| Viking raid on Galicia and Asturias | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 Kingdom of Asturias  Kingdom of Galicia |  Kingdom of Norway [1] | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
 Ramiro I of Asturias | Unknown | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 150 ships [2] | |||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| 70 longships burnt [3] [4] Heavy human losses [5] [6] | |||||||
The Viking raid on Galicia and Asturias occurred in 844. Many longships were lost in the attack and the fleet retreated to Aquitaine. [7]
In 844, the Vikings, who at that time infested all the maritime provinces of Europe, made a descent at A Coruña, and began to raid the countryside, burning and pillaging. King Ramiro I of Asturias marched against them with a potent army, managed to rout the invaders with a prodigious slaughter, took many of them as prisoners, and burned the best part of their fleet. Ramiro's reception frightened the Viking raiders, so raiding parties no longer troubled the parts of Spain that were under the king's control.
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The Great Heathen Army, also known as the Viking Great Army, was a coalition of Scandinavian warriors who invaded England in AD 865. Since the late 8th century, the Vikings had been engaging in raids on centres of wealth, such as monasteries. The Great Heathen Army was much larger and aimed to occupy and conquer the four kingdoms of East Anglia, Northumbria, Mercia and Wessex.
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The siege of Paris of 845 was the culmination of a Viking invasion of West Francia. The Viking forces were led by a Norse chieftain named "Reginherus", or Ragnar, who tentatively has been identified with the legendary saga character Ragnar Lodbrok. Reginherus's fleet of 120 Viking ships, carrying thousands of men and women, entered the Seine in March and sailed up the river.
The Viking raid on Išbīliya, then part of the Umayyad Emirate of Córdoba, took place in 844. After raiding the coasts of what is now Spain and Portugal, a Viking fleet arrived in Išbīliya through the Guadalquivir on 25 September, and took the city on 1 or 3 October. The Vikings pillaged the city and the surrounding areas. Emir Abd ar-Rahman II of Córdoba mobilized and sent a large force against the Vikings under the command of the hajib (chief-minister) Isa ibn Shuhayd. After a series of indecisive engagements, the Muslim army defeated the Vikings on either 11 or 17 November. Seville was retaken, and the remnants of the Vikings fled Spain. After the raid, the Muslims raised new troops and built more ships and other military equipment to protect the coast. The quick military response in 844 and the subsequent defensive improvements discouraged further attacks by the Vikings.
Viking activity in the Iberian peninsula seems to have begun around the mid-ninth century as an extension of Viking raids on and establishment of bases in Frankia in the earlier ninth century. While connections between the Norse and Eastern Islamic lands were well-established, particularly involving the Rus' along the Volga and around the Caspian Sea, relations with the Western edge of Islam were more sporadic and haphazard. Although Vikings may have over-wintered in Iberia, no evidence has been found for trading or settlement. Indeed, the Iberian peninsula may not have offered particularly wealthy targets, in the ninth to tenth centuries. Sporadic raiding continued until the end of the Viking Age.