These notes are part of an essay on an alternate history in which the Norse colonisation of America was more successful. This is all very preliminary: I'd be delighted to hear from anyone who actually knows about this period (I had hoped to be junior partner on this project, to someone who knew more than I did).
| 950 to 1000 | Point of Divergence: Civil war in Iceland, on the issue of Christanity versus paganism. A Christian victory leads to a mass exodus of pagan Icelanders to a new colony in Markland (Labrador). Mostly friendly first contact with the Dorset Eskimo culture (friendlier than history because the Christian dislike for the Amerinds is absent.). |
| 1000 to 1050 | Marklanders discover Helluland and Vinland, and colonise the latter. Extensive adoption of Dorset Eskimo arctic survival techniques (Again, the absence of Christianity removes a barrier to adoption of Amerind ways of life.. Dubliners and their Celtic allies, fleeing defeat at Clontarf, migrate to North America. |
| 1050 to 1100 | Celtic and Norse elements of Vinlander culture fuse, Norse language dominates. Subsiduary colonies planted on New England coast, first significant contact with proto-Eastern Woodlands Algonquian-speaking Amerinds. Anglo-Saxons fleeing the Norman conquest of England infuse into the Norse culture in Iceland, Greenland and North America. Anglo-Saxon, Icelandic and Scandinavian Christians spread Christianity through North America, but paganism remains dominant. The Thule Inuit culture expands across Arctic but is resisted by Dorset Eskimo, who have been strengthened by trade and iron weapons: many Thule techniques are adopted, however. |
| 1100 to 1150 | Development of the cog improves coastal transport around Europe, and the design is copied for use on the coasts of North America. Vinlander explorers reach the Great Lakes and establish trading colonies. Contact with Algonquian-speaking agriculturalists and the proto-Iroquois begins unification of Eurasian and American crop groups. Norse begin trading high value goods across the Atlantic in sufficient quantities to make the North American colonies profitable: most importantly beaver pelts and tobacco. |
| 1150 to 1200 | A trans-Atlantic variant of the cog is developed for trade via and to Iceland and Greenland: European entrepots include Bristol, Cork and Bergen, with coastal shipping carrying the cargo on to Antwerp and other destinations. Fishing of the grand banks becomes a major source of food for Vinland. |
| 1200 to 1250 | Improvements in transport bring more Eurasian diseases across the Atlantic, to the suffering of the Amerinds (Though not as severe as historically). Maize reaches the Norse-influenced parts of north America. Norse adventurers reach the upper Missippi, some establish themselves as rulers over fragments of the Mississippian culture. The dominant religion of Vinland is nominally Christian but heavily influenced by pagan concepts, whereas the Norse religion in northern Mississippia is mostly pagan but heavily influenced by Amerind religions. Anglo-Normans seize control of Cork, and some trade shifts south to France and Iberia to avoid their taxes. |
| 1250 to 1300 | Interbreeding between Norse and Amerinds produces an important Mestizo class in northern Mississippia. Thorvald Edmundson forms the kingdom of Naskit (from a Norse modification of an Algonquin word for "people of the fork") centred on St. Louis. The demographic surge induced by the exchange of crop groups, combined with Thorvald Edmundson's genius, allows Naskit to dominate the entire Mississippi valley. Iceland resists a Danish attempt at conquest. |
| 1300 to 1350 | Naskit breaks up under the mismanagement of Anders "the Drunkard" Thorvaldson. American beans reach Vinland via northern Mississippia and are traded to Europe. Iron weapons appear in Mexico. The northern route across the Atlantic is abandoned due to falling temperatures, and Inuit appear in Greenland as the Norse colony contracts. |
| 1350 to 1400 | Iberian conquistadores and Turkish pirates land in the Caribbean and Mexico, carving out kingdoms. The black death kills one third of the population of Eurasia, ending the population pressures that sent waves of colonists from Europe to America. Iceland and Greenland go into decline, and the northern route across the Atlantic withers. Mexico is devastated by Eurasian diseases. (The native states, however, are not completely replaced by European ones.) |
| 1400 to 1450 | Black death reaches Iceland, Greenland, Vinland and Mexico. Adaptation by Yersinia Pestis has made it less lethal, so the death rate is not as severe as in Europe. Iberian conquistadores conquer Peru, which is utterly devastated by Eurasian diseases. |
| 1450 to 1500 | ? |
| 1500 to 1550 | ? |
| 1550 to 1600 | ? |
| 1600 to 1650 | ? |
| 1650 to 1700 | ? |
| 1700 to 1750 | ? |
| 1750 to 1800 | ? |
| Back to the "More Successful Norse Colonisation of America" page.f | Compare with the "More Successful Norse Colonisation of America" real history. |
I welcome feedback at David.Bofinger@dsto.defenceSpamProofing.gov.au.