| Page Views: 8,024 Last Visit to Europe: November, 2001 | Europe, the Old World by seagoingJLW - last update: Apr 4, 2004 |
Euro Symbol, Flag and Map of Europe
I have traveled in England, France, Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, Norway, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Greece, Turkey. I have been to the Canaries, the Greek Isles, Sicily, Sardinia, Malta, Majorca, Madeira, Gibraltar, Romania, and the Ukraine.
Since we have boarded many cruises ships in Europe, we have included those particular ones in travelogues on this page.
History
Europe was in a state of turmoil after the decline of the Roman Empire. By 500 AD the Goths controlled Italy, the western half of France and the Iberian Peninsula. The Goths were divided into two groups: the Visigoths just over the Danube from the Roman Empire and the Ostrogoths who were further away.
Both tribes were Arian Christians who had been converted in the 4th century by Ulfilas who invented a German alphabet and translated parts of the Bible. When the Huns attacked the Visigoths, Rome allowed them to cross the Danube and settle in the Roman Balkans.
The Visigoths were unhappy with their land settlement and prepared to fight Rome since they felt exploited by Rome. The Emperor Gratian attacked them first, but was defeated and killed at the Battle of Adrianople in 378. Rome fell to the Visigoths in the 5th century.
The Ostrogoths settled in the Ukraine. Under their king, Ermanarich they created a vast empire stretching from the Black Sea to the Baltic Sea. This empire was destroyed by the Asian Huns. After the death of Attila, the German tribes revolted and overthrew the Huns. Their growth then threatened the Eastern Roman Empire causing Emperor Zeno to approve their invasion of King Odoacer's Italian domains.
Odoacer was murdered by Theodoric in 493 at a meeting that supposedly was to arrange a truce. When Theodoric died in 526, the Arian Ostrogoths were in conflict with Catholic Kingdoms. They were attacked by the Byzantine Emperor Justinian I and were eventually defeated in 561.
Moorish soldiers led by General Tarik ibn Ziyad crossed the straits in 711 and disembarked near a rock promontory. The name Gibraltar comes from Djabal Tarik which mean Tarik's Mountain.
Tarik pushed on to the Spanish city of Toledo and effectively ended European dominance on the Iberian peninsula. Musa ibn Nusayr, the Arab governor of North Africa, helped complete the conquest of Iberia. Within three months together they swept the territory as far as the Pyrenees, and annexed the Basque country.
Within 200 years the Moors had turned Al-Andalus into a land of culture, commerce, and beauty. By the beginning of the 9th century, Moorish Spain and its capital, Cordova, was the gem of Europe.
There were half a million inhabitants in Cordova with 700 mosques and 300 public baths. The streets were paved and lit. The houses had marble balconies and hot-air ducts. There were bookshops and more than 70 libraries.
At the end of the first millennium Cordova was the intellectual Mecca. Students from France and England travelled there to learn philosophy, science and medicine from Muslim, Christian, and Jewish scholars.
The Moors remained there for 700 years. |
|  | Time Line Here is a timeline for Northern Europe. It also includes mythological and literary references.
