Vikings in the South: Voyages to Iberia and the MediterraneanIn the ninth century, Vikings carried out raids on the Christian north and Muslim south of the Iberian peninsula (modern Spain and Portugal), going on to attack North Africa, southern Francia and Italy and perhaps sailing as far as Byzantium. A century later, Vikings killed a bishop of Santiago de Compostela and harried the coasts of al-Andalus. Most of the raids after this date were small in scale, but several heroes of the Old Norse sagas were said to have raided in the peninsula. These Vikings have been only a footnote to the history of the Viking Age. Many stories about their activities survive only in elaborate versions written centuries after the event, and in Arabic. This book reconsiders the Arabic material as part of a dossier that also includes Latin chronicles and charters as well as archaeological and place-name evidence. Arabic authors and their Latin contemporaries remembered Vikings in Iberia in surprisingly similar ways. How they did so sheds light on contemporary responses to Vikings throughout the medieval world. |
Contents
| 1 | |
2 From the Encircling Ocean | 15 |
3 So the Story Goes | 29 |
4 A Mediterranean Adventure | 47 |
5 Waiting for the Barbarians | 65 |
6 The Wars of Santiago and Cordoba against Vikings | 79 |
From Charter and Chronicle to Saga | 95 |
APPENDIX 1 Glossary of Histories and Historians | 105 |
APPENDIX 2 Timeline | 109 |
Abbreviations | 111 |
| 113 | |
| 131 | |
Other editions - View all
Vikings in the South: Voyages to Iberia and the Mediterranean Ann Christys No preview available - 2015 |
Vikings in the South: Voyages to Iberia and the Mediterranean Ann Christys No preview available - 2015 |
Common terms and phrases
Abd al-Rah.mān al-‘Udhrī al-Andalus Al-Bakrī Roads al-Ghazāl al-H.akam al-Idrīsī Al-Mas’ūdī Alfonso III Almeria Andalusi Annals of St-Bertin Arabic Arabic sources As.īla Asturian bishop caliph captured Celanova chapter Christian and Muslim Chronicle of Alfonso cited coast of al-Andalus compiled Cordoba Crónicas Asturianas dated defences Dihya emir episode fleet fortifications Francia Galicia García geographer Heimskringla Historia Arabum historians History of Norway Iberian peninsula Ibn al-Qūt.īya Ibn H.awqal Ibn H.ayyān Muqtabas Ibn Idhārī Bayān Ibn Khaldūn Islamic king Kitāb later Latin Lisbon Luarca Maghreb Majūs manuscript medieval Mediterranean monastery mosque Muh.ammad Mūsā Muslim Nakūr narrative ninth North northern Iberia Olaf Ordoño Pamplona peninsula pirates Prudentius raiders Ramiro ransom reference ribāt Roads and Kingdoms Rodrigo Rosendo Rūs sagas sailed Santiago Saracens Scandinavian Serkland Seville Sisnando Snorri Sturluson South Spain story survives tenth century trans twelfth century Umayyad Viking activity Viking Age Viking attacks Viking raids Viking ships wall