8. The Vikings: Looting for Slaves and more[1]
For more than 1000 years horrific stories of slaughter, plunder and enslavement have painted a ferocious image of the Vikings. Their victories and defeats still trigger the curiosity and fantasy of historians, fiction writers, playwrights and filmmakers. Chronicles, poems, rune stones and graves tell that their primary motive was gathering honour and rich loot.[2] Small Viking units just went for short hit and run victories, celebrating local triumphs with boozing confiscated liquor and having their way with the wives and daughters of defeated men. Then they went on to their next easy target.
Very few historians took an interest in their more positive sides: their great seamanship, artwork, handicrafts, and tradesmanship. These highly skilled seamen moved easily to Limerick in the west or to the Volga in the east, to Iceland in the north or to Spain in the south. They appeared in various guises: as pirates, traders, conquerors, rulers, warlords, farmers, explorers, and colonizers.[3] Vikings believed in many gods and goddesses. Their chief God was Odin, also known as Wodan. Wednesday is named after him. His son Thor, the God of thunder and lightning, is the namegiver of Thursday. Freyday refers to Frigg, Odin’s wife. In contrast to the monotheistic Christians and Muslims the Vikings did not pursue a megalomaniac plan to conquer and convert the entire world. On the contrary, in a time span of a few centuries most Vikings had converted to Christendom, the religion of the Europeans they had conquered and oppressed.
Viking society was divided into different social classes. In the Edda, the famous Norse legendary tale, thralls or slaves are described as stupid and ugly. Supposedly they had a somewhat darker skin, due to long working hours in the fields. Children of male Viking slaves always remained slaves, but a child from a free man and a slave woman was born free. The hair of slaves was cropped short. Female slaves were not allowed to wear a kerchief over their head. This privilege was reserved for their mistresses.[4] Intermittently, the ranks of thralls were filled by captured warriors and free people who could not pay their debts. The middle class in Viking society were free tenants, farmers, and craftsmen. They were called Bondis and depicted as better looking, better dressed and well-groomed. They also had nicer names. The third and highest class is the class of Kings and noblemen. They were called Jarls. (Earl derives from Jarl). Supposedly, Jarls tended to be taller, whiter and more beautiful. Enslaved people had to work in the fields, in houses or workshops. In Scandinavia enslaved females of high rank, beautiful and well groomed, could live a comfortable and respectful life. The same was true for skilled craftsmen and loyal house slaves. The latter may have enjoyed a good life, but their end could be horrific. Based on material findings in medieval graves, it is certain that in several cases personal assistants of rich and high ranking masters were killed to serve him in his afterlife. Many enslaved women also had to provide unlimited sexual services.[5]
The main purpose of most Viking expeditions was capturing and enslaving foreigners. For instance, in 837 they laid waste the isle of Walcheren, in Zeeland, the South-Western province of The Netherlands. They“… abducted many captive women as well as an immense amount of various goods.”[6]Some years earlier, Danes had ransacked the silver minting centre of Dorestad, then a rich Dutch town situated on the Rhine. At first, the Vikings had come as traders. Later they brutally captured men and women for slavery.
More than 40 years earlier, on June 8, 793, a small flotilla of Danish Vikings landed on the island of Lindisfarne (England) and raided its abbey and several simple dwellings.[7] In Britain this horrific event is always mentioned as the start of the Viking era. The massacre was a gruesome attack on the very place where the Christian religion first had rooted on English soil; the site where Saint Cuthbert had been bishop. The Danes crushed the abbey, stole its treasures and murdered most monks. They chopped off their arms and legs, and left them in the field or on the beach to die in agony. A few were spared and forced to work as slaves.[8] In the following decades many more Vikings raided England, Scotland, Ireland, and also Germany, the Low Countries and France, stealing valuable goods and slaves; the young Bathilde of Chelles being one of their victims.
