Viking Age · 860-1050

From the Baltic to Byzantium: the Varangians

Scandinavian traders row, sail and drag their boats along the rivers of eastern Europe to reach Constantinople and the markets of the Islamic world. Students follow the river roads, trace the silver and the captives that moved along them, and meet the emperor's Varangian Guard.

Teach it live New Open on the map
Length
50 minutes
Ages
12–15
On the map
3 steps, AD 900 to AD 1000
Live lesson
7 rounds, 3 on the map
Worksheet
Two A4 pages, with Classroom
You need
A projector; phones for live

Live lesson · new in Classroom

Teach it live. The class answers on their phones.

Put the board on the projector. Students join with a six-digit code, no account needed, and tap the map: where was the frontier, where did the grain come from. Their pins drop in together when you reveal, and the closest student takes the round.

€19 per month: every lesson live, every worksheet, cancel anytime. Rome at its height runs live for free.

A live lesson on the projector: the class's pins on the map around Alexandria, the closest students listed beside it A student's phone: the question and a map to tap
7 rounds
3 places to find on the map, quiz questions, a class vote and a one-line answer.
About 15 minutes
Run it as the map step, or to open the discussion. You move on with the space bar.
A report
Every answer, per student and per round, to read back or print after the lesson.
1

Introduction

5 min

Read aloud

Scandinavian traders row, sail and drag their boats along the rivers of eastern Europe to reach Constantinople and the markets of the Islamic world. Students follow the river roads, trace the silver and the captives that moved along them, and meet the emperor's Varangian Guard.

By the end of the lesson, students can

  • Trace the river route from the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea and Constantinople.
  • Explain what was traded along the Volga and Dnieper routes, and who paid the price.
  • Describe the Varangian Guard and the links it created between Scandinavia and Byzantium.
2

Explore the map

15 min

Project the map, or let students follow on their own devices. Each step opens the map at the right year and place.

a

AD 900

The Volga route

Open the map in 900 and turn on Trade Routes. Follow the Volga Trade Route from the Baltic to the Caspian Sea. Which peoples and states does it pass?

Open this view on the map
b

AD 900

Down the Dnieper

Find Novgorod and Kyiv inside Kyivan Rus. Follow the Dnieper River south to the Black Sea. Why would crews have to carry or drag their boats overland in some places?

Open this view on the map
c

AD 1000

The journey's end

Pan south to Constantinople and set the year to 1000. Why was the emperor's city the richest prize at the end of the river road?

Open this view on the map
3

Class discussion

15 min

Pick two or three. They run from what happened to why it mattered.

  1. Why did Scandinavian traders use rivers rather than roads to cross eastern Europe?
  2. Many thousands of silver coins from the Islamic world have been found in Sweden, especially on the island of Gotland. What do they show?
  3. Enslaved people were among the main goods traded on these rivers. Whose voices are missing from our sources?
  4. The Primary Chronicle says the Slavs invited a Varangian prince named Rurik to rule them. Why do historians treat this story with caution?
  5. Why would a Byzantine emperor trust foreign warriors as his bodyguard more than his own subjects?
4

Game round

10 min

Play Rule History as Charlemagne, who ruled in the west just before the Rus state arose. Afterwards, compare: the Rus built a state along rivers and trade routes, Charlemagne on old Roman lands. Which is easier to hold together?

Open Rule History
5

Worksheet

5 min

This worksheet comes with Classroom

€19 per month unlocks every worksheet, every live lesson and the class workspace. The free lesson prints without a subscription.