The Rod of God's Wrath or the People of God' Wrath ? The Carolingian Theology of the Viking Invasions
Simon Coupland
The Viking invasions of the ninth and early tenth centuries were referred to in a large number contemporary Frankish texts, including not only annals chronicles, but also saints’ lives, miracle capitularies, royal private charters, letters, sermons, biblical commentaries, hymns, poems prayers. great majority these texts written by clerics, either religious or secular, as result raids are frequently described terms set within framework. For example, Vikings often denoted ‘pagani’ Franks as’ christiani’; towns burned ‘divino iuditio’ battles won ‘adiuvante Domino’,1 represented punishment for Franks’ sins fulfilment prophecy.
The Journal of Ecclesiastical History