When Vikings settled in a specific area, they tended to adopt local norms, rules and habits. Viking men mixed with local women leading to ethnically mixed marriages and offspring. Most Christians rejected the Gods of the Vikings. They told pagan slaves, servants, and masters about their own faith and succeeded to convince them that the Christian faith had more to offer. Likewise, missionaries made propaganda for Christendom in Viking homelands. In 829, King Björn of Birka, Sweden, sent two representatives to Roman Emperor Louis the Pious to tell him that Swedish men and women were eager to become Christians. Two years later, Louis the Pious ordered bishop Ansgar (Oscar) to take care of this mission. Ansgar, who would become known as the Apostle of the North, already had participated in an earlier campaign to convert Danes and Swedes. After some initial successes these missionaries faced growing resistance. No wonder, they were denouncing all Viking Gods and setting fire to their temples. In retaliation newly erected Christian churches got burnt too; a sign for Ansgar to go home.
In 845, a Danish armada, probably headed by Ragnar Lodbrok, sailed up the Seine and raided Paris. King Charles the Bald fled to the countryside. On their way back to Denmark, the Vikings plundered Hamburg and destroyed St Mary’s Cathedral. For safety reasons, Bishop Ansgar moved the Episcopal see to Bremen. In 848, he made another tour to Sweden.[9] There he attempted to stop the Viking slave trade, though freeing enslaved Christians was his first priority.[10] He also used his influence to improve the labour and living conditions of slaves, but failed to put a definitive end to slavery in Scandinavia.[11] In view of the historical context, it seems right to count Bishop Ansgar or Oscar as one of the first European abolitionists. In 1335, King Magnus Eriksson of Sweden forbade slavery (thralldom) for Christians in Västergötland and Värend, the last parts of Sweden where slavery had remained legal.[12] The phenomenon of slavery returned when Sweden also took part in the Atlantic slave trade and colonized a few islands in the Caribbean. It made the trade illegal as part of the Treaty of Stockholm with Britain in 1813, but allowed slavery until October 9, 1847.[13]
According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles a large coalition of Norse and Danish warriors, invaded England in 865[14]. This “Great Heathen Army” did not come for a small sized hit and run affair. This time, they planned to conquer and stay. They moved deeper inland and submitted three kingdoms: East Anglia, Northumbria and Mercia. Of course battles were fought, lost and won, though often the Danes were more successful than the English. In April 871, this Great Heathen Army got help from Guthrum, one of the leaders of the Great Summer Army. He was a nephew of King Horik II of Denmark and still frustrated for not being throned as Danish King. First, Guthrum’s army got engaged in several battles with the West Saxons. In 872 he quelled a revolt against the puppet-regent of Northumbria. In 874 the Danes conquered Mercia and replaced its sovereign by Ceolwulf II, a Danish puppet-regent.
In the night of January 6, 878, a special day for Christians, Guthrum made a surprise attack on King Alfred (Ælfrēd) and his court at Chippenham. The king of Wessex fled with a few of his men and took shelter in the marshlands of Somerset. In the following months he built a small fortress in Athelney and managed to muster a small army. Around Easter he began a guerrilla war against Guthrum. A few months later Alfred the Great defeated the Danes in the battle of Edington. Guthrum retreated with the remnants of his army; Alfred pursued and besieged him for fourteen days. A truce was negotiated. Guthrum agreed to be baptised as a Christian and to leave Wessex. And so he did. He adopted his baptismal name Æthelstan. The Danes kept control over northern and eastern England. Guthrum returned to East Anglia. There he ruled as king Æthelstan until he died in 890.[15]
Slavery existed in England before the Vikings arrived. In the fourth century the Angles, Saxons and Jutes crossed the North Sea to British Isles, but were driven back by the Romans. They returned around 450, after the Roman armies had left. The Angles, Saxon and Jutes originated from regions now known as Northwest Germany and Denmark. They conquered the Britons, killing many and enslaving the rest. Demographically the Anglo-Saxons got the upper hand and for a long time Briton simply was another word for slave. Legally, free Anglo Saxons were entitled to many holidays a year, such as the twelve days of Christmas and the week before and after Eastern, plus many more days to venerate Holy Saints or for thanking the Lord for the growth and harvesting of grain, vegetables and fruit. Yet, slaves had to work on these days.
