the viking age was relatively short
but it left a distinctive mark on
history
the warriors raiders pirates seafarers
and
traders from scandinavia influenced the
fate of more regions than any other
culture before the age of discovery
and no other land more so than the
british isles
in this series we will talk about the
viking invasions of britain
and we are going to start with the
invasion of the great heathen army
[Music]
the romans had pulled out of britain by
the 5th century
and left in their wake a patchwork of
britonic and romano bratonic kingdoms
it didn't take long for warlike peoples
on the peripheries to move in
and take advantage of this the picts
attacked from beyond hadrian's wall
irish warriors moved in from the west
but most importantly
angles saxons jutes and frisians
moved from mainland europe on to the
east of the island
these incoming warrior cultures had
replaced the romano britains and
britain's on the eastern portion of the
island
by the end of the seventh century and
formed seven distinct kingdoms
wessex murcia northumbria east anglia
kent sussex and essex
eventually these kingdoms all converted
to christianity
yet became no less warlike continuing to
fight amongst themselves and
with their native neighbors
[Music]
meanwhile another warlike culture had
been developing over the centuries
across the north sea in scandinavia
it was there in the frosted fjord lands
of norway
and the islands and archipelagos of
denmark that peoples related to the
anglo-saxons had lived
since the last ice age they were still
pagan
and above all else they placed
importance on military power and
seafaring prowess
a combination of popular pressure
frankish aggression from the south
and a revolution in shipbuilding
techniques gradually forced these people
to look outwards from scandinavia
towards the end of the 8th century
soon the dragon heads of their longships
were first
sighted off the shore of britain these
opportunistic scandinavians would
eventually become known
as vikings a word which described their
profession as pirates
not their ethnicity to the horror of the
christian writers of the time
who were almost exclusively monks the
vikings focused on attacking christian
holy sites
which tended to yield the best monetary
rewards
all over the north of britain and
ireland great riches were plundered
and carried off
however their tactics began to change
the most ambitious
began to overwinter within britain and
settlers from norway
began to either replace or subjugate the
existing populations
on the faroe islands orkney shetland and
in areas of ireland
[Music]
murcia gradually lost its dominance
during the early 9th century
and was replaced by wessex under its
king egbert
a shrewd leader who had been educated
across the channel
in frankie egbert was all too familiar
with the vikings
and fought a number of battles against
them during his reign
most notably at carhampton in 836
he conquered the minor kingdoms of essex
sussex and kent during his reign
firmly establishing his kingdom as the
most powerful
in 865 ethelred became the king of
wessex
it was during that year that a vast
armada of longships appeared off the
coast of east anglia
to make landfall near thetford
[Music]
this was unlike any scandinavian raiding
force seen previously
it was made up of hundreds of ships
carrying an international army of danes
norsemen and swedes to the horror of the
christian writers of the time
who dubbed it the great heathen army
they had come together from ireland
frisia francia scandinavia and pitchland
to launch a full-scale invasion of the
anglo-saxon kingdoms
initially the army seems to have been
led by three
war leaders according to the norse sagas
these were the sons of the legendary
viking ragnar lodbrook
ivar halftan and uber and they had come
to england to avenge the death of their
father
killed by the northumbrian king ayla
it is just as likely however that the
invasion was the natural culmination
of decades of raids by ambitious
warriors who now saw
a way to carve kingdoms out for
themselves
after landing in east anglia they forced
the local king
edmund to give them horses and supplies
before they marched north
to capture the capital of northumbria
york
after this battle northumbria would
become a bastion of scandinavian culture
for the next two centuries
after ravaging northumbria the army
again went on the move
likely gathering more and more warriors
to their banners from all over the
scandinavian world
as word spread of their victories
they marched south into mercia and
captured the town of nottingham
mercian king bergred called for support
and wessex answered the call yet no
fighting took place
as ivar and his men remained inside the
walls of nottingham
eventually bergrad paid them to leave
and the mercian and west
saxon armies mostly made up of farmers
disbanded to plough their fields
happy to take mercy and coin for now the
vikings moved back to york for the
winter
considerably richer the sons of lord
brooke kept their word to bergrid
heading back to east anglia in the new
year where they stamped out the kingdom
entirely
and turned its king edmund into a martyr
east anglia would suffer the same fate
as northumbria
becoming a foothold for the danes for
the next two centuries
in 870 the army split with some
remaining in their new lands in
northumbria and east anglia
and others like ivar going elsewhere in
britain to conquer other lands
in this case the kingdom of altclude in
southern scotland
it was half dan who took center stage at
this point
as he led part of the army south
bypassing mercia entirely to
rage deep into wessex
half dan along with another warlord
backseat
made straight for the town of reading
where they fortified themselves to wait
for the inevitable west saxon
counter-attack
king aethelred and his brother alfred
gathered up their levees and made for
reading
together they attacked half dan's men at
reading on the 4th of january
but suffered a minor defeat
the west saxons regrouped over the next
few days
and again took to the field on the 8th
at a place called ashdown
somewhere in berkshire it was there in
the mist and
gloom of a mid-winter's morning that the
most decisive battle yet
of the war was fought either red divided
his army into two
positioning the halves on either side of
a ridgeway
with himself in command of one side and
his younger brother alfred commanding
the other
as the danes approached they also split
their army
with half dan commanding one side and
backseat the other
alfred and his contingent watched on
from behind their shield wall
as the danes drew closer meanwhile
either red had apparently decided that
he had to pray before the battle
and refused to advance until his prayer
service was complete
seeing that the danish movement would
cost him the advantage of the higher
ground
alfred decided to charge up the hill
without the support of the second
contingent
and headed straight into the heart of
the danish lines
apparently not realizing that alfred's
men only represented half of the west
saxon army
the second fourth of the danes also
moved against them
the battle turned into an hours-long
brutal hand-to-hand slog
of shield wall on shield wall
after heavy fighting and significant
losses on both sides
aethelred's force whose approach was
obscured in mist
finally engaged surprising the danes and
turning the battle in favor of the west
saxons
backseat was killed in the fighting and
half dan called for his remaining men to
fall back
leaving the west saxons victorious
after six long years of defeat an
anglo-saxon army had finally emerged
victorious against the great even army
ashdown was by no means a decisive
victory
and it was certainly a costly one though
the hard fighting
may have made halfdan more cautious
about his future plans for wessex
to the fortune of health dan and his
remaining warriors who had fallen back
to reading
reinforcements arrived to join them this
great summer army of fresh warriors led
by a sea king named guthrum
would become integral over the next
seven long years of war
ethelred and alfred now known as the
boar of ashdown
continued to fight the danes over the
coming months
by april however either red was dead
possibly as a result of wounds suffered
in battle
and alfred replaced him as king
halfdan had had enough of wessex by this
point
and accepted a large sum of money from
alfred as payment to leave
he would head north to become the king
in northumbria
whereas guthrum went east to take
control of the vikings of east anglia
alfred had saved his kingdom for now but
he
and all of his subjects knew the vikings
would return
[Music]
thank you for watching the first video
in our series on early british history
and the viking invasions more episodes
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