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00:01Paris, the scene of a battle that could change the course of history and seal the destiny of two peoples.
00:09In the 9th century, the Carolingians, descendants of the great Charlemagne, dominated Europe.
00:18But they were relentlessly harassed by raiders drawn to the empire's riches, the Vikings.
00:25These men from the north yearned for adventure and fortune.
00:31With a string of wealthy merchants and prosperous abbeys along its banks, the river Seine was ripe for plunder.
00:40First, though, the raiders had to navigate Paris and its fortified bridges.
00:47Standing in their way were two resolute adversaries.
00:50Bishop Goslar, a man of faith bent on slaying the invading pagans.
00:56And the young Count Odo of Paris, who had no intention of making way for the hundreds of longboats looming on the horizon.
01:05At the head of this armada was Siegfried, a warlord determined to smash any resistance from the Frankish citadel.
01:13Who were these warring Frankish and Viking warriors bent on victory?
01:19Viking warriors bent on victory.
01:49In the ninth century, the Carolingian Empire of Charlemagne sought to bring order to the whole of Europe.
02:04Boasting the most powerful army in the world, the Franks had endless stretches of borders to defend.
02:11And yet men from the north were eager to challenge Frankish power,
02:15successfully encroaching deep into the territory and threatening Frankish domination.
02:21The river Seine was a way in for the Viking military forays into the vast Carolingian Empire.
02:28Its 770 km offered many rich pickings.
02:33The waterway was a godsend for Norse warriors.
02:38The Scandinavian people know perfectly that the situation is complicated in the Occident.
02:45So they also know in which places they can intervene, in which moment and in which actors they are.
02:52In reason of the peace that was negotiated between the English and the Danes,
02:59the Vikings decided to invest in the coast of the continent.
03:05Siegfried, a chief Viking who was imposed on other fields of battle,
03:11they gave a visit to several Vikings, in Rouen, on 5 September 1885,
03:22to organize their hunting expeditions all along the coast, up to Bocogne.
03:3030,000 warriors set off from recently conquered Rouen,
03:35in a huge operation with an immense fleet of some 700 longboats.
03:41The Viking expedition was an ambitious undertaking.
03:45The aim was to sail beyond Paris, which they had already besieged many times.
03:50After navigating the Seine for more than 80 years,
03:53they were familiar with all its loops and meanders.
03:57All the different abbayes of the Seine, up to Paris, will be caught by incendiations and caught.
04:06This is what will deeply frighten the population.
04:10To avoid the rise of the Seine by the Scandinavian people,
04:14the Carolingians will try to make a barrage a little bit everywhere,
04:17at different strong points on the Seine.
04:22Having weighed up the danger posed by the raiders,
04:25Charles the Bald, Frankish Emperor until 877,
04:29began a series of construction works to counter the threat.
04:34Here, for example, at Pont de L'Arche, where the rivers Heures and Seine meet.
04:40This was an obligatory transit point for the Vikings,
04:44and it was here that Charlemagne's grandson decided to erect a bridge to impede the pagans.
04:50It was a remarkable construction.
04:52It was a remarkable construction.
04:53It was a remarkable construction.
04:57while at the time of the
05:15construction took almost fifteen years and represented a major feat of engineering.
05:22It is absolutely exceptional by its dimensions,
05:26since the franchising of these two corridors
05:29is made on hundreds of hundreds of meters.
05:39The efficacy of this work was the presence
05:44of these châtelets, these works
05:47for the defense of the entrance,
05:50which was formed by fossoyets
05:53that allowed the permanent maintenance station.
05:57There was no Nordic threat
06:00in the area of Paris, Toulouse.
06:06The Carolingians managed to restore calm along the Seine.
06:10Their military and forging skills were the envy of all,
06:14including the men from the north,
06:16who even adopted their battle dress.
06:20We will find the Côte de Maille.
06:23We will find a fer casque,
06:25with a nasal that will protect the face,
06:28with four metal plates that are rifted between them.
06:31He can possibly carry a sword,
06:33but like a combatant
06:34that is rather oriented
06:35to the scarmouche arm,
06:36which will stay away from the distance.
06:39Carolingian weaponry was the most sophisticated
06:41in all of Europe.
06:44One of the specificities
06:46that will make the proud of the Francs
06:47are the swords.
06:49The typical swords we will find in Europe
06:51in the 9th and 10th centuries.
06:53So it's a sword that will have a massive massif,
06:56rather triangular,
06:58which can be more or less open.
07:00The swords are in court.
07:01So a sword with a hand,
07:03a double tranchant,
07:04with a central blade
07:06that serves to allow a little bit of softness.
