Reconstructed Viking ships, docked so peacefully in Vyburg, Finland.  Charlemagne was a warrior king, and most of his reign was spent in battle with adversaries on the frontiers of his empire as he expanded that empire across Europe.  Charlemagne's most implacable foes included the Vikings from Scandinavia, who used their Viking long boats to constantly threaten the European mainland throughout the eighth and ninth centuries, but it was not until after Charlemagne's death in 815 that the Vikings became a real threat to European mainland society.  Charlemagne's successors did not maintain the expensive fort system that Charlemagne had put in place to prevent the Vikings from sailing up European rivers and raping, pillaging and burning.

• Re-read chapter 7 in the textbook espeically the sections on western Europe.
• Read my notes on Charlemagne.
  
• Study the Questions to Consider and the Key Terms for the Unit.
• Post (or respond) your thoughts/ideas about this unit's reading and assignment in the Blackboard online discussion forum. Do not post your assignment there.

• Read the Song of Roland  (if you are going to submit the optional Roland paper).
• Submit the Optional Song of Roland  paper.  If you don't understand why I call this an optional paper, take a look at the Explanation of Assignments and Grading
• Listen to some further information about this unit as a mp3 file.  You can also read the information as a txt file.

• Barbarians - The Vandals
• Barbarians - The Goths
• Barbarians - The Huns
• Barbarians - The Lombards
• Barbarians - The Primitive Celts
• Terry Jones' Barbarians - The Savage Goth
• History Channel - The Dark Ages (Complete Documentary)
• The Dark Ages...How Dark Were They, Really?: Crash Course World History #14
• The Franks 1/3
• Charlemagne
• The Reign of Charlemagne
• Charlemagne
• Who Were the Vikings?
• Life of a Viking
• Barbarians - The Vikings
• Blood of the Vikings - First Blood 1/5 - Part 1
• Song of Roland (puppet version)
• For extra credit please suggest to your instructor a relevant video for this unit of the course. Send the title of the video, the url and a brief explanation of why you find the video interesting and applicable to the material that is being studied in this unit.
Extra Credit Options
• For a maximum of 50 points (maybe more), using such sources as The Vikings, Vikings by the BBC, Vikings: The North Atlantic Saga or Vikings (and any other sites you may wish to consult), write a one-page paper (maybe two pages), in which you argue either that the Viking excursions were (a) beneficial or (b) harmful to the development of Europe.
• For a maximum of 25 points extra credit, read Einhard's Life of Charlemagne and write a long paragraph (How did Charlemagne use the church to his advantage during his reign?).
• For a maximum of 25 points extra credit, read the Capitulary of Charlemagne (802; English translation), and in a long paragraph comment upon Charlemagne's conception of political leadership.
• For a maximum of 10 points extra credit, answer the Song of Roland study sheet questions.
• For extra credit, please suggest a relevant website for this unit of the course.  Send the title of the site, the url and a brief explanation why you find the information interesting and applicable to the material being studied this unit.