@Al Strider they Spike French aß a native tongue adobted the French Vincent of knighthood and wäre of French descebd aß the vikings intermarried with loyal einen Tiere was Hardy anythink skandanivian abou them
As an English major who studied early Anglo-Saxon literature in college, I can confirm that Christian preachers described Jesus to the northern Germanic peoples as a young warrior who endured his torments showing scorn and defiance to his torturers. Jesus' death on the cross was also described in similar terms to Odin's self-sacrifice on the tree. So yeah, they went out of their way to explain Christianity in terms that were familiar to them.
Also, the end of the Viking Era is generally considered to have been the battle of Stamford Bridge in 1066, while the crusades didn't start until about 30 years after that....
The Norse pagans had a very different view on these things. As most of them saw it, there were many Gods and Goddesses but you made a deal with one of them. You did your rituals (like pray) to them and they deliver their part of the deal, like helping you win your battles. If they didn't deliver, then you changed your main deity and that is likely what Gunthrum did. It is pretty unlikely he suddenly became monotheistic, foreign priests complains over that in Scandinavia even in the 14th century (or at least in Sweden) but I think the church took it's win when they could. So yeah, he likely honestly went from worshiping Odin to White Christ. That was not that big of a deal to a viking, as long as they felt that Christ delivered they were faithful to him but we have plenty examples of vikings that switched back to a Norse deity when they felt Jesus didn't provide his part of the bargain. The vikings were practical people and it might sound like an odd way of thinking today, particularly for a none Scandinavian, but it worked for them. By the year 1000 all Scandinavian countries except Sweden (and Finland but they weren't Norse and had their own a bit odd mythology) were Christians. In 1137 when a cathedral was built over the former pagan temple (which was a late thing in itself) in Uppsala Sweden was officially Christian even if Magnus Ladulås had 3 crusades inside his own country against pagans in the mid 1200s and Småland, Värmland and a few other places had plenty of pagans even further. There were trials in Sweden against pagans up to the 1500s but the last one was in the mid 1700s. My grandad who would have been almost 100 if he still was alive was super Christian, his bedroom was full of angels and a huge painting of Jesus. In his cellar though he had an iron statuette of Thor (he was a fisherman when he was younger). That is Swedes though, the Danes took more to Christianity, maybe because they were a smaller country with less population, open terrain and at least today, 75% live in the 3 largest cities and over half of them in the capital. Or maybe it just is because Danes and Swedes are a bit different.
@@loke6664 Great feedback. Thank you for that information. I also remember reading that Gunthrum relied heavily on the runes to make decisions. So I thought, "Whoever reads the runes, actually rules."
@@Pedro_Colicigno It is a bit more complicated then that there. Constantine did have plenty of political reasons to pick a monotheistic religion he had more control over but sure, he needed to win his victories for the whole thing to stick. But Christianity in Roman times were very different from what it was during Harald's time, just as it have evolved today. Saint Augustine was probably the most influential there, the man was a philosopher and the church doctrines changed with him. The thing is that the Bible might be very similar today as it was during Roman times but people have interpreted it to work for their time. And if you act the same during Constantine's time, Harald's and ours you would stick out like a sore thumb during 2 of these times. Rome during Constantine were a relatively strong superpower and final say was the Emperors. Viking age England had not really any king that strong so just sending a missionary to a king was not enough. For instance were the Swedish king Olof Skötkonung baptized (even if we of course could wonder how genuine that was) but Sweden was still mainly pagan for another 130 years after that, people had to be converted one by one since the king just didn't have the power to force people to convert. Most history books like to simplify things but the process of changing religion in Europe took a lot of time and work and the vikings were more stubborn then anyone else. You couldn't just force someone like Guthrum or HArald Hårdråda to believe in anything they didn't feel like, those were strong independent persons.
@@loke6664 I in no way think it was as simple as that, it is just I found funny how is usually accept (tho not 100% accurate) that Constatine used the Chi Ro simbol on their shields in the battle of Milvian Bridge and won, claiming it was God showing favor to them (not native english, sorry), and one thousand years later a very similar thing happened. I know is a very crude simplification of the occurences in both cases
@@irgendwer3610 I do as well I mean this community pushed me over the line to go to HEMA I was already interested but now I am starting to exercise to prepare for the HEMA school near me.
@@JensontheBasterd question... how are all the others not vikings when the first recording or writing of a viking on england was from norway?... do keep in mind that viking is a word that did start in norway as both a job title and another way of saying raiding.. also the swedish did not do too much in britain as most of them invaided parts of russia, poland and other baltic countries yet most of them never came home as they mostly just stayed there... aside from that everyone could be a viking as long as they did a viking soo yeah..
No... But our prowess in battle has made them hire us to beat some Christianity into all of you... And beside, we got reel good gifts and trade deals if we where willing to include this Jesus dude in or pantheon. Ops... Sorry! Did I accidentally kill you while you where busy talking to me? Surprise! Our favorite tactic!
Primogeniture wasn't a native practice of the Germanic tribes. It was introduced by Christian advisers as the tribes were converted (albeit introduced gradually and with a lot of resistance), to prevent the Germanic kingdoms from falling into civil war or even fracturing after the death of a king. For example, take Charlemagne's Carolingian empire. It was cut into three after his death instead of remaining united.
I live in norway and we where tought and shown in school how jesus was paired with norse gods and put in the same pantheon, old stave-churches including icons of jesus alongside odin and the other gods
@@metatronyt Vikings would have had an intuitive understanding of Trinity as well. Its in the Valknut. Three knots in one. Father-Son-Spirit also mirrors the Odin-Thor-Frey tribunal at Uppsala. The idea goes back to Romulus.
somesort, my people once a ruthless pagan who had the tradition of chopping other people head after we converted to christianity, some of us still practice rituals and magic yet are catholic its complicated, the pagan forest carnival tradition still exists to this day and our people mainly still somewhat ruthless till today but that human sacrifice and head chopping gone, mainly
I’ve heard that, too. Polytheistic religions are easy to convert to a monotheistic religion than vice versa. The Danes would convert to Christianity to get better trade deals in Catholic lands but just add Jesus to the pantheon in their practice. As the Norse intermingled with the Franks and Anglo-Saxons the generations would drift more toward Christianity over time.
I can see him sitting there in full armor, smoking a joint with the visor of his Bascinet closed. Playing zelda as the steam puffs out of the eyeslits.. Now I want to buy armor
Imagine if that were true and there were no camera, Metatron's speaking to a wall or an open door and his GF's used to his urges to give one-sided discussions.
Keep in mind that the Norse worshipped far more than just warrior gods. A lot of the gods, especially the very popular Vanir, were more fertility gods than anything. The notion of good harvests and bountiful resources was probably even more promising to them as far as religion goes, than war prowess, even if that was perhaps relevant to actual viking raiders.
There was a story I heard (I don't remember where) that tied the two religions together and also helped some Norse converts. The story had to do with Ragnarok and the Garden of Eden, that at the end of Ragnarok the only survivors of the war were hiding in the base of the Tree of Yggdrassil. The Christian side said the survivors were Adam and Eve, that the Garden of Eden was inside the tree. So in that sense, the end of the world in Norse mythology had already happened a long time ago.
@@seamuswbiggerarmalite3379 the raphaim are nephilim and Israelite hybrid...basically not all beings died from the flood and the humans that survived intermixed with those survivors
@@truthseeker1941 Not quite accurate, the date was originally picked to overlap with the ancient Roman Saturnalia holiday around the winter solstice and Yule was also a winter solstice celebration (most cultures had festivals around this time) so yes in Northern Europe there are a lot of Yule influences down to the name of the holiday, but Yule is not the "inspiration" for Christmas as such. Early Christians deliberately decided to celebrate the birth of Christ around the winter solstice to take the place of existing pagan solstice holidays makes it a lot of an easier sell to the newly converted, just keep celebrating like you always have, just tweak the theme a little and add a church visit to the todo list.
I've read that Ragnarök was introduced by Snorri Sturluson, who was already a Christian when he wrote the Prose Edda. The story of Ragnarök may have very well been influenced by the Book of Revelations.
My take on why it was so "easy" to convert norse, danish and swedish kings is that a christian king enjoys far more control and authority over his population than a pagan king. Having the church supporting your line of succession etc must have been a very attractive notion.
@@pattheplanteryeah, Christianity is pretty attractive. Simply accept that Jesus Christ is the son of god who was crucified and risen again, and bend your knee to the Holy Catholic Church, thus you shall have life everlasting.
@@pattheplanter nordic people had somewhat simialr believe - about Odin, who sacrifised himselve on Ygdrassil and was dead for nine days, and than - ressurected with huge portion of magic knowledge (runes in particular, if I remember right). So that concept was not alien to them at all. P.S. Maybe that concept came to life after contact with christians, don't know for sure. But anyway thats how "double-faith" works.
Norse versions of Christ were something we studied back in college, in a class on English language history. It was quite fun to see the differences between the meek and mild Jesus we think of today, and the fierce and heroic Jesus who was popular with the Norse. I recall in particular one bit where Jesus is described as eagerly offering his hands to the soldiers so that they could nail him to the cross. He knew this was part of the plan, and wasn't about to shirk away or fear what pain was to come.
I fail to see how offering yourself up means you are no longer mild or meek. Jesus never came to lead a revolution, he came to be a perfect and final sacrifice for yours and mine sins. So that we could be blameless before God by his blood, we are saved. And by his stripes, we are healed.
@@denroybercier So how does that work exactly ? The final sacrifice for commiting sins is a sin of nailing someone to cross and killing them ? Am I the only one who thinks this doesn't make sense ?
There are serious flaws in his analysis. The only reason it "didn't happen" is because the concept of Crusade didn't form yet. When it did form, the Catholics launched the Northern Crusades against the Baltic and Scandinavia region. There were also numerous Crusades during this period against rival Christians sects the Catholic Church considered heretical, as well as local Crusades against the Eastern Orthodox (both against the Byzantines and against smaller populations in the Baltics; these are pre-Fourth Crusade) as well as fellow Catholics, for political and financial reasons. Also, Jesus was born in Bethlehem not Jerusalem, he started the video off with a mistake.
Sigurd was the son of Magnus Barfot. Magnus was the son of Olav Kyrre, whose father Harald Hardråda, fell in the battle of Stamford Bridge in 1066, which is considered the end of the viking age.
I really appreciate that the word Viking is used to describe an act here, "going on viking". That is the first time I've heard it used that way in a non-Scandinavian language.
There were so-called "northern crusades" launched against Slavs and Balts in the Elbe river region in modern-day Germany and in Prussia - modern-day Kaliningrad and parts of Poland. They were organized on a much smaller scale tough and usually by neighboring rulers among which were already Christian Danes.
Not too far off. There's a Great Courses lecture explores how the Viking Age of raiding ended due to trading agricultural sciences with the rest ofChristendom, nullifying the need to raid for resources. So, trading with Christians, trading during Christmas... yeah
@@MegaKnight2012 well they did farm well the slaves did, also some have said that they weren't all Norse people the children born to slaves which usually means the men caught females and impregnated them were not slaves, also if you where a good enough warrior even if a slave you can earn your freedom.
