Early medieval Japan , Korea and Australia a bit of 8 , most of 9 and a bit of 10
Around the 500's Japan was divided into many different clans. One of these Clans , the Yamato Clan, was stronger than the others. The Yamato clan wanted to conquer the other clans and rule Japan. After many many long years of fighting , they did conquer Japan. It was hard keeping control of so many clans , so the Yamato emperors said they were descended from ( this Is not true. It is just Japanese mythology ) the sun goddess, Amaterasu. This helped the Yamato leaders ( the Yamato dynasty had to parts : the Kofun period and the Asuka period ), but they also borrowed ideas (for good ruling ) from China and Korea. Way back in med-late ancient times, the Chinese had invaded Korea and conquered some of it. Later the Koreans took most of their land back. Korea got divided into 3 parts : Paekche, Silla and Goguryeo. The Koreans use Chinese ways a lot after they got free. Paekche wanted to take the other two kingdoms , so they asked Japan to form a pact with them( that says: if you go to war we will help you. If we go to war you will help us) . When the Japanese saw the gifts that came with the letter they were amazed by one: a book in Chinese. The Japanese asked the Koreans to teach them Chinese, and the Koreans did. The Koreans taught them many of their ways. The Koreans were influenced by the Chinese , and the Japanese were influenced by the Koreans. So it is safe to say that Korea and Japan were influenced by China. During the Tang Dynasty ( of china. The Tang Dynasty was a golden age of china. Before China was divided in to parts (North China and south China). Yang Chien was a general in the northern Army. He attacked south china and became Emperor of united china in 581. Yang Chien founded the Sui dynasty of China. The Yangtze River had divided earlier china. It Also threatened to divide china Again. So the Next Sui emperor , Yangdi , ordered a grand man made canal connecting south and north. It connected south and north china but it made people poor and mad at the emperor. They had paid extra taxes for it, and had spent a lot of time digging it. The Chinese revolted and ended the Sui dynasty. The next dynasty was the Tang. During the Tang Dynasty printing and gunpowder were invented) the Chinese invaded Korea and conquered Paekche. After much fighting the rest of the Koreans drove China out. Japan did not want to be attacked at all. Even though the Japanese copied the Chinese a lot, they still thought themselves as equals to China. So 400 years later the Japanese stopped copying the Chinese. In Australia the people were nomads. There was no king or emperor like in Japan and china. Instead they walked around moving where there was food and water, never settling , picking berries, fishing and hunting animals. These people were like the very first people they still did not know how to farm! These people were called the Aborigines.
The Kingdom of the Franks 11
Starting in New Zealand. Paddle your canoe to the Australian coast. There are Aborigine canoes and sea cows , as you paddle by. After a long time you will see the coast of Japan. You land in Japan and wander through the country. There are many Chinese things , like buildings, books and clothes. This was during the time Japanese still used Chinese customs and stuff. You cross the yellow sea and land in China. During this time the Tang Dynasty ruled during this time. It was a golden age. You get on a strong horse or pony and start west. You go into India you will see that the
Gupta kings ruled. Then you get on a boat and sail to Arabia. The Islamic empire started here. You get out of the boat and get on a camel ( The ship of the Desert ) , with the Camel you travel north through the Arabian desert. You come to the Byzantine empire , where
Justinian once ruled, the former eastern roman empire. Then you get on a boat that takes you through the Mediterranean sea and lands you in Italy ( This used to be the Center of the great Roman empire until Barbarians invaded it at conquered it. Know they live here getting more civilized). You travel north to the Alps ( a great mountain range ) and cross them. You are know in Gaul.