07:09So it's a hand,
07:10and we will find the models
07:12that are copied in all of Europe.
07:14One of the specificities of Carolingians
07:17is also copied by their adversaries.
07:19The pie or lance to aelette
07:22is recognized with its two small aelettes
07:24at the base of the douille of the lance
07:26which allows them to block the adversaries
07:28and therefore,
07:29to be able to take out the boucliers
07:30and this kind of thing.
07:31They are very long,
07:33which should also serve to the size,
07:35to hit with,
07:36or to give them a coup of stock,
07:37which should really serve with them.
07:39The carolingian army
07:40will make the compressor wheel
07:41on the battlefield.
07:42That's why the Vikings
07:44will systematically try to avoid the battle
07:46because, on the battlefield,
07:48armed and armed,
07:49the carolingians are clearly on the top.
07:54The peace proved to be short-lived.
07:56The Viking armada led by Siegfried
07:59was relentless.
08:04The men also boasted a major asset,
08:07their longboats.
08:09When the Vikings arrived in an estuaire,
08:12they could go on the ground
08:15very far,
08:16especially because the boats
08:17were enough light
08:18to be carried out
08:20between two pools of water
08:21on the ground,
08:22on the force of the arms
08:24by the crew
08:25or by the chevaux.
08:27We put the boat in the water
08:28to continue to go on the ground.
08:31Effectivement,
08:32the boat is certain
08:33of the Scandinavian expansion,
08:39which allowed us to travel
08:40through all the waters
08:41of Scandinavia,
08:42the Baltic,
08:43the Manch,
08:44the North Sea,
08:45the Mediterranean,
08:46the Atlantic,
08:47to Groenland
08:48and the American.
08:50The relentless drive
08:52of the Viking epic
08:53was extraordinary.
08:57The soldiers were,
08:58in all likelihood,
08:59ordinary merchants
09:00and adventurers,
09:01eager to enrich themselves
09:02at the expense
09:03of their neighbours.
09:04We paid a visit
09:08to archaeologist Morten Ravn
09:10at Roskilde in Denmark
09:12to better understand
09:13how the Norsemen
09:14tackled the voyage
09:15up the river Seine.
09:17In particular,
09:18the secrets of their longboats
09:20known as dracars.
09:23The fearsome vessels
09:24were without question
09:25one of the keys
09:26to their success.
09:28Still today,
09:29the art of these peerless
09:30Viking shipbuilders
09:31is the subject
09:32of close study.
09:33The ship type
09:34behind me,
09:35right here,
09:36which is a medium-sized
09:37longship,
09:38is quite similar
09:39to the types
09:40which the Vikings
09:41would have used
09:42for their military
09:43campaigns
09:44and operations
09:45when the Vikings
09:46attacked
09:47and seized
09:48Paris
09:49in 1885
09:50to 1886.
09:52The Vikings
09:53evolved
09:54their boat building.
09:55These ships
09:56of the Vikings
09:57was really
09:58the height
09:59of the ship
10:00of the Vikings
10:01was really
10:02the height of
10:03tech products.
10:04This was where all
10:05the innovation
10:06and all the
10:07skillful craftsmanship
10:08was put into.
10:10These ship types
10:11here could both be
10:12powered by the
10:13use of a sail,
10:14but it could also
10:15be powered by
10:16rowing power,
10:17by the men rowing
10:18the ship.
10:19This means
10:20that they were not
10:21dependent on the
10:22wind and weather
10:23direction so much
10:24at least.
10:25They could also
10:26even row against
10:27the wind
10:28with these ship types
10:29here.
10:30They could also
10:31be getting rivers
10:32where sometimes
10:33it can be difficult
10:34to use the sail.
10:35They could sail
10:36quickly.
10:37They didn't go that
10:38deep into the water,
10:39so they could go
10:40in shallow waters.
10:42Europe was connected
10:44by the sea.
10:45So this was the
10:46fastest way
10:47of transporting
10:48people and cargo
10:50was the waterways.
10:51and the Vikings
10:52was specialized
10:53in this,
10:54was experts
10:55in this.
10:59To unlock
11:00the construction
11:01secrets of these
11:02mythical vessels,
11:03naval engineer
11:04Martin Dale
11:05uses Viking methods
11:06to recreate
11:07their longboats.
11:14He uses ancestral
11:15techniques for his
11:16experimental
11:17archaeology.
11:18One Norse tool
11:21in particular
11:22is ubiquitous.
11:23The axe
11:25in all its forms.
11:33They are
11:34lightly built.
11:35So they are built
11:36out of really good
11:37material,
11:38typically oak
11:39that's cleaved
11:40out.