* Vikings raid the shorelines and upriver * People living inland: Glory to God that we live far from those parts Magyars: we're gonna do what's called a pro gamer move
There are serious flaws in his analysis. The primary reason it "didn't happen" is because the concept of Crusade didn't form yet. When it did form (1000s), the Catholics launched the Northern Crusades against the Baltic and Scandinavia region (1100s). There were also numerous Crusades during this period against rival Christians sects the Catholic Church considered heretical, as well as local Crusades against the Eastern Orthodox (both against the Byzantines and against smaller populations in the Baltics; these are pre-Fourth Crusade) as well as fellow Catholics, for political and financial reasons. These continued into the 1500s. Also, Jesus was born in Bethlehem not Jerusalem, he started the video off with a mistake.
It's called the Northern Crusades, look it up. His analysis is flawed. The primary reason it "didn't happen" is because the concept of Crusade didn't form yet and/or they didn't have the know-how for this type of warfare. When it did form (1000s), the Catholics launched the Northern Crusades against the Baltic and Scandinavia region (1100s). There were also numerous Crusades during this period against rival Christians sects the Catholic Church considered heretical, as well as local Crusades against the Eastern Orthodox (both against the Byzantines and against smaller populations in the Baltics; these are pre-Fourth Crusade) as well as fellow Catholics, for political and financial reasons. These continued into the 1500s. Also, Jesus was born in Bethlehem not Jerusalem, he started the video off with a mistake.
It has. The Saxon Tales by Bernard Cornwell, also a netflix show called The Last Kingdom in it's fifth season. I am Uhtred, son of Uhtred, and his father was also called Uhtred and we are the Lord's of Bebbanburg.
@@Bayouboy1981 can’t stand those books and the Netflix show is even worse. Horrible in their historical portrayal of battles and of religion be it pagan or Christian. It’s so steeped in modern secularism/ humanism and that really bleeds into the story especially into the pagan/ Christian conflict he portrays. Constantly made me cringe. The Netflix show is even worse. So much wrong with it. The portrayal of the Saxon’s is a disgrace and I’m not even a Saxon. So dumb.
This is a very good explanation of Guntrum to Athelstan conversion. I was always confused abt the supposed breaking of Oaths over the Arm Rings & why he converted. It is hard to think how ppl thought in the past without context, which you brilliantly provide here.
Also worth mentioning that when the vikings were at their height of raiding, like during lindesfarne or great heathen army, a crusade had never been called before. By the time of the first crusade in 1095 the viking era was pretty much over.
Also it is interesting how christianity merged with scandinavian religion. You can see how old church decorated with scandinavian ornament depicting norse pantheon and stories related to them.
That's not exactly true though. The anglo saxons used to have the same beliefs or similar beliefs to the norse. Remember anglo saxons got converted to christianity by the britons. Norse had Odin, Saxons had Woden, Saxons had Thunor, etc etc.
Because the scandinavian religion were also relatively inspired by slavs, wich was influenced by other southern cults from the region wich today is Romania, wich was influenced by the Roman Empire, wich adopted proto christian cults. So, basically, it was closing the circle around cultures who were in contact before and forgot about it.
@@gosonegr You have a common ancestor, the Yamnaya, however Slav tribes still maintained contact with the Steppe tribes right until Christianity took hold. It seems that Slavs in their prime would become Steppe warriors but when they got old and tired of fighting they would retire back into the forests of Eastern Europe and this went on from the spread of the Yamnaya into Europe 3300BC up until around 1200AD.
@@dreddykrugernew Didn't know about the Yamnaya, but if they took even the territory is now Spain and Portugal seems plausible they share some aspects of their religious life, lore and other cultural themes, like the afterlife in Heaven/Valhalla/Elissium and the punishment of Hell/Hades, or the duality between Good and Evil incarnated in different gods (a fallen Angel for Chistians) of some sort.
Metatron had been exploring Hyrule in Breath of the Wild (tv behind him) when suddenly he felt the need to explore the topic of crusades and viking age reality.
You are so passionate about history and facts. My history teacher was also driven about teaching history how it should be taught. She made history come alive. It became my favourite course. She was a wonderful teacher whom I am still grateful for the enormous efforts she did to teach us.
AH but if you love your children and someone rapes and murders them.... Whats just then? So good point hes actually terrifying, if your living in the flesh.. I shiver when I read things he says in the old testament and Jesus in the new among others Job ect..
@@jonhurt6109 I personally don't have this vision of God, he's the master of armies, but he still is a God of compassion and love, but as the guy said above, he's no hippie too
The show The Last Kingdom has an interesting representation of the conversion of Guthrum to Christianity. For anyone who hasn't seen it, they suggest throughout the first season that Guthrum is curious about Christianity, and at the end when the battle turns in Alfred's favor, Guthrum says "Their God is with them", similarly to how Metatron says he may have perceived things.
@@Dorkeydaze crusader tryna convert viking: ...errrrrr Jesus said those who lived by the sword, die by the sword... Viking: now that's what I'm looking for, sign me up
@@perrenchan6600 Christian: yes he indeed did say that. Did you know Steven the first gentile convert was stoned to death? Being Christian is hardcore and you will did a hard death and be raised in Valhalla and dine with David, Solomon, Able, Michal, and many other grand warriors!
To add further to Metatron's point, never forget the Nordic people launched their own crusade under King Sigurd I, and it marked the first time a European King personally set foot in the Holy Land in a Crusade.
@@rebeccavaughn8897 Indeed. Not to mention the fact that Emperor Titus personally lead the army which besieged Jerusalem in 70 AD. Granted, he would not become Emperor until 79 AD. Vespasian, while he did not take part in the conquest of Jerusalem, did return to the Israel to complete his own campaign of the Roman-Jewish war after being crowned Emperor in 70 AD. Hadrian also visited Jerusalem in 135 AD. Not to mention the fact that every Byzantine Emperor following Constantine was coronated in Jerusalem until the Sassanids conquered it in 614. But, they are all "emperors" and not "kings".
This is false. Sigurd was the first king to personally take part in a crusade, but wasn't even among the first 20 European rulers to step foot in the holy land.
@@Unlitedsoul Hmmmmm. Is it valide to count people who became rulers later or not? I'll have to think about that... I should probably do as you did and separate out the crusades from other wars though. They really are their own animal. Thanks!
The Franks launched a major campaign into Jutland in 814 (maybe 816, I cannot recall), the Danes jumped on their ships and withdrew to either Fyn or Vendsyssel, and eventually the Franks had to give up and withdraw. Likely their supply lines were raided- raiding being what Vikings did best.
The part about the Norse seeing Jesus as a warrior god is absolutely true. A lot of the early sagas refer to Jesus “the King of Jordan” a great ruler who leads his followers to victory over death itself
Same with the English, old English epics like Heliand call Jesus' disciples his thanes and describe Jesus as going into battle against death and not against the Romans
"Byzantine empire recruited Norsmen." Well, they also recruted Turkic horsearchers, and were friends with the Fatimids of Egypt who were themselves foes to the Seljuks.
The roman army had allways been open to mercenaries. Ironnicly the emperors personal bodyguards were in the most cases recruited from foreign man as they were veiwed as political neutral
@@alpharius8264 The Ayyubids did that with the Mameluks as well. The Ottomans' entire core professional infantry was composed of foreign slaves.. albeit converted. Noone is saying the practice was unusual, the entire point of my comment was to point out that it wasn't. Because I found it weird that the Metatron would use the fact that the Eastern Romans used Norse mercenaries as an argument for the latters not being considered as enemies to Chrisendom and a menace when the Romans did that with the Turks as well.
Remembering Rolland's(the viking that converted to christianity and became a duke of Normandy) biography, before his death, he donated some gold to monastaries, while also sacrificing some slaves for the sake of Odin. So he had believe in both religions, and maybe he was not hte only one
it makes sense. look at 2nd/3rd gen muslims in the west, most of them are having casual sex and drinking. they've adopted half our traditions/values without really thinking about it, but still keep to the old ones to keep their mothers happy as well
Excellent break down. I’m playing the new AC Valhalla(enjoying it too) one of the interesting things about the Norse timeline, is that my ancestors in West Africa started a musical tradition with the Djembe (goblet shaped hand drum) right around the year1,000 C.E. I’m an author and history buff, and I enjoyed this video. Peace to you Metatron
@@RealRagnar816 its a game after all... but of course if you like historical facts then the game is not good hahaha I don't care if the game is historically correct, I just enjoy playing it. If the subject is history, I prefer to read.
Absolutely mesmerizing to watch the prof here methodically pull it all apart and put it back together. Humans are messy, full stop. Metatron strikes a powerful blow against simple, comfy, uni-dimensional answers to big, fat, hairy questions. Bravo.
Here in Denmark we are taught a bit about how Christianity came about and it's a lot of what you touched upon in this video. They kinda had to sell the idea of Jesus Christ to the both the normal people but also the vikings so one famous example is changing the way he is depicted in artwork. Instead of the classic and iconic version of Jesus suffering on the cross he was now staring directly ahead, back straight and a big beard, similar to depictions of Odin when he was impaled. There is also evidence that people would wear both a cross and Thor's hammer, in fact "quick molds" have been found so you could quickly make a pair of silver or iron or something like that. It seems though they prefered to be baptised during old age a lot of times from what little records we have, suggesting it was more of a classic "well, we can't really be sure so we best make sure we don't piss either off..." kinda deal for a lot.
I don't think they were much different from Baltic pagans. Anyway it still is an interesting topic and I love Wardruna music, I stumble accidentally on it.
@Kroi Albanoi They slaughtered balts and only had any problems when they had pomeranian aid or when they had no support from Europeans during the winter months, and they STILL won.
Scandinavia was christianized for economical reasons mostly, and those who refused were defeated by the other scandinavians who accepted the conversion So why send an army to the north when you can just convert an army that's already there?
They did engage in the Northern Crusades beginning in the 1100s. This time period also saw numerous Crusades against rival Christians sects the Catholic Church considered heretical, as well as local Crusades against the Eastern Orthodox (both against the Byzantines and against smaller populations in the Baltics) as well as against fellow Catholics, for political and financial reasons.
Pretty much the same with the Anglo-Saxon kings as well, which ironically led to the Vikings waging their own kind of crusade against the English for leaving their religion
Also as the kings of the north saw that a christina population was easier to control as it was pretty much seen that disovedience towards the king was disobieince towards god as the king was blessed by the church.
