Viking Age timeline (793–1066)
The Viking Age usually means the period from the raid on the monastery of Lindisfarne in 793 to the Norman Conquest of 1066. In 800 Charlemagne was crowned emperor of the West, but his empire was split in three by the Treaty of Verdun in 843, and Scandinavian Vikings raided the weakened coasts, founding the Danelaw in England, Normandy in France and Kievan Rus' in eastern Europe.
In the 10th century Otto I stopped the Magyars and became emperor in 962, founding the Holy Roman Empire, and Poland, Hungary, Rus' and Denmark accepted Christianity in turn. In 1054 the Eastern and Western churches split, and in 1066 William, Duke of Normandy, conquered England and the era came to an end.
9th century (793–895)
The century of the Carolingian Empire's height and division, and of Viking raids at their peak.
| Year | Event | Region |
|---|---|---|
| 793 | Raid on Lindisfarne The monastery on the Northumbrian coast was plundered. It is usually counted the start of the Viking Age. | England |
| 800 | Charlemagne crowned emperor At Christmas Mass Pope Leo III crowned the Frankish king Charles emperor. | Rome |
| 814 | Death of Charlemagne His son Louis the Pious inherited the empire. | Aachen |
| 831 | Aghlabids take Palermo The North African Muslim army that had landed in 827 gradually conquered Sicily. | Sicily |
| c. 833 | Great Moravia founded Mojmír I united the Slavic tribes of the Morava valley. | Central Europe |
| 843 | Treaty of Verdun The three sons of Louis divided the empire into West, Middle and East Francia. | Francia |
| c. 843 | Kingdom of Alba begins Kenneth MacAlpin became king of the Scots and Picts. | Scotland |
| Play this scene What if…? What if Charlemagne's empire had not been divided at Verdun? | ||
| 845 | Viking siege of Paris A fleet led by Ragnar sailed up the Seine, and Charles the Bald paid 7,000 pounds of silver to send it away. | Francia |
| Play this scene Scenario Ragnar's Ship · What if…? What if the Vikings had taken Paris in 845? · Person Ragnar Lothbrok | ||
| 855 | Treaty of Prüm On the death of Lothair I, Middle Francia was divided again among his three sons. | Francia |
| 860 | Rus' attack on Constantinople A Rus' fleet appeared in the Bosporus and plundered the suburbs. | Byzantium |
| c. 862 | Rurik settles in Novgorod The invitation of the Varangian Rurik told by the Primary Chronicle, origin of the Rurikid dynasty. | Rus' |
| c. 864 | Baptism of Khan Boris of Bulgaria Later the disciples of Cyril and Methodius spread the Slavonic liturgy. | Bulgaria |
| 865 | Great Danish army lands in England The “Great Heathen Army” landed in East Anglia and took York the next year. | England |
| c. 872 | Battle of Hafrsfjord Harald Fairhair is said to have defeated the kings of the west coast and united Norway (dated variously from the 870s to the 890s). | Norway |
| 878 | Battle of Edington Alfred the Great defeated Guthrum's Danes. Guthrum was baptised, and England was divided between Wessex and the Danelaw. | England |
| Play this scene Scenario The marshes of Athelney · What if…? What if Alfred the Great had lost at Edington? · Person Alfred the Great | ||
| 882 | Oleg takes Kyiv Oleg of Novgorod took Kyiv and made it the centre of Kievan Rus'. | Rus' |
| c. 895 | Magyars settle in the Carpathian Basin The Magyar tribes led by Árpád entered the land of modern Hungary. | Hungary |
10th century (907–988)
The century in which Normandy, the kingdom of England and the Holy Roman Empire arose, and northern and eastern Europe entered Christendom one after another.