Barbarians invaded Rome and conquered the western Roman Empire. When the barbarians won they settled down and became civilized. The barbarians that invaded Gaul ( modern day France ) were called the Franks. The Franks were made up of many different tribes, they were not ruled by one king. The Franks did not think they were Barbarians. They thought they were the descendants of the people of Troy. When the Roman empire was conquered there were still Romans but they did not have an empire. The Franks settled down in Gaul next to Romans and other Barbarian tribes: Allemani and the Burgundians. These people constantly fought among themselves and bickered. They did not like each other, but when the Huns ( you can read more about them in the Huns part below ) came to invade Gaul , they joined together just long enough to fight the Huns. The army that fought the Huns was lead by a Frank called Merovius. The combined army beat the Huns, but after the threat of the Huns passed they divided again and went on fighting. Merovius's grandson, Clovis, always remembered when his Grandpa united the tribes. He wanted to unite them, so in 481 ( he was 20 ) he became leader of his tribe. He started to make Gaul a empire. He married ( Clotilda a Burgundian princess ) and fought the other tribes and Romans until he beat them all. He became king of Gaul in 509, 28 years after he became leader of his tribe. His kingdom became known as the Frankish Empire and his people - the Franks. If an Allemani or Burundian had united them the name of modern day France might be very different. Clovis became a Christian after he won a battle. Clovis united the Tribes ans people of Gaul but could he keep them united ? Clovis thought that 3 things would help him. A capital , a religion ( Clovis believed that you should have one religion so people do not fight over religion ) and Laws. He made Lutetia Parisiorium his capital and called it Paris. He made the Religion Christianity, and Last he made the Laws ( these laws were called the Salic laws ) that everyone in his kingdom would follow. Before the different tribes listened to different laws, but know they would listen to one law. His laws were not always fair, tending to help Franks more than the other tribes and people. There was also a law that said very few people could move to villages. Even though the people were united, they still did not like each other.
Islamic Invasion and Golden Age ( this is not part of 12 but I chose to insert it ) 12
South west of Gaul ,the land of Spain, had a barbarian tribe ( called the Visigoths ) settling in it. The Visigoths had once been savage barbarians ( you can read more about the Goths in the Goths section below ) but know that they had their own land, they were becoming civilized ( they became christian ,had a king and settled down ). They were becoming more " Roman "in a sense. The Franks had done the same in Gaul. But unfortunately for the Visigoths , their king died in 710. The Visigoths argued over who should be the next king, some wanted the sons of the dead King, while others wanted a warrior named Rodrigo should be king. The powerful noblemen (who wanted the Rodrigo to be king) but Rodrigo on the throne and forced everyone to obey him. The heirs to the throne were mad about this ( they wanted the throne ) and asked the North Africans ( who were called Berbers ) and their leader ( Tariq bin Ziyad ) to help them get rid of Rodrigo. That was a huge mistake , because the Berbers and Tariq were Muslim and were part of the Islamic empire. Tariq used to be a slave , but when the Armies of Islam invaded and conquered his homeland , he joined them and became Muslim. He was a good brave soldier and he got promoted over and over again until he was General. With Tariq in command of a lot of the army, the Islamic empire conquered the rest of North Africa all the way to a city ( Tangier ) that was super close to Iberia ( Spain and Portugal ). Tariq wanted to conquer Visigoth Spain for the Islamic empire, so when the sons of the dead Visigoth king asked him to help him, he used it as an excuse and Invaded Spain ( this is a summary but this part is not. Tariq got thousands of soldiers in small groups and but the groups in ships. In 711 he led the ships across the small body of water between Spain and Africa, he was in the First ship. He walked up and went onto a big rocky place, watching his men get out of their ships. When all his men were on dry land, he ordered the ships to be burned. When his men questioned it, he told them that they were not going back, they were going to conquer or lose an led his Army into Spain ). The divided Visigoths did not expect an invasion, and they were divided so it was a win for the Muslims. The Muslims beat the Visigoths and forced them into submission, and after that Iberia stayed under Islamic rule for a long time. The Muslims built mosques and many other buildings. These Spanish Muslims became known as Moors, Muslim-Spanish cites became great cities for learning. We use the same numbers the Moors did: Arabic Numerals. The rock Tariq stood on was called Jabal Tariq ( mountain of Tariq ) after a long time it was pronounced Gibraltar, and today the rocky Spanish ( the United Kingdom actually owns it ) ridge so close to modern day Morocco is called Gibraltar.
