The Vikings Conquered Sicily?

[On the Road]

This is not a joke. They're showing it on the History Channel right now. It was in the 11th century.

I have to confess, I had no idea.

[NoPasaran]

1. Yup. They were badass!

[johnaries]

26. They defeated everyone they fought until

they hit North American. Then the Iroquois Nation kicked their ass back to Greenland.

[kanrok]

2. But now they choke in the NFC North on an annual basis

[On the Road]

11. Randy Moss Does Seem to Fit the Viking Tradition

:smoke:

[Berserker]

29. Well not really

they kicked the packers ass out of the playoffs.

[kanrok]

30. good point

[DoYouEverWonder]

3. Everybody conquered Sicily

that's why we've got one of the best gene pools on the planet.

[Inland]

8. The History in Ten Seconds Series presents "Sicily".

An island off the toe of the Italian boot. Everybody conquered it at one time or another. Some twice. Lots of good genes. Next week:
The Hapsburgs.

[bleedingheart]

12. The Hapsburgs...Interbreeding their way across Europe

[LibertyLover]

4. Vikings = Normans

The Normans conquered Sicily in the 11th century. But since the Normans are, as my Viking re-enactment group, The Longship Company, likes to say, Vikings in drag. Along about the early 9th century one group of Vikings sailed over to France on a pre-emptive salvage operation, liked the area and settled down in what is now Normandy. Normans = North men = Vikings. Their leader, whose Viking name escapes me at the moment, accepted Christianity and the French king as his technical overlord, took the name Rollo, and the rest as they say, is history. Let me know if you'ld like more information and I'll suggest some books for you.

[On the Road]

9. You Really Have a Viking Reenactment Group?

I'm seeing some your guys now taking on the English at York. Another episode I had no idea of.

So at the same time Harold (sp) was getting killed at York in 1066, the English were successfully invaded from France? Did Harold's raid weaken or distract the English and lead to the Norman Conquest?

[libhill]

13. Harold was killed at Hastings,

Trying to fend off the Normans under William. Harold actually defeated the Viking invasion under Harold Hardrada at Stamford Bridge, then had to rush immediately southwards.

[aquart]

18. Now Harald Hardrada was a hoot and a holler.

That man had himself some fun times as a mercenary in the Varangian Guard in Constantinople. Did he really put out the Byzantine emperor's eyes? Tell an enemy to "kiss his thin-lipped axe"?

Was he really 7 feet tall?

[libhill]

20. Don't know

that musch about him, other than that he did spend some time in the service of Byzantium, and was killed at Stamford Bridge.

[libhill]

21. Don't know

that much about him, except that he did spend some time in Russia and Byzantium, and was killed at Stamford Bridge.

[The Magistrate]

25. Ruthless Harald, My Friend

Is a pretty well attested figure. It is hard to seperate fact out of the sagas, but it seems an instance of too much smoke for there not to have been a considerable fire....

[libhill]

37. In other words -

Harald was ba ba ba bad to the bone -

[The Magistrate]

41. That Was The General Consensus At The Time, Sir

"One bourbon, one scotch, one beer...."

[libhill]

43. If

Harald could mix bourbon, scotch, and beer, he had to be bad - and have an iron cast stomach -

[LibertyLover]

31. Viking reenactors

Yes, my husband and I are part of a group called The Longship Company, which is part of a larger reenactment group, Markland. We are in Maryland. Our group has a small 20 foot ship, a faering (from Norse for 4 because it had 4 oars). The faering was the family stationwagon and SUV of its day, used for fishing, going to church, across the fjord to market, that sort of thing. We also have being built for us a 38 foot longship replica. We are hoping that it will be delivered by mid-May.

As others have said, Harold Godwinson was killed at Hasting in October, 1066 attempting to stem the invasion of William the Bastard. He had come down by forced march from Stamford Bridge, which is close to York, although not in it, where he and his cousin, Harold Hardrada (spelling is a bit off), king of Norway had fought. Harold H was trying to take advantage of what he thought was a weak period in England. He found out differently however. After Stamford Bridge, Harold G marched all the way to the south coast of England to try and stop the Normans. Part of the problem was that many of his experienced troops (fyrd) left after Stamford Bridge to go home and get their harvests in. Harold G was left with a fair number of inexperienced soldiers with which to stop William.

As you probably know, the legend is that Harold G was killed by an arrow shot to his eye. However recent review of written sources that date from very shortly after the battle as well as a re-interpratation of the Bayeaux Tapesty seem to indicate that he was actually cut down by Norman soldiers. If you are interested, the History Channel's show Battlefield Detectives, recently did an excellent forensic review of the battle of Hastings.

