All Vikings of Scandinavia in the 9th-10th centuries could display a maximum of 3 thousand warriors. The Vikings' colonization of Russia allowed them to create a steady flow of silver to their homeland, and this became the reason for their increase in military power. The income from the exploitation of the Slavs gave them 1000 more soldiers and the opportunity to build fleets of drakkars. Only after the enslavement of Russia did the Scandinavians begin their campaigns of conquest in Western Europe.
Historians of the XXI century speak less and less about the gigantic number of armies with which the chronicles of the past operated. The number of warriors clearly correlated with the state of the economy, as well as the logistics of the time. Obviously, even at once to collect 1000 soldiers in the Middle Ages was a strong blow to the "budget" and peasant farms through which such an army passed. Economic historian Grigory Germanovich Popov on the example of the Scandinavian expansion of the 9th-11th centuries in the article "Ancient Russia and the Volga Trade Route in the Viking Economy" (Journal of Historical and Economic Research, No. 1, 2010) gives calculations of the cost of a warrior's equipment of that time. We present the main theses of his work.
Why were there no cities in Russia?
The main theses put forward by us are the following statements:
- in the 1X-X centuries. there was a strong Scandinavian military influence on the Slavic and Finnish tribes;
- Russia was an important transit territory connecting Scandinavia with the Islamic East through the Volga trade route, and trade revenues from this route significantly helped the Vikings in organizing their military expeditions to Western Europe;
- the small number of Scandinavians and the strong influence of the Byzantine Empire on Russia, combined with a religious split among the Scandinavians, did not allow the Vikings to keep under control the important trade routes of Russia for a long time
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Until the XI century. there were practically no large cities in Russia, which is not typical for other agricultural cultures of Eurasia. The rapid growth of cities begins only in the XI century, although its prerequisites arose even before the appearance of the Rurikovichs. The answer to the riddle of the backwardness of Ancient Russia (low population, lack of private property and large cities) is possible, this is the Norman conquest, which led to a strong outflow of resources. Western archaeological research has shown a significant increase in the prosperity of Scandinavia precisely in the era of the formation of the Old Russian state.
At the end of the IX century. Russia, judging by archaeological research, was almost completely devoid of a silver coin, which can be explained by the fact that the conquest took place. The peaceful nature of relations between Scandinavians and Slavs in the 9th century. raises doubts - the Vikings undertook at this time a large-scale aggression against all countries that they could reach on their ships.
Resource base of Scandinavia
Scandinavia in the early Middle Ages had a weak resource base for its population to carry out any large military enterprises. The entire number of soldiers of the Scandinavian countries able to take part in sea campaigns did not exceed 70 thousand people after the Viking era, in the XII-XIII centuries. This is about one in four men capable of holding a weapon. This estimate means that the total population of Scandinavia was about 1 million people. About 1 million people also lived in England then. This means that only England could have fielded on average as many warriors as all the Scandinavian peoples combined. In addition, the transfer of large military contingents from Scandinavia to Western Europe was difficult.
The above assessment of human potential by the historian G. S. Lebedev is based on data on the size of the Scandinavian ledung (militia) of the already mature Middle Ages. Of course, the possibilities of the inherently barbaric economy of Viking Age Scandinavia were much lower than in the feudal period. In addition, Lebedev is considering a ledung, but hardly all the militias could (even potentially) take part in long-distance expeditions. Well-trained and experienced warriors were needed for military operations in distant and alien territory.
About what the Scandinavian economy was like in the early Middle Ages, for example, King Alfred's "Orosius" clearly tells. According to this source, the main economic activities of the Normans (Norwegians) were hunting sea animals and breeding deer. The wealth of the average Norwegian Jarl was measured in terms of the number of livestock. In "Orosia" it is said about a certain Jarl Okhther, who owned 20 sheep and 20 pigs, plowed himself on horses and was considered a very wealthy man. The main wealth of the Norwegians, as indicated in Orosia, was the tribute from the Finns. Thus, from this work we see the image of the economy of early state society, which is well known to us from the works of Homer.
