The Viking Siege of Paris

The Vikings’ siege of Paris in 885–86 was a turning point in the history of both Paris and France.

In 885, a year after Charles the Fat was crowned King of the Franks, Danish Vikings sailed up the Seine demanding tribute. The Franks’ refusal prompted the Vikings to lay siege to Paris, which was initially defended by only 200 men under Odo, Count of Paris, and seemingly in a poor state to defend against the Viking warriors in their fleet of hundreds of longships. The Vikings attempted to break the Parisian defenders, but the city itself still held out.

When Charles’ army arrived to lift the siege, Charles then allowed the Vikings to sail upstream against the revolting Burgundians. Outraged at this betrayal, when Charles died in 888, the people of the of the Île de France elected Odo as their king. The resistance of Paris therefore marked the end of the Carolingian line and the birth of a new kingdom.

This fully illustrated volume, accompanied with maps and strategic diagrams tells the full story of the Vikings' expedition to conquer medieval Paris, highlighting a key moment in the history of France and its foundation as a nation.