100 Tacitus writes Germania 200 Migration Period begins 300 Earliest runic inscriptions in Denmark 375 Ermenrichus king of the Goths dies. He is the basis for Jormunrek of the Volsungasaga 436 Huns battle Burgundians 437 Burgundian King Gundaharius dies. He is the basis for the fictional Gunnar of the Volsungasaga. 449 Angles, Saxons, and Jutes migrate to Britain 450 Tune stone of Ostfold Norway made, has Old German alliterative line. 453 Attila the Hun dies possibly at the hands of his new wife the Germanic Ildico, the name a form of Hild (Byock, 19). Attila is the basis for the fictional Atli of the Volsungasaga. 500 Migration Period ends 528 Hygelac king of the geats raids frisia and the rhine 550 Jordanes writes History of the Goths 570 Danes raid Frisia 597 St. Augustine begins conversion of Anglo-Saxons 600 Statue of Buddha finds its way to Helgo Sweden 600 Uppsala established 630 Sutton Hoo Ship Burial 700 Vendel Ship Burial 700 Frank's casket made in Anglo-Saxon England depicting Weland (Volund) the Smith on one panel and the archer Aegili on another. 700 Eggjum rune stone in Sogn Norway created. Its diction foreshadowing skaldic poetry. 700 Beowulf thought to have been composed. It contains references to the Volsung legend, the Brisingmen, and Weland / Wayland (Volund) the smith. 705 Foundation of Ribe on the Jutland peninsula 715 Willibrord leads first Christian mission to Scandinavia. His attempt to convert the Danes is unsuccessful. 720 Angantyr King of Denmark 737 Danevirke constructed 750 Swedish Vikings establish Staraja Ladoga in Russia 750 Foundation of Birka in Svealand (now Sweden) 770 Waldere composed. Contains reference to Wayland (Volund). 786 Paul the Deacon begins work on Historia Langobardorum which contains a legend about Woden and Frija. 789 Norwegians Vikings attack Portland England, the first attack on England 793 Vikings raid Lindisfarne 795 First recorded Viking attacks on Ireland and Scotland 800 Earliest Skaldic poetry 808 The Danish king Godfred sacks the trading center of Reric and moves all of its traders to Hedeby on the Jutland peninsula. 810 Godfred, King of Denmark, dies 810 Danish attack Frisia and impose tribute 820 Oseberg ship built 826 Danish King Harald Klak converted to Christianity. He is baptized at Mainz and is accompanied by Anskar on his return to Denmark. 827 Harald Klak expelled from Denmark 829 Anskar's first mission to Birka 839 Swedish Vikings reach Constantinople 839 Vikings attack the Picts 841 Viking base Dublin established 843 Frisia comes under Viking control 844 First Viking raid on Spain 845 Pagan uprising causes missionaries to leave Birka 850 The Danish king Horik I allows Anskar to build churches at Ribe and Hedeby 860 Swedish Vikings, the Rus attack Constantinople 862 Rurik becomes ruler of Novgorod 862 Finns and Slavs invite Rurik and the Rus to rule over them 865 Anskar dies 866 Danes occupy York 866 Vikings from Ireland and Scotland make Picts pay tribute 869 Edmund, king of East Anglia is killed by Vikings 870 Vikings begin settling Iceland 870 Halfdan King of Denmark 871 Vikings winter in London 873 Ivar, king of the norse in Ireland, the Hebrides, and Scotland, dies 879 Rurik dies in Russia, Oleg assumes rule 880 Oleg rules Kiev 880 Harald Finehair / Fairhair King of all Norway 895 Gokstad ship built 896 Viking army in England breaks up with some members staying in England to live. |
Time Line continued 900 Time of Thjodolf of Hvinir a poet of King Harald Finehair. He composed the Ynglinga Tal and Haustlong. 900 Helgi King of Denmark dies 902 Vikings expelled from Dublin 911 Rollo founds Normandy 917 Vikings recapture Dublin 919 Ragnald, grandson of Ivar of Dublin, gains control of York 930 Erik Bloodaxe King of Norway 930 Eyvind Skaldaspillir, skald to Norwegian kings Harald Fairhair and Hakon the Good 936 Hakon the Good King of Norway 937 English defeat Norse-Scottish alliance at battle of Brunanburh 940 Gorm the Old King of Denmark 944 The Irish sack Dublin 954 End of Viking kingdom of York when Erik Bloodaxe killed 958 Harald Bluetooth King of Denmark 960 Harald Greycloak becomes King of Norway 961 Viking raids in Wales begin. 