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The Viking Research Paper

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Ermentarius, a Frankish writer comments that “Everywhere [Christians] are the victims of massacre, burning and plunder. The Vikings overrun all that lies before them…” (Source 2, Viking raids in France.) The Vikings were known for their barbaric reputation however they were also sophisticated and technologically advanced. The Viking reputation is one of bloodthirsty seafaring warriors, repeatedly plundering the Christian monasteries throughout the Middle Ages. Nevertheless examples of advanced Viking civilization was their seafaring skills and their complex social hierarchy. ) Thesis statement. This essay will discuss the Viking trading methods and their social hierarchy. Viking were successful explorers whose seamanship enabled them to …show more content…

Their society did not revolve or rely on a central government. According to the secondary source 2.3, historians know that at the very top of the social hierarchy is the King who had a lot of authority. Viking kings were powerful leaders who ruled Scandinavian lands. In order to maintain this power, a chieftain had to gain followers who agreed to support him. Below the king was a small aristocratic group called the Jarls. They lived an ‘upper-class life’. Below the Jarls were a group called the Karls. They formed the majority of the population. They were considered ‘freemen’, meaning they were allowed to own land, slaves to work for them, build property, and start a family and/or a business. At the bottom of the hierarchy were the slaves called thralls who were either captured in raids or purchased from traders in the marketplace. They were considered the property of their owners. The Norse had an oral culture and therefore had both law and government without written law. All free men (Karls) would gather in their communities in a meeting called a Thing. Rather than have all disputes settled by duel or family feuds, the Thing was established to both make laws and to decide cases of disputes within the law. The Thing met at specific and regular times. Each Thing had a law speaker who would recite the law from memory. The law speaker and the local chieftain would judge and settle the cases of

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