[Brøderbund WFT Vol. 21, Ed. 1, Tree #1186, Date of Import: Apr 26, 1999]
In 911, Rollo the Ganger, a Viking secured from Charles the Simple the
territory near the mouth of the Seine River, which hencforth was known as
Normandy. The Vikings first appeared in England and on the Continent as
merchants and pirates, then as conquerors and colonist. Vikings, chiefly
Danes, began raiding England in 787; then in 866 a Danish army landed in
eastern England and established a permanent settlement. The Vikings
followed the same pattern on the Continent. They attacked cities along
the wester coast of Europe, penetrated into the Mediterranean Sea, and
invaded the valley of the Rhone. They sailed over the Russian river
system to reach the Black sea and raided Constantinople. This initial
perior of piratical forays led to the establishment of permanent
settlements. This new wave of invasions was not a disruptive as the
great movements of peoples in the fourth and fifth centuries, but they
were for Western Europe a new dark age. Amid the violence, however, the
work of Christianizing the pagan peoples continued and helped to abate
the invasions