history

• Vikings attack the monastery of Lindisfarne, Northumbria


  793
• Lindisfarne


  • A holy island, an important site of Anglo-Saxon Christian worship since 500 AD
  • Churches were known to be full of wealth due to the large donations of gold and other precious objects
• The attack on Lindisfarne was blamed by Anglo-Saxon writers at the time on a punishment for sin
• Viking army kills rival kings of Northumbria, capturing York

  867
• Great Heathen Army


  Equipped for conquest rather than raiding
• The Vikings slaughtered many people both inside and outside the city of York
• York became Yorvik, the Viking capital in England
• Æthelred and Alfred of Wessex meet the Vikings in several battles

  871
• The battles between the Vikings and the kingdom of Wessex were bloody but none were decisive
• Æthelred died during the campaign and Alfred became king of Wessex
• Vikings conquer the kingdom of Mercia


  874
• Wessex is overrun by Vikings and King Alfred goes into hiding

  878
• Alfred, king of Wessex, took refuge in the marshes of Athelney (Somerset)
• After Easter, Alfred called up his troops and defeated the Viking king Guthrum, who he persuaded to be baptised
• Alfred later created a settlement that divided England
• Alfred, King of Wessex, agrees a treaty with Vikings to divide England

  886
• The treaty between Wessex, Guthrum and the East Angles divided England, with Alfred and Wessex retaining the west, while the east (between the Thames and Tees rivers) was to be Viking territory
• Alfred the Great of Wessex dies and is succeeded by his son Edward the Elder


  October 899
• Alfred, king of Wessex, was the only English ruler to earn the moniker 'the Great'
• Under his son, Edward the Elder, the armies of Wessex began the conquest of the rest of England from the Vikings
• Edward's daughter also played a significant role in building fortresses and taking more territories from the Danes
• Athelstan, first king of all England, dies


  939
• Athelstan, king of Wessex, pushed the boundaries of his kingdom to their furthest extent, until he could rightfully be described as the king of England
• In 927 AD, Athelstan took Yorvik from the Vikings, as well as taking land from the Scottish and Welsh kings
• Aethelred the Unready becomes king


  978
• For 25 years the English face no attacks from the Vikings, but two years into Aethelred's reign (980) they began raiding coastal towns once more
• By 991, Aethelred was paying huge sums of money to the Vikings
• St Brie's Day Massacre


  13th November 1002
• Aethelred ordered the massacre of all Vikings living in England on St Brie's Day, including the sister of the current king of Norway: Swein/Swen Forkbeard
• Swein Forkbeard vows revenge
• Swein Forkbeard forces Æthelred the Unready into exile

  1013
• Swein Forkbeard, son of the Danish king Harold Bluetooth, had taken part in raids on England for 20 years before leading a large-scale invasion
• When London submitted to Swein, Æthelred fled to Normandy, leaving the whole country under Danish control
• Cnut of Denmark becomes king of the English

  1016
• In 1016, Æthelred, king of England, died. His son Edmund Ironside made a truce with Cnut in which they agreed to divide the kingdom between them
• Edmund died shortly afterwards and Cnut became king of the whole country
• Three years later Cnut became king of Denmark as well
• Cnut ruled the country mostly peacefully, was supported by the Pope and tried to spread Christianity to Ireland
• Cnut dies


  1235
• Cnut the Great died and was buried at Winchester, then a key city for England