What did the Vikings do in Constantinople?

What did the Vikings do in Constantinople?

In what the Greek patriarch Photius called “a thunderbolt from heaven,” the Rus plundered the suburbs of Constantinople and launched coastal raids around the Sea of Marmara in which they burned houses, churches and monasteries and slaughtered the patriarch’s servants.

What made Constantinople good for trade?

Constantinople is an ancient city in modern-day Turkey that’s now known as Istanbul. First settled in the seventh century B.C., Constantinople developed into a thriving port thanks to its prime geographic location between Europe and Asia and its natural harbor.

What did Constantinople import?

For example, silk and spices were brought by land into Constantinople from India and China, then shipped to Venice or further west. Goods, too, arrived from the west like amber from Northern ports around the Baltic Sea or from Venice and Genoa. From Africa (and India) ivory was imported into the empire.

How did Vikings reach Constantinople?

Suddenly on June 18, 860, “like a swarm of wasps,” according to Photios, the Archbishop of Constantinople, the Viking fleet of 200 ships emerged from the Bosporus, the narrow strait connecting the Sea of Marmara to the Black Sea, to assault Constantinople.

Did the Vikings capture Constantinople?

The siege of Constantinople of 860 was the only major military expedition of the Rus’ Khaganate recorded in Byzantine and Western European sources….Siege of Constantinople (860)

Date	860
Location	Constantinople (Old East Slavic: Tsargrad, Old Norse: Miklagarðr)
Result	Unsuccessful Rus’ raid on Constantinople

What happened to the pechenegs?

After centuries of fighting involving all their neighbours—the Byzantine Empire, Bulgaria, Kievan Rus’, Khazaria, and the Magyars—the Pechenegs were annihilated as an independent force in 1091 at the Battle of Levounion by a combined Byzantine and Cuman army under Byzantine Emperor Alexios I Komnenos.

How did the Byzantine economy grow through trade?

Trade. Aside from agriculture, trade was an important element of the Byzantine economy. Constantinople was positioned along both the east-west and north-south trade routes, and the Byzantines took advantage of this by taxing imports and exports at a 10% rate.

What did the Ottoman empire trade?

The Ottomans exported luxury goods like silk, furs, tobacco and spices, and had a growing trade in cotton. Most trade took place within the vast empire stretching from the Danube to Africa, Arabia and Persia.

What was the most important item being traded in the marketplace of Constantinople?

Textiles were by far the most important trading item. Silk worms were later smuggled into the empire, making overland silk trade less important.

What were the main motivations for the Vikings to explore new areas?

In places where the Vikings conquered existing populations, they were driven by political ambitions, the desire for wealth through tribute and the control of trade, and, as in newly-inhabited lands, the ability to make a name for oneself.

When did the Vikings go to Constantinople?

860
Siege of Constantinople (860)

Rus’ siege of Constantinople
Date 860 Location Constantinople (Old East Slavic: Tsargrad, Old Norse: Miklagarðr) Result Unsuccessful Rus’ raid on Constantinople
Belligerents
Byzantine Empire	Rus’
Commanders and leaders