Viking Age · 793-900

The Viking Age begins

In 793 raiders from the sea attack the monastery of Lindisfarne. Students meet the Vikings as raiders, traders and farmers, map their homelands and towns, and ask why they set out across the sea.

Teach it live New Open on the map
Length
45 minutes
Ages
10–13
On the map
3 steps, AD 800 to AD 845
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

In 793 raiders from the sea attack the monastery of Lindisfarne. Students meet the Vikings as raiders, traders and farmers, map their homelands and towns, and ask why they set out across the sea.

By the end of the lesson, students can

  • Locate the Viking homelands and three Viking-Age towns on the map.
  • Explain why monasteries were easy targets and why the attack on Lindisfarne shocked Christian Europe.
  • Describe the Vikings as farmers and traders as well as raiders, using evidence such as ships and trading towns.
2

Explore the map

12 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 800

The North in 800

Open the map in 800 on Scandinavia. Find the Danes, the Swedes and the Northmen. How much of their land lies close to the sea?

Open this view on the map
b

AD 793

Across the North Sea

Set the year to 793 and turn on Historical Events. Find the Viking Raid on Lindisfarne. Compare by eye: how far is it across the North Sea from Norway?

Open this view on the map
c

AD 845

Rivers into Europe

Move to 845 and zoom out over the Frankish lands. Viking ships sailed up the Seine, the Loire and the Rhine. Find these rivers. Why were shallow ships such a danger to towns far inland?

Open this view on the map
3

Class discussion

14 min

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

  1. Monasteries had gold, silver and few defenders. Why had no one expected an attack from the sea?
  2. Most of what we know about the raids was written by monks, the victims. How might that shape the story?
  3. Most Scandinavians at this time were farmers. Why might some of them go raiding?
  4. Vikings also traded furs, walrus ivory, amber and enslaved people. What does the slave trade tell us about the Viking world?
  5. Viking longships could cross the open sea and also sail up rivers. Why was that combination so powerful?
4

Game round

9 min

Play Rule History as Charlemagne, who ruled when the first Viking raids began. Afterwards, discuss: how could a king on land defend hundreds of miles of coast against raiders who arrived by sea?

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.