Vikings  Warriors from Scandinavia  Most Scandinavians worked as fisherman or farmers Soil was not very fertile  Started looking for new food and wealth

Viking Raids  Superb ship builders, sailors, and navigators  First targets = France and England Vikings began raiding places farther away from their homeland and inland locations  People were constantly afraid because there was no warning the Vikings were coming  Fast moving ships allowed them to move quickly and give little time for the ones they were attacking to prepare  Vikings would grab any expensive item they could find and attack whoever got in their way Monasteries were their favorite targets

Viking Settlements  Vikings settled in Iceland and thrived for centuries, much longer than mainland Europe  According to sagas, the Vikings reached Greenland in 982.  Around 100 years later, Vikings under the rule of Leif Erikson reached North America – Canada  Vikings under the rule of Chief Rollo settled in Northern France.

Magyars  Invaded Europe from the east  Skilled horseback riders  Magyars planned their raids carefully; attacked small settlements versus heavily defended towns  In the mid-900’s King Otto the Great of Germany crushed a huge Magyar army, ending their raids

Muslims  In 711, a Muslim army from northern Africa conquered Spain  By 732, the Muslims had swept into France  In the 800’s and 900’s the Muslims stopped their full scale invasions and ordered smaller raids in southern Italy and France  Rome  Muslims fleets would block trading, loot ships, and sell their crews into slavery