Some of this may be a bit off as I am doing it sitting at my computer away from my library, although I am consulting my husband who is also very good at history. Hope this helps.

[Lisa]

40. would you happen to know Captain Atli?

He's pretty active on the Armour Archive, and I think he also has a small ship -- seem to recall that he is (or recently was) over on the eastern seaboard too.

I recently bought a replica of a 10th c. spangenhelm from a re-enactor in Saskatchewan (landlocked, so no boats). Not a re-enactor myself -- I just like making and studying armour!

[Spider Jerusalem]

That would be Hrolf...or Rolf...

Called "Hrolf the Ganger" (ganger=walker) because he was too tall and long-legged to ride a horse, supposedly.

[Radical Activist]

42. Rollo, Duke of Normandy

is distantly related to me. :)

[tx_dem41]

5. Sadly, with Mike Tice now at the helm, I doubt they could repeat this...

feat.

[flakey_foont]

6. The Normans

conquered Sicily

but the Minnesota Normans just did not sound all that tough for a football team

[libhill]

7. The Vikings went

damn near everywhere - even North America. The Byzantine Emperors even had Viking bodyguard force for a while.

[kineneb]

36. They were called the Verangian Guard

(the spell check couldn't find that one) and were made up of the Swedish vikings that went to the south down the various rivers. Some of the folks who didn't go all the way to Greece wound up being the Russ.

[K-W]

10. The vikings where all over the place.

They were the dominant power in Europe for a period and an island like Scicily would have been lucky to avoid invasion.

[Redstone]

38. That's where the blonde Irish came from, too.

And how "Barney" came to be a relatively common name in Ireland.

Redstone

[solinvictus]

14. They settled in Russia too..

The Vikings founded a dynasty around Kiev and merged with the Slavs in the region. Like Led Zeppelin said, "We are your overlords!!"

[rockymountaindem]

23. That, my friend, is a bone of major contention in Russia.

I'm not saying you're wrong, just don't say "the Vikings founded Kiev" to a 300 pound Russian bodyguard, ok?

[quaoar]

15. The Vikings had no choice but to invade Sicily

The Sicilian leader at the time was thought to be developing catapults of mass destruction capable of hurling large stones all the way to Scandanavia. Intelligence reports suggested he was also trying to acquire the formula for making gunpowder.

[Bridget Burke]

16. Nah, they just got tired of lutefisk....

And decided to go out for Italian.

[On the Road]

17. LOL -- That's Great!

[libhill]

22. Actually

it was Sammy ben Forkbeard who knocked down that tower, the Sicilians just got blamed for it. (Sammy Forkbeard and King Harald's daddy were in the Naphtha business together). Right after the tower fell, Sammy's family was smuggled out of Scandinavia on the Kings private longboat.

[Binka]

19. Everyone Has Invaded Sicily

It is the PLUM island in the Mediterranean. The Greek ruins here are sublime and the African influence is huge. Carthage now Tunisia is an hour flight away and the vibe of Africa is alive here.

I have a 12th century Norman castle out my window. Living under the volcano (Etna) is a trip. The people are so fucking beautiful you can see every culture in their faces.

I've never felt so alive in my life. Life on the west coast of Sicily is JOYOUS!!!!

And the wine is so damn good.

[SmokingJacket]

28. You LIVE there?

Wow. Honeymooned there a few years ago. It really was like taking a trip to an alternate, superior dimension. Every meal was the best I ever ate. Everything I looked at was breathtakingly beautiful.

Lucky you!

My husband's family is from the north coast. Viking blood runs through my children? Whoa.

[HereSince1628]

24. The Vik relatives the Rus conqered much of western Russia.

[WilliamPitt]

27. When Germany bombed Pearl Harbor?

Forget it, he's on a roll.

[DireStrike]

32. Sicily is the New York of the old world - old school melting pot.

Everybody's been there.

[mondo joe]

33. EVERYONE conquered Siciliy at one time or another

Which explains my swarthy complexion.

[Cleita]

34. Cheeze, why do you think so many of those handsome,

swarthy Sicilians have blue eyes?

[K-W]

35. Btw, also the origin of blond hair as a minority trait in many populations

According to my allegedly knowledgeable girlfriend.

[derby378]

39. I have an old Sicilian coin from the 11th century...

...minted by the Norman invaders. Yep, it really did happen.