Awesome comments, as usual! Thank you so much for your work! As I was watching your video, I couldn't help myself and compared it to the history of Saint Patrick in Ireland as well... I mean, one could never forget the power of the middle and poor classes as well. Saint Patrick brought a much more compassionate creed - Christianity - that, at least compared to the pagan rituals, didn't make ugly sacrifices like human sacrifices, regarded everyone as equal under God, which made huge contributions to the abollition of slavery in the continent. In the history of the Catholic Church, there are many, many documents of real conversions, like you said of Guthrum/Aethelstan. The Normands were not stupid. I am pretty sure many kings did become Christians either by true sentiment of conversion or by the feeling that, if they didn't, another usurper would. Like the alleged phrase of King Dom João VI of Portugal to his son, Dom Pedro I, here in Brazil: "Claim your crown (the empire of Brazil) before an adventurer do it!" Cheers from Brazil! André
In a sense they actually did. The Wendish Crusade was targeted against Pagan Polabian Slavs who basically were filing the role of Vikings at the time by sea raiding and controlling a large part of the Baltic Trade. They actually often raided Scandinavia and parts of Northern Germany.
No they did not. When we say vikings we refer to the early medieval scandinavian peoples (denmark, sweden and norway). Slavs do not fall into that category.
@@hazzmati It's a common misconception then. Especially since a lot of Slavs lived on Scandinavian territories like the southern Danish islands which for a time were predominantly Slavic. Moreover, both Norse and Slavic warriors were organizing joint raids. A rigid division of cultures inhabiting the Baltic Sea basin is an artificial invention of XIX and XX century nationalism. In reality, cultures and tribes in the area lived in a confusing melting pot. Among the best pieces of evidence for that are Old Slavic words like vitędzь which was a Slavic equivalent of Viking. As +Default Profile Picture pointed out Sagas do not discriminate in this regard as they even mention Slavic berserkers. Source: Saga of Magnus the Blind
I live on a land conquered by Christians during Northern Crusades, so... And yet the name (Livonian "Imanta" or "Imants" in it's modern Latvian form) of the guy, who scored a headshot with his spear against the first bishop if Riga is still one of the most popular boys names. How Christian is that?! XD And yes, there was no such strict division between ethnicities and sometimes even not between faiths, in the battle if Tannenberg Pagan Lithuanians, Orthodox Slavs and Tatar cavalry were fighting alongside Catholic Poles against Catholic knights of Teutonic order. If Pagans happened to be vassals of a Christian king, well, that's still a fighting force, same with mercenaries.
Interesting topic. I once a read a PhD thesis based on the relationship between high medieval Norsemen and the pagan Sami population. It basically boiled down to three things: Bishops who demanded crusade against the heathes, but it fell on deaf ears. Secondly. Lords who obviously made empty promises, jet were, as you pointed out, content with taxation of the status quo. Lastly, the common people who peacefully interacted without any concerns. If there's no dragon to slay, then there's no st. George. Only George.
Nice video. I especially liked that you mentioned the militaristic aspects one can find in Christian holy texts, as being probably used to woo the Norse into not thinking of Christianity as the religion of a weak God.
Baltic crusades is as close as we get to that. Was no real reason to crusade before the call for help from Alexios. The natural Christianisation of many of the Vikings didn't actually take all that long.
That and the amount of uh.... pious donations you could mercifully extract from Scandinavian mountains and forests was not exactly promising to anyone who would try to budget a major military undertaking on the scale of mainstream crusades.
@@cariopuppetmaster Wendish? Nowhere near the scale or effort comparable to "thousands of kilometers to reach Palestine, fighting actual powers on the way". These were often local, march lords running things, with Germany proper stepping in when stuff got really hairy, like in late X. And the area was pretty much behind the corner, only poor infrastructure prolonging the process. Baltic? Initially a grueling march into the wild, but even then it was more than 100 years *after* crusades got into full swing. Hell, Teutonic Order pushing into Prussia was a child of that earlier period. The Prussia Project was basically its life extension after Holy Land got Ackbared. So, really, not the *first* choice for participants, not even the sloppy seconds (Hungary episode for Teutons). And then, after breaking some uprisings and finally consolidating in Prussia, it became even more of a local effort, Orders running the show on day-to-day basis, with western knights purchasing Season Passes when it suited them.
Yes some Irish traded with the Vikings, allied with them, even hired them to fight other Irish as Mercenaries. It was at the battle of Clontarf (1014) where King Brian Boru defeated the Vikings and unified Ireland for only a brief moment. He was killed at the battle and Ireland returned to being divided, which was a perfect opportunity for the Normans in the following century.
Great video & great info. As a side note, the descendants of the these converted Vikings would be the future Crusaders, Normans from Normandy among others.
@@Daniel-xh6tv Best God* for them. The superstition of dying with a sword in your hand was so you can enter Valhallah -- the afterlife of feasting, boasting, and fighting forever. That notion would be obsolete with the Christianization of Scandinavia and Iceland
8:20 Just a small comment on putting on a symbol of Thor. 1. The Mjolnir as a necklace appears in the North simultaneously with the Cross. 2. Up till now, it was found only in female burials, so for a Viking a dude wearing a Mjolnir would probably look like much like Conchita Wurst.
An interesting perspective here. Guthrun, after losing the battle against Alfred probably chose life over death, Alfred's heritage was not so different from Guthrun's so I presume the two rulers had a lot in common. Nice one!
Very well spoken!! The commercial for the jewelry was only 5 seconds too long, but you wear it yourself, so; fair. Good timing, and valid reasoning through out., especially the point about selling Jesus as one of the lesser gods. It's what made it okay, and it was only later the the Church got exclusionary.
Retainer:"'Thzy haven't invented oil yet and instead spend their days trying to develop techniques of building ships with ridiculous little hexagonal tools and difficult to understand diagrams sire" .
I don't understand all this craze for vikings nowadays, especially form people that have any or little to do with them, i'm from the south of Sweden and i love the pagan ways but for f sake, i bet they don't know shit about them or their hertige, just look at the way they promote themselves, looks like hollywood to me.
Yeah viking jewerly is one of many trendy viking themed stores that never knows what the fuck they're talking about and spread misinformation about the mythology.
@@lieneux200 Det är väl inte annorlunda från hur jag själv gillar romersk historia, såväl som vår egna nordiska? Trots att jag knappast lär ha några italienska anfäder. Däremot håller jag helt med om att att dem inte såg särskilt historiska ut, på samma sätt som vikingarna vi ser på film, helt och hållet ser ut som smutsiga fantasy-barbarer.
To add further details, many chieftains and petty kings also converted to Christianity, not because they believed a thing of it, but because it gave them a whole lot more centralised power than ever before. And this continued especially in Sweden well into the beginning of Swedish middle age. And another interesting fact is that the Swedes continued raiding after they became Christians too. The last recorded raid was around 1100, just a few years before the first bishop was chosen (which is the traditional end of Swedish Viking age)
U made some great points, totally agree! I would just add, that type of an incursion into Scandinavia would possibly unite Denmark, Norway & Sweden against such a crusade. Win or lose, that could be a very costly endeavor & would probably cause a lot of retaliation down th road. Great vids, luv your channel 👏
It would've been "lose". Let's assume, for a moment, that the Norse were mediocre warriors with inferior ships. Even then, if the sea didn't swallow the crusaders, the deep Swedish forests, expansive Norwegian mountains, and the cold and deep snow of the Scandinavian winter would break them. They'd literally split up and get lost in the forests; the mountains would force them through narrow valleys, into ambush after ambush, and the first winter would kill off the few survivors. However, reality would've been worse yet; the Norse were capable warriors, with advanced tactics, and had naval supremacy. At most, they could've taken the Danish mainland, but they would've been unable to hold it. There's barely a spot of Denmark that isn't within a days frisky march from the beach. The Norse would've waged a sea borne guerrilla war, something they had already very convincingly proved their skill at. More likely, yet, they wouldn't have been able to take the Danish mainland. And, yes, all internal squabbles would've been put on hold, as well as most international expeditions, as the powers in Scandinavia _and their allies_ focused on dealing with that fundamental threat. Depending on exactly when in the Viking era, there might be allies arriving from Finland, the Baltic, Rus (present day Russia and Ukraine), Poland, and parts of Germany. Young men who otherwise couldn't find a place on a proper war expeditions (which were quite exclusive) would jump at a chance to win glory so close to home, just a long walk and a short boat ride. For perspective, I once read an analysis estimating Norway alone, during most of the Viking era, had the weapons and men to raise an army of 200,000 men (but not the ships to transport them very far). That's fucking terrifying! There's no way a crusade against Scandinavia could've become anything short of a total disaster for Christian Europe, while also strengthening Norse paganism greatly, and resulting in a major backlash. The Viking era is what happened without Scandinavia being united. Imagine what would've happened with Scandinavia united! Imagine every wealthy Norseman pouring his resources into building ships, and Viking ship in the Medieval World, packed with warriors, descending simultaneously on France, without warning, using the tactics and strategies that a much smaller force used to conquer nearly all of Britain, save only Wessex. The major difference would be that, this time, the Vikings would be _really_ pissed off, rather than just venting a little while shopping without paying. Repeat that in every Christian region of Europe accessible by sea or river. There would be little left, other than ashes and smoke.
@@erikjarandson5458 oh I agree completely! There only chance would've been to try & divide & conquer, getting one to side w/them, & it wouldn't have worked once it was known as a religious war. They would've had to fight a united Scandinavia & be slaughtered in doing so. Th weather& terrain alone would have destroyed them ( as you stated) before th Vikings had a proper chance to🍻
@@someonesilence3731 Well... technically it was about "white people" always invading "brown people" Not trying to get into politics, but you get the idea.
Quite a bit of random bits and bobs are true, and enough of it is on the tangential line between history and legend thjat allows writers to use a lot of creative lisence without technically directly contradicting anything but rather just "filling in the blanks".
Best part still have to be the mountain tempel in Uppsala.... I encourage anyone to go to uppsala and point at the nearest mountain. It's as flat as a ski resort in the netherlands
The Last Kingdom is somewhat better when it comes to historical accuracy, although any historical fiction is going to be filled with composite characters and the Forrest Gump effect, not to mention time travel where people who lived a hundred years apart meet and interact
Well, he could just be trying to specify the vikingr’s that raided, because some people that went Viking were just traders and sea-fairing expedition-goers
As a Swede this is one of those nitpicks I dont understand. We say vikings raiders as well, hell the whole age is refered to as the viking age (Vikingatiden) here and we also refere to the people as Vikings.
ok kitten but it ain't common knowledge that viking means raiders and words evolve. viking today is known as a people instead of a profession. you say viking, people apply the term 'viking' to all those Scandinavians, even the non-raider ones. so, it doesn't hurt to assume that everyone who is watching isn't some lore buff. maybe, just maybe, they're interested in watching this video.
Interesting note is that, although obviously after the viking age, the Teutonic Crusaders were tasked with wiping out the Victual Brothers Scandinavian pirates in the 1390s.
There sort of was a crusade against a branch of vikings in the Baltic. The Prussians and the Grand Dutchy of Lithuania were converted largely through military actions
Yes that is true.My grandmother,s first cousin Reinhold von Lilienschild was reported to the Gestapo as being Jewish.Tjey found he had no Jewish blood.His family had been in the Holy Land and later took part in the Baltic Crusades.They went back in the records of the City of Riga to the 12th, 13th century.Some members belong to the Livonian Knights of the Sword.Had to flee for his life to America because even thougj cleared of the Jewish charge, the Gedtapo was going to arrest him anyeays.