King Alfred reigned from 871 till until his death in October 899. During his reign slavery was widespread. He issued many laws, including laws that stipulated how masters should treat their slaves. King Alfred granted enslaved people the right to take time off on four Wednesdays, the first Wednesday of each quarter. On these four Wednesdays they had the right to sell anything what anyone had been given to them in God’s name or anything from what they had earned in their spare time.[16] This legal step seems to prove that King Alfred took an interest in encouraging slaves to better their social position, though slaves were not supposed to own property. They were “property.” Their value was a pound, the equivalent of eight oxen. If a free man killed someone’s slave he had to compensate the aggrieved owner financially. Alfred’s law ordered that if a free man had raped the slave of a commoner; he must pay five shillings to the commoner. Note that the commoner is compensated, but not the slave. The penalty for a slave raping another slave was castration.[17]
King Alfred the Great was a great lawmaker, penalizing enslaved persons differently than free ones. This was not consistent with the basic principles of his Doom Book. In this book of laws he codified three prior Saxon codes, to which he prefixed the Ten Commandments of Moses. King Alfred ordered his judges to
“Doom very evenly! Do not doom one doom to the rich; another to the poor! Nor doom one doom to your friend; another to your foe!”
This reflects the legal spirit of Moses: you shall do no injustice in judgment. You shall not be partial to the poor; nor defer to the great! But you are to judge your neighbour fairly!”[18]
We skip four or five generations. In 975, King Edward the Martyr, was murdered in 978. According to some historians ÆIftryth, his stepmother, had a heavy hand in his demise to put her son or Æthelred on the throne. This event created a lot of distrust and disloyalty that undermined Æthelred’s authority. Hence, there was no unified defence when the Viking invasions resumed in 980.[19] When Æthelred II succeeded Edward the Martyr he was just a boy, only 12 years of age. Being so young, he needed good advice of wise noblemen. This he did not get. He became known as Æthelred the Unready.[20] According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle in 978:
“… all the oldest counsellors of England fell at Calne from an upper floor; but the holy Archbishop Dustan stood alone upon a beam. Some were dreadfully bruised: and some did not escape with life.”
Æthelred had to start with a new set of advisors. In the past many historians have judged him unfairly, for it is quite an achievement to stay in power for 38 years. Though, admittedly, he failed to tackle his main problem: pushing back new waves of invading Danes and incursions from Danes that already had settled in the east and the north of England. But was he to blame? He did what he could. He led armies into battle, constructed fleets to protect his shores, defended cities and strongholds where ever he could, and even managed to re-conquer his own kingdom after being overthrown by an enemy with a bigger army.[21] Following defeat at the battle of Maldon of 11 August 991, he was demanded to pay tribute to the Danish King, Harald Bluetooth.[22] Æthelred followed the advice to buy off the Vikings and paid the huge sum of 10,000 Roman pounds (3,300 kg) of silver.
Æthelred’s first wife, died in 1002. In another attempt to pacify the invaders from Normandy, he married Emma, daughter of Richard the Fearless, the Viking Count of Rouen. Alas, this did not bring peace. That same year, on November 13, Æthelred ordered to kill or oust all Danish men for raiding England. This led to a bloody massacre at Oxford. Gunholde, sister of Sweyn Forkbeard, King of Denmark, was one of the victims. A group of Danes had fled into St. Frideswide Church. When they were discovered they set fire to the Church. Subsequently they were caught and murdered on the spot. King Æthelred justified this massacre, as a logical outcome of his decree to exterminate “all the Danes who had sprung up in this land, sprouting like cockle amongst the wheat.”[23]
King Sweyn, who had pushed his father, Harald Bluetooth[24], from the Danish and Norwegian throne, organized a counter campaign. He returned in 1004, sacked Norwich and campaigned in East Anglia and Wessex. Danes suffered heavy losses, but not enough to defeat them. Forkbeard returned to Denmark to recover from these losses and to flee from the famine that was hurting the British. Subsequent raids headed by Forkbeard took place in 1006–1007, and in 1009–1012. No longer was his motive pure revenge. These raids also were inspired by the prospect of revenue from selling the spoils of war to their allies in Normandy. In 1013, Forkbeard led a full scale invasion of England. The Peterborough Chronicle states that his forces quickly conquered East Anglia, Lincolnshire, Northumbria. He was given hostages from each shire, and, when asked, provided with food and horses. He split up his forces, one part led by his son Cnut, and went further south to conquer the rest of England.[25] Only the people in and around London, led by King Æthelred and Viking defector Torkell the Tall, put up some strong resistance, though not for long. Facing defeat, Æthelred and his wife and their young children fled to Normandy. On Christmas day 1013 Sweyn Forkbeard became the first Danish king of England. He died six weeks later. His embalmed body was shipped to Denmark, and buried in a church in Roskilde. Cnut was proclaimed King of England by the people of Danelaw, the part of England ruled by the Danish. However, a section of the English nobility sent a deputation to Æthelred to negotiate his return to the throne. Æthelred was required to declare his loyalty to these noblemen, and to bring in reforms regarding everything they disliked about some laws he had issued and ruthlessly enforced in the past. Thus, King Æthelred was cornered into a position to sign the first recorded pact between a King and his subjects.[26] Æthelred accepted. This meant that he and his son Edmund now had to fight Cnut’s armies. In the spring of 1014 they managed to drive Cnut out of England.