Great Kings of the Franks 13
There were many Kings of the Franks but we are going to focus on only 2 here ( one that is not really talked about in the book: Pepin the Short , and 2 others not talked about in the book: Childeric III and Louis I ) Charles Martel and Charlemagne . So before Pepin the Short ( and after Dagobert , 6 or 7 kings after Clovis , )the Kingdom of the Franks was ruled by 1 or 2 person/people: the Mayor of the Palace Austrasia or him and the Mayor of the Palace Neustria. The king did not really rule before Pepin ( and after Dagobert ), so Charles Martel ( who was Mayor of the palace Austrasia ) technically ruled the kingdom ( even though he was not called king, I am going to act as if he is one ) , not the present king ( Childeric III ). Not much is know about Childeric , he is thought to be a member of the Merovingian family, but it is Uncertain. So lets talk about Charles: Charles was a great warrior and leader, he earned the nickname Martel which means hammer. Charles the Hammer helped a lot in creating Feudalism in France ( this system would later be passed on to Normandy, and through William the Conqueror to England ). It was hard for Charles to become " king "/ Mayor of the palace Austrasia, He was put in prison, and later ( when he escaped prison ) he fought in a Civil war to establish his title. After he got his title he worked to take back the German land the Franks had lost to the Germanic tribes. The Moors attacked Aquitaine, a southwestern region/Duchy in Gaul. This duchy was officially under control of the Franks, but it was actually more Independent. The duchy's duke Odo had left to find help, when a siege started in one of his important cities ( Toulouse ). He asked Charles Martel for help, but Charles declined ( Charles and Odo were rivals and enemies, but they banded together to fight off the Muslims later. Charles was also busy fighting the Germanic Tribes ), so Odo went back to his land. Three months later he arrived, The Muslims had become overconfident and did not post any scouts to see if an army was coming, so when Odo arrived with his army he caught the Muslims totally unaware and crushed them. Interestingly he arrived right when the people of Toulouse were about to surrender. This win ( the Battle of Toulouse, 721 ) stopped the Umayyad advance in Gaul for a bit. After this the Muslims raided, but did not really attack until 731 and 732, they conquered some of Gaul and marched toward Tours. Odo got beat at the battle of in the battle of the river Garonne ( Odo could not beat the Muslims in a head on battle ) and ran to Charles warning him and asking him for help. Charles had finally beat the Germanic people, and came to defend Tours. He got an army, became an ally with Odo ( he only did this when Odo said that Charles was greater than him, and let Charles rule him and his Duchy. Odo and his forces greatly helped win the battle ) and went to meet them. They met at the battle of Tours in 732. The 11 years between the battle of Toulouse and the Battle of Tours helped Charles build up his army to fight, get ready to fight the Muslims and gave him more time to gain more power. At the battle of Tours ( sometimes called the battle of Poitiers ) was a win for the Frank, Austrasia, Italian Lombard , Pagan mercenary ( this could have been a partly Viking force! ) force. The events of the actual battle are not exactly known, their are many accounts, here are some: #1 The soldiers of the Muslims were camped outside the walls of Tours. They had taken so much plunder from their raids and wins before this that they were weighed down with it. The general of the army was worried that his men were worried more about their plunder than the battle that would come soon. He wanted to make them leave their plunder, but he worried this would make them revolt and kill him. So he let them have their stuff, and when they said they wanted to attack Tours (and get even more plunder) he let them. When the Muslims were besieging it , Charles and his army came, the Muslims and the Franks ( and others ) fought for a long time, but when the Franks got close to the tents (where the Muslims had put their plunder) the Muslims went to protect their plunder. Their general wanted them to come back, but he was surrounded and killed, after their leader died the Muslims fled. #2 The Muslims were caught of guard when the Frankish-mixed army appeared close to them, they were not expecting a mass force to come and resist ( in the other account the Muslim army was expecting Charles, see how it is not known for sure ? ). The armies fought each other in skirmishes, while the Muslims waited for the rest of their army to come ( Abd al Rahman, the leader of the forces, did not know how big the other army was , because they were hiding in a Forest. So he wanted to make sure he had a lot, thus waiting for the rest of his army ), this waiting also gave Charles time for his Veterans ( someone who has fought a long time ) to come and help him. His Veterans were great fighters, Charles was between the Muslims and Tours, so if the Muslims wanted to attack Tours they would have to go through Charles and his army. When the Veterans and the rest of the Islamic army came, Charles waited for the Muslim army to come attack him. This was a smart move because Charles was on a hill that was covered by a forest, this made it very hard for the Muslims to come and slowed down any charge. The Muslims were forced to charge uphill ( they probably did this because