THE EARLIEST VIKING RAIDS IN AQUITAINE AND THE QUESTION OF SALT

'Viking and Medieval Scandinavia' , 2016

'Viking and Medieval Scandinavia' 12 (2016), pp. 103-136. http://www.brepolsonline.net/toc/vms/2016/12/+ Contact author The island of Noirmoutier lies in the bay of Bourgneuf just south of the mouth of the River Loire, near Nantes in western France. In the early decades of the ninth century Noirmoutier and other nearby islands and coastal areas became primary targets for Scandinavian raids. What was so attractive about this small area for the Northmen? Why did they keep coming back year after year? After examining these early raids in some detail, this paper will highlight the importance of salt production and trade in this part of France in the early medieval period before suggesting the possibility that one of the objectives of the Northmen might well have been salt. The question of how the Northmen might have been able to profit from salt will also be posed and different possibilities explored.

Vikings in Aquitaine and their connections, ninth to early eleventh centuries , 2021

This paper examines in great detail what the Northmen who had come from the Seine in 862 plus those who had returned from ‘Spain’ did on the Loire and in more southerly Aquitaine over the next few years. This includes not only their attack on Poitiers in late 863 but also the long-distance raid to Clermont and the quick raid to and siege of Toulouse with Pippin II of Aquitaine in tow, both in early 864. Mention is also made of the chieftain Maurus in 863 and his apparent successor Sigfrid who had likely made the raid to Clermont. After this attack Sigfrid went back to his base on the Charente by late 864 or early 865 and his last fight in this area is also explored. What will be demonstrated, or at least argued, is that all these raids were undertaken from the Loire by parts of these two groups and not by some other unidentified Northmen come from ‘we know not where’, to use Lot’s expression.

VIKINGS IN AQUITAINE AND THEIR CONNECTIONS, NINTH TO EARLY ELEVENTH CENTURIES , 2021

This final chapter 2 is an investigation of the last Scandinavian incursions into Aquitaine in the early eleventh century-what we may call the Northmen's swansong in the region. 3 It explores three primary pieces of evidence one at a time and sees what we may be able to make of them, before attempting any tentative synthesis or conclusions. In regard to Aquitaine, Pascale Bourgain et al. write that these incursions were part of 'la seconde grande vague des invasions scandinaves, qui toucha surtout l'Angleterre, l'Irlande, les côtes de Frise et les ports du Rhin inférieur […] menace aussi les côtes du Poitou jusqu'au début du XI e siècle', 4 which is quite true but it does not take us very far. 5 More in regard to Iberia, Ann Christys rightly points out that in the eleventh century 'the locus of story-telling about Vikings in the South has shifted to Scandinavia and Ireland'; 6 this is also true although the comment does to a certain extent ignore or perhaps just downplay the associated evidence of Ademar of Chabannes 1 Dr Stephen M. Lewis defended his doctoral thesis entitled Vikings in Aquitaine and their connections, ninth to early eleventh centuries at the Université de Caen Normandie under the direction of Pierre Bauduin, it is available online at https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-03339358v1 and at https://unicaen.academia.edu/StephenLewis. He is a member of the Centre de recherches archéologiques et historiques anciennes et médiévales (CRAHAM) at the Université de Caen Normandie, and a member of the research centre for Histoire, civilisation, archéologie et art des mondes anciens et médiévaux (AUSONIUS) at the Université Bordeaux Montaigne. His research interests include the 'vikings' in Aquitaine and elsewhere in Western Europe and trans-Pyrenean matters in the early medieval period. 2 This is Chapter 16 of my 2021 Université de Caen Normandie Ph.D thesis Vikings in Aquitaine and their connections, ninth to early eleventh centuries which is available and downloadable on this site and elsewhere as noted above. 3 The term swansong (chant du cygne) is borrowed from J.-C. Cassard, Le siècle des Vikings en Bretagne, p. 99. 4 Ademari Cabannensis Chronicon, ed. Bourgain et al., III, 44, p. 297. 5 The only reference made here is to L. Musset, Les invasions: le second assaut contre l'Europe chrétienne, pp. 135-37, which itself does not help much. C. Etchingham says (pers. comm.): 'I would suggest that the Viking experience of Ireland, at any rate in the early eleventh century, cannot properly be described as part of a "vague des invasions scandinaves", since the external elements at Clontarf were there by invitation of the indigenous Vikings of Ireland or (in the case of the mórmaer of Mar in northeast Scotland) at the invitation of Brian Bóraime's regime.' 6 A. Christys, Vikings in the South, p. 95. En ces jours, vers la fête des Apôtres et de saint Martial, 8 la vicomtesse de Limoges, Emma, [vicecomitissa Lemovicae Emma] alla prier à Saint-Michel-en-l'Herm et là elle fut capturée, de nuit, par les Normands qui la gardèrent trois ans au-delà des mers [exul trans mare]. Pour sa rançon, on versa un poids infini d'or et d'argent prélevé sur le trésor de Saint-Martial ainsi qu'une statue en or du saint archange et, d'autres riches ornements : les Normands prirent le tout, et, dans leur mauvaise foi, ils ne rendirent pas du tout la femme jusqu'à ce que Richard, comte de Rouen, longtemps après [post multos dies], pût habilement la racheter par des ambassadeurs envoyés outre-mer [legatos ultramarinos] et, libre, la rendre à Gui, son époux. 9 Or in Elisabeth van Houts's English translation which I find not quite as good for our purposes: At that time, around the Festival of the Apostles and St Martial, Emma, viscountess of Angoulême [actually of Limoges: vicecomitissa Lemovicae Emma], 10 went to pray at the shrine of St Michel the Hermit and there, during the night she was taken captive by the Normans [= vikings] and detained for three years as an exile across the sea. Immense weights of silver and gold were offered from the treasury of Saint-Martial for her ransom as well as a gold statue of the saint [sancti] archangel and other precious ornaments, which the vikings carried off in false trust, for they did not return the woman, until after many days [post multos dies] 11 Richard count of Rouen cleverly got hold of her through overseas embassies and returned her free to her husband Guy. 12 According to the second story: En ce temps-là, une foule immense de Normands venus du Danemark et d'Irlande [= ex Danamarca/Danamarcha et Iresca regione] aborda Port-Aquitain [appulerunt portum 8 Ademar is clearly referring to the festival of the apostles Peter and Paul celebrated on 29 June and that of Saint Martial celebrated on 30 June.

