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Alfred, his son, daughter and grandson recover territory ceded to the Vikings and unite much of the former Heptarchy into a single country.
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EnglandRecovery from the Viking Occupation
Alfred the Great vs. The Vikings
Alfred Jewel
‘Alfred had me made’
Found near his refuge in 878 at Athelney. Oxford
Truce with Guthrum
“Engliscne & Deniscne”
Treaty
This is the peace that King Alfred and King Guthrum, and the witan of all the English nation, and all the people that are in East Anglia, have all ordained and with oaths confirmed, for themselves and for their descendants, as well for born as for unborn, who reck of God's mercy or of ours.
Treaty
• 878 Guthrum is baptized• Agrees to abandon campaign against
Wessex• Guthrum retreats to Gloucester, then
Cirencester and East Anglia
In the year of our Lord's incarnation 880 … went among the East Angles, where they divided out the country and began to settle.’
Asser, Life of Alfred
Treaty
1. Set land boundaries along rivers and a Roman road..
2. If a man be slain, we estimate all equally dear, English and Danish, at 8 half marks of pure gold; except the ceorl who resides on rented land and their [the Danes'] freedmen; they also are equally dear, either at 200 shillings.
Treaty
3. And if a king's thegn be accused of manslaying, if he dare clear himself on oath, let him do that with 12 king's thegns. – For a man of lesser degree, 11 equals and one
thegn– Similarly for civil suits above a threshold.
Alfred-Military Reforms
• Fyrd and hidage• Burhs• Navy• Rotating army
Anglo-Saxon Armed Groups
Law of Ine• “Thieves" less than seven• "band of marauders" [or "war-band"] 7-35• Here army >35• Fyrd Militia The military array of the whole
country before the Conquest; also, the obligation to military service.[OED]
Fyrd
Offa• Service for expeditions,
bridges and construction of fortifications
• Conscription as needed
Alfred• Service for expeditions,
bridges and construction of fortifications
• Conscription on regular basis – standing army
• Home guard to maintain burhs
• Add thegns as mounted warriors to match Viking mobility
Support for fyrd
Offa• Tribal hidage - tribute
Alfred• Burghal hidage based on
size of burhs• Taxation for ship building in
later period
Burh
• Defensible dwelling house → Fortified town
• House populace during raids• Use prehistoric and Roman fortifications• Maintained by local population
~one man/four feet of perimeter
Burhs – Learning from the enemy
• Vikings used Roman defenses at York in 867
• Vikings build fortifications at Reading in 871 and Repton in 874
• Use fortified bases as foci for obtaining local supplies and moving forward
Burhs - Location
• Strategic points – River crossings– Road junctions
• Use of Roman structures and roads• Within ~days travel from any point
Burhs: Locations
Defensive Fortifications-Burhs
Offa• Offa’s Dyke• Burhs
– Combine bridges and fortifications to secure rivers
• Church and administrative centers?
• May have been used by Vikings as administrative centers
Alfred• Planned set of burhs to
insure regional defense• Some reuse Offa’s sites
Reuse of Fortifications
Romanfortified
city
Mid-Saxon Vikingarmy baseor trading
center
Alfredburh
Bedford X X X
Cambridge X X X X
Godmanchester /Huntingdon
X X X X
Hcreford X XLeicester X X X ?Lincoln X X X
London X X X X
Nottingham X X X
Northampton X X X
Oxford X
Stamford ? X XTamworth XWinchcombe ?
Worcester X X(Canterbury) X X (Norwich) X X
Burhs – Further significance
• Secure storage of supplies for fyrd leads to marketing areas and foster trade
• Location of mints• Means for political control of the area
– Provision of haga for king or local leaders– Coincidence of hidal area with later boroughs
• Under Æthelflaed, Edward the Elder and Athelstan these became the basis for territorial extension
Burhs – Further significance II
• Regular distributed defense• Basis for local administrative control• Haga grant of land within the burhs that
conferred political obligation• Under Æthelflaed, Edward the Elder and
Athelstan these became the basis for territorial extension
Oxford
Oxford-Burh
Wallingford, Burh Wall
Ramparts Wareham and Cricklade
Design of burhs• Rectangular
– Except where constrained by topography
• Main street– Side streets at right angles
• Units in 2-4-8-16 ratio• Use 16.5’ pole with 0.7%
error
Alfred’s Navy
• Use of captured Viking ships(885)• Destruction of ships at Viking bases (893,
895)• 896 De novo production of large 60 oar
ships– Report 90 ships; 3380 sailors– Viking forces of 200 ships
Alfred and Anglo-Saxon Literature
• Religion – Translation of Gregory, Boethius, etc.
• History – Anglo-Saxon Chronicle• Law – Codification of Laws
Alfred’s Advisors
• Grimbald, Benedictine (monk from France)• John the Old Saxon, Abbot of Athelney
(monk from Saxony or France)• Plegemund, archbishop of Canterbury
– Organize sees on shire basis• Werferth, bishop of Worcester• Asser, authorized biographer
Alfred’s Pastoral Care
Recovery
• 886 Captures London– Gives control to his son-in-law, Æthelred of
Mercia• Reoccupation of Roman London• 892 Defends Rochester from a new Viking
assault
Restoration of London
Monasteries and Churches
• Athelney Abbey. Somerset• Shaftesbury – nunnery w. daughter,
Ethelgiva• St. Clement Danes
2nd Viking War
Alfred’s Burghal Hidage
Reconquest of the Danelaw
After Alfred
• Edward the elder, King of Wessex• Æthelred, ealdorman of Mercia called
Myrcna hlaford (Lord of the Mercians) married to Alfred’s daughter, Æthelflæd called Myrcna hlœfdige (Lady of the Mercians) after Æthelred’s death
More Burhs
• 25 burhs established by Edward and Æthelflæd – Chester, Manchester on Roman foundations– Buckingham (2), Hertford(2), Bedford,
Nottingham used to attack Danes– Welsh border (temporary?)– Bridgnorth, Tamworth, Stafford, Hertford,
Warwick, Maldon develop into later towns
Edward the Elder and Æthelflæd
Cuerdale Hoard, ~905
Goldsborough Hoard, North Yorkshire
Silver penny of Edward 'the Elder’ or Ethelflaed
Jorvik (York)
• 866 Captured by Ivar the Boneless• Ragnall (d. 920), grandson of Ivar• Sihtric Cáech (d. 927), brother of Ragnall?
– Allied w. Æthelstan• Erik Bloodaxe (d.954), King of Northumbria
including York; last Viking King of York
“St. Peter’s” Penny York, ~910
Athelstan, King of all Britain (REX TO BRIT)
Marriage as Diplomacy
Æthelstan's sister, Eadgifu marries Charles the Simple, King of the Franks922 Charles displaced by Robert, count of ParisEadgifu returns to England with her son, Louis d'Outremer926 Sister, Eadhild marries Hugh, duke of the Franks and son of Count Robert
Marriage as Diplomacy
929 Two sisters sent for Otto of Saxony to choose; Otto marries Eadgyth.
Other sister, Ælfgifu, marries into Burgundian royal family
Otto becomes Otto the Great, Holy Roman Emperor
Athelstan (924-939), Winchester mint
Edward the Elder and Athelstan, Kings
Eadred (946-955)
Edmund (939-946)
• Law codes– Church reform– Regulate violence including the feud– Public order; Cattle rustling
Edmund (939-946)
Eric Bloodaxe (947-954), Last Viking King of York
Eadwig