Monarchies of Europe, Middle Ages, 9th Century.

(Jody Gray) Continued from *Blog Post: Monarchies of Europe, Middle Ages, 8th Century. https://gray-piperfamily.blogspot.com/2017/04/monarchies-of-europe-middle-ages-8th.html *

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_the_Middle_Ages Timeline of the Middle Ages.

Early Middle Ages (9th century)

c 825, Battle of Ellandun. Egbert defeats Mercians; Wessex becomes the leading kingdom of England.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Ellandun Battle of Ellandun was fought between Egbert of Wessex and Beornwulf of Mercia. Sir Frank Stenton described it as “one of the most decisive battles of English history.” It effectively ended Mercian Supremacy over the southern kingdoms of Anglo-Saxon England and established West Saxon dominance in southern England. The kings of Mercia (had) imposed their overlordship over the kingdoms of south-eastern England. After the death of his father Egbert was driven from England into exile by Offa, with the cooperation of Beorhtric of Wessex. Egbert’s accession to the throne of Wessex on Beorhtric’s death in 802 was followed by a violent clash with Mercia… After Egbert’s victory, the West Saxons succeeded in conquering Sussex, Kent and Essex -roughly doubling the kingdom’s size. His power peaked in 829, when he occupied Mercia and secured recognition of his supremacy by the Northumbrians, making him temporarily the overlord of all England. Mercian independence was restored in the following year by Wiglaf… The independence of East Anglia and the West Saxon conquest of the south-east proved irreversible and Mercia never regained the primacy it had enjoyed in the century before Ellandun.

(Jody Gray): father-in-law of 35th GGM Egbert, King of Wessex. His son Ethelwulf married 35th GGM Judith, Princess of West Francia, the daughter of Charles the Bald, King of West Francia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egbert_of_Wessex Egbert was King of Wessex (802-839), King of Kent (825-839). Historians do not agree on Egbert’s ancestry -one argues he was of Kentish origin and that the West Saxon descent may have been manufactured during his reign to give him legitimacy… Egbert left land only to male members of his family, so that the estates should not be lost to the royal house through marriage. Egbert's wealth, acquired through conquest, was no doubt one reason for his ability to purchase the support of the southeastern church establishment... Blog Post: House of Wessex and It’s Kings. -https://gray-piperfamily.blogspot.com/2016/04/house-of-wessex-and-its-kings.html  *

c 827, Muslims invade Byzantine Sicily.

c 840, Muslims capture Bari and much of southern Italy.

c 843, Treaty of Verdun, results in the division of Charlemagne’s Empire between his grandsons; which sets the stage for the founding of the Holy Roman Empire and France as separate states.

Blog Post: Carolingian Dynasty 714-1124. Carolingian Dynasty -Francia (France) http://historicalandmisc.blogspot.com/2017/01/carolingian-dynasty-714-1124.html *covers the 843, Treaty of Verdun *845 Siege of Paris *Charles the Bald, King of West Francia *Military Strategy of the Carolingians...

