OpenTube

The Vikings Knew Something Nobody Else Understood

Michael Button | Patterns of History

130,840 views

On Substack the ideas go further than YouTube lets me take them: https://michaelbutton.substack.com/

Everyone knows the Vikings as fearless warriors who terrorised medieval Europe.

But their greatest advantage wasn't their brutality or even their famous longships. It was something far more important...

This is the hidden strategy that let a small collection of Scandinavian raiders outmanoeuvre kingdoms, reshape Europe, and leave a pattern that powerful organisations are still repeating today.

Follow the show on Spotify! 👉 https://open.spotify.com/show/7GlXSYM...

Let me know what you think in the comments, and thank you for watching!!

Follow me on X: https://x.com/MichaelButtonX

Follow me on Instagram: Instagram: michaelbuttonx

Sources:

https://cdn.britannica.com/32/191032-...

https://www.britannica.com/place/Byza...

https://penelope.uchicago.edu/encyclo...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcuin#...

https://www.britannica.com/topic/Viki...

https://archaeology.org/issues/march-...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_H...

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...

https://www.worldhistory.org/article/...

https://www.medievalists.net/2023/07/...

https://www.executedtoday.com/2012/09...

https://www.vikingeskibsmuseet.dk/en/...

https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/v...

https://www.rmg.co.uk/stories/maritim...

https://www.worldhistory.org/Viking_S...

https://www.medievalists.net/2022/04/...

https://www.historyonthenet.com/vikin...

https://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edict_o...

https://www.hampshire-history.com/kin...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_t...

https://www.worldhistory.org/collecti...

https://spartacus-educational.com/MED...

https://www.britannica.com/topic/fyrd

https://www.worldhistory.org/Anglo-Sa...

https://www.britannica.com/topic/Batt...

https://www.historyextra.com/period/v...

https://www.worldhistory.org/Aethelfl...

https://www.worldhistory.org/Viking_R...

https://deremilitari.org/2014/02/the-...

https://www.imagesonline.bl.uk/asset/...

https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/m...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_....

https://www.royal.uk/canute-great-r-1...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danegeld

https://www.historyatlas.com/topics/t...

https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/v...

https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/...

https://history.howstuffworks.com/his...

https://access.historyhit.com/videos/...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Varangi...

https://www.britannica.com/biography/...

http://viking.archeurope.com/settleme...

https://www.britannica.com/technology...

https://www.napoleon-series.org/milit...

https://online.hbs.edu/blog/post/4-ke...

https://www.jorvikvikingcentre.co.uk/...

https://sagnlandet.dk/en/the-viking-age/

https://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK...

https://www.britishmuseum.org/exhibit...

20 Comments

@MichaelButtonHistory1 Creator 2 months ago Pinned

On Substack the ideas go further than YouTube lets me take them: https://michaelbutton.substack.com/

Thanks so much for watching! ❤

@ristorantanen5769 2 months ago (edited)

A thousand years later and ppl are still underestimating the importance to rule the seas.

@jfrankcarr 2 months ago

Improvise, Adapt, Overcome

@stevemarshall4822 1 month ago

Mobility. A willingness to withdraw when necessary.

@gregwarner3753 1 month ago

Asymmetrical warfare 1,000 years ago.

@cathalodiubhain5739 2 months ago

While Anglo-Saxon kingdoms in England were conquered, unified, or forced under the Danelaw, the Vikings never successfully conquered or ruled large territories in Ireland, remaining confined mostly to coastal trading towns. The Irish adapted remarkably fast to Norse warfare. When the Vikings introduced large battle-axes, Irish warriors quickly adopted the weapon, mastering it so thoroughly that it became a terrifying national trademark. Notable military victories, such as the Battle of Sulcoit (968) and the famous Battle of Clontarf (1014), consistently broke Norse attempts to expand deep inland

@bjabbbjabb1286 2 months ago

People dont understand that the vikings raided Germany and France first. In the years 536-540 there was a famin in Northern Sweden. Crops failed due to very cold and long winters. So the men went south, by waterways far inland. They traded Iron for peltz and silver. Established colonies along every channel and river as far as to the Alps.

@davidprosser7278 2 months ago

The ships allowed them to attack from over the horizon, and acheive surprise. If things got tricky, they could run away.

@fjl4797 2 months ago

Their weapons were: fear and surprise and a ruthless efficiency.

@sonnythorelli-hw7rj 2 months ago

I think you missed the prime reason for Viking success over a few centuries. The vikings benefitted from controlling and defending the trade routes on water, seas and rivers. Rades did happen, as elsewhere, but wasn’t main purpose. With the western Rom collapsing and piracy on Mediterran, the trades finds the way through the nordic regions.

@SSNorway 1 month ago

Great work man, you've captured the one main takeaway in my mind, about how the Vikings never actuality ended, they just adapted.
I'm Norwegian, and I can confirm, it is how we roll. ❤🇧🇻🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

@AnotherDuck 1 month ago

At 11:21, you see the name Bernadotte. That is the current Swedish royal family. Our king at the time didn't have an heir due to poor health and child deaths, so we basically headhunted one of Napoleon's marshals. Turned out he made a great king, and he started the Swedish neutrality.

To this day, Scandinavians still have traditionally shallow command structures, with a lot of individual responsibility and power. The benefits of being able to make your own decisions rather than relying on a leader far away and out of touch has remained the same. This is both in the military and in business.

@Bubajumba 1 month ago

The biggest Norse armies to invade England was Harald Hardrada with 10-15k, Cnut the great invaded with 10k men when he conquered England and the same for the heathen army. Around 1000 AD, European armies were quite small, usually numbering between 1,000 and 5,000 men. The army they invaded with was not small for the time.