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.
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.