Editing Viking Age (section)

== Southern Europe ==

=== Italy ===
In 959, a major long-distance Viking expedition, under the command of two famed Vikings, [[Björn Ironside]] and [[Hásteinn]], set out for Spain from their base on the Loire with the objective of sacking the city of Rome. They tried to land at Galicia and were driven off. Then they sailed down the west coast of the peninsula and burned the mosque at Seville, but were repelled by a large Muslim force there before entering the Mediterranean through the Straits of Gibraltar and burning the mosque at Algeciras, following which they headed south to Nekor on the coast of Morocco, plundered the city and defeated a Muslim force that attempted to stop them.<ref name="Price2008">{{cite book |last1=Price |first1=Neil |editor1-last=Brink |editor1-first=Stefan |editor2-last=Price |editor2-first=Neil |title=The Viking World |year=2008 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-134-31826-1 |pages=465–466 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wuN-AgAAQBAJ&pg=PA465 |chapter=Spain, North Africa and the Mediterranean}}</ref><ref name="Logan2013">{{cite book |last1=Logan |first1=F. Donald |title=The Vikings in History |date=2013 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-136-52716-6 |page=110 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_TD-AQAAQBAJ&pg=PA110}}</ref>

According to an account by the Norman monk [[Dudo of Saint-Quentin]], a Viking fleet under Björn Ironside and Hásteinn landed at the Ligurian port of [[Luni, Italy|Luni]] and sacked the city. The Vikings then moved another 60 miles down the Tuscan coast to the mouth of the [[Arno]], sacking [[Pisa]] and then, following the river upstream, also the hill-town of [[Fiesole]] above [[Florence]].<ref name="Haywood2016">{{cite book |last1=Haywood |first1=John |title=Northmen: The Viking Saga, 793–1241 AD |year=2016 |publisher=Macmillan |isbn=978-1-250-10615-5 |pages=138–139 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Og2zCwAAQBAJ&pg=PT138}}</ref><ref name="Logan2013"/>

Many Anglo-Danish and Varangian mercenaries fought in Southern Italy, including [[Harald III of Norway|Harald Hardrada]] and [[William Iron Arm|William de Hauteville]] who conquered parts of Sicily between 1038 and 1040,<ref>{{cite book|last1=Carr |first1=John |title=Fighting Emperors of Byzantium |date=30 April 2015 |publisher=Pen and Sword |page=177}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Hill |first1=Paul |title=The Norman Commanders: Masters of Warfare 911–1135 |date=2015 |publisher=Pen and Sword |page=18}}</ref> and [[Edgar the Ætheling]] who fought in the [[Norman conquest of southern Italy]].<ref name="Florence of Worcester">''Anglo-Saxon Chronicles'', p. 217; Florence of Worcester, p. 145</ref> [[Italy runestones|Runestones]] were raised in Sweden in memory of warriors who died in Langbarðaland ([[Langobardia Minor|Land of the Lombards]]), the Old Norse name for southern Italy.<ref>[http://www.lansmuseum.a.se/runriket/taby.html ''2. Runriket – Täby Kyrka''] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080604203505/http://www.lansmuseum.a.se/runriket/taby.html |date=4 June 2008 }}, an online article at Stockholm County Museum, retrieved 1 July 2007.</ref>

Several Anglo-Danish and Norwegian nobles participated in the [[Norman conquest of southern Italy]], like [[Edgar the Ætheling]], who left England in 1086,<ref name="Florence of Worcester"/> and Jarl [[Erling Skakke]], who won his nickname ''("Skakke", meaning bent head)'' after a battle against Arabs in Sicily.<ref>Orkneyinga Saga, Anderson, Joseph, (Edinburgh: Edmonston and Douglas, 1873), FHL microfilm 253063, pp. 134, 139, 144–145, 149–151, 163, 193.</ref> On the other hand, many Anglo-Danish rebels fleeing [[William the Conqueror]], joined the Byzantines in their struggle against the [[Robert Guiscard]], [[duke of Apulia]], in Southern Italy.<ref>Translation based on Chibnall (ed.), ''Ecclesiastical History'', vol. ii, pp. 203, 205</ref>

=== Spain ===
{{further|Vikings in Iberia}}
[[File:Catoira 060905 033.JPG|thumb|upright|Statue in [[Catoira]], [[Galicia (Spain)|Galicia]], commemorating the Viking invasions]]

