3dHistory.co.uk

Saxons and Vikings

Visit the History Shop

AD410 - AD1066

The English

Alfred The Great

Burhs

Vikings

Harold Godwinson

The period following the withdrawal of the Roman legions from Britain is generally known as the Dark Ages, simply because there is little known about it.

The age is characterised by a  continual struggle between warring factions, including invaders from Germany and Scandinavia, finally resulting in a unification of England under one ruler around the end of the first millennium.

For almost 500 years Rome had kept at least three Legions and numerous auxiliary troops in Britain. This was to ensure that the wealth of Britain (tin, copper, iron and wool etc.) were available exclusively to Rome and not the surrounding barbarian tribes.

Immediately after the Legions had departed the ownership of the land (and wealth) was bitterly fought over by the native Celtic-Britons, Picts from the North, Scots from Ireland and increasingly by the Germanic tribes across the North Sea; mostly Angles, Saxons, Jutes and Frisians from Denmark and Northern Europe.

In the north the Britons were being attacked by the Picts and, to prevent this, a warlord called Vortigern or ‘great leader’ hired mercenaries from Saxony to defend against the threat. Following his success in stopping these raids he became acknowledged as the most powerful ruler among the kingdoms in Britain. The most famous of these mercenaries were Hengist and Horsa and when Vortigern failed to pay them they rebelled and formed their own kingdoms.

The Anglo-Saxons continued to settle in Britain and, as their territory expanded, they became more and more at odds with the native Celtic-Britons culminating in a power struggle that, by AD600, eventually gave the Anglo-Saxons control of the southern, eastern and midland parts of lowland Britain. The Anglo-Saxon language and culture was slowly adopted until the native language and culture of the Celtic-Britons only persisted in Cornwall and Wales. This was the period that gave rise to the legend of King Arthur who was one of the leaders of the Briton resistance against the Anglo-Saxons.

Even though the Anglo-Saxons had been successful in defeating the Britons there was little unity amongst them; the Jutes controlled the Isle of Wight, Kent and parts of Hampshire, the Saxon tribes controlled Sussex, Essex and Wessex and the Angles controlled East Anglia, Northumbria and Mercia.

Migration of the Anglo-Saxons

Gradually Northumbria became the major power and, by the beginning of the 7th century, nearly became established as the ruler of the whole of Anglo-Saxon England. But, by the second half of the century, the Mercians gained the upper hand over Northumbria; Essex and East Anglia became subject states by AD670. Wessex and the other kingdoms were also forced to accept Mercian rule and by AD760 Offa, the greatest of the Mercian leaders, felt that he could call himself "King of all England".

After the death of Offa's successor in AD821 the King of Wessex embarked on a series of campaigns that would eventually bring the whole of England under his rule. The Wessex line of succession, broken only by a brief period of Viking rule, would last until the death of Edward the Confessor in AD1066.

Viking silver "Twist" ring

Back to the Top

The Angles, Saxons, Jutes and Frisians that migrated to Britain after the Roman occupation became known as the "English". They mainly came from areas in and around Denmark. The process of migration probably began before AD410, when the Romans left, and continued on for several centuries after.

There were many possible reasons why these peoples left their homes to risk their lives sailing across rough seas in small boats to a foreign land:

• they may have been pushed out by other people moving in to their lands

• the lands may have not been as productive as they once were

• the population may have increased such that some had to move away

• armed war-bands may have been attacking their villages making people move to somewhere they thought was safer

• some people may have looked for trade or work in other lands

We do know that some Saxons were employed by the Britons as mercenaries to fight the Picts and other raiders, and we also know that trade existed between Britain and Europe. So it was probably a mix of all these reasons and maybe others; whatever they were, the "English" came to Britain, they stayed and they prospered.

The Early Anglo-Saxon buildings in Britain were simple timber constructions with thatched roofs. Saxon life was based around agriculture and there was a preference to settle in small towns away from the old Roman cities, each having a main hall surrounded by huts for the townsfolk to live in.

