The Vikings Capture and Use of Slaves

The Vikings surrender always been discussed throughout history as culpable people. The Viking Age lasted from the late eighth to eleventh centuries. The ancestors of the Vikings, called the Scandinavian people, lotd with the Ro bits. Scandinavia was made up of five modern day European countries Denmark, Norway, Finland, Iceland, and Sweden. 1 Some items that they selld include ivory, amber, skins, and furs. After the Roman Empire fell, the Scandinavian people living in Scandinavia became closer and stronger. Around the mid seventh century, the Scandinavian people utilise ships with sails and built large towns.At the end of the eighth century, the Scandinavian people began assail parts of pre-modern Europe. During this time, the Scandinavian people began to be known as the Vikings. virtually people in pre-modern Europe were afraid of the Vikings raiding of t heritor baseball club, alone the Vikings were really just seeking goods that they could distribute for money. The Vik ings were known as a range of different people including warriors, pirates, explorers, and merchants. The Vikings started in Scandinavia, but beca part of increase in population and limited land, they traveled all through Europe flavor for new land to expand.But the question is, with these vicious people just raiding to look for goods to trade with and with limited land space, why did they capture break ones backs and how did they use and treat these knuckle downs in their society? As you may know, the Vikings went from society to society in pre-modern Europe looking for goods including gold, jewelry, and livestock. However, the Vikings also captured children work force and women from these societies and utilize them as slaves. Because of their limited land space, they traded most of these slaves for money. The Vikings got a absolute majority of their slaves from Ireland.They began to get tough with a slave trade in Ireland. Slavery existed way forward the Vikings came. Slave s made up a large population of trade for the Vikings. once captured, most of the slaves were sold on the slave trade while others were send to Scandinavia to conk slaves of the Vikings. It has also been recorded that just about laves captured from Ireland were sacrificed to heathen gods. The first set upon in Ireland was in 795, and attacked approximately once a year for the nigh thirty to forty years. The Vikings heard of the riches that the Irish held and thought that this constituent would be the perfect place for the Viking people.During this attack, the Vikings mainly just raided the societies and still took some slaves, but continued to capture more slaves as time went on. For those whose depute it was to be in the trade were either direct to Iceland, Viking colonies in Britain, Muslim empires, or Byzantine empires. The Islamic and Byzantine empires contained lavishness items that the Vikings wanted for the trade of slaves. These items include Byzantine silk and Ar abic coins. The Vikings then used the silk and coins in trade for items from North Europe including more slaves and furs.Once these slaves were traded, they were usually required to do punishing work of the household. The treatment of these sold slaves varied from owner to owner. Some were treaded amicable while others were treated worse than livestock. Even though a majority of the captured slaves were sent to the slave trade, some of the slaves were sent back to Scandinavia to become slaves of the Vikings. The precedent that all of these slaves did not go straight to Scandinavia was because of the everywhere population in that area. If all of the slaves were used in this area, than more strain would be on the land and on the resources that it produces.The Viking society had a social class constitution. This order system was separated into three classes. The highest class was called the jarls. This class was known as the noble class, the rich people of the Vikings. They were measured by their mass wealthiness in terms of fiters, treasures, ships, and estates. They lived in fine halls and led refined lives with interminable activities. The power of each jarl depends on how more followers he has. The jarl, however, mustiness give care of his followers. The first born of a jarl was also to become a jarl. The middle class in this system was called the karls.These people were drop and owned land. They were considered the plain folks in the Viking society. They could include levyers and blacksmiths. The families of the karls usually lived in cluster homes that had their barns or workshops in the cluster. A karl could become a jarl if he gained enough fame and wealth. The lowest class in this system was called the praell. This class include slaves and bondsmen. If a man owed another man money and could not founder his debt back, he was to work for another man until his debt was paid. This would make him a bondsman, or basically a temporary slave.Also, the systems laws stated that if a man was convicted as a theft, he could be handed over as a slave of whom he stole from. A slave could be large-mindedd, but would still be considered in the lowest grade system. The slaves at the bottom of this caste system were chattel. They cloggyly had any rights. They could not inherit anything or leave nothing after their dying. They could not figure in any business transaction. The only relation a slave had with society was through his master. on that point were some branches of the culture that slaves were not allowed to take part in. These privileges of citizenship include military and jury services.Basically, a slave could not participate in these two services because they are institutions of free men in the Viking society. When a slave was no longer capable of work, out-of-pocket to old age disease or injury, they were put to death. The slaves of the Vikings did however have limited rights. They could accumulate retention and save enough money to defile their freedom. Slaves could also marry. Even with these a couple of(prenominal) rights, slaves were still considered to the Vikings as unreliable cowards who were lumpish and foul. The Vikings were polytheists. This tights that they followed many gods. The father of the gods was Odin, the god of wisdom.Because of their religion and how the Vikings followed the gods, their slaves were expected to follow the same life and tasks deemed by the gods. Challenging this could mean death of the slave. A master could kill a slave and not be held accountable for it. The slaves of the Vikings had a variety of jobs that they did in the Viking society. Some of their daily work included things such as carrying loads of firewood, tending to the fields, feeding pigs and other make animals, cutting peat, building fences, fertilizing crops, and making ropes. All of their tasks were mainly the tasks that their master didnt want to do.It was necessary for running a farm to h ave slaves functional it. Slaves were used on both small and large farms. The plantation farm was not practiced with the Vikings. Slaves worked on family farms with hired help, but the slaves did the harder work than the hired help. The women slaves that the Vikings captured who were young and beautiful were kept as servants, sexual trophies, or wives. Others were used, upon the death of their master, as a sacrifice. Female slaves were oblige to have sexual advances their know would place upon them. Slaves were allowed to pulp family unites, mean having a wife and children.However, in that respect was no religious ceremony or wedding that slaves could take part in. they were forced to content themselves with unions that did not have the approval of the church. Children born to female slaves became property of her master and a slave, but are born with some rights. However, there was not allowed to be any sexual relations or profound wedding party between a free person and a slave. There was no penalty of a freeman having sexual relations with a slave. Also, a free man was allowed to marry a former slave, meaning that a free Viking could make a women slave his legal wife by giving her freedom.Illegitimate children were abundant in the slave population of the Vikings. A child born to a slave women and a free man can claim his freedom at birth only if the free father will adopt him. Once adopted, that child could be the heir of the fathers estate. When thinking of the Vikings and how they are discussed in history, people would not think that they were mainly traders. The Vikings have always been thought of as mean and vicious people that destroyed everything in their path. All that the Vikings wanted were riches. They traded many different kinds of goods including slaves. 4 The Vikings captured their slaves form Europe, mostly from Ireland. The slaves they traded were mainly sent to the Islamic and Byzantine empires. No one would think that the Vikings w ould be trading slaves for luxury items like gold, jewelry, and livestock. Not all of the slaves captured were sold, however. Due to the limited living space, only small portions of these captured slaves were sent back to Scandinavia. There is a caste system in the Viking society with three different classes, with slaves in the lowest class. The slaves that were sent to work for the Vikings were treated better than other slaves around the world.Yes, they had long hard jobs that their masters did not want to do, but they did have a few rights and opportunities of freedom. Male slaves were meant to tend to the fields and livestock while female slaves were used as sex trophies or wives. 17 Slaves were expected to listen to their masters and follow the lifestyle of their masters religion. 19 The slaves of the Vikings were even allowed to form family units and have children, but could not have a formal marriage ceremony. 17 Slavery impacted the Viking society not only by aiding their mas ters in Scandinavia, but also by aiding the Vikings in trade with other societies.