c 843, Kenneth McAlpin becomes king of the Picts and Scots, creating the Kingdom of Alba. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenneth_MacAlpin Kenneth’s reign is dated from 843, but it was probably not until 848 that he defeated the last of his rivals for power… the Chronicle of the Kings of Alba reports that he invaded Saxonia (Old Saxony) six times, captured Melrose (Scotland) and burnt Dunbar (Scotland), and also that Vikings laid waste to Pictland, reaching far into the interior.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Saxony Old Saxony (c. 531-804) is the original homeland of the Saxons in the northwest corner of modern Germany. In that area Old Saxony was the greatest of the German tribal duchies -the Saxon “nation” was really a loose collection of clans of kindred stock. Old Saxony is the place from which most of the raids and later colonisations of Britain were mounted -which later descendants referred to as “New Saxony”... (establishing superiority) It has been claimed that the Old Saxons were composed of an aristocracy of nobles, a free warrior class of distinction and renown, leading freemen united and controlled by ancient custom of kindred and clan. “Social differences were jealously guarded by social prescription. The death penalty was imposed on any man who married above his rank; the marriage of a man below his station was severely condemned; bastardy was not tolerated; intermarriage between Saxons and other Germans was frowned upon; and strangers were hated. So tenaciously did the Saxons cling to their ancient customary law that clear traces of these social survivals persisted in Saxony down through the Middle Ages"... Tacitus (Roman historian) believed that these tribal precursors of the Saxons were the original and ancient inhabitants of this land (Old Saxony). Modern linguistic and archaeological evidence tends to support this… As land became scarce, the Saxon population began to expand southward where it absorbed the indigenous populations… Saxon “pirates” had been raiding the eastern seaboard of Britain from here during the 3rd and 4th centuries and it is thought that following the collapse of the Roman defenses on the Rhine in 407 pressure from population movements in the east forced the Saxons and their neighboring tribes the Angles and the Jutes to migrate westwards by sea and invade the fertile lowland areas of Britain. The traditional date for this invasion is 449… led to the creation of various Saxon kingdoms… alongside others established by the Angles and the Jutes and are the foundations of the modern English nation.

  After the fall of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century the Old Saxons who remained in Germania were loosely associated with the Merovingian kingdom of Franks… maintained their old pagan religion… https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irminsul Irminsul, a Germanic god… sometimes presumed to have been the national god or demigod of the Saxons -(suggested) most likely Wodan (Odin)...

  ...by 695 the pagan Saxons had become extremely hostile to the Christian priests and missionaries in their midst and began to realize that their aim was to convert their overlord and destroy their temples and religion. Ewald the Fair was quickly murdered, but Ewald the Black they subjected to torture, and he was torn limb from limb… their bodies cast into the Rhine (the two Ewalds are now celebrated in Westphalia as saints).

  ...After a bloody and highly attritious thirty-year campaign between 772-804 the Old Saxons led by Widukind were eventually subdued by Charlemagne and ultimately forced to convert to Christianity… The primitive bonds of kindred and clan were particularly strong among the Saxons, and in spite of many divisions the Saxons were an unusually homogeneous nation living as late as the 8th century as the early Germans described by Tacitus in Germania had lived. The long warfare with the Franks largely reduced but did not wholly obliterate their distinct cultural identity… the later Duchy of Saxony emerged after Charlemagne campaign and the Saxon Wars. -https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duchy_of_Saxony Upon the 843 Treaty of Verdun, Saxony was one of the five German stem duchies of East Francia; Duke Henry the Fowler was elected German king in 919. (refer to the Blog Post: Monarchies of Europe, Middle Ages, 10th Century “Timeline” year 919 -link at the end of this Blog Post).

c 845, Siege of Paris by the Danish Vikings, under the command of Reginherus (possibly 37th GGF Ragnar Lodbrok) -after plundering and occupying the city, the Vikings finally withdrew after receiving a ransom payment of 7,000 French livres of silver and gold from 35th GGF Charles the Bald, King of West Francia (Jody Gray): I chose to add this event, it was not included in the Wikipedia “Timeline”. (see, above, c 843, Treaty of Verdun, Carolingian Dynasty) and (see, below, c 865-6, Viking Great Heathen Army arrives in England *House of Munso, Swedish Monarchs.)

c 861, Fortresses of the Breton March, created by 35th GGF Charles the Bald, Carolingian King of West Francia, as defense against the Vikings. (Jody Gray): I chose to add this event, it was not included in the Wikipedia “Timeline”. -Charles appointed Margraves (military leaders) with autonomous power -two of these Margraves were our Piper Family ancestors: Robert the Strong and Baldwin I ‘Iron Side’ -they expanded their territories and created their own dynasties:

