that made them so. The religion and laws of the country were essentially militaristic. Only warriors who glorified themselves in battles ended up in the happy afterlife, where the Valkyries would forever please them. Even a wounded and dying soldier could not leave the battlefield and had to kill enemies until his last breath. And then Odin himself (the supreme deity) appeared for him and took him to the fabulous heavenly country of Volhall for eternal bliss. Normans are people who have no pity for their enemies or for themselves. Their laws were shockingly cruel. According to one of them, frail old people and defective children (even with minor deviations) were killed. The norms of their life have evolved over centuries.

Reasons for raids

The meager nature, which did not make it possible to grow the required amount of food, forced them to cruelly treat loved ones, determined the need for raids on nearby fertile and rich territories, which were located both in the south, and in the east and west. The conquerors did not disdain the lifeless northern territories; they actively settled them, forming their own colonies there. Rich lands were located beyond the seas, and the expanses of water became a second home for the Normans. They had excellent ships, stable and hardy. The warriors were also rowers; they were not at all afraid of the sea and swam far into the depths. Long before Columbus they discovered America, albeit North America.

Discipline and subordination

The Normans were excellent sailors, excellent at oars and sails, with and against the wind. Beautiful warriors and fearless pioneers, fear of whom reached the most remote corners of Europe, were surrounded by legends. The most talented, brave and ruthless warriors became badgers, who were considered werewolves. They were invincible. The army observed strict discipline, unconditional subordination of ordinary soldiers to their senior ranks, and had its own code of honor. They had stubbornness in achieving their goals and composure that did not allow them to deviate from the intended path. The character was “Nordic, self-possessed.” Most importantly, they had the ultimate goal - to create their own rich state, and all methods for this were good. But over time they changed.

The beginning of wide expansion

The history of the Normans (and there is documentary evidence of this) dates back to 789. Three ships landed on the shores of England, carrying Danes from Harland, subjects of King Beothric. And after the devastation of the monastery of the island of Lindisfarne, which followed 4 years later and received great publicity, several more raids were launched before the end of the century. After this there was a 40-year relative calm. But in 835, with the destruction of Sheppey, an English island off the coast, it all began. Annual devastating campaigns of the Normans to the shores of nearby European states followed. On some English islands, the Vikings, who undertook campaigns mainly in spring and summer, spent the winter.

Goals have been achieved

The Anglo-Saxons called them pagans, or northern people. The name "Normans" was given to them by the Franks. In 855-856, a huge army of pagans landed on the coast of East Anglia for good. But England was completely conquered only in 1066 by the Duke of Normandy (northern region of France) William, who is known in history as the Conqueror. That is, at first the Normans raided even Paris, founded their state on the territory of the Frankish empire that collapsed under their blows, and from there they attacked England.

The story of the Normans with their accession to the English and Sicilian throne, in general, ends. Yes, and they were already called Normans then. The raids ended because the warriors became farmers. They now had enough fertile land, and they could ensure a decent life for themselves without resorting to weapons.

Born to win

The conquests of the Normans lasted for three centuries. As a result, parts of Ireland and Scotland were conquered in the 9th century. Constant attempts to conquer England led to the fact that in the 9th-10th centuries the northern, eastern and central parts of the country were occupied by the Normans. And the conquered territory was called Danelare (“Area of ​​Danish Law”).

They raided Frisia, a coastal region between present-day Denmark and the Netherlands. The Norman conquests extended beyond Spain and Portugal. In 859, a large flotilla of more than 60 ships, filled to capacity with plunder from Spain, arrived on the shores of North Africa. Since 844, raids on Spain were regular, and for a time they even managed to capture Seville.

Any territory was available to them

During all their campaigns, the Viking Normans adapted very successfully to the environment and assimilated with the local population. They entered southern Italy at the beginning of the 11th century, and by 1071 it all fell under the rule of the Normans.

The Vikings played a very important role. They actively participated in the creation. Along the Volkhov, Lovat, Dnieper and Volga rivers, the Viking Normans reached the Black Sea and approached the shores. Some of them, engaged in trade, reached Baghdad along the Volga and the Caspian Sea. It was not only the warm lands that attracted the Normans. The famous Viking founded a colony in Greenland in 985, which, despite the very harsh climate and difficult living conditions, lasted 400 years. Sagas are dedicated to the famous leader of the settlers, which indicate that one of the sons of Eric the Red visited North America around the year 1000.

