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898AD: Dies Wilfrid I, Count Barcelona,
regarded as "the patron saint" of the spirit of Catalan
independence.
These Lost Worlds' articles on "the Vikings" will be
partly exploratory in terms of two questions. (1) When the Vikings
were beginning to worry peoples in lands south of Scandinavia,
invading, pillaging, extorting wealth, were they reacting to
pressures of growing population, or to climatic problems?
(2) And, when they were on the move between Iceland across to
Russia, and south-east to Constantinople, were the Vikings keeping
in touch with each other in terms of any large-scale expansionist
plan they had developed from their bases in Jutland, Norway, Sweden
and Denmark?
The first place to look is to appropriate kinds of evidence, bearing in mind that at the time, from 650AD, the rulers of peoples everywhere had long had the habit of shoring up political alliances by conducting "strategic marriages", a tactic which the Vikings adopted, as various genealogical information shown here will illustrate.
The very notion of strategic marriages is interesting throughout world history and the history of aristocracy - since given their own cultural background(s), winsome, presumably sexually-attractive and somewhat-better-educated young women were used as bait! As pawns in cross-cultural, political or military games. As ambassadors for their own people. As pay-off prizes. (A use of womanhood which Julius Evola conspicuously fails to mention!)
Various information available today on the Internet suggests that about a century before the rise of Mohammed the Prophet of Islam, the Arabian Peninsula had been subject of a drastic climate problem which destabilised the regional peoples, one reason why a unifying religion attracted so many new believers searching for stability of outlook (?). The problem was apparently global.
These climate problems might have occurred about 535-542AD? And were probably due to a massive eruption (location not specified) producing enough volcanic ash to pollute the entire globe's atmosphere for decades. Natural systems may have taken more than a century to recover? Other drastic events were occurring worldwide, simultaneously, ranging from other climatic disasters (floods, droughts, the abandonment of a major city in the Central Mexican plains, etc.), to the collapse of the remains of the Roman empire and Europe being overrun by barbarians. Europe suffered an outbreak of bubonic plague that was introduced to Britain via contact between Western Britons with merchant mariners. The eastern Anglo-Saxons (who were dealing mainly with Northern Europe and Scandinavia) were not as affected and were able to finally conquer the last of the Gaelic Britons.
Various evidence points to times about 540AD as a
troubled/troubling period. Evidence includes narrowness of growth
rings in bog-oaks and archaeological timbers in Northern Ireland,
Britain, Northern Siberia and North and South America.
(Citations here are from a BBC magazine article, 8
September 2000, by Jonathan Amos citing Prof. Mike Baillie,
paelaeo-ecologist, Queen's University, Belfast.)
Perhaps, comet fragments flew into the atmosphere, a kind of
nuclear winter occurred, resulting in crop failures, famine, even
plague, as peoples were weakened.
David Keys, Catastrophe. Arrow, 2000. ISBN:
0099409844. Keys outlines a scenario where from 536AD, a volcanic
eruption meant Earth was enveloped by a cloak of lethal dust which
changed climate for decades. The sun's rays grew dim and total
darkness reigned for days, it was a catastrophe of unparalleled
proportions. Tens of millions of people died around the globe as a
bubonic plague epidemic broke out. There followed waves of
migration and the military, political and religious changes which
the disaster set in motion re-ordered societies throughout the
world, loosing the collapse of the Roman Empire, the invasion of
the barbarian hordes and the rise of apocalypse-inspired Islam. "It
was the nearest humankind has ever come to Doomsday and it marked
the real beginning of the modern era... Keys attempts to set the
record straight by placing this pivotal point in world history as
the mid-6th-century Dark Ages and shows how our fragile
civilisation almost ended." And if Keys is right, it was the series
of disasters he outlines which also gave rise to the concept of
"Europe" as possessing a way of life and a religion - Christianity
- which distinguished it from Africa and the Near and Middle East,
in fact from the rest of the world.
By about 700AD, plagues had halved the European population. For
the period 763AD-764AD, we can find that from about 400 A.D. to
around 900, the climate became much colder. The winters of 763-764
and 859-860 were extraordinarily cold, with the ice so thick in the
Adriatic near Venice that it could hold up heavily-loaded wagons.
There was ice even on the Nile in Egypt.
(From a website reviewing book on climate change by
H. H. Lamb, Climate History and the Modern
World.)
Various chronology follows...
