Viking Social Structure - Living in a Norse World

Viking Social Structure - Living in a Norse World Viking social structure was highly stratified, with three ranks or classes which were written directly into Scandinavian mythology, as slaves (called thrall in Old Norse), farmers or peasants (karl), and the aristocracy (jarl or earl). Mobility was theoretically possible across the three strata- but in general, slaves were an exchange commodity, traded with the Arab caliphate as early as the 8th century CE, along with furs and swords, and to leave slavery was rare indeed.   That social structure was the result of several changes within Scandinavian society during the Viking age. Key Takeaways: Viking Social Structure The Vikings in and outside of Scandinavia had a three-tier social structure of slaves, peasants, and elites, established and confirmed by their origin myth.The earliest rulers were military warlords called drotten, who were selected from warriors based on merit, only in power during wartime, and subject to assassination if they gained too much power.  Peacetime kings were selected from the elite class and they traveled throughout the region and met people in halls built in part for that purpose. Most provinces were largely autonomous of the kings, and the kings were also subject to regicide. Pre-Viking Social Structure According to archaeologist T.L. Thurston, Viking social structure had its origins with the warlords, called drott, which had become established figures in Scandinavian society by the late 2nd century. The drott was primarily a social institution, resulting in a pattern of behavior in which warriors selected the most adept leader and pledged fealty to him. The drott was an ascribed (earned) title of respect, not an inherited one; and these roles were separate from the regional chieftains or petty kings. They had limited powers during peacetime. Other members of the drotts retinue included: drang or dreng- a young warrior (plural droengiar)  thegn- a mature warrior (plural thegnar)  skeppare- captain of a chiefly vesselhimthiki- housekarls or the lowest rank of elite soldiersfolc- the population of a settlement Viking Warlords to Kings Power struggles among Scandinavian warlords and petty kings developed in the early 9th-century and these conflicts resulted in the creation of dynastic regional kings and a secondary elite class which competed directly with the drotts. By the 11th century, Late Viking societies were led by powerful, aristocratic dynastic leaders with hierarchical networks including lesser religious and secular leaders. The title given to such a leader was that of respect rather: old kings were frea, meaning respected and wise; younger ones were drotten, vigorous and warlike. If an overlord became too permanent or ambitious, he could be assassinated, a pattern of regicide which continued in Viking society for a long time.   An early important Scandinavian warlord was the Danish Godfred (also spelled Gottrick or Gudfred), who by 800 CE had a capital at Hedeby, inherited his status from his father and an army set to attack his neighbors. Godfred, probably overlord over the federated south Scandinavia, faced a powerful enemy, the Holy Roman Emperor Charlemagne. But a year after victory over the Franks, Godfred was assassinated by his own son and other relations in 811. Viking Kings Most Viking kings were, like warlords, chosen based on merit from the earl class. The kings, sometimes called chieftains, were primarily itinerant political leaders, who never had any permanent role over the whole realm. The provinces were almost entirely autonomous, at least until the reign of Gustav Vasa (Gustav I of Sweden) in the 1550s.   Each community had a hall where political, legal and perhaps religious matters were dealt with, and banquets were held. The leader met his people in the halls, established or reestablished bonds of friendship, his people swore oaths of allegiance and gave the leader gifts, and proposals of marriage were made and settled. He may have held a high priest role in cultic rituals.   Norse Halls Archaeological evidence concerning the roles of jarl, karl, and thrall is limited, but medieval historian Stefan Brink suggests that separate halls were constructed for the use of the different social classes. There was the house of the thrall, the banqueting hall of the peasant, and the banqueting hall of the nobleman.   Brink notes that in addition to being places where the itinerant king held court, halls were used for trade, legal, and cultic purposes. Some were used to house specialized craftsman in high-quality forging and skilled handicrafts or to present cult performances, attendance by specific warriors and housecarls, etc.   Archaeological Halls The foundations of large rectangular buildings interpreted as halls have been identified in numerous sites through Scandinavia and into the Norse diaspora. Banqueting halls ranged between 160–180 feet (50–85 meters) long, and 30–50 ft (9–15 m).  Ã‚  Some examples are: Gudme on Fyn, Denmark, dated to 200–300 CE, 47x10 m, with ceiling beams 80 cm in width and equipped with a double doorway, located east of the Gudme hamlet.  