Rorik of Dorestad - Death

Death

Rorik died before 882 when his lands were given to Sea-King Godfried. According to the Annales Bertiniani: "Charles, who had the title of emperor, marched against the Norsemen with a large army and advanced right up to their fortification. Once he got there, however, his courage failed him. Through the intervention of certain men, he managed to reach an agreement with Gøtrik and his men on the following terms: namely that Gøtrik would be baptized, and would then receive Frisia and the other regions that Hrørek had held." Dorestad was in economic decline throughout his reign, merchants migrating to cities less exposed to the constant fighting like Deventer and Tiel. Both of the later were developing in "merchant towns" at the time.

Coupland considers Rorik "the most powerful and influential of all the Danes drawn into the Carolingian milieu" of the 9th century. He notes how four Carolingian monarchs (Lothair I, Lothair II, Charles the Bald, Louis the German) accepted his presence in Frisia and his continued service as their vassal. Little criticism against him was recorded in the Frankish chronicles of his time. Even Hincmar did not outright accuse him and expected him to accept penance like a good Christian, which indicated the Franks had ceased thinking of him as a foreign element to their realm, regarding Rorik as one of their own. The historian also notes that there are only two recorded raids of his area in twenty-three known years of rule, a record of his effectiveness in defense in an era of turbulence.