Wulfstan, archbishop of York, was renowned for the sermons he wrote, effectively using intensifying words, alliterations and repeated phrases. These devices gave his homilies an almost feverish quality, working towards multiple climaxes, often stoking up the fear of an eternal life in hell. His most famous work is the Sermon of the Wolf to the English[27]. In it, he argues that God had become very angry about the huge immorality of the English and that he has been punishing them with thirty years of Viking raids. It is a fiery call to repentance and reform after Æthelred had been driven out by King Sweyn in 1013. Earlier, Wulfstan had condemned Anglo Saxons for selling Christian countrymen to foreign pagans. He did not demand the abolition of all slavery, but urged that slaves should be allowed to use Sundays as a resting day and to pursue their own activities. This is positive. On the other hand he also commended that enslaved men and women who did not observe fasts should be beaten.[28] Wulfstan was witan (wise man and adviser) of king Æthelred. He drafted most of his legal codes. In 1008, Æthelred banned the sale and export of Christian slaves.[29] This made him the second partial abolitionist of Europe. Christian slaves could still be sold to fellow country men.
After Cnut conquered England, Wulfstan became his witan too. This explains why there is not a great difference between the laws issued by these two kings, though one was an Anglo Saxon and the other a Dane.
King Cnut died in 1035. Then his son Harthacnut became King of England. He would be the last Danish King of England. During his short reign he spent most of his days in Denmark, heavily engaged with ousting invaders led by a rival king from Norway and with regaining control over southern parts of Sweden. (One should never think of The Vikings as a united people.) His illegitimate son Harald Harefoot seized the English throne, while his half-brothers Edward and Alfred were in Normandy and his brothers Harthacnut and Sveyn were in Denmark to secure the Danish throne against a Norwegian and a Swedish king. Queen Emma encouraged Edmond and Alfred to organize a fleet to sail to England to fight for their claim on the throne of England. They landed in Southampton, but the people did not want a son of King Æthelred, whom they despised for installing an elitist aristocracy.[30] The less courageous Edward returned to Normandy. Alfred stayed to seize the throne for himself.[31] According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle Alfred was met by Earl Godwin of Wessex in Guildford, 30 miles south-west of London. Godwin, who had made a fast lane career under King Cnut, was a supporter of Queen Emma and Alfred’s half-brother Harthacnut. He invited Alfred to stay on his estate and promised to conduct him safely to London. Alfred took the support for his half-brother as a sign of support for him too. Fine words, easily promised, but his acts were evil deeds of betrayal. When Alfred was comfortably asleep Godwin ordered his men to kill all Alfred’s men. Some captives were enslaved and sold for money.[32] Less than ten per cent managed to run away. Alfred was first tied to a horse and then shipped to the monastery of Ely. His eyeballs were cut out with a knife. Despite their good care of some monks he died soon thereafter.[33] This case offers another proof that cruelty, treason and revenge were methods favoured by almost anyone who vied for power: Viking or no Viking. Harold Harefoot died in 1040 and was succeeded by Harthacnut. Also his reign was very short. He died aged 25, probably from gulping far too much booze at a wedding party.
