A time-line of the Vikings and ScandinaviaWorld News | Politics | History | Editor(Copyright © 1999 Piero Scaruffi) |
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Longships 100 AD: the Finns occupy Finland 200 AD: Runic (futhark) alphabet 400: age of the migrations 690: English missionary Willibrord evangelizes in Denmark 700: boat graves at Vendel in Uppland (Sweden) 700: Denmark is ruled by Angantyr (Ongendus) 700: Scandinavians in the Vistula delta (See Russians) 793: Vikings raid the monastery of Lindisfarne in Britain 800: Danes under Godfred fight the Franks 810: Godfred is murdered 826: Harald Klak of Denmark converts to Christianity 827: Horik I, son of Godfred, rules Denmark 831: Vikings invade Ireland and found Dublin 834: Vikings raid England 844: Vikings raid Seville 852: Ansgar founds the churches at Hedeby and Ribe in Denmark 860: Vikings attack Constantinople 862: Vikings found Novgorod in Russia 865: the Danes invade East Anglia and destroy the Northumbrians 867: the Danes under Ivarr the Boneless establish a kingdom in York, England 870: the Danes conquer East Anglia 872: Harald I becomes king of Norway 874: Vikings settle Iceland 878: The Danes attack Wessex but are defeated by king Alfred at the battle of Edington (they now control three of the four Anglo-Saxon kingdoms) and their leader Guthrum converts to Christianity 881: Vikings raid Cambrai, Utrecht and Aachen 885: Vikings besiege Paris 886: Wessex king Alfred divides England with the Danes 9##: Eddic sagas in Iceland 9##: Vikings raid the Mediterranean coasts 90#: king Harald I Fairhaired unites most of Norway 910: Harald Bluetooth (Harald I) inherits the Jutland kingdom from his father, Gorm the Old (founder of the Jelling dynasty) and conquers the rest of Denmark 911: Vikings under Rollo are settled in Normandy by the Franks (first Duke of Normandy) 910: Alfred's son Edward defeats the Danes 912: the Normans become Christian 927: Aethelstan conquers all of Anglosaxon England 930: Iceland establishes the Althing, a legislative assembly without a king 937: Aethelstan establishes the kindgom of England 941: Vikings attack Constantinople 950: Harald Bluetooth (Harold I) of the Jelling dynasty unites all of Denmark 959: Edgar the Peaceful becomes the first king of a united England 965: Harald Bluetooth (Harold I) converts the Danes to christianity 968: Brian Boru expels the Vikings from Ireland 981: Erik the Red discovers Greenland 986: Vikings land in Canada 995: Olaf I Trygvason conquers most of Norway and converts it to Christianity 1000: the tribes of Sweden unite 1000: Greenland and Iceland are christianized 1001: Leif Eriksson reaches the American coast 1008: Sweden is christianized 1013: the Danish chieftain Svend Forkbeard (Svend I) conquers England 1015: Olaf II Haraldsson is the first king of all Norway 1016: the Danish king Canute (Knut) II defeats the Wessex king Edmund at the battle of Alney and annexes Mercia 1017: Edmund of Wessex dies and Canute annexes Wessex 1017: Canute converts to christianity 1028: Canute, already king of England and Denmark, conquers Norway 1035: Canute dies, leaving Denmark and England to Hardacnut and Norway to Swein 1042: Hardacnut dies suddenly and Edward the Confessor, heir to both Wessex and Mercia, regains the throne of England to the Anglosaxons 1050: Vikings found the city of Oslo in Norway 1060: Svend Estridsen (Svend II) organizes the Danish church 1066: Edward the Confessor dies and Harold II Godwinson succeeds him 1066: Norway's king Harald III Harraade invades northern England and is killed at the battle of Stamford Bridge against Harold Godwinson of England 1066: William I of Normandy (the Conqueror) defeats and kills the English king Harold at the battle of Hastings, thus ending the Anglo-Saxon rule of England and becoming the first Norman king of England 1103: the Danish king Erik Ejegod (Erik I) obtains that Lund become the archiepiscopal see for the whole of Scandinavia 1152: the archbishopric of Norway is founded at Nidaros (Trondheim), where a cathedral is built 1155: the Swedish king Erik conquers Finland during a crusade 1157: Valdemar I becomes king of Denmark 1160: the Sverker and Erik families compete for power in Sweden 1164: Sweden obtains an archbishop 1169: the Danish king Canute VI conquers Arkona 1215: the English king John I Lackland signs the Magna Charta 1203: Philip Augustus II of France conquers Normandy and expels the English 1217: Haakon IV Haakonsson reunites Norway after a civil war 1219: the Danes under Valdemar II conquer Estonia 1241: Valdemar II dies and the Danish kingdom disintegrates 1262: Haakon IV annexes Iceland and Greenland to Norway, and terminates the Althing 1263: Haakon IV dies and is succeeded by Magnus V Lagaboeter, who enacts Norway's code of laws 1280: Sweden's king Magnus Ladulas organizes Swedish society on the feudal model 1286: the Turku cathedral of Finland is founded 1300: Sweden trades with the cities of the Hanseatic Leage (Luebeck) 1323: The Treaty of Noteborg divides Karelia between Sweden and Russia 1340: Valdemar