11:41And that technique
11:42does that you
11:43follow the grain
11:44and the fiber.
11:45When you use wooden
11:46wedges to cleave
11:47out a big oak tree,
11:48get one of these
11:49guys to work.
11:53You cleave it down
11:54to a sixteenth
11:55approximately
11:56and you chop
11:57it down with an axe.
11:58And then you can see
11:59it starts cracking
12:00and you just need
12:02to follow that.
12:06And you have a really
12:07nice piece of material
12:08that is light
12:09and flexible.
12:10it starts cracking.
12:11And as you can see
12:15when you cleave it
12:16out like this,
12:17it's really, really
12:18thin out here.
12:19It's super flexible
12:20and strong.
12:21And I'm 85 kilos
12:23and it's still
12:25not breaking.
12:26And that's why
12:27you can go fast
12:28in a rowboat.
12:29When you put it in water,
12:30the wood expands
12:31and puts pressure on.
12:32But these are holding up,
12:33so it tightens up
12:34in that way.
12:35And in between
12:36all the seams,
12:37you have sheep's wool
12:38and tar in between.
12:39So that's what
12:40waterproofing is too.
12:41Thanks to their flexible
12:42and maneuverable boats,
12:43the Norsemen were able
12:44to navigate the seas
12:45to faraway lands.
12:46And in between
12:47all the seams,
12:48you have sheep's wool
12:49and tar in between.
12:50So that's what
12:51waterproofing is too.
13:02Thanks to their flexible
13:03and maneuverable boats,
13:04the Norsemen were able
13:05to navigate the seas
13:06to faraway lands.
13:11They routinely journeyed
13:14several thousand kilometers
13:15from home.
13:16Expeditions became
13:18a way of life.
13:25We don't say
13:26to be a Viking,
13:27we say to be a Viking
13:29in the Norse language.
13:32To be a Viking,
13:33it means
13:34to be associated
13:35with several entrepreneurs
13:38to buy a ship
13:40or a small fleet,
13:42its cargoes,
13:43and to go on expedition.
13:45The goal
13:46is to make a fortune.
13:51The Viking
13:52is a pirate
13:53and a trader.
13:54The Viking
13:55is a trader
13:56and a pirate.
13:57It's really
13:58what the word means.
13:59There are two ideas
14:00in the word.
14:02Trading
14:03gradually gave way
14:04to much more profitable
14:05pillaging rates.
14:07The Norsemen
14:08loot
14:09everything
14:10in their path.
14:11To satisfy
14:12their insatiable lust
14:13for riches,
14:14they were forced
14:15to venture even further
14:16inland,
14:17seeking out territories
14:18previously regarded
14:19as out of reach.
14:21La Bourgogne
14:22was something attractive
14:23at the time
14:24because the whole
14:25Atlantic façade
14:26had already been
14:27captured
14:28and most of the
14:30monasteries
14:31had a lot of their fortune
14:32in their bourguignon
14:33independence
14:34which had been
14:35much less touched
14:36than the rest
14:37and so there was
14:38a lot of wealth
14:39in this place.
14:41These expeditions
14:42into the far-flung heart
14:43of the territory
14:44called for
14:45a greater degree
14:46of organization.
14:47The Norse raids
14:48called for
14:49careful planning.
15:17that when he wants
15:18to leave
15:19back home
15:20to return
15:21the Seine
15:22in order to win
15:23the sea,
15:24his retirement
15:25will not be
15:26delayed
15:27by the Parisians
15:28and by the ponts.
15:30Three months
15:31after leaving Rouen,
15:32with several bridges
15:33destroyed,
15:34Siegfried
15:35and his Vikings
15:36were homing in
15:37on their objective,
15:38Burgundy.
15:39One final obstacle
15:42lay in their path,
15:43Paris,
15:44the nerve center
15:45of West Francia.
15:46The people of Paris
15:48fear these barbarians
15:49from the north
15:50who reached the
15:51Isle de la Cité
15:52in November 885.
15:54Preparations had been
15:55made for their arrival.
15:58You must imagine
15:59that in 1885,
16:00Paris is based on
16:01the island of the city
16:02where several
16:03thousands of inhabitants
16:04live.
16:05It is protected
16:06by an old wall
16:07of an old wall.
16:08It is protected
16:09by an old wall.
16:10And around
16:11the fields,
16:12the campagnes
16:13with different
16:14faubourgs
16:15which are left
16:16without protection.
16:17So,
16:18the campagnes
16:19with different
16:20faubourgs
16:21who are left
16:22without protection.
16:24The Parisians
16:26who are used
16:27to visit
16:28the Vikings
16:29have,
16:30since several decades,
16:32begun
16:33to rebuild
16:34their murailles.