For most English historians, the Viking Era ended in 1042, with the death of Harthacnut.[34] He was the last King that ruled over both Denmark and England. The presence of Vikings elsewhere in Europe lasted a bit longer.[35] In 1052, Harald, the son of Godwin of Wessex and Ghytta Thorkellsdóttir, raided the coast of Somerset and “seized whatever he pleased in cattle, captives and property.” In 1065, when the people of Northern England invaded the shires further south: “They took many captives and carried them off north with them.” According to Marc Morris, the very matter-of-factness with which such examples are reported suggests that, there and then, slavery and slave-raiding were seen as normal business.[36]
King Edward the Confessor died on 5 January 1066. He was succeeded by Godwin’s son Harald. 28 September 1066, the fleet of the notorious William the Conqueror landed on the coast of East Sussex with the intention to conquer England. As soon as King Harald learned from the invasion, he speedily marched with his army 400 kilometres to stop him. The 14th of October the two armies clashed at the battle of Hastings. King Harald was killed and his army was defeated in less than a day. William the Conqueror seized power and became the new King of England. Reluctantly, a group of Anglo-Saxon noblemen accepted the new situation. Others refused to cooperate, regrouped, and built an army headed by Edgar Æðeling. They revolted in 1068, but William crushed them within a year. Next he replaced the Anglo-Saxon elite with his own people.[37] One of his first decrees forbade the enslavement of Christians. This decision was supported by Wulfstan II (1009-1095), bishop of Worcester[38], the only bishop William had not replaced. Other European Kings and bishops followed soon. At that day and age the large majority of Western Europeans were Christians. In practice, forbidding enslavement of Christians meant the end of slavery in Western Europe, though William still allowed the trading of non-Christian slaves.[39]
To stay in power, William the Conqueror proceeded with suppressing the Anglo Saxon nobility and landlords. This process was helped by killing some of them. Many were robbed from their rank, possessions and privileges, forced to become a bondsman or a slave, overlooking that he had decreed that no Christian should be enslaved. After two decades of William’s reign, still nine per cent of the populace was enslaved and 35 % were bondsmen. These data reveal a huge discrepancy between the decrees and actual practices of rulers. Does this simply reflect that even the powers of great kings fell short of getting their decrees accepted and implemented in their entire territory?
William the Conqueror realized many more positive things, such as the reconstruction of England into a rather peaceful feudalistic state.[40] He promoted national trade and the building of many castles and bridges that still dominate the silhouette of the English landscape.
When King Stankil ascended the throne of Sweden in 1060, Christianity already had rooted in the south of his country, but not in the north. Uppsala and its temple still was a centre of paganism. A century later, in 1164, Uppsala became the see for the Swedish Archbishop. To emphasize their victory over idolatry, the Christians built a cathedral on the very site of the pagan temple of Uppsala. This victory ended the so-called Viking Age in Scandinavia. From then on slaves were seen as real humans, worthy of conversion and eligible to freedom. Random raiding foreign people did not align with core Christian doctrines. This also put an end to the Viking slave trade.[41]
Vikings also have put their stamp on Eastern Europe. Around 750, maybe earlier, Swedish traders, also called Varangians, crossed the Baltic Sea and travelled to Ladoga, now North-West Russia. Some of them stayed longer and settled there. The town Staraya Ladoga developed into a multinational centre of craft production and international trade. Today, tourists can pay a visit to Viking burial mounds near the river Volkhov.[42] From the 8th till the 10th century Vikings sailed and rowed all the way to Kiev to do their trading. In Sweden and Gotland, archaeologists have dug up many precious stones, jewellery and coins from Byzantium, Turkey and the Middle East.[43] The blonde and red haired merchants reached Serkland, the land of the Saracenes or Moors, trading furs, honey, and slaves, as well as luxury goods such as swords, amber and ivory.
