194:(Life of Ansgar) relates that the Archbishop arrived to Birka after having sailed for 20 days. The year is not certain but seems to have been 851 or 852. There he found that King Olof and a large part of the people were affected by a pagan counter-movement. A seer asserted that he had participated in the council of the
258:
When the Swedes and King Olof heard of the Danish failure, they decided to win the reputation that the Swedes could do what the Danes could not and to make the
Curonians pay tribute again. Consequently, the Swedes gathered an enormous army and attacked Curland. The first town they attacked was called
209:
Having installed himself in Birka, Ansgar invited King Olof to his place and feted him with a meal and gifts. The king announced that he would be glad to assist Ansgar, but dared not undertake anything before he had searched the will of the people, and divination had been carried out. "It is, namely,
214:
was held in Birka, where a herald announced Ansgar's request to missionise among the Swedes. After due deliberation, the thing agreed to allow
Christian priests and holy sacraments among them. A second thing, which was held at a different place in the realm, confirmed what had been said. The king
290:
When the
Curonians saw that the Swedes were about to resume their attack, they gave up and offered to the Swedes all the gold, silver, and weapons that they had taken from the Danes the previous year. They also offered to pay half a pound of silver for every man in the town and to resume paying
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The Swedes stormed the town but it was ferociously defended, and after eight days of battle many men had fallen without result. By the ninth day, the Swedes were weary of the battle and discussed whether to pursue it. They decided to cast lots with
263:. It had 7,000 armed men, but the town was pillaged, ravaged, and burnt by the Swedes. The Swedes left their ships at the coast and started out on a five-day expedition into the hinterland. They reached the town of
287:
faith and they decided to cast lots asking the
Christian god about how to proceed. They interpreted the results as full support from the Christian god and decided to attack the town once again.
247:
instead. The
Curonians gathered forces from all five of their towns and butchered half the Danish army, after which they plundered the Danish ships, gaining a great deal of
198:
who had expressed their dissatisfaction with the
Christian god. In case the current gods were not sufficient to the people, the gods decided to accept the former King Eric (
206:?) in their abode. The seer's vision was widely believed, a sanctuary was built in the honour of the long-deceased Eric, and people performed sacrifices to him.
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tribute to the Swedes and to give hostages as a warrant for paying. They declared that they wished to be the subjects of the
Swedish kings as in former times.
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common among them, that every public issue is decided more through the unanimous will of the people, than through royal exertion of power." Some time later a
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Ansgar had undertaken missionary work among the Swedes in 829-831, and laid the foundations to a fragile congregation based in the important merchant town
239:. At the time of Ansgar's second visit to Birka, They marshalled a great fleet and sailed to Courland in order to take over their goods and to make the
536:
531:
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these indicate
Swedish presence in the region in c. 650-800. Moreover, Nerman discovered arrows and other traces of a 9th century battle in
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summoned Ansgar and enjoined the construction of churches, providing the
Archbishop with a piece of land in Birka for a chapel.
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231:
had once been under the
Swedish realm. However, they had rebelled against the Swedes a long time ago and refused to pay them
151:, and the 11th-century account of Adam of Bremen both mention him and are generally seen as more reliable than the sagas.
164:
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of the 12th and 13th century, which give a different line of succession of supposed Viking Age Swedish rulers, but the
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made his second voyage from Germany to Birka in about the year 851 or 852 A.D. He had an ambivalent attitude to
39:
167:, began to worry about the future of the community which was without a priest. He received the consent of the
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has been tentatively combined with archaeological findings in Latvia. According to the archaeologist
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King Olof granted their request, and the Swedes returned home with treasures beyond count and thirty
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to go to Sweden in person and received a personal letter to the Swedish king Olof. When he came to
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provided him with an envoy and a message which asked Olof to allow Ansgar to missionise freely.
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235:. The Danes, being aware of this, saw the opportunity to take over the Swedish dominions in
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369:(c. 1075), who gives the order of succession as Anund - Björn - Olof. Adam drew from the
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325:. There are nevertheless other interpretations of the place names mentioned in the
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which was also known as Ampule, while Seeburg could be Seleburg at the
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at the coast which has graves which indicate connections with
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but might also have heard the name from the Danish King
147:, the near-contemporary writings of Ansgar's companion
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then relates that some of the Swedes had heard of the
130:, and was known as a successful warrior king in the
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381:. Stockholm: Proprius, p. 60 (Book I, Chapter 61).
298:as a security for the Curonians' future loyalty.
379:Historien om Hamburgstiftet och dess biskopar
271:). The town had as many as 15,000 armed men.
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29:
163:. By the early 850s Ansgar, who was now
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114:, an important port town, and possibly
496:Swedish Museum of National Antiquities
7:
313:, while Seeburg was identified with
405:. Stockholm: Proprius, p. 103, 228.
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27:Proto-historic King of the Swedes
537:9th-century monarchs in Europe
532:Semi-legendary kings of Sweden
488:Odelberg, Maj (1995), "Olof",
475:. Stockholm: Proprius, p. 106.
110:or local ruler who ruled over
1:
377:; see Adam av Bremen (1984),
219:Viking expedition to Courland
137:Olof is not mentioned in the
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329:; Apulia might be Pilten at
165:Archbishop of Hamburg-Bremen
558:
542:9th-century Swedish people
448:Vita Ansgari, Chapter 30
437:Vita Ansgari, Chapter 27
426:Vita Ansgari, Chapter 26
415:Vita Ansgari, Chapter 26
391:Vita Ansgari, Chapter 25
301:The information in the
279:, but without results.
255:, and other valuables.
460:När Sverige kristnades
458:Nerman, Birger (1945)
155:Religious dispositions
365:Olof is mentioned by
347:Early Swedish history
186:Ansgar's biographer
243:pay tribute to the
120:Catholic missionary
40:King of the Swedes
18:Olof (I) of Sweden
491:Vikingatidens ABC
267:(probably modern
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16:(Redirected from
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508:, archived from
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139:Icelandic sagas
108:Swedish monarch
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367:Adam of Bremen
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323:Mälaren Valley
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200:Erik Björnsson
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371:Vita Ansgari
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192:Vita Ansgari
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128:Christianity
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57:Predecessor
526:Categories
516:2007-08-18
505:9171929843
483:Literature
353:References
331:Ventspils
285:Christian
241:Curonians
225:Curonians
190:, in his
100:Old Norse
67:Successor
341:See also
321:and the
296:hostages
237:Courland
106:) was a
337:River.
335:Daugava
319:Gotland
315:Grobiņa
281:Rimbert
261:Seeburg
233:tribute
188:Rimbert
181:Horik I
179:, King
177:Denmark
149:Rimbert
116:Uppsala
502:
311:Apuole
269:Apuole
265:Apulia
253:silver
229:Latvia
171:ruler
124:Ansgar
122:Saint
277:runes
245:Danes
212:thing
202:, or
196:Aesir
161:Birka
112:Birka
104:Óláfr
87:Munsö
82:House
46:Reign
500:ISBN
327:Vita
303:Vita
249:gold
223:The
96:Olof
71:Ring
61:Eric
33:Olof
227:in
89:(?)
52:852
528::
498:,
494:,
251:,
134:.
102::
50:c.
98:(
20:)
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