Europe in 1300

Scandinavia

Scandinavia consisted of the kingdoms of Denmark and Norway and Sweden. These were sometimes separate kingdoms, and sometimes one or more were united under a single crown. Much of the history of this period concerns struggles between these three kingdoms, as well as with a fourth player, the Hanseatic League (an association of German cities).

"What happened to the Vikings?" I hear you ask.

They were still there; after all, the Vikings were in fact Danes, Swedes and Norwegians. The main reason why Europeans at the time began referring to them by nation rather than as "Northmen" is because the Vikings had convertede to Christianity in the 11th century. Vikings, as pagans, were outsiders, beyond the bounds of Christendom. These same people, as Christians, were part of Christendom. In addition, for reasons I won't go into here, the Northmen gradually began to raid less, even as their southern neighbors became stronger and better able to withstand raids and to retaliate afterward.

Next we'll turn to a look at each of these nations individually.