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Siege of Paris (845)

Coordinates:48°51′17″N02°20′51″E/ 48.85472°N 2.34750°E/48.85472; 2.34750
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For other sieges of Paris, seeSiege of Paris (disambiguation).

Siege of Paris
Part of theViking expansion

A Viking siege of Paris, 19th-century portrayal
note: Therampartshere depicted did not exist in 845.
Date845, siege began on 28/29 March
Location
Paris,West Francia
Result Viking victory
Belligerents
Vikings(mainlyDanes) West Francia
Commanders and leaders
Reginherus (possiblyRagnar 'Lodbrok' Sigurdsson) Charles the Bald
Strength
120 ships, with at least 4,000 men

Thesiege of Parisof 845 was the culmination of aVikinginvasion ofWest Francia.The Viking forces were led by aNorsechieftain named "Reginherus", or Ragnar, who tentatively has been identified with thelegendary sagacharacterRagnar Lodbrok.Reginherus's fleet of 120Viking ships,carrying thousands of warriors, entered theSeinein March and sailed up the river.

TheFrankishkingCharles the Baldassembled a smaller army in response but after the Vikings defeated one division, comprising half of the army, the remaining forces retreated. The Vikings reachedParisat the end of the month, duringEaster.They plundered and occupied the city, withdrawing afterCharles the Baldpaid a ransom of 7,000French livres[2,570 kg (83,000 ozt)] in gold and silver.

Background

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TheFrankish Empirewas first attacked by Viking raiders in 799 (ten years after the earliest-known Viking attack atPortland, Dorset,in England), which ledCharlemagneto create a defence system along the northern coast in 810. The defence system repulsed a Viking attack at the mouth of theSeinein 820 (after Charlemagne's death) but failed to hold against renewed attacks of Danish Vikings inFrisiaandDorestadin 834.[1]The attacks in 820 and 834 were unrelated and relatively minor; systematic raiding did not begin until the mid-830s, with the activity alternating between the two sides of theEnglish Channel.[2]Viking raids were often part of struggles amongScandinaviannobility for power and status.[3]Like other nations adjacent to the Franks, the Danes were well informed about the political situation in France; in the 830s and early 840s they took advantage of theFrankish civil wars.[4]Large raids took place inAntwerpandNoirmoutierin 836, inRouen(on the Seine) in 841 and inQuentovicandNantesin 842.[1]

Invasion and siege

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In March 845,[5]a fleet of 120 Viking ships[1][6]containing more than 5,000 men[7]entered the Seine under the command of a chieftain[8]named "Reginherus", or Ragnar.[1]Ragnar has been identified with the legendary saga figure Ragnar Lodbrok. Around 841, Reginherus was awarded land inTurholt,Flanders, by Charles the Bald, but he eventually lost the land as well as the favour of the King.[9]Reginherus's Vikings raided Rouen on their way up the Seine in 845,[8]and in response to the invasion, Charles—who was determined not to let the royalAbbey of Saint-Denis(near Paris) be destroyed[8]—assembled an army which he divided into two parts, one for each side of the river.[5]The Vikings attacked and defeated one of the divisions of the smaller Frankish army, took 111 of their men as prisoners and hanged them on an island on the Seine.[5]This was done to honour theNorse godOdin,[1]as well as to incite terror in the remaining Frankish forces.[5]

Map of Paris in the 9th century. The city was concentrated onÎle de la Cité,an island in the Seine.

The Vikings arrived in Paris on Easter Sunday, 29 March,[8]entered the city and plundered it.[5][8]During the siege, a plague broke out in their camp. The Norse had been exposed to theChristian religion,and after first praying to the Norse gods, they undertook a fast, acting on the advice of one of their Christian prisoners, and the plague subsided.[10]The Franks could not assemble an effective defence,[5]and the Vikings withdrew only after being paid a ransom of 7,000livres(French pounds) of silver and gold by Charles the Bald,[9]amounting to approximately 2,570 kg (5,670 lb).[11]

