Why Did The Vikings Attack The Monastery Of Lindisfarne?

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Franco Custodio HIS233 Jason Treter 25Sep10 The Vikings In 793 AD, a peaceful monastery in the northeastern England called Lindisfarne was savagely attacked by strange new invaders (“The Viking,” 2000 ). These warriors were described as blue eyed barbarians in horned helmet and believed to have been Norwegians who came from the North Sea. The attack was marked the beginning of the Viking Age. Just who and what are these Vikings? What is their main intention of attacking the monastery of Lindisfarne? In this essay, I will discuss that the Vikings are not a race of people but a band of different race with the purpose of plundering innocent people to cause fear, to search for wealth, and to establish a colony. These ancient pirates, as described by Tacitus, might have originated from their German tribe ancestors called the Suiones from the first century (Reilly 254). He said they were tall and strong men in weird looking ships with a “prow” at both ends. These boats have no sails and usually have…show more content…
Throughout the Vikings history, there were evidence of piracy mixed with trading then slowly became more of a trade than raid mission (Reilly 256). But piracy has always been in their blood so it did not actually disappear throughout the Viking Age. Vikings were successful in long distance trading and profit seeking because of their aggressiveness. They would plunder distant ports and setup trading post near their home (Reilly 257). Some of these trading posts were in France and Mediterranean. Their raids reached all the way to Paris and Russia where they established new trade route and founded city-states like Kiev and Novgorod. They also established contact with Byzantine Empire in Constantinople. Some archaeological evidence shows that Vikings also established trading post in Baghdad were their trade furs, tusks, seal fat for boat sealant and

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