Until the X century. the Scandinavians had a patriarchal form of social organization. In addition, they constantly fought with each other, which meant the diversion of considerable forces to an internal struggle. Unlike the Normans, the Anglo-Saxons had a close-knit militia - a fird, supplemented by professional warriors (ten). The British could field as many armed men as all the Scandinavian countries. To collect fird, the British did not need ships: the territory of England is small, and a foot army could pass it in a week from north to south, fortunately, some remnants of Roman roads were still preserved by that time. This means that in order to defeat the British, the Normans needed good weapons and many ships to transport a large number of soldiers.
How many Vikings really could support Scandinavia only at the expense of their internal sources, give us information from a later period, the end of the 11th-first half of the 13th centuries, when feudal lords came to replace the Vikings. From the middle of the XI century. the Norman raids on Europe weakened considerably. Most Scandinavians abandoned the old way of life, adopted Western Christianity and began to adhere to its norms. According to the calculations of G. S. Lebedev, the number of the armed feudal class (including minor vassals) of all the Scandinavian countries was then 12-15 thousand people. So, 15 thousand soldiers is the maximum estimate of the military potential of all Scandinavian peoples, if its existence was supported almost exclusively by internal resources.
It should be borne in mind that the feudal form of agriculture was more productive than the communal agriculture of the Viking age, which provided a much smaller surplus product. Taking this into account, we can assume that the internal military potential of the Vikings was two to three times lower than that of feudal Scandinavia. This is confirmed by the fact that the number of the king's squad before the XI century. rarely exceeded 80 people, while an ordinary landmar (the Scandinavian analogue of the baron) had 40-50 warriors under his command.
Russia as a source of the Vikings' military flourishing
So, in poor Scandinavia there were few warriors and few material resources to support them. Where did the Vikings get the missing human and material resources from?
Since in the early Middle Ages, the Atlantic and Mediterranean did not have major trade routes, and the peoples who lived along their shores were in a state of almost complete autarchy, the Vikings could receive trade income only from the Eastern European routes that led to the rich Islamic East. The main way was the Volga, it was from the Volga trade that the Vikings, obviously, received their main income. Thus, Ancient Russia could provide them with the opportunity to create large financial savings, which were used to support military expeditions to Western Europe and the Mediterranean.
Apparently, Russia provided the Normans not only with financial resources from transit trade along the Volga, but also additional military forces. Otherwise, where did the Scandinavians come from at the beginning of the X century. human resources for attempted land grab in Iran? It is possible that a certain number of Eastern Slavs took part in the West European expeditions, not to mention military enterprises against Byzantium.
We can find confirmation of our hypothesis that the Viking campaigns could not be supported by purely internal resources thanks to the analysis of the prices of weapons in the Scandinavian countries. Data on prices, which have remained stable throughout the Viking Age and not only in Scandinavia, will also help us more accurately determine the size of the military core of the Viking troops - professional warriors.
According to G. S. Lebedev's estimates, external expansion provided Scandinavia with an influx of silver in the amount of 800 thousand marks per generation (25-30 years), that is, approximately 26 thousand marks a year. The maintenance of one soldier in the Scandinavian countries was 10-12 marks of silver per year. We divide the annual inflow of silver by the minimum cost of the annual maintenance of a professional warrior, then we get about 2,600 warriors - this is how much Scandinavia could support warriors at the expense of external resources. In reality, of course, not all money was spent on the maintenance of the soldiers. Probably more than half of the silver inflow went to peaceful needs. Then the military potential of Scandinavian societies, formed by external revenues, could hardly exceed 1,000 soldiers.
Ledung's participation in the campaigns was limited, especially for the eastern expeditions. After all, the militias were less armed and trained, so they were not worth wasting a place in the drakars.
