Did Vikings Attack the Island of Noirmoutier in 799 A.D.?
Did Vikings Attack the Island of Noirmoutier in 799 A.D.? Here I will discuss both sides of the debate and which side has the upper hand.
Most modern history books on the Vikings tell us that the monastery of St. Philbert on the island of Noirmoutier succumbed to an attack by Vikings in 799 A.D. To most, it is a fact. Recent scholarship has called into question whether the Vikings were to blame for the attack and whether the monastery of St. Philbert was the target. Did Vikings Attack the Island of Noirmoutier in 799 A.D.? Here I will discuss both sides of the debate and which side has the upper hand.
Why do we think the Vikings attacked Noirmoutier in 799?
What we know about the attack comes to us by a letter from the theologian Alcuin—who also wrote about the attack on Lindisfarne—to the bishop Arno of Salzburg. He described an attack by Paganae, or pagans, in the insulas oceani partibus Aquitaniae, or islands of Aquitaine. While the testimony proves light on details, historians have traditionally co-referenced Alcuin’s letter with concurrent mentions of Viking activity on the Western coast of France produced by the Car…
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