The History of Piracy and Navigation. Dr. Suk Kyoon Kim
the tip of the shadow on the gnomon line. If the shadow of the gnomon extended past the gnomon line, he knew that he was too far north of his desired latitude. If the shadow fell short of the gnomon line, the navigator knew that he was too far south.
A principal navigational instrument that the Vikings used to locate their position in a cloudy sky was a sunstone, a translucent rock. The sky of Europe off the Arctic was frequently shrouded in heavy fog, rain and clouds. On such occasions, the Vikings used the sunstone. The stone turns a blue and purple color when it is turned at right angles to the sun, even on cloudy days, so Vikings could detect the direction from which polarized light was striking the sunstone and set their course accordingly.
The Vikings were not simply predators, but adventurous explorers. With outstanding navigational skills, they sailed across the oceans beyond their world. Across the North Atlantic, they sailed further to Canada, Iceland and Greenland. Since Viking ships were an open deck structure, the Vikings were fully exposed to strong waves and rain as they sailed. The Vikings wore fur and oiled leather clothes, but they usually remained wet and cold. At night when they sailed inshore, they went on shore and camped on the ground. During a long-distance voyage, they slept in leather sleeping bags on the deck. Their food on the voyage was dried and salted fish and jerked meats.
Even though the Vikings were the masters of the sea, they were simply weak human beings before Mother Nature. Numerous Vikings lost their lives on harsh voyages in in the midst of strong waves or cold and wet weather. However, the harsh condition of the sea could not discourage their will for exploration. The Vikings went anywhere there was prey to loot and did not avoid bloody battles. The phrase “the Vikings had lived on the sea,” found in runic inscriptions that recorded the Vikings’ lifestyles, demonstrates their inherent talent for survival at sea as well as their predatory natures.
Viking Ships
The Vikings were required to be strong master shipbuilders and to have the navigational skills to sail long distances. The Vikings had held a long tradition of sailing across the fjords on ships with no sails, traveling further to the distant sea in good weather. Over 2,000 years, the Vikings had held a tradition for building light and speedy ships. They reinforced their traditional ships with a sail to increase speed, along with a robust mast and a keel to stabilize at sea.
There were many types of Viking ship, built for various uses. The best-known type is probably the longship. A longship, designed for speed and agility, was suitable for sailing in the distant sea. The longship had a long, narrow hull and shallow draught to facilitate landings and troop deployments in shallow water. Of the various types of longship, the largest was Drekar, a dragon-headed longship, named after its dragon shaped hull. Drekar was designed for attack and for the transport of troops. The ships were the Vikings’ most important instrument, allowing them to explore the unknown world and to loot by sailing across seas or rivers.
When the Vikings built a ship, a man in charge supervised the craftsmen specialized in each part of ship. They used a long and straight oak tree for the keel and other trees for the curved parts of the hull. When they completed building the hull, they installed round shields on the sides of the hull and a dragon head-shaped decoration on the bow. The sail of the Viking ships was made of squared woolen fabric, which provided extremely powerful mobility. However, the problem was that it was hard to steer the ship in strong winds or when the sail was wet with rain. The Vikings, who had great pride in these sails, used to paint slashes or diamonds on them.
The Pillage of England
In the period between 800 and 1100, the Vikings’ voyages to new lands – as well as their attacks on these lands – were at their peak. The first attack on Christian sanctuaries was a monastery on Lindisfarne Island, off the northeast coast of England on 1 January 793. The Vikings had raided the monastery, destroyed and pillaged it, setting it on fire. They slaughtered the monks and held survivors as captives for selling in the slave market. The monks who resisted were thrown into the sea.
Afterwards, the Vikings kept raiding the British islands and the coastal areas of Europe. Christians viewed the Vikings as the incarnation of evil. The Vikings’ pillage of Christian sanctuaries was not an act of hostility toward Christianity specifically. They were simply preying on places that were the richest targets with the fewest defenses. Monasteries and churches had a wealth of valuables, such as golden crosses and people who could be sold as slaves.
In 877, the Danish Vikings raided England and occupied the western and eastern regions, which were half of England. The occupied regions were called the ‘Danelaw,’ which means the regions under the law and customs of the Danish Vikings. Even though England, prosperous and fertile, was a main target for the Vikings’ pillaging, it was not the only target. Ireland – the hub of Christian arts and studies – was an attractive target for the Vikings. The monasteries and churches in Ireland were like a storehouse of riches, and Ireland itself had abundant green lands that the Vikings could lay claim to. By the middle of the 9th century, the Vikings settled on the coasts of Limerick, Waterford, Wexford and Cork. At first, the Vikings used these settlements as winter bases to expand inland and quickly sack villages and run away. However, as time passed, these settlements turned into permanent settlements as well as a base for expanding further inland. By 950, the Vikings had opted for living in settlements, instead of pillaging, and thus the aggression of the Vikings virtually ended. With the defeat in the Battle of Clontarf in 1014, the Vikings’ rule in Ireland came to an end. The legacy of the Vikings is found in the cities that they built, as well as trade and place names.
Expansion to Russia
As years passed, the Vikings’ raids became more daring, and they ventured deeper inland. By the early 800s, they traveled up along the rivers by ships that were navigable in shallow waters. Some traveled to the Russian continent across the Baltic Sea. The Vikings had built trade bases inland near the Baltic Sea and ventured to the Black Sea through the Dnepr River and to the Caspian Sea through the Volga River. They had to travel a long distance inland to reach the two rivers in central Russia. The ships that the Vikings used for venturing inland were much smaller in size than typical Viking ships. Known as dugouts, the ships were built by hollowing out a log. The Vikings used a small sail to increase mobility in fair winds. The most prominent feature of dugouts was their lightness. The Vikings carried them on land when they could not sail in rough in shallow waters.
The Vikings pillaged throughout Russia and captured locals for slave-taking. The Russian slaves, known as ‘Slavs,’ were traded in Sweden. The words ‘Slave’ and ‘Slavery’ were derived from Slav slaves. One can guess how large the number of Russian captives was from the origin of the words. The Swedish Vikings, called ‘Rus’ (by Slavs) who took to the Black Sea attempted to occupy Constantinople by force several times. According to the historical records of the Byzantine Empire, tens of thousands of Rus attacked Constantinople by sailing across the Black Sea. As part of peace deals, the Byzantine emperor offered the right to pay tributes and trade with them. Despite such deals, the Rus resumed the sacking of monasteries and towns again years later, including the attack on Constantinople. Allegedly, the Rus named the occupied lands ‘Russia’ and built a trade network with the Byzantine Empire as well as the Arab world. The Byzantine Emperors could do nothing about the Vikings’ predations. Ironically, some of the Swedish Vikings were enlisted in the guard of Byzantine emperors or served as mercenaries in the service of the empire.
Chapter 7
The Rise of the Iberian Peninsula
Iberians: Main Initiators
of the Age of Discovery
The Iberians, who had been in the outer edge of Europe, by no means missed an opportunity to explore new trade routes to the Orient. Geographically, the Iberian Peninsula has open access to the Atlantic. Situated on