First, Vikings settled in the Baltic area and the western part of present day Russia. Their leaders turned out to be able rulers. Nonetheless, some oppressed nations began to revolt and to drive the Vikings back beyond the sea. As soon as they tried to govern themselves they began to fight each other again. To restore peace and order, they went looking for experienced and effective Viking leaders operating in neighbouring territories. They selected three Varangian brothers. Rurik, the oldest brother, accepted the offer. Around 862 he located himself and all his kinsmen in or near Novgorod. Since many Vikings had red hair, they were called Rus and the region around Novgorod became known as the Land of the Rus. Many Russians descend from mixed marriages between these Vikings and their “Russian” ancestors.[44]
Sviatoslav (942 – 972), grandson of Rurik and son of Kiev’s Prince Igor, was the first ruler of Novgorod with a purely Slavic name.[45] His wife Olga (Helga) had been converted at the court of the Byzantine Emperor. Thus she became the first Christian Princess of the Rus. Sviatoslav wanted to hold on to the respect of his warriors. Hence, he continued to worship Old Norse gods plus some Slavic gods like Perun, the god of thunder, war, fertility and oak trees.[46] Because of this he was called the last Viking. Sviatoslav preferred to be outdoors hunting, sleeping in the open air, eating roasted meat and drinking beer with friends. As described in The Russian Primary Chronicle[47], he, like all Varangians, also loved to have a bath in a wooden bathhouse or sauna. Inside, it was made steaming hot. To the amazement of the locals these Varangians took young branches with which they lashed their naked bodies and then drenched themselves with cold water.
Sviatoslav led many successful campaigns against neighbouring nations. Thus he expanded his territory far into the Volga River valley, the Pontic steppe and the Balkans. By the end of his short life, Sviatoslav had built the largest state in Europe: an empire that stretched from the Volga to the Danube. In the summer of 969, bored stiff of his office life, he went on a campaign again, egoistically risking the lives of many people just to have fun in the open air. Before he left, he divided his dominion into three parts, each under nominal rule of one of his sons. Oleg and Yaropolk were the sons of his wife. Vladimir was his son by Malusha van Lyubech, one of his concubines. On 26 March 972, Sviatoslav got killed during the defense of Dorestol. After this event Oleg killed his rival and brother Yaropolk, igniting a full scale civil war by. To save his life, Vladimir (a Russian variant of Waldemar) fled to his uncle in Denmark where he enjoyed the Viking way of life for several years. Next, he prepared a return to Kiev to defeat Oleg. Oleg got killed in 980 and Vladimir seized power.[48] Great Prince Vladimir (958 – 1015) quelled several rebellions, conquered Poles, Bulgarians, and other nations, destroying towns, churches, strongholds and farms. He built a temple dedicated to Viking God Perun on a Kiev hilltop and quelled furious protests from Christians.
Not much later, rather surprisingly, Viking pagan Vladimir became a Christian. The Russian Primary Chronicle states that had been pondering for a long time before he decided to become a Byzantium or a Roman Christian, a Jew or a Moslem. Such a conversion boils down to a complete departure from his former easy going lifestyle. He and all his subjects had to cast out all their Viking idols from their soul. Idolatry, with its centre in Kiev, had made the Balkan people the most savage people of Europe. They were viewed as an uncivilized herd of thieves, plunderers, gluttons, drunkards, destroyers. They brought fear to all civilized peoples, especially to the highly cultured people of Byzantium. What sort of a force could tame that brutal mob, what sort of force could give them a holy soul instead of a bestial one? For Bishop Nikolaj Velimirovic there could be only one answer: Only the force of the faith in Christ could produce such a supernatural miracle. Only God could turn a wolf into a lamb. Indeed Vladimir, the glutton and the drunk, started fasting. The spiller of blood began to visit hospitals and prisons, providing alms and comfort. The former night owl and a party animal, now often spent nights in tearful prayers. The former executioner turned into a repentant and merciful Samaritan. In short, he transformed from a sinner into a saint.[49]
Less religious historians have presented a more profane story of Vladimir’s motives to convert. Thinking that running his vast territory would be much easier if there would be only one religion, Prince Vladimir asked representatives of Islam and the both branches of Christendom to convince him which religion was best.[50] Legend has it that he dropped the option of Islam for the Qur’an recommends not to drink alcoholic beverages or to eat pork.[51] For Vikings a life without alcohol and pork meat was unthinkable. When he learned of the welfare and splendour of Constantinople, his choice fell on the Greek-Orthodox. Clearly God was favouring that branch of religion. Muslims and Catholics have a different take on Vladimir’s choice. They point to the fact that Prince Vladimir wanted to marry the beautiful sister of Emperor Basil II, though Vladimir already had seven wives and a harem with numerous concubines.[52] The Emperor would only give his blessings if Vladimir would convert and support him in his fights against his enemies. So, in 998, Vladimir was baptized and married Princess Anne. She did not want to marry him but had no say in this matter. All people present at the wedding ceremony witnessed her expressions of deep distress. Later, as was agreed, Vladimir sent 6,000 troops to support Basil II.[53] Whatever we might think of his motives to become a Christian, he did erect big and richly adorned churches. He also founded the monastery of Mount Athos.
