page_title: History of Póvoa de Varzim
section_title: The Viking raids
hierarchical_section_title: History of Póvoa de Varzim / Barbarian, Moor and Norse invasions 411–1033 / The Viking raids
caption_attribution_description: English: The Boat in the 12th century São Cristóvão de Rio Mau Monastery
context_page_description: The history of Póvoa de Varzim, Portugal, and its development as a maritime trade and fishing hub, have been greatly influenced by its location at the entrance to one of Portugal's best natural ports.
  Permanent settlement in the coastal plain of Póvoa de Varzim dates back to around four to six thousand years ago; around 900 BC, unrest in the region led to the establishment of a fortified city. The ocean has played an important part in its popular culture and economy, through maritime trade and fishing, leading it to establish a fiefdom in the 10th or 11th century, a municipality in 1308 and to become, in the 18th century, the main fishing port in northern Portugal.
  Póvoa de Varzim and its region had relevant input that allowed the Portuguese discoveries, throw manpower, shipbuilding and seafaring knowledge. Since the 18th century, its beaches have helped it become one of the main tourist areas of the region, which prompted high-culture development since the late 18th century. Its development suffered setbacks due to feudalism, monastic domain, border disputes and, recently, the development of a highly centralized state.
context_section_description: The first Norman incursion occurred in 844 by a group of Danish Vikings, who after being defeated near the Tower of Hercules, looted all the coast reaching the south of the peninsula, then under Moorish rule, they returned north and vanished after passing by Faro, Beja, and Lisbon. According to Ibn Hayyan and other sources, they returned to Gallaecia and eventually settled there. A second huge attack, with plundering all over the coast, occurred in 859. Due to pillaging and the destruction of everything they found, the Vikings were seen as a worse threat to Hispania than the Moors.
  Póvoa de Varzim was first mentioned on March 26, 953 during the rule of Mumadona Dias, Countess of Portugal between 924 and around 950. The countess ordered the construction of the Guimarães Castle in order to protect a Monastery against attacks by the "gentiles", reporting to the Normans, the Vikings. Instigated by the Duke of Normandy, there is a powerful incursion in 968 using a fleet of 100 ships led by the Viking Gundered  (Gudrød), considered by them as the King of the Sea (sækonungr in old Norse). They landed in a seaport named Juncariae and from there they went to  Iria Flavia, destroying hamlets and villages. They kept in there for a year, when their petty king and a good share of the attackers fell against the army led by the Galician count Gonçalo Sanches in 970.
  The Normans attacked again in 984, 1016, 1018 and 1050. Various chronicles and documents suggest an incursion in Entre-Douro-e-Minho in 1008, which may have provoked the death of the Portuguese count, Mendo Gonçalves.
  In the Norman incursion of 1015–1016, the Monastery of Vairão was sacked. Located in the South of the Ave River, the monastery hold and recorded events in the region since 921. In 1016, inland Vermoim Castle suffered a bloody assault, by Norman pirates, in which the Portuguese count Alvito Nunes was killed. In Póvoa de Varzim their incursions went from the coast to the Este River, and the Ave River established as the south limit. Various hints indicate a Norse settlement in Villa Euracini after those invasions came to an end. During the Middle Ages, the name Euracini evolved to Uracini, Vracini, Veracini, Verazini, Verazim, and eventually Varazim.
caption: Boat identified as Norman sculpted in the church of Rio Mau Monastery.
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