-35th GGF Baldwin I 'Iron Arm' Margrave of Flanders created the House of Flanders -two cadet branches were added; the House of Boulogne and the House of Hainaut. -The dynasty established the Latin Empire of Constantinople during the 4th Crusade. It also ruled briefly the County of Namur (1188-1212). The House of Flanders became extinct in 1280 with the death of Margaret II. A cadet branch, the House of Boulogne, ruled over the County of Boulogne. Members of this house joined the 1st Crusade, established the Kingdom of Jerusalem, and produced its first kings…   The territories of the early Flemish counts were referred to collectively as “Flanders” in contemporary documentation only from the early 1000s. The county of Flanders developed into an important buffer state between France and Germany, as shown by the numerous high-profile dynastic marriages arranged between the comital family and prominent French and German royal and noble families.

  (Jody Gray): the House of Flanders represents the direct male lineage to 27th GGF Walter aka Seier the Fleming de Seton through the de Wahull of England to Richard Woodhull b. 1620 our Immigrant to America…
Blog Post: Noble Family, House of Flanders. Counts of Flanders and Counts of Boulogne. https://gray-piperfamily.blogspot.com/2016/04/noble-family-house-of-flanders-counts.html *link to Related Blog Posts includes Gray-Piper Relationship to the House of Flanders.

-33rd GGF Robert IV the Strong, Margrave in Neustria established the Robertian Dynasty in 853; the year he was commissioned by 35th GGF Charles the Bald, King of West Francia to supervise the administration in parts of his dominions too far for him to frequent personal visits; Robert’s primary duty was to defend Neustria from Viking and Breton raids. His eldest son, 33rd g-uncle Odo aka Eudes, was elected King of West Francia from 888 to 898 as the first king from the Robertian Dynasty. Before assuming the kingship Odo had the titles of Duke of France and Count of Paris. The younger son, 32nd GGF Robert was elected King of West Francia from 922 to 923. Before his election to the throne he was Count of Poitiers, Count of Paris and Marquis of Neustria and Oleans. He succeeded the overthrown 33rd GGF Carolingian king Charles the Simple, who in 898 had succeeded Robert’s brother, king Odo. His son, 31st GGF Hugh the Great, was the Duke of the Franks and Count of Paris. His son, 30th GGF Hugh (Capet), was the first King of the House of Capet from his election in 987 until his death. He succeeded the last Carolingian king (d. 987), 1st cousin 32x removed Louis V, King of West Francia.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugh_Capet#Rise_of_the_Robertians Rise of the Robertians: After the end of the 9th century, the descendants of Robert the Strong became indispensable in carrying out royal policies. As Carolingian power failed, the great nobles of West Francia began to assert that the monarchy was elective, not hereditary, and twice chose Robertians as kings, instead of Carolingians. Hugh the Great brought Louis d’Outremer, the dispossessed son of Charles the Simple, from his exile to become king as Louis IV. This maneuver allowed Hugh to become the most powerful person in France in the first half of the 10th century. Once in power, Louis IV granted him the title “Duke of the Franks” -he also officially declared Hugh “the second after us in all our kingdom.” Hugh the Great came to dominate a wide swath of central France, from Orleans and Senlis to Auxerre and Sens, while the king was rather confined to the area northeast of Paris. Legacy (of Hugh Capet): Most historians regard the beginning of modern France with the (987) coronation of Hugh Capet. This is because, as Count of Paris, he made the city his power center and began a long process of exerting control of the rest of the country from there. The direct Capetians ruled France from 987 to 1328; thereafter, the Kingdom was ruled by cadet branches of the dynasty… Prophecy. According to tradition, sometime in 981, Hugh Capet recovered the relics of St. Valery, which had been stolen by the Flemings, and restored it to the proper resting place. The saint appeared to the duke in a dream, and said: For what you have done, you and your descendants shall be kings to the seventh generation.” -Figuratively, seven meant completeness, and would mean that the Capetians would be kings forever…

Blog Post: The Robertians of the Royal House of Capet. Robertians -Neustria and Austrasia (Germany) -https://gray-piperfamily.blogspot.com/2016/04/the-robertians-of-royal-house-of-capet.html *link to Related Blog Posts includes Descendants of Hugh Capet.

c 862, Viking state in Russia founded under Rurik, first at Novgorod, then Kiev.