Prince Vladimir organized large scale baptisms. According to the Primary Chronicle, he sent a message to all residents of Kiev to come to the Dnepr to be baptized on the riverside. Those who refused risked becoming his enemy. The message was addressed to the rich and poor, including all beggars and slaves. Many people showed up and got baptized by Orthodox priests.[54] Of course, this does not mean that everybody turned into a true believer overnight. In large stretches of his territory, “converted” people held on to their traditional gods and rituals, creating a fusion of pagan and Christian beliefs.
His zealous actions earned Great Prince Vladimir the most prominent place in the history of the Russian Orthodox Church, including Sainthood. In his youth Vladimir had never refrained from earthly pleasures. His immorality, blood-thirstiness and violent vengeance knew no limits. To save his soul and to earn veneration, he had to get rid of his wicked lifestyle and to become a decent and pious man. According to Bishop Nikolaj Velimirovic killing your cherished lifestyle can be much harder than taking your own life. Physically killing yourself is a difficult decision. Mentally it might be even more painful. Abandoning a deeply ingrained lifestyle means taking hard choices, day after day; often more than once a day. In similar vain it will be very hard for societies to get rid of slavery if they have become dependent on a deeply ingrained system of slavery during a process of many, many centuries. This very interesting but painful process will be expanded upon in five chapters dedicated to abolition movements in England, France, The Netherlands, Spain and the USA.
[1] Chapter 8 – Book Project: From Ancient Slavery to Abolition (Words 5301 12-4-2026)
[2] Else Roesdahl, Kirsten Williams: The Vikings (2016). Penguin Books London p. 188
[3] Idem p. 189
[4] Peter Jennings: Dark Ages of Slavery. ealdfaeder.org/v03/slavery.html. Retrieved: 4 Feb 2022
[5] Else Roesdahl: The Vikings. o. c. pp 53-54
[6] Recorded in the Annals of Xanten, a monastery on the Rhine, Quoted by Else Roesdahl, o. c. p. 53.
[7] This was not the first time that Scandinavians made a brutal visit to this country. Four years earlier three Viking ships had landed on the Wessex coast. They killed one the king’s officials.
[8] Angelo Forte, Richard Oram, Frederik Pederson: Viking Empires. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 2005, p 8-9; See also the BBC documentary: Civilization. The Viking Raid on Lindisfarne: english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/lindisfarne-priory/History/viking-raid. Retrieved: 26-1-2022
[9] Ansgar: Wikipedia.org. Retrieved: 5 February 2022
[10] Rodney Stark: Truth about the Catholic Church and Slavery. 7/01/2003.Wikipedia: Retrieved on 24-11-2011.
[11] www.voskrese.info/spl/Xoscar-brem.html
[12] Magnus Eriksson: Wikipedia.org. Retrieved 5-4-2026. This ban still leaves room for selling and buying of non-Christian slaves after 1335.
[13] Swedish Slave Trade: en.wikipedia.org
[14] The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle is a collection of annals in Old English. Project Gutenberg
[15] Great Heathen Army: Wikipedia.org. Retrieved: 29 January 2022
Guthrum: wikipedia.org/wiki/Guthrum. Retrieved: 5 February 2022
[16] Ælfred’s Laws from Alfred the Great, translated by Simon Keynes and Michael Lapidge, quoted by Octavia Randolph: Slavery in Anglo-Saxon England. September 25, 2014. octavia.net/?s=slavery
[17] Idem
[18] Leviticus 19:15
[19] Ethelred the Unready: www.britannica.com. Retrieved: 11-2-2022
[20] Ironically Æthelred means noble counsel.
[21] Brandon M. Bender: England’s Unlikely Commander. The Military Career of Æthelred the Unready. Rounded Globe, 2019
[22] Bluetooth had one dark coloured dead tooth.
[23] Cockle is a weed, hated by farmers. See: Wates, Michele. “Massacre at St Frideswide’s” Oxford Today (Michaelmas 2002) Quoted in: St. Brice Day’s Massacre: Wikipedia.
