1.
Ribe
–
Ribe is a Danish town in south-west Jutland and has a population of 8,168. It is the seat of the Diocese of Ribe covering southwestern Jutland, until 1 January 2007, Ribe was the seat of both a surrounding municipality, and county. It is now part of the enlarged Esbjerg Municipality in the Region of Southern Denmark, Ribe is the oldest extant town in Denmark, established in the early eighth century in the Germanic Iron Age. Established in the first decade of the century and first attested in a document dated 854. The town celebrated its 1300th anniversary in 2010 and this was not coincidental, since Ribe already at that point was one of the most important trade cities in Scandinavia. However the presence of a bishop, and thus a cathedral, recent archaeological excavations in Ribe have however led to the discovery of between 2,000 and 3,000 Christian graves. They have been dated to the ninth century indicating that a large Christian community was living peacefully together with the Vikings at the time. Excavations conducted between 2008 and 2012 have also revealed details of the original church built by Ansgar. The town has many well-preserved old buildings, Ribe Cathedral, Denmarks oldest town hall is found on the towns Von Støckens Plads. The building was erected in 1496, and was purchased by the city for use as a hall in 1709. Early eighth century, founding of Ribe, Ribe flourished during the early medieval period as an important trading centre, or emporium, primarily connecting Western Europe and Scandinavia. The Ribe Cathedral started to be built in 1150 under the current bishops reign, the Treaty of Ribe was proclaimed in 1460. 3 September 1580, a fire destroys a large part of the town. 11 streets and 213 houses burn down, 11–12 October 1634, a storm tide floods the city with waterlevels rising to 6.1 meters above average. 1 January 2007, the Municipality of Ribe ceased to exist as it merged with the municipalities of Esbjerg and Bramming,4 June 2010, residents celebrated the citys 1300th anniversary with a town-wide party There are numerous cultural and environmental features of Ribe. Among the cultural highlights are notable churches and museums, the flora and fauna, while depleted in large part from the man-made development and surrounding agricultural land conversion, retain notable aspects of the natural environment. The Ribe River flows through town and hosts certain elements of riparian habitat, certain notable birdlife is found in and near the town, the European white stork, Ciconia ciconia, is one of the historic inhabitants of the town, choosing to build nests atop chimneys. This bird has declined in population throughout Western Europe due to agricultural land conversion as well as droughts in its wintering range in Africa
Ribe
–
The main street of Ribe
Ribe
–
Ribe Cathedral
Ribe
–
City hall.
Ribe
–
Ribe stork
2.
Old Norse language
–
Old Norse was a North Germanic language that was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and inhabitants of their overseas settlements during about the 9th to 13th centuries. These dates, however, are not absolute, since written Old Norse is found well into the 15th century, Old Norse was divided into three dialects, Old West Norse, Old East Norse and Old Gutnish. Old West and East Norse formed a continuum, with no clear geographical boundary between them. For example, Old East Norse traits were found in eastern Norway, although Old Norwegian is classified as Old West Norse, most speakers spoke Old East Norse in what is present day Denmark and Sweden. Old Gutnish, the more obscure dialectal branch, is included in the Old East Norse dialect due to geographical associations. It developed its own features and shared in changes to both other branches. The 12th century Icelandic Gray Goose Laws state that Swedes, Norwegians, Icelanders and Danes spoke the same language, another term used, used especially commonly with reference to West Norse, was norrœnt mál. In some instances the term Old Norse refers specifically to Old West Norse, the Old East Norse dialect was spoken in Denmark, Sweden, settlements in Kievan Rus, eastern England, and Danish settlements in Normandy. The Old Gutnish dialect was spoken in Gotland and in settlements in the East. In the 11th century, Old Norse was the most widely spoken European language, in Kievan Rus, it survived the longest in Veliky Novgorod, probably lasting into the 13th century there. Norwegian is descended from Old West Norse, but over the centuries it has heavily influenced by East Norse. Old Norse also had an influence on English dialects and Lowland Scots and it also influenced the development of the Norman language, and through it and to a smaller extent, that of modern French. Various other languages, which are not closely related, have heavily influenced by Norse, particularly the Norman dialects, Scottish Gaelic. The current Finnish and Estonian words for Sweden are Ruotsi and Rootsi, of the modern languages, Icelandic is the closest to Old Norse. Written modern Icelandic derives from the Old Norse phonemic writing system, contemporary Icelandic-speakers can read Old Norse, which varies slightly in spelling as well as semantics and word order. However, pronunciation, particularly of the phonemes, has changed at least as much as in the other North Germanic languages. Faroese retains many similarities but is influenced by Danish, Norwegian, although Swedish, Danish and the Norwegian languages have diverged the most, they still retain asymmetric mutual intelligibility. Speakers of modern Swedish, Norwegian and Danish can mostly understand each other without studying their neighboring languages, the languages are also sufficiently similar in writing that they can mostly be understood across borders
Old Norse language
–
The
Rök Runestone in
Östergötland, Sweden, is the longest surviving source of early Old East Norse. It is inscribed on both sides.
Old Norse language
–
Old West Norse dialect
3.
Old English language
–
Old English or Anglo-Saxon is the earliest historical form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlers probably in the mid 5th century, Old English developed from a set of Anglo-Frisian or North Sea Germanic dialects originally spoken by Germanic tribes traditionally known as the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes. As the Anglo-Saxons became dominant in England, their language replaced the languages of Roman Britain, Common Brittonic, a Celtic language, Old English had four main dialects, associated with particular Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, Mercian, Northumbrian, Kentish and West Saxon. It was West Saxon that formed the basis for the standard of the later Old English period, although the dominant forms of Middle. The speech of eastern and northern parts of England was subject to strong Old Norse influence due to Scandinavian rule, Old English is one of the West Germanic languages, and its closest relatives are Old Frisian and Old Saxon. Like other old Germanic languages, it is different from Modern English. Old English grammar is similar to that of modern German, nouns, adjectives, pronouns, and verbs have many inflectional endings and forms. The oldest Old English inscriptions were using a runic system. Old English was not static, and its usage covered a period of 700 years, from the Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain in the 5th century to the late 11th century, some time after the Norman invasion. While indicating that the establishment of dates is a process, Albert Baugh dates Old English from 450 to 1150, a period of full inflections. Perhaps around 85 per cent of Old English words are no longer in use, Old English is a West Germanic language, developing out of Ingvaeonic dialects from the 5th century. It came to be spoken over most of the territory of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms which became the Kingdom of England and this included most of present-day England, as well as part of what is now southeastern Scotland, which for several centuries belonged to the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Northumbria. Other parts of the island – Wales and most of Scotland – continued to use Celtic languages, Norse was also widely spoken in the parts of England which fell under Danish law. Anglo-Saxon literacy developed after Christianisation in the late 7th century, the oldest surviving text of Old English literature is Cædmons Hymn, composed between 658 and 680. There is a corpus of runic inscriptions from the 5th to 7th centuries. The Old English Latin alphabet was introduced around the 9th century, with the unification of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms by Alfred the Great in the later 9th century, the language of government and literature became standardised around the West Saxon dialect. In Old English, typical of the development of literature, poetry arose before prose, a later literary standard, dating from the later 10th century, arose under the influence of Bishop Æthelwold of Winchester, and was followed by such writers as the prolific Ælfric of Eynsham. This form of the language is known as the Winchester standard and it is considered to represent the classical form of Old English
Old English language
–
A detail of the first page of the
Beowulf manuscript, showing the words "ofer hron rade", i.e. "over the whale's road (=sea)". It is an example of an Old English stylistic device, the
kenning.
Old English language
–
"Her swutelað seo gecwydrædnes ðe" Old English inscription over the arch of the south porticus in the 10th-century
St Mary's parish church, Breamore, Hampshire
Old English language
–
The first page of the
Beowulf manuscript with its opening Hƿæt ƿē Gārde/na ingēar dagum þēod cyninga / þrym ge frunon... "Listen! We of the Spear-Danes from days of yore have heard of the glory of the folk-kings..."
4.
Christianity
–
Christianity is a Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ, who serves as the focal point for the religion. It is the worlds largest religion, with over 2.4 billion followers, or 33% of the global population, Christians believe that Jesus is the Son of God and the savior of humanity whose coming as the Messiah was prophesied in the Old Testament. Christian theology is summarized in creeds such as the Apostles Creed and his incarnation, earthly ministry, crucifixion, and resurrection are often referred to as the gospel, meaning good news. The term gospel also refers to accounts of Jesuss life and teaching, four of which—Matthew, Mark, Luke. Christianity is an Abrahamic religion that began as a Second Temple Judaic sect in the mid-1st century, following the Age of Discovery, Christianity spread to the Americas, Australasia, sub-Saharan Africa, and the rest of the world through missionary work and colonization. Christianity has played a prominent role in the shaping of Western civilization, throughout its history, Christianity has weathered schisms and theological disputes that have resulted in many distinct churches and denominations. Worldwide, the three largest branches of Christianity are the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, and the denominations of Protestantism. There are many important differences of interpretation and opinion of the Bible, concise doctrinal statements or confessions of religious beliefs are known as creeds. They began as baptismal formulae and were expanded during the Christological controversies of the 4th and 5th centuries to become statements of faith. Many evangelical Protestants reject creeds as definitive statements of faith, even agreeing with some or all of the substance of the creeds. The Baptists have been non-creedal in that they have not sought to establish binding authoritative confessions of faith on one another. Also rejecting creeds are groups with roots in the Restoration Movement, such as the Christian Church, the Evangelical Christian Church in Canada, the Apostles Creed is the most widely accepted statement of the articles of Christian faith. It is also used by Presbyterians, Methodists, and Congregationalists and this particular creed was developed between the 2nd and 9th centuries. Its central doctrines are those of the Trinity and God the Creator, each of the doctrines found in this creed can be traced to statements current in the apostolic period. The creed was used as a summary of Christian doctrine for baptismal candidates in the churches of Rome. Most Christians accept the use of creeds, and subscribe to at least one of the mentioned above. The central tenet of Christianity is the belief in Jesus as the Son of God, Christians believe that Jesus, as the Messiah, was anointed by God as savior of humanity, and hold that Jesus coming was the fulfillment of messianic prophecies of the Old Testament. The Christian concept of the Messiah differs significantly from the contemporary Jewish concept, Jesus, having become fully human, suffered the pains and temptations of a mortal man, but did not sin
Christianity
–
An
Eastern Christian icon depicting
Emperor Constantine and the Fathers of the
First Council of Nicaea (325) as holding the Niceno–Constantinopolitan Creed of 381
Christianity
–
Various
depictions of Jesus
Christianity
–
Crucifixion, representing the death of
Jesus on the
Cross, painting by
Diego Velázquez, 17th century
5.
Norse religion
–
Norse religion refers to the religious traditions of the Norsemen prior to the Christianization of Scandinavia, specifically during the Viking Age. Norse religion is a folk religion and it was the northern variation of the religion practiced in the lands inhabited by the Germanic tribes across most of Northern and Central Europe prior to Roman and Holy Roman incursions. However, it was not formalized nor categorized as a subset of Germanic paganism until it was described by outsiders who came into contact with native practitioners. The Norse - or people of Scandinavia - have always had contact with cultures outside Scandinavia. They were well aware of foreign religions and they traded, intermarried and sometimes worked as henchmen for other cultures, including the Romans. Most titles bestowed upon Norse religion are the ones which were used to describe the religion in a competitive manner, some of these terms were hedendom, Heidentum, Heathenry or Pagan. A more romanticized name for Norse religion is the medieval Icelandic term Forn Siðr or Old Custom, knowledge about Norse religion has been gathered from archaeological discoveries and from literature produced after the Christianization of Scandinavia. The literary sources that reference Norse paganism were written after the religion had declined, the vast majority of this came from 13th-century Iceland, where Christianity had taken longest to gain hold because of its remote location. The key literary texts for the study of Norse religion are the Prose Edda by Snorri Sturluson, the Gesta Danorum by Saxo Grammaticus and the Poetic Edda, by an unknown writer or writers. Saga literature informs us of the not only of the literate elite. Sagas are categorized on the basis of events described in the saga took place. Though Sagas are often mythical in nature, the ambitions are to give a realistic description of past events. Many sites in Scandinavia have yielded information about early Scandinavian culture. The oldest extant cultural examples are petroglyphs or helleristninger/hällristningar and these are usually divided into two categories according to age, hunting-glyphs and agricultural-glyphs. The hunting glyphs are the oldest and are found in Northern Scandinavia. These finds seem to indicate an existence based on hunting and fishing. These motifs were gradually subsumed by glyphs with more zoomorphic, or perhaps religious, the glyphs from the region of Bohuslän are later complemented with younger agricultural glyphs, which seem to depict an existence based more heavily on agriculture. These later motifs primarily depict ships, solar and lunar motifs, geometrical spirals and anthropomorphic beings and these finds shows several signs of rituals in a seemingly religious context, including some strong indications of human sacrifice such as the case of the Tollund Man bog body
Norse religion
–
An 18th century copy of the Prose Edda, one of the key literary sources for
Norse mythology.
Norse religion
–
Mjölnir pendants were worn by Norse pagans during the 9th to 10th centuries. This drawing of a 4.6 cm gold-plated silver Mjolnir pendant was found at Bredsätra in
Öland,
Sweden.
Norse religion
–
Gamla Uppsala, the centre of worship in
Sweden until the temple was destroyed in the late 11th century.
Norse religion
–
"Freyr" (1901) by
Johannes Gehrts, The god associated with sacral kingship, virility and prosperity, with sunshine and fair weather, and was pictured as a phallic fertility god.
6.
Monarchy
–
The actual power of the monarch may vary from purely symbolic, to partial and restricted, to completely autocratic. Traditionally and in most cases, the monarchs post is inherited and lasts until death or abdication, occasionally this might create a situation of rival claimants whose legitimacy is subject to effective election. Finally, there have been cases where the term of a reign is either fixed in years or continues until certain goals are achieved. Thus there are widely divergent structures and traditions defining monarchy, Monarchy was the most common form of government until the 19th century, but it is no longer prevalent. Currently,47 sovereign nations in the world have monarchs acting as heads of state,19 of which are Commonwealth realms that recognise Queen Elizabeth II as their head of state. The monarchs of Cambodia, Japan, and Malaysia reign, the word monarch comes from the Greek language word μονάρχης, monárkhēs which referred to a single, at least nominally absolute ruler. In current usage the word usually refers to a traditional system of hereditary rule. Depending on the held by the monarch, a monarchy may be known as a kingdom, principality, duchy, grand duchy, empire, tsardom, emirate, sultanate, khaganate. The form of societal hierarchy known as chiefdom or tribal kingship is prehistoric, the Greek term monarchia is classical, used by Herodotus. The monarch in classical antiquity is often identified as king, the Chinese, Japanese and Nepalese monarchs continued to be considered living Gods into the modern period. Since antiquity, monarchy has contrasted with forms of democracy, where power is wielded by assemblies of free citizens. In antiquity, monarchies were abolished in favour of such assemblies in Rome, much of 19th century politics was characterised by the division between anti-monarchist Radicalism and monarchist Conservativism. Many countries abolished the monarchy in the 20th century and became republics, advocacy of republics is called republicanism, while advocacy of monarchies is called monarchism. In the modern era, monarchies are more prevalent in small states than in large ones, most monarchs, both historically and in the modern day, have been born and brought up within a royal family, the centre of the royal household and court. Growing up in a family, future monarchs are often trained for the responsibilities of expected future rule. Different systems of succession have been used, such as proximity of blood, primogeniture, and agnatic seniority. While most monarchs have been male, many female monarchs also have reigned in history, rule may be hereditary in practice without being considered a monarchy, such as that of family dictatorships or political families in many democracies. The principal advantage of hereditary monarchy is the continuity of leadership
Monarchy
–
Richard I of England being anointed during his coronation in
Westminster Abbey, from a 13th-century chronicle.
Monarchy
–
Thutmose I, the third
Pharaoh of the
Eighteenth dynasty of Egypt.
Monarchy
–
King George III of the United Kingdom, Portrait by
Allan Ramsay, 1762
Monarchy
–
King
Salman of Saudi Arabia is an absolute monarch.
7.
