The Viking raids were at first unorganized, with few attackers. But even this was enough for the fragmented Europe to groan under the onslaught of their troops. In the ninth century the Vikings captured Ireland, England, ravaged and burned Nantes, Hamburg, Pisa, Chartres, and in 845 one of the most famous jarls - Ragnar Lodbrog - entered Paris. “Not a single city, not a single monastery remained untouched. Everyone took to flight. .. ”, - all the chronicles of that time are filled with similar complaints.
First, in England, and then throughout Europe, a feverish collection of “Danish money” begins to either pay off the Viking attack, or redeem the captured cities and lands from them. But the Normans are no longer satisfied with the random loot obtained from attacks on the coastal cities, which were pretty battered by them. They begin to fortify themselves on the coast, so that, making raids inland, they capture more and more new territories. Thus, in Northern England, Denlo was formed - an area of Danish law, which was controlled by the Vikings and dominated by Scandinavian customs.
By the X century. Danish kings launched a massive offensive against Europe. The era of unorganized campaigns is over. The powerful united squads of the Scandinavians attacked the weak European states, taking one territory after another. No wonder the Danes were considered one of the most formidable invaders. Other Vikings were not far behind. The distant northern lands of Russia and the imperial Constantinople experienced the heavy hand of sea robbers.
In 911, the Viking jarl Rolf (Rollon) forced the king of France, Charles the Simple, to give him a fief (hereditary possession for military service) of the region of Northern France he had conquered, which later became known as Normandy. In Ireland, the Vikings founded the city of Dublin and conquered the entire east coast. The Vikings attacked Arab Spain and Italy. The descendants of the Vikings - the Normans - conquered Naples and the island of Sicily and formed the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies there. England had a particularly hard time, attacks on which continued for all three centuries of Norman campaigns. She never completely managed to get rid of the dominion of the invaders: in 1066, the descendant of Rollon, the Frenchized Norman William the Conqueror, conquered England, proclaiming himself its king.