winter was coming near. Before the charge it was technically just waiting. The Franks waited the Muslims to attack their highly defensive position, while the Muslims waited for the Franks to come where they could see them all. The Franks were dressed and used to the climate of Tours, while the Muslims were not, so they did not want to wait till winter. ) into the forest and a square Phalanx formation of Franks ( and others ). The Muslim army did not really know how good the Franks were at fighting ,( while Charles did know how good the Muslims were ) and they did not know how many Franks their were. It turned out that the Franks were real good fighters and they had a pretty big army ( no one knows how many exactly. Some sources say they Frank-mixed army had more than the Muslims, while others say the Muslims had more than the Franks ) Surprise, Odo, Charles, Season , Terrain, The Veterans and formation helped them win the day. Anyway the Muslims charged with their Calvary, this tactic had worked before versus non-similar odds, this time though it failed. The strong Veterans held before the charges, the terrain helped , but it still required great skill from the Franks. The Umayyad Calvary charge had been vanquished , something thought impossible ( kinda like Italy vs Costa Rica 0-1! ) back then. The were a few ( though very little ) breaks , these Muslims tried to kill Charles , but his soldiers stopped them. ( here is where it get more like the other Account ) Rumors spread through the Umayyad soldiers that the Franks were trying to take their plunder. This made some Muslims leave to protect it, later Charles made some scouts actually raid the plunder, this made more Muslims leave until it started to look like a full scale retreat. The Muslim soldiers started to run away, but Abd al Rahman told them to come back, then he was surrounded and killed. The Muslim soldiers then did a full scale retreat. The Franks thought the battle would go on later, but it did not. Odo's son Hunald resisted being ruled by the Franks, but soon he had no choice, so he submitted. 3 years later the Muslims invaded again, they captured some land but were forced out again by Charles the Hammer. This other Invasion was probably more dangerous than the last , but after it there was not really much attack from the Moors. Charles died in 741 and he left his sons Pepin and Carloman to be Mayors of the palace. Charles had started off with a civil war and prison, while he ended with the fame of winning Tours and conquering the Germanic tribes. Pepin was Charles's younger son while Carloman was Charles older son. Pepin became Mayor of the palace Neustria , while Carloman got Austrasia. The brother joint ruled the Franks for a while, they helped Christianity spread and be taught more in their empire. They also put down revolts of many former barbarian tribes like the Alemanni and Saxons ( the Saxons and the Angles , who were Germanic tribes , later went to England and established rule there ). Pepin set out to gain more power, so in 747 when Carloman went to work in a monastery , He became the only ruler of the Franks and became king around 751. He became friends with the Pope, ( who made him king ) and attacked some places in Italy , he took them and then gave them to the Pope. This set the foundation for the papal states ( states ruled by the pope ) and Vatican city (the smallest country in the world ). When Pepin became king he fought against the Muslims and took back some land; like I already said he took some land in Italy; he also fought against the Germanic tribes in the north and the beat the Aquitanians ( people who lived in modern day south-eastern France ). Pepin was the first official Carolingian king of the Franks. Charles was Carolingian , but he was not an officail king ( even though he ruled the land ). Pepin died in 768, at age 54. He , like many other Frankish rulers fought and conquered a lot. Even though his father and his son seem more important than him, he still accomplished great things. He kept on building his army , like his father had, He kept spreading Christianity and his title given to him by the pope in 745 ( Patrician of Rome ) set the base for his sons title ( Roman Emperor ). After he died his sons ( Charles and Carloman , not to be confused with Carloman Pepin's brother ) co-ruled the empire. They did not like each other very much and both wanted to be the only ruler of the Franks, around 769 the Aquitanians revolted and both brothers came with armies to stop it. This happened because they both ruled Aquitaine ( each had ruled half of the Frankish kingdom and Aquitaine ), they argued and Carloman left, Charles beat the rebels and earned respect from the Franks. Carloman did not like that , and the brothers dislike grew until in 771 civil war was about to break out. But before it could start Carloman died, it was most likley a natural cause , but it could have been an assassination. Anyway it was and is considered a natural death , and Charles became the only ruler of the Franks! He was the greatest king of all the medieval Frankish king. He became known as Charles the Great , in Latin this is Charles Magnus or Charlemagne. Charlemagne kept fighting in Italy and conquered the Lombard kingdom. He ruled Northern Italy ( besides the states his father had given to the Pope ) and he was protector of the Pope.
Huns,Vikings,Goths and Mongols
here is a link to
the downfall of Rome, I wrote last year, it has some information on the Huns and Goths.
