It has long been argued that the Anglo-Saxons were war-making people. Heroic poetry,
narrative chronicles, law codes, burial evidence, all emphasize the role of a warrior
in the Anglo-Saxon culture.5 As the historian Eric John explains: Anglo-Saxon society was so
violent that a central fact of its politics, its way of life, even, was fighting and making war.
However, when Danes and Norsemen of the Great Heathen Army arrived upon English shores,
they swept through Saxon lands like a firestorm, with only the Kingdom of Wessex providing any
meaningful resistance. This begs the question: why did the Saxons, a people historically known
for their skill in war, fare so poorly against the invaders of the Viking age? In this video,
we will delve into the historical record, and examine the social, political and technological
reasons why most of the English Kingdoms fared so poorly against the Northern tide.
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The history of middle and late Saxon England was shaped by the Viking invasions and the
military response of English Kings. Until the autumn of 865, the Vikings who raided
England can be considered more as pirates than as territorial rulers. The strategy
the Vikings followed up to 865 was to obtain as much wealth as possible with a minimum of risk.
Their main targets were the monasteries and churches that held considerable amounts of
wealth and were poorly if at all defended. It was when “a great heathen raiding army” overwintered
in the kingdom of East-Anglia, that the Vikings presence in England became much larger.
To cite historian Richard Abels: “In the autumn and winter of 865, the very nature of the threat
changed. The ambitions of the leaders of the Great Heathen Army took on a territorial dimension.”
The saga of Ragnar Lodbrok mentions that the titular Lodbrok’s sons,
including Ivar the Boneless and Ubba, attacked the kingdom of Northumbria which was ruled by King
Ælla (r. 862-867). Between 865 and 878 every Anglo-Saxon Kingdom with
the exception of Wessex came under control of the Danes, either directly as in East-Anglia,
or intermediately through the establishment of native client kings, as in Mercia.
Early medieval sources like the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle and archaeological findings give us
some understanding on how the English were not able to defend themselves against the Vikings.
However, one must be aware that historians today cannot examine the Anglo-Saxon reaction to the
Danish invasions in full detail because the dynasties and kingdoms that were defeated by
the Vikings left few or no records themselves. In fact, the East Anglian kings of the ninth century
are mostly remembered by their names, known only form their coins. This lack of sufficient evidence
makes it hard to understand why the Anglo-Saxons failed to defend themselves against the Vikings,
or what allowed Wessex to resist where other Kingdoms were quashed. Moreover,
most surviving written sources from this time were composed by chroniclers from Wessex, who were not
too concerned with describing details about the Mercian, East Anglian or Northumbrian resistances.
Ultimately, these lack of sources presents a challenge in understanding why the Anglo-Saxons
struggled with the Vikings. To understand why the Anglo-Saxons failed we first need to understand
the threat the Vikings posed. Horses and ships had a foremost importance in the success of
Viking raids. Viking longships were fast-sailing vessels that could use oars to support the sails
when needed, and made it possible for the Vikings to use islets in shallow estuaries
as landing-places on English soil, where they could entrench themselves in winter strongholds.
In contrast, English ships drew too much water to be able to land in these islets. Other advantages
of the Viking ships were their capability to effectively land horses, making it possible for
heavily armed cavalry to move off a Danish vessel and swiftly overrun an English fortified position.
Prior to 865, Vikings usually concentrated their activities on a particular river basin and used an
island site off-shore or up-river as a permanent base-camp for an upcoming winter, from where they
raided coastal and riverine settlements or monasteries. These hit-and-run tactics
where effective against the Anglo-Saxons who were usually not able to organize a defence in time.
With the arrival of the Great Heathen Army in 865, these tactics changed. This grand Viking force
moved each autumn to a new kingdom or district where it established a new camp for the following
year. The army of 865 did not construct new fortified camps, nor did they sequest
themselves in isolated island sites. Instead, they occupied royal and administrative centres
in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms. These Danish annual camps needed to protect the men, food supplies,
their treasure, and their wounded. Therefore, in 865, the Great Heathen army was designed
to be highly mobile and unpredictable, which made it harder for the Anglo-Saxons to react.
Political instability was aanother important reason the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms were vulnerable to
the Viking invasion, and often, it was the Vikings themselves who contributed to the destabilization
of the Saxon realms. For example, in 838, Vikings supported the Celtic Britons in Cornwell,
who rebelled against their Wessex overlords, while in 844, a deposed Northumbrian king was restored
to power after his usurper was defeated and killed by Viking invaders. Raids became more frequent
in the 830s and more penetrating. This may be significant that these developments coincided with
the increasing degrees of social and political unrest in the affected Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms.
During the mid-800s AD, the main focus of Viking aggression was the Kingdom of West Frankia.
However, in the latter half of the century, there had been profound changes in Frankia and
England. In 862 the West-Frankian King Charles systematically began ramping up the defenses of
his Kingdom. He had bridges built across the Seine and Loire to hinder passage of Viking ships, and
he fortified towns and abbeys. Charles’ defensive measures proved fruitful; and many Vikings began
to concentrate instead on England. While Frankia slowly stabilized, the British Isles were not
able to overcome its political instability when the Great Heathen Army arrived in 865.
We must also stress the importance of religion and religious life when discussing Anglo-Saxon
vulnerability. In places that were frequently raided, the organization of the Christian Church
certainly disrupted. Long-established religious houses that were scattered throughout the
Anglo-Saxon kingdoms were destroyed by Viking armies; their communities were slaughtered
or scattered, their books and other possessions burned or destroyed, their treasures looted, and
their controlled land were brought under secular control or taken over by force by the king.
