The long 10th century, or the creation of the New Europe

Abstract

The tenth century was when the spread of Christianity through Europe commenced the transformation of various state and tribal formations into the form that persisted and that we can recognize today. The political and economic development of Islam created a demand for people from which the new states also derived material resources. Trade and plunder led by the Vikings stimulated the formation of states and strengthened them, this was aided further by the existence of a stable network of roads.