By Circa 500-515AD: The Huns, a nomadic people of Central Asian, destroyed the powerful Gupta empire of India. What set the Huns moving for conquest? Some grand plan? Atilla ruled the Huns between 434AD-453AD. By about 500AD, Slavic tribes first settled in what later became Bulgaria, and Germanic tribes in Czech lands were displaced by nomadic Slavs, including Czechs. Some Slavic states set up were absorbed into Charlemagne's empire. Goths who originated came from the area toward the Scandinavian countries, moving south-west across Europe, had been confronted by the remains of the Roman empire and separated into two groups, one of which wanted to move further south-east, another which wanted to stay further west; thus the West and East Goths. By 507AD, the West Gothic (Visigothic) King Alaric II fell before Clovis' Frankish army at Campus Vogladensis, near Poitiers, France.
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Clovis as Frankish king (of the Burgundian lineage) died about 511AD; his plan had been to divide his kingdom amongst his sons, a well-intentioned idea which panned out badly. Was it significant for events circa 520AD, when the Scandinavian warrior-king Hygelac raided into Frisia (more or less, the area of Belgium-Netherlands)? Hygelac was King of the Geats, and in legend was the uncle and patron of the hero Beowulf.
In 526AD was death of the East Gothic king, Theodoric I (The Great). In the Western Gothic kingship of southern France/northern Spain, ruling title was succeeded-to by Amalric, son of Alaric II. The new East Gothic king Athalaric retained Provence in Spain - which meant that the areas near the Pyrenees were subject to cultural conditions different to those influencing more northern areas of France, towards the Swiss Alps, and in Italy.
What was happening at this time in the Viking world and south of their territory in "northern Europe"?
In the Arab world, the sovereignty of the Yemenis, a long-term
dynasty, was overthrown by an Abyssinian invasion in 529AD, but
this invasion lasted till only 603AD. In 529AD the Abyssinians
under Aryat invaded Yemen to avenge the Christians persecuted by
the King, Dhu-Nowas. Dhu-Nowas was killed and the Abyssinians ruled
the kingdom until in 605, when Saif, with the assistance of
Chosroes the Great, restored the Kahtanee dynasty, which then
became dependent on Persia.
Item from Historians' History of the World,
1907., Vol. 8, pp. 32ff.
During 535AD-554AD occurred wars for "the recovery of Italy". In 534AD the Franks overthrow the Burgundian Kingdom. That year - 534AD - Justinian issued his Body of Civil Law (Corpus Juris Civilis), a massive codifications of existing laws, etc. About then, 533AD-534AD, Rome reconquered Africa.
Were various peoples on the move before climate-problems became difficult? Part of the widespread catastrophe was plague appearing at Constantinople in 542AD. By 542AD were... climate problems: Contributory information on this has been found on a website on the Christianization of Ireland... There had been a climate-catastrophe in Ireland by 540AD, a disaster which also had effects across Northern Europe. Was the climatic problem one reason for the success of Christianity in Ireland?
By Circa 540AD, due to cooling and drought, commerce came to a
halt. Coincident with the fall of the Roman Empire, the climate
deteriorated. As Lamb points out, some historians have attributed
the invasion of barbarian tribes from central Asia to the simple
fact of Asian pastures drying out - drought.
(From a website reviewing book on climate change by
H. H. Lamb, Climate History and the Modern World.)
For 540AD, it is known that the Frankish invaders of Italy
suffered from famine. Or did Atilla the Hun just decide to get back
to Hungary before winter set in? Attila felt threatened by the
Emperor Marcian, and Atilla maybe planned to go by the Loire River
of Central France to reduce the Alani settled there, then to menace
the Visigoths (King Thorismund). But Thorismund got to Attila
before Attila got to the Alani, and won. Attila by the spring of
453AD was back in Hungary, and had a new wife, Ildico.
Unexpectedly, Attila died of a burst artery (or was he poisoned by
his new wife?). His eldest son Ellak was his successor; the junior
sons, Dengizik and Ernak were given control of some subordinate
people who tilled the land, served as soldiers and "obeyed their
Hun rulers". But as with the sons of Clovis, with a division of
rule grew fights as various factions backed one brother or another.
Ellak was assailed by the King of the Gepids, Ardaric, formerly the
most reliable of Attila's allies; Ardaric now had the aid of the
Emperor Marcian.
Patrick Howarth, Atilla, King of the Huns: The
Man and the Myth. London, Robinson, 2001.
Enter the Avars: From 550AD the Avars ravaged the Eastern
Empire and then parts of Germany and Italy, taking control of the
Carpathian region and much of the Central Europe, assimilating
Germanics, Slaves and Huns. Charlemagne finally broke them. After
the Avars had been broken in Hungary, then later to Hungary came
the Magyars, who had also forced their way westward across the
Carpathians. The Magyars centralized in Hungary and at times raided
west to France and Italy. They had a Finno-Ugrian language, eg.,
with some similarities to the Finnish or Estonian languages. They
held on to become the kingdom of Hungary. (While slowly,
Transylvania became the homeland of the descendants of the Huns.
