"The Siege of Paris of 885-886" Topic

"For those who have been watching the "Vikings" television series, Season 3 has been dominated by the Siege of Paris. But what really happened at the siege? Fortunately, we have the poems of the monk Abbo of Saint-Germain-des Prés to give us a record of the events. But it must be kept in mind the monk was writing to glorify the French. We also don't know if the combatants really used mangonels and trebuchets this early in the Middle Ages. But it makes for a good story!

During the ninth century, while Charlemagne was in control of Western Europe, the Norse or Vikings as they came to be called, made little headway. They attacked and plundered the British Isles and settled in Iceland and even Greenland. But when Charlemagne died, local custom dictated that his three grandsons divide his kingdom into three separate entities. This created internal civil strife, leaving the area vulnerable to Viking assault with no united front to fight them off.

In 845, the Norse sailed up the Seine and menaced Paris. During the 860's there were many attacks and Paris was burned. Because of unstable government there was no organized armed resistance and pillaging and looting on a grand scale resulted, along with bribes to get the Norse to leave. Charles the Bald died in 877 and there was a succession of short term kings until Charlemagne's three divided kingdoms became one under a single king again in Charles the Fat. Charles was not an accomplished military man and he appointed subordinates to oversee his distant provinces…"
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