Evidence for European presence in the Americas in AD 1021

Re:Evidence for European presence in the Americas in AD 1021 by gremloni on Wednesday October 20, 2021 @06:04PM (#28937381)

Maybe but the Viking’s modus operandi seemed like it was pillage/rape/kidnap the best looking women and then head out. I can only think of one settlement the Vikings set up in Gaul.

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Re:Evidence for European presence in the Americas in AD 1021 by HarryHirsch on Wednesday October 20, 2021 @06:44PM (#28937789)

Not really - they had a three-pronged business model based on ranching sheep, trading and, yes, raiding. Wasn't it Erik the Red who had two brothers, and their father asked all three what they were going to be when they had grown up. Says the first he is going to be a farmer and his sheepflock is going to be so large that he will have to dig another waterhole. Says the second he will go trading and he will have to build another barn to keep his wares in. Says Erik, who was the youngest, he is going to be a Viking and he is going to raid both of them.

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Re:Evidence for European presence in the Americas in AD 1021 by munk-a on Wednesday October 20, 2021 @07:31PM (#28938231)

There were norse settlments all over the place - Russia, Normandy, Lower and Central Germany, England (the Danelaw was a thing for a while), Ireland and, famously, Byzantium.

For settling uninhabited locales you've got Shetland, Mann, the Isles, Iceland and some seasonal settlements on Greenland.

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Re:Evidence for European presence in the Americas in AD 1021 by gremloni on Wednesday October 20, 2021 @08:40PM (#28938797)

Byzantium? I would love some reading material on that.

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Re:Evidence for European presence in the Americas in AD 1021 by acjohnson55 on Wednesday October 20, 2021 @08:52PM (#28938894)

Here's a short podcast series that talks about the Normans, including Bohemond, who set up a crusader state in Antioch, which had been Byzantine territory not long before: https://normancenturies.com/

You might also check out the podcast History of Byzantium. Although you'll have to go many hours before encountering the Norse, in the form of the Varangians.

And I also recommend the excellent book Children of Ash and Elm for a very recent overview of Viking history.

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Re:Evidence for European presence in the Americas in AD 1021 by gremloni on Thursday October 21, 2021 @01:01AM (#28940484)

Awesome, thank you.

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Re:Evidence for European presence in the Americas in AD 1021 by AnimalMuppet on Wednesday October 20, 2021 @08:55PM (#28938920)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Varangians#Byzantine_Empire

It's not much, but it's a start.

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Re:Evidence for European presence in the Americas in AD 1021 by acjohnson55 on Wednesday October 20, 2021 @08:47PM (#28938860)

Don't forget Southern Italy and Sicily!

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Re:Evidence for European presence in the Americas in AD 1021 by munk-a on Wednesday October 20, 2021 @11:14PM (#28939784)

Hrm - I'd avoided including those because the Normans were sooooorta not what you'd call Vikings at that point - but yup those Normans got everywhere.

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Re:Evidence for European presence in the Americas in AD 1021 by acjohnson55 on Saturday October 23, 2021 @04:48AM (#28966753)

I mentioned it because you said Norse, and while I'd agree that the Normans weren't vikings (the Viking Age is typically bookended by the Norman conquest of England in 1066), I would definitely consider them Norse.

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Re:Evidence for European presence in the Americas in AD 1021 by vintermann on Thursday October 21, 2021 @04:02AM (#28941666)

Not even close. For one thing, Leif was a Christian. For another, his father, who more lived up to the stereotype of the murderous psycho Viking, had been twice banished for murder already, which was why he found himself in Greenland in the first place. The Norse were never a lot like the rapey pagan party Vikings they're portrayed as in popular culture, and certainly not by 1021.

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Re:Evidence for European presence in the Americas in AD 1021 by boomboomsubban on Wednesday October 20, 2021 @07:34PM (#28938255)

> I can only think of one settlement the Vikings set up in Gaul

Are you calling Normandy one settlement? As they certainly spent most of the Viking age colonizing from Iceland to Sicily.

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Re:Evidence for European presence in the Americas in AD 1021 by gremloni on Wednesday October 20, 2021 @08:43PM (#28938814)

Most of the “colonizing” happened in prehistory. It was also based out of Ukraine, don’t know if you can attribute that to the Vikings.

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Re:Evidence for European presence in the Americas in AD 1021 by acjohnson55 on Wednesday October 20, 2021 @08:56PM (#28938923)

I think you may be misinformed.

Viking was a lifestyle or temporary occupation, not a people. The people were the Norse, and they did a massive amount of settling in the Viking Age.

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Re:Evidence for European presence in the Americas in AD 1021 by boomboomsubban on Thursday October 21, 2021 @12:21AM (#28940224)

This is akin to saying "most of the pillaging in history happened by people besides vikings, so you can't really attribute that to them." Yes, others colonized the areas. The Vikings also did during the Viking age.

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