Seminar 3 The Vikings, 800 to 1066

Danegeld

After 955 AD there was a generation of peace on the island of Britain. As the 'Anglo-Saxon Chronicle' says of Edgar, King of England (959 - 975 AD) 'without battle he brought under his sway all that he wished'.

He issued laws for 'all the nations, whether Englishmen, Danes, or Britons', an interesting recognition of the multi-ethnic character of England at the time.

Edgar took advantage of his strong position to foster the reorganisation of the church that is generally known as the '10th-century Reformation'. New bishoprics were established in the areas conquered from the Vikings.

Raids were on a large scale and their object was extortion.

But above all this reformation was about the re-establishment and strict reform of monasticism.

Edgar relied on three men in particular - Dunstan (archbishop of Canterbury, 960 - 988 AD), Oswald (bishop of Worcester, 961 - 992 AD, and archbishop of York, 971 - 992 AD) and Æthelwold (bishop of Winchester, 963 - 984 AD).

The process was sealed by the 'Regularis Concordia' of 973 AD, a document of monastic reform that relied heavily on continental models. It was cemented by the building of some magnificent churches (mostly replaced by the Normans) and some lavish illuminated manuscripts, such as the 'Benedictional of St Æthelwold'.

After Edgar's death, his successor Edward I reigned briefly. He was murdered in 978 AD at Corfe (Dorset), possibly by the followers of his young half-brother Æthelred, and possibly by his stepmother.

Edgar's half-brother, Æthelred II, who later would acquire the nickname 'the Unready', started his long reign (978-1016 AD) at the same time as the emergence of Denmark.

The country was newly converted to Christianity and newly unified under Harald Bluetooth. It was becoming a major power.

This was the dawning of the 'second Viking age', and it was very different from the first. Raids were on a large scale, frequently organised by royal leaders, and their object was extortion. In 991 AD the Danes acquired 4,500 kg of silver in return for going home.

By 1012, payments to the Danes, known as 'Danegeld', had increased to 22,000 kg. England was wealthy, and it developed a taxation system that was probably more sophisticated than any other in Europe, which was both a cause and a consequence of the raiding.