16:35So,
16:36the city
16:37has a
16:38a bridge
16:39which relie
16:40the river
16:41and a bridge
16:42which relie
16:43the river.
16:44These bridges
16:45are given
16:46by tours,
16:47and in particular,
16:49the
16:50tour
16:51of the Grand Pont
16:52which relie
16:53the city
16:54to the river.
17:01The Frankish capital
17:02had lost some
17:03of its influence.
17:04However,
17:05two men
17:06had a lot
17:07of ambition
17:08for the city.
17:09Bishop Gosling
17:11and Count Odo
17:12of Paris.
17:15As guarantors
17:16the authority
17:17of the Carolingian
17:18emperor,
17:19they had no intention
17:20of being dictated
17:21to by these lawless
17:22Norsemen.
17:24At the end of the 26th
17:25november,
17:26these Vikings
17:27will demand
17:28audience
17:29to the people
17:30who lead the city
17:31who represent
17:32the authority
17:33of the emperor
17:34of the Franks.
17:35These two people
17:36are the one
17:37of the king of Gosling,
17:38the king of the city,
17:39who is a great aristocrat.
17:41He was the king
17:42of Charles
17:43the Chove.
17:44He is also known
17:45as well as the Vikings
17:47as he was made
17:48prisonnier
17:49several years
17:50before.
17:51He is one of the important
17:52characters
17:53of the city
17:54of Paris.
17:55He is both a
17:56man of the church,
17:57a man of the power,
17:58a man of the power.
17:59He is at the border
18:00between the two
18:01but the border
18:02between the politics
18:03and the religion
18:04is very poor
18:05at the time of the medieval.
18:06The other figure
18:24was a young man
18:25in his thirties,
18:26Count Odo of Paris.
18:28In tandem with the church,
18:30he represented
18:31the other facet
18:32of Carolingian power,
18:33the aristocracy.
18:35Hailing from a long line
18:37of Franks,
18:38Odo's family
18:39became famous
18:40thanks to his father,
18:41Robert the Strong,
18:43a man who imposed himself
18:44against the Vikings
18:45on many occasions
18:46before succumbing
18:47in 866
18:48in yet another battle
18:50against the Norsemen.
18:52From then on,
18:53the family was referred
18:54to as the Robertians.
18:56The Robertians
18:57built a whole
18:59part of their renown
19:00and their prestige
19:01on the fight
19:03against the Vikings,
19:04on the defense
19:05of the Christian world.
19:06So, Odo is already
19:07auréoled
19:08of this father
19:10who was a major
19:11chief military
19:13and, for sure,
19:15when he becomes
19:17Count of Paris,
19:18he doesn't have
19:19any extraordinary
19:20form,
19:21but he already
19:22has this psychology
19:23and this heritage
19:24that he never
19:25will break
19:26his arms
19:27in front of the Vikings.
19:29Fully aware
19:30that the two men
19:31would oppose him,
19:32Siegfried was planning
19:33a show of strength
19:34with his 30,000 armed men.
19:38L'évêque Goselin
19:39et le comte Eudes
19:40reçoivent Siegfried
19:41en audience
19:42et là, Siegfried
19:43va exposer
19:44sa demande.
19:45Ce qu'il souhaite
19:46avec ses hommes,
19:47c'est aller hiverner
19:48en Bourgogne.
19:50Pour cela,
19:51il veut s'assurer
19:52le libre passage
19:53des ponts de Paris.
19:54Ils vont répondre
19:56à Siegfried
19:57qu'ils ont la garde
19:58de la ville
19:59et qu'ils ne peuvent
20:00pas, évidemment,
20:01accéder à sa demande.
20:03Siegfried
20:04va se retirer
20:05en menacant
20:06et en disant
20:07que puisqu'ils ne veulent
20:08pas accéder à sa demande,
20:09il va mettre
20:10la ville à feu
20:11et à sang.
20:12Là, il se trouve
20:13qu'on a côte à côte
20:14Gosselin et Eudes
20:15qui l'un et l'autre
20:16sont d'accord
20:17pour dire non.
20:18Si un d'entre eux
20:19avait dit, moi,
20:20je suis pour les laisser passer,
20:21il est vraisemable
20:22qu'ils se seraient passés.
20:23Ever since the Treaty
20:24of Verdun
20:25in 843,
20:26Charlemagne's empire
20:27had been crumbling,
20:28plagued
20:29by the internal struggles
20:30between the kings
20:31of West Francia,
20:33Lotharingia
20:34and Germanic Francia.
20:36Increasingly,
20:37the aristocracy
20:38and the great
20:39Carolingian lords
20:40were beginning
20:41to assert their authority.