(Jody Gray): 33rd GGF Rurik, Prince of Ladoga. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rurik Rurik (c 830-879) was a legendary Varangian chieftain who gained control of Ladoga in 862, built the Holmgard settlement near Novgorod, and founded the Rurik Dynasty, which ruled Kievan Rus. The only information about him is contained in the 12th-century Primary Chronicle, which states that Chuds, Eastern Slavs, Merias, Veses, and Krichs”... drove the Varangians back beyond the sea, refused to pay them tribute, and set out to govern themselves”. Afterwards the tribes started fighting each other and decided to invite the Varangians, led by Rurik, to reestablish order. According to the Chronicle, Rurik was one of the Rus, a Varangian tribe likened by the chronicler to Danes, Swedes, Angles, and Gotlanders. In the 20th century, archaeologists partly collaborated the chronicle’s version of events, but mostly the excavations denied most of the chronicle’s data about Rurik’s arrival when it was apparent that the old settlement stretched to the mid-8th century and the excavated objects were mostly of Finno-Ugric and Slavic origin, dated to the mid-8th century, which showed the settlement was not Scandinavian from the beginning.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Varangians Varangians, was the name given by Greeks and East Slavs to Vikings, who between the 9th and 11th centuries ruled the medieval state of Kievan Rus’, settled among many rivers in territories of modern Ukraine, Bielarus and Russia and formed the Byzantine Varangian Guard. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Varangian_Guard was an elite unit of the Byzantine Army, from the 10th to the 14th centuries, whose members served as personal bodyguards to the Byzantine Emperors. They are known for being primarily composed of Germanic peoples, specifically Norsemen (the Guard was formed approximately 200 years into the Viking Age) and Anglo-Saxons (after the Norman Conquest of England created an Anglo-Saxon diaspora, part of which found employment in Constantinople). The Rus’ provided the earliest members of the Varangian Guard (as early as 874)... Immigrants from Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Iceland kept a predominantly Norse cast to the organization until the late 11th century. “Recognized by long hair, a red ruby set in the left ear and ornamented dragons sewn on their chainmail shirts.” In these years, Scandinavian men left to enlist in the Byzantine Varangian Guard in such numbers that a medieval Swedish law declared no one could inherit while staying in “Greece” (Byzantine Empire) -to stop emigration (two other European courts simultaneously also recruited Scandinavians: Kievan Rus’ (980-1060) and London (1018-1066). Composed primarily of Norsemen and Rus for the first 100 years, the Guard began to see increased numbers of Anglo-Saxons after the Norman conquest of England… in the late 11th century, the Varangian Guard was largely recruited from Anglo-Saxons and “others who had suffered at the hands of the Vikings and their cousins the Normans.” The Anglo-Saxons and other Germanic peoples shared with the Vikings a tradition of faithful (to death if necessary) oath-bound service, and the Norman invasion of England resulted in many fighting men who had lost their lands and former masters and were looking for positions elsewhere.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vikings Vikings, were Nordic seafarers, mainly speaking the Old Norse language, who raided and traded from their Northern European homelands across wide areas of northern, central and eastern Europe, during the late 8th to late 11th centuries. (Viking Age) this period of Nordic military, mercantile and demographic expansion constitutes an important element in the early medieval history of Scandinavia, Estonia, the British Isles, France, Kievan Rus’ and Sicily… Former political entities: Denmark-Norway, Sweden-Finland, Sweden-Norway. (Jody Gray): interesting reading for those with Viking ancestors; includes Genetic legacy information.