IV Atterdag succeeds to the throne of Denmark 1350: Sweden's king Magnus Eriksson enacts the Swedish law code 1350: the plague reaches Denmark and Scandinavia 1361: the Danes under Valdemar IV is defeated by the Hanseatic league 1363: Valdemar IV's daughter Margrete is married at ten to Haakon VI of Norway 1375: Valdemar IV of Denmark dies and is succeeded by Oluf, the son of Valdemar IV's daughter Margrete and King Hakon VI of Norway 1380: Haakon VI of Norway dies and his wife Margrete becomes regent on behalf of their ten-year old son Olaf 1381: Denmark acquires Iceland 1388: following the death of Olaf, Margrete becomes regent queen of Denmark and Norway 1389: the Danish queen Margrete is elected queen of Sweden, thereby uniting the crowns of Denmark, Norway and Sweden 1397: Denmark, Norway and Sweden agree to unite under the teenager Erik VII of Pomerania with his mother Margrete as regent (Union of Kalmar) 1434: Sweden revolts against Denmark 1442: Christopher III of Denmark becomes king of Norway, thereby installing a Danish dynasty in Norway 1448: Christian I inaugurates the Oldenburg dynasty in Denmark 1460: the Danish King Christian I is elected Duke of Schleswig and Count of Holstein by the nobles of Schleswig-Holstein 1475: the Olavinlinna castle is founded in Finland 1520: Swedish nobles fighting for independence are executed by the Danish union king Kristian II 1521: the Danish king Kristian II is deposed 1523: Gustar Vasa is elected king of Sweden (and Finland) and Sweden leaves the union with Denmark 1529: Sweden adopts Lutheranism as the state religion 1536: Christian III emerges as the winner from the Danish civil war, ruling over Denmark, Norway, the Faroes, Iceland and Greenland 1537: Denmark and Norway adopt Lutheranism as the state religion 1544: Sweden becomes an hereditary monarchy and abandons Catholicism in favor of Protestantism 1563: Erik XIV of Sweden and Frederik II of Denmark get entangled in a seven-year war 1604: Sweden bans Catholicism 1611: Denmark tries to annex again Sweden but fails (Kalmar War) 1617: The Treaty of Stolbovo assigns large parts of Russian Karelia back to Sweden The Treaty of Moscow 1940 Finland ceded a large portion of Karelia to the Soviet Union 1625: Sweden under Gustav II Adolf captures Livonia from Poland 1626: the Danish army of Christian IV is defeated in the Thirty Years' War at Lutter am Barenberg 1630: Sweden under Gustav II Adolf allies with Germany in the Thirty Years' War 1632: Gustav II Adolf is killed at the battle of Luetzen but Sweden wins and becomes a European power 1634: Swedish nobility ratifies a new constitution 1634: Finland is incorporated into the kingdom of Sweden 1655: Sweden invades Poland-Lithuania ("First Northern War"), causing the death of millions, while Russia, Denmark, and the Empire side with Poland-Lithuania 1658: Sweden under Charles X seizes Danish provinces, its territory now including Finland, Estonia, Latvia and parts of northern Germany 1660: Denmark becomes a hereditary monarchy under Frederik III 1670: Christian V becomes king of Denmark and introduces administrative reforms 1661: Johan Palmstruch introduces the first European paper money 1676: Ole Roemer discovers that the speed of light is finite 1697: Charles XII becomes king of Sweden 1699: Frederik IV becomes king of Denmark 1700: Denmark, Poland and Russia attack Sweden, but Charles XII's army invades Poland, Saxony and Ukraine 1706: Poland surrenders to Sweden 1707: Sweden, having defeated Poland, invades Russia 1709: Sweden is defeated by Russia at the battle of Poltava 1718: Sweden's king Charles XII is killed in battle 1721: Danish colonists recolonize Greenland 1721: Sweden is defeated by an alliance of Denmark, Poland and Russia and loses most of its territory on the other side of the Baltic Sea, including most of Karelia to Russia (peace of Nystad) 1729: Greenland becomes a Danish province 1743: Sweden cedes South Karelia to Russia (treaty of Abo) 1772: Gustav III seizes power in Sweden 1773: Denmark enter into an alliance with Russia 1805: Sweden joins a coalition against Napoleon 1807: Britain attacks Denmark and steals the entire Danish fleet, and Denmark allies with Napoleon 1808: Russia invades Sweden's Finland 1809: A new constitution of Sweden grants more powers to the Parliament 1809: Sweden cedes Finland to Russia 1812: Helsinki becomes the capital of the Grand Duchy of Finland 1814: And at the Peace of Kiel, Denmark is forced to cede Norway to Sweden 1814: Christian VIII introduces constitutional monarchy in Norway, a "free kingdom" under Sweden 1818: The first Bernadotte, Jean Baptiste, one of Napoleon's field marshals, is elected king of Sweden 1849: Frederik VII signs Denmark's first constitution, granting civil rights and instituting a parliamentary democracy 1864: Prussia and Austria defeat Denmark and Denmark is forced to cede Schleswig, Holstein and Lauenburg 1867: the Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel invents dynamite 1869: A famine kills thousands of people in Sweden 1876: Lars Ericsson founds