Viking Empires

Viking Empires is a definite new history of five hundred years of Viking civilisation and the first study of the global implications of the expansion, integration and re-orientation of the Viking world. Offering an assessment of Scandinavian society before the 790s, the book traces the political, military, cultural and religious history of the Viking Age from Iceland to the Baltic states. The authors show that it is not possible to understand the history of the Norman Conquest, the success of David I of Scotland or the relationship between the Holy Roman Empire and the papacy without considering the impact of the history of Scandinavia. The book concludes with a new account of the end of the Viking Era, arguing that there was no sudden decline but the gradual absorption of the Scandinavian kingdoms into the project of the crusades and a refocusing of imperial ambitions on the Baltic and eastern Europe.
Jacket Illustration: Life, Passion and Miracles of St Edmunds, King and Martyr, Bury St Edmunds, c1130.