2. The Scandinavian invasion of England.

In the Scandinavian attacks upon England three stages can be distinguished:

-The first is the period of the early raids, beginning according to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle in 787 and continuing with some intermissions until about 850. The raids of this period were simply plundering attacks upon towns and monasteries near the coast. English people were captured to be made slaves. These early raids were apparently the work of small isolated bands.

-The second stage is the work of large armies and is marked by widespread plundering in all parts of the country and by extensive settlements. This new development was inaugurated by the arrival in 850 of a Danish fleet of 350 ships. Although defeated by a West Saxon army, they soon renewed their attacks. In 866 a large Danish army plundered East Anglia and in 867 captured York.

The Eastern part of England was now largely in the hands of the Danes, and they began turning their attention to Wessex. The assault upon Wessex began shortly before the accession of King Alfred (871-899). After seven years of resistance, Alfred was forced to take refuge with a small band of personal followers in the marshes of Somerset. But Alfred’s persistence triumphed when he suddenly attacked the Danish army. The result was a devastating victory for the English and a capitulation by the Danes (878).

-The Treaty of Wedmore, which was signed the same year, marks the culmination of the second stage in the Danish invasions. Wessex was saved. The Danes withdrew from Alfred’s territory but they were not compelled to leave England. The treaty merely defined the line, running roughly from Chester to London, to the east of which the foreigners were to remain. His territory was to be subject to the Danish law and is known as the Danish Law. In addition the Danes agreed to accept Christianity, and this fact would help to pave the way for the ultimate fusion of the two groups. This third stage of the Scandinavian incursions covers the period of political adjustment and assimilation from 878 to 1042. The treaty of Wedmore did not put an end to Alfred’s troubles. Under Alfred’s son Edward the Elder (900-925) the English began a series of counterattacks that put the Danes on the defensive. Towards the end of the century, when England seemed at last on the point of solving its Danish problems, a new succession of invasion began. In the Battle of Maldon, the English lost their leader and the invasion now began to assume an official character. Finally Svein, king of Denmark, determined himself to be king of the country. Upon his sudden death his son succeeded him. For the next twenty-five years England was ruled by the Danish King Cnut.