The Vikings: Historic Overview
Please find below the main events of the age of the Vikings in chronological order from the late 8th century up to the beginning of the 12th century.
Year | Event |
from 790 | Start of the viking crusade in Western Europe. |
793 | Viking attack on the monastery of Lindisfarne in Northumberland, England. |
799 | The first attacks on the Franks start at the monastery of St. Philibert Noirmoutier. |
800 | Coronation of Charles the Great. He established a coastal defense north of the Seine estuary. |
810 | The King Godfred of Denmark is murdered. |
810 | A Danish fleet takes Friesland and collects toll fees. |
814 | Death of Charlemagne and succession by his son Louis the Pious I. |
819 | Harald's recognition as king beside the two sons of Gotfreds in Denmark. |
823 | Mission by Archbishop Ebbo in Denmark. |
825 | Danish coinage begins in Haithabu, an important trading settlement in the south of the Danish Jutland peninsula (now north Germany) |
827 | Harald's expulsion from Denmark. |
829-837 | Ansgar first mission trips to Birka in Norway |
830 | Increasing Viking attacks on England and the Franks. |
832 | Ansgar gets consecrated for bishop of Hamburg. |
836 | Defeat of the West Saxons against the Vikings. Expansion of the attacks on Ireland. |
841 | Viking Longphort established in Dublin |
844 | Assault on Toulouse and the first raids on Spain |
845 | Looting of Hamburg and Paris |
848 | Vikings conquer Bordeaux |
848/849 | Additionaly to Hamburg, Ansgar receives bishopric of Bremen. |
ca. 850 | First overwintering of the Vikings in the British Isles. |
850-860 | Numerous attacks on the British Isles and the Franks |
860 | Permanent settlement on the Faroe Islands. |
863 | Death of Ansgar. Rimbert becomes new Archbishop. |
866 | Viking raid on Spain. |
867 | Danish Vikings conquered York. Edmund King of Ostanglien killed. |
870 | Harald Fair hair becomes King of Norway |
874 | Permanent settlement of Iceland. The land-take continues up to approximately 930. |
878 | Battle of Edington in England and the Treaty of Wedmore. |
880 | King Harald Fair-haired tries to unify Norway. |
885-886 | Siege of Paris by the vikings. |
893-896 | The Vikings failed in their attempt to extend thier reign in England. |
902 | Expulsion of the Vikings from Dublin. |
911 | Foundation of Normandy by Rollo. |
914 | Conquest of Brittany |
917 | Recapture of Dublin by Sigtryggre |
921 | Vikings get the permission to settle in the region of Nantes. |
930 | Establishment of the parliament "Althing" at Thingvellir in Iceland. Expulsion of the Vikings in Brittany. |
931 | King Harald Fair hair dies. |
944 | Looting of Dublin by the Irish. |
954 | King Eric Bloodaxe, the king of York, gets killed. |
958 | Harald Blue tooth becomes King of Denmark. |
960 | King Harald Blue tooth being baptized by Poppo the monk. |
961 | Increased raids on Wales. They last until the 11th century. |
962 | Iceland divided into four quarters. |
980 | Renewed Danish attacks on England. |
ab 980 | Start of the christianization in Russia. |
982 | Erik the Red is banished from Iceland for three years and settles in Greenland. |
985 | Beginning of the colonization of Greenland. |
995 | Norway gets unified by Olaf Tryggvason |
1000 | Christianization of Iceland. First expedition to Vinland in North America. Construction of the church Thjodhilds in Brattahlið in South Greenland. |
1002 | Æhtelred orders the murder of all Danes in England. |
1012 | Thorkil's army takes Canterbury. Archbishop Ælfeth is murdered. |
1013 | Sven fork Bart invades England. |
1016 | Knut the Great becomes King of England. |
1027 | The first stone church in Roskilde in Denmark built. |
1030 | Battle of Stiklestad and death of King Olaf Haraldsson. He was canonized later. |
1042-1046 | King Magnus united Norway and Denmark. |
1050 | A diocese gets established on the Orkney Islands. |
1056 | First bishopric in Skálholt in South Iceland. |
1066 | Invasion of England. Haithabus destruction by the Slavs. |
1070 | A Danish fleet fails on the conquest of England. Construction of the Urnes Stave Church in Norway. |
1086 | Assassination of King Canute of Denmark in Odense. |
1091 | Conquest of Sicily by the Normans. |
1098 | First expedition of the Norwegian king Magnus Barefoot on the Orkney Islands, the Hebrides and to Anglesey. He is the ruler of the islands. |
1104 | The bishop's see of Lund in Norway becomes archbishopric. |
1106 | Hólar in Nord Iceland becomes the second bishop's see of the country. |
Many events and deeds of the Vikings were written down in the Icelandic sagas around 100 years later. In this way, for example, the saga of the Norwegian kings, the Greenland and Vinland saga and many others were created. They also report on numerous Viking journeys, such as the settlements in Greenland and America, as well as the life of the Vikings to Iceland.