Much of the history of pre-modern European society was shaped by the migration of various groups of peoples into and across the European landscape. The Celts moved from their homeland in Central Europe and settled throughout much of Western Europe, bringing their language and culture with them. The Romans were yet another migrant group, and undoubtedly one of the most culturally impactful groups because they enforced their political, legal, and religious customs in the territories they settled. Similarly, the German-speaking tribes who moved into Roman territory as the Roman Empire fell; the Vikings, who emerged from Scandinavia in the late 8th century CE and settled throughout much of Western Europe; and Muslim peoples, who emerged from the Arabian Peninsula in the mid-7th century CE and settled in Spain and Sicily, had a significant influence on the formation of early European culture. We'll examine all of these groups and their impact on the history and culture of Western Europe in the pre-modern period.

1. Pre-modern European Migrations: Viking and Muslim Migrations
• Cultural influence in England
• Personal names
• 40-60% of people in former kingdoms of East Anglia and Northumbria have
Scandinavian names
• Place names
• Kjarr—brushwood (Redcar, Yorkshire)
• Mosi—moss (Rathmoss, Lancashire)
• Ferja—ferry (Ferrybridge, Yorkshire)
• Gil—ravine (Lowgill, Cumbria)
• Thveit—clearing (Bassenthwaite, Cumbria)
• Torp—marginal land (Milnthorpe, Lancashire)
• By—farmstead (Grimsby, Yorkshire)
• Myrr—marsh (Windermere, Cumbria)
• Linguistic changes
• Þeir—they; skinn—skin; íss—ice; øx—axe; egg—egg.
• Governmental practices
• Things (Thingwall, Merseyside), ridings (ON thriðjungr), wapentakes (ON
vápnatak)

2. Anglo-Scandinavia art: left—the Middleton Cross, Yorkshire; center and right—the
Gosforth Cross, Cumbria. Left image from Middleton Church, Yorkshire, England.
Center and right images from St. Mary’s Church, Gosforth, Cumbria, England.

3. Pre-modern European Migrations: Viking and Muslim Migrations
• Cultural influence in Scotland and the isles
• Excavations at Jarlshof, Shetland, show 70 by 20 foot longhouse plus
outbuildings (byre, smithy, and bathhouse), dating to mid-800s
• Genetic and place name studies show settlement of Vikings and indicate re-
naming of local sites
• Shetland islands, Viking DNA found among 44% of male and female population
• Orkney Islands, Viking DNA found among 31% of male and female population
• Northwest coast of Scotland, Viking DNA found among 15% of male and female
population
• Western Isles and Skye, Viking DNA found among 22.5% of male and 11% of female
population

4. Map of European ancestry of modern British DNA types, from Leslie et
al., “The fine-scale genetic structure of the British population” Nature
519 (19 March 2015), 309-314.

5. Viking burials in Scotland and the isles: left—a boat burial in Westness, Orkney
Islands; right—aerial view of Viking settlement at Jarlshof, Shetland. Images from
Vikings: the North American Saga, edited by William Fitzhugh and Elisabeth Ward.

6. Pre-modern European Migrations: Viking and Muslim Migrations
• Cultural influence in Ireland
• Dublin (from ON Dyflin), at an earlier Irish settlement known as Áth Cliath
• Evidence of Thing site near Trinity College, 240 ft in circumference and 40 ft high
• The creation of the Viking kingdom at Dublin, 853; Viking presence maintained in Dublin
until 1052
• Wicklow (ON Vikingaló)
• Wexford (ON Veigsfjörthr)
• Waterford (ON Vethrafjörthr)
• Limerick (ON Hlymrekr)
• Cultural influence in Spain
• Vikings known as al-madjus, Lordomani, Lormanes
• Placenames—Lordemanos in Leon and Lordemão in Portugal.
• Old Norse loan words in Basque
• Estribor = starboard, from ON styr and bord
• Babor = port, from ON bak and bord

7. Replica of Skuldelev Wreck 2. A 100 foot longship found sunk in
Roskilde Fjord, Denmark, made from Dublin oak dated to 1042.
Image from Wikipedia Commons.

8. Pre-modern European Migrations: Viking and Muslim Migrations
• Cultural influence in Normandy
• Personal names
• Asbjørn—Osbernus—Auber
• Ásfridr—Ansfridus—Anfray
• Ásketill—Anschetillus—Anquetil
• Thorvaldr—Turoldus—Thouroude
• Place names
• Tomt/toft—plot or piece of land
(Routot and Bouquetot, Normandy)
• Torp—marginal land (Le torp-Mesnil,
Normandy)
• Londe—land (La Londe, Normandy)
• Garðr—yard or garden (Auppegard,
Normandy)
• Cultural influence in Normandy
• Linguistic changes
• Útlagr—ullac—outlaw
• Heimsókn—hamfara—assault inside
a house
• Marsvín—masouin—sea swine
(Harbour porpoise)
• Bakborði—bâbord—port side
• Bóglína—bouline—bowline