Many Hun descendants also lived on in Russia in areas about
Moscow.)
Patrick Howarth, Atilla, King of the Huns: The
Man and the Myth. London, Robinson, 2001.
By 554AD, Rome had reoccupied parts of the coast of Spain. (And as to legends, it is interesting to note that by-legend and by-date, in 565AD came the first sighting of the Loch Ness Monster by the Irish missionary, St Columba. Other supposed sightings were in 1520, 1771, 1885... Is it significant that the first recorded sighting might have been made by a visitor to the region?)
And not till now do we properly again meet Scandinavians...
The first-known settlers of Northern Sweden were the Lapps of the Sixth Century (who are little-known) - but the area was given its name by the later-arriving Svear tribesmen from mainland Europe, who conflicted with the Gothars of the Southern Sweden. Swedes became united into a state north-south by C6thAD, and would later launch their Viking raids.
"The Asgarders" by about 250AD in the time of Odin/Wodin were beginning to separate into "Vikings" and the "Wessexers" who had settled in southern England. Viking Skold of Liedre, or of Hleithra, born about 237AD, became King of the Danes. Viking-Wessexers be legend seem to have arisen in Wessex, England after 325AD, perhaps with Viking Haver Fridleifsson (born about 325AD). Viking kings of Denmark continued, perhaps being named in a dynastic or semi-dynastic line.
Viking Haver Fridliefsson (born c.325) was one of the "Asgard line" which proceeded with wives unnamed to about 500AD, when Frodi had three named sons including Frodo Frodisson (born c.503AD). Frodi's wife was actually named - Sigris (though her parents are unnamed). Sigris's son Hroar Halfdansson married Ogne of Northumberland in England, daughter of a little-known noble there, Norbil/Nobril. Had the "Asgard descendants" arrived in England by now? Meantime, the Romans had evacuated Britain by 410AD.
Ogne had a daughter, Moalda/Maolda, who married up to three "royal" Vikings. Moalda's brother Valdar (Hroarsson or Frode III), by legend married Hilda/Hildis, a princess of the Vandals, daughter of Vandal Hilderic and Vandal Amfleda the Younger. Hilderic is taken to be son of Vandal Hunneric, who is said to have who married Eudocia, daughter of the Roman emperor Valentinian III (died 455).
Any such connections with Rome might have possibly given Vandals or "Vikings" a little extra prestige and respectability? But this story is regarded as legendary. Whether it is a legend or not, this story fits a pattern of rulership which was already age-old by Viking times - the practice of attempting to placate ill-feelings between people by making strategic marriages which brought with them the terms of alliances or the reduction of enmity. Princesses became a sort of live-in treaty-making-entity, their presence amongst the people they lived with remaining a continual reminder that there had once been enmities and now there was peace. In which case, the presence of a princess of the Vandals amongst the Vikings may have been seen as a novelty at the time, perhaps the first novelty of its kind. The Vikings were to make much of strategic marriages.
Eudocia's sister Galla Placida le jeune (died 450) is taken to have married King of the Visigoths Atulph/Athaulf (died 415), but she is also taken to have married two Romans including emperor Olybrius (died 472).
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The Wessex line of "the Asgarders" seems to have begun with Beldeg, son of Odwin/Wodin and Frigg Frea. Beldeg (born c.247AD) married Nanna Gewardottir, daughter of King Gewar of Norway, who seems to be the first-named of his line in Norway. By legend, Beldeg's descendants (in seven generations), went to "Ancient Saxony" in Northern Germany, and their line proceeded with wives unnamed to about 530AD, when a line began of princes, then kings of Wessex.
Also, this information on the Wessex line does not seem to be contradicted by information arising from post-Roman British history. By about 650AD, a Wessexer intermarried with the Mercia of England by way of a marriage with a daughter of Pybba of Mercia (Pybba died c.606AD).
The Wessexers seemed to have arrived in England after the Romans
left - 410AD? Was this also the period when King Arthur flourished?
In October-November 1999 was published a new book on The Legend
of King Arthur, with author Alistair Moffatt claiming that
Arthur was a post-Roman figure (after 410AD), earlier trained in
Roman military tactics and operating somewhat south of Hadrian's
Wall, "south of Scotland". Or, in the area around Roxburgh Castle,
where four kingdoms were allegedly established? Moffatt's new
findings fall into a "gap" in history between 410 as the Romans
left Britain and Christian missionaries arrived in 590. Perhaps,
King Arthur was a Scot? Suffice to say, when the Romans left
Britain, they left various regional power vacuums behind them.
