Learnings: Raiding the Monasteries

A drone view of the site of the abbey of Lindisfarne, with later ruins, England / Contemporary

Medieval Scandinavians may not have seen their attacks on monasteries as different from any other raid. New in town and unfamiliar with Christian instituions, the Vikings might not have been able to tell a monastery apart from any other building.

There's another reason the monasteries might have tempted the Vikings: their location. As pictured here, monasteries like Lindisfarne were often built close to waterways. Much to the horror of monks and nuns, this left them very exposed to Viking raiders, who travelled by boat.