Considering the Vikings' earlier loss of land to Charles, the substantial payment may also have been regarded as some form of compensation to the Viking leader and the invasion itself as an act of revenge.[9]This was the first of a total of thirteen payments of so-calleddanegeldto Viking raiders by the Franks[1](the term is not expressly known to have been used at this point).[12]While agreeing to withdraw from Paris, the Viking army pillaged several sites along the coast on the return voyage, including theAbbey of Saint Bertin.[8]

Although Charles had been criticised severely for granting the large ransom payment to the Vikings, he had other more critical issues to deal with at the same time, including disputes with his brothers, regional revolts and disgruntled nobles, as well as pressure from abroad. Since he would have trouble trusting his own counts to assemble and lead troops to defeat the large Viking force militarily, paying them off instead would buy Charles time, and possibly peace from further Viking raids—at least in the near future.[12]

Aftermath

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The same year, a Viking fleet sackedHamburg,[3][5]which had been elevated to an archbishopric byPope Gregory IVin 831 on the initiative ofLouis the Piousto oversee theSaxonterritory and to support the introduction of Christianity to Scandinavia.[3]In response, theFrankishkingLouis the Germansent a diplomatic mission, headed by Count Cobbo (one of two court counts), to the court ofHorik,demanding that the Danish king submit to Frankish overlordship and pay reparations for the invasion. Horik eventually agreed to the terms and requested a peace treaty with Louis, while also promising to return the treasure and captives from the raid. Horik most likely wanted to secure the border withSaxonyas he faced a conflict with KingOlof of Swedenand domestic struggles. By the treaty, Louis demanded Horik's obedience, which was further secured by Horik regularly sending embassies and gifts to Louis and his suspension of support to Viking raiders.[3]

Although many Vikings had died in the plague during the siege of Paris, Ragnar lived to return home to King Horik. According to a story originating from a member of Cobbo's embassy, Ragnar, having attacked theAbbey of Saint-Germain-des-Prés,then in the outskirts of medieval Paris and which Cobbo later visited, attributed the plague to the power of SaintGermain of Paris.[13]While Ragnar showed the gold and silver he had acquired to Horik and boasted about how easy he thought the conquest of Paris had been,[9]he reportedly collapsed crying while relating that the only resistance he had met was from the long deceased saint.[13]As several of Ragnar's men died not long after, the king was so frightened that he ordered the execution of the survivors and the release of his Christian captives.[13]This event, in part, led Horik to receive ArchbishopAnsgar,"Apostle of the North", on friendly terms in his own kingdom.[13]Vikings returned again and again in the 860s and secured loot or ransom but, in a turning point for the history of France, the city's walls held against the Vikings' greatest attacking force in thesiege of Paris (885–86).[citation needed]

Thesynod of Pariswas forced to convene atMeauxbecause of the siege, but it relocated to Paris after the siege was lifted.[14]

References

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  1. ^abcdefKohn 2006,p. 588.
  2. ^Jones 2001,p. 210.
  3. ^abcdGoldberg 2006,p. 134.
  4. ^Goldberg 2006,pp. 133–134.
  5. ^abcdefgJones 2001,p. 212.
  6. ^Sawyer 2001,p. 39.
  7. ^Sprague 2007,p. 225.
  8. ^abcdefDuckett 1988,p. 181.
  9. ^abcdSawyer 2001,p. 40.
  10. ^Mawer 1922,p. 330.
  11. ^According to a contemporary source,Annales Bertiniani,the sum was 7,000French livres(Ogg 1908,p. 166). One "livre d'estelin" or "livre de Charlemagne", the mass standard used in France from c. 800 to c. 1350, is equivalent to 367.1 g (Zupko 1990,p. 346). Converted, 7,000livresequals 2570 kg (7000 ×.3671=2569.7).
  12. ^abJones 2001,p. 213.
  13. ^abcdHoops & Beck 2002,p. 90.
  14. ^Michael E. Moore (2011),A Sacred Kingdom: Bishops and the Rise of Frankish Kingship, 300–850,Catholic University of America Press, pp. 362–363.

Sources

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48°51′17″N02°20′51″E/ 48.85472°N 2.34750°E/48.85472; 2.34750

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