Raids are not an end in themselves

For the Vikings, especially in the 10th-11th centuries, raids were not an end in themselves. In many areas they settled, forming states, regions, and colonies. Some settled in Scotland, some in Southern Italy. The Norman state was created in Sicily, France, and England. In some places, the result was achieved by direct seizure of the country and the overthrow of the legitimate monarch, as in England. The troops of the last Anglo-Saxon king, Harold Godwinson, were defeated at Hastings. The throne goes to the winner, William the Conqueror. The first Norman state in southern Italy arose in the county of Aversa. It was followed by Melfi and Solerno, Calabria, Apulia and Naples. Later, all these entities were united into the Kingdom of Sicily. As a rule, the Vikings first entered the service of the local nobility and then overthrew them.

The emergence of Normandy

It should be noted that the Normans had a managerial genius. They did not destroy the previous power structures, but took the best of what was achieved. The amazing ability of the Vikings to adapt already formed legal and cultural institutions to their own needs is noted. They respected the customs and achievements of the conquered peoples. The Norman state in France, called Normandy, began with the occupation of these lands in the 9th century by Norwegian and Danish Vikings. They were controlled by Hrolf the Pedestrian, so named because no horse could carry his huge body, and he was forced to move on foot. The Normans forced Charles III the Simple to recognize the lands at the mouth of the Seine as their property. Hrolf recognized himself as a vassal of Charles, married his daughter and took the Christian name Rollon. The Normans who arrived with him converted to Christianity and willingly mixed with the local population. Taking all the best from feudal France, the Normans created a good state power structure both in Normandy and in England and Sicily.

Revived popularity

The meaning of the word “Normans” is the simplest. It is translated from the Scandinavian northman literally - “northern man”. As already noted, these peoples, who lived in Scandinavia, became widely known thanks to widespread expansion in the 8th-11th centuries. The Normans combined warriors, sailors, merchants, discoverers and travelers.

Naturally, the great people had their own traditions, religion, and literature. The Norman culture is a branch of the ancient Germanic culture. Impressions of numerous campaigns were passed on from mouth to mouth and sagas were composed. Poets called skalds were especially honored. The Viking religion, embodied in myths, has brought down to the present day the names of pagan gods - the main deity Odin and 12 others - Thor, Loki, Bragi, Heimndall and others. There were also 4 goddesses - Frigg, Freya, Idun, Sif. Mythology was formed from the 5th century until the adoption of Christianity. The “Elder Edda” written in verse and the prose “Younger Edda” are the main sources. Throughout the territory where the Normans lived or their paths lay, steles carved with runic signs have survived to this day; archaeologists have found jewelry and talismans. Everything about the Normans has spawned a powerful pop culture these days - hundreds of video games, cartoons, popular novels.

Another name

People from Scandinavia had many names; in each country they were called differently - in Rus' they were given the name “Varyags”. The Normans who came to Rus' from the north were hired to serve the Russian princes, who willingly became related to them, since the blood of Rurik flowed in their veins, who founded in the 9th century. He was the founder of the princely family, which later turned into the first Russian royal dynasty. The Normans in Russia have always been personified as powerful, invincible warriors. Therefore, the warship was given the name “Varyag”, and many people still know the words of the song, glorifying courage and loyalty to the Fatherland.

The Normans are the Germanic population of Scandinavia. This name mainly refers to gangs of wild sea robbers who have been attacking the shores of Western Europe for a long time, known to the French and Germans as the Normans, to the English as the Danes, and to the Irish as the Ostmanns. The reasons for these raids were, on the one hand, the poverty of the country, which encouraged the inhabitants to seek food outside their homeland, and on the other hand, the right of inheritance, which legitimized the father’s property for the eldest sons, and doomed the younger ones to sea robbery.

Norman warriors

Ancient peoples. Normans

England suffered the longest from the Norman raids. In the first half of the 11th century, the Danes temporarily subjugated it, and from 1066 England came under the rule of the Duke of Normandy, William the Conqueror.