King
–
King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen regnant, in the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the title may refer to tribal kingship. Germanic kingship is cognate with Indo-European traditions of tribal rulership In the context of classical antiquity, king may translate Latin rex or either Greek archon or basileus. In classical European feudalism, the title of king as the ruler of a kingdom is understood as the highest rank in the order, potentially subject. In a modern context, the title may refer to the ruler of one of a number of modern monarchies. The title of king is used alongside other titles for monarchs, in the West prince, emperor, archduke, duke or grand duke, in the Middle East sultan or emir, etc. Kings, like other royalty, tend to wear purple because purple was a color to wear in the past. The English term king is derived from the Anglo-Saxon cyning, which in turn is derived from the Common Germanic *kuningaz, the Common Germanic term was borrowed into Estonian and Finnish at an early time, surviving in these languages as kuningas. The English term king translates, and is considered equivalent to, Latin rēx, the Germanic term is notably different from the word for king in other Indo-European languages. It is a derivation from the term *kunjom kin by the -inga- suffix, the literal meaning is that of a scion of the kin, or perhaps son or descendant of one of noble birth. English queen translates Latin regina, it is from Old English cwen queen, noble woman, the Germanic term for wife appears to have been specialized to wife of a king, in Old Norse, the cognate kvan still mostly refers to a wife generally. Scandinavian drottning, dronning is a derivation from *druhtinaz lord. The English word is of Germanic origin, and historically refers to Germanic kingship, the Early Middle Ages begin with a fragmentation of the former Western Roman Empire into barbarian kingdoms. The core of European feudal manorialism in the High Middle Ages were the territories of the kingdom of France, the Holy Roman Empire, in southern Europe, the kingdom of Sicily was established following the Norman conquest of southern Italy. The Kingdom of Sardinia was claimed as a title held by the Crown of Aragon in 1324. In the Balkans, the Kingdom of Serbia was established in 1217, in eastern-central Europe, the Kingdom of Hungary was established in AD1000 following the Christianisation of the Magyars. The kingdoms of Poland and Bohemia were established within the Holy Roman Empire in 1025 and 1198, in Eastern Europe, the Kievan Rus consolidated into the Grand Duchy of Moscow, which did not technically claim the status of kingdom until the early modern Tsardom of Russia. In northern Europe, the kingdoms of the Viking Age by the 11th century expanded into the North Sea Empire under Cnut the Great, king of Denmark, England
King
–
The nine European Monarchs who attended the
funeral of
King Edward VII of Britain, photographed at
Windsor Castle on 20 May 1910. Standing, from left to right:
King Haakon VII of Norway,
Tsar Ferdinand of Bulgaria,
King Manuel II of Portugal,
Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany,
King George I of Greece and
King Albert I of Belgium. Seated, from left to right:
King Alfonso XIII of Spain,
King George V of Britain and
King Frederick VIII of Denmark.
King
King
–
Ramesses II, the third
Pharaoh of the
Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt.
8.
Cnut the Great
–
King Cnut the Great, also known as Canute, was King of Denmark, England, and Norway, together often referred to as the Anglo-Scandinavian or North Sea Empire. After his death, the deaths of his heirs within a decade, the medieval historian Norman Cantor said he was the most effective king in Anglo-Saxon history, though he was Danish and not a Briton or Anglo-Saxon. Cnuts father was Sweyn Forkbeard, King of Denmark, the identity of his mother is uncertain, although medieval tradition makes her a daughter of Mieszko I. As a Danish prince, Cnut won the throne of England in 1016 in the wake of centuries of Viking activity in northwestern Europe and his accession to the Danish throne in 1018 brought the crowns of England and Denmark together. Cnut maintained his power by uniting Danes and English under cultural bonds of wealth and custom, after a decade of conflict with opponents in Scandinavia, Cnut claimed the crown of Norway in Trondheim in 1028. The Swedish city Sigtuna was held by Cnut and he had coins struck there that called him king, but there is no narrative record of his occupation. Cnut attempted to gain concessions on the tolls his people had to pay on the way to Rome from other magnates of medieval Christendom, the Anglo-Saxon kings used the title king of the English. Cnut was ealles Engla landes cyning—king of all England, Cnut was a son of the Danish Prince Sweyn Forkbeard, who was the son and heir to King Harald Bluetooth from a line of Scandinavian rulers central to the unification of Denmark. Neither the place nor the date of his birth are known, Harthacnut was the semi-legendary founder of the Danish royal house at the beginning of the 10th century, and his son, Gorm the Old, was the first in the official line. Harald Bluetooth, Gorms son and Cnuts grandfather, was the Danish king at the time of the Christianization of Denmark, Cnut was two years old when his grandfather, Harald Bluetooth, died, and his father, Sweyn Forkbeard, assumed the throne. The Chronicon of Thietmar of Merseburg and the Encomium Emmae report Cnuts mother as having been a daughter of Mieszko I of Poland, since in the Norse sagas the king of Vindland is always Burislav, this is reconcilable with the assumption that her father was Mieszko. Different theories regarding the number and ancestry of Sweyns wives have been brought forward, Cnuts brother Harald was the first born and crown prince. His date of birth, like his mothers name, is unknown, contemporary works such as the Chronicon and the Encomium Emmae, do not mention this. Even so, in a Knútsdrápa by the skald Óttarr svarti and it also mentions a battle identifiable with Sweyn Forkbeards invasion of England and attack on the city of Norwich, in 1003/04, after the St. Brices Day massacre of Danes by the English, in 1002. If it is the case that Cnut was part of this, his birthdate may be near 990, if not, and the skalds poetic verse envisages another assault, such as Forkbeards conquest of England in 1013/14, it may even suggest a birth date nearer 1000. There is a passage of the Encomiast with a reference to the force Cnut led in his English conquest of 1015/16, here it says all the Vikings were of mature age under Cnut the king. He had a fair complexion none-the-less, and a fine, thick head of hair and his eyes were better than those of other men, both the handsomer and the keener of their sight. Hardly anything is known for sure of Cnuts life until the year he was part of a Scandinavian force under his father, King Sweyn and it was the climax to a succession of Viking raids spread over a number of decades
Cnut the Great
–
A 14th century portrait of Cnut the Great
Cnut the Great
–
This
runestone,
U 194, in memory of a Viking known as Alli, says he won Knútr's payment in England.
Cnut the Great
–
Medieval impression depicting Edmund Ironside (left) and Cnut (right).
Cnut the Great
–
Coins of Cnut the Great.
British Museum.
9.
Viking Age
–
The Viking Age is the period from the late 8th century to the mid-11th century in European history, especially Northern European and Scandinavian history, following the Germanic Iron Age. It is the period of history when Scandinavian Norsemen explored Europe by its seas and rivers for trade, raids, colonisation and conquest. Three Viking ships had beached in Weymouth Bay four years earlier, the Viking devastation of Northumbrias Holy Island was reported by the Northumbrian scholar Alcuin of York, who wrote, Never before in Britain has such a terror appeared. Vikings were portrayed as violent and bloodthirsty by their enemies. The chronicles of medieval England portrayed them as rapacious wolves among sheep, the first challenges to the many anti-Viking images in Britain emerged in the 17th century. Pioneering scholarly works on the Viking Age reached a readership in Britain. Archaeologists began to dig up Britains Viking past, linguistics traced the Viking-Age origins of rural idioms and proverbs. New dictionaries of the Old Norse language enabled more Victorians to read the Icelandic Sagas, the Vikings who invaded western and eastern Europe were chiefly pagans from Denmark, Norway and Sweden. They also settled in the Faroe Islands, Ireland, Iceland, peripheral Scotland, Greenland and their North Germanic language, Old Norse, became the mother-tongue of present-day Scandinavian languages. By 801, a central authority appears to have been established in Jutland. In Norway, mountainous terrain and fjords formed strong natural boundaries, communities there remained independent of each other, unlike the situation in Denmark which is lowland. By 800, some 30 small kingdoms existed in Norway, the sea was the easiest way of communication between the Norwegian kingdoms and the outside world. It was in the 8th century that Scandinavians began to build ships of war, the North Sea rovers were traders, colonisers and explorers as well as plunderers. There are various theories concerning the causes of the Viking invasions, for people living along the coast, it would seem natural to seek new land by the sea. Another reason was that during this period England, Wales and Ireland, the Franks, however, had well-defended coasts and heavily fortified ports and harbours. Pure thirst for adventure may also have been a factor, a reason for the raids is believed by some to be over-population caused by technological advances, such as the use of iron, or a shortage of women due to selective female infanticide. Although another cause could well have been caused by the Frankish expansion to the south of Scandinavia. Consequently, these Vikings became raiders, in search of subsistence, There is ongoing debate among scholars as to why the Scandinavians began to expand during the 8th through 11th centuries
Viking Age
–
History of Scandinavia
Viking Age
–
Viking Voyages in the North Atlantic
Viking Age
–
Viking era towns of Scandinavia
10.
Battle of Assandun
–
The Battle of Assandun was fought between Danish and English armies on 18 October 1016. There is disagreement whether Assandun may be Ashdon near Saffron Walden in north Essex or, as supposed, Ashingdon near Rochford in southeast Essex. It ended in victory for the Danes, led by Canute the Great, the battle was the conclusion to the Danish reconquest of England. The battle is mentioned briefly in Knýtlinga saga which quotes a verse of poetry by Óttarr svarti. King Knut fought the battle, a major one, against the sons of Æthelred at a place called Ashington. During the course of the battle, Eadnoth the Younger, Bishop of Dorchester, was killed by Cnuts men whilst in the act of saying mass on behalf of Edmund Ironsides men. According to Liber Eliensis, Eadnoths hand was first cut off for a ring, the Ealdorman Ulfcytel Snillingr also died in the battle. Following his defeat, Edmund was forced to sign a treaty with Canute. By this treaty, all of England except Wessex would be controlled by Canute and when one of the kings should die the other would take all of England, that kings son being the heir to the throne. After Edmunds death on 30 November, Canute built a church, a few years later in 1020 the completion took place of the memorial church known as Ashingdon Minster, on the hill next to the presumed site of the battle in Ashingdon. The church still stands to this day, Canute attended the dedication of Ashingdon Minster with his bishops and appointed his personal priest, Stigand, to be priest there. There is another location of the battle, Ashdon, also in Essex. There have been finds of Roman and Anglo-Saxon coins in the area. Historians have argued inconclusively over the two sites for years, there is some strong evidence, a couple of Anglo-Saxon wills that definitely show Ashdon as the battle site. Unfortunately little remains of the structures, which were largely obliterated by the construction of the current church of All Saints during the late 13th to early 15th centuries
Battle of Assandun
–
Ashingdon hill, possible location of the battle.
11.
Anglo-Saxon England
–
Anglo-Saxon England was early medieval England, existing from the 5th to the 11th century from the end of Roman Britain until the Norman conquest in 1066. It consisted of various Anglo-Saxon kingdoms until 927 when it was united as the Kingdom of England by King Æthelstan and it became part of the North Sea Empire of Cnut the Great, a personal union between England, Denmark and Norway in the 11th century. The Anglo-Saxons were the members of Germanic-speaking groups who migrated to the half of the island from continental Europe. Anglo-Saxon identity survived beyond the Norman conquest, came to be known as Englishry under Norman rule, Bede completed his book Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum in around 731. Thus the term for English people was in use by then to distinguish Germanic groups in Britain from those on the continent, the historian James Campbell suggested that it was not until the late Anglo-Saxon period that England could be described as a nation state. It is certain that the concept of Englishness only developed very slowly, as the Roman occupation of Britain was coming to an end, Constantine III withdrew the remains of the army, in reaction to the barbarian invasion of Europe. The Romano-British leaders were faced with a security problem from seaborne raids. The expedient adopted by the Romano-British leaders was to enlist the help of Anglo-Saxon mercenaries, in about 442 the Anglo-Saxons mutinied, apparently because they had not been paid. There then followed several years of fighting between the British and the Anglo-Saxons, the fighting continued until around 500, when, at the Battle of Mount Badon, the Britons inflicted a severe defeat on the Anglo-Saxons. There are records of Germanic infiltration into Britain that date before the collapse of the Roman Empire and it is believed that the earliest Germanic visitors were eight cohorts of Batavians attached to the 14th Legion in the original invasion force under Aulus Plautius in AD43. There is a hypothesis that some of the tribes, identified as Britons by the Romans. It was quite common for Rome to swell its legions with foederati recruited from the German homelands and this practice also extended to the army serving in Britain, and graves of these mercenaries, along with their families, can be identified in the Roman cemeteries of the period. The migration continued with the departure of the Roman army, when Anglo-Saxons were recruited to defend Britain, and also during the period of the Anglo-Saxon first rebellion of 442. The arrival of the Anglo-Saxons into Britain can be seen in the context of a movement of Germanic peoples around Europe between the years 300 and 700, known as the Migration period. In the same there were migrations of Britons to the Armorican peninsula, initially around 383 during Roman rule. The historian Peter Hunter-Blair expounded what is now regarded as the view of the Anglo-Saxon arrival in Britain. He suggested a mass immigration, fighting and driving the Sub-Roman Britons off their land and into the extremities of the islands. This view was influenced by sources such as Bede, where he talks about the Britons being slaughtered or going into perpetual servitude
Anglo-Saxon England
–
Escomb Church, a restored 7th century Anglo-Saxon church. Church architecture and artefacts provide a useful source of historical information.
Anglo-Saxon England
–
Whitby Abbey
Anglo-Saxon England
–
The walled defence round a burgh. Alfred's capital, Winchester. Saxon and medieval work on Roman foundations.
12.
History of Denmark
–
The history of Denmark as a unified kingdom began in the 8th century, but historic documents describe the geographic area and the people living there - the Danes -, as early as 500 AD. These early documents include the writings of Jordanes and Procopius, with the Christianization of the Danes c.960 AD, it is clear that there existed a kingship in Scandinavia, controlling the current Danish territory roughly speaking. Queen Margrethe II can trace her back to the Viking kings Gorm the Old and Harald Bluetooth from this time. The area we now know as Denmark, has a rich prehistory, having been populated by prehistoric cultures and people for about 12,000 years. Denmark was long in disputes with Sweden over control of Skånelandene and with Germany over control of Schleswig, eventually, Denmark lost these conflicts and ended up ceding first Skåneland to Sweden and later Schleswig-Holstein to the German Empire. After the eventual cession of Norway in 1814, Denmark retained control of the old Norwegian colonies of the Faroe Islands, Greenland and Iceland. During the 20th century, Iceland gained independence, Greenland and the Faroese became integral parts of the Kingdom of Denmark and North Schleswig reunited with Denmark in 1920 after a referendum. During World War II, Denmark was occupied by Nazi Germany, in the aftermaths of World War II, and with the emergence of the subsequent Cold War, Denmark was quick to join the military alliance of NATO as a founding member in 1949. The Scandinavian region has a rich prehistory, having been populated by prehistoric cultures and people for about 12,000 years. During the ice age, all of Scandinavia was covered by glaciers most of the time, when the ice began retreating, the barren tundras were soon inhabited by reindeer and elk and Ahrenburg and Swiderian hunters from the south followed them here to hunt occasionally. The geography then was very different from what we know today, as the climate warmed up, forceful rivers of meltwater started to flow and shape the virgin lands, and a more stable flora and fauna gradually began emerging in Scandinavia and Denmark in particular. The first human settlers to inhabit Denmark and Scandinavia permanently was the Maglemosian people, residing in seasonal camps and it was not until around 6,000 BC that the geography of Denmark as we know it today had been shaped approximately. Denmark has some unique conditions for preservation of artifacts, providing a rich. The Weichsel glaciation covered all of Denmark most of the time and it ended around 13,000 years ago allowing humans to move back into the previously ice-covered territories and establish permanent habitation. During the first post-glacial millennia the landscape changed from tundra to light forest. Early pre-historic cultures uncovered in modern Denmark include the Maglemosian Culture, the Kongemose culture, the Ertebølle culture, and the Funnelbeaker culture. The Koelbjerg Man is the oldest known bog body in the world and also the oldest set of bones found in Denmark. With a continuing rise in temperature the oak, elm and hazel arrived in Denmark around 7,000 BC, now boar, red deer, and roe deer also began to abound
History of Denmark
–
Stone Dolmen near Vinstrup, Nørhald. Built in the 3rd millennium BC.
History of Denmark
History of Denmark
–
History of Scandinavia
History of Denmark
–
The
Veksø Helmets, in the National Museum of Denmark.
13.