@@alpharius8264 most vikings were not danes, vikings first started in sweden to the east. Danes were later more succesfull with the british isles, but in the begining vikings came from sweden. It was there the word originated from.
I recall once reading in Norse mythology that Odin was recognized as having many different names in different parts of the world, which makes me wonder if any Norse converts simply saw God as another interpretation of Odin.
@@PyrusFlameborn Well, Thor was a protector of humanity and went to kill Jormugander knowing he will die in the battle. I'm sure he and Jesus could see eye to eye about some things...except the crossdressing part...
Another thing to think about is that Christ was thought to have annihilated the Greek and Roman pagan gods. Even at his birth many oracles were said to have stopped and one of the major draws of Christianity was that you no longer needed to fear your old gods (whoever they were). He wasn't the peaceful guy of modern imagination but a real a god killer.
@@dffdhhdfhhdffhdfhdfh4985 I'm just saying that is how he was conceptualized by pagans at the time. It's pretty interesting. The tradition of the death of Pan in the time of Tiberius is an example early Christians used to show the Advent had extinguished the gods of the pagan world. Also Ignatius in his letter to the Ephesians ch19 mentions the idea that magic ceased with the birth of Jesus. The tradition of the cessation of [authentic] prophecy from Oracle at Delphi at the time of Jesus was another belief that spread about Jesus' existence basically nullifying the gods, who were considered to be holding the nations captive.
@@Jim-Mc Chrisitanity was spread through 11 disciples + few other missionaries like Andrew, paul etc , thomas... They spread talking about their religion to other roman pagan Gods. They started believing small , small numbers at a time then spread to be a phenomenon in Armenia and Italy and Ethiopian aswell as the middle east, The romans did not like Christians example Nero and other emperors used to persecute them. Tiberuius wasnt fond of them , Christianity wasnt that big so it wasnt really a threat. Also there is no chapter 19 in Ephesians lol? theres only 6... Ephians is talking to Epesus and the land around it , talking about God and his works nothing to with Ignatius. The letter is declared as the Christian mystery (gospel) of salvation, first revealed to the Apostles, is the source of true wisdom (perhaps an indirect repudiation of Gnostic claims to esoteric knowledge of the supernatural) and that salvation through Christ is offered to Jews and Gentiles alike. Thirdly advent is purely a holiday/remeberence of Jesus 40 day period of fasting nothing pagan wise.. If you said Christmas then i could argue in your favour but advent?
@@dffdhhdfhhdffhdfhdfh4985 It was active until the 4th century AD. Lol, no one's saying he physically walked there and put the smackdown on Pythia. It's a spiritual thing. Don't blame me, it's what early Christians thought. Christ's job was to take back the nations and cancel the gods.
Interesting question, one I had never considered. Would like see your take on the 4th Crusade, which basically sealed the schism of the West from the Orthodox East.
It's pretty straight forward. Centuries old of social, political, economic and religious rivalries and tensions and a debt that wasn't paid made men with crosses on their backs sack the city of their enemy while releasing century old frustrations. The fourth crusade had religion as a factor. But that was like the fifth or sixth reason why it happened. There were so many more reasons for such an act that it would've been a miracle if nothing had happened. And if nothing happened that day. Something would've occurred sooner or later between the Greeks and Latins.
It is interesting to me whenever I read, see or hear of anyone changing their religion. Especially of note, in this case, where people disavowed their gods for convenience sake. If that's the case, the idea of God(s) for those people must have been seen more like a spiritual accessory, rather than an all-powerful being, demanding their devotion.
Ironically when the Crusades became a thing, the Viking's direct descendants, the Normans. were its backbone.
Not only that but the scandinavian kingdoms also took a major part in the northern crusades.
@@Nimroc Hail Sigurðr Jórsalafari! The Norwegian Crusader King 👑
Not to mention that king sigurd of norway himselve took part in it and was the first king to leave his homeland to do so
angry Finnish sounds XD
@Al Strider they Spike French aß a native tongue adobted the French Vincent of knighthood and wäre of French descebd aß the vikings intermarried with loyal einen Tiere was Hardy anythink skandanivian abou them
As an English major who studied early Anglo-Saxon literature in college, I can confirm that Christian preachers described Jesus to the northern Germanic peoples as a young warrior who endured his torments showing scorn and defiance to his torturers. Jesus' death on the cross was also described in similar terms to Odin's self-sacrifice on the tree. So yeah, they went out of their way to explain Christianity in terms that were familiar to them.
They did the same thing here in Mexico de hecho
@@yagami1134 If it’s a winning strategy, don’t change it
@YeshuaTheSon Gonzo Lol. Same shit, different bucket
@YeshuaTheSon Gonzo Yeah yeah. Whatevs bro. No one here is interested
@YeshuaTheSon Gonzo Where? Boring land?
Simple answer: Crusading wasn't really a thing until after the Christianization of the Norse was already well under way.
Also, the end of the Viking Era is generally considered to have been the battle of Stamford Bridge in 1066, while the crusades didn't start until about 30 years after that....
Plus there weren't 2 popes trying to "Out-Pope" each other.
@@TheNorwegian by Stamford bridge a large amount of the Vikings would have been probably Catholic
@@cariopuppetmaster The vast majority
Ye.
I've also read that Gunthrum was extremely superstitious, so his army's defeat by the Christians was a "sign" that he needed to convert.
The Norse pagans had a very different view on these things. As most of them saw it, there were many Gods and Goddesses but you made a deal with one of them. You did your rituals (like pray) to them and they deliver their part of the deal, like helping you win your battles.
If they didn't deliver, then you changed your main deity and that is likely what Gunthrum did. It is pretty unlikely he suddenly became monotheistic, foreign priests complains over that in Scandinavia even in the 14th century (or at least in Sweden) but I think the church took it's win when they could.
So yeah, he likely honestly went from worshiping Odin to White Christ. That was not that big of a deal to a viking, as long as they felt that Christ delivered they were faithful to him but we have plenty examples of vikings that switched back to a Norse deity when they felt Jesus didn't provide his part of the bargain.
The vikings were practical people and it might sound like an odd way of thinking today, particularly for a none Scandinavian, but it worked for them.
By the year 1000 all Scandinavian countries except Sweden (and Finland but they weren't Norse and had their own a bit odd mythology) were Christians. In 1137 when a cathedral was built over the former pagan temple (which was a late thing in itself) in Uppsala Sweden was officially Christian even if Magnus Ladulås had 3 crusades inside his own country against pagans in the mid 1200s and Småland, Värmland and a few other places had plenty of pagans even further.
There were trials in Sweden against pagans up to the 1500s but the last one was in the mid 1700s.
My grandad who would have been almost 100 if he still was alive was super Christian, his bedroom was full of angels and a huge painting of Jesus. In his cellar though he had an iron statuette of Thor (he was a fisherman when he was younger).
That is Swedes though, the Danes took more to Christianity, maybe because they were a smaller country with less population, open terrain and at least today, 75% live in the 3 largest cities and over half of them in the capital. Or maybe it just is because Danes and Swedes are a bit different.
@@loke6664 Great feedback. Thank you for that information.
I also remember reading that Gunthrum relied heavily on the runes to make decisions. So I thought, "Whoever reads the runes, actually rules."
Just to point out, that is a very basic description of how Christianity became the religion of Rome... It is an old code, but it checks out...
@@Pedro_Colicigno It is a bit more complicated then that there. Constantine did have plenty of political reasons to pick a monotheistic religion he had more control over but sure, he needed to win his victories for the whole thing to stick.
But Christianity in Roman times were very different from what it was during Harald's time, just as it have evolved today.
Saint Augustine was probably the most influential there, the man was a philosopher and the church doctrines changed with him.
The thing is that the Bible might be very similar today as it was during Roman times but people have interpreted it to work for their time. And if you act the same during Constantine's time, Harald's and ours you would stick out like a sore thumb during 2 of these times.
Rome during Constantine were a relatively strong superpower and final say was the Emperors. Viking age England had not really any king that strong so just sending a missionary to a king was not enough.
For instance were the Swedish king Olof Skötkonung baptized (even if we of course could wonder how genuine that was) but Sweden was still mainly pagan for another 130 years after that, people had to be converted one by one since the king just didn't have the power to force people to convert.
Most history books like to simplify things but the process of changing religion in Europe took a lot of time and work and the vikings were more stubborn then anyone else. You couldn't just force someone like Guthrum or HArald Hårdråda to believe in anything they didn't feel like, those were strong independent persons.
@@loke6664 I in no way think it was as simple as that, it is just I found funny how is usually accept (tho not 100% accurate) that Constatine used the Chi Ro simbol on their shields in the battle of Milvian Bridge and won, claiming it was God showing favor to them (not native english, sorry), and one thousand years later a very similar thing happened. I know is a very crude simplification of the occurences in both cases
Thank you for the mention my dude - loved the video!
gotta love that you guys keep mentioning each other, I love this community
My very pleasure! Keep up the good work!
@@irgendwer3610 I do as well I mean this community pushed me over the line to go to HEMA I was already interested but now I am starting to exercise to prepare for the HEMA school near me.
Love your videos too
Hell yeah, its History with Hilbert!
Me watching this video: Wow, a discount on Viking jewelry!
My Viking ancestors watching a monastery: Wow, a discount on Christian jewelry!
where in africa are u from?
pablo what the fuck you saying, i and my follow Scandinavians are as far from africa you can come!🇸🇪🇳🇴🇩🇰💪🏻
Free jewelry!
@@JensontheBasterd question... how are all the others not vikings when the first recording or writing of a viking on england was from norway?... do keep in mind that viking is a word that did start in norway as both a job title and another way of saying raiding.. also the swedish did not do too much in britain as most of them invaided parts of russia, poland and other baltic countries yet most of them never came home as they mostly just stayed there... aside from that everyone could be a viking as long as they did a viking soo yeah..
@@JensontheBasterd You have no idea how wrong you are, and I'm Danish by the way...
Norsemen: We're Christians now, so no crusade please.
Poland and the Baltic states: You guys are getting spared?!
Many balts were Orthodox christians though, that's worse than heathens ;)
huh? Poland was Christianised in 966. Actually, Poland had launched their own crusades (f.e. against Suduvians) :P
@echoes222 would you mind going back in time and letting the Teutons know?
@@echoes222 Constantinople was christianised in 324 AD
No... But our prowess in battle has made them hire us to beat some Christianity into all of you... And beside, we got reel good gifts and trade deals if we where willing to include this Jesus dude in or pantheon.
Ops... Sorry! Did I accidentally kill you while you where busy talking to me? Surprise! Our favorite tactic!
There's no way Metatron is reading off a script, so this is prepared but narrated and explained flawlessly. A very good episode!
I thought it was because they hadn't unlocked the Crusade tech yet.
Just like it took 200 more years to figure out Primogeniture. Or so I've heard.
Lmaooooo, tech tree hahaha video game now huh?