In the 9th century, the Normans penetrated the Mediterranean Sea, devastating the shores of the Iberian Peninsula, Africa, Italy, Asia Minor, etc. (See the article Vikings in the Mediterranean Sea.) At the beginning of the 11th century, Norman Christian pilgrims from France entered Italy. Here they helped the princes of Capua, Naples, Salerno in their struggle against each other, as well as against the Byzantine Greeks and Saracens. In 1027, they received a fertile district from the Duke of Naples, where they founded a county, which grew thanks to the influx of new people from their homeland. The offensive movement of the Normans in the south of Italy took on wider dimensions when ten sons of the famous Norman knight, Count Tancred of Gotville, arrived here with their squads from Normandy, of whom they became especially famous Robert Guiscard And RogerI. In 1038, the Normans, in alliance with the Greeks, fought against the Saracens and, after the former refused to allocate part of the conquered land to them, they took Apulia from them, making (1040-43) its count William the Ironhand. His brother, Humfred, took the pope prisoner in 1053 LeoIX, who, in order to secure the apostolic throne, granted the winner all the lands of Lower Italy. The Normans in return recognized themselves as vassals of the popes. They actively participated in the crusades that soon began. One of Humphred's successors, RogerII, united under his rule all the conquests of the Normans in Italy, and in 1130 the pope crowned him king of Neapolitan and Sicilian. The successors of Roger II stayed here until 1189, when all these possessions passed to the German imperial dynasty Hohenstaufen.

Part of the Norman Vikings, heading towards England, captured the Shetland and Orkney Islands and, under the leadership of Naddodd, reached Iceland (860), which quickly began to be settled by settlers from Norway. From Iceland the Normans continued their raids further. Erich the Red reached Greenland (896), and others even reached present-day Carolina. However, these discoveries were soon forgotten due to the danger of the journey, and only in Iceland did the Norman colonies survive.

In the East, the Normans raided the tribes that inhabited the shores of the Baltic Sea (Finns, Estonians, Slavs). They were known here as

VIKINGS (Normans), sea robbers, immigrants from Scandinavia, who committed in the 9th–11th centuries. hikes up to 8000 km long, maybe even longer distances. These daring and fearless people in the east reached the borders Persia, and in the west - the New World.

The word "Viking" comes from the Old Norse "vikingr". There are a number of hypotheses regarding its origin, the most convincing of which traces it to “vik” - fiord, bay. The word "Viking" (lit. "man from the fiord") was used to refer to robbers who operated in coastal waters, hiding in secluded bays and bays. They were known in Scandinavia long before they became infamous in Europe. The French called the Vikings Normans or various variations of this word (Norsmanns, Northmanns - literally “people from the north”); The British indiscriminately called all Scandinavians Danes, and the Slavs, Greeks, Khazars, and Arabs called the Swedish Vikings Rus or Varangians.

Wherever the Vikings went - to the British Isles, France, Spain, Italy or North Africa - they mercilessly plundered and captured foreign lands. In some cases, they settled in conquered countries and became their rulers. Danish Vikings conquered England for some time and settled in Scotland and Ireland. Together they conquered a part of France known as Normandy. The Norwegian Vikings and their descendants created colonies on the North Atlantic islands of Iceland and Greenland and founded a settlement on the coast of Newfoundland in North America, which, however, did not last long. Swedish Vikings began to rule in the eastern Baltic. They spread widely throughout Rus' and, going down the rivers to the Black and Caspian Seas, even threatened Constantinople and some regions of Persia. The Vikings were the last Germanic barbarian conquerors and the first European pioneer seafarers.

There are different interpretations of the reasons for the violent outbreak of Viking activity in the 9th century. There is evidence that Scandinavia was overpopulated and many Scandinavians went abroad to seek their fortune. The rich but undefended cities and monasteries of their southern and western neighbors were easy prey. It was unlikely that there would be any resistance from the scattered kingdoms of the British Isles or the weakened empire of Charlemagne, consumed by dynastic strife. During the Viking Age, national monarchies gradually consolidated in Norway, Sweden and Denmark. Ambitious leaders and powerful clans fought for power. Defeated leaders and their followers, as well as the younger sons of victorious leaders, unabashedly embraced unfettered plunder as a way of life. Energetic young men from influential families usually gained prestige through participation in one or more campaigns. Many Scandinavians engaged in robbery in the summer and then turned into ordinary landowners. However, the Vikings were not only attracted by the temptation of prey. The prospect of establishing trade opened the way to wealth and power. In particular, immigrants from Sweden controlled trade routes in Rus'.