Norwegian Empire
–
To the North, Norway also bordered extensive tax territories on the mainland. As one of the colonial powers of Europe, Norway, whose expansionalism starts from the very foundation of the Kingdom in 872. During this period of about 450 years, Norway was an influential European power both intellectually and militarily, the Norwegians also established trade relations and fought battles in North America, the Middle East and North Africa. They settled in the British Isles and controlled the Irish Sea with international slave trade, however, Norway would become more concerned with diplomacy and intellectual culture after the death of Saint Olav. The death of Norways patron saint marks the city of Trondheim becoming the most important pilgrimage site in Northern Europe. In the years 1042–1047 the King of Norway Magnus the Good also ruled Denmark, at the peak of the Norwegian Empire before the civil war, Sigurd I successfully led the Norwegian Crusade in order to aid in the liberation of Muslim-occupied territory in Europe. This includes Lisbon, before Sigurd and his Norwegian force headed for the Middle East to aid Baldwin I in establishing the Kingdom of Jerusalem. The Kingdom of Norway was the second European country after England to enforce a code of law to be applied for the whole country. The secular power was at its strongest at the end of King Haakon Haakonssons reign in 1263, an important element of the period was the ecclesiastical supremacy of the archdiocese of Nidaros from 1152. There are no sources for when Jämtland was placed under the archbishop of Uppsala. Uppsala was established later, and was the metropolitan diocese in Scandinavia after Lund. The church participated in a political process both before and during the Kalmar Union that aimed at Swedish side, to establish a position for Sweden in Jämtland. This area had been from time immemorial a borderland in relation to the Swedish kingdom, a unified realm was initiated by King Harald I Fairhair in the 9th century. His efforts in unifying the petty kingdoms of Norway, resulted in the first known Norwegian central government, the country however fragmented soon, and was again collected into one entity in the first half of the 11th century. Norway has been a monarchy since Fairhair, passing through several eras and this is considered the first year of the Norwegian Empire. In Ranríki Konunghella was built as a royal city alongside Túnsberg and Biorgvin, Herjárdalr became Norwegian during the 12th century and remained so for five centuries. Jamtaland started paying taxes to Norway during the 13th century and was absorbed into a part of the mainland territory the same century. It was occupied by the Swedish during the Nordic Seven Years War, Idre and Særna, Norwegian since the 12th century, were conquered by Sweden during the Hannibal controversy
Norwegian Empire
–
Norway at its greatest extent ca. 1265
14.
Denmark
–
Denmark, officially the Kingdom of Denmark, is a Scandinavian country in Europe and a sovereign state. The southernmost and smallest of the Nordic countries, it is south-west of Sweden and south of Norway, Denmark also comprises two autonomous constituent countries in the North Atlantic Ocean, the Faroe Islands and Greenland. Denmark has an area of 42,924 square kilometres. The country consists of a peninsula, Jutland, and an archipelago of 443 named islands, with the largest being Zealand, the islands are characterised by flat, arable land and sandy coasts, low elevation and a temperate climate. The unified kingdom of Denmark emerged in the 10th century as a proficient seafaring nation in the struggle for control of the Baltic Sea, Denmark, Sweden and Norway were ruled together under the Kalmar Union, established in 1397 and ending with Swedish secession in 1523. Denmark and Norway remained under the monarch until outside forces dissolved the union in 1814. The union with Norway made it possible for Denmark to inherit the Faroe Islands, Iceland, beginning in the 17th century, there were several cessions of territory to Sweden. In the 19th century there was a surge of nationalist movements, Denmark remained neutral during World War I. In April 1940, a German invasion saw brief military skirmishes while the Danish resistance movement was active from 1943 until the German surrender in May 1945, the Constitution of Denmark was signed on 5 June 1849, ending the absolute monarchy which had begun in 1660. It establishes a constitutional monarchy organised as a parliamentary democracy, the government and national parliament are seated in Copenhagen, the nations capital, largest city and main commercial centre. Denmark exercises hegemonic influence in the Danish Realm, devolving powers to handle internal affairs, Home rule was established in the Faroe Islands in 1948, in Greenland home rule was established in 1979 and further autonomy in 2009. Denmark became a member of the European Economic Community in 1973, maintaining certain opt-outs, it retains its own currency, the krone. It is among the members of NATO, the Nordic Council, the OECD, OSCE. The etymology of the word Denmark, and especially the relationship between Danes and Denmark and the unifying of Denmark as a kingdom, is a subject which attracts debate. This is centred primarily on the prefix Dan and whether it refers to the Dani or a historical person Dan and the exact meaning of the -mark ending. Most handbooks derive the first part of the word, and the name of the people, from a word meaning land, related to German Tenne threshing floor. The -mark is believed to mean woodland or borderland, with references to the border forests in south Schleswig. The first recorded use of the word Danmark within Denmark itself is found on the two Jelling stones, which are believed to have been erected by Gorm the Old and Harald Bluetooth
Denmark
–
The gilded side of the
Trundholm sun chariot dating from the Nordic Bronze Age.
Denmark
–
Flag
Denmark
–
The
Ladby ship, the largest ship burial found in Denmark.
Denmark
–
Larger of the two Jelling stones, raised by
Harald Bluetooth.
15.
Germany
–
Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a federal parliamentary republic in central-western Europe. It includes 16 constituent states, covers an area of 357,021 square kilometres, with about 82 million inhabitants, Germany is the most populous member state of the European Union. After the United States, it is the second most popular destination in the world. Germanys capital and largest metropolis is Berlin, while its largest conurbation is the Ruhr, other major cities include Hamburg, Munich, Cologne, Frankfurt, Stuttgart, Düsseldorf and Leipzig. Various Germanic tribes have inhabited the northern parts of modern Germany since classical antiquity, a region named Germania was documented before 100 AD. During the Migration Period the Germanic tribes expanded southward, beginning in the 10th century, German territories formed a central part of the Holy Roman Empire. During the 16th century, northern German regions became the centre of the Protestant Reformation, in 1871, Germany became a nation state when most of the German states unified into the Prussian-dominated German Empire. After World War I and the German Revolution of 1918–1919, the Empire was replaced by the parliamentary Weimar Republic, the establishment of the national socialist dictatorship in 1933 led to World War II and the Holocaust. After a period of Allied occupation, two German states were founded, the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic, in 1990, the country was reunified. In the 21st century, Germany is a power and has the worlds fourth-largest economy by nominal GDP. As a global leader in industrial and technological sectors, it is both the worlds third-largest exporter and importer of goods. Germany is a country with a very high standard of living sustained by a skilled. It upholds a social security and universal health system, environmental protection. Germany was a member of the European Economic Community in 1957. It is part of the Schengen Area, and became a co-founder of the Eurozone in 1999, Germany is a member of the United Nations, NATO, the G8, the G20, and the OECD. The national military expenditure is the 9th highest in the world, the English word Germany derives from the Latin Germania, which came into use after Julius Caesar adopted it for the peoples east of the Rhine. This in turn descends from Proto-Germanic *þiudiskaz popular, derived from *þeudō, descended from Proto-Indo-European *tewtéh₂- people, the discovery of the Mauer 1 mandible shows that ancient humans were present in Germany at least 600,000 years ago. The oldest complete hunting weapons found anywhere in the world were discovered in a mine in Schöningen where three 380, 000-year-old wooden javelins were unearthed
Germany
–
The
Nebra sky disk is dated to c. 1600 BC.
Germany
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Flag
Germany
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Martin Luther (1483–1546) initiated the
Protestant Reformation.
Germany
–
Foundation of the
German Empire in
Versailles, 1871.
Bismarck is at the center in a white uniform.
16.
Norway
–
The Antarctic Peter I Island and the sub-Antarctic Bouvet Island are dependent territories and thus not considered part of the Kingdom. Norway also lays claim to a section of Antarctica known as Queen Maud Land, until 1814, the kingdom included the Faroe Islands, Greenland, and Iceland. It also included Isle of Man until 1266, Shetland and Orkney until 1468, Norway has a total area of 385,252 square kilometres and a population of 5,258,317. The country shares a long border with Sweden. Norway is bordered by Finland and Russia to the north-east, Norway has an extensive coastline, facing the North Atlantic Ocean and the Barents Sea. King Harald V of the Dano-German House of Glücksburg is the current King of Norway, erna Solberg became Prime Minister in 2013, replacing Jens Stoltenberg. A constitutional monarchy, Norway divides state power between the Parliament, the Cabinet and the Supreme Court, as determined by the 1814 Constitution, the kingdom is established as a merger of several petty kingdoms. By the traditional count from the year 872, the kingdom has existed continuously for 1,144 years, Norway has both administrative and political subdivisions on two levels, counties and municipalities. The Sámi people have an amount of self-determination and influence over traditional territories through the Sámi Parliament. Norway maintains close ties with the European Union and the United States, the country maintains a combination of market economy and a Nordic welfare model with universal health care and a comprehensive social security system. Norway has extensive reserves of petroleum, natural gas, minerals, lumber, seafood, the petroleum industry accounts for around a quarter of the countrys gross domestic product. On a per-capita basis, Norway is the worlds largest producer of oil, the country has the fourth-highest per capita income in the world on the World Bank and IMF lists. On the CIAs GDP per capita list which includes territories and some regions, from 2001 to 2006, and then again from 2009 to 2017, Norway had the highest Human Development Index ranking in the world. It also has the highest inequality-adjusted ranking, Norway ranks first on the World Happiness Report, the OECD Better Life Index, the Index of Public Integrity and the Democracy Index. Norway has two names, Noreg in Nynorsk and Norge in Bokmål. The name Norway comes from the Old English word Norðrveg mentioned in 880, meaning way or way leading to the north. In contrasting with suðrvegar southern way for Germany, and austrvegr eastern way for the Baltic, the Anglo-Saxon of Britain also referred to the kingdom of Norway in 880 as Norðmanna land. This was the area of Harald Fairhair, the first king of Norway, and because of him
Norway
–
The
helmet found at Gjermundbu near
Haugsbygd,
Buskerud, is the only
Viking Age helmet that has been found.
Norway
–
Flag
Norway
–
The
Gokstad ship at the
Viking Ship Museum in
Oslo, Norway
Norway
–
The
Battle of the Sound between an allied Dano-Norwegian–
Dutch fleet and the Swedish navy, 8 November 1658 (29 October
O.S.)
17.
Sweden
–
Sweden, officially the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and Finland to the east, at 450,295 square kilometres, Sweden is the third-largest country in the European Union by area, with a total population of 10.0 million. Sweden consequently has a low density of 22 inhabitants per square kilometre. Approximately 85% of the lives in urban areas. Germanic peoples have inhabited Sweden since prehistoric times, emerging into history as the Geats/Götar and Swedes/Svear, Southern Sweden is predominantly agricultural, while the north is heavily forested. Sweden is part of the area of Fennoscandia. The climate is in very mild for its northerly latitude due to significant maritime influence. Today, Sweden is a monarchy and parliamentary democracy, with a monarch as head of state. The capital city is Stockholm, which is also the most populous city in the country, legislative power is vested in the 349-member unicameral Riksdag. Executive power is exercised by the government chaired by the prime minister, Sweden is a unitary state, currently divided into 21 counties and 290 municipalities. Sweden emerged as an independent and unified country during the Middle Ages, in the 17th century, it expanded its territories to form the Swedish Empire, which became one of the great powers of Europe until the early 18th century. Swedish territories outside the Scandinavian Peninsula were gradually lost during the 18th and 19th centuries, the last war in which Sweden was directly involved was in 1814, when Norway was militarily forced into personal union. Since then, Sweden has been at peace, maintaining a policy of neutrality in foreign affairs. The union with Norway was peacefully dissolved in 1905, leading to Swedens current borders, though Sweden was formally neutral through both world wars, Sweden engaged in humanitarian efforts, such as taking in refugees from German-occupied Europe. After the end of the Cold War, Sweden joined the European Union on 1 January 1995 and it is also a member of the United Nations, the Nordic Council, Council of Europe, the World Trade Organization and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Sweden maintains a Nordic social welfare system that provides health care. The modern name Sweden is derived through back-formation from Old English Swēoþēod and this word is derived from Sweon/Sweonas. The Swedish name Sverige literally means Realm of the Swedes, excluding the Geats in Götaland, the etymology of Swedes, and thus Sweden, is generally not agreed upon but may derive from Proto-Germanic Swihoniz meaning ones own, referring to ones own Germanic tribe
Sweden
–
A
Vendel-era helmet, at the Swedish Museum of National Antiquities.
Sweden
–
Flag
Sweden
–
A
romantic nationalist interpretation of
Valdemar IV taking control over
Gotland. The final battle outside the walls of Visby in 1361 ended with a massacre of 1,800 defenders of the city.
Sweden
–
Stockholm in mid-17th century
18.
United Kingdom
–
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom or Britain, is a sovereign country in western Europe. Lying off the north-western coast of the European mainland, the United Kingdom includes the island of Great Britain, Northern Ireland is the only part of the United Kingdom that shares a land border with another sovereign state—the Republic of Ireland. The Irish Sea lies between Great Britain and Ireland, with an area of 242,500 square kilometres, the United Kingdom is the 78th-largest sovereign state in the world and the 11th-largest in Europe. It is also the 21st-most populous country, with an estimated 65.1 million inhabitants, together, this makes it the fourth-most densely populated country in the European Union. The United Kingdom is a monarchy with a parliamentary system of governance. The monarch is Queen Elizabeth II, who has reigned since 6 February 1952, other major urban areas in the United Kingdom include the regions of Birmingham, Leeds, Glasgow, Liverpool and Manchester. The United Kingdom consists of four countries—England, Scotland, Wales, the last three have devolved administrations, each with varying powers, based in their capitals, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast, respectively. The relationships among the countries of the UK have changed over time, Wales was annexed by the Kingdom of England under the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. A treaty between England and Scotland resulted in 1707 in a unified Kingdom of Great Britain, which merged in 1801 with the Kingdom of Ireland to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Five-sixths of Ireland seceded from the UK in 1922, leaving the present formulation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain, there are fourteen British Overseas Territories. These are the remnants of the British Empire which, at its height in the 1920s, British influence can be observed in the language, culture and legal systems of many of its former colonies. The United Kingdom is a country and has the worlds fifth-largest economy by nominal GDP. The UK is considered to have an economy and is categorised as very high in the Human Development Index. It was the worlds first industrialised country and the worlds foremost power during the 19th, the UK remains a great power with considerable economic, cultural, military, scientific and political influence internationally. It is a nuclear weapons state and its military expenditure ranks fourth or fifth in the world. The UK has been a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council since its first session in 1946 and it has been a leading member state of the EU and its predecessor, the European Economic Community, since 1973. However, on 23 June 2016, a referendum on the UKs membership of the EU resulted in a decision to leave. The Acts of Union 1800 united the Kingdom of Great Britain, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have devolved self-government
United Kingdom
–
Stonehenge, in
Wiltshire, was erected around 2500 BC.
United Kingdom
–
Flag
United Kingdom
–
The
Bayeux Tapestry depicts the
Battle of Hastings, 1066, and the events leading to it.
United Kingdom
–
The
Treaty of Union led to a single united kingdom encompassing all Great Britain.
19.
Thalassocracy
–
A thalassocracy is a state with primarily maritime realms, an empire at sea or a seaborne empire. Traditional thalassocracies seldom dominate interiors, even in their territories, Phoenician Tyre, Sidon and Carthage or Srivijaya. Compare to tellurocracy - land-based hegemony, the term thalassocracy can also simply refer to naval supremacy, in either military or commercial senses of the word supremacy. The Ancient Greeks first used the word thalassocracy to describe the government of the Minoan civilization, herodotus distinguishes sea-power from land-power and spoke of the need to counter the Phoenician thalassocracy by developing a Greek empire of the sea. There are many ancient examples besides those mentioned above, such as the Delian League, nearly contemporaneous, the Republic of Ragusa can be seen as a thalassocracy, a competitor to Venice. These include the variously Greek and Lombard duchies of Gaeta, Naples, Salerno, later, northern Italy developed its own trade empires based on Pisa and especially the powerful Republic of Genoa, that rivaled with Venice. It was with the age, the Age of Exploration. Anchored in their European territories, several nations established colonial empires held together by naval supremacy, with naval arms races and the end of colonialism and the granting of independence to these colonies, European thalassocracies, which had controlled the worlds oceans for centuries, ceased to be
Thalassocracy
–
The Phoenician trade routes in the Mediterranean.
20.