Rome abandoned its British colonies
in 410AD. But not till between 590AD-604AD, as an exercise in
missionary Christianity, did Pope Gregory the Great send monks to
England, France and Spain. St. Augustine in 597AD with 40 monks
went to Kent, England, to become Archbishop of Canterbury. About
601AD: Pope Gregory I wrote to Abbott Mellitus, asking him
to then advise the first Archbishop of Canterbury, Augustine, of a
policy on the future of England's pagan temples, as follows:
"We have been giving careful thought to the affairs of the English,
and have come to the conclusion that the temples of the idols in
that country should on no account be destroyed. He is to destroy
the idols, but the temples themselves are to be aspersed with holy
water, altars set up, and relics enclosed in them. For if these
temples are well-built, they are to be purified from devil-worship,
and dedicated to the service of the true God. In this way, we hope
that the people, seeing that its temples are not destroyed, may
abandon idolatry and resort to these places as before, and may come
to know and adore the true God."
In various other areas, in 586AD ended of the reign of the West
Gothic king, Leovigild (568-586). He was succeeded by his son,
Reccared (586-601). Between 590AD-615AD, Agilulf was pagan king of
the Lombards, who were originally from Eastern Europe. The Lombards
moved into Northern and Central Italy from 600AD, to become one of
the last hordes of German-speakers to help overwhelm the Roman
Empire. In about 595AD, the Bulgars were assailed by the Avars (a
people similar to the Huns), but at the end of the Sixth Century
there was the emergence of a Bulgarian state. (In 626 with the aid
of Persians, the Bulgars threatened to destroy Constantinople, but
were prevented by emperor Heraclius.)
Patrick Howarth, Atilla, King of the Huns: The
Man and the Myth. London, Robinson, 2001.
By 600AD, Slavs settled a century earlier in Bulgaria were conquered by incoming Bulgars, a Turkic-speaking people from beyond the Danube. (The Bulgars remained largely independent till the Ottoman conquest of 1396.)
Situations in Italy
In 565AD the Avars allied with the Lombards and beat the Gepids.
The Lombards moved on to north Italy to confront the Ostrogoths
there, and the Avars occupied the Danube where Attila's Huns had
been. The Avars produced a leader, Bayan, who once took 270,000
prisoners from Constantinople and otherwise ran an extensive
extortion racket.
Patrick Howarth, Atilla, King of the Huns: The
Man and the Myth. London, Robinson, 2001.
In 565AD died Justinian. By 568AD the Lombards had invaded the Ostrogothic kingdom of Italy to base in Pavia, Spoleto and Benevento. In this period, some Italian refugees founded Venice as a lagoon-refuge, though it is today thought that people had long lived in the area of Venice.
Venice: 568AD: The original "natives" of the Venetian area were joined by city-experienced refugees from the time of the Lombard invasion of Italy (and also of the earlier Hunnish invasions?), about 568AD. This movement of people later gave rise to "an exaggerated sense of the importance of genealogy" amongst the Venetians, with the tendency arising for the focus of family origin having been Rome. Gradually, "Venice" congealed with a new site and "a revised social structure". Rivals supported by the Lombards also attempted to influence the new social and working life of the "Venetians". After the area was nominally ruled from Ravenna, the first Doge may have been dignified by the Byzantine Emperor east across the water.
(Venice, the refuge for people escaping the Lombard invaders of Italy, did not elect its first local leader, the mayor, or Doge, till 697AD. About that time, 688-725AD: King Ine reigned over the Saxons of Devon in England.)
After the Lombards captured Ravenna in 751, Venice remained tied to the Byzantines. Venice opened the Levant to Europe generally, but it also faced the rising Moslem trading empire stretching from Syria to North Africa and Spain. Lombards were recognised in Venice, they could engage in mainland trade, but not overseas (seagoing) trade. Part of Venice's overseas trade (from the Ninth Century) was in slaves (pagans, Christian heretics, and infidels), and timber export. (Even by the Sixth Century, pagan Angles and Saxons were found in Italian slave markets; in the Ninth and Tenth centuries, the not-yet-converted Slavs, perhaps sold to the Saracens, made a supply of labour.) From before 1000AD, the fame of Venice was built partly on supplying slaves and timber. Naturally, the city's shipbuilding industry grew.
Situations in other parts of Europe:
In the Seventh and Eighth centuries the population of Europe shrank to about 14-17 million people. The result of underpopulation was undercultivated lands and so undernourishment. (There were maybe 22 million Europeans in 950AD, or 42 million in 1000AD?) It is not impossible, as we shall see from year-dates, that the Viking were prompted to try to colonise because of climatic difficulties, but if so, it would be interesting to know if they knew that climatic problems were widespread across wide territories, and that other peoples were also in similar difficulties?