The English term "Viking" comes from the Old Norse word vkingr, which could have several meanings. The most acceptable, apparently, origin is from the word vk - bay, or bay. Therefore, the word vkingr translates to “man from the bay.” The term was used to describe the marauders who took refuge in coastal waters long before the Vikings became notorious in the outside world. However, not all Scandinavians were sea robbers, and the terms “Viking” and “Scandinavian” cannot be considered synonymous. The French usually called the Vikings Normans, and the British indiscriminately classified all Scandinavians as Danes. The Slavs, Khazars, Arabs and Greeks who communicated with the Swedish Vikings called them Rus or Varangians.

LIFESTYLE

Abroad, the Vikings acted as robbers, conquerors and traders, but at home they mainly farmed the land, hunted, fished and raised livestock. The independent peasant, working alone or with his relatives, formed the basis of Scandinavian society. No matter how small his allotment, he remained free and was not tied as a serf to land that belonged to another person. Family ties were strongly developed in all layers of Scandinavian society, and in important matters its members usually acted together with relatives. The clans jealously guarded the good names of their fellow tribesmen, and violating the honor of any of them often led to cruel civil strife.

Women played an important role in the family. They could own property and independently decide on marriage and divorce from an unsuitable spouse. However, outside the family hearth, women's participation in public life remained insignificant.

Food. In Viking times, most people ate two meals a day. The main products were meat, fish and cereal grains. Meat and fish were usually boiled, less often fried. For storage, these products were dried and salted. The cereals used were rye, oats, barley and several types of wheat. Usually porridge was made from their grains, but sometimes bread was baked. Vegetables and fruits were rarely eaten. Drinks consumed were milk, beer, fermented honey drink, and in the upper classes of society, imported wine.

Cloth. Peasant clothing consisted of a long woolen shirt, short baggy pants, stockings and a rectangular cape. Vikings from the upper classes wore long pants, socks and capes in bright colors. Woolen mittens and hats, as well as fur hats and even felt hats, were in use. Women from high society usually wore long clothes consisting of a bodice and a skirt. Thin chains hung from the buckles on the clothes, to which scissors and a case for needles, a knife, keys and other small items were attached. Married women wore their hair in a bun and wore conical white linen caps. Unmarried girls had their hair tied up with a ribbon.

Housing. Peasant dwellings were usually simple one-room houses, built either from tightly fitted vertical beams, or more often from wickerwork coated with clay. Wealthy people usually lived in a large rectangular house, which housed numerous relatives. In heavily forested Scandinavia, such houses were built from wood, often in combination with clay, and in Iceland and Greenland, where wood was scarce, local stone was widely used. There they built walls 90 cm thick or more. Roofs were usually covered with peat. The central living room of the house was low and dark, with a long fireplace in the middle of it. There they cooked, ate and slept. Sometimes inside the house, pillars were installed in a row along the walls to support the roof, and the side rooms fenced off in this way were used as bedrooms.

Literature and art. The Vikings valued skill in battle, but they also revered literature, history and art.

Viking literature existed in oral form, and only some time after the end of the Viking Age did the first written works appear. The runic alphabet was then used only for inscriptions on tombstones, for magic spells and short messages. But Iceland has preserved rich folklore. It was written down at the end of the Viking Age using the Latin alphabet by scribes who wanted to immortalize the exploits of their ancestors.

Among the treasures of Icelandic literature are the long prose narratives known as sagas. They are divided into three main types. In the most important ones, the so-called family sagas describe real characters from the Viking Age. Several dozen family sagas have survived, five of them are comparable in volume to large novels. The other two types are historical sagas, telling of the Norse kings and the settlement of Iceland, and late Viking Age fictional adventure sagas, reflecting the influence of the Byzantine Empire and India. Another major prose work to emerge from Iceland is the Prose Edda, a collection of myths recorded by Snorri Sturluson, a 13th-century Icelandic historian and politician.

Poetry was held in high esteem by the Vikings. Icelandic hero and adventurer Egil Skallagrimsson was as proud of his title as a poet as he was of his achievements in battle. Improvisational poets (skalds) sang the virtues of jarls (leaders) and princes in complex poetic stanzas. Much simpler than the poetry of the skalds were songs about the gods and heroes of the past, preserved in the collection known as the Elder Edda.