Related: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Privateer Privateer.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ushkuiniks Ushkuiniks, medieval Novgorodian pirates who led the Viking-like life of fighting, killing, and robbery. Their name derives from “ushkui”, a type of flat-bottom medieval Finnic ship uisk (literally a ‘snake’), which could be easily transported over portages between watersheds.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veliky_Novgorod Novgorod, is one of the most important historic cities in Russia. The Novgorod First Chronicle first mentions it in 862, when it was purportedly already a major Baltics to Byzantium station on the trade route from the Varangians to the Greeks… Archaeological excavation in the middle to late 20th century, found cultural layers dating back only to the late 10th century, the time of the Christianization of Rus’ and a century after it was allegedly founded, suggesting that the chronicle entries mentioning Novgorod (“new city”) in the 850s or 860s are later interpolations. Archaeological dating is fairly easy and accurate to within 15-25 years, as the streets were paved with wood, and most of the houses made of wood, allowing tree ring dating… record for the Scandinavian settlement of the region is found in the Annales Bertiniani (written up until 882) where a Rus’ delegation is mentioned as having visited Constantinople in 838 and, intending to return to the Rus’ Khaganate via the Baltic Sea, were questioned by Frankish Emperor 36th GGF Louis the Pious (son of Charlemagne) at Ingelheim am Rhein, where they said that although their origin was Swedish, they had settled in Northern Rus’ under a leader who they designated as chacanus (emperor)... Of all their princes, Novgorodians most cherished the memory of 29th GGF Yaroslav the Wise, who sat as Prince of Novorod from 1010 to 1019 -in 1051, his daughter, 28th GGM Anne of Kiev married Capetian 28th GGF Henry I, King of the Franks … Four Viking kings -Olaf I of Norway, Olaf II of Norway, Magnus I of Norway, and Harald Hardrada -sought refuge in Novgorod… (Jody Gray): I think the following Wikipedia page contains a good example of mixed cultures due to the migration of people during the Viking Age.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faroe_Islanders Faroese people are a Germanic ethnic group of mixed Norse and Gaelic origins. The first known colonists were Gaelic hermits and monks who arrived in the 6th century. Later from around 650 the Norse-Gaels came and brought Norse culture and language to the islands.... (a) more logical explanation might be that the Norwegians came to know about the islands by the Gaels of Scotland and Ireland… Viking Grimur Kamban was the first settler in the Faroes -Grimur is an Old Norse first name, Kamban indicates a Celtic origin… Recent DNA analyses have revealed that Y chromosomes, tracing male descent, are 87% Scandinavian. The studies show that mitochondrial DNA, tracing female descent, is 84% Celtic.
Blog Post: Rus’ people, Norsemen who gave their name to the lands of Russia. Rurik Dynasty. -http://historicalandmisc.blogspot.com/2017/01/rus-people-norsemen-who-gave-their-name.html *

c 865-6, Viking Great (Heathen) Army arrives in England; Northumbria, East Anglia, and Mercia were overwhelmed. (Jody Gray): the Great Heathen Army, led by 37th g-uncle Ivar ‘the Boneless’

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivar_the_Boneless Ivar the Boneless was a Viking leader and a commander who invaded what is now England. According to the Tale of Ragnar Lodbrok, he was the son of Ragnar Lodbrok and Aslaug. His brothers included 36th GGF Bjorn Ironside, Halfdan Ragnarsson, Hvitserk, Sigurd Snake-in-the-Eye and Ubba. The invasion was organized by the sons of Ragnar to wreak revenge against Ælla of Northumbria who had supposedly executed 37th GGF Ragnar in 865 by throwing him into a snake pit. Ivar disappears from historical record sometime after 870, his fate is uncertain.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bj%C3%B6rn_Ironside 36th GGF Bjorn Ironside, was a legendary King of Sweden, said to have been the first ruler of the Munso dynasty. In 860, Bjorn led a large Viking raid into the Mediterranean. According to the Tale of Ragnar’s Sons, Bjorn and his brothers left Sweden to conquer Zealand, Reidgotaland (here Jutland), Gotland, Oland and all the minor islands. They then settled at Lejre in Zealand, Denmark with Ivar the Boneless as their leader… They later joined forces in the Siege of Paris (refer to Ivar’s entry, above). Media / Blog Post: House of Munso, Swedish Monarchs. -https://gray-piperfamily.blogspot.com/2017/02/house-of-munso-swedish-monarchs.html *
*See, *Other Sources -Books and Movies -Vikings.