20:43The safety
20:44of Parisians
20:45depended on the resolve
20:46of Odo and Gosselin.
20:48With the weakening
20:50of the Carolingian authority,
20:51it has been
20:52for several decades
20:53that the population
20:54took the habit
20:55of turning
20:56to the great figures
20:57of the different regions.
20:59According to the places,
21:00it could be a prince,
21:01it could be a duke,
21:02it could be also
21:03an évêque
21:04or an archevêque.
21:05They called on the population
21:07to take refuge
21:08within the walls
21:09of the Ile de la Cité
21:10and close the gates,
21:12stopping Seyfried's hordes
21:14in their tracks.
21:15The Scandinavian
21:19decided to force
21:20the passage
21:22on the great
21:23feet
21:24of the Seine
21:25because it is
21:26navigable
21:27in the direction
21:28of the Bourgogne.
21:29They took
21:30the 26th November
21:321885
21:33to the defensive
21:34tower
21:35built
21:36on the right
21:37to protect
21:38the Grand Pont
21:39to take
21:40the city
21:41and take
21:42the control
21:43of the Seine.
21:45The two
21:49Paris bridges
21:50blocked
21:51the Norse
21:52ship's passage.
21:53From the
21:54Châtelet
21:55side
21:56where the Vikings
21:57struck,
21:58the Franks
21:59could launch
22:00crossfire
22:01with stones
22:02and arrows.
22:03The outlook,
22:04however,
22:05seemed grim.
22:09Un des aspects
22:10de la tactique
22:11viking
22:12va être très psychologique.
22:14Il y a tellement
22:17de navires
22:18qu'on ne voit pas
22:19l'eau de la Seine.
22:20Le fait de voir
22:21700 bateaux,
22:22c'est-à-dire
22:23huit kilomètres,
22:24ça terrorise
22:25les francs.
22:26Les parisiens
22:27voient cette armée
22:28gigantesque
22:29qui arrive sur eux
22:30et donc ils savent bien
22:31que s'ils s'opposent
22:32face aux scandinaves
22:33c'est peut-être
22:34une partie
22:35qui sera perdue d'avance.
22:36C'est peut-être
22:38une partie
22:39qui sera perdue d'avance.
22:41Under orders
22:42from count Odo,
22:43the Franks
22:44set up their defenses.
22:45Ils vont subir donc
22:47les projectiles
22:48et notamment
22:51de la part du comte
22:52Eudes
22:53qui participent
22:54à la résistance.
22:55Ils utilisent aussi
22:56des matériaux enflammés
22:57qui provoquent
22:58de très graves brûlures
22:59en fait aux scandinaves.
23:00Caught in a pincer
23:01by the two towers,
23:02the long boats were trapped.
23:03Foot soldiers on the ground
23:04could not attack
23:05the Châtelet fortification
23:06protected by its moats.
23:08The bridge, meanwhile,
23:09was protected by archers.
23:11The Vikings were being kept
23:12at bay,
23:13but they were not done yet.
23:14Le soir,
23:15le Celleux,
23:16le Celleux,
23:17le Celleux,
23:18le Celleux,
23:19le Celleux,
23:20le Celleux,
23:21le Celleux,
23:22le Celleux,
23:23le Celleux,
23:24le Celleux,
23:25le Celleux,
23:26le Celleux,
23:27le Celleux,
23:28Promise,
23:29le Celleux,
23:30le Celleux,
23:31le Celleux,
23:32le Celleux,
23:33le Celleux,
23:34le Celleux,
23:35le�c Kinkisi,
23:36le Celleux.
23:38Depuis du monde,
23:39le Celleux,
23:40le campe Indien
23:41le Celleux
23:42artoit tarder
23:47l'un Emmanuel,
23:48avec de ses communes.
23:49During the night, the Franks managed to reinforce the tower's defences.
23:55As well as raising its height, they added hoardings as defence platforms.
24:02Historian Christine Laborde, who works at the castle of Castelnau,
24:06is familiar with these defence techniques.
24:12The principle of a strong place is to be held by a minimal number of people.
24:17They are always in the number of people who defend the place Forte.
24:21Why? Because a place Forte is built in such a way,
24:24as it is strong, thanks to the height of the murailles and the depth of the murailles.
24:28There are also active organes such as the hoardings,
24:33which allow them to protect the failles, the weak points of the place Forte,
24:37namely the port.
24:39The hoarding allows two things.
24:41They allow the archers, the artillery of the place,
24:45to control the progress of the assaillants.
24:48If they are able to advance enough to the feet of the fortifications,
24:52the hoarding allows the archers to do a vertical pull,
24:57which is to draw on those who are in contrebas.