Viking art was primarily decorative in nature. The predominant motifs - whimsical animals and energetic abstract compositions of interlacing ribbons - were used in wood carvings, fine gold and silver work, and decorations on rune stones and monuments that were set up to commemorate important events.

Religion. In the beginning, the Vikings worshiped pagan gods and goddesses. The most important of them were Thor, Din, Frey and the goddess Freya; Njord, Ull, Balder and several other household gods were of lesser importance. The gods were worshiped in temples or in sacred forests, groves and springs. The Vikings also believed in many supernatural creatures: trolls, elves, giants, mermen and magical inhabitants of forests, hills and rivers.

Blood sacrifices were often performed. Sacrificial animals were usually eaten by the priest and his entourage at feasts held in temples. There were also human sacrifices, even ritual killings of kings to ensure the well-being of the country. In addition to priests and priestesses, there were sorcerers who practiced black magic.

People of the Viking Age placed great importance on luck as a type of spiritual power inherent in any person, but especially in leaders and kings. Nevertheless, that era was characterized by a pessimistic and fatalistic attitude. Fate was presented as an independent factor above gods and people. According to some poets and philosophers, people and gods were doomed to go through a powerful struggle and cataclysm known as Ragnark (Il. - "end of the world").

Christianity slowly spread northward and provided an attractive alternative to paganism. In Denmark and Norway, Christianity was established in the 10th century, Icelandic leaders adopted the new religion in 1000, and Sweden in the 11th century, but in the north of this country pagan beliefs persisted until the beginning of the 12th century.

MILITARY ART

Viking campaigns. Detailed information about the Viking campaigns is known mainly from written reports of the victims, who did not spare colors to describe the devastation that the Scandinavians brought with them. The first Viking campaigns were carried out using the “hit and run” principle. Without warning, they appeared from the sea on light, fast ships and attacked poorly guarded objects known for their wealth. The Vikings cut down the few defenders with swords, and enslaved the rest of the inhabitants, seized valuables, and set everything else on fire. Gradually they began to use horses in their campaigns.

Weapon. The weapons of the Vikings were bows and arrows, as well as a variety of swords, spears and battle axes. Swords and spear and arrowheads were usually made of iron or steel. Yew or elm wood was preferred for bows, and braided hair was usually used as a bowstring.

Viking shields had a round or oval shape. Usually the shields were made from light pieces of linden wood, trimmed along the edges and across with iron strips. There was a pointed plaque in the center of the shield. For protection, warriors also wore metal or leather helmets, often with horns, and warriors from the nobility often wore chain mail.

Viking ships. The highest technical achievement of the Vikings were their warships. These boats, kept in exemplary order, were often described with great love in Viking poetry and were a source of pride for them. The narrow frame of such a vessel was very convenient for approaching the shore and quickly passing along rivers and lakes. Lighter ships were especially suitable for surprise attacks; they could be dragged from one river to another to bypass rapids, waterfalls, dams and fortifications. The disadvantage of these ships was that they were not sufficiently adapted for long voyages on the open sea, which was compensated for by the navigational art of the Vikings.

Viking boats differed in the number of pairs of rowing oars, large ships - in the number of rowing benches. 13 pairs of oars determined the minimum size of a combat vessel. The very first ships were designed for 40–80 people each, and a large keel ship of the 11th century. could accommodate several hundred people. Such large combat units exceeded 46 m in length.

Ships were often built from planks laid in overlapping rows and held together by curved frames. Above the waterline, most of the warships were brightly painted. Carved dragon heads, sometimes gilded, adorned the bows of ships. The same decoration could be on the stern, and in some cases there was a writhing tail of a dragon. When sailing in the waters of Scandinavia, these decorations were usually removed so as not to frighten the good spirits. Often, when approaching a port, shields were hung in a row on the sides of ships, but this was not allowed on the open sea.

Viking ships moved with the help of sails and oars. The simple, square-shaped sail, made from rough canvas, was often painted with stripes and checkered designs. The mast could be shortened and even removed altogether. With the help of skillful devices, the captain could steer the ship against the wind. The ships were controlled by a blade-shaped rudder mounted on the stern on the starboard side.