Huns:
In the late 300's the Huns attacked Europe from western Asia, east of Europe. Eastern Europeans/Romans were terrified of them. The Huns raided and destroyed settlements. To make themselves even scarier than they were they slashed their faces( ouch ), And wore weird ragged clothes. The Huns were nomads ( people who moved from place to place always setting and taking down tents. They had no home. ) and expert horsemen. Their horses could eat only grass and still live. They traveled in wagons. They ( like most nomads) were not farmers , so they hunted and foraged for food like the first people. Hun leaders had lots of wives ( which I think is stupid ). First wives had some power. The tents the families lived in were made of horsehair. So a small group of tents was a camp and a group of camps were a clan while a group of clans is a tribe. Hun warriors had extra horses , Sword and bows called reflex bows for weapons. These bows could shoot farther than regular bows. Hun warriors fired their bows on horse back, They did not need to hold onto reins because they had stirrups. They stood in their stirrups when they fired. Huns practiced fighting , Shooting and riding from an early age. They became expert horse archers. In 376 A.D Huns attacked Goths close to the Danube river a river that runs through Germany Austria Romania Bulgaria and many other countries. It starts in the black sea and ends in Germany. Anyway the Huns beat them . In 395 for the first time the Huns attacked the Roman empire . The Huns attacked and beat the Romans plenty of times. But the Romans still held their ground. The Huns and the Romans made deals with each other. The Romans gave the Huns gold for peace. This was smart because the Huns would probably bye roman things and give them back the gold. The Huns sometimes forced the Romans to make deals by keeping hostages. One of these hostages was Aetius ( he became a roman General later ). Around the start of the 400's Most Huns were living on the plains of Hungary. They had a pretty big empire. It started in the Russian Ural Mountians and ended in the Rhone river in Europe. Their leader was called Rugila , He had combined lots of the Hun tribes and attacked the Romans. He also had helped them get Hungary to live in . Here is how it happened. Rugila and his army attacked Thrace ( modern day Bulgaria ) and Theoudosius II ( the Eastern Roman emperor. Rome had been divided by then and The Eastern roman empire stretched from A bit west of Thrace to East of turkey to Egypt, with Israel Greece and north Africa in between) proposed that he would give Rugila 50 pounds a year of gold if there would be peace. Rugila said yes. Years ( eleven to be exact) later the Huns helped Aetius ( who had become a Genaral ) by giving him some soldiers. Think you just gave your own men to someone who used to be your prisoner! Aetius was grateful and gave the Huns Hungary. The nomads now had a permanent home. Hungary. Rugila died in 434. The Hun were then ruled by Attila and Bleda his Nephews. The Romans had stopped paying the Huns for peace this made them angry. But then the Romans and Huns singed the treaty of Margus. This gave the Huns gold , return of prisoners and more while it ave the Romans peace. Attila and his brother Bleda took over modern day Germany and the tribes who lived there. But alas Roman - Hun peace always lasts to short ( well most of the time) , so ( according to the Huns ) the bishop of Margus had helped some Romans rob Hun graves ( stupid idea (if it actually happened ) really considering that the weakened Romans stood a very low chance against the Huns ). The Huns said that if the Bishop would leave the gates of Margus open when he left then they would not kill him. He did so the Huns marched in and took the city. The Huns took most of the Balkans. Attila and Bleda rarely agreed on things and the tensions grew until Attila simply killed Bleda ( in 445 ) to become the only leader of the Huns ( times back then were crazy ) .
Fast facts!
#1 The Huns believed in seers in magic called scapulimancy, this was a way of fortune telling ( I do not believe in in though )
#2 Rich leaders of the Huns wore jewelry to show they were rich. One jewelry item was the fibula , The Fibula was like a pin , it was usually made out of gold and had gems in them.
