November 885 – October 886 · West Francia (modern France) Theater
November 885 – October 886
The largest Viking assault on France: a fleet estimated at 700 ships and 30,000 warriors arrived at Paris in November 885 and found the city refusing to yield passage up the Seine. Count Odo of Paris and Bishop Gozlin organized one of the most determined defenses of the Viking Age, holding the bridges for nearly a year against repeated Norse assaults. The Vikings built siege engines, launched fire ships, attempted to divert the river, and repeatedly stormed the bridges. The defenders held. Emperor Charles the Fat arrived with a relief army in autumn 886 — and paid the Vikings 700 pounds of silver to leave, allowing them to travel upriver to raid Burgundy. The defenders who had held for a year were furious. Odo's reputation made him King of France.
Commanders