Danish (Civ6)/Civilopedia

Beginning in the late 8th Century AD, each spring the Viking lords of Denmark would conduct raids across the North Sea and down past the English Channel; the famed Viking raid on the Christian monastery of Lindisfarne would serve to herald the “Viking Age.” So pervasive and feared were these incursions that some small kingdoms along the European coasts would make increasing larger payments – known as “Danegeld” – just to be left alone. A sort of annual ransom that helped fund the development of Denmark for decades.
Old King Gorm (he was known as “Gorm the Old”) laid the foundations for the creation of the kingdom by unifying many of the Danish Vikings c. 936, ruling until his death in 958. He would be followed by Harald Bluetooth, Canute the Great, and Sweyn Forkbeard. Thanks primarily to the efforts of Sweyn II, Christianity took hold among the Vikings; during his 27-year reign, churches were constructed all over Denmark and he sponsored efforts to force kids to learn Latin. During his lifetime, the prolific old king fathered over 20 children himself, such that his heirs would rule Denmark for the following 60 years … guiding Denmark into the mainstream of medieval European culture and affairs.