c 871, 35th GGF Alfred the Great assumes the throne, the first king of a united England; he defended England from Viking invaders, formed new laws and fostered a rebirth of religious and scholarly activities. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_the_Great Alfred defeated the Vikings by building the Burghal Hidage (built from the remains of Roman fortresses), consisting of 33 fortresses spaced approximately 19 miles apart, enabling the military to confront attacks anywhere in the kingdom within a single day. In 896, Alfred ordered the construction of a small fleet of longships that, at 60 oars, were twice the size of Viking warships -the author of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle boasted that Alfred’s ships were not only larger, but swifter, steadier and rode higher in the water than either Danish or Frisian ships -it is probable that, under the classical tutelage of Asser, Alfred utilized the design of Greek and Roman warships with high sides, designed for fighting rather than for navigation… In practice, they proved to be too large to maneuver well in the close waters of estuaries and rivers, the only places in which a naval battle could occur… Lashing the Viking boats to their own, the English crew boarded the enemy’s vessels and proceeded to kill everyone on board. The one ship that escaped managed to do so only because all of Alfred’s heavy ships became grounded when the tide went out… the tide rose and the Danes rushed back to their boats, which being lighter, with shallower drafts, were freed before Alfred’s ships… the English watched as the Vikings rowed past them… two were driven against the Sussex coast and the shipwrecked sailors were brought before Alfred at Winchester and hanged…

Legal reform. In the late 880s or early 890s, Alfred issued a long domboc or law code, consisting of his “own” laws followed by a code issued by his late 7th-century predecessor… Alfred explains that he gathered together the laws he found in many “synod-books” and “ordered to be written many of the ones that our forefathers observed… (his introduction) includes the Ten Commandments… It traces the continuity between God’s gift of law to Moses to Alfred’s own issuance of law to the West Saxon people -linking the holy past to the historical present and represented Alfred’s law-giving as a type of divine legislation… the “Apostolic Letter,” which explained that Christ “had come not to shatter or annul the commandments but to fulfill them…” The mercy that Christ infused into Mosaic Law underlies the injury tariffs that figure so prominently in barbarian law codes, since Christian synods “established, through that mercy which Christ taught, that for almost every misdeed at the first offence secular lords might with their permission receive without sin the monetary compensation, which they then fixed.” The only crime that could not be compensated with a payment of money was treachery to a lord, “since Almighty God adjudged none for those who despised Him, nor did Christ, the Son of God, adjudge any for the one who betrayed Him to death; and He commanded everyone to love his lord as Himself”. Alfred’s transformation of Christ’s commandment from “Love your neighbor as yourself” to love your secular lord as you would love the Lord Christ himself underscores the importance that Alfred placed upon lordship, which he understood as a sacred bond instituted by God for the governance of man… In practical terms, the most important law in the code… “We enjoin, what is most necessary, that each man keep carefully his oath and his pledge,” which expresses a fundamental tenet of Anglo-Saxon law.

  The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, commissioned at the time of Alfred, was probably written to promote unification (of England), whereas Asser’s The Life of King Alfred promoted Alfred’s achievements and personal qualities.

Religion and culture… At this time period, the Viking raids were often seen as a divine punishment, and Alfred may have wished to revive religion in order to appease God’s wrath… the compilation of a chronicle detailing the rise of Alfred’s kingdom and house, with a genealogy that stretched back to Adam, thus giving the West Saxon kings a biblical ancestry… As king he saw himself as responsible for both the temporal and spiritual welfare of his subjects. Secular and spiritual authority were not distinct categories for Alfred… Nor did his piety prevent him from expropriating strategically sited church lands, especially estates along the border with the Danelaw, and transferring them to royal thegns and officials who could better defend them against Viking attacks.