Attila had been a Prisoner of the Romans once ( crazy how these prisoners become leaders ), He knew how the Romans lived and did things. He thought that for the Huns to become into a strong nation and power , They must learn how to do this from nations that had already did it. In 447 Attila and the Huns conquered all of the Balkans. He got power and wealth. Attila wanted more so he conquered more and more of Europe. When the Romans gave Attila gold for peace, It made him rich. He was about to conquer all of Europe when everything went went wrong. Honoria ( sister of the western roman emperor ) was forced to marry someone ( Herculanus. If you do not know who he is then I will tell you, Herculanus was a rich senator ) she did not want to marry. So she sent a messenger to Attila with a letter and a ring, she wanted Attila to rescue her. The actual thing the letter meant probably was: If you will marry me then you will have half of western roman empire. Attila actually thought that this was true and that the Emperor would give him half his empire. The thing is though he wouldn't . Attila ( think that he would ) told them he was going to marry Honoria and he should get half of the western roman empire. But the 2 emperors said no way! ( well they did not exactly say it like that but you get the feeling) While Attila had this business with the Emperors and Honoria, The Huns attacked Gaul ( modern day France ) and the Visigoths ( you can learn more about them in the Goths section of the History). The emperor of western Rome was mad ( because Attila said he was going to marry Honoria ) and told his army ( and their leader, who happens to be Aetius. That guy keeps popping up again and again, you start to wonder if he is related to the Roman historian who wrote this down : ) to go help the Visigoths and Gaul. The Visigoths did not like the Romans but they joined together to fight of the Huns. All the armies in the West of Europe ( besides a few like the savage native's of Britannia ) fought together to try to stop the Huns ( and a few other Germanic peoples that had bonded with them ) . June 14 451. On this date the Huns got pushed away from Orleans ( a city in Gaul ). Around 7 days later they got beat again at the Battle
Vikings:
The Vikings started in 793 and ended in 1066 ( this period is called the viking age ). The vikings came from Scandinavia, a region in Northern Europe that includes Norway,Denmark,Sweden and Finland ( not to many vikings in Finland though ). The Vikings were fearsome war crazy raiders. They were also explores( expert navigators) and amazing shipbuilders. The vikings traded,Explored,Raided,Conquered and Colonized many places:
Greenland; Here they first Explored then colonized. ( you can read more below, in Peaceful life and exploration ) Iceland; here they did about the same thing as in Greenland. Iceland had good resources, like blueberries. Today's modern Icelandic language is based on medieval Norse (you can read more below, in Peaceful life and exploration) Newfoundland; This was and is in North America. The Vikings first explored then raided traded and tried to colonize. But they never really did (you can read more below, in Peaceful life and exploration) Israel; Vikings sailed all the way here and traded. The Normans also went on pilgrimages and crusades to the holy land Constantinople and Byzantium;The vikings attacked Constantinople and failed. But the Byzantine emperor was impressed by their fighting skills. So he enlisted them in an elite force called the Varangian guard. Many viking and Normans became Mercenaries for the Byzantine empire. Italy; The vikings in Italy were Normans( if you want to know who the Normans were read below in the section Normans ) Spain; and here Morocco; and here Russia; and here France; and here England; and here Ireland; not here yet Greece; or here Iraq; or here or Iran and here Scandinavia had and has a cold climate and rocky land, It is not easy to farm in Scandinavia. Scandinavia also had many forests and it had lots of water around it. The Scandinavians learned how to make great ships called longships ( Viking longships had flat bottoms so they could get closer to shore without getting their ship wrecked. Their ships were fats and silent great for raiding. They carved a figure head of a dragon on these ships to scare the locals ). The Scandinavian life was hard, so some poor men who had little to eat ( and who wanted power , fame and glory. Which they did not have) went " i viking "( this was when they got on their longships and raided other places stealing gold ,food ,clothing and other things of value).
Raiding and wars
The first viking raid ( outside Scandinavia ) was against England. England was raided by Vikings from Denmark. They raided a monastery called St. Cuthbert's monastery off the eastern coast of England. The day it happened was the start of the viking age 7/19/793 AD. During the Viking age everyone was scared of the vikings. The vikings usually did hit and run attacks, escaping before the full force of the defending army got there. But as time went on the Vikings did full scale attacks with whole armies. They attacked England and took over a lot of land there. They forced the English to pay them for peace. The Vikings raided the kingdom of
Charlemagne ( Charlemange though was not afraid of them. The vikings could not break through Charlemanges trained organized army. But when he died and the kingdom of the franks ( modern day France ) was divided the Vikings had more success and in the mid 1800's the king of western France gave the vikings some land to stop them from raiding him. This land was called Normandy the place where ( towards the end of the viking age)
William the conqueror came from. You can read more below ) ,England and other northern European countries. In these countries they raided villages and monasteries. The Vikings took some land in Italy, Russia and other places. They even tried to conquer Constantinople, But the Byzantine army defeated them. The Byzantine leader though was so impressed by the skill and strength of the vikings that he brought them in his army , under the name: Varangian guard. They also raided the middle east.
They needed to sell their Spoils (the stuff they got from their raids) so they became traders. All their land helped make trade routes and connect early medieval Europe. But the vikings or Norsemen were not all fight and raid ( like I said they were traders ).
