Russell Lytle
Professor Jordan
History 440
December 13th, 2011
Different Strokes for Different Folks
The hunter has now become the hunted. For centuries during the age of the Roman Republic and Empire, citizens of Rome knew that north of the Alps resided longhaired, thick-bearded, untamed races of Germanic peoples that Romans, both pleb and aristocrat eloquently referred to as barbarians. These naked savages to the north had shown they could defeat the mighty Roman Empire repeatedly by using tactics the Roman legions were not accustomed to, and superior knowledge of their home terrain. The Battle of the Teutoburg Forrest and the failed conquest of Briton perfectly illustrate the capability of these so-called barbarians. In addition, as the empire declined, the Germanic tribes to the north made a habit of brutaly raiding and pillaging Italian towns and cities. However, after the Western Roman Empire collapsed the people of Gaul and Germania, once enemies of Rome, became its heirs.
Over three centuries following the fall of Rome, the once “barbaric” tribes that had occupied Western Europe now seemed domesticated. The Carolingian dynasty, predominantly under Charlemagne, formed a new Holy Roman Empire, and the modern states of France and Germany were begging to take shape. This along with a widespread devotion to the religion of Christianity, intermarrying of Romans and Franks, an increase of literacy rates, and an improving climate saw the Western Europeans become as civilized as the Romans had been. Putting it simply, they got soft. At this time a new horde of raiders from the north, the Vikings, were now making forays into Western Europe. As the Franks and Germans had pillaged and harassed the Roman Empire over three centuries earlier, the Vikings now did the same to Europe. The hunter had now become the hunted. Though the Vikings raided people from the Rus to England, the impacts they made on the English and the French are the most fascinating. As a result, from the Viking incursions, the French and English systems of governing took opposite paths, and though the common people of both countries suffered from these Viking attacks, the overall impact of this period of war was positive. The earliest account of a Viking raid in England took place in the year 789.1 Though this first raid was relatively small, the Vikings still managed to sack the nearby town. From then on, constant Viking raids tormented the English coastline. As a center of wealth in the medieval ages, monasteries served as the perfect target for Viking raids. The accounts detailing the suffering of the people, especially the holy, are gruesome at best. “In 870, the same year Peterborough was destroyed, the nuns at Barking are said to have been burned to the death in their church by the Northmen.”2 And the anonymous chronicler of Peterborough recounted how the Vikings burned and demolished his monastery, and slew the abbot and the monks and all that they found there, reducing to nothing what had once been a very rich foundation.”3These are just a few of many instances of Viking brutality towards the monasteries of England. The Vikings, being pagan themselves, had no second thoughts about burning to the ground the church of another religion. What is more damaging to the people of England was that monasteries were also the center of literacy. With the mass killing of monks, the Vikings also severely impaired the knowledge of English people, something King Alfred the Great would later work to restore.4 Politically, the Frankish monarchs also shared the suffering of the common people. The Frankish Holy Roman Empire at this time was already suffering from political fragmentation, and the arrival of the Vikings only hastened the process. Soon after the death of the empires greatest ruler, Charlemagne the seeds of political strife had been sewn. During the Carolingian expansion, the aristocrats acquired vast amounts of wealth and power. With the monarchy already showing signs of weakness, many rich landholders broke off from the monarchy.5 The discord continued when Charlemagne’s grandsons broke up his empire into three separate kingdoms at the Treaty of Verdun.6 After this, a trend of weak monarchs followed. These political disputes weakened Francia as a whole, and the Vikings seized the opportunity. Spending the better part of 20 years focusing on Francia, before continuing there raids of England once more.7 The French empire like its Roman predecessor was too large for an adequate defense, thus leaving protection of the people to the local lords.8 This further disintegration made way for the French noble class, and feudalism. With this new era of feudalism nobles increasing developed loyalty to their local lord, and once castles began to be raised, powerful families now had a center of power, much like a capital of any state or country. The coming of castles also changed how nobles were addressed. Nobles now took the name of their local castle. For example, Roger now became Roger de Beaumont.9 England on the other hand, had the complete opposite fate of France. England began as political fragmented land, but the invasions of the Viking hastened the inevitable centralization of government. At the time of the Viking invasions, there were four English kingdoms fighting for control of the land. The Vikings quickly conquered three of the four leaving Weesex in the South as the lone English entity left.10However, unlike France, England possessed a great leader that could repel the Vikings on his own, while also consolidating the English people into one state. That man was King Alfred the Great. After years of fighting with the Danish Vikings, Alfred was able to crush them Danes at the Battle of Edington, forever turning the tide in the English favor.11 He later went on to conquer London for the English and convert the Danish leader to Christianity, cementing his victory.12 To further consolidate his power he installed military reforms and created the first English navy.13 The two differing approaches taken by the French and the English continued to affect each other’s countries for centuries to come. On the French side, their importance placed on nobles and vassalage would come to haunt them at the Battle of Agincourt, where the common long bowmen of Henry V’s English army will cut down the noble and reckless knights of France. Also France’s decisions during the Viking invasions greatly affect the future of England and today’s English monarchy. As a means to find peace between himself and the Vikings, Charles the Simple by awarded the land that would be called Normandy to a Norse chieftain by the name of Rolf.14 The descendents of these Norsemen, most importantly William the Conqueror, will go on to defeat the descendents of Alfred. However, due to Alfred’s strong leadership, William inherits a strong kingdom with established political traditions. These two differing approaches that arose due to the conflict caused by the invasions of the Vikings, themselves prove that the Vikings were a positive force on Europe as a whole. For historians it is a treat to be able to sit back and examine the actions taken by these two countries in times of crisis. The most important aspect of studying history is to prevent future generations from making the same mistakes of the past. England and France’s response to conflict differ so much that one can simply look at the evidence to determine who made the right call. In today’s terms as an example, one can look at the histories of England and France to formulate an argument of states’ rights versus the federal government control, so as a means for future study, though the Vikings caused great hardship to the average person, their impact on European history was positive.

Notes
1. C. Warren Hollister, Medieval Europe a Short History 5th ed. , (New York: John Wiley & Sons Inc, 1982), 109.
2. Robin Fleming, "Monastic Lands and England's Defence in the Viking Age," The English Historical Review, 100, no. 395 (1985), 256.
3. Ibid, 248.
4. Hollister, 116.
5. Ibid,. 103.
6. Ibid,. 104.
7. P.H. Sawyer, Kings and Vikings: Scandinavia and Europe, A.D. 700-1100, (Methuen Young Books, 1982), 4.
8. Barbara Rosenhein, A Short History of the Middle Ages 3rd ed., (Toronto, Canada: University of Toronto Press, 2009), 169.
9. Hollister, 119.
10. Ibid,. 113.
11. Ibid,. 114.\
12. Ibid.
13. Rosenhein, 169.
14. Hollister, 110.

Bibliography
Fleming, Robin. "Monastic Lands and England's Defence in the Viking Age." The English Historical Review. 100. no. 395 (1985): 247-265.
Rosenhein, Barbara. A Short History of the Middle Ages 3rd ed.. Toronto, Canada: University of Toronto Press, 2009.
Sawyer, P.H. Kings and Vikings: Scandinavia and Europe, A.D. 700-1100. Methuen Young Books, 1982
Hollister, C. Warren. Medieval Europe a Short History 5th ed. . New York: John Wiley & Sons Inc, 1982..