England
–
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west, the Irish Sea lies northwest of England and the Celtic Sea lies to the southwest. England is separated from continental Europe by the North Sea to the east, the country covers five-eighths of the island of Great Britain in its centre and south, and includes over 100 smaller islands such as the Isles of Scilly, and the Isle of Wight. England became a state in the 10th century, and since the Age of Discovery. The Industrial Revolution began in 18th-century England, transforming its society into the worlds first industrialised nation, Englands terrain mostly comprises low hills and plains, especially in central and southern England. However, there are uplands in the north and in the southwest, the capital is London, which is the largest metropolitan area in both the United Kingdom and the European Union. In 1801, Great Britain was united with the Kingdom of Ireland through another Act of Union to become the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. In 1922 the Irish Free State seceded from the United Kingdom, leading to the latter being renamed the United Kingdom of Great Britain, the name England is derived from the Old English name Englaland, which means land of the Angles. The Angles were one of the Germanic tribes that settled in Great Britain during the Early Middle Ages, the Angles came from the Angeln peninsula in the Bay of Kiel area of the Baltic Sea. The earliest recorded use of the term, as Engla londe, is in the ninth century translation into Old English of Bedes Ecclesiastical History of the English People. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, its spelling was first used in 1538. The earliest attested reference to the Angles occurs in the 1st-century work by Tacitus, Germania, the etymology of the tribal name itself is disputed by scholars, it has been suggested that it derives from the shape of the Angeln peninsula, an angular shape. An alternative name for England is Albion, the name Albion originally referred to the entire island of Great Britain. The nominally earliest record of the name appears in the Aristotelian Corpus, specifically the 4th century BC De Mundo, in it are two very large islands called Britannia, these are Albion and Ierne. But modern scholarly consensus ascribes De Mundo not to Aristotle but to Pseudo-Aristotle, the word Albion or insula Albionum has two possible origins. Albion is now applied to England in a poetic capacity. Another romantic name for England is Loegria, related to the Welsh word for England, Lloegr, the earliest known evidence of human presence in the area now known as England was that of Homo antecessor, dating to approximately 780,000 years ago. The oldest proto-human bones discovered in England date from 500,000 years ago, Modern humans are known to have inhabited the area during the Upper Paleolithic period, though permanent settlements were only established within the last 6,000 years
England
–
Stonehenge, a
Neolithic monument
England
–
Flag
England
–
Boudica led an uprising against the
Roman Empire
England
–
Replica of a 7th-century ceremonial
helmet from the
Kingdom of East Anglia, found at
Sutton Hoo
21.
Holy Roman Emperor
–
The Holy Roman Emperor was the ruler of the Holy Roman Empire. From an autocracy in Carolingian times the title evolved into an elected monarchy chosen by the Prince-electors, until the Reformation the Emperor elect was required to be crowned by the Pope before assuming the imperial title. The title was held in conjunction with the rule of the Kingdom of Germany, in theory, the Holy Roman Emperor was primus inter pares among the other Catholic monarchs, in practice, a Holy Roman Emperor was only as strong as his army and alliances made him. Various royal houses of Europe, at different times, effectively became hereditary holders of the title, after the Reformation many of the subject states and most of those in Germany were Protestant while the Emperor continued to be Catholic. The Holy Roman Empire was dissolved by the last Emperor as a result of the collapse of the polity during the Napoleonic wars, from the time of Constantine I the Roman emperors had, with very few exceptions, taken on a role as promoters and defenders of Christianity. In the west, the title of Emperor was revived in 800, as the power of the papacy grew during the Middle Ages, popes and emperors came into conflict over church administration. The best-known and most bitter conflict was known as the Investiture Controversy. After Charlemagne was crowned Emperor of the Romans by Pope Leo III, no pope appointed an emperor again until the coronation of Otto the Great in 962. Under Otto and his successors, much of the former Carolingian kingdom of Eastern Francia fell within the boundaries of the Holy Roman Empire, the various German princes elected one of their peers as King of the Germans, after which he would be crowned as emperor by the Pope. After Charles Vs coronation, all succeeding emperors were called elected Emperor due to the lack of papal coronation, the term sacrum in connection with the medieval Roman Empire was first used in 1157 under Frederick I Barbarossa. Charles V was the last Holy Roman Emperor to be crowned by the Pope, the final Holy Roman Emperor-elect, Francis II, abdicated in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars that saw the Empires final dissolution. The standard designation of the Holy Roman Emperor was August Emperor of the Romans, the word Holy had never been used as part of that title in official documents. In German-language historiography, the term Römisch-deutscher Kaiser is used to distinguish the title from that of Roman Emperor on one hand, the English term Holy Roman Emperor is a modern shorthand for emperor of the Holy Roman Empire not corresponding to the historical style or title. Successions to the kingship were controlled by a variety of complicated factors, elections meant the kingship of Germany was only partially hereditary, unlike the kingship of France, although sovereignty frequently remained in a dynasty until there were no more male successors. The Electoral council was set at seven princes by the Golden Bull of 1356, another elector was added in 1690, and the whole college was reshuffled in 1803, a mere three years before the dissolution of the Empire. After 1438, the Kings remained in the house of Habsburg and Habsburg-Lorraine, with the exception of Charles VII. Maximilian I and his successors no longer travelled to Rome to be crowned as Emperor by the Pope, Maximilian therefore named himself Elected Roman Emperor in 1508 with papal approval. This title was in use by all his uncrowned successors, of his successors only Charles V, the immediate one, received a papal coronation
Holy Roman Emperor
–
Francis II
Holy Roman Emperor
–
Quaternion Eagle
Holy Roman Emperor
–
Replicas of the Crown jewels
Holy Roman Emperor
–
Holy Roman Emperors of Habsburg dynasty and their families
22.
History of Anglo-Saxon England
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Anglo-Saxon England was early medieval England, existing from the 5th to the 11th century from the end of Roman Britain until the Norman conquest in 1066. It consisted of various Anglo-Saxon kingdoms until 927 when it was united as the Kingdom of England by King Æthelstan and it became part of the North Sea Empire of Cnut the Great, a personal union between England, Denmark and Norway in the 11th century. The Anglo-Saxons were the members of Germanic-speaking groups who migrated to the half of the island from continental Europe. Anglo-Saxon identity survived beyond the Norman conquest, came to be known as Englishry under Norman rule, Bede completed his book Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum in around 731. Thus the term for English people was in use by then to distinguish Germanic groups in Britain from those on the continent, the historian James Campbell suggested that it was not until the late Anglo-Saxon period that England could be described as a nation state. It is certain that the concept of Englishness only developed very slowly, as the Roman occupation of Britain was coming to an end, Constantine III withdrew the remains of the army, in reaction to the barbarian invasion of Europe. The Romano-British leaders were faced with a security problem from seaborne raids. The expedient adopted by the Romano-British leaders was to enlist the help of Anglo-Saxon mercenaries, in about 442 the Anglo-Saxons mutinied, apparently because they had not been paid. There then followed several years of fighting between the British and the Anglo-Saxons, the fighting continued until around 500, when, at the Battle of Mount Badon, the Britons inflicted a severe defeat on the Anglo-Saxons. There are records of Germanic infiltration into Britain that date before the collapse of the Roman Empire and it is believed that the earliest Germanic visitors were eight cohorts of Batavians attached to the 14th Legion in the original invasion force under Aulus Plautius in AD43. There is a hypothesis that some of the tribes, identified as Britons by the Romans. It was quite common for Rome to swell its legions with foederati recruited from the German homelands and this practice also extended to the army serving in Britain, and graves of these mercenaries, along with their families, can be identified in the Roman cemeteries of the period. The migration continued with the departure of the Roman army, when Anglo-Saxons were recruited to defend Britain, and also during the period of the Anglo-Saxon first rebellion of 442. The arrival of the Anglo-Saxons into Britain can be seen in the context of a movement of Germanic peoples around Europe between the years 300 and 700, known as the Migration period. In the same there were migrations of Britons to the Armorican peninsula, initially around 383 during Roman rule. The historian Peter Hunter-Blair expounded what is now regarded as the view of the Anglo-Saxon arrival in Britain. He suggested a mass immigration, fighting and driving the Sub-Roman Britons off their land and into the extremities of the islands. This view was influenced by sources such as Bede, where he talks about the Britons being slaughtered or going into perpetual servitude
History of Anglo-Saxon England
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Escomb Church, a restored 7th century Anglo-Saxon church. Church architecture and artefacts provide a useful source of historical information.
History of Anglo-Saxon England
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2nd to 5th century simplified migration patterns.
History of Anglo-Saxon England
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Whitby Abbey
History of Anglo-Saxon England
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The walled defence round a burgh. Alfred's capital, Winchester. Saxon and medieval work on Roman foundations.
23.
Sweyn Forkbeard
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Sweyn Forkbeard was king of Denmark, England, and parts of Norway. His name appears as Swegen in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle and he was the son of King Harald Bluetooth of Denmark, and the father of Cnut the Great. In the mid-980s, Sweyn revolted against his father and seized the throne, Harald was driven into exile and died shortly afterwards in November 986 or 987. In 1000, with the allegiance of Trondejarl, Eric of Lade, in 1013, shortly before his death, he became the first Danish king of England after a long effort. Many details about Sweyns life are contested, Adam of Bremen identifies his mother as Gunhild while the Dictionary of National Biography states that his mothers name is unknown. The Danish encyclopedia Den Store Danske on the other hand identifies her as Tove from the Western Wendland, many negative accounts build on Adam of Bremens writings, Adam is said to have watched Sweyn and Scandinavia in general with an unsympathetic and intolerant eye, according to some scholars. Adam accused Forkbeard of being a pagan who persecuted Christians, betrayed his father and expelled German bishops from Scania. According to Adam, Sweyn was sent into exile by his fathers German friends and deposed in favour of king Eric the Victorious of Sweden, whom Adam wrote ruled Denmark until his death in 994 or 995. Historians generally have problems with Adams claims, such as that Sweyn was driven into exile in Scotland for a period as long as fourteen years. As many scholars point out, he built churches in Denmark throughout this period, such as Lund and Roskilde, Sweyn was believed to have had a personal interest in the atrocities, with his sister Gunhilde and her husband possibly amongst the victims. Sweyn campaigned in Wessex and East Anglia in 1003–1004, but a famine forced him to return to Denmark in 1005, further raids took place in 1006–1007, and in 1009–1012 Thorkell the Tall led a Viking invasion into England. Simon Keynes regards it as uncertain whether Sweyn supported these invasions, some scholars have argued that Sweyns participation may have been prompted by his state of impoverishment after having been forced to pay a hefty ransom. He needed revenue from the raids and he acquired massive sums of Danegeld through the raids. In 1013, he is reported to have led his forces in a full-scale invasion of England. The contemporary Peterborough Chronicle, one of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles, states and he went very quickly about East Anglia into the Humbers mouth, and so upward along the Trent till he came to Gainsborough. Earl Uchtred and all Northumbria quickly bowed to him, as did all the people of the Kingdom of Lindsey and he was given hostages from each shire. After he came over Watling Street, they went to Oxford, and the town-dwellers soon bowed to him, from there they went to Winchester, and the people did the same, then eastward to London. But the Londoners put up a resistance, because King Æthelred and Thorkell the Tall
Sweyn Forkbeard
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Sweyn Forkbeard
Sweyn Forkbeard
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The Battle of Svolder. Painting by Otto Sinding (1842–1909).
Sweyn Forkbeard
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Coin of Sweyn Forkbeard.
Sweyn Forkbeard
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Sweyn and the Jomsvikings at the
funeral ale of his father Harald Bluetooth
24.
River Trent
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The River Trent is the third-longest river in the United Kingdom. Its source is in Staffordshire on the edge of Biddulph Moor. It flows through and drains most of the central and northern Midlands south. The river is known for dramatic flooding after storms and spring snowmelt, the wide estuary is a traditional boundary between northern England and the Midlands. The name Trent is from a Celtic word possibly meaning strongly flooding, more specifically, the name may be a contraction of two Celtic words, tros and hynt. This may indeed indicate a river that is prone to flooding, however, a more likely explanation may be that it was considered to be a river that could be crossed principally by means of fords, i. e. the river flowed over major road routes. This may explain the presence of the Celtic element rid in various names along the Trent, such as Hill Ridware. Another translation is given as the trespasser, referring to the waters flooding over the land, a traditional but almost certainly wrong opinion is that of Izaak Walton, who states in The Compleat Angler that the Trent is. So called from thirty kind of fishes that are found in it, the Trent rises on the Staffordshire moorlands near the village of Biddulph Moor, from a number of sources including the Trent Head Well. It is then joined by small streams to form the Head of Trent. Downstream of the reservoir it passes through Stoke-on-Trent and merges with the Lyme, Fowlea, on the southern fringes of Stoke, it passes through the landscaped parkland of Trentham Gardens. At this point the River Sow joins it from Stafford, the Trent now flows south-east past the town of Rugeley until it reaches Kings Bromley where it meets the Blithe. After the confluence with the Swarbourn, it passes Alrewas and reaches Wychnor, where it is crossed by the A38 dual carriageway, which follows the route of the Roman Ryknild Street. The river turns north-east where it is joined by its largest tributary, the river continues north-east, passing the village of Walton-on-Trent until it reaches the large town of Burton upon Trent. The river in Burton is crossed by a number of bridges including the ornate 19th-century Ferry Bridge that links Stapenhill to the town, shortly afterwards, the river becomes the Derbyshire-Leicestershire border, passing the traditional crossing point of Kings Mill, Castle Donington, Weston-on-Trent and Aston-on-Trent. At Shardlow, where the Trent and Mersey Canal begins, the river meets the Derwent at Derwent Mouth. As it enters the city, it passes the suburbs of Beeston, Clifton and Wilford, on reaching West Bridgford it flows beneath Trent Bridge near the cricket ground of the same name, and beside The City Ground, home of Nottingham Forest, until it reaches Holme Sluices. Downstream of Nottingham it passes Radcliffe on Trent, Stoke Bardolph and Burton Joyce before reaching Gunthorpe with its bridge, lock, the river now flows north-east below the Toot and Trent Hills before reaching Hazelford Ferry, Fiskerton and Farndon
River Trent
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Trent Bridge, with Nottingham in the background
River Trent
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The Trent passes over a man-made waterfall in Hollin Wood just downstream from its source.
River Trent
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Swarkestone Bridge
River Trent
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Newark Castle
25.
Kingdom of Lindsey
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The Kingdom of Lindsey or Linnuis was a lesser Anglo-Saxon kingdom, which was absorbed into Northumbria in the 7th century. Lindsey lay between the Humber estuary and the Wash, forming its boundaries from the courses of the Witham and Trent rivers. A marshy region south of the Humber known as the Isle of Axholme was also included, place-name evidence indicates that the Anglian settlement known as Lindisfaras spread from the Humber coast. Lindsey means the island of Lincoln, it was surrounded by water, Lincoln was in the south-west part of the kingdom. During the Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, from about 450, Lindsey was one of the lesser kingdoms, although it has its own list of kings, at an early date it came under external influence. It was from time to time effectively part of Deira, of the Northumbrian kingdom, Lindsey lost its independence long before the arrival of the Danish settlers. The kingdoms prominence was before the historical period, by the time of the first historical records of Lindsey, it had become a subjugated polity, under the alternating control of Northumbria and Mercia. Its subjugation may have occurred around AD500, during the period when the British leader known as Arthur fought his second, third and his twelfth victory held back Anglo-Saxon expansion for fifty years. All trace of Lindseys separate status had vanished before the Viking assault in the ninth century. Its territories were absorbed into the historical English county of Lincolnshire, the Anglian collection of genealogies, which was created in the last years of the reign of Offa of Mercia, gives a pedigree for Aldfrið, presumed to have been ruler of Lindsey. It traces him to the Anglo-Saxon god, Woden, likewise made ancestor of the other Anglo-Saxon dynasties, geot – Compare the Geats who are frequently mentioned in Beowulfs story. Godulf Finn Frioðulf Frealaf Woden, the god, winta – Compare Winteringham and Winterton, Lincolnshire. Cretta Cuelgils Caedbaed Bubba Beda Biscop Eanferð Eatta Aldfrið None of the individuals can be dated, though the name Biscop, Old English for bishop. Finally, it is uncertain at what point between Aldfrið and Woden the pedigree ceases to be historical, since this pedigree is the source for all of the individuals named. With regard to Aldfrið, Frank Stenton referred to the witness list for an Anglo-Saxon charter which includes an Ealfrid rex, scholars now believe that the name on the witness list should read Ecgfrið Rex, and refers to Offas son. He was anointed King of the Mercians in 787, nine years before his succession in 796, Stenton suggested that the name Biscop came from the title bishop and must post-date Paulinuss mission to Lindsey of 628 CE. But, as Sarah Foot has pointed out, Biscop does not need to have derived from an external origin. Lindisfaras Lindsey, Lincolnshire Bishop of Lindsey Leahy, Kevin, the Anglo-Saxon Kingdom of Lindsey, The Archaeology of an Anglo-Saxon Kingdom
Kingdom of Lindsey
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The kingdom of Lindsey
26.