Advocacy of education in the English language… Believing that without Christian wisdom there can neither be prosperity nor success in war, Alfred aimed “to set to learning (as long as they are not useful for some other employment) all the free-born young men now in England who have the means to apply themselves to it”...  (see, beginning of this Blog, c 825, Battle of Ellandun.  Blog Post: House of Wessex and It’s Kings.)
*See, *Other Sources -Books and Movies -Alfred the Great, Anglo-Saxon King of Wessex.

c 872, Harold Fairhair becomes King of Norway https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harald_Fairhair -most of his life remains uncertain, since the extant accounts of his life in the sagas were set down in writing around three centuries after his lifetime… Harald is depicted as the prime cause of the Norse settlement of Iceland and beyond -settled by “malcontents” from Norway, who resented Harald’s claim of rights of taxation over lands, which the possessors appear to have previously held in absolute ownership… Harald’s reign was disturbed by the strife of his many sons… Twelve of his sons are named as kings… he gave them all the royal title and assigned lands to them, which they were to govern as his representative; but this arrangement did not put an end to the discord, which continued into the next reign… (Issue) various sagas name anywhere from 11 to 20 sons of Harald…

c 874, Iceland is settled by Norsemen.

c 885-886, Vikings attack Paris. -https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Paris_(885%E2%80%9386) Siege of Paris, was part of a Viking raid on the Seine, in the Kingdom of the West Franks -the most important event of the reign of 1st cousin 36x removed Charles the Fat, and a turning point in the fortunes of the Carolingian dynasty and the history of France… they demanded tribute, which was denied by Odo, Count of Paris… As the siege went on, most of the Vikings left Paris to pillage further upriver (Sigfred left in April) -another Viking leader, 32nd GGF Rollo, stayed behind with his men… in Oct, Charles the Fat arrived with his army… he stopped short of attacking the Viking besiegers, and instead allowed them to sail further up the Seine to raid Burgundy (which was in revolt), as well as promising a payment of 700 livers of silver. When the Vikings withdrew from France the next spring, he gave them the 700 livres…

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odo_of_France 33rd g-uncle Odo (aka Eudes), was the eldest son of 33rd GGF Robert the Strong, Duke of the Franks, Marquis of Neustria and Count of Anjou. For his skill and bravery in resisting the attacks of Vikings at the Siege of Paris, Odo was chosen by the western Frankish nobles to be their king following the overthrow of Emperor Charles the Fat; he was crowned in Feb. 888 -Odo was the first king from the Robertian Dynasty. Blog Post: The Robertians of the Royal House of Capet. Robertians -Neustria and Austrasia (Germany) https://gray-piperfamily.blogspot.com/2016/04/the-robertians-of-royal-house-of-capet.html*

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_the_Fat 1st cousin 36x removed Charles the Fat (6/13/839-1/13/888), was the Carolingian Emperor from 881 to 888. He was the youngest son of 36th g-uncle Louis the German and a great-grandson of 37th GGF Charlemagne and was the last Carolingian to rule over the briefly re-united empire… Usually considered lethargic and inept -he is known to have had repeated illnesses and is believed to have suffered from epilepsy -he twice purchased peace with Viking raiders, which led to his downfall. During a coup led by his nephew Arnulf of Carinthia in Nov. 887, Charles was deposed in East Francia, Lotharingia, and Kingdom of Italy -he died in Jan. 888, just a few weeks later. The Empire quickly fell apart, splintering into five separate successor kingdoms…
32nd GGF Rollo, (see, 10th Century Blog Post, below)

*Other Sources -Books and Movies -Vikings.

