8.6.793 Viking raids into Western Europe began

Vikings sacked the monastery in early June 793 Lindisfarne in the north of England. Some of the monks were impaled on swords, others drowned, and still others were led away in chains. This attack began the Viking raids on western Europe.

The Vikings entered history in the late 8th and 9th centuries as sea raiders who terrorized Europe from Dublin to Constantinople. During their raids, they employed hit-and-run tactics. However, they subsequently settled in some places. The Viking raids are said to have begun on 8 June 793, when they sacked the monastery of Lindisfarne in northern England.

Until then, the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms in England, which had been formed by the invasions of the Saxons, Angles and Jutes in the 5th century, enjoyed a satisfying sense of security from outside attack. Nothing encapsulated this feeling better than the location of Lindisfarne Monastery, a renowned centre of learning on an island off the coast of Northumbria. When Viking warships set out on a marauding raid across the North Sea, Lindisfarne was at their mercy.

Some of the monks were put to the sword, others were drowned and others were taken away in chains, presumably to be sold into slavery. "It is nearly 350 years since we and our forefathers settled this beautiful land, but never before has there been such terror aswe now face from the heathen race," was the reaction of the York scholar Alcuin to the shocking news of the sack of Lindisfarne.

TheVikingliked the prospect of rich booty and continued their raids. "Since the end of the 8th century, we have been talking about the era of thesViking. In 793, the English town ofLindisfarne is attacked. From then on, DanishVikings begin to settle on the east coast. Their influence extends far inland," writes Václav Blažek in Ancient Germanic Languages.

In the following century, Viking raids along the coast of the European mainland continued with greater frequency, with Utrecht and Antwerp among the first. In the 1840s, the interior of France was also plundered by Vikings sailing up the Seine and Loire. In 845, a fleet of 120 ships under Ragnar attacked Paris for the first time. The French King Charles the Bald had no choice but to pay them £7,000 in silver.

Soon, however, the Vikings began to overwinter in France and, in response to population growth in Scandinavia, favoured colonisation over plunder. Famous Viking ships allowed Vikingers to explore near and far, including North America, Russia and the Byzantine Empire.

Sources.

R. G. Grant: Battles - 5000 Years of Warfare