The Last Journey of the Vikings - Episode 3

The Frankish Kingdom started rebuilding the walls and defenses of the Frankish Kingdom.  Eventually, the walls slowed down the Viking invasion.  They turned and invaded England.  Then the Vikings saw an opportunity to invade the Frankish Kingdom again.  This time, instead of simply raiding, the Vikings planned on settling down in the Frankish Kingdom.  The duchy of Normandy was formed during this time.
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Charles the Bold was tired of paying ransom to the Viking invaders.  A cavalry was developed and fortified bridges were built over in France.  Was invading the Frankish kingdom part of a long-term strategy?  The Vikings were successful in other places.  Perhaps it is time to reexamine the Viking invasion of the Frankish Kingdom. 

Despite all the new fortifications, the Vikings plan on invading Paris again.  Typically, the people who were invaded could pay off the Vikings in exchange for retreat.  With the latest invasion of Paris, this would not be the case.  This time, not only did the Vikings get the compensation they got permission to further go up the Seine River.  Burgundy faces Viking raiding for the first time.  Even though the Paris invasion failed, the Vikings were still having success in the field extracting tribute from the people and causing a great deal of damage.  Perhaps, we need to interpret these raids as individual groups operating independently of each other.  This means even though one group of Vikings failed at an invasion, other groups found invasion success.

The Vikings started integrating into the cultures at the time.  There were new alliances and there was a new way of life open to the Vikings.  When Scandinavians were on the continent they adopted the local cultures quickly.  The Scandinavians brought back what they learned back to Scandinavia.  This process of cultural integration took longer. 

Charles the Bold passed away which lead to the Frankish coastal defenses decreasing.  The Vikings took advantage of this and started relocating to the South.  The Vikings then integrated into local society.  They learned the language.  Vikings eventually converted to Christianity after being polytheistic in their beliefs.  Perhaps this was a sincere conversion on the part of the Vikings or it was done for practical reasons.  The conversion of Scandinavia to Christianity was a long process.  It started with missionaries in Friesland.  The Friesa people had contact with the Danes over the years.  Through trade, ideas were exchanged and this exchange may have led to individual Vikings sincerely converting to Christianity. 

Some trading posts would not allow heathens to trade with them.  So some Vikings decided to get baptized to trade in these cities.  Over the years it became important to present yourself as a Christian.  A high number of Viking leaders accepted baptism.  The locals could see the Viking leaders as legitimate leaders.  As a result, by being baptized, the Vikings became integrated into the European network. 

Conversion to Christianity lead to a change in the Viking mindset and would have been a big deal.  Some of the artifacts show a blurring of Christianity and its old traditions.  They traveled south to be baptized and returned home to spread the new faith.  The judicial system changed and women were encouraged to join monasteries.  

This is a French-produced documentary on the Vikings.  This third episode was fascinating to watch because it focused on France and the conversion of the Vikings to Christianity.  That was an interesting discussion because it showed how the church had to relate Viking culture to Christianity.  This episode would be good for filler, however, I would just use this episode for clips in a lecture on the Vikings.