Why did the Vikings come to England? The Pull Factors

As I noted in my previous post, Why Did the Vikings Come to England? Push Factors, my undergraduate students always love our Viking seminars! In this post, we will explore the pull factors – what made England desirable to the Viking spirit?

The Pull Factors:

The Wealth and Trade in Europe

It is no coincidence that in the 8th, 9th and 10th centuries when Viking activity occurred, European powers were centralising their power bases. This in turn led to the economic prosperity of developing nations, such as England and France. Throughout the 8th century, Urban centres developed and as a result, the economy boomed. D. Hill, and R. Cowie, Wics: The Early Medieval
Trading Centres of Northern Europe, (2001). The economic activity, trade and commerce were an enticing lure for the Vikings. These urban centres then became the target of Viking attacks in the 830s and 840s. D. Hill, An Atlas of Anglo-Saxon England, (1981). The Vikings had ideal locations in which they could not only trade in the later decades of the 9th century, but also raid in those earlier years.

Land

We explored the lack of land and overpopulation as a push factor but it could also be argued to be a Viking pull factor. Land to farm was a desirable commodity, especially for the families along the western seaboard of Norway, where fertile land was in short supply.

I believe this theory explains Viking activity in the later 9th and 10th centuries when we see Vikings begin to settle in England. From this point in time, we see a transition from raiding to trading and settlement. Therefore, land is a pull factor that could explain Viking activity once the initial raiding armies had established themselves as a threat in North Western Europe.

Monasteries

The initial targets of early Viking activity in the late 8th and early 9th centuries were monasteries. Monasteries were a pull for the Vikings for a number of reasons – they were poorly defended, filled with riches and were often found in isolated locations.

The purpose of a monastic life was to take oneself away from the world and live with a community of like-minded people. To focus on a life of prayer and devotion to God. For this reason, many monastic houses, like the target of the first recorded Viking attack in England in 793, Lindisfarne, were established on islands off the mainland. Or else on islands in rivers. They could also be found away from major urban centres. They were isolated and vulnerable.

Their vulnerability was not an issue until the arrival of the Vikings. Few natives of ‘England’ would dare to target a monastic house. The Vikings on the other hand were pagans. They had no concern for Church property or their religious inhabitants. Donations made the Church and monastic houses wealthy. Wealth was demonstrated in the items within the monastery, such as silver chalices used in mass. Their books were often decorated with jewels. They housed local treasures. The wealth and the vulnerability of the monastic houses made them an irresistible pull or lure for the Vikings.

Political Instability

Traditionally, historians have argued that political unrest in England was a pull for the Vikings. That they exploited internal political weaknesses, and the disunity amongst the English kingdoms made them easier to attack.

The centralisation of power in the kingdoms that would become England and France did not occur without setbacks. The unification of England was a complicated process which took place over the course of centuries. In the 9th century, we see King Alfred of Wessex attempting to unite all the kingdoms in England against the Viking invasions. Mercia, East Anglia and Northumbria were under the rule of different leaders. Often these rulers of their separate kingdoms would prefer to see the Vikings wound the ruler of another kingdom rather than unite against the common Viking enemy. Alfred’s Wessex was the only kingdom to remain standing against the Vikings, the other kingdoms did not receive his assistance, nor did they offer assistance to Alfred.

The Viking explorers were able to exploit these divisions and their awareness of these rifts was a contributing pull factor.

However, this view of political instability has been challenged. Barret has noted that political instability coincides with later Viking attacks in the mid-9th century. Whereas earlier Viking attacks in the late 8th and early 9th centuries occurred when the kingdoms within England were particularly strong, for instance, Offa’s Mercia and on the continent, Charlemagne’s Empire. J.H. Barrett, ‘What Caused the Viking Age?’, Antiquity, 82, (2008), p. 678.

Pagan Crusade

The Religious or ideological theory is one of the most intriguing. Myrhe argued that Charlemagne was in conflict with the Danish kings. These kings feared Frankish expansion north and the threat that that would pose to their own power. Furthermore, Myrhe suggested that Christian missionaries were then sent by the Carolingians into Scandinavian territories. Scandinavians then perceived a military and an ideological, or religious threat to their own way of life and to their own political and social regimes from other political powers. Their reaction to this perceived threat was to attack Christian powers on the Continent and in the British Isles. One way of doing so was to attack ecclesiastical objects or destroy missionary centres, such as Lindisfarne. B. Myrhe, ‘The Beginning of the Viking Age – Some Current Archaeological Problems’, in A. Faulkes and R. Perkins (ed.) Viking Revaluations, (1993), pp. 182-203.

Viking Boats

Logan noted: ‘The boat was their natural companion and ally: with it they could fish, trade and communicate with their neighbours, and without it they could not survive.’ D. Logan, The Vikings in History, (2005), p. 13. Scandinavia is a mountainous region. It was often easier to travel by water than by land. The Scandanavians became master ship-builders and their skills in this regard were even noted by the Romans. The Scandinavians had the skills and technology to build seafaring vessels that were strong enough to take them across the North Sea. Without the Viking Longboat, it is hard to imagine the Viking Age at all.

Viking longboard enabled their sailors to sail up into rivers yet they were large enough to carry horses and large cargo. Because of their shape, they could be easily carried across land when required enabling the Vikings to access those isolated islands up rivers.

Attack from the sea gave the Vikings a huge advantage – they could strike and then flee without repercussion.

Adventure

Another possible pull factor for the Viking activity was adventure. For those dispossessed sons we explored in our previous post, the sense of adventure must have been an enticing lure. Vikings could attack and pillage and then quickly return home with a ship full of booty. Some likely joined the Viking raids for this reason. Others may have enjoyed the violence and relished the opportunity.

Encouraged by early victories, more and more raiding parties visited English shores in the late 8th and early 9th centuries. The vulnerability of the monasteries, the wealthy urban centres and the promise of adventure were important pull factors for the Viking activity.

In the mid to late 9th century, motives likely changed as the Vikings transitioned from raiders into traders and settlers. Likely the acquisition of good farmland became a primary concern for these later explorers.