[thkBC height=”300″ width=”500″ anchortext=”Ribe Vikings” title=”Ribe Vikings” url=”http://www.youtube.com/embed/M023pHZIJIg” type=”iframe”]
Ribe was established in the first decade of the 8th century and first attested in a document dated 854; Ribe is the oldest town in Denmark.
When Ansgar the Archibishop of Hamburg-Bremen, set out on the “Mission to bring Christianity to the “, he made a request in 860, to the King of Denmark, that the first Scandinavian church be built in Ribe. This was not coincidental, since Ribe already at that point was one of the most important trade cities in Scandinavia. However the presence of a bishop, and thus a cathedral, in Ribe can only be confirmed from the year 948 AD. Wikipedia
Very early graves discovered in Ribe last year, alongside a nicely carved fragment of a runic inscription. Graves date from possibly late 9th to 10th century.
Read more in the coming symposium report: Beretning fra 30. Tværfaglige Vikingesymposium, an article in Danish by Morten Søvsø.