The Vikings
The Vikings
British History
Lecture 4
The Vikings
�the Norse (Scandinavian) explorers,
warriors, merchants, and pirates
�raided and colonized wide areas of
Europe (the late eighth to the early
eleventh century)
�used longships to travel as far east as
Constantinople and the Volga River in
Russia, and as far west as Iceland,
Greenland, and Newfoundland
The Vikings
The Vikings
Viking expansion
Viking expansion
Not only violence and
destruction
�Vikings  interested in acquiring territory,
�Vikings  interested in acquiring territory,
establishing peaceful permanent
establishing peaceful permanent
settlements
settlements
�Viking peoples went to extraordinary
�Viking peoples went to extraordinary
lengths to set up new settlements:
lengths to set up new settlements:
ć% Harald Hardrada ventured as far as Russia
ć% Harald Hardrada ventured as far as Russia
and Byzantium
and Byzantium
ć% Colonies in Ireland
ć% Colonies in Ireland
ć% Raids in France  Normandy the price the
ć% Raids in France  Normandy the price the
western Franks paid for peace
western Franks paid for peace
ć% Leif Ericson explored America c. 1000
ć% Leif Ericson explored America c. 1000
�787
�787 - first Viking raid on Britain
�793-795
�793-795 - the Vikings sack
monasteries in Iona, Lindisfarne and Jarrow
�Paths of Viking invasions:
ć% Norwegians - north, Scotland, Man (the
base) and Ireland
ć% Danes - East Anglia - westward
the 9th century - the raids intensify, the
Vikings settled north of the Thames in East
Anglia and Mercia - the struggle against the
Vikings begins
�Egbert defeated a large Viking force in 838
that had combined with the Britons of
Cornwall
�Aethelwulf won a great victory in 851 over
a Viking army that had stormed
Canterbury and London and put the
Mercian king to flight
�865 - a large Danish army came to East
Anglia
�by 871 Danish army captured York and took
possession of East Anglia
�871 - according to the Anglo-Saxon chronicle
9 big battles were fought (a Danish defeat at
Ashdown)
�878 - King Alfred s victory over Danes at
Ethandun (Edington)
England divided into two:
�the northern and eastern part, known as the
Danelaw (controlled by the Vikings)
�the rest of England (controlled by King
Alfred)
The Danelaw
871-899 Reign of Alfred the
Great
(king of Wessex)
King Alfred
�created a series of fortifications to surround
his kingdom and provide needed security
from invasion
�constructed a fleet of ships to augment his
other defences  he became known as the
Father of the English Navy
�reorganised his finances and the services due
from thegns
�scrutinised carefully the exercise of justice
The Doom Book
�issued an important code of laws - The
Doom Book, Code of Alfred or Legal Code
of Alfred the Great
�The code was compiled from three prior
Saxon codes, to which he prefixed the Ten
Commandments and incorporated rules of
life from the Mosaic Code and the Christian
code of ethics
Doom very evenly! Do not doom one doom to
the rich; another to the poor! Nor doom one
doom to your friend; another to your foe!
King Alfred
�saw the Viking invasions as a punishment
from God (neglect of learning)
�deplored the decay of Latin
�wished all young freemen of adequate
means to learn to read English
�aimed at supplying men with "the books
most necessary for all men to know," in
their own language
�Alfred decided to make English the
language of education and literature
�translated Latin books into Old English
with help of scholars from Mercia, the
Continent, and Wales
�Made available works of
ć% Bede and Orosius
ć% Gregory and Augustine
ć% Boethius (De consolatione philosophiae)
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
891 - Anglo-Saxon Chronicle starts (891-1154)
- a collection of annals in Old English
chronicling the history of the Anglo-Saxons
Ł� a diary of events, written by monks in
different parts of the country
The first book of its kind in western Europe
Peterborough Chronicle
Reforms of King Alfred
Reforms of King Alfred
�improvement of fyrd  division into parts:
one fights, one works on farms
�establishment of oral and customary law
with no Roman influences
�establishment of burghs - fortified towns
Ethelred the Unready
(978-1016)
numerous Danish raids renewed
by the end of the 10th century
Disastrous rule leads to:
ć% ruling without counsel
ć% Danegeld - money paid by the English to
Danes to buy peace
Later on the Danegeld became a kind of a
war tax
Canute the Great (c.994-1035)
Canute the Great (c.994-1035)
king of Denmark, England,
king of Denmark, England,
Norway and parts of Sweden
Norway and parts of Sweden
Canute the Great
Canute the Great
(c.994-1035)
(c.994-1035)
�Canute was of Danish and Polish descent
�His father was Sweyn Forkbeard, King of
Denmark
�Canute s mother was the daughter of
Mieszko I, Gunhilda (Świętosława?)
�Canute invaded England  beginning of
Danish dynasty in England (1016-42)
�ENGLAND, NORWAY and DENMARK
under one rule - the North Sea Empire
�Canute - a wise and peaceful ruler;
introduces legal and military reforms
�The country divided into four EARLDOMS:

�Northumbria

�East Anglia

�Mercia

�Wessex
The rule of Canute s sons
The rule of Canute s sons
�Harold I, Harefoot (1035-1040)
�Harthacnut (1040-42)
�The empire (which depended on Canute s
personal abilities) went to pieces
�England s ties with Scandinavia broken
1042
�Witan chose Edward the Confessor to be
king
�son of Ćthelred the Unready and Emma of
Normandy, one of the last Anglo-Saxon
kings of England
�usually regarded as the last king of the
House of Wessex
�Edward spent a quarter of a century in
exile, probably mainly in Normandy
�the new pius king more interested in
Church than in kingship
�he started a new church fit for a king at
Westminster
The troubles came from:
the excessive power concentrated in the
hands of the rival houses of
�Leofric of Mercia
�Godwine ( Godwinson) of Wessex
resentment caused by the king's introduction
of Norman friends
1066
�Edward died in January
�Harold Godwinson chosen to be the next
king (6 January  14 October)
�William s of Normandy claims to the
English throne:
- King Edward had promised it to him
- Harold (visited William in 1064 or 1065)
promised William not to take the throne
for himself
Legacy of the Vikings
�place names with - by (farm, town) e.g.
Whitby, Derby
�Place names ending in  thorp(e),  small
village , -toft, piece of land ; e.g.
Scunthorpe and Blacktoft
�Scandinavian borrowings in English -
through similarity - she, they