@@shaolinshowdown1123 crusader kings😂
Tell that to the pope in my game
@@publiopaolacci495 man I was only playing as a Grandmaster of a Crusading Order.
Primogeniture wasn't a native practice of the Germanic tribes. It was introduced by Christian advisers as the tribes were converted (albeit introduced gradually and with a lot of resistance), to prevent the Germanic kingdoms from falling into civil war or even fracturing after the death of a king. For example, take Charlemagne's Carolingian empire. It was cut into three after his death instead of remaining united.
I live in norway and we where tought and shown in school how jesus was paired with norse gods and put in the same pantheon, old stave-churches including icons of jesus alongside odin and the other gods
Great piece of information! So my intuition was correct! Thanks!
@@metatronyt Vikings would have had an intuitive understanding of Trinity as well. Its in the Valknut. Three knots in one. Father-Son-Spirit also mirrors the Odin-Thor-Frey tribunal at Uppsala. The idea goes back to Romulus.
somesort, my people once a ruthless pagan who had the tradition of chopping other people head after we converted to christianity, some of us still practice rituals and magic yet are catholic its complicated, the pagan forest carnival tradition still exists to this day and our people mainly still somewhat ruthless till today but that human sacrifice and head chopping gone, mainly
@@metatronyt Christianity was adapted to deal with norse religion before. The Saxon Wars were pretty much crusades against germanic pagans.
I’ve heard that, too. Polytheistic religions are easy to convert to a monotheistic religion than vice versa. The Danes would convert to Christianity to get better trade deals in Catholic lands but just add Jesus to the pantheon in their practice. As the Norse intermingled with the Franks and Anglo-Saxons the generations would drift more toward Christianity over time.
When you are playing breath of the wild and get the sudden urge to talk about a crusade against vikings.
relatable
I can see him sitting there in full armor, smoking a joint with the visor of his Bascinet closed.
Playing zelda as the steam puffs out of the eyeslits..
Now I want to buy armor
Imagine if that were true and there were no camera, Metatron's speaking to a wall or an open door and his GF's used to his urges to give one-sided discussions.
coincidentally i am playing Twilight princess as i watch this.
@@thulegezelschap5884 Must everything come back to smoking a joint?
Keep in mind that the Norse worshipped far more than just warrior gods. A lot of the gods, especially the very popular Vanir, were more fertility gods than anything. The notion of good harvests and bountiful resources was probably even more promising to them as far as religion goes, than war prowess, even if that was perhaps relevant to actual viking raiders.
Thor vs Jesus might be the only Marvel film I'm looking forwards to.
Jesus has already won
"Your god is nailed to a cross while my god holds a hammer. What say you?" "Your god is owned by Disney!"
Vegeta vs Jesus:
ruclips.net/video/4G5joc54-IU/видео.html
jesus throwing nails to thor's head
@@GlazeBattleBorn cringe
There was a story I heard (I don't remember where) that tied the two religions together and also helped some Norse converts. The story had to do with Ragnarok and the Garden of Eden, that at the end of Ragnarok the only survivors of the war were hiding in the base of the Tree of Yggdrassil. The Christian side said the survivors were Adam and Eve, that the Garden of Eden was inside the tree. So in that sense, the end of the world in Norse mythology had already happened a long time ago.
then why theres still demons to pervert god creations?
in noah era
@@seamuswbiggerarmalite3379 LEft over Jotuns
That's awesome
@@seamuswbiggerarmalite3379 the raphaim are nephilim and Israelite hybrid...basically not all beings died from the flood and the humans that survived intermixed with those survivors
A connected universe.
"Join Christianity, we have Christmas discounts ☦ ➕ ⚖ "
Vikings : 😮
lmaoo
And pretty women!!!
Jokes on you, christmas celebration derives from yule (germanic/nordic pagan tradition)
@@truthseeker1941 Why do you think the nords took to it so quickly?
@@truthseeker1941 Not quite accurate, the date was originally picked to overlap with the ancient Roman Saturnalia holiday around the winter solstice and Yule was also a winter solstice celebration (most cultures had festivals around this time) so yes in Northern Europe there are a lot of Yule influences down to the name of the holiday, but Yule is not the "inspiration" for Christmas as such. Early Christians deliberately decided to celebrate the birth of Christ around the winter solstice to take the place of existing pagan solstice holidays makes it a lot of an easier sell to the newly converted, just keep celebrating like you always have, just tweak the theme a little and add a church visit to the todo list.
I could see the Idea of Ragnork melding well into the Book of Relavation.
I've read that Ragnarök was introduced by Snorri Sturluson, who was already a Christian when he wrote the Prose Edda. The story of Ragnarök may have very well been influenced by the Book of Revelations.
My take on why it was so "easy" to convert norse, danish and swedish kings is that a christian king enjoys far more control and authority over his population than a pagan king. Having the church supporting your line of succession etc must have been a very attractive notion.
The church was a form of mandated nobility. Later nobility would grant charters and licenses along the same authority.
Mutilated warrior god nailed to a tree, looked after the immortal honoured dead. Much of a muchness.
@@pattheplanteryeah, Christianity is pretty attractive. Simply accept that Jesus Christ is the son of god who was crucified and risen again, and bend your knee to the Holy Catholic Church, thus you shall have life everlasting.
@@pattheplanter nordic people had somewhat simialr believe - about Odin, who sacrifised himselve on Ygdrassil and was dead for nine days, and than - ressurected with huge portion of magic knowledge (runes in particular, if I remember right). So that concept was not alien to them at all.
P.S. Maybe that concept came to life after contact with christians, don't know for sure.
But anyway thats how "double-faith" works.
@@alexmalyarchuk1723 That is what I was referring to.
Norse versions of Christ were something we studied back in college, in a class on English language history. It was quite fun to see the differences between the meek and mild Jesus we think of today, and the fierce and heroic Jesus who was popular with the Norse. I recall in particular one bit where Jesus is described as eagerly offering his hands to the soldiers so that they could nail him to the cross. He knew this was part of the plan, and wasn't about to shirk away or fear what pain was to come.
Jesus very explicitly volunteers to be crucified in the Bible.
I fail to see how offering yourself up means you are no longer mild or meek. Jesus never came to lead a revolution, he came to be a perfect and final sacrifice for yours and mine sins. So that we could be blameless before God by his blood, we are saved. And by his stripes, we are healed.
The version popular with the Norse is the more biblically accurate version tho.
@@denroybercierno one is saying that
@@denroybercier So how does that work exactly ? The final sacrifice for commiting sins is a sin of nailing someone to cross and killing them ? Am I the only one who thinks this doesn't make sense ?
The Norwegian Crusade happened in 1107 by Sigurd the I of Norway. Literally 40 years after the viking age stopped.
It was also just a glorified viking raid.
There are serious flaws in his analysis. The only reason it "didn't happen" is because the concept of Crusade didn't form yet. When it did form, the Catholics launched the Northern Crusades against the Baltic and Scandinavia region. There were also numerous Crusades during this period against rival Christians sects the Catholic Church considered heretical, as well as local Crusades against the Eastern Orthodox (both against the Byzantines and against smaller populations in the Baltics; these are pre-Fourth Crusade) as well as fellow Catholics, for political and financial reasons. Also, Jesus was born in Bethlehem not Jerusalem, he started the video off with a mistake.
@@realtalk6195 wrong comment chain
Wow I didn't know that happened even if it was relatively small that's cool to know
Sigurd was the son of Magnus Barfot. Magnus was the son of Olav Kyrre, whose father Harald Hardråda, fell in the battle of Stamford Bridge in 1066, which is considered the end of the viking age.
I really appreciate that the word Viking is used to describe an act here, "going on viking". That is the first time I've heard it used that way in a non-Scandinavian language.
There were so-called "northern crusades" launched against Slavs and Balts in the Elbe river region in modern-day Germany and in Prussia - modern-day Kaliningrad and parts of Poland. They were organized on a much smaller scale tough and usually by neighboring rulers among which were already Christian Danes.
There was also the Kalmare ledung against the pagans in Småland in southern Sweden
Teutonic order?
@@kasatimshardnim the Teutons indeed were the primary force in the Northern Crusade.
And we Swedes went crusading in Finland, for some reason. I can't remember the details right now.
@@andersbenke3596 the consequence of the Crusades was Finland gradually became an integral part of Sweden in late 13th
Christmas discount in viking jewelry... that's why they didn't crusade, they didn't need, they offered them Christmas discounts.
Well technically it's a going a viking, meaning raiders. But people forget those people were also traders.
lol
Not too far off. There's a Great Courses lecture explores how the Viking Age of raiding ended due to trading agricultural sciences with the rest ofChristendom, nullifying the need to raid for resources. So, trading with Christians, trading during Christmas... yeah
@@MegaKnight2012 well they did farm well the slaves did, also some have said that they weren't all Norse people the children born to slaves which usually means the men caught females and impregnated them were not slaves, also if you where a good enough warrior even if a slave you can earn your freedom.
Yule discount!
* Vikings raid the shorelines and upriver *
People living inland: Glory to God that we live far from those parts
Magyars: we're gonna do what's called a pro gamer move
You look like the new hipster meowth
72 hungarians liked this comment
Wait till the Ottomans arrive 😂
lmao
Then after about a century they did another pro-gamer move and converted :)
The monks even had a prayer, "God save us from the fury of the Northmen"😎
Northmen: Hehe, longships go brr 🇳🇴🇩🇰🇸🇪
Yes and the Muslims came ad destroyed them
Love this man!
There are serious flaws in his analysis. The primary reason it "didn't happen" is because the concept of Crusade didn't form yet. When it did form (1000s), the Catholics launched the Northern Crusades against the Baltic and Scandinavia region (1100s). There were also numerous Crusades during this period against rival Christians sects the Catholic Church considered heretical, as well as local Crusades against the Eastern Orthodox (both against the Byzantines and against smaller populations in the Baltics; these are pre-Fourth Crusade) as well as fellow Catholics, for political and financial reasons. These continued into the 1500s.
Also, Jesus was born in Bethlehem not Jerusalem, he started the video off with a mistake.
This sounds like a fantasy book that needs to be written, Vikings vs Crusaders.
It's called the Northern Crusades, look it up.
His analysis is flawed. The primary reason it "didn't happen" is because the concept of Crusade didn't form yet and/or they didn't have the know-how for this type of warfare. When it did form (1000s), the Catholics launched the Northern Crusades against the Baltic and Scandinavia region (1100s). There were also numerous Crusades during this period against rival Christians sects the Catholic Church considered heretical, as well as local Crusades against the Eastern Orthodox (both against the Byzantines and against smaller populations in the Baltics; these are pre-Fourth Crusade) as well as fellow Catholics, for political and financial reasons. These continued into the 1500s.
Also, Jesus was born in Bethlehem not Jerusalem, he started the video off with a mistake.
It has. The Saxon Tales by Bernard Cornwell, also a netflix show called The Last Kingdom in it's fifth season.
I am Uhtred, son of Uhtred, and his father was also called Uhtred and we are the Lord's of Bebbanburg.
