To save themselves from Viking raids, some groups bought the
pirates off with territory. Others signed peace treaties with the Vikings.
Other groups fought back. In the 900s, Scandinavians began to adopt
the Christian religion, and the Christian Church discouraged many
Viking activities, especially the taking of other Christians as slaves. By
about 1100, the Vikings had given up their raiding and returned to a
more settled life in Scandinavia.
I VIKING
The Vikings and their victims actually did not use the name Viking.
In their time, the raiders were known by different names, including
Norsemen, Northmen, Danes, and Rus. After the Viking era, people
started using the name Viking. It has its roots in the Old Norse word
vik
(bay) and in the Old Norse expression
i viking
(to go raiding).
PIRATES FOR HIRE
Piracy resurfaced in the Mediterranean region in the 1200s. By then
the Islamic religion had spread from the Arabian Peninsula, across
the Middle East and into Turkey and North Africa. Hostilities raged
on and off between the Christian nations of Europe and the Islamic
Ottoman Empire, based in Turkey. Each side hired privately owned
ships, crewed by pirates for hire, to attack enemy vessels on the
Mediterranean. These pirates were called corsairs.
Two of the most legendary corsairs were the brothers Aruj and
Hayreddin Barbarossa. Part of a family of corsairs from Lesbos, an
island off the Turkish coast, the Barbarossa brothers made their
fortune attacking European ships in the Mediterranean on behalf of
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SCOURGE OF THE SEAS
