800 AD Waves of Danish assaults on the coastlines of the British Isles were gradually followed by a succession of settlers.
865 AD Danish raiders first began to settle in England. Led by brothers Halfdan and Ivar the Boneless, they wintered in East Anglia, were they demanded and received tribute in exchange for a temporary peace. From there they moved north and attacked Northumbria, which was in the midst of a civil war between the deposed king Osbert and a usurper Aelle. The Danes used the civil turmoil as an opportunity to captured York, which they sacked and burned.
867 AD Following the loss of York, Osbert and Aelle formed an alliance against the Danes. They launched a counterattack, but the Danes killed both Osbert and Aelle and set up a puppet king on Northumbrian throne. In response, King Ethelred of Wessex, along with his brother Alfred (the future King Alfred of England) marched against the Danes. Who were positioned behind fortifications in Nottingham, but were unable to draw the Danes into battle. In order to establish peace, King Burhred of Mercia ceded Nottingham to the Danes in exchange for leaving the rest of Mercia undisturbed.
869 AD Ivar the Boneless returned and demanded tribute from King Edmund of East Anglia.
870 AD King Edmund refused, Ivar the Boneless defeated and captured him at Hoxne and brutally sacrificed his heart to Oden through the use of the so-called “Blood Eagle ritual”, in the process adding East Anglia to the area controlled by the invading Danes. King Ethelred and Alfred attacked the Danes at Reading, but were repulsed with heavy losses. The Danes pursued them.
871 AD On January 7, they made their stand at Ashdown (in what is now East Sussex). Ethelred could not be found at the start of battle, as he was busy praying in his tent, so Alfred led the army into battle. Ethelred and Alfred defeated the Danes, who counted among their losses five jarls (nobles). The Danes retreated and set up fortifications at Basing in Hampshire, a mere 14 miles from Reading. Ethelred attacked the Danish fortifications and was routed. Danes followed up victory with another victory in March at Meretum (now Marton, Wiltshire).
King Ethelred died on April 23, 871 and Alfred took the throne of Wessex, but not before he seriously considering abdicating the throne in light of the desperate circumstances, which were further worsened by the arrival of a second Danish army from Europe arriving in Reading. For the rest of the year Alfred concentrated on attacking with small bands against isolated groups of Danes. He was moderately successful in this endeavor and was able to score minor victories against the Danes, but his army was on the verge of collapse. Alfred responded by paying off the Danes in order for a promise of peace. During the peace the Danes turned north and attacked Mercia, which they finished off in short order, and captured London in the process. King Burhred of Mercia fought in vain against the Ivar the Boneless and his Danish invaders for three years until 874, when he fled to Europe. During Ivar’s campaign against Mercia he died and was succeeded by Guthrum the Old as the main protagonist in the Danes’ drive to conquer England. Guthrum quickly defeated Burhred and placed a puppet on the throne of Mercia. The Danes now controlled East Anglia, Northumbria and Mercia, with only Wessex continuing to resist.
875 AD The Danes settled in Dorsetshire, well inside of Alfred’s Kingdom of Wessex, but Alfred quickly made peace with them.
876 AD The Danes broke the peace when they captured the fortress of Wareham, followed by a similar capture of Exeter in 877.
887 AD Alfred laid siege, while the Danes waited for reinforcements from Scandinavia. Unfortunately for the Danes, the fleet of reinforcements encountered a storm and lost more than 100 ships, and the Danes were forced to return to East Mercia in the north.
878 AD In January Guthrum led an attack against Wessex that sought to capture Alfred while he wintered in Chippenham, Wiltshire. Another Danish army landed in south Wales and moved south with the intent of intercepting Alfred should he flee from Guthrum’s forces. However, they stopped during their march to capture a small fortress at Countisbury Hill, held by a Wessex ealdorman name Odda. The Saxons, led by Odda, attacked the Danes while they slept and defeated the superior Danish forces, saving Alfred from being trapped between the two armies. Alfred was forced to go into hiding for the rest of the winter and spring of 878 in the Somerset marshes in order to avoid the superior Danish forces. In the spring Alfred was able to gather an army and attacked the Guthrum and the Danes at Edington. The Danes were defeated and retreated to Chippenham, where the English pursued and laid siege to Guthrum’s forces. The Danes were unable to hold out without relief and soon surrendered. Alfred demanded as a term of the surrender that Guthrum become baptized as a Christian, which Guthrum agreed to do, with Alfred acting as his Godfather. Guthrum was true to his word and settled in East Anglia, at least for a while.
884 AD Guthrum attacked Kent, but was defeated by the English. This led to the Treaty of Alfred and Guthrum, which established the boundaries of the Danelaw and allowed for Danish self-rule in the region.
902 AD Essex submits to Aethelwald.
903 AD Aethelwald incites East Anglian Danes into breaking the peace, they ravage Mercia before winning a pyrrhic victory that saw the death of Aethelwald and the Danish King Eohric, this allows Edward the Elder to consolidate power.
911 AD The English defeat the Danes at the Battle of Tettenhall. The Northumbrians ravage Mercia but are trapped by Edward and forced to fight.
917 AD In return for peace and protection The Kingdoms of Essex and East Anglia accept Edward the Elder as their suzerain overlord.
Æthelflæd (also known as Ethelfleda) Lady of the Mercians, takes the borough (fortified town) of
918 AD The borough of Leicester submits peaceably to Æthelflæd's rule. The people of York promise to accept her as their overlord, but she dies before this could come to fruition. She is succeeded by her brother, the Kingdoms of Mercia and Wessex united in the person of King Edward.
919 AD Norwegian Vikings under King Raegnold of Dublin take York.
920 AD Edward is accepted as father and lord by the King of the Scots, by Raegnold (Ragnald son of Sygtrygg) King of York), the sons of Eadulf, the English, Norse, Danes and others all of whom dwell in Northumbria, and the King and people of the Strathclyde Welsh.
954 AD Eric Bloodaxe driven out of Northumbria, his death marking the end of the prospect of a Northern Viking Kingdom stretching from York to Dublin and the Isles.
Sources
- The Anglo-Saxon Chronicles, Tiger Books International version translated and collated by Anne Savage,1995.
See also
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