@@Bayouboy1981 can’t stand those books and the Netflix show is even worse. Horrible in their historical portrayal of battles and of religion be it pagan or Christian. It’s so steeped in modern secularism/ humanism and that really bleeds into the story especially into the pagan/ Christian conflict he portrays. Constantly made me cringe.
The Netflix show is even worse. So much wrong with it. The portrayal of the Saxon’s is a disgrace and I’m not even a Saxon. So dumb.
@@arminius504 that's why it's called historical fiction.
Main reason we become Christinas was so we could launch IKEA.
An IKEA a day will keep the exit away.
IT IS WORKING BROTHERS
WÖRKING*
And because Odin ordered to lay down weapons and start building furniture.
@@arx3516 Valhallelujah!
This is a very good explanation of Guntrum to Athelstan conversion. I was always confused abt the supposed breaking of Oaths over the Arm Rings & why he converted. It is hard to think how ppl thought in the past without context, which you brilliantly provide here.
It's a fucking TV show. This is a discussion about actual history.
Would be curious to see Metatron’s reaction to ROMVLVS (Italian TV series set in ancient Italy).
Well then let's hope he sees this, he usually does take a peek in the comment section, so you never know
Doesn't he live in Southern Italy?
@YoStefan if the show is from Italy and he lives in Italy, he's probably seen a bit of it before if it's not a new thing. That's what.
@@bleedingmasque.6193 it just came out this year
That would be cool
Because they were too OP and the pope was waiting for them to be nerfed via a patch.
He could've taken advantage of the stab-hit they took from NoCB-ing Lindisfarne
Clearly not too OP, since the saxons beat them multiple times. They were just better at surprise attacks
True story
😂😂😂
They have a t-34 driver hatch as a shield. Impenetrable.
@Eugene Flores its a joke dude
Also worth mentioning that when the vikings were at their height of raiding, like during lindesfarne or great heathen army, a crusade had never been called before. By the time of the first crusade in 1095 the viking era was pretty much over.
damn Metatron please never stop your channel
Also it is interesting how christianity merged with scandinavian religion. You can see how old church decorated with scandinavian ornament depicting norse pantheon and stories related to them.
That's not exactly true though. The anglo saxons used to have the same beliefs or similar beliefs to the norse. Remember anglo saxons got converted to christianity by the britons. Norse had Odin, Saxons had Woden, Saxons had Thunor, etc etc.
Because the scandinavian religion were also relatively inspired by slavs, wich was influenced by other southern cults from the region wich today is Romania, wich was influenced by the Roman Empire, wich adopted proto christian cults. So, basically, it was closing the circle around cultures who were in contact before and forgot about it.
@@gosonegr great insight, strong point
@@gosonegr You have a common ancestor, the Yamnaya, however Slav tribes still maintained contact with the Steppe tribes right until Christianity took hold. It seems that Slavs in their prime would become Steppe warriors but when they got old and tired of fighting they would retire back into the forests of Eastern Europe and this went on from the spread of the Yamnaya into Europe 3300BC up until around 1200AD.
@@dreddykrugernew Didn't know about the Yamnaya, but if they took even the territory is now Spain and Portugal seems plausible they share some aspects of their religious life, lore and other cultural themes, like the afterlife in Heaven/Valhalla/Elissium and the punishment of Hell/Hades, or the duality between Good and Evil incarnated in different gods (a fallen Angel for Chistians) of some sort.
"Christian wealth was very craved by the nords"
lmao yeah they made that very clear XD
Metatron had been exploring Hyrule in Breath of the Wild (tv behind him) when suddenly he felt the need to explore the topic of crusades and viking age reality.
You are so passionate about history and facts. My history teacher was also driven about teaching history how it should be taught. She made history come alive. It became my favourite course. She was a wonderful teacher whom I am still grateful for the enormous efforts she did to teach us.
Great topic! I saw the title and thought “Yes...wow, why hasn’t this question ever crossed my mind?”
Love how he brought up the book of Revelation.
God is a God of Love, yes....
But he is no hippie as commonly assumed of him
lol yeah. Reading the old testament at night can be kinda scary. Also we were one person away from being destroyed altogether.
@@johnmclee3561 8 people but point taken
@@SepticFuddy Yeah true. Still, I got the impression is was mainly Noah he saw out of the corner of his eye.
AH but if you love your children and someone rapes and murders them.... Whats just then? So good point hes actually terrifying, if your living in the flesh.. I shiver when I read things he says in the old testament and Jesus in the new among others Job ect..
@@jonhurt6109 I personally don't have this vision of God, he's the master of armies, but he still is a God of compassion and love, but as the guy said above, he's no hippie too
The show The Last Kingdom has an interesting representation of the conversion of Guthrum to Christianity. For anyone who hasn't seen it, they suggest throughout the first season that Guthrum is curious about Christianity, and at the end when the battle turns in Alfred's favor, Guthrum says "Their God is with them", similarly to how Metatron says he may have perceived things.
I'm honored to be able to see your fantastic videos! thank you very much for your time
Alternate Title, A Crusader's Guide: How to preach to Vikings 😂
WOLOLOOO
@@Lord_Tacus me: research Heresy
Viking: eating raw chicken
Christian: tally ho neighbor have you heard of the warrior God Yahweh and our Lord and savior Jesus Christ?
@@Dorkeydaze crusader tryna convert viking: ...errrrrr Jesus said those who lived by the sword, die by the sword...
Viking: now that's what I'm looking for, sign me up
@@perrenchan6600
Christian: yes he indeed did say that. Did you know Steven the first gentile convert was stoned to death? Being Christian is hardcore and you will did a hard death and be raised in Valhalla and dine with David, Solomon, Able, Michal, and many other grand warriors!
To add further to Metatron's point, never forget the Nordic people launched their own crusade under King Sigurd I, and it marked the first time a European King personally set foot in the Holy Land in a Crusade.
Didn't Alexander the Great go to Jerusalem?
@@rebeccavaughn8897 Indeed. Not to mention the fact that Emperor Titus personally lead the army which besieged Jerusalem in 70 AD. Granted, he would not become Emperor until 79 AD. Vespasian, while he did not take part in the conquest of Jerusalem, did return to the Israel to complete his own campaign of the Roman-Jewish war after being crowned Emperor in 70 AD. Hadrian also visited Jerusalem in 135 AD. Not to mention the fact that every Byzantine Emperor following Constantine was coronated in Jerusalem until the Sassanids conquered it in 614.
But, they are all "emperors" and not "kings".
This is false. Sigurd was the first king to personally take part in a crusade, but wasn't even among the first 20 European rulers to step foot in the holy land.
@@Unlitedsoul I apologize, that is what I meant.
@@Unlitedsoul Hmmmmm. Is it valide to count people who became rulers later or not? I'll have to think about that...
I should probably do as you did and separate out the crusades from other wars though. They really are their own animal.
Thanks!
The Franks launched a major campaign into Jutland in 814 (maybe 816, I cannot recall), the Danes jumped on their ships and withdrew to either Fyn or Vendsyssel, and eventually the Franks had to give up and withdraw. Likely their supply lines were raided- raiding being what Vikings did best.
Another very interesting take. Thank you for everything, this channel is a gem :)
The part about the Norse seeing Jesus as a warrior god is absolutely true. A lot of the early sagas refer to Jesus “the King of Jordan” a great ruler who leads his followers to victory over death itself
Same with the English, old English epics like Heliand call Jesus' disciples his thanes and describe Jesus as going into battle against death and not against the Romans
Which makes sense since the Bible says Jesus raided hell and took the kingdom from Satan.
"Byzantine empire recruited Norsmen."
Well, they also recruted Turkic horsearchers, and were friends with the Fatimids of Egypt who were themselves foes to the Seljuks.
And allied with the Mongols. lol.
@@szarekhthesilent2047 Yes lol, even the Crusaders later on allied with the heathen Mongols to try to win against the Mamelukes.
The Byzantines would use anyone in their army. They probably would have recruited satan himself if they were able.
The roman army had allways been open to mercenaries. Ironnicly the emperors personal bodyguards were in the most cases recruited from foreign man as they were veiwed as political neutral
@@alpharius8264 The Ayyubids did that with the Mameluks as well. The Ottomans' entire core professional infantry was composed of foreign slaves.. albeit converted. Noone is saying the practice was unusual, the entire point of my comment was to point out that it wasn't. Because I found it weird that the Metatron would use the fact that the Eastern Romans used Norse mercenaries as an argument for the latters not being considered as enemies to Chrisendom and a menace when the Romans did that with the Turks as well.
You are as objective as a history buff could and should be. I like you, keep it up.
Remembering Rolland's(the viking that converted to christianity and became a duke of Normandy) biography, before his death, he donated some gold to monastaries, while also sacrificing some slaves for the sake of Odin. So he had believe in both religions, and maybe he was not hte only one
I image him being like "yea, i'm not sure what to belive, so better please both"
it makes sense. look at 2nd/3rd gen muslims in the west, most of them are having casual sex and drinking. they've adopted half our traditions/values without really thinking about it, but still keep to the old ones to keep their mothers happy as well
Constantine was similar, it’s much easier for Pagans to accept a new god, than a monotheist a new god
Excellent break down. I’m playing the new AC Valhalla(enjoying it too)
one of the interesting things about the Norse timeline, is that my ancestors in West Africa started a musical tradition with the Djembe (goblet shaped hand drum) right around the year1,000 C.E.
I’m an author and history buff, and I enjoyed this video. Peace to you Metatron
Ac Valhalla is terrible and total fantasy game 😂
@@RealRagnar816 I thought so too but was blown away when I started it recently
@@RealRagnar816 its a game after all... but of course if you like historical facts then the game is not good hahaha I don't care if the game is historically correct, I just enjoy playing it. If the subject is history, I prefer to read.
@@RealRagnar816 Based. That game was hot garbage.
I love how he has BOTW just chillin in the background haha
On the topic of northern crusades, it would be great to see some videos on the Baltic Crusades
Absolutely mesmerizing to watch the prof here methodically pull it all apart and put it back together. Humans are messy, full stop. Metatron strikes a powerful blow against simple, comfy, uni-dimensional answers to big, fat, hairy questions. Bravo.
Here in Denmark we are taught a bit about how Christianity came about and it's a lot of what you touched upon in this video. They kinda had to sell the idea of Jesus Christ to the both the normal people but also the vikings so one famous example is changing the way he is depicted in artwork. Instead of the classic and iconic version of Jesus suffering on the cross he was now staring directly ahead, back straight and a big beard, similar to depictions of Odin when he was impaled. There is also evidence that people would wear both a cross and Thor's hammer, in fact "quick molds" have been found so you could quickly make a pair of silver or iron or something like that. It seems though they prefered to be baptised during old age a lot of times from what little records we have, suggesting it was more of a classic "well, we can't really be sure so we best make sure we don't piss either off..." kinda deal for a lot.
Baptism washed away your sins. Before the Sacrament of Confession was invented, save Baptism until most of your sinning days are behind you.
love how he put the Warband Viking
Ayyyy finally found a mount and blade fan
That's a nice head you have on your shoulders...