The Anglo-Saxon army was know as the Fyrd, which was comprised of men who were called up to fight for the king in times of danger.

The Fyrd was led by the nobles called Thegns who were well armed with swords and spears but the rest of the Fyrd were armed only with  weapons such as farm implements, clubs and slings.

The later Anglo-Saxon army included a class of professional soldiers called Huscarls (Household troops) that were loyal to the King or Earl.

The early religion was pagan based on the worship of a number of gods similar to that of the northern Europeans. Organised Christianity later replaced paganism and led to the establishment of a unified Church based on the Roman model.

Back to the Top

Alfred was the King of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Wessex from AD871 to AD899 and, after defeating the Vikings, he was the first king of Wessex to call himself the King of England. Alfred was born around AD849 and was the fourth son of King Ethelwulf of Wessex. In AD858 Ethelwulf died and the two elder sons briefly succeeded him. In AD866 the third eldest, Ethelred, became King and it was he and Alfred who had to fight the Danish armies invading Wessex.

Despite a brilliant victory at Ashdown in AD871 the war went badly for Wessex and, after receiving mortal wounds at the battle of Merton in AD871, Ethelred died leaving Alfred as successor to the throne. After another Wessex defeat at Wilton peace was made with the Danish invaders and they focused on other parts of England.

The peace lasted until AD876 when the Danes, under a leader called Guthrum, resumed the war. There was an attack on Wareham and Exeter and in January AD878 the Danes suddenly attacked Chippenham where Alfred had been spending Christmas. Alfred and a small party were lucky to escape and made their way to the stronghold at Athelney in the Somerset marshes. From here Alfred rallied his army and surprised Guthrum at Edington, Wiltshire, where he secured a complete victory. The Danes were chased back to their camp where they eventually surrendered and agreed to peace terms known as the Treaty of Wedmore.

In 886 Alfred negotiated a treaty that agreed the partition of England along Watling Street, the old roman road.  To the West was ruled by the Saxons and to the East the Danes ruled what became known as the "Danelaw".

Alfred recognised that economic prosperity was dependent on security and, to defend the kingdom against further attacks, he reorganized the fyrd, established a network of fortified towns and created a strong fleet - this is considered to be creation of the English Navy.

Alfred promoted education and learning and was personally involved in translating Latin works into Anglo-Saxon, including books by Bede. He was also a patron of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle.

Alfred died in October, AD899, and was buried in Winchester. Alfred is the only King of England to be known as "the Great", because of the successes against the Danes and the social and economic reforms he made.

Back to the Top

When the first Viking raids took place they were more often than not aimed at the trading centres of the Saxon kingdoms. These centres were not well defended and were easy prey for the aggressive raiders. To address this weakness trading was gradually moved to defended centres known as Burhs.

During his reformation of the English defences Alfred embarked on a policy of establishing a systematic network of Burhs across his kingdom described in a record known as the Burghal Hidage. In times of trouble the locals would use them as a place of refuge. The burhs were located such that no place in England was more than 20 miles away from one and many were located on rivers to prevent the Viking raiders rowing up them to attack inland settlements. Old fortifications were used where possible; the old Roman coastal fort at Porchester is a classic example of existing works being converted for use as a Saxon refuge.

The burhs were connected by roads specifically maintained for use by the army. These roads enabled Alfred to quickly gather sufficient forces from several burhs to defeat an invading force and over time the burhs became the communication and administrative centres of the kingdom.

Back to the Top

Strictly speaking there were no people that knew themselves as Vikings. Viking was simply a term for an activity that we would describe as raiding. Most of the Vikings, or raiders, would know themselves as Danes, Norwegians or Swedes, referring to the place from which they had originated. The English often referred to them simply as "Northmen". Nor was their exploration, raiding and conquest limited to the British Isles; they established colonies as far away as Greenland, Iceland and on the eastern seaboard of North America. They sailed the Mediterranean coasts of North Africa and the Vikings known as "The Rus" conquered parts of modern Russia and even challenged the might of the Eastern Roman Emperors.

