Charles the Bald enthroned. |
Easter took place in 845, but the siege began in March.
It surely has delighted the History Channel's Vikings team to begin their interpretation of the Siege of Paris with episode 7, which broadcast last night, three days before Easter.
As well as extracting an enormous weight of silver, the Vikings' siege of 845 taught Monsieur Bald to build fortified bridges leading up to, into, the city.
Nevertheless this was not the end of invasions from the Norse, attacks on Paris
and danegeld (or, gafol, in 11th century sources). For that matter this wasn't the first invasion of the Norse into Francia, but this one really brought the gafol home!
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* Fans of the History Channel's Vikings series (of whom I am one), please take note this sentence in the above-link to the history of the siege:
In March 845,[5] a fleet of 120 Danish Viking ships[1][6] containing more than 5,000 men[7] entered the Seine under the command of a Danish chieftain[8] named "Reginherus", or Ragnar.[1] This Ragnar has often been tentatively identified with the legendary saga figure Ragnar Lodbrok, but the historicity of the latter remains a disputed issue among historians.[5][7]
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