Harald II of Denmark
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Harald II of Denmark was King of Denmark from 1014 until his death in 1018. He was the youngest son of Sweyn Forkbeard and Gunhild of Wenden and he inherited the Danish throne in 1014, and held it while his brother, the later king Cnut the Great conquered England. After his death in 1018, he was succeeded by Cnut the Great, little detail is known about Harald II
Harald II of Denmark
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17th century depiction of Harald II.
27.
Eric Haakonsson
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Eric Haakonsson was Earl of Lade, Governor of Norway and Earl of Northumbria. He was the son of Earl Hákon Sigurðarson and brother of the legendary Aud Haakonsdottir of Lade and he participated in the Battle of Hjörungavágr, the Battle of Svolder and the conquest of England by King Canute the Great. Eric is referred to in ways in the medieval sources. He most commonly witnessed charters as Yric dux but his name is also spelled Yric, Yrric, Iric, Eiric or Eric in 11th-century Latin, in Old Norse sources, using normalized orthography, he is most commonly Eiríkr jarl or Eiríkr jarl Hákonarson, but sometimes as Eirekr. Modern historians usually use a variant of Eiríkr/Eirik/Eric and his patronym, Hákonarson/Hakonarson/Hakonson, in modern Norwegian, it would be Eirik Håkonsson. Some English works prefer Eric of Hlathir, referring to his Norse earldom, principal sources on Erics youth are Fagrskinna and Heimskringla. They relate that Eric was the son of Hákon Sigurðarson and a woman of low birth whom Hákon bedded during a sojourn in Oppland, Hákon cared little for the boy and gave him to a friend of his to raise. On one occasion when Eric was eleven or twelve years old he, then Hákons closest friend, Skopti, arrived and asked Eric to move away so that he could harbour next to Hákon as he was used to. When Eric refused, Hákon was infuriated by the boys pride, humiliated, Eric had no choice but to obey. In the following winter he avenged the humiliation by chasing down Skoptis ship and this was Erics first exploit, as commemorated by his skald Eyjólfr dáðaskáld who mentions the incident in his Bandadrápa. The sagas say that after killing Skopti, Eric sailed south to Denmark where he was received by king Harald Bluetooth, after a winters stay in Denmark, Harald granted Eric earldom over Romerike and Vingulmark - areas in the south of Norway long under Danish influence. In Heimskringla this information is supported with a somewhat vague verse from Bandadrápa, the Battle of Hjörungavágr was Erics first major confrontation. The battle was fought at sea, between the earls of Lade and a Danish invasion fleet, the battle is described in the Norse kings sagas—such as Heimskringla—as well as in Jómsvíkinga saga and Saxo Grammaticus Gesta Danorum. Those late literary accounts are fanciful but historians believe that they contain a kernel of truth, some contemporary skaldic poetry alludes to the battle, including verses by Þórðr Kolbeinsson and Tindr Hallkelsson. Hákon Sigurðarson was a believer in the Old Norse gods. A Danish invasion force was defeated at the battle of Hjörungavágr in 986, according to Heimskringla, Eric, apparently reconciled with his father, commanded 60 ships in the battle and emerged victorious. After the battle he gave quarter to many of the Jomsvikings, in 995, as Óláfr Tryggvason seized power as King of Norway, Eric was forced into exile in Sweden. He allied himself with King Olof of Sweden and King Sweyn whose daughter, Gyða, using Sweden as his base he launched a series of raiding expeditions into the east
Eric Haakonsson
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Sigurðr Búason is spared by Eiríkr Hákonarson after the Battle of Hjörungavágr illustration by
Christian Krohg
Eric Haakonsson
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Eric's men board the Long Serpent by
Halfdan Egedius
Eric Haakonsson
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Battle of Svolder by
Otto Sinding
28.
Wessex
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Wessex was an Anglo-Saxon kingdom in the south of Great Britain, from 519 until England was unified by Æthelstan in the early 10th century. The Anglo-Saxons believed that Wessex was founded by Cerdic and Cynric, the two main sources for the history of Wessex are the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle and the West Saxon Genealogical Regnal List, which sometimes conflict. Wessex became a Christian kingdom after Cenwalh was baptised and was expanded under his rule, cædwalla later conquered Sussex, Kent and the Isle of Wight. His successor, Ine, issued one of the oldest surviving English law codes, the throne subsequently passed to a series of kings with unknown genealogies. During the 8th century, as the hegemony of Mercia grew and it was during this period that the system of shires was established. Under Egbert, Surrey, Sussex, Kent, Essex, and Mercia and he also obtained the overlordship of the Northumbrian king. However, Mercian independence was restored in 830, during the reign of his successor, Æthelwulf, a Danish army arrived in the Thames estuary, but was decisively defeated. When Æthelwulfs son, Æthelbald, usurped the throne, the kingdom was divided to avoid war, Æthelwulf was succeeded in turn by his four sons, the youngest being Alfred the Great. Wessex was invaded by the Danes in 871, and Alfred was compelled to pay them to leave and they returned in 876, but were forced to withdraw. In 878 they forced Alfred to flee to the Somerset Levels, during his reign Alfred issued a new law code, gathered scholars to his court and was able to devote funds to building ships, organising an army and establishing a system of burhs. Alfreds son, Edward, captured the eastern Midlands and East Anglia from the Danes and became ruler of Mercia in 918 upon the death of his sister, Edwards son, Æthelstan, conquered Northumbria in 927, and England became a unified kingdom for the first time. Cnut the Great, who conquered England in 1016, created the wealthy and powerful earldom of Wessex, modern archaeologists use the term Wessex culture for a Middle Bronze Age culture in this area. Although agriculture and hunting were pursued during this period, there is little archaeological evidence of human settlements. During the Roman occupation numerous country villas with attached farms were established across Wessex, the Romans, or rather the Romano-British, built another major road that integrated Wessex, running eastwards from Exeter through Dorchester to Winchester and Silchester and on to London. The early 4th century CE was a time in Roman Britain. However, following a previous incursion in 360 that was stopped by Roman forces and they devastated many parts of Britain and laid siege to London. The Romans responded promptly, and Count Theodosius had recovered the land up to the Wall by 368, the Romans temporarily ceased to rule Britain on the death of Magnus Maximus in 388. Stilicho attempted to restore Roman authority in the late 390s, two subsequent Roman rulers of Britain, appointed by the remaining troops, were murdered
Wessex
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Imaginary depiction of Cerdic from
John Speed 's 1611 "Saxon Heptarchy"
Wessex
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Wyvern
Wessex
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Penny of King Edward
29.
Edmund Ironside
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Edmund II, usually known as Edmund Ironside, was King of England from 23 April to 30 November 1016. He was the son of King Æthelred the Unready and his first wife, Edmunds reign was marred by a war he had inherited from his father, his cognomen Ironside was given to him because of his valour in resisting the Danish invasion led by Cnut the Great. Edmund was not expected to be King of England, however, in the process they forced Sweyns son, Cnut, back to Denmark, where he assembled an invasion force to re-conquer England. It would not arrive for another year, after regaining the throne, the royal family set about strengthening its hold on the country with the assistance of Eadric Streona. People who had sided with the Danes in 1014 were punished, in one case, two brothers, Morcar and Sigeferth, were killed and their possessions, along with Sigferths wife, were taken by Edmund. Edmund unofficially became the Earl of the East Midlands, however, Cnut returned to England in August 1015. Over the next few months, Cnut conquered most of England, and Edmund joined Æthelred to defend London, Edmund died shortly afterwards on 30 November, leaving two sons called Edward and Edmund, however, Cnut became the king of all England. The exact date of Edmunds birth is unclear, but it could have no later than 993 when he was a signatory to charters along with his two elder brothers. He was the third of the six sons of King Æthelred the Unready and his first wife, Ælfgifu and his elder brothers were Æthelstan and Egbert, and younger ones, Eadred, Eadwig and Edgar. He had four sisters, Eadgyth, Ælfgifu, Wulfhilda, and his mother died around 1000, after which his father remarried, this time to Emma of Normandy, who had two sons, Edward the Confessor and Alfred and a daughter Goda. Æthelstan and Edmund were close, and they felt threatened by Emmas ambitions for her sons. The Life of Edward the Confessor, written fifty years later, claimed that when Emma was pregnant with him, however that claim may just be propaganda. When Sweyn Forkbeard seized the throne at the end of 1013 and Æthelred fled to Normandy, the brothers do not appear to have followed him, Æthelstan died in June 1014 and left Edmund a sword which had belonged to king Offa of Mercia. His will also reflected the relationship between the brothers and the nobility of the east midlands. Sweyn died in February 1014, and the Five Boroughs accepted his son Cnut, however, Æthelred returned to England and launched a surprise attack which defeated the Vikings and forced Cnut to flee England. In 1015 Sigeferth and Morcar came to an assembly in Oxford, probably hoping for a royal pardon and he then received the submission of the people of the Five Boroughs. At the same time, Cnut launched a new invasion of England, in early 1016 the army assembled by Edmund dispersed when Æthelred did not appear to lead it, probably due to illness. Æthelred died on 23 April 1016, and the citizens and councillors in London chose Edmund as king and he then mounted a last-ditch effort to revive the defence of England
Edmund Ironside
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Edmund in the early fourteenth century Genealogical Roll of the Kings of England
30.
Southampton
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Southampton, on the south coast of England, is the largest city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire. It is 75 miles south-west of London and 19 miles north-west of Portsmouth, Southampton is a major port and the closest city to the New Forest. It lies at the northernmost point of Southampton Water at the confluence of the Rivers Test and Itchen, the city, which is a unitary authority, has an estimated population of 253,651. The citys name is abbreviated in writing to Soton or Soton. Significant employers in the city include the University of Southampton, Southampton Solent University, Southampton Airport, Ordnance Survey, BBC South, Southampton has a large shopping centre and retail park, Westquay. In 2014, the city approved a follow-up from the Westquay park, WestQuay Watermark. This built-up area is part of the area known as South Hampshire. With a population of over 1.5 million this makes the one of the United Kingdoms most populous metropolitan areas. Archaeological finds suggest that the area has been inhabited since the stone age, following the Roman invasion of Britain in AD43 and the conquering of the local Britons in 70 AD the fortress settlement of Clausentum was established. It was an important trading port and defensive outpost of Winchester, Clausentum was defended by a wall and two ditches and is thought to have contained a bath house. Clausentum was not abandoned until around 410, the Anglo-Saxons formed a new, larger, settlement across the Itchen centred on what is now the St Marys area of the city. The settlement was known as Hamwic, which evolved into Hamtun, archaeological excavations of this site have uncovered one of the best collections of Saxon artefacts in Europe. It is from this town that the county of Hampshire gets its name, viking raids from 840 onwards contributed to the decline of Hamwic in the 9th century, and by the 10th century a fortified settlement, which became medieval Southampton, had been established. Following the Norman Conquest in 1066, Southampton became the port of transit between the then capital of England, Winchester, and Normandy. By the 13th century Southampton had become a port, particularly involved in the import of French wine in exchange for English cloth. The Franciscan friary in Southampton was founded circa 1233, the friars constructed a water supply system in 1290, which carried water from Conduit Head some 1.7 kilometres to the site of the friary inside the town walls. Further remains can be observed at Conduit House on Commercial Road, the friars granted use of the water to the town in 1310. The town was sacked in 1338 by French, Genoese and Monegasque ships, on visiting Southampton in 1339, Edward III ordered that walls be built to close the town
Southampton
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Montage of Southampton. Clockwise from top-left: Bargate; Guilldhall; Top of west walls; Wool house and custom house; Southwestern house
Southampton
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Logo of the City Council
Southampton
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Part of Southampton's Town Walls
Southampton
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The memorial to the engineers of the
Titanic
31.
Essex
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Essex /ˈɛsᵻks/ is a county in England immediately north-east of London. It borders the counties of Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, the county town is Chelmsford, which is the only city in the county. Essex occupies the part of the old Kingdom of Essex, before this. As well as areas, the county also includes London Stansted Airport, the new towns of Basildon and Harlow, Lakeside Shopping Centre, the port of Tilbury. Originally recorded in AD527, Essex occupied territory to the north of the River Thames, incorporating all of what later became Middlesex and its territory was later restricted to lands east of the River Lea. In changes before the Norman conquest the East Saxons were subsumed into the Kingdom of England and, following the Norman conquest, Essex became a county. During the medieval period, much of the area was designated a Royal forest, including the county in a period to 1204. Gradually, the subject to forest law diminished, but at various times included the forests of Becontree, Chelmsford, Epping, Hatfield, Ongar. County-wide administration Essex County Council was formed in 1889, however County Boroughs of West Ham, Southend-on-Sea and East Ham formed part of the county but were unitary authorities. 12 boroughs and districts provide more localised services such as rubbish and recycling collections, leisure and planning, parish-level administration – changes A few Essex parishes have been transferred to other counties. Before 1889, small areas were transferred to Hertfordshire near Bishops Stortford, Essex became part of the East of England Government Office Region in 1994 and was statistically counted as part of that region from 1999, having previously been part of the South East England region. Two unitary authorities In 1998 the boroughs of Southend-on-Sea and Thurrock were granted autonomy from the county of Essex after successful requests to become unitary authorities. Essex Police covers the county and the two unitary authorities. The county council chamber and main headquarters is at the County Hall in Chelmsford, before 1938 the council regularly met in London near Moorgate, which with significant parts closer to that point and the dominance of railways had been more convenient than any place in the county. It currently has 75 elected councillors, before 1965, the number of councillors reached over 100. The highest point of the county of Essex is Chrishall Common near the village of Langley, close to the Hertfordshire border, the pattern of settlement in the county is diverse. Epping Forest also acts as a barrier to the further spread of London. Part of the southeast of the county, already containing the population centres of Basildon, Southend and Thurrock, is within the Thames Gateway
Essex
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The village of
Finchingfield in north Essex
Essex
Essex
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Skyline of
Southend-on-Sea
Essex
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London Stansted Airport, in the north west of the county
32.
Emma of Normandy
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Emma of Normandy was a queen consort of England, Denmark and Norway. She was the daughter of Richard I, Duke of Normandy, through her marriages to Æthelred the Unready and Cnut the Great, she became the Queen Consort of England, Denmark, and Norway. She was the mother of three sons, Edward the Confessor, Alfred, and Harthacnut, as well as two daughters, Goda of England, and Gunhilda of Denmark, even after her husbands deaths Emma remained in the public eye, and continued to participate actively in politics. She is the figure within the Encomium Emmae Reginae, a critical source for the history of early 11th-century English politics. As Catherine Karkov notes, Emma is one of the most visually represented early medieval queens, in an attempt to pacify Normandy, King Æthelred of England married Emma in 1002. Viking raids on England were often based in Normandy in the late 10th century, upon their marriage, Emma was given the Anglo-Saxon name of Ælfgifu, which was used for formal and official matters, and became Queen of England. She received properties of her own in Winchester, Rutland, Devonshire, Suffolk, Æthelred and Emma had two sons, Edward the Confessor and Alfred, and a daughter, Goda of England. When King Sweyn Forkbeard of Denmark invaded and conquered England in 1013, Emma and her children were sent to Normandy and they returned to England after Sweyn’s death in 1014. Emma and Æthelred’s marriage ended with death in London in 1016. Æthelred’s oldest son from his first marriage, Æthelstan, had been heir apparent until his death in June 1014, Emma’s sons had been ranked after all of the sons from his first wife, the oldest surviving of whom was Edmund Ironside. Emma made an attempt to get her oldest son, Edward, in 1015, Cnut, the son of Sweyn Forkbeard, invaded England. He was held out of London until the deaths of Æthelred and Edmund in April and November 1016, Queen Emma attempted to maintain Anglo-Saxon control of London until her marriage to Cnut was arranged. Some scholars believe that the marriage saved her sons lives, as Cnut tried to rid himself of rival claimants, Edmund died shortly afterwards on 30 November, and Cnut became the king of all England. At the time of their marriage, Emmas sons from her marriage to Æthelred were sent to live in Normandy under the tutelage of her brother, at this time Emma became Queen of England, and later of Denmark, and Norway. Emma was not particularly active in the first years of Cnuts reign, however, she became more active in 1020, when she began to befriend clergy on the European continent, as well as taking the role of patroness to the church. She developed a relationship with Ælfsige of Peterborough, who advised her on many spiritual matters throughout her life. Her close relationship with clergy and the church strengthened her husbands claim to the throne as a Christian king, the Encomium Emmae Reginae suggests in its second book that Emma and Cnuts marriage, though begun as a political strategy, became an affectionate marriage. During their marriage, Emma and Cnut had a son, Harthacnut, in 1036, Alfred Aetheling and Edward the Confessor, Emmas sons with Æthelred, returned to England from their exile in Normandy in order to visit their mother
Emma of Normandy
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Emma receiving the Encomium, in The Encomium Of Queen Emma, British Library MS 33241.
