Common Themes Of Viking Invasions

1048 Words5 Pages

1. Most of the Viking invasions of the ninth and tenth century were written by clerics in a religious context, and the texts often denoted raids as a penalty for the Franks’ sins, which fulfilled biblical prophecy.
2. Frankish theology will be examined in order to define how Christians were to react toward Vikings invasions in three frameworks: the Vikings as punishers of Franks’ sin, the Vikings as pagan crusaders, and the Franks as loyal defenders of the church.
3. Secondary literature maintains three common themes concerning Viking raids: the Franks disobeyed God’s instruction, prophets cautioned the consequences of rebellion, and God sent Vikings to discipline Christians.
4. Frankish clerics often compared sin, both the sin of the people and …show more content…

Vikings stole and ruined relics and other precious treasures for their monetary value, not their sacred importance.
15. Vikings aimed to apprehend prisoners and nobles primarily for ransoming purposes, which downplays the notion that ‘monks were murdered for no very clear reason’ by pagans; but examples like Louis the German beheading 140 rebels exemplified the cheapness of life, which technically depreciated the significance of murder in the Medieval period.
16. Regardless of stories where pagans performed ritual sacrifices, Vikings rarely performed such horrific ceremonial murders during the invasion of Frankish territories.
17. When Franks formed alliances with Vikings, they did not necessarily renounce their faith and follow pagan practices, which indicates the Vikings did not force paganism upon whom they conquered.
18. Frankish clerical writings distinguished Vikings as pagans and dehumanized beings to justify a Christian’s moral obligation to resist conversion, thus permitting Franks to kill pagans without requiring penance.
19. Viking invasions prompted the need for the proper Christian response, which is defined in two groups: the Christian religious leaders and the Christian nobles and

Open Document