25:02The hoarding are very efficacious and very easy to implement.
25:05Their point is weak, the material in which they are built.
25:09In this month of November 885,
25:16clashes between the Vikings and Franks continued for another two days.
25:21L'assaut se concentre sur les tours qui défendent les ponts,
25:28et les armes principales de cet assaut,
25:30ce ne sont pas des machines de siège,
25:32ce sont des flèches, des frondes et le feu.
25:35Ils essayent donc de combler les fossés qui entourent cette tour défensive,
25:40et ils essayent donc d'y mettre feu.
25:43Et on a fait un double verrouillage en mettant une tour à chaque extrémité du pont.
25:48Et donc, les francs avaient transformé Paris en coffre-fort.
25:52It was impossible for the Vikings to access the door or the top of the walls.
25:57Their attack was foundering.
25:59For the time being, Paris was resisting the Norse army.
26:03Cette première attaque, c'est sans doute une première attaque
26:06qui est menée un petit peu, disons, de façon impulsive.
26:10Ces Scandinaves, qui en fait ne s'étaient pas bien préparés à cette attaque,
26:14vont se retrouver confrontés, en fait, à la rage des défenseurs parisiens.
26:20Qui ne veulent pas leur laisser l'accès,
26:24et résistent avec une grande bravoure aux Scandinaves.
26:28Donc, c'est un échec pour eux, et au final, ils se retirent.
26:35Siegfried va se rendre compte que finalement,
26:38il ne pourra jamais passer, ni jamais aller en Bourgogne comme il avait prévu.
26:44Ils ne sont pas bien armés pour pouvoir prendre réellement d'assaut cette tour.
26:50Et c'est là qu'ils décident de bloquer la ville de Paris.
26:56Alexandre a l'occasion de la ville de Paris.
26:58Having expected to take the city within just a few hours,
27:00after three days of fighting, Siegfried was forced into a change of strategy.
27:05He withdrew his army and set up a camp a few hundred meters
27:10from the Île de la Cité,
27:12beside the church of Saint-Germain .
27:15Saint-Germain Luxetrois.
27:18His intention was to dig in for the winter and prepare a new attack.
27:23The date was November 29th, 885. Paris was now under siege.
27:31The seat is the worst option for the Vikings,
27:34because it enables them to stay immobile,
27:37to build machines and to lose time.
27:40To lose time, money and energy
27:43for a seat where we don't know the result is not a good placement.
27:47Every day, 30,000 men had to be fed and kept busy.
27:52For the Vikings, besieging the city was a costly enterprise.
27:56But they used their commando style combat technique to sustain themselves.
28:01No town in the area surrounding Paris was spared the Viking terror.
28:06Their tactic is a rapid attack.
28:10We attack, we kill, we go back.
28:16Their weapon is to terrorize the population.
28:20For example, they will kill a city,
28:23they will kill the churches,
28:25and kill a Soviet army if they had to have seen too high residing then.
28:31They will stop waiting for MORSEN.
28:36They will help them to programmability,
28:38and the war in the end of their lives and operations.
28:41of their journey and their journey.
28:45And this terror, they know perfectly to use it.
28:51The tactic of Scandinavian guerrillas is mobility.
28:54The ability to hit, by surprise, to get out and to hit again.
29:01Laying siege to Paris for two months,
29:03they used their weapons and longboats to sack the entire region.
29:07And they always knew exactly where the riches were to be found.
29:22While Siegfried and his men could gleefully plunder the surrounding area,
29:26they were powerless against the city walls.
29:30Lacking siege weapons, such as the Mangonel,
29:32to break down the Frankish defences,
29:35Vikings had to find a different strategy.
29:38The Vikings were excellent artisans.
29:40They knew that they could build boats,
29:41they could build the ponts,
29:42the machinery of the moulins,
29:44the charpentiers of pairs.
29:46And so, the machines of jets, etc.
29:48Even if the siege was not in their culture,
29:53they knew perfectly all the siege machines
29:55that used the Romans and the Franks.
29:58These are artists,
29:59they just envoied one to know how to reconstruct them.
30:01Reynald Beffett is an expert in polyorganisation,
30:09the art of siege warfare.
30:13These passionate carpenters
30:15know every technical detail of these devastating machines.
30:18machines.
30:48Il n'y a pas de machines suffisamment puissantes pour casser les murailles.
30:51Par contre, ils savent faire des machines qui ont une cadence de tir extrêmement rapide,
30:56à peu près un tir par minute et deux fois plus.
31:04Le boulet va faire un poids qui va faciliter le décrochement.