The fact that simple Scandinavian bonds (free communal peasants) could hardly take an active part in the Viking campaigns (especially until the end of the 10th century) is indirectly confirmed by data on the prices of weapons. A sword in Scandinavia at the end of the Viking Age cost 0.75 marks, a spear about 0.25 marks. Thus, the Viking had to spend about 1 mark only on a standard set of weapons. It is known that a horse in pagan Rus cost about the same as a sword (the prices of Rus of that period are quite comparable with the prices of Scandinavia during the Viking Age). Accordingly, 1 sword was equivalent to about 8-9 sheep or 12 pigs. Recall that the Norwegian Jarl owned a herd of 20 pigs, which was considered a large number. Accordingly, the Scandinavian bond had to spend a fortune to arm itself. Thus,large campaigns of the Vikings with more than one thousand participants became possible only after the "initial accumulation" of funds, that is, somewhere after the middle of the 9th century, which was reflected in the chronicles.
Referring to the experience of England at the end of the XI century. (the era of the "Book of the Last Judgment"), it can be determined that for one soldier in North-Western Europe there were approximately 20-25 peasants (of course, male plowmen). Since the possibilities of the barbarian economy were several times lower than that of the feudal one, there should have been about 100 peasants for every Scandinavian warrior. According to G. S. Lebedev, the adult male population of Scandinavia was 300 thousand people. Therefore, it can be assumed that at the expense of internal resources, the rulers of Scandinavia could support about 3,000 professional warriors.
To the number of professional warriors we received, we must add about 1000 warriors who existed at the expense of external sources - at the expense of eastern trade in the territory of Ancient Russia. Thus, 4000 warriors is the maximum estimate of the core of the Viking Scandinavian military potential in the normal state of their society. More than a quarter of the core of the Viking military potential arose due to the eastern transit trade, i.e. thanks to Russia.
Of course, the corps of "professional Vikings" could have reached a larger size - 7-8 thousand soldiers. But this happened, apparently, only in certain short periods of history, no more than 10 years, when, under the pressure of external circumstances, the "mobilization" of the Scandinavian economy was carried out. For example, such "mobilization" could have taken place at the beginning of the 11th century. under Knud the Great, when the Vikings conquered England, and under Harold Hardrad, who in 1066 unsuccessfully tried to do it again.
Reconstruction of the Viking drakkar, today.
After the middle of the X century. in the Scandinavian countries, the inflow of silver from Western Europe has sharply increased, with the same sharp decrease in its inflow from Eastern Europe, and more specifically from the Islamic East. The amount of silver received from England, Germany and France after 950 and up to the end of the Viking Age is approximately equivalent to the receipts of eastern silver before the 980s. This is due to the active expansion of the Danes in the North Sea area.
Thus, the military potential of the Vikings after the 980s. It should have, for some time, even increased, since the receipts of silver from Western Europe were added to the financial resources received earlier from the East. However, the growth of this military potential of the Vikings, who were already on the verge of their decline, could not be long and so large-scale, since the loss of the eastern route was still tangible. This explains the sharp surge, and then the rather rapid decline of the Scandinavian expansion to the West. After the 980s, the Viking economy was largely driven by the exploitation of the defeated British and the plundering of the shores of Western Europe.
From robbery and seizure - to incorporation into captured societies
In Italy and England in the XI century. the Scandinavians began to behave quite differently than in previous centuries: they no longer plundered, but were clearly looking for ways of incorporation into local societies, in which the recently adopted Christianity helped them. Obviously, the Scandinavians had good socio-economic and political reasons for this, and their very risky colonization of Greenland and America in the same period definitely did not come from a good life.
The Vikings also lost control over most of the Baltic States, and this once again indicates some serious political blow they received in Eastern Europe.
If we draw analogies with later eras, then Russia for the Scandinavians was something like a colonial possession for the British of the Victorian era. The loss of Russia by the Normans meant the end of the Viking Age for Scandinavia (like Britain's loss of control over India after World War II) and had far-reaching consequences for all of Europe.
Two generations after the crisis of the Volga trade, the Viking era in Europe practically stopped, the feudalization of Scandinavia began. The North and Baltic Seas became relatively safe for trade, as a result of which, from the XII century. the Hansa begins to form. Outside Scandinavia, the descendants of the Vikings began to integrate into other European societies, which gave rise to two powerful feudal formations - the Norman Duchy and the Kingdom of Naples, which played an important role in the crusades.