By 621AD was the beginning of the reign in West Gothic areas (Spain/Southern France) of king Svinthala (621-631). Svinthala and his people did not know it, but in Arabia there was stirring a movement that would take over a large part of their Iberian Peninsula homeland - Islam! And it is interesting to find that while the Vikings had a reputation for wreaking spectacular violence on their victims, they also wrought havoc amongst themselves. But violence was common, and the expansion of the new Islamic Empire would be quite violent. The difference in cultural perceptions, today, seems to be a result of a lack of literacy amongst the peoples who were taken over by Islam. The victims of the Vikings wrote down their problems, the victims of the Islamic expansionists did not. The Viking legacy was perceived across later centuries as violent, the Middle Eastern legacy was not.
It is said that by 629AD, the emperor Heraclius in Constantinople was receiving embassies from as far away as France and India. And surprisingly, also a letter (as an apocryphal legend) from an Arabian chieftain and a Prophet of God, Mohammed, suggesting that he join a new faith - an offer declined.
The beginning of an Islamic Empire:
From 632AD, After the death of Mohammed the Prophet of God,
the Prophet's successor was his father-in-law, Abu Bakr (Abu
Bekr) who was chosen Caliph, or representative, and pursued an
expansionist policy which had amazingly rapid success . Persians
were expelled from Bahrein. An army under Khalid set out against
the Byzantine Empire. An Arab army moved up the south coast of
Palestine and took Gaza. Abu Bakr reduced a revolt in Nejd and
Yemen, and defended Medina.
Omar later succeeded Abu Bakr who died 634AD. In 635 the
Arabs took Damascus. In 636 came a decisive victory against
Christians. Emperor Heraclius feared his troubles with Moslems was
all part of a punishment from God for his incestuous marriage with
his niece Martina.
Some items from Historians' History of the
World, 1907., Vol. 8, pp. 32ff.
From 634AD... came the beginning of the Arab empire with a Moslem conquest of Yemen.
In 635AD came the Moslem capture of
Damascusto which by 636 were added the conquests of Emesa,
Heliopolis, Chalcis, Beroae, Edessa, Battle of Yermuk. Heraclius
abandoned Syria to the Moslems.
Item from Historians' History of the World,
1907., Vol. 8, pp. 32ff.
From 636AD arose the Kingdom of Ghassan (300-636AD): It had been founded about 300AD by Thalaba, who was the first to take the name of king. His successors ruled until 636, when Djabala VI surrendered to the Mohammedans.
By 637AD the Sasanid power in Iran was broken by Moslem Arabs. Moslem missionary expansionism meant that Moslems had intervened at Jerusalem from 637AD. Moslems, partly due to their existing maritime skills, were actually invited into Portugal to help with problems by 711and they later occupied Toledo. They were on Crete by 826, taking the island from the Byzantines, another obviously maritime adventure. Moslems had intervened in Sind (India) by the early Eighth Century, but they did not dominate Northern India till the Eleventh Century. (As the Moghuls they established the Delhi Sultanate by 1206). By 637AD in Arabia the Moslems had general success with the Middle East (Battle of Cadesia, or Kadisiya), and they could celebrate Moslem victory over the Persians. Omar captured Jerusalem, then Aleppo and Antioch. In 638AD: Mesopotamia was conquered by Moslems who also took Tarsus and Diar-Bekr.
By 639AD was an invasion of Egypt by the Moslem, Amru. (Between 610AD-641AD the emperor Heraclius failed to stem the Arab threat and so lost Africa, Spain and Northern Italy.) According to some reports, by 640AD, Moslems had invaded Egypt, taken Alexandria and burned the library of Alexandria - while a different report as a possible "myth of blame" says the library was destroyed by Christians). However, the Arabs preserved the use of engineering skills known in Egypt at the time, while Europe remained ignorant. (Source: James/Thorpe). To 640AD, Arab forces took Palestinian cities such as Dara, Caesarea, Antioch plus the isthmus of Suez. Iraq had been taken by 637AD. In 641, Babylon (Old Cairo) was taken. Alexandria was recaptured in 645. (By 700AD, the former Roman-Africa was under Moslem control. In 641AD was the Battle of Nehavend, great victory for Islam over Persians, and many Persian nobility come to terms with Islam. Yezdegerd the king fled to a remote corner and held only vestiges of power till about 651-652. Alexandria is captured.
In 642AD came the Islamic invasion of Egypt. In 644AD came the
death of Omar, who was succeeded by Othman, a weak ruler who
allowed Islamic power to fall into the hands of the Koreish
nobility. Islamic forces in 647AD under Abdallah invaded Africa and
expelled the Romans.
Item from Historians' History of the World,
1907., Vol. 8, pp. 32ff.