Lejre on Zealand, Denmark, 48x11, thought to represent a guild hall; Lejre was the seat of Viking age kings of ZealandGamla Uppsala in Uppland, central Sweden, 60 m long built on a man-made platform of clay, dated to the Vendel period CE 600–800, located near a medieval royal estateBorg on Vetvagoy, Lofoten in northern Norway, 85x15 m with cultic thin gold plates and imports of Carolingian glass. Its foundations built over an older, slightly smaller (55x8 m) hall dated to the Migration Period 400–600Hogom in Medelpad, 40x7–5 m, includes a high seat in the house, an elevated base in the middle of the building, thought to have had several purposes, high seat, banqueting hall room and assembly hall   Mythic Origins of Classes According to the Rigspula, a mythic-ethnologic poem collected by Saemund Sigfusson at the end of the 11th or beginning of the 12th century CE, Heimdal, the sun god sometimes called Rigr, created the social classes at the beginning of time, when the earth was lightly populated. In the tale, Rigr visits three houses and engenders the three classes in order.   Rigr first visits Ai (Great Grandfather) and Edda (Great Grandmother) who live in a hut and feed him husk-filled bread and broth. After his visit, the child Thrall is born. The children and grandchildren of Thrall are described as having black hair and an unsightly countenance, thick ankles, coarse fingers, and of being a low and deformed stature. Historian Hilda Radzin believes this is a direct reference to the Lapps, who were reduced to a state of vassalage by their Scandinavian conquerors. Next, Rigr visits Afi (Grandfather) and Amma (Grandmother), who live in a well-built house where the Afi is making a loom and his wife is spinning. They feed him stewed calf and good food, and their child is called Karl (freeman). Karls offspring have red hair and florid complexions.   Finally, Rigr visits Fadir (Father) and Modir (Mother) living in a mansion, where he is served roast pork and game birds in silver dishes. Their child is Jarl (Noble). The nobles children and grandchildren have blond hair, bright cheeks, and eyes as fierce as a young serpent. Sources Brink, Stefan. Political and Social Structures in Early Scandinavia: A Settlement-Historical Pre-Study of the Central Place. TOR 28 (1996): 235–82. Print.Cormack, W. F. Drengs and Drings. Transactions of the Dumfriesshire and Galloway Natural History and Antiquarian Society. Eds. Williams, James and W. F. Cormack, 2000. 61–68. Print.Lund, Niels. Scandinavia, c. 700–1066. The New Cambridge Medieval History c.700–c.900. Ed. McKitterick, Rosamond. Vol. 2. The New Cambridge Medieval History. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 1995. 202–27. Print.Radzin, Hilda. Names in the Mythological Lay Rigspula. Literary Onomastics Studies 9.14 (1982). Print.Thurston, Tina L. Social Classes in the Viking Age: Contentious Relations. C. Ed. Thurston, Tina L. Fundamental Issues in Archaeology. London: Springer, 2001. 113–30. Print.

Massacre at the Festival of Toxcatl

Massacre at the Festival of Toxcatl On May 20, 1520, Spanish conquistadors led by Pedro de Alvarado attacked unarmed Aztec nobles congregated at the Festival of Toxcatl, one of the most important festivals on the native religious calendar. Alvarado believed he had evidence of an Aztec plot to attack and murder the Spanish, who had recently occupied the city and taken Emperor Montezuma captive. Thousands were slaughtered by the ruthless Spaniards, including much of the leadership of the Mexica city of Tenochtitlan. After the massacre, the city of Tenochtitlan rose up against the invaders, and on June 30, 1520, they would successfully (if temporarily) drive them out. Hernan Cortes and the Conquest of the Aztecs In April of 1519, Hernan Cortes had landed near present-day Veracruz with some 600 conquistadors. The ruthless Cortes had slowly made his way inland, encountering several tribes along the way. Many of these tribes were unhappy vassals of the warlike Aztecs, who ruled their empire from the marvelous city of Tenochtitlan. In Tlaxcala, the Spanish had fought the warlike Tlaxcalans before agreeing to an alliance with them. The conquistadors had continued on to Tenochtitlan by way of Cholula, where Cortes orchestrated a massive massacre of local leaders he claimed were complicit in a plot to murder them. In November of 1519, Cortes and his men reached the glorious city of Tenochtitlan. They were initially welcomed by Emperor Montezuma, but the greedy Spaniards soon wore out their welcome. Cortes imprisoned Montezuma and held him hostage against the good behavior of his people. By now the Spanish had seen the vast golden treasures of the Aztecs and were hungry for more. An uneasy truce between the conquistadors and an increasingly resentful Aztec population lasted into the early months of 1520. Cortes, Velazquez, and Narvaez Back in Spanish-controlled Cuba, governor Diego Velazquez had learned of Cortes exploits. Velazquez had initially sponsored Cortes but had tried to remove him from command of the expedition. Hearing of the great wealth coming out of Mexico, Velazquez sent veteran conquistador Panfilo de Narvaez to rein in the insubordinate Cortes and regain control of the campaign. Narvaez landed in April of 1520 with a massive force of over 1000 well-armed conquistadors.   Cortes mustered as many men as he could and returned to the coast to battle Narvaez. He left about 120 men behind in Tenochtitlan and left his trusted lieutenant Pedro de Alvarado in charge. Cortes met meet Narvaez in battle and defeated him on the night of May 28-29, 1520. With Narvaez in chains, most of his men joined Cortes. Alvarado and the Festival of Toxcatl In the first three weeks of May, the Mexica (Aztecs) traditionally celebrated the Festival of Toxcatl.   