Several surviving Viking ships are on display in museums in Scandinavian countries. One of the most famous, discovered in 1880 in Gokstad (Norway), dates back to approximately 900 AD. It reaches a length of 23.3 m and a width of 5.3 m. The ship had a mast and 32 oars, and it had 32 shields. In some places, elegant carved decorations have been preserved. The navigational capabilities of such a vessel were demonstrated in 1893, when a replica of it sailed from Norway to Newfoundland in four weeks. This copy is now in Lincoln Park in Chicago.

STORY

Vikings in Western Europe. Information about the first significant Viking raid dates back to 793 AD, when the monastery at Lindisfarne on Holy Island off the east coast of Scotland was sacked and burned. Nine years later the monastery at Iona in the Hebrides was devastated. These were pirate raids by the Norwegian Vikings.

Soon the Vikings moved on to capture large territories. At the end of the 9th - beginning of the 10th century. they took possession of Shetland, Orkney and the Hebrides and settled in the far north of Scotland. In the 11th century for unknown reasons they left these lands. The Shetland Islands remained in Norwegian hands until the 16th century.

Norwegian Viking raids on Ireland began in the 9th century. In 830 they established a wintering settlement in Ireland and by 840 they had taken control of large areas of that country. The Viking positions were mainly strong in the south and east. This situation continued until 1170, when the British invaded Ireland and drove out the Vikings.

It was mainly Danish Vikings who entered England. In 835 they made a trip to the mouth of the Thames, in 851 they settled on the islands of Sheppey and Thanet in the Thames estuary, and in 865 they began the conquest of East Anglia. King Alfred the Great of Wessex eventually stopped their advance, but was forced to cede lands north of a line running from London to the north-eastern edge of Wales. This territory, called Danelag (Danish Law Area), was gradually reconquered by the English in the next century, but repeated Viking raids in the early 11th century. led to the restoration of the power of their king Cnut and his sons, this time over all of England. Ultimately, in 1042, as a result of a dynastic marriage, the throne passed to the English. However, even after this, Danish raids continued until the end of the century.

Norman raids on the coastal regions of the Frankish state began at the end of the 8th century. Gradually, the Scandinavians gained a foothold at the mouth of the Seine and other rivers of northern France. In 911, the French king Charles III the Simple concluded a forced peace with the leader of the Normans, Rollon, and granted him Rouen and the surrounding lands, to which new territories were added a few years later. The Duchy of Rollon attracted a lot of immigrants from Scandinavia and soon received the name Normandy. The Normans adopted the language, religion and customs of the Franks.

In 1066, Duke William of Normandy, known in history as William the Conqueror, the illegitimate son of Robert I, a descendant of Rollo and the fifth Duke of Normandy, invaded England, defeated King Harold (and killed him) at the Battle of Hastings and took the English throne. The Normans undertook campaigns of conquest in Wales and Ireland, many of them settled in Scotland.

At the beginning of the 11th century. The Normans penetrated into southern Italy, where they took part in military operations against the Arabs in Salerno as mercenary soldiers. Then new settlers began to arrive here from Scandinavia and established themselves in small towns, taking them by force from their former employers and their neighbors. The most famous among Norman adventurers were the sons of Count Tancred of Hauteville, who captured Apulia in 1042. In 1053 they defeated the army of Pope Leo IX, forcing him to make peace with them and give Apulia and Calabria as a fief. By 1071 all of southern Italy fell under Norman rule. One of Tancred's sons, Duke Robert, nicknamed Guiscard ("The Cunning Man"), supported the pope in the fight against Emperor Henry IV. Robert's brother Roger I started a war with the Arabs in Sicily. In 1061 he took Messina, but only 13 years later the island came under the rule of the Normans. Roger II united the Norman possessions in southern Italy and Sicily under his rule, and in 1130 Pope Anacletus II declared him king of Sicily, Calabria and Capua.

In Italy, as elsewhere, the Normans demonstrated their amazing ability to adapt and assimilate in a foreign cultural environment. The Normans played an important role in the Crusades, in the history of the Kingdom of Jerusalem and other states formed by the Crusaders in the East.