After 842, the Vikings set up a permanent base at the mouth of the river [[Loire]] from whence they could strike as far as northern Spain.{{sfn|Forte|Oram|Pedersen|2005|p=60}} These Vikings were Hispanicised in all the Christian kingdoms, while they kept their ethnic identity and culture in [[al-Andalus]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://rodin.uca.es:8081/xmlui/bitstream/handle/10498/7881/18385953.pdf?sequence=1 |title=Los vikingos en Al-Andalus (abstract available in English) |publisher=Jesús Riosalido |year=1997 |access-date=11 May 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110718171837/http://rodin.uca.es:8081/xmlui/bitstream/handle/10498/7881/18385953.pdf?sequence=1 |archive-date=18 July 2011 }}</ref>

The southern coast of the Mediterranean Sea, both sides of the [[Strait of Gibraltar]], and much of the Iberian peninsula were under Muslim rule when Vikings first entered the Mediterranean in the 9th century. The Vikings launched their campaigns from their strongholds in [[Francia]] into this realm of Muslim influence; following the coastline of the [[Kingdom of Asturias]] they sailed through the Gibraltar strait (known to them as ''Nǫrvasund'', the 'Narrow Sound') into what they called ''Miðjarðarhaf'', literally 'Middle of the earth' sea,<ref name="Price2023">{{cite journal |last1=Price |first1=Neil |editor1-last=Price |editor1-first=Neil |editor2-last=Eriksen |editor2-first=Marianne Hem |editor3-last=Jahnke |editor3-first=Carsten |title=From Nǫrvasund to Grikkland: The Vikings in the Middle Sea |journal=Papers and Monographs from the Norwegian Institute at Athens |volume=14 |page=11 |url=https://bora.uib.no/bora-xmlui/bitstream/handle/11250/3131290/Vikings%20in%20the%20Mediterranean.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y}}</ref> with the same meaning as the [[Late Latin]] ''Mare Mediterrāneum''.<ref name="Seirinidou2017">{{cite book |last1=Seirinidou |first1=Vaso |editor1-last=Mishkova |editor1-first=Diana |editor2-last=Trencsényi |editor2-first=Balázs |title=European Regions and Boundaries: A Conceptual History |year=2017 |publisher=Berghahn Books |isbn=978-1-78533-585-3 |page=80 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=c53vDQAAQBAJ&pg=PA80 |chapter=The Mediterranean}}</ref>

The first Viking attacks in al-Andalus in AD 844 greatly affected the region.<ref name="Fabricius1882">{{cite book |last1=Fabricius |first1=Adam |title=Forbindelserne mellem Norden og den spanske halvø i ældre tider |year=1882 |publisher=G. E. C. Gad |page=36 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QDYLAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA36 |language=da |quote=Denne begivenhed fandt sted i året 230 (der begyndte den 18de septbr. 844), og Andalus blev befriet fra deres ødelæggelser. Abdurrahman besøgte selv de steder, hvor de vare trængte ind, oprettede skaden, de havde gjort, og ved at forstærke besætningerne sikrede han egnen mod fremtidige indfald af disse barbarer." English: This event took place in the year 230 (which began on 18 September 844), and Andalusia was freed from their ravages. Abdurrahman himself visited the places they had invaded, surveyed the damage they had caused, and, by reinforcing the garrisons, secured the region against future incursions by these barbarians.}}</ref> Medieval texts such as the ''Chronicon albeldense'' and the ''[[Annales Bertiniani]]'' tell of a Viking fleet that left [[Toulouse]] and made raids in Asturias and Galicia. According to the ''[[Historia silense]]'' it had 60 ships. Being repulsed in Galicia (''Ghilīsīa''), the fleet sailed southward around the peninsula, raiding coastal towns along the way.<ref name="García-Losquiño2023">{{cite journal |last1=García Losquiño |first1=Irene |editor1-last=Price |editor1-first=Neil |editor2-last=Eriksen |editor2-first=Marianne Hem |editor3-last=Jahnke |editor3-first=Carsten |title=Responses to Viking threat: Building defences, population displacement, and folklore development {{!}} Responses to the attack on Seville, AD 844 |journal=Papers and Monographs from the Norwegian Institute at Athens |date=2019 |volume=14 |pages=67–70 |url=https://bora.uib.no/bora-xmlui/bitstream/handle/11250/3131290/Vikings%20in%20the%20Mediterranean.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y}}</ref>