9. Pre-modern European Migrations: Viking and
Muslim Migrations
• Limited cultural influence in
Russia
• Intermarriage with local Slavic
nobility by mid-900s leads to
embracing of Slavic names,
language, and alphabet
• Contact with Byzantine Empire
leads to conversion to Byzantine
Christianity and embracing of
Byzantine administrative and
educational structure
• Cultural influence in Iceland and
Greenland
• Settlers in Iceland and Greenland
bring Norse governmental, social,
and cultural practices with them
• Contact with Norway maintained
and conversion to Christianity
takes place in late 900s through
contact with Norse missionaries
• Greenland submits to Norway,
1261; Iceland submits to Norway,
1262-1264
• Viking DNA present in 75% of male
population and 30% of female
population

10. Pre-modern European Migrations: Viking and Muslim Migrations
Map of language families from Luigi Luca Cavalli-Sforza, The History and Geography
of Human Genes.
• The Arabian Peninsula and tribes
• Afro-Asiatic language family
• Arabic developed between 500
BC-500 AD
• Evidence of long distance trade,
pastoralism, use of bronze by 2500
in Oman
• Evidence of settled agriculture by
2000 in Yemen
• Influence of the Persian Empire,
550-330
• Influence of Alexander the Great’s
empire and the Hellenistic
kingdoms, 330-c. 180

11. Pre-modern European Migrations: Viking and Muslim Migrations
Map from William Ochsenwald and Sydney Nettleton Fisher, The Middle East: A
History, 7th edition.
• Contact with Rome and
Parthian/Sassanid Persia
• Ghassanid tribe allies of
Rome/Byzantium
• Lakhmid tribe allies of
Parthian/Sassanid Persia
• Mecca and the Quraysh tribe
• The Hashim clan
• Muhammed, c.571-632
• Islam (submission)
• Hijrah, 622
• Medina, 622-630
• Return to Mecca, 630

12. Pre-modern European Migrations: Viking and Muslim Migrations
Map from Barry Cunliffe, Europe Between the Oceans, 9000 BC-AD 1000.
• The Rashidun, 632-661
• The Ridda Wars, 632-634
• Battle of Yarmuk River, 636
• Conquest of Syria and Jerusalem
followed
• Battle of Qadisiyaa, 636
• Conquest of Persian territory
followed
• Egyptian campaign, 640-654
• The Umayyad Caliphate, 661-750
• Conquest of Carthage, 698
• Conquest of Visigothic Spain, 711-714
• Battle of Poitiers, 732
• Umayyad Spain, 750-1031
• The Abbasid Caliphate, 750-946
• Conquest of Sicily, 827-902

13. Pre-modern European Migrations: Viking and Muslim Migrations
• Cultural influence of Islam
• Preservation of and study of Greek and Roman texts
• Aristotle and Plato
• Al-Kindi, d. 865; Al-Farabi, d. 950; Ibn Sina (Avicenna), d. 1037; Ibn Rushd (Averroës),
d. 1198
• Hippocrates and Galen
• Ibn Qurra, d. 901 (wrote a work on general hygiene); Al-Razi, d. 925 (wrote the first
clinical description of measles and smallpox); Ibn Sina (wrote a work on infectious
diseases and medications)
• Blending of eastern knowledge with western knowledge
• Introduction of “Arabic numerals” and the concept of zero from contact with India;
Arabic sifr, meaning empty
• Al-Khwarazmi, d. 850 (wrote a work on quadratic equations, introducing the concept of
al-jabr (algebra))
• Irrigation a long-term practice in Mesopotamia and Egypt; practiced in Muslim-ruled
Valencia and continued when Valencia returned to Christian rule

14. Pre-modern European Migrations: Viking and Muslim Migrations
• Words with Arabic origins
• Admiral, from amīr, commander
• Adobe, from al-tuba, brick
• Alcohol, from al-kohl, fine powder
• Alfalfa, from al-fisfisa, alfalfa
• Candy, from qandī, sugared
• Chess, from shāh (with a hard final ‘h’), king
• Lemon, from līmūn, lemon
• Spanish place names with Arabic origins
• Guadalquivir River, from Arabic wadi al-kabir, the great river
• Andalucía, from Arabic Al-Andalus
• Cape Trafalgar, from Andalusi Arabic taraf-al-ghar, cape of the west
• Gibraltar, from the Arabic name jabal Tariq, mountain of Tariq
• Genetic legacy: Northwest African haplotypes found in samples from
Iberia, Italy, and Sicily (7.5%, 7.1%, and 18.6% of samples from Sicily,
Portugal, and Cantabria, respectively)

15. The Great Mosque of Córdoba, Spain, built in stages from 784-987.
Images from Wikipedia.

16. Chiesa di San Cataldo, Palermo, completed c. 1154. Images from
Wikipedia.