Our most recent and thorough publication is written in English (2001), but was pubished in German a year later ("Die Welt der Wikinger"). We have been encouraged to make this work available in English and here are the the first chapters. A list of references will follow soon.

The paper discusses the economic significance of the production of marine salt and the use of salt for the preservation of foods in Norway from the Viking Age to ca. 1600, with a focus on sources from the Oslo fjord area. It contests a commonly held belief that because of limited access to salt and the poor quality of domestically produced salt in medieval Norway, apart from being fed to livestock, it was mainly used to add flavour to foods, and only to a very limited extent as a preservative. By piecing together evidence from saga literature, legal texts, cadasters and other documentary sources, as well as archaeological finds from excavations in Oslo, the paper argues that in all probability the scope of

See under Viking-Age Scandinavia, chapter 1. The manuscripts with this title are the English basis for our book Die Welt der Wikinger, Siedler Verlag 2002. We will upload the contents in a different order from the original text, and in the end a list of the chapters, as well as a list of references, will be presented.

VIKINGS IN AQUITAINE AND THEIR CONNECTIONS, NINTH TO EARLY ELEVENTH CENTURIES , 2021

The period between 864 and 873 was a highly complex one, not only for the Northmen but also for the Bretons and the Franks. It saw the comings and goings of distinct groups of Northmen operating along the Loire and raiding into neighbouring regions, including Brittany, Frankish Neustria and Aquitanian Berry. Some of these Northmen had even, once again, been hired by the Bretons. One group was led by a chieftain called Baret who possibly had Irish connections, and who may have even gone there in 866 or 867. Furthermore, in spite of the necessary caution of Ferdinand Lot, it is not out of the question that Alsting/Hasting was already leading a group of Northmen on the Loire from 866. If so, it is possible that he had been active on the Seine from 865 to 866 and was the leader of the Northmen at Angers in 873. We cannot be sure of this, but this thesis is all about exploring possible connections and that is what I have done here, acknowledging of course that some of these possible connections can never be proved.

A review of P. H. Sawyer's book written for the 'Histories & Cultures of the Nordic Region' course in 2014.

Critical study of Stephen Lewis' thesis. 1. Academia, 2021

CRITICAL STUDY 1. Stephen Lewis has just presented his thesis entitled "Vikings in Aquitaine and their connections, ninth to the early eleventh century", a remarkable and monumental work of 871 pages whose author asserts its exhaustiveness and objectivity. At the end of his study, his conclusion is formal: there was "probably" no lasting Scandinavian settlement in Gascony. Obviously, this academic work is destined to become the official response to my 'romanticized' work 1 which puts forward the existence of a Scandinavian political entity in Aquitaine. It is therefore important that I highlight the shortcomings and approximations of this reference work in order to calm the enthusiasm and ardour of my detractors who might lack lucidity when reading this thesis. This is the first article in a series of four. It concerns the first mentions of Scandinavians in Aquitaine. The second will concern the 'fictitious' invasion of Gascony, the third the evidence of the Scandinavian presence forgotten by Stephen Lewis and the last will concern the end of Scandinavian Gascony which Stephen tells us never happened. 1 Stephen Lewis writes "many historical-novel-like imaginings of Joël Supéry".

European Journal of Archaeology, 2019

This article discusses the chronology and nature of the earliest Viking activity, based on a group of early burials from Norway containing Insular metalwork. By focusing on the geographical distribution of this material and applying the concept of locational and social knowledge, the importance of establishing cognitive landscapes to facilitate the Viking expansion is highlighted. It is argued that the first recorded Viking attacks were only possible after a phase in which Norse seafarers had acquired the necessarily level of a priori environmental knowledge needed to move in new seascapes and coastal environments. This interaction model opens the possibility that some of the early Insular finds from Norway may represent pre-Lindisfarne exploration voyages, carried out by seafarers along the sailing route of Nordvegr.