Been watching the Last Kingdom. This puts alot of it into historical perspective. Thanks!
i know its sounds cringe but man, take a look in the books! They are very much enjoyable and easy to reand and understand!
Not cringe at all, didn't know there were books! Thanks I might look into that
That shows more dramatization than an accurate Recounting of history
Always Amazing Videos. I’m Sicilian Irish ☘️ & Completely Love ❤️the History of Facts etc . Thank You 🙏🏼
Vikings are one of my favorite things to learn about
@Kroi Albanoi Vikings would stomp prussians
I don't think they were much different from Baltic pagans. Anyway it still is an interesting topic and I love Wardruna music, I stumble accidentally on it.
@Kroi Albanoi They slaughtered balts and only had any problems when they had pomeranian aid or when they had no support from Europeans during the winter months, and they STILL won.
Scandinavia was christianized for economical reasons mostly, and those who refused were defeated by the other scandinavians who accepted the conversion
So why send an army to the north when you can just convert an army that's already there?
Probably political reasons too. Since the church was a useful tool of the king and the kings noticed
@@arawn1061 the Christian Divine Right also made the pesky business of controlling the populace a lot easier
They did engage in the Northern Crusades beginning in the 1100s. This time period also saw numerous Crusades against rival Christians sects the Catholic Church considered heretical, as well as local Crusades against the Eastern Orthodox (both against the Byzantines and against smaller populations in the Baltics) as well as against fellow Catholics, for political and financial reasons.
Pretty much the same with the Anglo-Saxon kings as well, which ironically led to the Vikings waging their own kind of crusade against the English for leaving their religion
Also as the kings of the north saw that a christina population was easier to control as it was pretty much seen that disovedience towards the king was disobieince towards god as the king was blessed by the church.
Awesome comments, as usual! Thank you so much for your work!
As I was watching your video, I couldn't help myself and compared it to the history of Saint Patrick in Ireland as well...
I mean, one could never forget the power of the middle and poor classes as well. Saint Patrick brought a much more compassionate creed - Christianity - that, at least compared to the pagan rituals, didn't make ugly sacrifices like human sacrifices, regarded everyone as equal under God, which made huge contributions to the abollition of slavery in the continent.
In the history of the Catholic Church, there are many, many documents of real conversions, like you said of Guthrum/Aethelstan.
The Normands were not stupid. I am pretty sure many kings did become Christians either by true sentiment of conversion or by the feeling that, if they didn't, another usurper would.
Like the alleged phrase of King Dom João VI of Portugal to his son, Dom Pedro I, here in Brazil:
"Claim your crown (the empire of Brazil) before an adventurer do it!"
Cheers from Brazil!
André
Brilliant video that brings up points about Viking conversion I never thought of! Thank you!
Love the lorica segmentata as decoration and the shirt looks nice as well!
In a sense they actually did. The Wendish Crusade was targeted against Pagan Polabian Slavs who basically were filing the role of Vikings at the time by sea raiding and controlling a large part of the Baltic Trade. They actually often raided Scandinavia and parts of Northern Germany.
No they did not. When we say vikings we refer to the early medieval scandinavian peoples (denmark, sweden and norway). Slavs do not fall into that category.
@@hazzmati Viking was a profession, not an ethnicity. They refer to Scottish raiders as Vikings in the Icelandic Sagas.
@@Spr1ggan87 but we are not looking at their perspective but our modern perspective. I don't need to prove that, it's common knowledge
@@hazzmati It's a common misconception then. Especially since a lot of Slavs lived on Scandinavian territories like the southern Danish islands which for a time were predominantly Slavic. Moreover, both Norse and Slavic warriors were organizing joint raids.
A rigid division of cultures inhabiting the Baltic Sea basin is an artificial invention of XIX and XX century nationalism. In reality, cultures and tribes in the area lived in a confusing melting pot.
Among the best pieces of evidence for that are Old Slavic words like vitędzь which was a Slavic equivalent of Viking.
As +Default Profile Picture pointed out Sagas do not discriminate in this regard as they even mention Slavic berserkers. Source: Saga of Magnus the Blind
I live on a land conquered by Christians during Northern Crusades, so...
And yet the name (Livonian "Imanta" or "Imants" in it's modern Latvian form) of the guy, who scored a headshot with his spear against the first bishop if Riga is still one of the most popular boys names. How Christian is that?! XD
And yes, there was no such strict division between ethnicities and sometimes even not between faiths, in the battle if Tannenberg Pagan Lithuanians, Orthodox Slavs and Tatar cavalry were fighting alongside Catholic Poles against Catholic knights of Teutonic order. If Pagans happened to be vassals of a Christian king, well, that's still a fighting force, same with mercenaries.
Interesting topic. I once a read a PhD thesis based on the relationship between high medieval Norsemen and the pagan Sami population.
It basically boiled down to three things: Bishops who demanded crusade against the heathes, but it fell on deaf ears. Secondly. Lords who obviously made empty promises, jet were, as you pointed out, content with taxation of the status quo. Lastly, the common people who peacefully interacted without any concerns.
If there's no dragon to slay, then there's no st. George. Only George.
Fantastic video, even better when you see its breath of the wild in the background
Nice video. I especially liked that you mentioned the militaristic aspects one can find in Christian holy texts, as being probably used to woo the Norse into not thinking of Christianity as the religion of a weak God.
Baltic crusades is as close as we get to that.
Was no real reason to crusade before the call for help from Alexios. The natural Christianisation of many of the Vikings didn't actually take all that long.
No it look quite awhile to christanize the Norse.
That and the amount of uh.... pious donations you could mercifully extract from Scandinavian mountains and forests was not exactly promising to anyone who would try to budget a major military undertaking on the scale of mainstream crusades.
@@Saeronor but that didn't stop the Baltic or Wendish crusade near the same area
Well the Danes where part of the Baltic crusades after they converted.
@@cariopuppetmaster Wendish? Nowhere near the scale or effort comparable to "thousands of kilometers to reach Palestine, fighting actual powers on the way". These were often local, march lords running things, with Germany proper stepping in when stuff got really hairy, like in late X. And the area was pretty much behind the corner, only poor infrastructure prolonging the process.
Baltic? Initially a grueling march into the wild, but even then it was more than 100 years *after* crusades got into full swing. Hell, Teutonic Order pushing into Prussia was a child of that earlier period. The Prussia Project was basically its life extension after Holy Land got Ackbared. So, really, not the *first* choice for participants, not even the sloppy seconds (Hungary episode for Teutons).
And then, after breaking some uprisings and finally consolidating in Prussia, it became even more of a local effort, Orders running the show on day-to-day basis, with western knights purchasing Season Passes when it suited them.
Yes some Irish traded with the Vikings, allied with them, even hired them to fight other Irish as Mercenaries. It was at the battle of Clontarf (1014) where King Brian Boru defeated the Vikings and unified Ireland for only a brief moment. He was killed at the battle and Ireland returned to being divided, which was a perfect opportunity for the Normans in the following century.
Great video & great info. As a side note, the descendants of the these converted Vikings would be the future Crusaders, Normans from Normandy among others.
"He who lives by the sword dies by the sword" - Jesus
"that's a nice head you have on your shoulders" -Sea Raider
@@afb8425 Ha
The Vikings wanted exactly that, so yeah, Jesus seems the best god for them haha
@@Daniel-xh6tv Best God* for them.
The superstition of dying with a sword in your hand was so you can enter Valhallah -- the afterlife of feasting, boasting, and fighting forever. That notion would be obsolete with the Christianization of Scandinavia and Iceland
Those who dont live by the swords dies by it anyway
8:20 Just a small comment on putting on a symbol of Thor.
1. The Mjolnir as a necklace appears in the North simultaneously with the Cross.
2. Up till now, it was found only in female burials, so for a Viking a dude wearing a Mjolnir would probably look like much like Conchita Wurst.
An interesting perspective here. Guthrun, after losing the battle against Alfred probably chose life over death, Alfred's heritage was not so different from Guthrun's so I presume the two rulers had a lot in common. Nice one!
Very well spoken!! The commercial for the jewelry was only 5 seconds too long, but you wear it yourself, so; fair. Good timing, and valid reasoning through out., especially the point about selling Jesus as one of the lesser gods. It's what made it okay, and it was only later the the Church got exclusionary.
Retainer: "should we organize a crusade on the norse heathens?"
King: "do they have oil?"
👌
That is historically inaccurate & unrealistic,as oil then would not have been worth such a crusade.
Retainer:"'Thzy haven't invented oil yet and instead spend their days trying to develop techniques of building ships with ridiculous little hexagonal tools and difficult to understand diagrams sire" .
A true metagamer, would not invade them, convert them instead and then use for crusades in the ME. Hmm...
As if the modern world doesn't run on oil.
Viking jewelry? The page that mistakes Sköll for Skadi? They mistake the wolf that’ll eat either the moon or the sun with the goddesss of skiing!
Sounds about the same to me.
I don't understand all this craze for vikings nowadays, especially form people that have any or little to do with them, i'm from the south of Sweden and i love the pagan ways but for f sake, i bet they don't know shit about them or their hertige, just look at the way they promote themselves, looks like hollywood to me.
@@lieneux200 yes basically it's just fantasy.
Yeah viking jewerly is one of many trendy viking themed stores that never knows what the fuck they're talking about and spread misinformation about the mythology.
@@lieneux200 Det är väl inte annorlunda från hur jag själv gillar romersk historia, såväl som vår egna nordiska? Trots att jag knappast lär ha några italienska anfäder.
Däremot håller jag helt med om att att dem inte såg särskilt historiska ut, på samma sätt som vikingarna vi ser på film, helt och hållet ser ut som smutsiga fantasy-barbarer.
Zelda Breath of the Wild in the background be like: -_-
Could've been his gf or him playing halfway through and waiting for a blood moon or something, either way, it's one way to get someone's attention XD
It's one of my favourite games, and the fact that Metatron play it makes it even better
@@JoseManuel-is4yc same
I didn't mean to sound so heated in my last comment, I have loved your show for years
To add further details, many chieftains and petty kings also converted to Christianity, not because they believed a thing of it, but because it gave them a whole lot more centralised power than ever before. And this continued especially in Sweden well into the beginning of Swedish middle age.
And another interesting fact is that the Swedes continued raiding after they became Christians too. The last recorded raid was around 1100, just a few years before the first bishop was chosen (which is the traditional end of Swedish Viking age)
So the missionaries taught them the METAL parts first? Makes sense to me^^
Even us orthodoxes believe that Mary helps in battles for the just.
There's also the Battle of Leuven, also called the Battle of the River Dyle, which was fought on September 891 between East Francia and the Vikings.
