To the chroniclers (almost all of whom were based in monasteries and thus directly in the sights of the raiders), it seemed as if the devastation would never end. But for the Scandinavian adventurers, business was booming. One modern historian has estimated that during the ninth century, Vikings active in the Frankish lands stole or extorted in ransom and protection payments around seven million silver pennies, or approximately 14 percent of the total that were minted. The Carolingians had grown rich and powerful, and sponsored well-endowed abbeys, by plundering unbelievers on their borders.
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