In Irene García Losquiño's telling, these Vikings navigated their boats up the river [[Guadalquivir]] towards ''Išbīliya'' ([[History of Seville#Muslim al-Andalus|Seville]]) and destroyed ''Qawra'' (Coria del Río), a small town about 15&nbsp;km south of the city. Then they took ''Išbīliya'', from which they controlled the region for several weeks.<ref name="García-Losquiño2023"/> Their attack on the city forced its inhabitants to flee to ''[[History of Carmona, Spain#Muslim Qarmūnâ|Qarmūnâ]]'' (Carmona), a fortified city. The [[Emirate of Córdoba|Emirate of Qurṭuba]] made great exertions to recover ''Išbīliya'', and succeeded with the assistance of ''Qurṭuba'' ([[Córdoba, Spain|Córdoba]]) and the [[Banu Qasi]], who ruled over a semi-autonomous state in the [[Upper March]] of the [[Ebro Valley]].<ref name="Kennedy2014">{{cite book |last1=Kennedy |first1=Hugh |title=Muslim Spain and Portugal: A Political History of al-Andalus |year=2014 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-317-87041-8 |page=58 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NFfJAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA58}}</ref> Consequently, defensive walls were built at ''Išbīliya'', and the emir [[Abd ar-Rahman II|Abd al-Raḥmān II]] invested in the construction of a large fleet of ships to protect the entrance of the Guadalquivir and the coast of southern al-Andalus, after which Viking fleets had difficulties battling the Andalusī armada.<ref name="García-Losquiño2023"/>

[[Gwyn Jones (author)|Gwyn Jones]] writes that this Viking raid had occurred on 1 October 844, when most of the Iberian peninsula was controlled by the emirate. His account says a [[flotilla]] of about 80 Viking ships, after attacking Asturias, Galicia and Lisbon, had ascended the Guadalquivir to ''Išbīliya'', and [[Viking raid on Seville (844)|besieged it for seven days]], inflicting many casualties and taking numerous hostages with the intent to ransom them. Another group of Vikings had gone to ''Qādis'' ([[Cádiz]]) to plunder while those in ''Išbīliya'' waited on ''Qubtil'' (''Isla Menor''), an island in the river, for the ransom money to arrive.<ref name="Jones2001">{{cite book|author=Gwyn Jones|title=A History of the Vikings|url=https://archive.org/details/historyofvikings00jone_0|url-access=registration|year=2001|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-019280134-0|page=[https://archive.org/details/historyofvikings00jone_0/page/214 214]}}</ref> Meantime, the emir of Qurṭuba, [[Abd ar-Rahman II]], prepared a military contingent to meet them, and on 11 November a pitched battle ensued on the grounds of ''Talayata'' (Tablada).<ref name="Dreyer1996">{{cite journal|last=Dreyer (Firm)|journal=The Norseman|title=Norsk jul i bokform|date=November 1996|volume=36|issue=6|page=16|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ivBhAAAAIAAJ|access-date=5 January 2014|publisher=Nordmanns-forbundet}}</ref> The Vikings held their ground, but the results were catastrophic for the invaders, who suffered a thousand casualties; four hundred were captured and executed, some thirty ships were destroyed.<ref name="BrinkPrice2008 p. 464">{{cite book|author1=Stefan Brink|author2=Neil Price|title=The Viking World|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wuN-AgAAQBAJ&pg=PA464|year=2008|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-020341277-0|page=464}}</ref> It was not a total victory for the emir's forces, but the Viking survivors had to negotiate a peace to leave the area, surrendering their plunder and the hostages they had taken to sell as slaves, in exchange for food and clothing. According to the Arabist [[Évariste Lévi-Provençal|Lévi-Provençal]], over time, the few Norse survivors converted to Islam and settled as farmers in the area of ''Qawra'', ''Qarmūnâ'', and ''[[Morón de la Frontera|Moron]]'', where they engaged in animal husbandry and made dairy products (reputedly the origin of Sevillian cheese).<ref name="Lévi-Provençal1950">{{cite book |last1=Lévi-Provençal |first1=Evariste |title=Histoire de l'Espagne musulmane |date=1950 |publisher=G. P. Maisonneuve |page=224 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OrgJAQAAIAAJ |language=fr}}</ref><ref name="al-Qūṭīyah2009">{{cite book|author=Muḥammad ibn ʻUmar Ibn al-Qūṭīyah|title=Early Islamic Spain: The History of Ibn Al-Qūṭīya : a Study of the Unique Arabic Manuscript in the Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Paris, with a Translation, Notes, and Comments|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7CrA2CaUZGAC&pg=PA127|year=2009|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-0415475525|page=127}}</ref> Knutson and Caitlin write that Lévi-Provençal offered no sources for the proposition of conversion to Islam by northern Europeans in al-Andalus and thus it "remains unsubstantiated".<ref name="KnutsonEllis2021">{{cite journal |last1=Knutson |first1=Sara Ann |last2=Ellis |first2=Caitlin |title='Conversion' to Islam in Early Medieval Europe: Historical and Archaeological Perspectives on Arab and Northern Eurasian Interactions |journal=Religions |date=16 July 2021 |volume=12 |issue=7 |page=551 |doi=10.3390/rel12070544 |doi-access=free }}</ref>