U made some great points, totally agree! I would just add, that type of an incursion into Scandinavia would possibly unite Denmark, Norway & Sweden against such a crusade. Win or lose, that could be a very costly endeavor & would probably cause a lot of retaliation down th road. Great vids, luv your channel 👏
It would've been "lose". Let's assume, for a moment, that the Norse were mediocre warriors with inferior ships. Even then, if the sea didn't swallow the crusaders, the deep Swedish forests, expansive Norwegian mountains, and the cold and deep snow of the Scandinavian winter would break them. They'd literally split up and get lost in the forests; the mountains would force them through narrow valleys, into ambush after ambush, and the first winter would kill off the few survivors. However, reality would've been worse yet; the Norse were capable warriors, with advanced tactics, and had naval supremacy. At most, they could've taken the Danish mainland, but they would've been unable to hold it. There's barely a spot of Denmark that isn't within a days frisky march from the beach. The Norse would've waged a sea borne guerrilla war, something they had already very convincingly proved their skill at. More likely, yet, they wouldn't have been able to take the Danish mainland.
And, yes, all internal squabbles would've been put on hold, as well as most international expeditions, as the powers in Scandinavia _and their allies_ focused on dealing with that fundamental threat. Depending on exactly when in the Viking era, there might be allies arriving from Finland, the Baltic, Rus (present day Russia and Ukraine), Poland, and parts of Germany. Young men who otherwise couldn't find a place on a proper war expeditions (which were quite exclusive) would jump at a chance to win glory so close to home, just a long walk and a short boat ride. For perspective, I once read an analysis estimating Norway alone, during most of the Viking era, had the weapons and men to raise an army of 200,000 men (but not the ships to transport them very far). That's fucking terrifying!
There's no way a crusade against Scandinavia could've become anything short of a total disaster for Christian Europe, while also strengthening Norse paganism greatly, and resulting in a major backlash. The Viking era is what happened without Scandinavia being united. Imagine what would've happened with Scandinavia united! Imagine every wealthy Norseman pouring his resources into building ships, and Viking ship in the Medieval World, packed with warriors, descending simultaneously on France, without warning, using the tactics and strategies that a much smaller force used to conquer nearly all of Britain, save only Wessex. The major difference would be that, this time, the Vikings would be _really_ pissed off, rather than just venting a little while shopping without paying. Repeat that in every Christian region of Europe accessible by sea or river. There would be little left, other than ashes and smoke.
@@erikjarandson5458 oh I agree completely! There only chance would've been to try & divide & conquer, getting one to side w/them, & it wouldn't have worked once it was known as a religious war. They would've had to fight a united Scandinavia & be slaughtered in doing so. Th weather& terrain alone would have destroyed them ( as you stated) before th Vikings had a proper chance to🍻
Had an argument a few weeks ago with a girl about exactly this. Gonna send her this video.
You had an argument with a girl about a crusade on vikings??
odd
@@someonesilence3731
Well... technically it was about "white people" always invading "brown people"
Not trying to get into politics, but you get the idea.
@@spiffygonzales5899 Right... that makes more sense at least.
The Vikings tv series is entertaining, however it is so ridiculously inaccurate. None of it is true.
Quite a bit of random bits and bobs are true, and enough of it is on the tangential line between history and legend thjat allows writers to use a lot of creative lisence without technically directly contradicting anything but rather just "filling in the blanks".
Best part still have to be the mountain tempel in Uppsala.... I encourage anyone to go to uppsala and point at the nearest mountain. It's as flat as a ski resort in the netherlands
The Last Kingdom is somewhat better when it comes to historical accuracy, although any historical fiction is going to be filled with composite characters and the Forrest Gump effect, not to mention time travel where people who lived a hundred years apart meet and interact
Uhh... you want to watch some vikings wearing light color clothes pillaging a village that doesn't even fight back?
That show is funny, but c'mon, even the viking midgets without proper training suddenly kills 10 professional soldiers with their bare hands 🤣
This is the best clip I have heard about the conversion of the Vikings.
”Viking Raiders” - yes I too like saying words twice
Well, he could just be trying to specify the vikingr’s that raided, because some people that went Viking were just traders and sea-fairing expedition-goers
As a Swede this is one of those nitpicks I dont understand. We say vikings raiders as well, hell the whole age is refered to as the viking age (Vikingatiden) here and we also refere to the people as Vikings.
Sahara desert
It isn’t as redundant as you might think, some Vikings might be huscarls or maybe even paladins.
ok kitten but it ain't common knowledge that viking means raiders and words evolve. viking today is known as a people instead of a profession. you say viking, people apply the term 'viking' to all those Scandinavians, even the non-raider ones. so, it doesn't hurt to assume that everyone who is watching isn't some lore buff. maybe, just maybe, they're interested in watching this video.
Here's a question I always wanted to ask a history teacher: have you ever played _Lords Of The Realm 2?_
Interesting note is that, although obviously after the viking age, the Teutonic Crusaders were tasked with wiping out the Victual Brothers Scandinavian pirates in the 1390s.
There sort of was a crusade against a branch of vikings in the Baltic. The Prussians and the Grand Dutchy of Lithuania were converted largely through military actions
Yes that is true.My grandmother,s first cousin Reinhold von Lilienschild was reported to the Gestapo as being Jewish.Tjey found he had no Jewish blood.His family had been in the Holy Land and later took part in the Baltic Crusades.They went back in the records of the City of Riga to the 12th, 13th century.Some members belong to the Livonian Knights of the Sword.Had to flee for his life to America because even thougj cleared of the Jewish charge, the Gedtapo was going to arrest him anyeays.
Sigurd "the crusader" was a great king & raider, very interesting person to learn about
They would've needed naval supremacy. Against the vikings in the 900s? No
Wessex achieved several naval victories against Viking Fleets. With more resources I'm sure it wouldn't have been an issue.
Not necesserly as most vikikngs were from Denmark
@@alpharius8264 the capital is in an island
@@alpharius8264 most vikings were not danes, vikings first started in sweden to the east. Danes were later more succesfull with the british isles, but in the begining vikings came from sweden. It was there the word originated from.
@@alpharius8264 Norwegians, Danes and Swedes all raided about as often and with about the same amount of Manpower.
So... You are wrong.
I recall once reading in Norse mythology that Odin was recognized as having many different names in different parts of the world, which makes me wonder if any Norse converts simply saw God as another interpretation of Odin.
Now I'm imagining Thor and Jesus as brothers who don't understand each other at all but love each other none the less.
@@PyrusFlameborn Well, Thor was a protector of humanity and went to kill Jormugander knowing he will die in the battle. I'm sure he and Jesus could see eye to eye about some things...except the crossdressing part...
@@Cyricist001 crossdressing？
There’s a Norse myth where the Jotuns steal Mjolnir, so Thor has to crossdress as Freya in a wedding dress in order to get it back
@@Raleyg the who stole his hammer？
"You are talking too much for someone that is in crusading distance"
-The Church
My guess is that Scandanavia was remote, cold and there was nothing to loot.
There's very little cold about Skandinavien
@@arawn1061 ?
@@larryhall2805 Scandinavia isnt cold. Infact its roughly the same temperature as the rest of Europe
@@arawn1061 ah,I see. Thanks for the correction. I'm a geography nut and don't have the means to travel as much as I like.
Cool runnings!
@@larryhall2805 happy future travels then!
Another thing to think about is that Christ was thought to have annihilated the Greek and Roman pagan gods. Even at his birth many oracles were said to have stopped and one of the major draws of Christianity was that you no longer needed to fear your old gods (whoever they were). He wasn't the peaceful guy of modern imagination but a real a god killer.
What? How are you sayign Jesus is a god killer, don was living in Israel chilling... Its not his fault that romans got converted...
@@dffdhhdfhhdffhdfhdfh4985 I'm just saying that is how he was conceptualized by pagans at the time. It's pretty interesting. The tradition of the death of Pan in the time of Tiberius is an example early Christians used to show the Advent had extinguished the gods of the pagan world. Also Ignatius in his letter to the Ephesians ch19 mentions the idea that magic ceased with the birth of Jesus. The tradition of the cessation of [authentic] prophecy from Oracle at Delphi at the time of Jesus was another belief that spread about Jesus' existence basically nullifying the gods, who were considered to be holding the nations captive.
@@Jim-Mc Chrisitanity was spread through 11 disciples + few other missionaries like Andrew, paul etc , thomas... They spread talking about their religion to other roman pagan Gods. They started believing small , small numbers at a time then spread to be a phenomenon in Armenia and Italy and Ethiopian aswell as the middle east, The romans did not like Christians example Nero and other emperors used to persecute them. Tiberuius wasnt fond of them , Christianity wasnt that big so it wasnt really a threat. Also there is no chapter 19 in Ephesians lol? theres only 6...
Ephians is talking to Epesus and the land around it , talking about God and his works nothing to with Ignatius. The letter is declared as the Christian mystery (gospel) of salvation, first revealed to the Apostles, is the source of true wisdom (perhaps an indirect repudiation of Gnostic claims to esoteric knowledge of the supernatural) and that salvation through Christ is offered to Jews and Gentiles alike.
Thirdly advent is purely a holiday/remeberence of Jesus 40 day period of fasting nothing pagan wise.. If you said Christmas then i could argue in your favour but advent?
@@Jim-Mc The oracle of delphi was 1600 BC and is a sanctuary/temple worshipping the Goddess Apollo , nothing to do with Jesus.
@@dffdhhdfhhdffhdfhdfh4985 It was active until the 4th century AD. Lol, no one's saying he physically walked there and put the smackdown on Pythia. It's a spiritual thing. Don't blame me, it's what early Christians thought. Christ's job was to take back the nations and cancel the gods.
Interesting question, one I had never considered. Would like see your take on the 4th Crusade, which basically sealed the schism of the West from the Orthodox East.
It's pretty straight forward. Centuries old of social, political, economic and religious rivalries and tensions and a debt that wasn't paid made men with crosses on their backs sack the city of their enemy while releasing century old frustrations. The fourth crusade had religion as a factor. But that was like the fifth or sixth reason why it happened. There were so many more reasons for such an act that it would've been a miracle if nothing had happened. And if nothing happened that day. Something would've occurred sooner or later between the Greeks and Latins.
Belter of a video Noble One, was working in Hamburger today. Love your take on conversion.
Well…the Holy Land doesn’t exist in Nordic lands…so there’s that.
I think that’s really the main reason. This video could be a lot shorter.
It is interesting to me whenever I read, see or hear of anyone changing their religion. Especially of note, in this case, where people disavowed their gods for convenience sake. If that's the case, the idea of God(s) for those people must have been seen more like a spiritual accessory, rather than an all-powerful being, demanding their devotion.
It's still going on even to this day. Gold completes the trinity of Sword & Book for Abrahamic faiths. 😄
all powerful? those weak demons?
yeah and communism works
Okay, but actually the real question is:
Why didn't the church launch a crusade on HYRULE?
Because its already christian my guy.
Ever seen the original artwork for the first zelda games?
@@jerry250ify they are pagan they have multiple gods
@@Ch-ew9tm nop. In orignal Japanese "The book of Magic" is even directly named as "The Bible"
zelda-archive.fandom.com/wiki/Christianity
@@Ch-ew9tm seethe harder, zelda was christian lmao
It's good to see you on here again.