Forming European Nations

• From Scandinavia

(Modern Denmark,
Norway and Sweden)

• Name 'Viking' means

“pirate raid“ in Old
Norse

• Dominated Northern

Europe from about
700 to 1100 CE.

• Raided European

towns and settled in
other areas

Picture of a Viking ship from an early Anglo-Saxon history
book showing the ship’s wooden planks and 'dragon-head'.

Actual Viking ship discovered in a burial mound in Norway

• Under Roman control

until 410 CE

• Germanic tribes the

Angles, Saxons, &
Jutes come over from
continental Europe

• King Alfred the Great

unites Anglo-Saxon
kingdoms in the 870s

• Later defended the

kingdom against
Viking conquest

• Alfred’s grandson

Æthelstan became the
first King of England in
927

• Defeated an invasion

by the King of
Scotland

• Later King Edward the

Confessor died without
an heir in 1066

• William the Duke of

Normandy wanted
throne

• Normandy was a former

Viking settlement in
France

• He leads Norman

Conquest of England in
1066 C.E.

• Wins the Battle of

Hastings to control
England

The Battle of Hastings

• Henry II – King of England

from 1154 – 1189

• Helped establish the

Common Law system - the
same laws throughout
England

• His son King John was forced

to sign the Magna Carta in
1215

• This limited royal power for

the first time

King John signing the Magna Carta in 1215

• Not a nation but a

collection of small feudal
lands

• Hugh Capet elected to

throne by nobles in 987
CE – began the Capetian
family rule.

• The “Capetians” expand

control

• Enlarged territory &

appointed officials across
France

• England vs.

France

• Fought from

1337 – 1453 due
to conflicts over
French lands and
crown

• English were

winning at first
due to superior
weapons

• Teenage Joan of Arc

said heavenly voices
told her to save France

• Led a French army to

victory at Orleans

• Captured by English &

burned for witchcraft

• Inspired French to

rally, drive English out
of France

Joan of

Arc at the
Siege of
Orléans

• Key Effects of the

war:

• Each country feels

unity

• Helps lead to the

decline of feudalism

• More people in

towns

• New middle class

willing to pay taxes
for armies

• Visigoths on the Iberian

peninsula convert to
Christianity in 587

• Muslim Umayyad

dynasty invades from
North Africa in late
700’s

• The Reconquista

(Christian
reconquering) began
later and would last
700 years

• Mongols invaded Russia

in the 1200’s and ruled
until 1480

• Ivan III (Ivan the Great)

threw off Mongol rule

• Centralized power

expanded Russian nation

• Adopted Eastern Orthodox

Church from the Byzantine
Empire