31:09Le décrochement, c'est ça, c'est cet anneau qui, à un moment donné,
31:14entre 42 et 45 degrés, va glisser et va libérer l'ouverture de la poche.
31:25Donc au principe, on a des tendeurs, 8 ohms minimum, jusqu'à 16 ohms,
31:31qui vont tirer sur les cordes et ils vont me la mettre en tension.
31:35Vous tirez, s'il vous plaît. Encore. Encore.
31:40Voilà. Vous êtes bien tendus. Allez, vous tirez, vous tirez, vous tirez.
31:44Un, deux, trois.
31:48Le boulet est parti à plus de 30 mètres de hauteur et il va arriver à 80 mètres,
31:53à une vitesse qui dépasse les 100 km heure, pour dégager ce qu'on appelle
31:57les défenses somitales, c'est-à-dire tout ce qui est dessus les murailles.
32:01Un tir par minute, c'est une pluie de boulet qui va tomber sur les défenses.
32:05Ils vont mettre des échelles, moins il y a de défenseurs,
32:11et plus il va y avoir de chances de prendre pied sur les murailles.
32:15Et le 31 janvier, là, Siegfried estime qu'il est prêt et il va lancer la véritable attaque des ponts de Paris.
32:25Cette attaque va durer trois jours.
32:27Ils vont attaquer la tour en pierre, d'une part, et de part et d'autre, ils vont attaquer la tour en pierre, d'une part, et de part et d'autre, ils vont attaquer la tour en pierre.
32:53Et d'autres, ils vont attaquer le pont en bois et la pointe de l'île de la cité.
33:03Siegfried's military strategy was to scatter Frankish resistance by attacking on several fronts.
33:10The Vikings were now convinced they had everything they needed to defeat the Parisians.
33:22The Vikings had taken some ingenious measures to ensure their precious weapons were not reduced to ashes.
33:40Cette protection est faite avec des pots de bœuf fraîchement écorchés, qui restent humides, pour évidemment éviter qu'elles s'enflamment sous les tirs des défenseurs.
33:54Les hommes s'approchent de façon à pouvoir combler les fossés avec tout ce qui peut leur passer sous la main.
34:02N'ayant plus de branchages, de feuilles ou d'herbes à mettre dans les fossés, Siegfried va prendre les prisonniers qu'il a fait dans la région et il va les tuer pour pouvoir combler le fossé de la tour.
34:13Mais les béliers n'arriveront jamais à franchir les fossés qui protègent les pieds de la tour.
34:23Siegfried n'arrive pas à prendre la ville.
34:26Refusing to accept defeat after three days and three nights of hard struggle, Siegfried risked everything.
34:34L'incendie était vraiment une technique privilégiée pour l'assaut contre une ville ou contre une fortification.
34:42Les ponts et passerelles sont en bois, les portes sont en bois.
34:46On va aussi utiliser des bateaux, des bateaux incendiés, des brûlots.
34:50On va mettre le feu à des embarcations pour les jeter contre le pont.
35:00Et il va pousser les bateaux vers le pont avec l'espoir que le courant va emporter les bateaux sous le pont
35:08et de cette façon-là, enflammer le pont.
35:11Et miracle, le courant en fait déporte les trois navires qui vont aller buter contre la rive.
35:18Le stratagème va échouer.
35:20After five months of siege, the Vikings had still not managed to breach the defenses.
35:28While Paris had resisted, it was being strangled.
35:32Quand le siège dure, la principale crainte qu'ils vont avoir, c'est sur la nourriture.
35:39La nourriture va manquer et les épidémies vont se développer.
35:45Il n'y a plus assez de terre pour enterrer les morts dans la ville.
35:49In this clash between pagans and Christians, morale was at its lowest ab among the residents of Paris.
35:56Their hopes and faith were pinned on Bishop Gauzelin.
36:00Pour la ville de Paris, la figure d'autorité, celle vers laquelle on se tourne en cas de difficulté, c'est l'évêque, c'est Gauzelin.
36:08L'âme de la défense, c'est l'archevêque.
36:11But on April the 17th, 886, tragedy struck, turning the tide in the Norseman's favor.
36:24Un autre événement qui arrive et qui est aussi un coup un peu difficile pour la ville de Paris, c'est que l'évêque de Gauzelin, mi-avril, va décéder.
36:33Euth, pour le coup, va se retrouver seul pour mener la défense de la ville.
36:39Ceci va décider Euth à sortir clandestinement.
36:46Euth décide effectivement de traverser les lignes ennemies pour rejoindre l'empereur et lui demander d'envoyer des renforts.
37:01In June 886, the Count of Paris returned with troops to defend his city.
