From The Annals of
St. Bertin,
[Text in Monumenta
Germaniae Historica Scriptores, (Pertz ed.), Vol. I, pp. 439-454].
843 A.D. Pirates of
the Northmen's race came to Nantes, killed the bishop and many of the clergy
and laymen, both men and women, and pillaged the city. Thence they set out to
plunder the lands of lower Aquitaine. At length they arrived at a certain
island [the isle of Rhé, near La Rochelle, north of the mouth of the Garonne],
and carried materials thither from the mainland to build themselves houses; and
they settled there for the winter, as if that were to be their permanent
dwelling-place.
844. The Northmen
ascended the Garonne as far as Toulouse and pillaged the lands along both banks
with impunity. Some, after leaving this region went into Galicia [in Northern Spain]
and perished, part of them by the attacks of the crossbowmen who had come to
resist them, part by being overwhelmed by a storm at sea. But others of them
went farther into Spain and engaged in long and desperate combats with the
Saracens; defeated in the end, they withdrew.
845. then the other,
came without meeting any resistance to Paris. Charles [the Bald] resolved to
hold out against them; but seeing the impossibility of gaining a victory, he
made with them a certain agreement and by a gift of 7,000 livres he bought them
off from advancing farther and persuaded them to return. Euric, king of the
Northmen, advanced, with six hundred vessels, along the course of the River
Elbe to attack Louis of Germany. The Saxons prepared to meet him, gave battle,
and with the aid of our Lord Jesus Christ won the victory. The Northmen
returned down the Seine and coming to the ocean pillaged, destroyed, and burned
all the regions along the coast.
846. The Danish
pirates landed in Frisia. They were able to force from the people whatever
contributions they wished and, being victors in battle, they remained masters
of almost the entire province.
847. The Northmen
made their appearance in the part of Gaul inhabited by the Britons and won
three victories. Noménoé [a chief of the Britons], although defeated, at length
succeeded in buying them off with presents and getting them out of his country.
853-854. The Danish
pirates, making their way into the country eastward from the city of Nantes,
arrived without opposition, November Eighth, before Tours. This they burned,
together with the church of St. Martin and the neighboring places. But that
incursion had been foreseen with certainty and the body of St. Martin had been
removed to Cormery, a monastery of that church, and from there to the city of
Orleans. The pirates went on to the château of Blois and burned it, proposing
then to proceed to Orleans and destroy that city in the same fashion. But
Agius, bishop of Orleans, and Burchard, bishop of Chartres, had gathered
soldiers and ships to meet them; so they abandoned their design and returned to
the lower Loire, though the following year [855] they ascended it anew to the
city of Angers.
855. They left their
ships behind and undertook to go overland to the city of Poitiers; but the
Aquitanians came to meet them and defeated them, so that not more than 300
escaped.
856. On the
eighteenth of April, the Danish pirates came to the city of Orleans, pillaged
it, and went away without meeting opposition. Other Danish pirates came into the
Seine about the middle of August and, after plundering and ruining the towns on
the two banks of the river, and even the monasteries and villages farther back,
came to a well located place near the Seine called Jeufosse, and, there quietly
passed the winter.
859. The Danish
pirates having made a long sea-voyage (for they had sailed between Spain and
Africa) entered the Rhone, where they pillaged many cities and monasteries and
established themselves on the island called Camargue. . . . They devastated everything
before them as far as the city of Valence. Then, after ravaging all these
regions, they returned to the island where they had fixed their habitation.
Thence they went on toward Italy, capturing and plundering Pisa and other
cities.
From Abbo's Wars of
Count Odo with the Northmen in the Reign of Charles the Fat
-timeline of raids
-some strategies shown-shows that they can take unusual routes to confuse the enemy or to launch a surprise attack
- origin - source is contained in a collection of primary sources that date from the fall of the roman empire to the 1500's - source itself is written by a saint (churchman) and would probably view the vikings as heretics
- although the source is very objective it is obviously written by a christian due to the various religious statements throughout the source. there is also a few statements that place the vikings in a negative light but these do not influence the infomation contained in this source
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