| Year | Event | Region |
|---|---|---|
| 907 | Battle of Pressburg The Magyars destroyed a Bavarian army. Great Moravia had already fallen. | Central Europe |
| Play this scene What if…? What if Charlemagne's empire had not been divided at Verdun? · Scenario Ragnar's Ship · What if…? What if the Vikings had taken Paris in 845? · Person Ragnar Lothbrok · Scenario The marshes of Athelney · What if…? What if Alfred the Great had lost at Edington? · Person Alfred the Great | ||
| 911 | Treaty of Saint-Clair-sur-Epte Charles the Simple granted the Viking Rollo the mouth of the Seine: the start of the Duchy of Normandy. | France |
| 914 | Kingdom of León The kings of Asturias moved their seat down from the mountains to León. | Iberia |
| 922 | Ibn Fadlan reaches the Volga Bulgars An envoy of the caliph of Baghdad arrived and the Volga Bulgars accepted Islam. He also recorded the funeral of a Rus' merchant. | Volga |
| 927 | Æthelstan unites England Taking York, a king of Wessex became king of all England for the first time. | England |
| 929 | Caliphate of Córdoba Abd al-Rahman III proclaimed himself caliph. | Iberia |
| 936 | Otto I crowned at Aachen Otto of the Saxon dynasty became king of East Francia. | Germany |
| 955 | Battle of Lechfeld Otto I defeated a great Magyar army, ending half a century of raids. | Germany |
| Play this scene What if…? What if the Magyars had won at the Lechfeld? | ||
| 962 | Otto I crowned emperor Pope John XII crowned him: the start of the realm later called the Holy Roman Empire. | Rome |
| c. 965 | Jelling runestone; fall of the Khazars Harald Bluetooth raised a stone recording that he made Denmark Christian, and Sviatoslav of Kyiv destroyed the Khazar khaganate. | Denmark · southern Russia |
| 966 | Baptism of Mieszko I Poland entered Latin Christendom. | Poland |
| 987 | Hugh Capet elected king of France The Carolingian dynasty ended and the Capetian dynasty began. | France |
| c. 988 | Baptism of Grand Prince Vladimir He married Anna, sister of the Byzantine emperor, and had the people of Kyiv baptised. | Rus' |
11th century (1000–1066)
The height of the North Sea empire and of Byzantium, the split between the Eastern and Western churches, and the story of the three kings of 1066.
| Year | Event | Region |
|---|---|---|
| 1000 | Stephen crowned king of Hungary He received a crown sent by the pope and became the first king of Hungary (some sources say 1001). The same year Otto III visited Gniezno. | Hungary |
| Play this scene What if…? What if Charlemagne's empire had not been divided at Verdun? · Scenario Ragnar's Ship · What if…? What if the Vikings had taken Paris in 845? · Person Ragnar Lothbrok · Scenario The marshes of Athelney · What if…? What if Alfred the Great had lost at Edington? · Person Alfred the Great · What if…? What if the Magyars had won at the Lechfeld? | ||
| 1014 | Battle of Kleidion The Byzantine emperor Basil II defeated the Bulgarian army and is said to have blinded thousands of prisoners. | Bulgaria |
| 1016 | Cnut becomes king of England He built a North Sea empire uniting Denmark and England, and later Norway too. | England |
| 1018 | Byzantium conquers Bulgaria Basil II annexed Bulgaria completely and was called “the Bulgar-slayer”. | Bulgaria |
| 1031 | End of the Caliphate of Córdoba Al-Andalus broke up into dozens of taifa kingdoms. | Iberia |
| 1032 | Kingdom of Burgundy passes to the Holy Roman Empire The last king, Rudolph III, died without heirs and Conrad II inherited it. | Burgundy · Provence |
| 1042 | Accession of Edward the Confessor After Cnut's sons died, the house of Wessex returned. | England |
| 1054 | East–West Schism The papal legates and the patriarch excommunicated each other, and the Catholic and Orthodox churches parted. | Constantinople |
| 1066 | Battles of Stamford Bridge and Hastings In September Harold II defeated the Norwegian king Harald Hardrada, but on 14 October he was defeated and killed at Hastings by William, Duke of Normandy. William was crowned at Christmas. | England |
| Play this scene Scenario A Crown Across the Sea · What if…? What if Harold had won the Battle of Hastings? · Person William the Conqueror | ||
This era in the game
The “Age of Vikings and Coronations” in Crown & Plough begins in 800, the year Charlemagne becomes emperor. Born as a fjord fisherman, a merchant of Hedeby, a farmer on the Seine or a thegn of Wessex, you live through the raids, treaties and baptisms of this timeline.
The Treaty of Verdun, Paris in 845, Edington, Lechfeld and Hastings are turning points whose outcomes can differ from reality, and their results carry over onto the map of the next era, the Middle Ages.
Be born in the Age of Vikings and Coronations → Age of Vikings and Coronations guide
Frequently asked questions
When did the Viking Age begin and end?
The Viking Age usually means the period from the raid on the monastery of Lindisfarne in England in 793 to the Battle of Stamford Bridge and the Norman Conquest in 1066.
What did the Treaty of Verdun divide?
It was the treaty of 843 by which Charlemagne's three grandsons divided the empire into West Francia (later France), Middle Francia (Italy and Lotharingia) and East Francia (later Germany).
What happened in England in 1066?
In January Edward the Confessor died and Harold II became king. In September he defeated the Norwegian king Harald Hardrada at Stamford Bridge, but on 14 October he was defeated and killed at Hastings by William, Duke of Normandy, who was crowned king of England at Christmas.