37:08But it was another two long months before the emperor and king of the Franks, Charles de Fat, finally arrived at the gates of Paris.
37:17L'empereur finira par arriver à Paris, s'installera sur le Mont Martre.
37:26Et il ne va pas engager le combat avec ses Vikings. Il n'ose pas affronter les Vikings.
37:34Il n'a pas envie de sacrifier ses armées pour défendre une ville qui lui était étrangère jusqu'alors.
37:41Charles le Gros n'a plus grand chose à voir avec un Charlemagne. C'est un empereur qui est contesté, qui est affaibli.
37:58Il va préférer payer le départ de cette armée. Il va céder sur tous les plans. Il va leur donner un tribut de 7000 livres. Et surtout, il va leur permettre d'aller comme prévu en Bourgogne.
38:20Pour le peuple de Paris, c'était une décision inexplicable.
38:26Celui qui doit défendre son peuple et en assurer le salut, c'est le roi.
38:33Et quand les rois carolingiens préfèrent payer un tribut pour acheter le départ des Vikings, en général, c'est très mal perçu.
38:39Parce qu'ils ne remplissent pas leur mission, qui est une mission qui leur a été accordée par Dieu lors de leur sacre.
38:47Pour le comte Eudes, c'est quand même un coup dur de voir l'empereur finalement négocier avec les Vikings et leur retroyer ce qu'eux ont tâché de refuser toute une année.
39:01Ils ne sont jamais venus au secours de la ville en difficulté.
39:07La conséquence de ce siège, c'est qu'elles déconsidèrent définitivement les carolingiens.
39:18Avec des craques qui commencent à s'appuyer dans l'empire, les grands aristocrats français ont décidé d'assurer leur pouvoir.
39:25L'empereur Charles le Fat a été déposé en 1887, mais il restait le roi de l'Ouest-Francie jusqu'à sa mort un an après.
39:33En 1888, une assemblée des grands du royaume, qui avait reproché aux carolingiens leur inefficacité, leur irresponsabilité, et qui avait
40:02décidé de donner la couronne royale à Eudes, qui avait montré son héroïsme et sa détermination lors du siège de Paris.
40:15Son determination in the face of the Norse incursion was celebrated at Versailles in 1837 by King Louis-Philippe of France.
40:26He opened a gallery in the south wing of the château, where great battles that marked the history of France are commemorated in a series of 33 imposing canvases.
40:38Count Eudes of Paris is honored there as a national figure.
40:45Eudes is honored there as a national figure.
40:52Eudes is honored there as a symbol of a symbol of a symbol of a symbol of 1830 in Versailles to represent the heroes.
40:59He wore the crown crown, which reminds his sacre of the roi of France occidentale.
41:04Il a en fait une espèce de lumière en fait qui émane de lui et qui rappelle aussi un peu la lumière qu'on pourrait trouver en fait même dans le ciel.
41:14Et qui nous dit bien que le soleil lançait ses éclats sur les boucliers d'Eudes et de ses camarades et que les parisiens étaient impatients de retrouver en fait cet astre,
41:27de retrouver ce soleil afin de dissiper les ténèbres qui avaient été en fait disséminés par l'envahisseur.
41:36Cette famille du comte Eudes est la famille qui va donner souche à la dynastie capétienne.
41:42La dynastie capétienne et les robertiens doivent beaucoup aux vikings.
41:47C'est ce qui leur a permis de se mettre dans la lumière.
41:52Paris, though, remained a target for raids by the men from the north.
41:59In 9-11, Rollo, the new north strongman, wreaked havoc all along the river Seine.
42:06To counter the raids, the king of Francia was forced to adopt a new approach.
42:12Il y a un marché qui va être conclu entre Rollo et le pouvoir carolingien.
42:18Puisque le pouvoir occidental n'a pas la force armée de résister durablement aux vikings,
42:23il va s'appuyer sur certains vikings pour se défendre contre d'autres.
42:28Rollo obtient ce qu'il voulait, une terre.
42:31En échange, il s'engage à défendre ce territoire contre la venue d'autres pillards.
42:37Le dispositif est assez habile parce que la région qui est choisie, c'est donc la région autour de Rouen.
42:42Et donc, accorder l'embouchure de la Seine à Rollo, c'est une façon de protéger la Seine et donc indirectement aussi Paris.
42:49On est une bonne vingtaine d'années après le siège de Paris.
42:52C'est justement une façon de s'assurer que cela ne se reproduira plus.
42:56Rolo va devenir Robert, 1st Count of Normandie.
43:05Avant longtemps, Normandie, lande du Nord et maintenant des vikings,
43:10serait le birthplace de William the Conqueror, le futur King de l'Englande.
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