965 Harald Bluetooth converts Danes to Christianity 970 Norway falls under Danish rule 974 Hedeby comes under German occupation until 983. 975 Exeter Book copied, contains the poem Deor which has a reference to Welend (Volund) the smith. 980 Varangian guard formed at Constantinople 985 Erik the Red sails from Iceland with a group of settlers headed to Greenland. 987 Svein Forkbeard King of Denmark 988 Vladimir of Kiev converts to Christianity 990 Einar Skalaglamm was a skald of Earl Hakon of Hladir who ruled Norway until 995. Einar was a friend of Egil Skallagrimsson. 990 Egil Skallagrimsson dies 991 Olaf Tryggvason defeats English at Maldon 992 Ibn Fablan witnesses Rus funeral rites 995 Olaf Tryggvason becomes king of Norway
1000 Conversion of Iceland to Christianity 1000 Earliest Swedish runic inscriptions 1000 Leif Erikson winters in Vinland 1000 Runestone in Sweden depicts Sigurd roasting Fafnir's heart. 1014 Brian Boru defeats Norse 1015 Olaf Haraldson (St. Olaf) becomes king of Norway 1016 Begin King Cnut the Great's rule over England 1019 Cnut the Great King of Denmark 1030 Svein Alfivason becomes King of Norway 1035 Earl Thorfinn of Orkney wins control over most of Northern Scotland 1035 Harthacnut King of Denmark 1035 Magnus the Good becomes king of Norway 1042 End of Danish rule in England 1043 Last Rus attack on Constantinople 1045 Harald Hardrada becomes king of Norway 1052 Diarmait takes Dublin 1066 Harold Hardrada killed at Stamford Bridge 1066 Magnus II becomes king of Norway 1075 Adam of Bremen writes Gesta Hammaburgensis Ecclesiae Pontificum which includes description of the rituals performed at Uppsala 1080 Pagan ceremonies at Uppsala,Sweden end 1100 Welsh poetry with close parallels to skaldic lines 1125 Icelandic Book of Settlements written 1169 Danes expand into Baltic 1185 The Danish History of Saxo Grammaticus written 1195 Nibelungenlied written 1200 Saga of the Volsungs written down. The only manuscript in existence dates from ca 1400. 1210 Oldest Icelandic family sagas written. 1220 Prose Edda written 1230 Egils Saga written possibly by Snorri Sturluson 1240 Heimskringla written by Snorri Struluson 1240 Codex Regius manuscript of the Poetic Edda written 1245 Kormaks Saga written 1245 Laxdaela Saga written 1250 Swedish Lawbooks written down, they are in alliterative form 1261 Greenland comes under Norwegian rule 1263 Iceland comes under Norwegian rule 1266 Norway cedes Isle of Man and Hebrides to Scotland 1271 End of the Rus Rurik dynasty 1300 Grettir's Saga and Sturlunga Saga created 1330 Hauksbok written 1370 Flateyjabok written 1469 Denmark cedes Orkney and Shetland to Scotland 1480 Last Norse Greenland colony becomes extinct |  | |
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seagoingJLW's Europe Travel Tips
| Overview | Things to Do Tips: 1 - Photos: 1 | | | | Restaurants | Hotels & Accommodations Tips: 1 - Photos: 1 | | | | Nightlife | Off The Beaten Path | | | | Tourist Traps | Warnings Or Dangers | | | | Transportation | Local Customs | | | | Packing Lists | Shopping | | | | Sports Travel | General Tips Tips: 1 - Photos: 1 |
seagoingJLW's Europe Travelogues | | | |
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Comments for seagoingJLW about Europe | | | | |
egonwegh Wed Sep 27, 2006 08:52 UTC Hard to believe that some people would pay others to relieve them of their task of working in a library! (This comes from a librarian ...) | travelgourmet Fri Dec 3, 2004 07:47 UTC The Ocean Princess was not that steady a ship. I had travelled twice on the Ocean Princess in the 80's. I heard it had gone down in the 90's, reporting no casualties. | Dumpymotel Thu Sep 9, 2004 02:19 UTC Hi -- How did you like the song of norway ? on a scale of 1-10? I know it was an older ship but I've heard good things about it. | nigelw6443 Tue Jul 29, 2003 16:42 UTC Ahh! I worked on this one too in Victoria, B.C. |
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