Ericsson in Sweden 1890: The electrical firm Allmanna Svenska Elektriska Aktiebolaget (ASEA) is founded 1898: Norway introduces universal male suffrage 1899: The czar Nicholas II launches a program of Russification of Finland 1905: The union between Sweden and Norway is dissolved and prince Carl of Demark becomes king of Norway as Haakon VII 1906: Universal female suffrage in the Grand Duchy of Finland (first region in Europe) 1907: Sweden introduces proportional representation and universal male suffrage 1909: Sweden's Selma Lagerlof becomes the first female writer to be awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature 1912: Universal female suffrage in Norway 1913: Norway introduces univeral female suffrage 1913: the Danish physicist Niels Bohr explains how the atom works 1914: Sweden declares its neutrality in World War I 1916: The Social Democratic Party of Finland becomes the first socialist party in the world to win democratic elections with an absolute majority 1918: Denmark introduces universal suffrage 1919: Finland declares its independence from Russia Sep 1932: The Socialdemocratic party wins the elections in Sweden and Per-Albin Hansson becomes prime minister with a program of vast social reforms 1934: Ole Kirk Christiansen founds the company Lego in Denmark to make wooden toys 1939: Sweden, Norway and Finland declare their neutrality in World War II Nov 1939: The Soviet Union invades Finland 1940: Germany invades Denmark and Norway 1940: Finland loses eastern territories to the Soviet Union 1941: Finland de facto allies with Germany and attacks the Soviet Union 1944: Finland surrenders Karelia to the Soviet Union 1944: Iceland declares independence from Denmark Jan 1946: Sweden extradites 146 Latvian and Estonian prisoners of war to the Soviet Union 1946: Socialdemocrat Tage Erlander becomes prime minister of Sweden after Hansson dies 1950: Urho Kekkonen is appointed prime minister of Finland and inaugurates a policy of neutrality during the Cold War between the West and the Soviet Union 1953: Greenland becomes part of Denmark 1969: Erlander resigns and Olof Palme becomes prime minister of Sweden 1972: Social Democrat leader Kalevi Sorsa is appointed prime minister of Finland 1974: a new Swedish constitution removes any power from the monarchy 1976: Thorbjorn Falldin becomes prime minister of Sweden, the first non-socialist government in forty years 1979: Ericsson introduces the first cellular phone 1982: Mauno Koivisto is appointed president of Finland, the first president born in independent Finland 1986: Olof Palme of Sweden is assassinated by a madman 1989: Denmark becomes the first nation in the world to legalize same-sex marriage 1994: Martti Ahtisaari is the first president of Finland elected by direct popular vote 1995: Sweden and Finland join the European Union 1996: Goeran Persson of the Social Democratic Party becomes prime minister of Sweden Jul 2000: A bridge is inaugurated linking Malmo in Sweden and Copenhagen in Denmark 2000: General Motors acquires Sweden's Saab 2000: The longest road tunnel in the world opens in Norway, the Laerdal Tunnel 2002: Finland adopts the euro 2002: Finland approves the construction of a nuclear reactor, the first in 30 years 2003: Sweden's foreign minister Anna Lindh is assassinated Sep 2005: The Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten publishes cartoons that satirize the founder of Islam 2006 Muslims riot worldwide because the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten published comic cartoons about Mohammed, the founder of Islam 2006: Fredrik Reinfeldt of the conservative party becomes prime minister of Sweden, ending 12 years of Social Democrat rule Nov 2007: An 18-year-old student (Pekka-Eric Auvinen) goes a gun rampage at his school in Tuusula, killing seven pupils, a teacher and himself ("Jokela school massacre") Sep 2008: An armed student kills 10 people at a college in Finland Oct 2008: Iceland's three main banks collapse and leave the country virtually bankrupt 2009: Iceland elects the first openly gay head of state in the world, Johanna Sigurdardottir Dec 2009: A 43-year-old man (Ibrahim Shkupolli) goes a gun rampage in the southern city of Espoo, killing five people Dec 2010: A Muslim dies trying to carry out a suicide attack in Stockholm, Sweden Dec 2010: Danish authorities prevent a terrorist attack by Muslims who wanted to kill as many people as possible in the building of a newspaper that published cartoons deemed offensive to Islam Apr 2011: Finland's nationalist, anti-immigration "True Finns" party wins 19% of seats in parliament Jul 2011: A right-wing anti-Islamic terrorist kills 76 people in Norway Sep 2011: Helle Thorning-Schmidt becomes Denmark's first female prime minister May 2013: Riots erupt in the Muslim immigrant suburb of Husby after the Swedish police kill a man 2013: Erna Solberg is elected prime minister of Norway Sep 2014: The Social Democrats return to power in Sweden after eight years and Stefan Lofven becomes the new prime minister |
| (Copyright © 1999 Piero Scaruffi) |