VIKING INVASION

The origin

Pirates from Scandinavia

Denmark, Sweden, Norway

Germanic

Pagan

Excellent sailors. Boats: faerring, quars, longships

Viking society.

Farming and fishing

Raiding parties : plunder and slaughter

Pagan: Odin, Thor, Freyia

Mythology, poetry, runes

Warrior’s ethos and fighting skills

The position of women. Shieldmaidens – not certain in historical sources

Vikings on the move

Causes:

Warrior ethos

Lack of soil, food and resources caused people to go

The Shetland Isles – 700

Iceland – 860

Greenland – 986

Eastern Europe

Novgorod – Rurik 862

Constantinople – 860

Labrador and Newfoundland – 1000

VIKINGS RAID ENGLAND

793 – Attack on Lindisfarne – Danes

Anglos defend against viking – fleet and forts are built

Vikings start to spend winter in England – first settlemrnts, they get food etc Danish forts

Danegeld – ransom paid to Danes to not attack anglo saxons

No organization – individual leaders of expeditions

865 – The Great Heathen Army attacks

Conquest of East Anglia. They start to Settle in England

Danelaw – area under viking occupation

Mercia Northumbria and Wessex are attacked

Ivar the Boneless leader of the attack

866 – York captured

871 – Vikings attack Wessex

Vikings in Ireland

795 viking attack on Iona

Attacks on Rich monasteries

Founding of Dublin

Cork, Wateford, Limerick, Wexford – viking ports in Ireland

They dominated the political situation in Ireland

980 – Battle of Tara, King Maelsechnaill defeats Vikings

VIKING SETTLEMENT

They transform from warriors to farmers and traders

Free Peasants

Small villages – farmhouses for families

Crops: wheat, oats, barley, vegetables

Animal herding

Crafts

Rich trade

Viking city of York – Jorvik.

Scandinavian York – 866- 954

Viking capital of Northumbria

Glass beads, leather ( port, trade and crafts)

Small, one room houses

VIKING IMPACT

Town life: locations – more places in which town life was Born under vikings than under
Romans.

Ports and seafaring – developed in Britsin under them, they imitated Vikings

Free peasants appeared in England

Ethnic diversity

Amalgamation of Viking and Anglo Saxon customs

Political and trading links

Vikings helped Alfred the Great in unifying England – by uniting it against them

Creation of the English people

VIKING HERITAGE: LANGUAGE

Place names ( endings such as – by – thorpe -with -toft, -ness)

Examples: Copmanthorpe, lowestoft

Going berserk, day names, club

DNA – NOTHING FOUND. DNA too simmilar and nit much impact

They started taxes in England ( Danegeld (

Law and democracy – they inspired the concept of jury

They returned as The Normans in XIth century

Alfred the Great ( 871-899) as a King

There was sort of a cult of the king. Alfred stood out – deeply educated, could read and
write, transkated etc

The Anglo – Saxon chronicle – main source

Interested in scholarship

Started a school for boys

Numerous laws

He robbed churches
Known for his religious zeal

The Rule of Alfred the Great

Defense against vikings – reforms

An army system created (the fyrd. 3 fyrds. One fyrd Fights, one trains, one works in the
field)

Administration

Division into Shires. Function if Shirereeves

Folkmoot – shiremoot. Meeting where people can speak up and it acceots decisions

Witenagemont – witan. Council of advisors who are members of nobility and oligarchy

871 – vikings attacks Wessex

Alfred pays Danegeld to buy time

876-878 new attack

Alfred avoids battle to build his strength and hides in the Isle of Atheleney

878 – battle of Edington. Alfred beats vikings

London and Winchester taken

892-896 new danish attacks. Vikings defeated

ENGLAND UNIFICATION

Edward the Elder (900 924) attacks Danelaw conquers danish Mercia and East Anglia

Aethelflead (edwards sister ( rules Mercia

Athelstan ( 924-939) 934 defeats vikings in battle of Brunanburh

Captures York. Danes are integrated into the kingdom. Unificstiin by common identity
starts

Edmund fights for control of northumbria

Eadred – conquere Northumbria

955 Anglo Saxon England unified

Edgar 955-959 is crowned Emperor of England

SCOTLAND

844 – union of Picts and Gaels of Dal Riata (Scots)

Norwegian conquests
End to the Pictish kingdoms

Kenneth mac Alpin (d.858) unigied scotland and controlled it

The Kingdom of Alba – unites norwegian, scotish and pictish people – 900-1286

The capital at Scone

SCOTLAND AND ENGLAND

Strathclyde and Lothian annexed by Scots

Macbeth – King of Moray

Defeats Duncan rules in Scotland (1040- 1057)

Malcolm III (1057- 1093). Takes the throne with English help

Norwegians – north and the islands

English settlemrnt starts in Scotland after Norman Invasion

Scottish feudalism – arrival of english knights: Bruces Balliols. They bring eng influences
there

WALES

Welsh britons – divided into small kingdoms

Gwynedd, Dyfedd, Glywysing – kingdoms

1055 – domination of Gruffudd ap Llewellyn

Attacks by anglo saxons – harold godwinson – 1062-1063 Control over Wales

After his death Wales us divided again

IRELAND:

Minor kings (tuaths) – Kings – supreme kings (5)

Constant infight and power shifting

Munster, Meath, Leinster, ulster, Connacht

Fight for supremacy

Brian Boru -rules in Munster (982- 1014)

Attacks other kingdoms

Captures Dublin ( 1000)

Proclaimed King of Ireland. Concept of king modelled after european monarchy

Killed in the Battle of Clontarf

Ireland divided politically, united by culture and language

ENGLAND AGAIN

Aethelred the Unready rules ( 979-1016)

2nd wave of viking invasion

Swein Forkbeard and Cnut

1002-1012 raids against england

Danegeld.

Swein becomes King of england (1013-1014)

Cnut competes for tge throne after Swein dies with Edmund Ironside and wins
again.(1016)

Cnut (1016-1037). King of Denmark, norway, england, sweden, married Emma of

Normandy

Edward the Confessor (1042-1066) son of Ironside comes back after Cnut’s death and
claims the throne from his son