From raid to kingdom
Vikings in England
The raid on Lindisfarne was not the first Viking attack in England. English Heritage A few years earlier, in 789, three ships of northmen landed on the coast of Wessex and killed the king's reeve. English Heritage The earliest recorded raids in England were in AD 789 at Portland, Dorset, and in AD 793 at Lindisfarne. British Museum
Sources differ: the first recorded raid
English Heritage and the British Museum put the earliest recorded raid in England at Portland, Dorset, in 789, with Lindisfarne following in 793. The National Museum of Denmark, using the same tradition of written records, gives the south-east coast of England "as early as 787 AD." The one- or two-year gap is a well-known quirk of how some manuscripts of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle number years. What the sources agree on is that a landing on the Wessex coast came a few years before the shock of Lindisfarne.
Lindisfarne, 793
English Heritage dates the Lindisfarne attack to 8 June 793, when "heathen men came and miserably destroyed God's church on Lindisfarne, with plunder and slaughter." English Heritage
News of the raid quickly reached Alcuin, a Northumbrian scholar living in the Frankish kingdom. English Heritage Alcuin wrote to the bishop of Lindisfarne of "a place more sacred than any in Britain." English Heritage
Despite the ferocity of the attack, a Christian community survived at Lindisfarne. English Heritage The cult of St Cuthbert moved, reaching Durham in 995. English Heritage The Domesday stone at Lindisfarne depicts a troop of seven uniformed warriors brandishing Viking-style battle-axes and swords. English Heritage
Sources differ: January or June?
English Heritage dates the attack to 8 June 793. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle passage quoted by the National Museum of Denmark says "the sixth day before the ides of January" in that year. Many modern historians treat the January wording as a slip in the manuscript for June (the sixth day before the ides of June is 8 June), which also fits the sailing season. We note both wordings rather than quietly correcting the chronicle.
The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle account quoted by the museum dates the Lindisfarne attack to the sixth day before the ides of January in 793. Nat. Mus. Denmark The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle is one of the most important sources for the history of England in the Viking period. Nat. Mus. Denmark The core of the chronicle was written down in Wessex at the end of the 800s. Nat. Mus. Denmark Written sources that tell us about Viking activities in Europe should be viewed with caution: they were written from one side, often with a political purpose. Nat. Mus. Denmark
Armies, a frontier, the Danelaw
By 850 foreign armies were overwintering in England. English Heritage By 870 the Danish conquest of the northern, midland and eastern Anglo-Saxon kingdoms had begun. English Heritage
In England, desultory raiding occurred in the late 8th century, notably the raid on the monastery of Lindisfarne in 793, and began more earnestly in 865. Britannica
From AD 870 Danish Vikings moved west and invaded Wessex in AD 878. King Alfred of Wessex defeated them in battle and established a frontier dividing England in two. British Museum The north and east came under Danish control (Danelaw), while Alfred controlled West Mercia, Kent and Wessex. British Museum
A truce with Alfred the Great was made in 878, which became the basis of a treaty in or soon after 886, recognising that much of England was in Danish hands. Britannica
Sources differ: 878 and the later treaty
Britannica says a truce with Alfred was made in 878, and that this became the basis of a treaty in or soon after 886, recognising that much of England was in Danish hands. The British Museum guide ties Alfred's victory and a frontier dividing England to the fighting of 878. The exact legal document and its year are not as tidy as a school timeline sometimes suggests.
The Danelaw was the northern, central and eastern region of Anglo-Saxon England colonised by invading Danish armies in the late 9th century. Britannica The name comes from Old English Dena lagu, "Danes' law." Britannica In local administration the hundred was generally called a wapentake. Britannica
Scandinavian power in Northumbria was finally ended by Eadred in 954. Britannica
In Britain the Vikings established major towns at York (Jorvic) and Dublin, which issued their own coinage and became important trading centres. British Museum
Cnut, then 1066
King Cnut, or Canute, ruled 1016-1035. During his reign Denmark, England, Norway and parts of Sweden were politically united under a single ruler. British Museum Canute was Danish king of England from 1016 to 1035, of Denmark from 1019 to 1035, and of Norway from 1028 to 1035. Britannica He died on 12 November 1035. Britannica
After a victory at Ashingdon, Essex, on 18 October 1016, the kingdom was divided; Edmund died on 30 November, and Canute succeeded to the whole. Britannica Canute married Emma, the mother of King Aethelred's sons, in 1017. Britannica
Tostig and Harald of Norway crossed the North Sea with a fleet of 300 ships. Britannica At the Battle of Fulford on 20 September the Viking army defeated the earls of Northumbria and Mercia and occupied York. Britannica The Battle of Stamford Bridge was fought on 25 September 1066, about 7 miles east of York. Britannica
Stamford Bridge is remembered as the last time the Vikings attempted to conquer England, though it is overshadowed by Hastings three weeks later. Britannica Only three weeks later, King Harold died at the Battle of Hastings. Britannica