*The Vikings (NOVA) - (Amazon.com DVD $11.99)

This riveting two-hour special investigates a new image of the Vikings that goes far deeper than their savage stereotype as raiding marauders. Faithful replicas of their magnificent ships, life-like computer animation and fascinating recreations reveal the Vikings as canny merchants, expert shipbuilders, superb artisans, and bold colonizers of lands that lay beyond the edge of the known world.

https://www.amazon.com/NOVA-Vikings/dp/B000EMG99U/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1485194783&sr=8-1&keywords=The+Vikings+NOVA *

*Vikings, TV Series (History Channel) DVDs available on Amazon.com.

 (Jody Gray): we have been watching the series since it premiered in 2013 (before, I knew these were my ancestors). My thoughts about the series, after completing research on the main characters: The show appears to accurately represent the culture of the Vikings and the historical events they took part in; beginning with the Lindisfarne raid in 793. The series is loosely based on the Sagas of Ragnar Lothbrok: Ragnar and Rollo are not brothers. Bjorn’s mother was Aslaug, not Lagertha. The Anglo-Saxon monk Athelstan appears to be a fictitious invention of the writer. Judith, wife of Ethelwulf, is presented as the daughter of the King of Alle of Northumbria; she was the daughter of Charles the Bald, King of West Francia. Ethelwulf had children with his first wife; he had no children with Judith. In the series, Judith has an illegitimate son with the monk Athelstan -as mentioned, earlier, he is a fictitious character. She is also shown as having an affair with her father-in-law King Egbert, which appears to be invented by the writer -in his Wikipedia biographical sketch there is no mention of Egbert displaying “lecherous” behavior.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vikings_(season_1) (TV Series, History Channel) Vikings (season 1) *follow the link to season 2, 3 and 4.

*https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Vikings_characters List of Vikings characters… (TV Series)

*Other Sources -Books and Movies -Alfred the Great, Anglo-Saxon King of Wessex (Jody Gray): as a preeminent historical figure who defeats the Vikings, when all the other kingdoms of England have been usurped, there is a lot of media available. I created a separate Blog Post: Alfred the Great, Anglo-Saxons and Vikings. http://historicalandmisc.blogspot.com/2017/05/alfred-great-anglo-saxons-and-vikings.html *

Books - Historical Novels. The Saxon Stories, Bernard Cornwell (Series) *The Last Kingdom (866-876) - *The Pale Horseman (876-878) - *The Pale Horseman (876-878) - *The Lords of the North (878-881) -*Sword Song -*The Burning Land (892-893) -*Death of Kings -*The Pagan Lord. *The Empty Throne. (911) *Warriors of the Storm. 10th-century Mercia, Northumbria and Northern Ireland. -Yet to be published: The Flame Bearer.

Movies -The Last Kingdom. TV Series (BBC) -produced by Netflix -Historical fiction based on Bernard Cornwell’s The Saxon Stories. Set in the late 9th century AD, when England was divided into seven separate kingdoms. The Anglo-Saxon lands are gradually attacked, plundered and in many areas effectively ruled by Viking Danes.

Movies -1969) Alfred the Great: portrays Alfred the Great’s struggle to defend the Anglo-Saxon Kingdom of Wessex from a Danish Viking invasion in the 9th Century.

Movies - Churchill’s People, TV Series (BBC) *not recommended.

Books -*C. Walter Hodges, The Marsh King and The Namesake: A Story of King Alfred.

(Poem) Ballad of the White Horse by G. K. Chesterton -about the idealised exploits of Alfred the Great (under the auspices of God working through the agency of the Virgin Mary)

*https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ballad_of_the_White_Horse *

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G._K._Chesterton *

Link to ALL related Blog Posts:

Blog Post: Timeline, earliest Dynasties in Europe (687-ca. 987) end of Carolingian Dynasty.

https://gray-piperfamily.blogspot.com/2017/02/timeline-earliest-dynasties-in-europe.html *Quick Links to all Related Blog Posts

Timeline, continued, Blog Post: Monarchies of Europe, Middle Ages, 10th Century. https://gray-piperfamily.blogspot.com/2017/05/monarchies-of-europe-middle-ages-10th.html  *

xxx