[24] Harald Bluetooth had connected different Danish regions some 1100 years ago. In December 1996, Jim Kardach from Intel suggested the name Bluetooth as a codename for the project to create a new wireless “connecting” device.
[25] The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle: Everyman Press: London, 1912. Medieval and Classical Library: Release #17. Quoted in: Sweyn Forkbeard: Wikipedia.org. Retrieved: 30 January 2022
[26] Stenton, Frank Merry (2001) Anglo-Saxon England: Oxford University Press. pp 384-389. Quoted by Wikipedia: Æthelred: Wikipedia: Retrieved: 4 February 2022
[27] Sermo Lupi ad Anglos
[28] David A. E. Pelteret. Slavery in Early Mediaeval England; From the Reign of Alfred until the Twelfth Century. The Boydell Press, Woodbridge, 1995. (books.google.nl)
[29] Williams: Æthelred the Unready pp. 14, 82, 94
[30] Alfred Atheling – a most Gruesome murder: thehistorybook.co.uk/2019/04/23/alfred-aetheling-a-most-gruesome-murder/
[31] Alfred Atheling: englishmonarchs.co.: : Retrieved: 26 March 2021
[32] Marc Morris: Normans and Slavery: Breaking the Bonds. History Today Volume 63 Issue 3 March 2013. (Morris refers to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle)
[33] Godwin, Earl of Wessex: en.wikipedia.org. Retrieved: 26 March 2021
[34] Meaning: tough knot
[35] Else Roesdahl: The Vikings. o. c.
[36] Marc Morris: Normans and Slavery. o. c.
[37] Idem: pp 210-213
[38] Wulfstan II was the second bishop Wulfstan of Worchester. His uncle Wulfstan II was called Wulfstan II because he was the second Archbishop of York.
[39] The slave trade became illegal in 1102.
[40] William the Conqueror: Wikipedia: Retrieved: 27 November 2011
[41] World Heritage Encyclopaedia: History of Sweden: Project Gutenberg. http://self.gutenberg.org/articles/History_of_Sweden_(800–1521)
[42] Caroline Stone: Contact between the Vikings and Eastern Europe. 20 July 2018: brewminate.com Retrieved: 24-1-2022
[43] Varangians: Wikipedia.org; The Rurik Dynasty: Wikipedia.org. Retrieved: 29-1-2022
[44] Se non è vero, è ben trovato. Some linguists think that Rus’ derived from rowing.
[45] Ingvar changed into Igor. Else Roesdahl: The Vikings. o. c. pp 287-288
[46] Sviatoslav I of Kiev: New World Encyclopaedia. www.newworldencyclopedia.org: Retrieved 22-2-2018
[47] The Russia Primary Chronicle: Translated by Samuel Hazzard Cross & Olgerd P. Sherbowitz-Wetzor. The Mediaeval Academy of America: Cambridge. Massachusetts. p. 54
[48] Prince Vladimir the Great: Wikipedia.org; Retrieved: 20 February 2018
[49] Nikolaj Velimirovic: Saint Vladimir, Prince of Russia, Equal to the Apostles. Belgrade: July 15/28, 1932
[50] www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/PlainTextHistories.asp?ParagraphID=eic#ixzz2AaXRkgGL Retrieved: 27 October 2012
[51] Suhra 2:219 “Say: In both (wine and gambling) is great sin and (some) utility for men; but the sin of them is greater than their usefulness. Suhra 4:43 “… Do not go near prayer, while you are stupefied (under influence) …” Suhra 5:90 says that intoxicants and gambling are the work of the devil; you shall stay away from him. These three Suhras do not strictly forbid alcohol, but they hold a strong advice against it. Some interpreters think that drinking wine is allowed, but drunkenness is not, for that might lead to sinful behaviour.
[52] Some sources mention an astonishing number of around 800 concubines or sex-slaves.
[53] Thomas Rhia: Readings in Russian Civilization. Volume I Russia before Peter the Great 900 – 1700. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2009. Anna Porphyrogenita: en.wikipedia.org
[54] Ceacilia Jane: Vladimir the Great: pagan, philanderer, saint. www.danceshistoricalmiscellany.com