Other military success followed - An invasion of Cyprus in 649, the conquest of Aradus in 650, a conquest of Armenia in 652, Rhodes in 654. In 655 came a defeat of emperor Constans by Mohammedans after a naval battle off Mt Phoenix in Lycia. (Circa 650AD the Revelations of Mohammed were written; becoming The Koran.)
Moslem forces in 657AD under Ali invaded Northern Syria. (Battle
of Siffin.) But Ali soon found he faced rebels in the form of a
theocratic faction. In 656AD had been the murder of Othman by a
party in opposition to the growing worldliness of Islam. Ali as a
leader of the opposition was the son-in-law of Mohammed the
Prophet, and he succeeded. There came the Battle of the Camel.
Moawiyah, governor of Syria, headed Ali's opponents and incited
them to revenge. In 658AD came a "Decision of the Umpires", between
Ali and Moawiyah, the latter winning Egypt. Peace was made with the
Byzantine Empire. By 660ADm after the 659 conquest of Egypt and
with the truce between Ali and Moawiyah, the caliphate is divided
into east and west. In 662-663AD came the great Moslem invasion of
Asia Minor - and the death of Amru. Between 661-750AD the Moslem
Omayyads ruled in Damascus, Syria. (In 661AD arose a Kharejite
conspiracy to murder Ali, Moawiyah and Amru. Only Ali fell.) Alis'
son Hassan succeeded, but he abdicated in favour of
Moawiyah, who then headed a united caliphate, although opposition
to him was reduced only slowly. The capital was moved to
Damascus.
Item from Historians' History of the World,
1907., Vol. 8, pp. 32ff.
The levels of military activity were remarkable. By 668AD, Moslem forces were advancing on Chalcedon and held Amorium for a time. In 669AD came the great invasion of Sicily. In 670AD came the Moslem conquest of Kabul (Afghanistan), in 670, the foundation of Kairwan.Between 673-677AD, Mohammedans besieged Constantinople but were driven off by Greek fire.
In 676AD, Yazid, a son of Moawiyah, was appointed heir-apparent.
Hereditary nomination became a precedent in Islam. And by 676AD,
the Bulgars were extorting tribute from Constantine IV. The Avars
were also moving west, defeating the Bulgarian Utiguri tribe and by
middle of C6th, areas between Volga and Elbe rivers were held by
the Avars.
Patrick Howarth, Atilla, King of the Huns: The
Man and the Myth. London, Robinson, 2001. Historians'
History of the World, 1907., Vol. 8, pp. 32ff.
In 678AD, Moslems made a 30-years' peace with Constantinople. By 680AD, with the death of Moawiyah, Yazid I succeeded, though Ali's faction refused recognition. Hosein, son of Ali and his company were slain. In 681, Abdallah ben Zobair proclaimed himself Caliph. In 683AD came a rebellion and the sack of Medina. The cause of Ibn Zobair grew, though he faced a rival court at Medina. He rebuilt the Kaaba.
With the years 685-687AD came the rebellion of Mukhtar, who was defeated and slain. In 685AD, Merwan died to be succeeded as Caliph by his son Abdul-Malik. Peace was made with the emperor Justinian II. In 689AD, Abdul-Malik had Amru put to death.
As notable architecture, in 691AD in Jerusalem, The Dome of the Rock was completed for Abdul-Malik. In 692AD was the death of Ibn Zobair. The Omayyad rule was now recognised without dispute. In 692-693 the Mohammedans ravaged Asia Minor and Armenia, but were compelled to accept peace.
By 697AD, Arab Moslems were sweeping to capture Tunisia (which included parts of Algeria). During 697-698AD, Hassan invaded Africa and took Carthage. The last remnants of the Roman Empire now disappeared from the Mediterranean's southern shores.
In 705AD came the death of Abdul-Malik and the succession of his
brother Walid I, earlier designated as heir to Caliphate. Schools
were founded and public works undertaken, all glories for the
Omayyad.
Item from Historians' History of the World,
1907., Vol. 8, pp. 32ff.
Moslem forces by 709AD conquered Tyana. Then a really major move was made. In 711AD came the Moslem invasion of Spain at the instigation of Julian, governor of Ceuta. (Battle of Xerxes.) Tarik destroyed the Visigothic Kingdom.
By 711-712AD, Moslem forces - Arab and Berber armies - were crossing the Strait of Gibraltar, Africa to Spain. The Moors were so-named as they were the Mauri, a Berber people based at Cordoba; hence "the Moors". In 711AD, Tariq ibn Ziyad landed at Gibraltar, and began the Moorish conquest of Spain.
