Charlemagne and the Vikings

Charlemagne's Franks conquered most of western Christendom, and on Christmas Day 800 the pope crowned him emperor. His court revived learning and his grandsons split the empire into what became France and Germany.

From 793 Viking raiders from Scandinavia struck monasteries and towns from Ireland to Paris. They also traded and settled, founding Normandy, the Danelaw, Dublin and, as the Rus, a state at Kiev.

By 1000 the raiders' descendants were Christian kings, and Europe had taken the shape of kingdoms it keeps today.