Siege of Paris (885–886)

Siege of Paris (885–86)
Part of the Viking expansion
Count Odo defends Paris against the Norsemen, romantic painting by Jean-Victor Schnetz (1837), Galerie des Batailles
Date 25 November 885 – October 886 Location Paris, on the Seine, West Francia 48°51′14″N 2°20′49″E / 48.854°N 2.347°E / 48.854; 2.347Coordinates: 48°51′14″N 2°20′49″E / 48.854°N 2.347°E / 48.854; 2.347 Result Decisive Frankish victory Paris successfully defended Vikings granted passage of the Seine and 700 livres (pounds) of silver Vikings raids continued into Burgundy
Belligerents
West Franks	Norwegian and Danish Vikings
Commanders and leaders
Odo, Count of Paris Gozlin, Bishop of Paris Henry of Saxony † Charles the Fat	Sigfred Sinric Rollo
Strength
Initially 200 men-at-arms (Abbo Cernuus); gained reinforcements during the summer; Charles the Fat arrived with his army in October	Initially 300–700 ships, 30–40,000 men (high-end, Abbo Cernuus); a majority sailed further upriver in February; Sigfred's contingent left in April

Decisive Frankish victory

The Siege of Paris of 885–86 was part of a Viking raid on the Seine, in the Kingdom of the West Franks. The siege was the most important event of the reign of Charles the Fat, and a turning point in the fortunes of the Carolingian dynasty and the history of France. It also proved to the Franks the strategic importance of Paris, at a time when it also was one of the largest cities in France. The siege is the subject of an eyewitness account in the Latin poem Bella Parisiacae urbis of Abbo Cernuus.

With hundreds of ships, and possibly tens of thousands of men, the Vikings arrived outside Paris in late November 885, at first demanding tribute. This was denied by Odo, Count of Paris, despite the fact that he could assemble only a couple of hundred soldiers to defend the city. The Vikings attacked with a variety of siege engines, but failed to break through the city walls after some days of intense attacks. The siege was upheld after the initial attacks, but without any significant offence for months after the attack. As the siege went on, most of the Vikings left Paris to pillage further upriver. The Vikings made a final unsuccessful attempt to take the city during the summer, and in October, Charles the Fat arrived with his army.

To the frustration of the Parisians who had fought for a long time to defend the city, Charles stopped short of attacking the Viking besiegers, and instead allowed them to sail further up the Seine to raid Burgundy (which was in revolt), as well as promising a payment of 700 livres (257 kg) of silver. Odo, highly critical of this, tried his best to defy the promises of Charles, and when Charles died in 888, Odo was elected the first non-Carolingian king of the Franks.

Although the Vikings had attacked parts of Francia previously, they reached Paris for the first time in 845, eventually sacking the city. They attacked Paris three times more in the 860s, leaving only when they had acquired sufficient loot or bribes. In 864, by the Edict of Pistres, bridges were ordered built across the Seine at Pîtres and in Paris, where two were built, one on each side of the Île de la Cité. These would serve admirably in the siege of 885. The chief ruler in the region around Paris (the Île-de-France) was the duke of Francia (who was also count of Paris), who controlled the lands between the Seine and Loire. Originally this was Robert the Strong, margrave of Neustria and missus dominicus for the Loire Valley. He began fortifying the capital and fought the Norsemen continuously until his death in battle against them at Brissarthe. Although his son Odo succeeded him, royal power declined. However, Paris continued to be fortified but due to local rather than royal initiative.

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