By 711AD the Omayyads had conquered Sind and founded the first Muslim state in India. In 712AD, Mohammedans took Antioch in Pisidia and there were great successes for the Moslem generals Kotaiba and Muhammed b. Kasim in Asia. In 715AD, Walid died and Suleiman acceded to power as a pre-designated heir. By 715, almost all the Iberian peninsula except for mountainous northern areas was under Moslem control. Many emirs succeed each other. (The Moslems moved north into France but were repulsed by Charles Martel in 732.) By 716AD, Mohammedans had invaded Asia Minor and begun the siege of Amorium, which was relieved by Leo the Isaurian.
In 717AD was the siege of Pergamus, the siege of Constantinople
and the death of Suleiman, who was succeeded by the appointed heir,
Omar II, grandson of Merwan I. By now, religion as never before had
become a means of securing a sense of personal identity, somewhat
replacing, even transcending, senses of regionalism, nationalism,
views on economic interest and cultural/racial traditions.
From Runciman on The First Crusade;
Historians' History of the World, 1907, Vol. 8, pp.
32-38ff.
In 718AD came the repulse of the Mohammedans from Constantinople. In revenge, the Caliph excluded all Christians from taking roles servants of the state. Omar's reign was not especially warlike - a trend marking the beginning of the Abbasid movement in favour of the descendants of Abbas, uncle of the Prophet, acquiring the Caliphate. With the death in 720AD of Omar, Yazid II, son of Abdul-Malik, succeeded. Yazid B. Muhallab, who has been in disgrace for some years, formed a small army and took Basra (Bassora). Expansionism continued. In 721AD came the death of Ibn Muhallab in battle. Mohammedans crossed the Pyrenees and captured Narbonne, France, but were defeated at Toulouse, and they retire under Abd ar-Rahman. The more northern parts of Europe remained interesting to Moslem forces. In 725AD, Moslem armies moved up the Rhone River.
In 724AD came the death of Yazid, who was succeeded by his son Hisham, an appointed heir; he was "a severe and pious ruler". (In 725AD was an Abbasid revolt at Balkh and Abbasid troubles continued.) In 726AD, Mohammedans invaded Cappadocia. In 734AD came a Mohammedan invasion of Asia Minor. Peace was restored with the Abbasid faction in 737. In 739AD came a Byzantine victory at Acroinon - and the death of Sid (Said) al-Battal. And in 740AD, having been sandwiched between pressures to adopt either Christianity or Islam, the Khazars of Northern Turkey took a surprising direction and converted to Judaism as a state religion.
Some signs of disintegration were to appear. Walid died in battle with his rival in 744 and Yazid III succeeded. Abd ar-Rahman b. Muhammed in Africa declared himself independent. There was the revolt of Emessa over Walid's death. Merwan, Yazid's grandfather, attempted to obtain the Caliphate. (Yazid made him governor of Mesopotamia.) Yazid died after a reign of only six months, to be succeeded by his brother Ibrahim. Merwan marched against Damascus, Ibrahim fled after a reign of two months; Merwan II was acknowledged as Caliph.
Mohammedans in 746AD invaded Cyprus. By 750AD partly as a result of ferment in the eastern part of the Empire, the Abbasid Abul-Abbas assumed the title of Caliph. (War between Omayyads and Abbasids. Battle of the Zab. Defeat of Merwan. Downfall of the Omayyad dynasty.) Abul-Abbas was established in the Caliphate, and he enjoyed the loyalty of all the Omayyad princes except Abd ar-Rahman b. Moawiyah, who escaped to Africa, but was put to death. Revolts arose due to cruelty, but were suppressed. Abul-Abbas makes his residence at Anbar.
In 751AD, Arabs won the Battle of River Talas, central Asia; and so Islam came to China. With 754AD came the death of Abul-Abbas. He had designated Abu Jafar (Al-Mansur) his cousin as his successor. Abdallah b. Ali made a revolt, but was defeated at Nisibia. Several other risings were suppressed. Revolt appeared in Africa, which was now only nominally guided by the caliphs. In 755AD, Mohammedans in Spain elected Abd ar-Rahman b. Moawiyah as Caliph, ending years of disunity since 715 or so. (Spain was now lost to the Abbasids.)
Conquest remained a remarkable preoccupation. In 756-757AD came an invasion of Asia Minor, a capture of Malatiya, a defeat of the Byzantines in Cilicia which was followed by a seven years' truce with the emperor. The western Omayyad caliphate was founded in 756. (The Omayyad Dynasty proceeded from 756 to 1031AD.) In 756, Abd ar-Rahman I defeated the Abbaside emirs, and founded his kingdom at Cordova. His reign meant constant warfare and he had to suppress many revolts. By 762AD the Abbasid dynasty ruling Iraq had decided on Baghdad its capital - meaning that Baghdad remained the capital of the Islamic Caliphate.
