Historical Look: The Great Heathen Army

I am halfway thru Lords of the North, the 3rd book in the Saxon Series by Bernard Cornwell. The book series has brought on yet another fascination with the history of Vikings and medieval England. I have written about the Vikings before (see Study of Vikings) yet would now like to make a more detailed focus on the Danish Invasions. The book series particularly deals with the Great Heathen Army that spanned from 865-878 AD. This topic was also the premise of the video game Assassins Creed Valhalla. It's a very interesting point in history where England was nearly on the brink of collapse to the Danes. Had it not been for King Alfred of Wessex, England today would be known as Daneland (and Danish would be the most common language in the world).

In this post I want to focus on the Great Heathen Army and the establishment of the Kingdom of England. Since the Roman Empire had collapsed in 500 AD, the land of Britain had been broken up into various tribes and kingdoms. Viking assaults from Scandanavia had begun by the 700s, but it was the Great Heathen Army of the 860s that came closest to conquering the land. The defeat of the Viking Danes in 878 by King Alfred marked a key turning point in Anglo-Saxon England. From this point on King Alfred no longer considered himself just the king of Wessex but the king of Anglo Saxons. And the campaign to reunite the English kingdoms from Danish control continued until Alfred's grandson Athelstan did so in 927. 

Heathen Army Establishes Danelaw

To be clear the term "Vikings" represents the pirates/raiders that came from Scandinavia and not so much their people. While the Scandinavia people had their own rich culture of Old Norse customs and pagan religions, their land was quite barren. They quickly came to realize there was much better soil and treasure to plunder in Britain and thus their piracy began in the late 700s. They had much superior warriors and ships compared to the Saxons, and did not fear death and battle. This was surely a part of their Norse religion in which warriors were celebrated in the afterlife in the halls of Valhalla. 

The Vikings came from numerous parts of Scandinavia mostly to plunder the British coastlines, monasteries, and castles. It was not until 865 that there came an organized effort to conquer the inland. The Danish Viking armies (also known as the Great Heathen Army) were led by the children of the legendary Viking king Ragnar Lodbrock (who led the Siege of Paris in 845 AD). This included Halfdan, Ubba, and Ivar the Boneless. At the time the Anglo-Saxon land was split into 4 main kingdoms; Northumbria, Mercia, East Anglia, and Wessex. The Danish invasion began in the northern kingdom of Northumbria and easily conquered by Halfdan Ragnarrson in 866. From there the Vikings easily spread control into the central kingdom of Mercia and the eastern region of East Anglia. 

The only kingdom that was able to stand against the Danish aggression was that of Wessex. King Aethelred of Wessex died in 871 and his brother Alfred became king. He was a devout Christian and felt this was not only a war for their land but a war of religion. The West Saxon army achieved it's first major victory over the Danes in 878 defeating their leader, Ubba at the Battle of Cynwit. The Viking army then led a 2nd campaign by Guthrum from East Anglia. They were able to drive the Saxons back into the swamplands of Somerset. However King Alfred was able to regroup and organize a full scale battle at Edington. This became a decisive victory for the West Saxons by which a treaty was agreed upon. The Kingdom of Wessex was left free while the Danes established Danelaw in the northern kingdoms. The big catch however was their leader Guthrum was to convert to Christianity. 

King Alfred the Great

The English monarchy essentially began with Alfred the Great when he declared himself king of Anglo-Saxons in 878. He is the only proper English monarch to have the title "Great", (excluding Cnut the Great who was a Danish king that conquered England in 1016). It is also quite surprising that he was not canonized a saint, considering his devotion to the Christian faith. He was a scholarly leader driven to cleanse the lands of the Danish pagans, and establish a united English kingdom in the Christian faith.     

Three of Alfred's brothers ruled Wessex before him and his predecessor King Athelred did not favor his son to be king. So upon his death in 871 Alfred became King of Wessex. During his reign his primary concern was defending his land from the Viking invasions. Upon his victory over Guthrum at the Battle of Edington, the kingdom of Wessex was reorganized into a kingdom of Anglo-Saxons. This included reforming the legal, economic, military, navy, and education system. He established a new militia system that created strongholds scattered all throughout the southwest region of England. This served beneficial in defending new waves of Viking attacks throughout the 890s. Although he did not live long enough to see a united English kingdom, his son, and grandson continued the work he started to achieve this ultimate goal. 

Fall of the Danish Vikings

Having conquered most of northern England, the Danes began to settle the region and coexist with the Saxons of Northumbria, Mercia, and East Anglia. Following the Treaty of Wedmore in 878 a new system of Danelaw was agreed upon for those regions. While Danes established a new system of authority in these conquered regions they were still coexisting with Saxons. Furthermore with their leader Guthrum having converted to Christianity, the Pagan ways began to fade and were replaced by Saxon customs. Meanwhile Alfred continued to strengthen and expand the kingdom which recaptured London in 886 AD.

Despite their peace arrangements the Anglo-Saxon kingdom still dealt with Danish raids throughout the 880s. However there was no major war until Guthrum died in 890. By 892 new Viking ships came from Denmark with the brunt of their force arriving at Kent. Under the leadership of Hastein, the Vikings intended to march to London and fought in several battles against the Saxon armies. They were decisively defeated at the Battle of Buttington in 893 and forced to settle in abandoned sites. They attempted several more attacks but due to lack of supplies fell short and eventually decided to return to Denmark. By 896 the Viking invasion had finally come to an end and Alfred died several years later in 899. However the work to unite the English kingdom was still not done. 

Alfred's son Edward the Elder carried on his father's vision to recapture the conquered English lands in the north. In 910 both Mercia and West Saxon united in defeating the Danish armies of Northumbria at the Battle of Tettenhall. This essentially liberated the kingdoms of Mercia and East Anglia from the Danelaw and back to the Saxon kingdom. It was Edward's son, Aethelstan who finally defeated the Northumbrian Danes in 927. This marked an end to Danelaw and the beginning of a fully united English kingdom. Historians often refer to Athelstan as the first proper English king. The House of Wessex reigned for nearly 100 years, until their Danish friends returned yet again to cause trouble led by the Cnut the Great.