4.23 Europe: a.d. 901 to 1000  (Page 5/7)

France and netherlands and belgium

For most of this century in the west Frank kingdom of France there was a gradual decrease of royal power and the development of a strong feudalism, chiefly be- cause of the competition for the crown by the Carolingian and Robertian houses. The Carolingians kept control early, although Charles III, ruling from Laon was the last one with truly effective power. Viking, Magyar, and Moslem assaults all contributed to the royal downfall, as Charles III, called Charles the Simple, was unable to expel the northmen from the mouth of the Seine. In 911 he finally had to give the Viking leader, Rollo, all of Normandy in exchange for Rollo's baptism and oath of fealty. Actually the Viking chief took the oath lightly and filled up Normandy with Scandinavian immigrants, chiefly Danes. Although most historians have labeled Rollo (also Rolf) a Norwegian, Lauring (Ref. 117 ) says that he was of Danish royal family origin. The last of the Carolingian kings, at least in name, was Louis V and then Hugh Capet of the old Robertian House of Burgundy was elected king and started the new Capetian Dynasty in 987. France was now an independent kingdom, no longer subject to the Holy Roman Empire and so recognized by Otto III as a reward for the ceding of Lorraine to the Germans. Capet could speak no German and was the first French-speaking king. Indicative of the situation throughout most of Europe, France, even as a rather privileged country, still suffered 10 general famines in this century. (Ref. 117 , 160 , 119 , 260 )

British isles

England and wales

The 10th century in England saw a rebirth of monastic life and learning and the beginning of native English literature. Alfred's son Edward (899-924) and grandson Athelston (or Ethelstan) (924-939) carried on the fighting on the frontier, making inroads into Daneslaw and finally conquering almost all of it. The last Scandinavian king of York was Eric Bloodaxe, who was expelled in A.D. 954. As the Danelaw was absorbed, the shire system was extended to it with the old Danish boroughs as a nucleus. The old clan organization was superseded by a quasi-feudal system whereby each man had a lord who was responsible for him at law. The great earldoms began to appear. England, as we know it today, began then to take shape as the boundary between England and Scotland was set at Tweed and Edgar was coronated as king of England in Bath in 973. When Edgar was only 15 years of age, however, he was assassinated in order to make way for Aethelred. (Ref. 8 , 301 )

For awhile the English kings got homage also from the Welsh and there was stability across the island. In about 980, however, the Vikings attacked again and the new Saxon king, Aethelred the Unready, failed to meet the challenge of the professional Viking army under Sweyn Forkbeard. Both Norwegians and Danes were involved in these attacks at the end of the century. Toynbee (Ref. 220 ) feels that these attacks actually stimulated the development of the definitive kingdom of England (Ref. 8 , 43 , 220 , 119 ) Additional Notes