In 775AD came the death of Mansur, succeeded by his son,
Muhammed, Al-Mahdi, who restored peace and improved internal
conditions. There was a revolt by Hakim in Khorasan - and a
continued invasion of Asia Minor. In 776AD, Moslem forces destroyed
Charlemagne's army at Roncesvalles, on their return from the
invasion to restore Hosein to power in Spain.
Item from Historians' History of the World,
1907, Vol. 8, pp. 38ff.
By 782AD, fresh conflict had broken
out between the Byzantines and Mohammedans, with Byzantium finding
a victory in Cilicia. Harun ar-Rashid took Moslem command, and
marched to the Bosphorus, later compelling empress Irene to pay
annual tribute. In 788AD died Abd ar-Rahman, succeeded by his son
and appointed heir, Hisham I - who proclaimed a holy war and
finished the mosque of Cordova. In 789AD, Arabs invaded Rumania. In
792 came the Islamic invasion of Southern France, from Spain.
This was followed up, albeit confusingly. By 823AD,
Sancho in Spain captured Viguera. The death of Ordono enabled Abd
ar-Rahman to complete work of internal organisation. A band of
Cordovan (Spanish) exiles from Alexandria conquered Crete. In
829AD, Euphemius invited Mohammedans from Africa into Sicily, and
they took Palermo. (Item from Historians' History of the
World, 1907., Vol. 8, pp. 32ff.) By 831AD was beginning the
Mohammedans' long invasion of Asia Minor. In 832AD came the Moslem
capture of Heraclea. In Spain in 832, Toledo rebelled against
Moslem rule and was suppressed again. In 839AD came the Moslem
occupation of Southern Italy.
In 800AD the Aglabite Dynasty was founded at Kairwan. In
Spain, the Franks invaded Catalonia and retook Barcelona from
Moslem control.
Item from Historians' History of the World,
1907., Vol. 8, pp. 32ff.
In 801AD, Harun the Moslem invader of Asia Minor sent an embassy to Charlemagne. By 802, the Byzantine emperor Nicephorus refused to pay further tribute to Islam. Harun invaded Asia Minor devastatingly, forcing Nicephorus to sue for a peace - which Nicephorus broke in 803 and so the same process was repeated. Peace was restored with Nicephorus by 806. Instability moved on. In 815AD was a rising in Spain, in Cordova against Moslems, a rising put down "with great cruelty". (Some Cordovans were exiled to Africa. In 817, Mamun appointed Musa b. Ali to the throne. The people of Baghdad declared Mamun deposed and elected his uncle Ibrahim as Caliph. There was a sudden death of Musa. In 820AD came the appointment of Tahir as governor of Khorasan, where his descendants ruled until 872. (Sometimes called the Tahirite Dynasty).
Did the Romans send out long-range sea patrols? By 305AD or even earlier - from 270? - Roman coins were dropped on uninhabited Iceland, artefacts later to be hoarded by Viking settlers. This period represented the peak of Roman naval power about Britain, when the governor was Carausius (286-293). So was any Roman ship visiting Iceland on a long-range patrol?
By 825AD if not 30 years earlier, Irish monks in search of solitude had sailed to Iceland and back. They call Iceland, "Thule", and they left the island when the early Viking settlers arrived by 860.
And so the Vikings were hardly the only raiders and conquerors of their time who exacted tribute from their victims... And when the dates for Viking activity did arise, from the mid-700s, Eastern and Mediterranean Europe had been changed dramatically.
An interesting figure appears - Olaf
II Gudrodsson (770-840), a descendant of the Norwegian Viking,
Halfdan Olafsson-166133, as follows...
1. Halfdan Olafsson of Norway -166133 sp: VIKING Asa
Eysteindottir-166134 2. King Vestfold, Roumarike, rules Norway,
Denmark, Gudrod Halfdansson of Norway -166128 (b.738;d.810) sp:
VIKING Asa-166129 3. Olaf II Gudrodsson of Norway-166127
(b.770;d.840)
By 638AD... Edinburgh in Scotland was in the hands of the English. In 654AD the West Gothic king Reccesnwith issued a new body of laws for his people. In 655AD came the defeat and death of the Mercian ruler, Penda, in England. Vikings became active about 684 in Scotland, becoming the Earls - Jarls of Orkney... and this seems to be the first sign of Viking expansionism, though there is little information available allowing these Vikings to be named. No one mentions where they came from. Information on the Vikings of the Scottish Orkneys does not firm up until 950 and later, when some of Scots-Vikings can be surnamed "Thorfinn"; and some of them seem to have been related to the settlers of Iceland, who were not migrating till 850-900AD. (There have been some archaeological finds of relevance here at Jarlshof in the Shetland Islands for the period 786-802.)
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