This long festival was dedicated to the most important of the Aztec gods, Huitzilopochtli. The purpose of the festival was to ask for the rains which would water the Aztec crops for another year, and it involved dancing, prayers, and human sacrifice. Before he left for the coast, Cortes had conferred with Montezuma and had decided that the festival could go on as planned. Once Alvarado was in charge, he also agreed to allow it, on the (unrealistic) condition that there be no human sacrifices. A Plot Against the Spanish? Before long, Alvarado began to believe that there was a plot to kill him and the other conquistadors remaining in Tenochtitlan. His Tlaxcalan allies told him that they had heard rumors that at the conclusion of the festival, the people of Tenochtitlan were to rise against the Spanish, capture them and sacrifice them. Alvarado saw stakes being fixed into the ground, of the sort used to hold captives while they awaited being sacrificed. A new, gruesome statue of Huitzilopochtli was being raised onto the top of the great temple. Alvarado spoke to Montezuma and demanded he put an end to any plots against the Spanish, but the emperor answered that he knew of no such plot and could not do anything about it anyway, as he was a prisoner. Alvarado was further enraged by the obvious presence of sacrificial victims in the city. The Temple Massacre Both the Spanish and the Aztecs became increasingly uneasy, but the Festival of Toxcatl began as planned. Alvarado, by now convinced of the evidence of a plot, decided to take the offensive. On the fourth day of the festival, Alvarado placed half of his men on guard duty around Montezuma and some of the highest-ranking Aztec lords and placed the rest in strategic positions around the Patio of the Dances near the Great Temple, where the Serpent Dance was to take place. The Serpent Dance was one of the most important moments of the Festival, and the Aztec nobility was in attendance, in beautiful cloaks of brightly colored feathers and animal skins. Religious and military leaders were present as well. Before long, the courtyard was full of brightly colored dancers and attendees. Alvarado gave the order to attack. Spanish soldiers closed off the exits to the courtyard and the massacre began. Crossbowmen and harquebusiers rained down death from the rooftops, while heavily armed and armored foot soldiers and about a thousand Tlaxcalan allies waded into the crowd, cutting down the dancers and revelers. The Spanish spared no one, chasing down those who begged for mercy or fled. Some of the revelers fought back and even managed to kill a few of the Spanish, but the unarmed nobles were no match for steel armor and weapons. Meanwhile, the men guarding Montezuma and the other Aztec lords murdered several of them but spared the emperor himself and a few others, including Cuitlhuac, who would later become Tlatoani (Emperor) of the Aztecs after Montezuma. Thousands were killed, and in the aftermath, the greedy Spanish soldiers picked the corpses clean of golden ornaments. Spanish Under Siege Steel weapons and cannons or not, Alvarados 100 conquistadors were seriously outnumbered. The city rose in outrage and attacked the Spanish, who had barricaded themselves in the palace which had been their quarters. With their harquebuses, cannons, and crossbows, the Spanish were able to mostly hold off the assault, but the rage of the people showed no signs of subsiding. Alvarado ordered Emperor Montezuma to go out and calm the people. Montezuma complied, and the people temporarily ceased their assault on the Spanish, but the city was still full of rage. Alvarado and his men were in a most precarious situation. Aftermath of the Temple Massacre Cortes heard of his mens dilemma and rushed back to Tenochtitlan after defeating Panfilo de Narvaez. He found the city in a state of uproar and was barely able to re-establish order. After the Spanish forced him to go out and plead for his people to stay calm, Montezuma was attacked with stones and arrows by his own people. He died slowly of his wounds, passing away on or about June 29, 1520. The death of Montezuma only made the situation worse for Cortes and his men, and Cortes decided that he simply did not have enough resources to hold the enraged city. On the night of June 30, the Spanish tried to sneak out of the city, but they were spotted and the Mexica (Aztecs) attacked. This became known as the Noche Triste, or Night of Sorrows, because hundreds of Spaniards were killed as they fled the city. Cortes escaped with most of his men and over the next few months would begin a campaign to re-take Tenochtitlan. The Temple Massacre is one of the more infamous episodes in the history of the Conquest of the Aztecs, which had no shortage of barbarous events. Whether or not the Aztecs did, in fact, intend to rise up against Alvarado and his men is unknown. Historically speaking, there is little hard evidence for such a plot, but it is undeniable that Alvarado was in an extremely dangerous situation which got worse daily. Alvarado had seen how the Cholula Massacre had stunned the population into docility, and perhaps he was taking a page from Cortes book when he ordered the Temple Massacre.   Sources: Diaz del Castillo, Bernal. . Trans., ed. J.M. Cohen. 1576. London, Penguin Books, 1963. Print.Levy, Buddy. Conquistador: Hernan Cortes, King Montezuma and the Last Stand of the Aztecs. New York: Bantam, 2008.Thomas, Hugh. Conquest: Montezuma, Cortes and the Fall of Old Mexico. New York: Touchstone, 1993.