Peaceful life and Exploration
back at home in Scandinavia they led mostly non warlike lives ( but they did fight and raid each other ever so often ). They lived in houses with large central rooms made out of wood. They had a hole in the roof for the smoke from a fire, that burned inside the house ( to give light for these houses rarely had windows. It was probably also used for cooking) to go out. I wrote about Norse Mythology and Norse religion here Life in Scandinavia was not that good so sometimes these Norsemen went looking for new better lands to live in. One of these explores was called Eric the Red. Eric the red "discovered"( The Inuit were the actual discoverers ) Greenland. Here is how it happened. Eric and his family lived in Scandinavia. His father's name was Thorvald. One day Thorvald had a fight with a man and killed him. The Scandinavians banished him and his family. They left Scandinavia and came to Iceland ( Iceland had been discovered earlier by Naddodd another viking. ), a cold island close to the arctic ocean. Iceland also had wild blueberries, fish and other natural resources. So Thorvald and other Scandinavians settled in Iceland. When Eric grew up he was just like his father, Fearsome and angry. One day Eric was arguing with his neighbors , the argument turned into a big fight, ending with ( can you guess ) 2 dead neighbors and a banished Eric ( really if you want to travel don't just keep killing people and get banished to do it. On the other hand if you want to stay to kill people, you get yourself banished. If Eric's family keeps this up they would soon run out of places to go, they would be banished from .. everywhere ). Eric and his family explored and found the large island of Greenland. Greenland was and is a freezing ice and snow covered place with like 0.1% of green. So why is it called this. Well Eric thought that know one would want to come here if they heard what it was like so he gave it the name Greenland. Icelanders heard about Greenland and set sail. Of the 25 that started off only 14 made it because of storms. When the survivors reached Greenland they found ice and snow. The sad ,mad and dispirited colonists tried to make a successful settlement in Greenland. The settlement survived, but the people did not have enough food, they were short and skinny. The settlers lived like Inuits, Hunting seals,whales, fish, Wearing warm clothing and defending from polar bears. but like I said they did not have enough to eat. Eric the red had a son in Greenland called Leif Ericsson ( son of Eric. Eric's son ). Leif wanted to find a place that was better for living. When he was in his teens Leif heard from a fisherman (called Bjarni Herjolfsson ) that he had once ( in 986 AD) seen a unknown shore when he had fished pretty far from the coast of Greenland. The shore was covered with trees and hills he had said. Leif wanted to find this land. So when he grew up he bought Bjarni's ship and assembled a crew. Leif wanted Eric to go with him but right before that set sail Eric broke his foot when he tumbled of his horse. Eric was an old man now, He told Leif to go without him. Leif set of close to the year 1000 AD with his crew of 35. They sailed and sailed until they reached the land that Bjarni had seen. This land had hills, trees , grass and streams. It defiantly seemed better then Greenland. The Norsemen explored, But they discovered one of their men were missing. Leif searched and found the man, Sitting in the middle of lots of grapes. He was devouring the grapes. Leif and the Norsemen took the grapes and sailed back to Greenland. Leif called the new land , Vineland the land of grapes. Vineland was actually Newfoundland a place in North America. The vikings reached north america around 500 year earlier then Columbus (But the vikings were not the first here, the Jaredites and Adam were). People from Greenland came to this new land, that sounded way better then Greenland. When they got their they set up settlements. Thorvald Ericsson ( who was Leif's brother. Not to be confused with Thorvald Eric's father, Thorvald Ericsfather :) set out with 30 men and landed in North america in 1004. The next year Thorvald and his followers attacked 9 Skraelings ( as the Vikings called the Native Americans. Hedre is one description of them "
They were short in height with threatening features and tangled hair on their heads. Their eyes were large and their cheeks broad " ) who were sleeping under some canoes. One of them got away, alerted a large force and came and fought Thorvald and his team. Some meetings of the Norse and Native Americans were friendly trading meetings, Though many were skirmishes and fights. One man who really wanted to make a colony in Vinland was named Thorfinn Karlsefni. Thorfinn tried to make a settlement but he failed. Know one knows exactly why the Vikings did not just stay in Vinland and establish large longstanding colonies. It probably was , if a least partly, due to the frequent fights with the Skraelings. The Scandinavians did ( for some time ) go back and forth between North America and Greenland, Bringing back resources that were scarce in Greenland like Wood and furs. They either just took it or traded with some of the less hostile Native Americans. The Norse never did establish a longstanding colony in north America. There were other places that the Vikings settled , but this is the only one I included.