By the year 859 a large Viking force again invaded al-Andalus, beginning a campaign along the coast of the Iberian Peninsula with smaller groups that assaulted various locations. They attacked Išbīliya (Seville), but were driven off and they returned down the Guadalquivir to the Strait of Gibraltar. The Vikings then sailed round Cape Gata and followed the coastline to the [[Kura (al-Andalus)#Kūra of Tudmir|''Kūra'' (cora) of Tudmir]], raiding various settlements, as mentioned by the 10th-century historian [[Ibn Hayyan|Ibn Hayyān]]. They finally ventured inland, entering the mouth of the river Segura and sailing towards ''ḥiṣn Ūriyūla'' ([[Orihuela]]), whose inhabitants had fled. The assailants sacked this important town, and according to the Arab sources, they attacked the fortress and burnt it to the ground. There is only brief mention in the historical record of this Viking army's attacks on south-eastern al-Andalus, including at ''al-Jazīra al-Khadrā'' ([[Algeciras]]), ''Ūriyūla'', and the ''Juzur al-Balyār'' (جزُر البليار) ([[Balearic Islands]]).<ref name="García-Losquiño2023"/>

Ibn Hayyān wrote about the Viking campaign of 859–861 in al-Andalus, perhaps relying on the account given by  Muslim historian [[Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Musa al-Razi|Aḥmad al-Rāzī]], who tells of a Viking fleet of sixty-two ships that sailed up to Išbīliya and occupied ''al-Jazīra al-Khadrā''. The Muslims seized two of their ships, laden with goods and coins, off the coast of ''Shidūnah'' ([[Medina-Sidonia|Sidonia]]). The ships were destroyed and their Viking crews killed. The remaining vessels continued up the Atlantic coast and landed near ([[Pamplona|Pampeluna]]), called ''Banbalūna'' in Arabic,<ref name="Lévi-Provençal1936">{{cite book |last1=Lévi-Provençal |first1=Évariste |title=in Encyclopaedia of Islam First Edition |year=1913–1936 |chapter-url=https://referenceworks.brill.com/display/entries/EI1O/SIM-3594.xml |chapter=Pampeluna|doi=10.1163/2214-871X_ei1_SIM_3594}}</ref> where they took their emir Gharsīa ibn Wanaqu ([[García Íñiguez|García Iñiquez]]) prisoner until in 861 he was ransomed for 70,000 [[Dinar#History|dinar]]s.<ref name="Christys2015">{{cite book |last1=Christys |first1=Ann |title=Vikings in the South: Voyages to Iberia and the Mediterranean |year=2015 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |isbn=978-1-4742-1377-6 |page=171 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tXfuBwAAQBAJ&pg=PT71}}</ref>

According to the ''Annales Bertiniani'', Danish Vikings embarked on a long voyage in 859, sailing eastward through the Strait of Gibraltar then up the river [[Rhône]], where they raided monasteries and towns and established a base in the [[Camargue]].<ref name="Aguirre2113">{{cite journal |last1=Aguirre |first1=Víctor Emanuel |title=The Viking Expeditions to Spain During the 9th Century |journal=Mindre Skrifter |date=2013 |volume=30 |issue=30 |url=https://www.sdu.dk/-/media/files/om_sdu/institutter/iks/arkiv/ihks/projekter/middelalderstudier/viking+expeditions.pdf |publisher=Centre for Medieval Studies, University of Southern Denmark |page=11}}</ref> Afterwards they raided [[Emirate of Nekor|Nakūr]] in what is now Morocco, kidnapped women of the royal family, and returned them when the emir of Córdoba paid their ransoms.<ref name="Nelson2001">{{cite book |last1=Nelson |first1=Jinty |editor1-last=Sawyer |editor1-first=P.H. |title=The Oxford Illustrated History of the Vikings |year=2001 |publisher=Oxford University Press |chapter=Franks Divided, Vikings Ascendant |isbn=978-0-19-285434-6 |page=29 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nJqf8e1vHFgC&pg=PA29}}</ref>