Viking society was violent; there was no unified church, single monarchy or centralised government, which meant that there were few laws other than those that the local warrior chiefs and kings could maintain themselves, more often than not by the use of the sword.

The first raid on Britain was recorded in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles as being in AD789, followed by raids on the monasteries at Lindisfarne in AD793 and Iona in AD795. These early raids would have been by small war-bands led by independent local chieftains or rich adventurers. As the most powerful leaders of the "Northmen" established themselves as overlords in their own regions two things happened:

• some of the lesser landowners and chieftains moved to other lands, like England, to continue their independent lives;

• the war-bands became bigger and more organised, until around AD800/900 they could number thousands and be called armies.

In Viking society women were the equal of men and had responsibility for the supervising the household thralls (slaves) and servants in their daily tasks. When the men were away, sometimes for months or even years, it was the masters wife that held complete authority over the family and estates. Women had legal rights too, they could divorce their husbands and even claim half the family property. It wasn't unknown for a women to bear arms and be involved in the fighting.

The usual Scandinavian dwelling was a rectangular longhouse made from wood, although other materials such as stone and turf could be used in places where wood was not available. It was rarely more than 5 metres wide but could be anywhere between 16 and 50 metres long and had a pitched roof. There was only one door at one end and, to conserve heat, there were no windows.

The Scandinavians had been seafarers long before the Viking period. As the Ice age ended and the glaciers retreated, people slowly began to re-colonise the North; criss-crossed with fjords and rivers the ideal method to get from place to place was by boat, and so began the long evolution of that most famous icon of Viking culture, the longship.

The longship was what gave the Vikings the ability to strike fast and be long gone before any response could be made by the local defence force. Long and slim, it could be rowed at about 8 knots and, from around the 8th century on, sailed at about 20 knots. The shallow draft gave the Vikings the opportunity to penetrate deep inland; up rivers where previously the population thought that they were safe from pirate attacks.

These Northmen were not just raiders and pirates, they were also explorers, farmers, craftsmen, fishermen, blacksmiths, merchants and traders. They established colonies and settled wherever they went, some notable locations being the city of York, the region of Normandy in France, Greenland and Iceland. They were capable of producing exquisite works of jewellery and were just as sophisticated as their Saxon counterparts.

Back to the Top

During the reign of Edward the Confessor a family called the Godwins gained a great deal of power. Godwin was the Earl of Wessex, which made him the second most powerful man in England after the king.

Edward had spent a lot of his early life in Normandy and had been heavily influenced by the Latin culture there. When he ascended to the throne in 1043 he brought with him many Norman advisors and clergy, much to the annoyance of the English and Danish nobility.

In 1051 Godwin and his family were exiled when he refused to punish the townsfolk of Dover after they had caused a riot with some of Edwards Norman relatives. The next year Godwin returned with an armed group of followers and forced the king to restore him to his former position. On Godwin's death his second son, Harold, succeeded him as Earl of Wessex and proceeded to acquire even more wealth and power for the family.

Edward died in 1066 without a male heir and Harold Godwinson had himself crowned King of England the next day. Harold was related to many English and Scandinavian royalty including King Ethelred, the elder brother of Alfred the Great, and Harold Bluetooth, a King of Denmark and Norway. Harold, however, was not the only claimant to the English throne. Ten years earlier Harold had been shipwrecked in Normandy, France. He had supposedly sworn an oath to William Duke of Normandy to support him in his claim for the English throne on the death of Edward. Another claimant was Harald Hardrada of Norway, supported by Harold's younger brother Tostig.

The question of who would be King was to be decided on the battlefield.

Harald and Tostig landed with an army in Yorkshire in 1066 and defeated the local Earls at the battle of Fulford near York. King Harold marched to meet the invaders and, at the Battle of Stamford Bridge, comprehensively beat the Vikings once and for all.

Harold’s celebrations were cut short however as he learnt that Duke William of Normandy had landed in southern England unhappy that Harold had broken his oath.