Vikings in Iceland and Greenland. Iceland was discovered by Irish monks, and then at the end of the 9th century. inhabited by Norwegian Vikings. The first settlers were leaders with their entourage who fled from Norway from the despotism of King Harold, nicknamed Fairhair. For several centuries, Iceland remained independent, ruled by powerful leaders called godars. They met annually in the summer at meetings of the Althing, which was the prototype of the first parliament. However, the Althing could not resolve the feuds between the leaders, and in 1262 Iceland submitted to the Norwegian king. It regained its independence only in 1944.

In 986, the Icelander Erik the Red carried away several hundred colonists to the southwestern coast of Greenland, which he had discovered several years earlier. They settled in the area of ​​Västerbygden (“western settlement”) at the edge of the ice cap on the shores of the Ameralikfjord. Even for the hardy Icelanders, the harsh conditions of southern Greenland proved difficult. Hunting, fishing and whaling, they lived in the area for approx. 400 years. However, around 1350 the settlements were completely abandoned. Historians have yet to figure out why the colonists, who had accumulated considerable experience of life in the North, suddenly left these places. Here, climate cooling, a chronic shortage of grain, and the almost complete isolation of Greenland from Scandinavia after the plague epidemic in the mid-14th century could probably have played a major role.

Vikings in North America. One of the most controversial issues in Scandinavian archeology and philology is related to the study of the attempts of the Greenlanders to establish a colony in North America. Two Icelandic family sagas, Erik the Red's Saga and the Greenlanders' Saga, detail visits to the American coast c. 1000. According to these sources, North America was discovered by Bjadni Herjolfsson, the son of a Greenlandic pioneer, but the main characters of the sagas are Leif Eriksson, son of Erik the Red, and Thorfinn Thordarson, nicknamed Karlsabni. Leif Ericsson's base was apparently located in the area of ​​L'Anse aux Meadows, located in the far north of the coast of Newfoundland. Leif, along with his associates, carefully explored an area of ​​a more temperate climate located much further south, which he called Vinland. Karlsabney assembled a detachment to create a colony in Vinland in 1004 or 1005 (the location of this colony could not be determined). The newcomers met resistance from the local residents and were forced to return to Greenland three years later.

Leif Eriksson's brothers Thorstein and Torvald also took part in the exploration of the New World. It is known that Torvald was killed by the Aborigines. Greenlanders traveled to America for timber even after the end of the Viking Age.

End of the Viking Age. The vigorous activity of the Vikings ended at the end of the 11th century. A number of factors contributed to the cessation of expeditions and discoveries that had lasted more than 300 years. In Scandinavia itself, monarchies were firmly entrenched and orderly feudal relations were established among the nobility, similar to those that existed in the rest of Europe, opportunities for uncontrolled raiding diminished, and incentives for aggressive activity abroad waned. Political and social stabilization in countries outside Scandinavia allowed them to resist Viking raids. The Vikings, who had already settled in France, Russia, Italy and the British Isles, were gradually assimilated by the local population.

Materials from the encyclopedia “The World Around Us” were used.

Literature:

Gurevich A. Ya. Viking Campaigns. M., 1966.

Ingstad H. In the footsteps of Leiv the Happy. L., 1969

Icelandic sagas. M., 1973

Firks I. Viking ships. L., 1982

In June 793, residents of a small monastery on an island off northeastern England saw the sails of unknown ships at sea. Severe warriors with battle axes in their hands attacked the monastery, robbed it and set it on fire. Some monks were killed, the rest were taken into slavery.

Since then, for about 2 and a half centuries, Britain and other European states were raided by the Normans (“northern people”) - northern Germans: Norwegians, Swedes, Danes.

They lived in the Scandinavian and Jutland peninsulas, the North Sea islands and the western Baltic. A huge number of mountain ranges, dense forests, rocky and poor soils - everything made Scandinavia unsuitable for farmers. They practiced only in river valleys. Livestock was raised on mountain pastures. Residents of the coastal zone fished, hunted walruses and even whales.

Most Scandinavians left their homeland. They went on sea trips to attack in order to mine or seize fertile lands. The Scandinavians themselves called such participants in the campaigns Vikings. The Vikings were either robbers, booty traders, conquerors or peaceful settlers.

