🗡️ 885-886 | Vikings in Paris What you’re seeing: In November 885, a Viking fleet came up the Seine toward Paris. Paris was a small walled island town, not a capital. Its bridges barred the river. Who ruled Europe in 885? Charlemagne’s empire had been divided among his grandsons in 843. By 885, Charles the Fat had reunited almost all of it under one ruler. Why were Vikings on the Seine at all? Northmen had raided Frankish coasts for decades. In 845, 120 ships reached Paris and Charles the Bald paid 7,000 pounds of silver for them to leave. In 885, they plundered Rouen and moved on to Paris. Why did one small town matter so much? Paris’s bridges blocked the Seine, a major trade artery. A Viking fleet could not move farther upriver without getting past the city. Why did the emperor pay instead of fighting? Charles the Fat spent much of the siege far away. When he reached Montmartre in October 886 with a great army, he negotiated instead of fighting. Abbo says the payment was 700 po...