Emma of Normandy
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The New Minster Liber Vitae, Winchester (New Minster), 1031, British Library MS. Stowe 944
Emma of Normandy
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Mortuary chest from Winchester Cathedral, Winchester, England. This is one of six mortuary chests near the altar in the Cathedral, this one purports to contain the bones of Cnut and his wife Emma, along with others
33.
Olaf II of Norway
–
Olaf II Haraldsson, later known as St. Olaf, was King of Norway from 1015 to 1028. He was posthumously given the title Rex Perpetuus Norvegiae and canonised in Nidaros by Bishop Grimkell and his remains were enshrined in Nidaros Cathedral, built over his burial site. He is also a saint of the Eastern Orthodox Church. The exact position of Saint Olafs grave in Nidaros has been unknown since 1568, Saint Olaf is symbolised by the axe in Norways coat of arms, and the Olsok is still his day of celebration. Many Christian institutions with Scandinavian links and Norways Order of St. Olav, are named after him, modern historians generally agree that Olaf was inclined to violence and brutality, and they accuse earlier scholars of neglecting this side of Olafs character. Especially during the period of Romantic Nationalism, Olaf was a symbol of independence and pride. Olaf IIs Old Norse name is Ólafr Haraldsson, during his lifetime he was known as Olaf the fat or the stout or simply as Olaf the big. In Norway today, he is referred to as Olav den hellige or Heilage-Olav in honour of his sainthood. Olaf Haraldsson had the given name Óláfr in Old Norse, Olav is the modern equivalent in Norwegian, formerly often spelt Olaf. His name in Icelandic is Ólafur, in Faroese Ólavur, in Danish Oluf, Olave was the traditional spelling in England, preserved in the name of medieval churches dedicated to him. Other names, such as Oláfr hinn helgi, Olavus rex and he is sometimes referred to as Rex Perpetuus Norvegiae, a designation which goes back to the thirteenth century. The term Ola Nordmann as epithet of the archetypal Norwegian may originate in this tradition and his mother was Åsta Gudbrandsdatter, and his father was Harald Grenske, great-great-grandchild of Harald Fairhair, the first king of Norway. Harald Grenske died when Åsta Gudbrandsdatter was pregnant with Olaf and she later married Sigurd Syr, with whom she had other children including Harald Hardrada, who would reign as a future king of Norway. There are many texts giving information concerning Olaf Haraldsson, the oldest source that we have is the Glælognskviða or Sea-Calm Poem, composed by Þórarinn loftunga, an Icelander. It praises Olaf and mentions some of the miracles attributed to him. Olaf is also mentioned in the Norwegian synoptic histories and these include the Ágrip af Nóregskonungasögum, the Historia Norwegiae and a Latin text, Historia de Antiquitate Regum Norwagiensium by Theodoric the Monk. Icelanders also wrote extensively about Olaf and we also have several Icelandic sagas about him, the famous Heimskringla, written by Snorri Sturluson, largely bases its account of Olaf on the earlier Fagrskinna. We also have the important Oldest Saga of St. Olaf, finally, there are many hagiographic sources describing St. Olaf, but these focus mostly on miracles attributed to him and cannot be used to accurately recreate his life
Olaf II of Norway
–
Coin of Olaf dated 1023–28.
Olaf II of Norway
–
Olav den Helliges død Peter Nicolai Arbo (1859)
Olaf II of Norway
–
St Olaf with his axe on a
bishop's crozier, walrus ivory, Norway c 1375–1400 (
Victoria and Albert Museum)
Olaf II of Norway
–
Modern wrought-iron vignettes of Olaf's life on the door of a
stave church in
Hardemo,
Nerike, where Olaf baptized locals during his escape
34.
Anund Jacob of Sweden
–
Anund Jacob or James, Swedish, Anund Jakob was King of Sweden from 1022 until around 1050. He is believed to have born on July 25, in either 1008 or 1010 as Jakob. When the Swedish Thing was to him the co-ruler of Sweden. They then gave him the pronomen Anund, the line of kings appended to the Westrogothic law says that he was called Kolbränna as he had the habit of burning down the houses of his opponents. At the Battle of the Helgeå, Anund and Olaf were either victorious over or defeated by Cnut, when Magnus I became king of Norway and Denmark in 1042, Anund Jakob supported him until the death of Magnus in 1047. Anund Jakobs reign has traditionally dated from 1022 to approximately 1050. He was probably alive 1049, and his brother and successor Emund is certain to have ruled Sweden in the summer of 1060, two skalds are known to have served Anund Jacob, Sighvatr Þórðarson and Óttarr svarti. He provided military reinforcements to Yaroslav I the Wise in a battle against Mstislav of Chernigov, the battle was fought during a thunderstorm and ended in a defeat for the allies, and Jakun went back over the sea. According to Gudmund Jöran Adlerbeth of the Swedish Academy, Jakun was identical with King Anund Jakob, however, it is more likely that the name Jakun corresponds to Håkan and was another Swedish chief or petty ruler
Anund Jacob of Sweden
–
Coin minted for King Anund Jacob
35.
Conrad II, Holy Roman Emperor
–
Conrad II, also known as Conrad the Elder and Conrad the Salic, was Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire from 1027 until his death in 1039. The founder of the Salian dynasty of emperors, Conrad also served as King of Germany from 1024, King of Italy from 1026, and King of Burgundy from 1033. The son of a nobleman in Franconia, Count Henry of Speyer and Adelaide of Alsace, he inherited the titles of count of Speyer. Conrad extended his power beyond his inherited lands, receiving the favor of the princes of the Kingdom of Germany. When the Saxon-based Ottonian dynasty of emperors died off with the childless Emperor Henry II, Conrad founded his own dynasty of rulers, known as the Salian dynasty, which ruled the Holy Roman Empire for over a century. Conrad continued the policies and achievements of the Ottonian Henry II regarding the Catholic Church, Conrad continued to build the Church as a center for imperial power, preferring to appoint church bishops over secular lords to important posts across the Empire. Like Henry II before him, Conrad also continued a policy of neglect over Italy, especially for the city of Rome. His reign marked a point of the medieval imperial rule. Following the death of the childless King Rudolph III of Burgundy in 1032, Conrad claimed dominion over the Kingdom of Arles, the three kingdoms formed the basis of the Empire as the royal triad. The Salian dynasty has its origins with Count Werner V of Worms and his son, Conrad the Red, succeeded him as Count in 941 and King Otto I of Germany appointed him as Duke of Lorraine in 944. He was subsequently married to Liutgarde, one of Ottos daughters, in 947, the relationship was strained, however, when Otto refused to honor a peace treaty Conrad, as Ottos representative, had conducted with the rebellious Berengar II of Italy. Conrad also resented the influence of Ottos brother Henry I of Bavaria. In 953 Conrad joined the kings son Liudolf in rebellion against Otto, Conrad and Otto were soon reconciled, with Conrad fighting for Otto in the great Battle of Lechfeld in 955. Though the Germans were successful in halting the Hungarian invasions of Europe, Conrad was succeeded as Count of Worms in 956 by his son Otto of Worms, a grandson of Otto I. Sometime between 965 and 970 Otto of Worms oldest son, Henry of Speyer, was born, little is known of his life as he died the age of 20 between 985 and 990. Conrad IIs father was Henry of Speyer, and his mother was Adelaide of Alsace, after Henrys death, Adelaide married a Frankish nobleman. After her remarriage, Adelaide demonstrated no close relationship with her son, in 978 Emperor Otto II appointed his nephew Otto of Worms as Duke of Carinthia after deposing the rebellious Duke Henry I of Carinthia during the War of the Three Henries. Upon receiving the title, however, Otto lost his position at Worms
Conrad II, Holy Roman Emperor
–
Conrad II, depicted in the Chronicle of
Ekkehard von Aura
Conrad II, Holy Roman Emperor
–
Following his expedition into Italy in early 1026, Conrad II was crowned with the
Iron Crown of Lombardy as the
King of the Lombards.
Conrad II, Holy Roman Emperor
–
The
Imperial Crown of the Holy Roman Empire. Conrad was crowned as Emperor on March 26, 1027, by
Pope John XIX.
Conrad II, Holy Roman Emperor
–
The grave of Conrad II, Holy Roman Emperor at the crypt of the
cathedral of Speyer, Germany.
36.
Northern Europe
–
Northern Europe is the northern part or region of Europe. However, narrower definitions may also be used based on geographical factors, such as climate. Greenland, geographically a part of North America, is politically a part of the Kingdom of Denmark, while Northern Europe overlaps with most of Northwestern Europe, north-Central Europe, and Northeastern Europe, it does not border Southern Europe. Countries which are central-western, central-central, or central-eastern are generally considered part of neither Northern Europe or Southern Europe. Historically, when Europe was dominated by the Mediterranean region, everything not near this sea was termed Northern Europe, including southern Germany, all of the Low Countries and this meaning is still used today in some contexts, such as in discussions of the Northern Renaissance. In medieval times, the term Thule was used to mean a place in the extreme northern reaches of the continent. The region has a south west extreme of around 50 degrees north, the entire regions climate is mildly affected by the Gulf Stream. From the west climates vary from maritime and maritime subarctic climates, in the north and central climates are generally subarctic or Arctic and to the east climates are mostly subarctic and temperate/continental. With the exception of the United Kingdom and Ireland, Northern European countries are known for harsh winters with temperatures reaching as low as minus 50 degrees Celsius in some parts. Countries in Northern Europe have large, developed economies and some of the highest standards of living in the world and they often score highly on surveys measuring quality of life, such as the Human Development Index
Northern Europe
–
A map of northern Europe after
Ptolemy
Northern Europe
–
A satellite photograph of northern Europe
Northern Europe
–
A Dutch map of northern Europe, 1601
Northern Europe
–
Typical landscape of Northern Europe
37.
Pallium
–
In that context, it has remained connected to the Papacy. It is decorated with six crosses, one on each tail and four on the loop, is doubled on the left shoulder. The two latter characteristics seem to survive from the time when the Roman pallium was a simple scarf doubled and pinned on the left shoulder, in origin, the pallium and the omophor are the same vestment. The omophor is a band of cloth, much larger than the modern pallium, worn by all Eastern Orthodox. A theory connects its origin with the figure of the Good Shepherd carrying the lamb on his shoulders, so common in early Christian art, the ceremonial connected with the preparation of the pallium and its bestowal upon the pope at his coronation, however, suggests some such symbolism. The lambs whose wool is destined for the making of the pallia are solemnly presented at the altar by the nuns of the convent of Saint Agnes, the Benedictine nuns of Santa Cecilia in Trastevere later weave the lambs wool into pallia. At present, only the pope, metropolitan archbishops, and the Latin Rite Patriarch of Jerusalem wear the pallium, no other bishops, even non-metropolitan archbishops or retired metropolitans, are allowed to wear the pallium unless they have special permission. When a pope or metropolitan dies, he is buried wearing the last pallium he was granted, and it is unknown exactly when the pallium was first introduced. Cæsarius of Arles in 513, and in other references of the sixth century. It seems that earlier, the pope alone had the right of wearing the pallium. We hear of the pallium being conferred on others, as a mark of distinction, the honour was usually conferred on metropolitans, especially those nominated vicars by the pope, but it was sometimes conferred on simple bishops. The oath of allegiance which the recipient of the pallium takes today apparently originated in the century, during the reign of Paschal II. It is certain that a tribute was paid for the reception of the pallium as early as the sixth century and this was abrogated by Pope Gregory I in the Roman Synod of 595, but was reintroduced later as partial maintenance of the Holy See. This process was condemned by the Council of Basel in 1432, the fee was later abandoned amid charges of simony. There are many different opinions concerning the origin of the pallium, some trace it to an investiture by Constantine I, others consider it an imitation of the Hebrew ephod, the humeral garment of the High Priest. Others declare that its origin is traceable to a mantle of St. Peter, there is no solid evidence tracing the pallium to an investiture of the emperor, the ephod of the Jewish High Priest, or a fabled mantle of St. Peter. It may well be that it was introduced as a badge of the pope, or that it was adopted in imitation of its counterpart. It was bestowed on papal vicars and other bishops with exclusive links to the Apostolic See, also in this rank were missionaries sent with papal approval to organise the church among newly converted peoples
Pallium
–
Pope Innocent III depicted wearing the pallium in a fresco at the
Sacro Speco Cloister
Pallium
–
Gregory I dictating, from a 10th-century manuscript (vestments include a pallium)
Pallium
–
Development of the pallium.
Pallium
–
Pope John Paul II vested in the pallium.
38.
Henry III, Holy Roman Emperor
–
Henry III, called the Black or the Pious, was a member of the Salian Dynasty of Holy Roman Emperors. He was the eldest son of Conrad II of Germany and Gisela of Swabia and his father made him Duke of Bavaria in 1026, after the death of Duke Henry V. On Easter Day 1028, after his father was crowned Holy Roman Emperor, Henry was elected and crowned King of Germany in the cathedral of Aachen by Pilgrim, Archbishop of Cologne. After the death of Herman IV, Duke of Swabia in 1038, his father gave him that duchy, as well as the kingdom of Burgundy, which Conrad had inherited in 1033. Upon the death of his father on 4 June 1039, he became ruler of the kingdom and was crowned emperor by Pope Clement II in Rome. Henrys first tutor was Bruno, Bishop of Augsburg, on Brunos death in 1029, Egilbert, Bishop of Freising, was appointed to take his place. In 1033, at the age of sixteen, Henry came of age, Henry, in accordance with his promise to Egilbert, did not consent to his fathers act and Conrad, stupefied, fell unconscious after many attempts to turn Henry. Upon recovering, Conrad knelt before his son and exacted the desired consent, Egilbert was penalised dearly by the emperor. In 1036, Henry was married to Gunhilda of Denmark, a daughter of Canute the Great, King of Denmark, England, early on, Henrys father had arranged with Canute to have him rule over some parts of northern Germany and in turn to have their children married. The marriage took place in Nijmegen at the earliest legal age, in 1038, Henry was called to aid his father in Italy, and Gunhilda died on the Adriatic Coast during the return trip. In 1039, his father died, and Henry became sole ruler. Henry spent his first year in power on a tour of his domains and he visited the Low Countries to receive the homage of Gothelo I, Duke of Upper and Lower Lorraine. In Cologne, he was joined by Herman II, Archbishop of Cologne, who accompanied him and his mother to Saxony, where he was to build the town of Goslar up from obscurity to stately imperial grandeur. He had a force when he entered Thuringia to meet with Eckard II, Margrave of Meissen, whose advice. Only a Bohemian embassy bearing hostages appeased Henry and he disbanded his army and he passed through Bavaria, where, upon his departure, King Peter Urseolo of Hungary sent raiding parties into Swabia. There, at Ulm, he convened a Council of Princes at which he received his first recognition from Italy and he returned to Ingelheim and was recognised by a Burgundian embassy and Aribert, Archbishop of Milan, whom he had supported against his father. This peace with Aribert healed the only open wound in the Empire, meanwhile, in 1039, while he was touring his dominions, Conrad, Adalberos successor in Carinthia and Henrys cousin, died childless. Henry being his nearest kin automatically inherited that duchy as well and he was now a triple-duke and triple-king
Henry III, Holy Roman Emperor
–
Henry with the symbols of rulership attending the consecration of the
Stavelot monastery church on 5 June 1040, mid-11th century miniature
Henry III, Holy Roman Emperor
–
Monogram of Henry III
Henry III, Holy Roman Emperor
–
Imperial palace at Goslar, largely the work of Henry
Henry III, Holy Roman Emperor
–
Henry before
Tivoli in a 15th-century manuscript
39.
