Greenland. Last known contact between the Norwegian outposts and the rest of the Europeans. The first outposts were established in 874. Then, with the arrival of the Little Ice Age of the 13th century, contact became more difficult. After 1410, the outposts were completely abandoned. Greenland was not visited again until 1577, a century and a half later. No trace of the Norwegian camps was found, long since wiped out by the local Inuit and/or the invading forces. The stark difference from the European outposts in Central and South America is striking, which, in just a few years, led to a mass invasion and extermination of the local populations, far more advanced than the Inuit. In Greenland, the advantages of European civilization in terms of food production, technology, and political organization were not applicable. While the Indians’ superior knowledge of the environment and how to exploit it played a role, the Holy Roman Empire of Charles V, the most powerful power in Europe, covering the entire Iberian Peninsula, all of Central Europe including Germany, and much of Italy, was not comparable to the Norway of the time.