Viking raids took the population of Western Europe by surprise. Noticing from afar their long undecked ships under a rectangular woolen red or striped sail, which could accommodate up to a hundred people each, with terrifying carved heads of dragons or snakes on their bows, the population of the coast fled into the forests along with livestock and household utensils. Those who did not have time to hide died under the blows of the battle axes of the Normans or were taken prisoner. Everything that the raiders could not take with them, they burned. The people at that time often prayed like this: “God, deliver us from the evil of the Normans!”

From rare raids on the coasts by small detachments, the Vikings moved on to mass campaigns. Their leaders set up camps at the mouths of large rivers, gathered forces there, and then, going upstream, made their way into the interior of the country. Several times the Vikings besieged Paris and attacked other cities in France. The kings were forced to pay them off with silver.

In Rus', the Normans were called Varangians. The Varangians also made campaigns in Eastern Europe. They reached the upper reaches of the Volga and descended along it all the way to the Caspian Sea, where they traded with the Arabs and other peoples of the East. This explains the discovery of Norman armor with Arabic inscriptions. Along the Dnieper, the Varangians sailed to the Black Sea and even reached Constantinople. This was the great route from the Vikings to the Greeks. The Varangians, especially the Swedes and Norwegians, often settled in Rus' (served as hired warriors) and mixed with the Slavs. Even from one of their rulers, Rurik, they traced their princely family of Ancient Rus' - the Rurikovichs.

The Normans, having bypassed the Iberian Peninsula, went into the Mediterranean Sea, attacked the southern cities of France and Italy, and various islands.

The Vikings were excellent sailors and fighters. But, of course, the successes of the Normans were mainly caused by the weakness of the countries of Europe, weakened by internecine wars.

They undertook campaigns almost every year, they occupied it and owned it until 1036. During the Carolingian civil strife, the Normans ravaged and devastated the coasts of northwestern Germany and France. From Germany, the Normans were expelled by Arnulf of Carinthia with a victory at Leuven (891), while in France, King Charles III the Simple in 912 ceded Normandy to the Norman leader Rollon (baptized Robert), who recognized the French king as overlord.

Norman expansion

The Normans were participants in the sea voyages of the Scandinavians at the end of the 8th - mid-11th centuries. They called themselves Vikings; the Greeks and Slavs knew them under the name Varangians, the inhabitants of Western Europe - as the Normans. The Frankish lands were mainly visited by the inhabitants of modern Norway, as well as Jutland. Historians describe the Normans as greedy, warlike, hardy, eloquent people, prone to mixing with foreign populations. The Normans should not be confused with other Viking groups, such as the Danes in England or the Varangians in Rus'.

Normans in France

Coat of arms of the Dukes of Normandy

The Normans came to England as carriers of the French language, French culture (albeit with their own characteristics) and the French feudal state structure. The conquerors brought with them the French language - its northern, Norman dialect. (The Normans are northern Vikings, whose homeland was Scandinavia. For the Normans, who adopted French culture and language, Scandinavia was their ancestral home). But the memory of their heroic ancestors was alive. Over time, the Normans migrated and occupied some territories in Europe.

During the centuries following the conquest, the so-called Anglo-Norman dialect was formed in England, which included, as the name suggests, elements of both English and Norman. Anglo-Norman existed in England until the end of the 14th century, after which it disappeared without a trace. Until the 14th century, it was not only the language spoken by the nobility, but also the language of fiction, although there are few monuments left in it.

Normans in Scotland

Normans in Ireland

The Normans had a significant influence on Irish culture, people and history. At first, in the 12th century, they still retained their originality, but gradually adopted the culture of Ireland and became “more Irish than the Irish themselves” (a widespread phrase since the Middle Ages, in Latin “Hiberniores Hibernis ipsis”, origin unknown). They settled mainly in the east of Ireland, in an area with a radius of approximately 20 miles around Dublin. Many palaces and settlements were built, including Trim Castle and Dublin Castle. Cultures mixed, borrowing vocabulary, skills and outlook from each other.

Normans in the Mediterranean

Successful bands of Normans successfully sailed far south from Normandy. Groups of warriors, called up for service by the feudal lords of Southern Italy, gradually received control of the cities of Aversa and Capua. Later, the Normans emerged from vassalage and conquered the provinces of Apulia and Calabria.

From these bases, the more organized principalities were eventually able to recapture the islands of Sicily and Malta from the Saracens. Areas ruled by the Normans included Abruzzo, Apulia,