Gunhilda of Denmark
–
Gunhilda of Denmark, a member of the House of Knýtlinga, was Queen consort of Germany by her marriage with King Henry III of the Salian dynasty from 1036 until her death. Gunhilda was a daughter of King Cnut the Great, ruler over the Anglo-Scandinavian North Sea Empire and her maternal grandparents were Duke Richard I of Normandy and his second wife Gunnora. Her paternal grandparents were King Sweyn Forkbeard and his second wife Sigrid the Haughty and she was a sister of King Harthacnut. She was a paternal half-sister of King Svein of Norway and King Harold I of England and she was also a maternal half-sister of Alfred Aetheling and Edward the Confessor. About 1025, Gunhilda came to Germany as a child, the agreement had occurred prior to the death of Canute in 1035. During the Easter celebration in 1028, Henry received regality from the hands of his father with consent of the princes and was vested with the duchies of Bavaria and Swabia. Conrad temporarily had evolved plans to marry his son with Zoe Porphyrogenita, nevertheless, after these ambitions had failed, Gunhilda and Henry were finally betrothed at Pentecost 1035 in Bamberg and married one year later in Nijmegen. Upon her wedding, she took the German name Kunigunde, however, it seems that Gunhilda and her husband reconciled shortly afterwards. In December 1038, Emperor Conrad went on a campaign to Italy, while Empress Gisela together with Henry, stuck in a fierce conflict with quarrelsome Archbishop Aribert of Milan, Conrad asked his son for support and both Henry III and Gunhilda followed him on his expedition. In Italy, Gunhilda gave birth to the only daughter, Beatrice. While the siege of Milan proved unsuccessful, Emperor Conrad in 1038 was asked to intervene in a dispute between Guaimar IV of Salerno and Pandulf IV of Capua. He campaigned in the Mezzogiorno in support of Guaimar, took Capua and had Pandulf deposed and their victory found most of the Mezzogiorno loyal to the Holy Roman Empire. During the return journey to Germany, an epidemic broke out among the Imperial troops, Duke Herman IV of Swabia and Gunhilda were among the casualties. Gunhildas body was transferred to Germany and buried in the Limburg Abbey church, as her husband was not crowned King of the Romans until the death of his father Emperor Conrad II in 1039, Gunhilda was never crowned German queen
Gunhilda of Denmark
–
13th century portrait
40.
Duchy of Schleswig
–
The region is also called Sleswick in English. Roman sources place the homeland of the Jute tribe north of the river Eider and that of the Angles to its south, who in turn abutted the neighbouring Saxons. During the early Viking Age, Haithabu - Scandinavias biggest trading centre - was located in this region and its construction, and in particular its great expansion around 737, has been interpreted as an indication of the emergence of a unified Danish state. In May 1931 scientists of the National Museum of Denmark announced the finding of eighteen Viking graves with the remains of eighteen men in them, the discovery came during excavations in Schleswig. The skeletons indicated that the men were bigger proportioned than twentieth-century Danish men, each of the graves was laid out from east to west. Researchers surmised that the bodies were entombed in wooden coffins originally, towards the end of the Early Middle Ages, Schleswig formed part of the historical Lands of Denmark as Denmark unified out of a number of petty chiefdoms in the 8th to 10th centuries. The southern boundary of Denmark in the region of the Eider River, the Treaty of Heiligen was signed in 811 between the Danish King Hemming and Charlemagne, by which the border was established at the Eider. During the 10th century there were wars between East Francia and Denmark. In 1027, Conrad II and Canute the Great again settled their mutual border at the Eider. In 1115, king Niels created his nephew Canute Lavard - a son of his predecessor Eric I - Earl of Schleswig, in the 1230s, Southern Jutland was allotted as an appanage to Abel Valdemarsen, Canutes great-grandson, a younger son of Valdemar II of Denmark. Feuds and marital alliances brought the Abel dynasty into a connection with the German Duchy of Holstein by the 15th century. The latter was a subordinate to the Holy Roman Empire. The title Duke of Schleswig was inherited in 1460 by the kings of Norway who were also regularly elected kings of Denmark simultaneously. This was an anomaly – a king holding a ducal title, the title and anomaly survived presumably because it was already co-regally held by the kings sons. Between 1544 and 1713/20 the ducal reign had become a condominium, with the royal House of Oldenburg, a third branch in the condominium, the short-lived House of Haderslev, was already extinct in 1580 by the time of John the Elder. On the west coast the Danish diocese of Ribe stopped about 5 km north of the present border and this line corresponds remarkably well with the present border. In the 17th century a series of wars between Denmark and Sweden—which Denmark lost—devastated the region economically, however the nobility responded with a new agricultural system that restored prosperity. In the period 1600 to 1800 the region experienced the growth of manorialism of the common in the rye-growing regions of eastern Germany
Duchy of Schleswig
–
Danish Map of Southern Jutland (1918)
Duchy of Schleswig
41.
Oslo Fjord
–
The Oslofjord is an inlet in the south-east of Norway, stretching from an imaginary line between the Torbjørnskjær and Færder lighthouses and down to Langesund in the south to Oslo in the north. It is part of the Skagerrak strait, connecting the North Sea and the Kattegat sea area, the Oslofjord is not a fjord in the geological sense - in Norwegian the term fjord can refer to a wide range of waterways. The bay is divided into the inner and outer Oslofjord at the point of the 17 by 1 kilometre Drøbak Sound, in the period 1624-1925 the name of the fjord was Kristianiafjorden - since this was the name of the capital in this period. The old Norse name of the fjord was Fold, giving names to the counties of Vestfold and Østfold -, each of the islands in the innermost part of the fjord has its own identity and distinguishing history. Among them are Hovedøya, Lindøya, Nakholmen, Bleikøya, Gressholmen and these islands can be reached with the Oslo-boats from Vippetangen. Hovedøya contains monastery ruins, Gressholmen for its rabbits, Nakholmen, Bleikøya, Lindøya for their cabins at the water’s edge. The inner part of the Oslofjord has steep and forest covered hill slopes down towards the fjord, the Oslofjord has Norway’s highest all year temperature,7.5 degrees Celsius. February is the coldest month in the fjord with -1.3 degrees Celsius, the islands in the middle of the fjord are among Norway’s warmest with high summer temperatures and moderate winters. Oslofjord’s relatively high temperatures enable various flora to flourish, the oldest settlements in the area surrounding the Oslofjord date from the Stone Age and the Bronze Age. It was here on the eastern and western shores that three of the best preserved Viking ships were unearthed, in historical times, this bay was known by the current name of the region, Viken. Oslofjord has been an important body of water due to its proximity to Oslo. During WWII, there were German installations at several points on its coastline, one installation in Hovedøya held 1,100 Wehrmacht soldiers and later women deemed Nazi collaborators at the National Internment Camp for Women in Hovedøya. Norwegian painter Edvard Munch had a cottage and studio in Åsgårdstrand on the fjord, the fjord was the scene of a key event in the German invasion of Norway in April 1940, the Battle of Drøbak Sound. The invasion included a landing of 1,000 troops transported by ship to Oslo. Colonel Eriksen, Commander of the Oscarsborg fortress near Drøbak, mainly maintained for historical purposes, the fortresss resistance blocked the route to Oslo, thus delaying the rest of the group long enough for the royal family, government, parliament, and national treasury to be evacuated. The entire population situated around the Oslofjord including Oslo is about 1.96 million, more than 40% of Norway’s population resides under 45 minutes of driving from the Oslofjord. The Oslofjord has Norway’s busiest traffic of ferries and cargo boats, even though the Oslofjord contains hundreds of populated islands, most of the population of the fjord resides on the mainland. In the summer there are boats of all sizes on the fjord, and it is possible to go kayaking, canoeing, fishing, the Oslofjord is one of the nine venues of the Class 1 World Powerboat Championship
Oslo Fjord
–
Summer houses in the Oslofjord
Oslo Fjord
–
Map of Oslofjord
Oslo Fjord
–
German cruiser Blücher
Oslo Fjord
–
False-colour image of middle parts of Oslofjorden. North is to the left
42.
Nidaros
–
Nidaros, Niðarós or Niðaróss was the medieval name of Trondheim in Norway, when it was the capital of the countrys first Christian kings. It was named for its position at the mouth of the River Nid, although the capital was later moved to Oslo, Nidaros remained the centre of Norways spiritual life until the Protestant Reformation. Archbishop Olav Engelbrektsson served as a leader of Norway in attempting to resist the Danish Reformation but was forced into exile by King Christian III in 1537, the archdiocese was abolished and replaced with a Lutheran superintendenture. Olaf Trygvesson founded Nidaros in 997 and constructed a palace and church there, from this base, he worked to spread Christianity in Norway, Orkney, Shetland, the Faroes, Iceland, and Greenland. Olaf Haraldsson established Nidaros as a see and installed the monk Grimkill as its first bishop, as Norway lacked universities at the time, many English and German priests were brought in for its parishes and bishoprics. The Norwegian bishops were at first dependent on Hamburg and then on Lund in Sweden, Pope Eugene III resolved to create a metropolitan see at Nidaros and sent Nicholas Breakspeare as his legate in 1151. Nicholas installed Jon Birgerson, then bishop of Stavanger, as the first archbishop of Nidaros, the bishops of Oslo, Bergen, Stavanger, Hamar, Orkney, Skálholt and Hólar on Iceland, and Garđar on Greenland were made its suffragans. Jon Birgerson was succeeded as archbishop by Eystein, previously royal secretary and treasurer, such a man was then needed to defend the liberty of the Catholic Church against the encroachments of King Sverre, who wished to make the Church a mere tool of the temporal power. The archbishop was compelled to flee from Norway to England until he was able to return, but on Eysteins death Sverre renewed his attacks, and Archbishop Eric had to leave the country and take refuge with Archbishop Absalon of Lund. At last, when Sverre attacked the legate, Pope Innocent III laid the king. King Håkon III Sverresson, son and successor of Sverre, hastened to make peace with the Church, whose liberty had been preserved by the attitude of the pope. What would have happened, asks the Protestant ecclesiastical historian of Norway, Dr. Anton Christian Bang, if the Church, and what would have happened when a century later royalty left the country. After that time the Church was in reality the sole centre about which was grouped the whole life of our country. To regulate ecclesiastical affairs, which had suffered during the struggles with Sverre and he intervened against certain encroachments on the part of the bishops, reformed various abuses, and abolished the ordeal by hot iron. Owing in great measure to the legates, Norway became more closely linked with the supreme head of Christendom at Rome. Secular priests, as well as Benedictines, Cistercians, Augustinians, Dominicans and Franciscans worked together for the prosperity of the Church, archbishops Eilif Kortin, Paul Baardson and Arne Vade showed especially remarkable zeal. Pilgrims flocked from all quarters to the tomb, the feast of St. Olaf rested near the altar. Built in the Romanesque style by King Olaf Kyrre, the cathedral had been enlarged by Archbishop Eystein in Ogival style and it was finished only in 1248 by Archbishop Sigurd Sim
Nidaros
–
Nidaros Cathedral in 1857
Nidaros
–
Nidaros Cathedral
43.
Trondheim
–
Trondheim, historically Kaupangen, Nidaros and Trondhjem, is a city and municipality in Sør-Trøndelag county, Norway. It has a population of 187,353, and is the third most populous municipality in Norway and it is the third largest city in the country, with a population of 169,972 inhabitants within the city borders. The city functions as the centre of Sør-Trøndelag county. Trondheim lies on the shore of Trondheim Fjord at the mouth of the river Nidelva. The settlement was founded in 997 as a trading post, from 1152 to 1537, the city was the seat of the Catholic Archdiocese of Nidaros, since then, it has remained the seat of the Lutheran Diocese of Nidaros and the Nidaros Cathedral. The current municipality dates from 1964, when Trondheim merged with Byneset, Leinstrand, Strinda, for the ecclesiastical history, see Archiepiscopate of Nidaros Trondheim was named Kaupangen by Viking King Olav Tryggvason in 997. Shortly thereafter it came to be called Nidaros, in the beginning it was frequently used as a military retainer of King Olav I. It was frequently used as the seat of the king, and was the capital of Norway until 1217, people have been living in the region for thousands of years as evidenced by the rock carvings in central Norway, the Nøstvet and Lihult cultures and the Corded Ware culture. In ancient times, the Kings of Norway were hailed at Øretinget in Trondheim, Harald Fairhair was hailed as the king here, as was his son, Haakon I, called the Good. The battle of Kalvskinnet took place in Trondheim in 1179, King Sverre Sigurdsson, some scholars believe that the famous Lewis chessmen, 12th-century chess pieces carved from walrus ivory found in the Hebrides and now at the British Museum, may have been made in Trondheim. Trondheim was the seat of the Archdiocese of Nidaros for Norway from 1152, due to the introduction of Lutheran Protestantism in 1537, the last Archbishop, Olav Engelbrektsson, had to flee from the city to the Netherlands, where he died in present-day Lier, Belgium. The city has experienced major fires. Since much of the city was made of wooden buildings, many of the fires caused severe damage. Great fires ravaged the city in 1598,1651,1681,1708, twice in 1717,1742,1788,1841 and 1842, however, the 1651 fire destroyed 90% of all buildings within the city limits. The fire in 1681 led to an almost total reconstruction of the city, overseen by General Johan Caspar von Cicignon, broad avenues like Munkegaten were created, with no regard for property rights, in order to stop the next fire. At the time, the city had a population of roughly 8000 inhabitants, after the Treaty of Roskilde on 26 February 1658, Trondheim and the rest of Trøndelag, became Swedish territory for a brief period, but the area was reconquered 10 months later. The conflict was settled by the Treaty of Copenhagen on 27 May 1660. During World War II, Trondheim was occupied by Nazi Germany from 9 April 1940, the home of the most notorious Norwegian Gestapo agent, Henry Rinnan, was in Trondheim
Trondheim
–
Trondheim
Trondheim
–
The
Old Town Bridge of Trondheim
Trondheim
–
City Map of Trondheim in 1898, Norwegian edition
Trondheim
–
Autumn
foliage along Nidelva; October 2009
44.
Battle of Stiklestad
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The Battle of Stiklestad in 1030 is one of the most famous battles in the history of Norway. In this battle, King Olaf II of Norway was killed, during the pontificate of Roland of Siena, the Roman Catholic Church decided to declare Olaf a saint in 1164. His younger half-brother, Harald Hardrada, was present at the battle. He became King of Norway in 1047, only to die in an invasion of England at the Battle of Stamford Bridge in 1066. Harald was only fifteen when the battle of Stiklestad took place, the authenticity of the battle as a historical event is highly questionable. Contemporary sources say the king was simply murdered, according to the Anglosaxon Chronicle of 1043, Olaf II was killed by his own men while he slept. Adam of Bremen wrote in 1070 that Olaf II was killed in a simple ambush and those are the only contemporary sources that mention the death of the king. After the kings canonization it was felt that the saint could not have died in what was seen as cowardly circumstances, rather, Olaf II must have fallen in a major battle for Christianity. The mythical story of the Battle of Stiklestad as we know it developed during the two centuries following the death of Olaf II. During the 9th century, Norway was divided between local kings controlling their own fiefdoms. This alliance came apart after Haralds death, the jarls of Lade and various descendants of Harald Fairhair would spend the next century interlocked in feuds over power. In the year 1000, Svein and Erik of Lade took control over Norway, in 1015, Olaf Haraldsson, representing the descendants of Harald Fairhair, returned from one of his Viking trips and was immediately elected as King of Norway. In June 1016, he won the Battle at Nesjar against the Jarls of Lade, Olav Haraldssons success in becoming King of Norway was helped by the Danes being kept occupied with the ongoing fighting in England. In the year 1028, the Danish King Cnut the Great made an alliance with the Lades, in the year of 1029 the last Lade, Hakon Jarl, drowned and Olaf returned to Norway with his army to regain his throne and the Kingdom of Norway. According to saga sources, he traveled with his 3,600 man army through Sweden and crossed the mountains into the valley of Verdal, Olaf and his men arrived at Stiklestad, a farm in the lower part of the valley. This was where the Battle of Stiklestad took place, as described by Snorri Sturluson in his famous work Heimskringla, at Stiklestad, Olaf met an army led by Hárek of Tjøtta, Thorir Hund from Bjarkøy and Kálfr Árnason, a man who previously served Olaf. The peasant army consisted of one hundred hundred according to Snorri, which in long hundreds means 14,400 and he states that the battle cry of Olafs men was Fram. While that of the army was Fram
Battle of Stiklestad
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Battle of Stiklestad
Battle of Stiklestad
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King Olaf's fall
Battle of Stiklestad
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Saint Olaf
Battle of Stiklestad
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Memorial in Stalheim
45.
