The year is 911. On the banks of the Epte River, King Charles the Simple faces an army of fierce Danish pirates. There Karel must make a choice that sets the tone for the rest of the Middle Ages. Will he fight or negotiate?
Today you will hear the first episode of Hairless Apes Wild Ages, in which Hendrik Spiering takes you through the Middle Ages. A new episode appears every Wednesday. The second episode you can now listen via the NRC Audio app. More information: nrc.nl/wildeeeuwen
Do you have questions, suggestions or ideas about our journalism? Please email our ombudsman at [email protected].
This literature was used in the making of this episode:
The historical source about the negotiations between the Vikings and Charles the Simple is the chronicle ‘Gesta Normannorum´, written by Dudo van St. Quentin (960 – 1026)
Geoffrey Koziol (2006) ‘Charles the Simple, Robert of Neustria, and the vexilla of Saint-Denis’, in Early medieval Europe Full. 14, pp 355-390
Horst Lößlein (2019) Royal Power in the Late Carolingian Age. Charles III the Simple and His Predecessors Modern Academic Publishing 2019
Walter Scheidel Princeton University Press 2019
- Text and presentation:
- Hendrik Spiering
- Editing, directing and editing:
- Elze van Driel
- Music, editing and mixing:
- Rufus van Baardwijk
- Final editing:
- Mirjam van Zuidam
- Image:
- Jeen Berting
- Design:
- Yannick Mortier
- Escape from Rome:
- The Failure of Empire and the Road to Prosperity