The quality of religious life in England had been
affected not only by the Viking raids but also by negligence and complacency.
King Alfred believed that the raids were rather an effect then a cause of neglect and decline,
asserting that the Vikings arrived because of God’s displeasure with the Anglo-Saxon people.
With the lack of sources about East-Anglia, it is hard to assume why the easternmost Saxon Kingdom
was not able to resist the Viking invasion in various aspects. There is no evidence that
supports a rise or decline of the kingdom during the ninth century. The only sources
that are beneficial to us are records of the arrival of The Great Heathen army in Kent.
Here, the Vikings plundered the land, even though a tribute, referred to as Danegeld, had been paid
by the locals. The raiders continued moving further into East-Anglia, which was currently
ruled by King Edmund (r. 855-869). Initially there was no conflict between the Anglo-Saxons
and the Great Heathen Army. The Vikings made their way to Edmund’s court; they had superior forces,
and they knew that the East Anglians had no option for resistance. The Chronicler Æthelweard
described that the Vikings fleet was provided with food, money, and horses by King Edmund, the latter
asset proved to be a fatal mistake, as the Viking army was now as mobile over land as it was by sea.
Asser (d. 919), biographer of Alfred the Great, mentioned that almost the whole army was supplied
with horses. The Vikings were now mobile enough to launch surprise attacks inland as unpredictably
their ships had allowed them to do on the coast. In the autumn of 869, the Vikings returned to
East-Anglia. They defeated Edmund in battle and killed him, which made the king a martyr.
The Vikings installed a loyal Scandinavian ruler in the kingdom.
Historians tend to assume that the shortage of sources on Northumbria in the ninth century,
coupled with the conquest of the Vikings, must indicate that the kingdom was undergoing severe
decline. Continuing disputes between rival claimants are noticeable, but we should stress
the importance of the domination in this period of the family of Eardwulf (r.796-806) and the long
reign of Eanred (r. 808-840) in particular. Since the ninth century the Northumbrian coinage was in
decline. After the gap of minting in the reigns of Eardwulf and Ælfwold II (r. 806-808), King
Eanred produced a debased form of the sceatta coinage. The content of these silvers coins
was less than that of the sceattas, and only became further debased as the century progressed.
By the reign of Æthelred II (840/1-844 and 844-848/9) coins were produced almost
exclusively with the substantially less valuable metal of brass.
If these economic indicators are anything to go by, then by the arrival of the Great Heathen Army,
Northumbria was an instable country currently undergoing decline since the begin of the century.
After the death of King Offa (r. 757-796) near the end of the 8th century, the Kingdom of Mercia
had begun to flounder. The power of the Mercian ealdorman grew to rival that of the Mercian kings,
resulting in great friction between the Royal House and the nobility, with only Kings Offa and
Cenwulf (r. 796-821) able to maintain their authority. The next six years were followed
by civil war and gave East Anglian and West Saxon kings the opportunity to overthrow Mercian power.
The loss of territory in this conflict made it harder for Mercia to increase its revenue.
The reign of King Burgred (r. 852-874) saw its resources stretched even further when the Vikings
attacked. As his reign progressed, it became clear that Mercian defences and army were not able to
contain the increasingly powerful Viking armies. Wessex in the ninth century
While Northumbria and Mercia declined partly because of internal instability,
Wessex was less impacted by civil war and claimant factions. The Kingdom of Wessex was reasonably
successful against the Viking invaders. By the time the Great Heathen Army arrived,
the West Saxons had already been fighting major campaigns against the Vikings for fourteen years.
Wessex was fortunate that the Vikings’ priority was the conquest of northern England and of York
in particular, but they still faced a substantial Danish threat, and were almost fully overrun on
several occasions. Facing this existential challenge, Wessex developed new strategies
and increased the demands on their subjects in order to defeat the Vikings. One important
innovation was the burh, or fortress, which could be used by the West Saxons for local refuge and
as a base for militia to intercept Viking forces and disrupt their maneuverability.
The dynamic and charismatic leadership of King Alfred the Great also played an important part in
Wessex’s independence. Alfred’s victories against the Vikings on the battlefield and his ability
to be obeyed by his subjects in his struggle against the Scandinavians is an important reason
why the Vikings were not able to conquer Wessex. Ultimately, while the size and innovative prowess
of the Viking army contributed to the rapid fall of most of Anglo-Saxon England, it was
the political and economic decline of most of the English kingdoms that eventually led to their own
downfall. If the ninth century were a period of stability and prosperity, it could be assumed that
when the Great Heathen Army arrived in 865, all kingdoms would be able to aid East-Anglia against
the Vikings. While Wessex was no exemption for civil war in the ninth century, they did overcome
their political unrest. With a far more stable economy than its rival piety kingdoms, Wessex was
not forced to stretch it resources like Mercia and had not decline in its coinage like Northumbria.
Their previous experience fighting the Vikings and not being a priority to the heathen horde
in the 865 campaign gives us further reasons as to why this more or less stable kingdom was able
to maintain the integrity of its borders while other Kingdoms in England failed.
It was mostly the problems the Kings and their kingdoms faced themselves that sees us
to understand their incapabilities to fight of the Vikings. More videos on the Viking age are
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