Trade in the Mediterranean was at its lowest level in history when the Vikings began their expansion. Trade between western Europe and the rest of Eurasia may have suffered after the Roman Empire lost its western provinces in the 5th century, and the expansion of Islam in the 7th century may have reduced trade opportunities within western Europe by redirecting resources along the Silk Road. It is also possible that a decline in the profitability of old trade routes drove the Vikings to seek out new, more profitable ones. Nor is it clear why such pressures would have prompted expansion overseas rather than into the vast, uncultivated forest areas in the interior of the Scandinavian Peninsula, although perhaps emigration or sea raids may have been easier or more profitable than clearing large areas of forest for farm and pasture in a region with a limited growing season.Īn idea that avoids these shortcomings is that the Scandinavians might have practiced selective procreation leading to a shortage of women, and that the Vikings main motive for emigration was to acquire wives, although this would not explain why the Vikings chose to settle in other countries rather than bringing the women back with them to Scandinavia. However, no rise in population, youth bulge, or decline in agricultural production during this period has been definitively demonstrated. Peter Sawyer suggests that most Vikings emigrated due the attractiveness of owning more land rather than the necessity of having it. This may have been true of western Norway, where there were few reserves of land, but it is unlikely the rest of Scandinavia was experiencing famine.Īlternatively, some scholars propose that the Viking expansion was driven by a youth bulge effect: since the eldest son of a family customarily inherited the family's entire estate, younger sons had to seek their fortune by emigrating or engaging in raids. However, the first target of Viking raids was not the Frankish Kingdom, but Christian monasteries in England, which seems inconsistent with vengeance as a motive but would be consistent with religious warfare.Īnother idea is that the Viking population had exceeded the agricultural potential of their homeland. The historian Rudolf Simek has observed, "It is not a coincidence if the early Viking activity occurred during the reign of Charlemagne." Those who favor this explanation point out that the penetration of Christianity into Scandinavia caused serious conflict and divided Norway for almost a century. ![]() One widely held idea is that it was a quest for retaliation against continental Europeans for their previous invasions of Viking homelands, such as Charlemagne's campaign to force Scandinavian pagans to convert to Christianity by killing any who refused to become baptized. There is much debate among historians about what drove the Viking expansion.
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