Sigtuna
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Sigtuna is a locality situated in Sigtuna Municipality, Stockholm County, Sweden with 8,444 inhabitants in 2010. It is the namesake of the municipality even though the seat is in Märsta, Sigtuna is, despite its small population, for historical reasons often still referred to as a town. Statistics Sweden, however, only counts localities with more than 10,000 inhabitants as cities, although less significant today, Sigtuna has an important place in Swedens early history. It is the oldest town in Sweden, having founded in 980. The history of Sigtuna before the 11th century, as described in the Norse sagas and other medieval sources. Sigtuna has a medieval town centre with restaurants, cafes. The old church ruins, runic stones and Stora gatan, the old street, are popular attractions for tourists especially in the summertime. The small streets with the low wooden houses lead up to several handicrafts shops. There are restaurants and a hotel in the town centre, Sigtuna is situated at the bay Skarven, stretching around Upplands-Bro and a part of Lake Mälaren. Sigtuna was founded on what was then the shore of Lake Mälaren just over 1,000 years ago and it took its name from an ancient royal estate several kilometers to the west. Various sources claim King Eric the Victorious as founder while others claim King Olof Skötkonung and it operated as a royal and commercial centre for some 250 years, and was one of the most important cities of Sweden. During a brief period at the end of the 10th and beginning of the 11th century, st. Marys Church, built in the 13th century by the Dominican order as a monastery church, still remains largely intact. The Dominican monastery played an important role in the Swedish Middle Ages, many church and monastery ruins still stand, and the old town structure has not been remodeled, as happened in many Swedish cities during the 19th and 20th centuries. In 1187 Sigtuna was attacked and pillaged by raiders from across the Baltic Sea, possibly Karelians, archaeological excavations have not verified the traditions of destruction of the town. Normal life in Sigtuna continued until town started to lose its importance during 13th century due to navigability problems caused by post-glacial rebound. The current coat of arms can be traced to the towns first known seal, according to a legend Sigtuna was once the Royal seat, but this can not be confirmed. The crown may also symbolize the royal mint which was located in the town. Since 1971 the coat of arms has been valid for the much larger Sigtuna Municipality, in the late 19th century, it still only hosted about 600 people, and was the smallest town in Sweden
Sigtuna
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Stora gatan, the old main street
Sigtuna
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The old town hall
Sigtuna
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St. Mary's Church (Mariakyrkan) is a fine example of
Brick Gothic architecture in Sweden
Sigtuna
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Sigtuna old town hall in early winter
46.
Lund
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Lund is a city in the province of Scania, southern Sweden. The town had 87,244 inhabitants in 2015, out of a total of 118,150 in 2016. It is the seat of Lund Municipality, Skåne County, Lund is believed to have been founded around 990, when Scania belonged to Denmark. From 1103 it was the see of the Catholic Metropolitan Archdiocese of Lund, Lund was transferred to Sweden following the signing of the Treaty of Roskilde in 1658. It was temporarily the capital of Sweden between 1716 and 1718, Lund University, established 1666, is today one of Scandinavias largest institutions for education and research. The university and its buildings dominate much of the centre of the city, numerous literary and intellectual figures have lived or studied in Lund, including the writer August Strindberg and the scientist and naturalist Carl Linnaeus. Along with Sigtuna, Lund is the oldest city in present-day Sweden, until the 1980s, the town was thought to have been founded around 1020 by either Sweyn I Forkbeard or his son Canute the Great of Denmark. The area was part of the kingdom of Denmark. But, recent archaeological discoveries suggest that the first settlement dated to circa 990, the Uppåkra settlement dates back to the first century B. C. and its remains are at the present site of the village of Uppåkra. King Sweyn I Forkbeard moved Lund to its present location, a distance of five kilometres. The new location of Lund, on a hill and across a ford, gave the new site considerable defensive advantages in comparison with Uppåkra, the diocese of nearby Dalby was absorbed in 1066. Lund Cathedral was similarly founded in or shortly after 1103, in 1152, the Norwegian archdiocese of Nidaros was founded as a separate province of the church, independent of Lund. In 1164 Sweden also acquired an archbishop of its own, although he was subordinate to the archbishop of Lund. It is still, as the diocese of Lund, a diocese in the Church of Sweden, Lund Cathedral School was founded in 1085 by the Danish king Canute the Saint. This is the oldest school in Scandinavia and one of the oldest in Northern Europe, many prominent people were educated there, among them the actor Max von Sydow and several high-ranking politicians. In 1658, the Scanian lands were ceded by Denmark to Sweden by the Treaty of Roskilde, on December 4,1676 Lund was defended in the Battle of Lund, one of the bloodiest battles fought in Scandinavia. Lund University, established in 1666, is Swedens largest, with 42,000 full or part-time students, the figure includes Lund Institute of Technology, which is to some extent independent of the old university. As late as the 1940s, Lund was a small city with few large-scale industries, covering only about a quarter of the current urban area, and dominated by the cathedral
Lund
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Lund Cathedral
Lund
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A street in the old part of the town
Lund
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Lund University Male Voice Choir at the Lund University main building on 1 May 2005
Lund
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The Botanical Garden in Lund
47.
Blekinge
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Blekinge is one of the traditional provinces of Sweden, situated in the south of the country. It borders Småland, Scania and the Baltic Sea and it is the countrys second-smallest province by area, and the smallest province located on the mainland. The name Blekinge comes from the adjective bleke, which corresponds to the term for dead calm. The historical provinces of Sweden serve no administrative function, Blekinge is, however, the only province, besides Gotland, which covers exactly the same area as the administrative county, which is Blekinge County. Blekinge was granted its current arms at the funeral of Charles X Gustav of Sweden in 1660, based on a seal from the 15th century. Symbolically the three crowns from the Coat of arms of Sweden had been placed on the trunk of the tree to mark the change in status of the former Danish province, the arms is represented with a ducal coronet. Blazon, Azure, an Oak Tree eradicated Or ensigned with three Crowns palewise of the same, Blekinge has a scenic archipelago and is sometimes called the Garden of Sweden. Blekinge became part of the kingdom of Denmark at some point in the early 11th century – most likely 1026 and its status before then is unknown. It then remained a Danish province for over 600 years, and together with the provinces of Skåne and Halland, as a border province Blekinge was often raided and looted by Swedish troops during Danish–Swedish wars. In 1658 it was ceded to Sweden according to the Treaty of Roskilde and has remained Swedish ever since, during the Danish era, Sölvesborg was the seat of the administration in the western part of the province and Kristianopel in the eastern part. Whereas the Lister Hundred belonged to Skåne, notable castles during this period were Elleholm, Sölvesborg, Lyckeby and Avaskär. Towns in Blekinge with city privileges were, Ronneby, Sölvesborg, Elleholm, after the Swedish takeover two new towns, Karlshamn and Karlskrona, were built, and the populations of Ronneby and Kristianopel were forcibly relocated to them. Karlskrona has for more than 300 years been the naval base in Sweden. Hundreds were the subdivisions of a Swedish province. Blekinges hundreds were Bräkne Hundred, Eastern Hundred, Lister Hundred, in Blekinge two main dialects exist. The dividing line between them has historically been the Mörrumsån, near the site of Elleholm. West of this divide, the dialect was closely related to Danish and eastern Scanian. East of this divide, the dialect has more in common with Småland dialects, today, this divide is not as significant as before, with the exception of Listerlandet with its special language
Blekinge
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Blekinge
48.
England runestones
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The England runestones is a group of about 30 runestones that refer to Viking Age voyages to England. They were engraved in Old Norse with the Younger Futhark, the Anglo-Saxon rulers paid large sums, Danegelds, to Vikings, who mostly came from Denmark and who arrived to the English shores during the 990s and the first decades of the 11th century. Canute sent home most of the Vikings who had helped him conquer England, but he kept a strong bodyguard, the Þingalið, the vast majority of the runestones,27, were raised in modern-day Sweden and 17 in the oldest Swedish provinces around lake Mälaren. In contrast, modern-day Denmark has no such runestones, but there is a Danish runestone in Scania that mentions London, there is also a runestone in Norway and a Swedish one in Schleswig, Germany. There are eight runestones in Uppland that mention voyages to England, several of them were raised in memory of men who had partaken in the Danegeld in England. This secluded runestone is located in a grove near Väsby, Uppland and it was raised by a Viking in commemoration of his receiving one danegeld in England. It is classified as being carved in runestone style Pr3 and, together with U344, it has been said to be the earliest example of an Urnes style inscription in Uppland. The runic text follows a rule to only carve a single rune for two consecutive letters, even when the letters were at the end of one word and the beginning of a second word. When the text shown as Latin characters, the runes are doubled. For U194 has three examples where this occurred, þinoftiʀ is transliterated as þino| |oftiʀ, tuknuts as tuk| |knuts, hann tok Knuts giald a Ænglandi. English translation, Áli/Alli had this stone raised in memory of himself and he took Knútrs payment in England. This runestone is one of the Lingsberg Runestones and was part of a monument with U240. It is located on the courtyard of the estate Lingsberg in Uppland and it was raised by the grandchildren of Ulfríkr in commemoration of his receiving two danegelds in England. It is carved in runestone style Pr3, hann hafði a Ænglandi tu giald takit. Guð hialpi þæiʀa fæðga salu ok Guðs moðiʀ, English translation, And Danr and Húskarl and Sveinn had the stone erected in memory of Ulfríkr, their fathers father. He had taken two payments in England, may God and Gods mother help the souls of the father and son. The runestone U344, in the style Pr3, was found in 1868, at Yttergärde, by Richard Dybeck, together with U194, it is considered to be the earliest example of the Urnes style in Uppland. The runes are written right to left with the orientation of the runes going in the same direction
England runestones
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U 194.
England runestones
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U 241
England runestones
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U 344.
49.
Jomsborg
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Jomsborg or Jómsborg was a semi-legendary Viking stronghold at the southern coast of the Baltic Sea, that existed between the 960s and 1043. Its inhabitants were known as Jomsvikings, jomsborgs exact location, or its existence, has not yet been established, though it is often maintained that Jomsborg was somewhere on the islands of the Oder estuary. Lauritz Weibull dismissed it as a legend, Jomsborg is often thought to be identical with the present-day town of Wolin on the southeastern tip of the isle of Wolin, probably located at Silberberg hill north of the town. In the Early Middle Ages, modern Wolin was the site of a multi-ethnic emporium, however, all such attempts to locate Jómsborg or encampments of the Jómvikings have failed, leading many to doubt that Jómvikings ever existed outside of literature. Other theories see Jomsborg in the northwest of nearby Usedom island, the small islands in this area are remnants of a long stretch of land between Usedom and Rügen, which fell victim to storm floods in the early 14th century. Suspected locations in area are the Veritas grounds between the petty islands of Ruden and Greifswalder Oie, and the Peenemünde shoals. While Viking Age jewelry has been found at the site, archaeological evaluation of theories has not yet been possible. According to the Knytlingasaga and Fagrskinna, Jomsborg was built by the Danish king Harold Bluetooth in the 960s, the Jomsvikinga Saga mentions Danish Viking Palnatoki as its founder. In medieval records, Jomsborg is described as a fortress with a harbour, the harbour was overseen by a stone tower mounted with catapults, built on an arch spanning over the harbour entrance which could be closed by an iron gate. According to the oldest records, the harbour had space for three ships, later records give a capacity of up to 360 ships, according to the Heimskringla, Jomsborg was destroyed in 1043 by Dani-Norwegian king Magnus the Good. The fortress was burned down, and many of the inhabitants were killed, the Jomsborg Vikings were composed of selected warriors, adhered to a special codex, and were loyal only to their leader. Most records list as jarl of Jomsborg, Sigvald, son of petty king Strut-Harald of then Danish Scania, Sigvald died some time before 1010. In 1009, many Jomsvikings left Jomsborg and followed Sigvalds brothers Herring and Thorkell the Tall to England, a golden disc bearing the name of Harald Bluetooth and Jomsborg appeared in Sweden in autumn 2014. The disc, also called the Curmsun Disc, is made of gold content and has a weight of 25,23 gram. On the obverse there is a Latin inscription and on the there is a Latin cross with four dots surrounded by an octagonal ridge. The inscription reads, +ARALD CVRMSVN+REX AD TANER+SCON+JVMN+CIV ALDIN+ and translates as Harald Gormsson king of Danes, Scania, Jomsborg and it is assumed that the disc was a part of a Viking hoard found in 1840 in the Polish village Wiejkowo near the town of Wolin. The disc was rediscovered in 2014 by a year old schoolgirl who found it in an old casket. The Curmsun Disc underwent metallurgical analysis in June 18,2015 at the University of Lund in Sweden, the analysis showed that the alloy has a gold content ranging between 83, 3-92, 8%
Jomsborg
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Modern memorial in
Wolin, the most probable site of medieval Jomsborg. The Danish and Polish inscription, held in rune style, commemorates the death of
Harald Bluetooth in Jomsborg, 986.
50.
Scotland
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Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and covers the northern third of the island of Great Britain. It shares a border with England to the south, and is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, with the North Sea to the east. In addition to the mainland, the country is made up of more than 790 islands, including the Northern Isles, the Kingdom of Scotland emerged as an independent sovereign state in the Early Middle Ages and continued to exist until 1707. By inheritance in 1603, James VI, King of Scots, became King of England and King of Ireland, Scotland subsequently entered into a political union with the Kingdom of England on 1 May 1707 to create the new Kingdom of Great Britain. The union also created a new Parliament of Great Britain, which succeeded both the Parliament of Scotland and the Parliament of England. Within Scotland, the monarchy of the United Kingdom has continued to use a variety of styles, titles, the legal system within Scotland has also remained separate from those of England and Wales and Northern Ireland, Scotland constitutes a distinct jurisdiction in both public and private law. Glasgow, Scotlands largest city, was one of the worlds leading industrial cities. Other major urban areas are Aberdeen and Dundee, Scottish waters consist of a large sector of the North Atlantic and the North Sea, containing the largest oil reserves in the European Union. This has given Aberdeen, the third-largest city in Scotland, the title of Europes oil capital, following a referendum in 1997, a Scottish Parliament was re-established, in the form of a devolved unicameral legislature comprising 129 members, having authority over many areas of domestic policy. Scotland is represented in the UK Parliament by 59 MPs and in the European Parliament by 6 MEPs, Scotland is also a member nation of the British–Irish Council, and the British–Irish Parliamentary Assembly. Scotland comes from Scoti, the Latin name for the Gaels, the Late Latin word Scotia was initially used to refer to Ireland. By the 11th century at the latest, Scotia was being used to refer to Scotland north of the River Forth, alongside Albania or Albany, the use of the words Scots and Scotland to encompass all of what is now Scotland became common in the Late Middle Ages. Repeated glaciations, which covered the land mass of modern Scotland. It is believed the first post-glacial groups of hunter-gatherers arrived in Scotland around 12,800 years ago, the groups of settlers began building the first known permanent houses on Scottish soil around 9,500 years ago, and the first villages around 6,000 years ago. The well-preserved village of Skara Brae on the mainland of Orkney dates from this period and it contains the remains of an early Bronze Age ruler laid out on white quartz pebbles and birch bark. It was also discovered for the first time that early Bronze Age people placed flowers in their graves, in the winter of 1850, a severe storm hit Scotland, causing widespread damage and over 200 deaths. In the Bay of Skaill, the storm stripped the earth from a large irregular knoll, when the storm cleared, local villagers found the outline of a village, consisting of a number of small houses without roofs. William Watt of Skaill, the laird, began an amateur excavation of the site, but after uncovering four houses
Scotland
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Edinburgh Castle. Human habitation of the site is dated back as far as the 9th century BC, although the nature of this early settlement is unclear.
Scotland
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Flag
Scotland
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The class I
Pictish stone at
Aberlemno known as Aberlemno 1 or the Serpent Stone.
Scotland
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The
Wallace Monument commemorates
William Wallace, the 13th-century Scottish hero.
