Siege of Paris

Date: March 29, 845 • Location: Paris, France

This milestone marked the outbreak and beginning of this historic period, which spanned 845.

Viking expansion: Viking raiders, possibly led by the legendary Ragnar Lodbrok, plundered and occupied Paris, holding the city for a large ransom.

Viking expansion was the historical movement, beginning in the 8th century, which led Vikings to sail most of the North Atlantic, reaching south as far as North Africa and east as far as Russia, and through the Mediterranean as far as Constantinople and the Middle East, acting as looters, traders, colonists and mercenaries. To the west, Vikings under Leif Erikson reached North America and set up a short-lived settlement in present-day L'Anse aux Meadows, Newfoundland, Canada. Longer lasting and more established Norse settlements were formed in Greenland, Iceland, the Faroe Islands, Russia, Ukraine, Britain, Ireland, Normandy and Sicily.