The Vikings made several incursions in the years 859, 966 and 971, with intentions more diplomatic than bellicose, although an invasion in 971 was repelled when the Viking fleet was totally annihilated.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Riosalido |first=Jesús |title=Los vikingos en al-Andalus |journal=Al-Andalus Magreb |year=1997 |volume=5 |pages=335–344 |url=http://rodin.uca.es:8081/xmlui/bitstream/handle/10498/7881/18385953.pdf?sequence=1 |access-date=11 April 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110718171837/http://rodin.uca.es:8081/xmlui/bitstream/handle/10498/7881/18385953.pdf?sequence=1 |archive-date=18 July 2011 }}</ref> Vikings attacked Talayata again in 889 at the instigation of Kurayb ibn Khaldun of Išbīliya. In 1015, a Viking fleet entered the [[Minho River|river Minho]] and sacked the episcopal city of [[Tui, Pontevedra|Tui]] Galicia; no new bishop was appointed until 1070.<ref>[[Richard A. Fletcher|Fletcher, Richard A.]] (1997) ''The conversion of Europe: from paganism to Christianity 371–1386 AD''. HarperCollins. {{ISBN|0-00-255203-5}}. p. 370</ref>

=== Portugal ===
In 844, a fleet of several dozen Viking [[longship]]s with square brown sails appeared in the ''Mar da Palha'' ("Sea of Straw"), i.e., the mouth of the river [[Tagus]].<ref name="Ferguson2009">{{cite book |last1=Ferguson |first1=Robert |title=The Vikings: A History |year=2009 |publisher=Penguin |isbn=978-1-101-15142-6 |page=218 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HY_klT7NjvAC&pg=PT218}}</ref> At the time, the city later called [[Lisbon]] was under Muslim rule and known in Arabic as ''al-Us̲h̲būna'' or ''al-ʾIšbūnah'' (الأشبونة).<ref name="JoaquínGómez1989">{{cite book|author1-last=Vallvé Bermejo |author1-first=Joaquín |author2-last=García Gómez|author2-first=Emilio |title=Nuevas ideas sobre la conquista árabe de España: toponimia y onomástica : discurso leído en el acto de su recepción pública|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2QCW_bAINd4C&pg=PA188|year=1989|publisher=Real Academia de la Historia|page=188|id=GGKEY:WJYGZ815TEG}}</ref><ref name="Logan2013" />{{rp|108–109}} After a thirteen-day siege in which they plundered the surrounding countryside, the Vikings conquered ''al-Us̲h̲būna'', but eventually retreated in the face of continued resistance by the townspeople led by their governor, Wahb Allah ibn Hazm.<ref name="Romero2004">{{cite book|author=Eduardo Morales Romero|title=Historia de los vikingos en España: ataques e incursiones contra los reinos cristianos y musulmanes de la Península Ibérica en los siglos IX–XI|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3s4pAQAAMAAJ&q=%22ibn%20Hazm%22|date= 2004|publisher=Miraguano Ediciones|isbn=978-84-7813-270-6|page=130}}</ref><ref name="LeguayMarques1993">{{cite book|author1=Jean-Pierre Leguay|author2=António Henrique R. de Oliveira Marques|author3=Maria Ângela V. da Rocha Beirante|title=Portugal das invasões germânicas à "reconquista"|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2gIrAQAAMAAJ&q=%22os%20vikings%22|year=1993|publisher=Editorial Presença|page=125|isbn=9789722317191}}</ref><ref name="JayyusiMarín1992">{{cite book|author1=Salma Khadra Jayyusi|author2=Manuela Marín|title=The Legacy of Muslim Spain|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cbfORLWv1HkC&pg=PA10|year=1992|publisher=Brill|isbn=90-04-09599-3|page=10}}</ref>

The chronicler Ibn Hayyān, who wrote the most reliable early history of al-Andalus, in his ''Kitāb almuqtabis'', quoted the Muslim historian Ahmad ibn Muhammad al-Rāzī:{{blockquote|At the end of the year 229/844, the ships of the Norsemen [ al-Urdumaniyin ], who were known in al-Andalus as majus, appeared off the western coast of al-Andalus, landing at Lisbon, their first point of entry to the forbidden lands. It was a Wednesday, the first day of Dhu al-Hijjah [20 August] in that year, and they remained there thirteen days, during which time they engaged in three battles with the Muslims.<ref name="Fadlan2012">{{cite book |last1=Fadlan |first1=Ibn |translator1-last=Lunde |translator1-first=Paul |translator2-last=Stone |translator2-first=Caroline |title=Ibn Fadlan and the Land of Darkness: Arab Travellers in the Far North |date=2012 |publisher=Penguin UK |isbn=978-0-14-197504-7 |page=100 |url=https://archive.org/details/IbnFadlanAndTheLandOfDarknessArabTravellersInTheFarNorthPenguinClassicsCopie/page/n99/mode/2up}}</ref>}}