Some history of Bulgaria
Bulgaria is the country where my mom is from. It has a long exciting history. Many of the oldest human remains and buildings have been found here. The oldest known town in Europe was located in Bulgaria. At first , like in most places, there were wandering nomads , but they gradually settled down and made societies after learning agriculture. The Varna culture happened during the late New Stone Age period ( around 50000 BC )in Bulgaria. There were many burials with gold in the Varna culture. This culture helps us learn how the societies of the first people in Europe worked. Its gold jewelry in its graves are the oldest golden artifacts found anywhere in the world. The Thracians left lasting cultures in Bulgaria. We don't know exactly where they came from, but we do know about their lives in Bulgaria.They came and conquered the locals around 1500 BC, they were great craftsmen in Gold and other materials. The Thracians were not really organized, but they had better culture and technology than other peoples. They were usually divided in many tribes, but when other peoples came to attack them they banded together and drove them away. They lived in villages defended by walls, the City did not come to Thrace until the Romans conquered them. Even when the city came to them they did not like it. The first Greek colonies there were made in 8th century BC . They stayed divided until around 500 BC , when king Teres untied most of the tribes into the Odrysian Kingdom. Teres was great at fighting, when he died his son ( Sitalces one of the best kings of the Odrysians ) succeeded him. Sitalces expanded his empire, and when the Peloponnesian war started , he went on the side of Athens. His successor though, went against Athens ( his attacks failed ). After him Amadocus I came to the throne, he lost a lot of land to a Thracian tribe, Interestingly a place in Antarctica is named after him. Another king came to power later , he did so by killing the previous king, this new king was called Cotys. Cotys I became a friend to the Athenians. Cotys had a rebellion during his reign and stopped it. Later in his reign he became enemies with Athens. In 359 BC he made an alliance with the king of Macedonia , Philip II the dad of Alexander the Great. A year later he died ,when some of Plato's ( Plato was a great Greek philosopher and one of his students was Aristotle )students assassinated him. After Cotys the Odrysian kingdom of Thrace was divided into 3 parts, western Thrace, Central Thrace and Eastern Thrace. After a while though the Odrysian Kingdom of Thrace was united. Amazingly the Celts came form the British Isle and settled in Bulgaria ! They fought against the Macedonians, even though they lost the battle they stayed in Bulgaria. In 279 BC they invaded the Thracians under the command of Comontorius ,and conquered some of them. This Celtis-Thracian kingdom was called Tylis. It stayed around for little time though, interestingly one Celtic tribe the serdi ( this is where the name for the Bulgarian capital -Sofia comes from ! ) wandered around Bulgaria . The Macedonians ( at first Philp II and then Alexander the Great ) controlled the Thracians from around 341 to 331 BC. The Odrysians later gained independence. After the last Odrysian king died in 46 A.D. , Thrace became part of the Roman Empire. The Romans called it the province of Thracia. Constantine the Great was born pretty close to Bulgaria, but actually in Serbia. Temples of some fake-mythological Egyptian gods were found near the Black Sea. This is because many people from around the Roman Empire came to Thracia. Diocletian (the Emperor who divided the Roman Empire in 2 ) divided Thracia into smaller provinces. In the 4th century some barbarian Goths came and settled in Bulgaria. In Bulgaria one Gothic Christian translated the Greek bible to Gothic, making the first book written in Germanic ! The Roman control in Thracia was not very strong, and Attila the Hun actually attacked modern day Bulgaria, raiding many villages. After the western roman empire fell , the actual place where modern Bulgaria is , was still ruled by the eastern roman empire ( the Byzantine empire ) . But there were a peoples who were called Bulgars, they established a kingdom called old great Bulgaria. It was on the Northern shore of the Black in Thracia, which was being ruled by the Byzantine empire. Khan Kubrat untied two big Bulgar tribes and established old great Bulgaria. After Kubrat was Batbayan , under him the kingdom collapsed when the Khazars attacked in 668, The Khazars were a Turkish ,sort of nomadic tribe that established the Kingdom of Khazaria. When the kingdom was destroyed , some Bulgars came down to modern day Bulgaria and conquered some of it under Asparuh's leadership.
