2.3. Struggle against the Viking raiders

In the late 700's, Vikings, seafaring people from Scandinavia, raided several European countries for plunder. The Vikings from Denmark (the Danes) went mostly to England and Wales, and those from Norway (the Northmen) went mainly to Scotland and Ireland.

Vikings first raided the Wessex coast in 789. They raided the Hebrides in 794 and Ireland in the next year. Their raids became more frequent in the 800s. They attacked rich monasteries. They plundered and burnt villages, took slaves, and left survivors to starve.

The Anglo-Saxons understood that their small kingdoms must unite to struggle against the Danes successfully. At the beginning of the 9^th century, Wessex became the leading kingdom. Egbert, the king of Wessex, united several neighbouring kingdoms and became the first king of the united country. Since 829, the greater part of the country was united under the name “England”. An important event that contributed to the unification of the country and the development of culture was the adoption of Christianity in England in 664. Wessex united the rest of England in the fight against the Danes.

In the 9th century, the latter conquered and settled the extreme north and west of Scotland, and also some coastal regions of Ireland. Danish Vikings first settled permanently in England in 851. By 870, they had conquered every English kingdom except Wessex.

Their conquest of England was halted when King Alfred the Great (871-901) defeated them in 886. This resulted in a treaty that divided England between Wessex and the Danes.

By the terms of this treaty, the Peace of Wedmore, the Danes accepted Christianity. They also agreed to live in an area north of a line drawn from the River Thames to Chester, and south of a line drawn from the River Tees to the Solway Firth. This area was called the Danelaw.

Danish Vikings founded the towns of Derby, Leicester, Nottingham, and Stamford. They also established trade between England and countries beyond the North Sea. York was a leading Viking town and trading centre.

By 954, Wessex had conquered the Danelaw. Nevertheless, new Danish raiders arrived in the later 900's. King Ethelred II tried to buy them off with money raised from a land tax called Danegeld. But by 1013, the Danes had conquered most of England. However, the cultural differences between the Anglo-Saxons and Danes were comparatively small. They led roughly the same way of life and spoke two varieties of the same Germanic tongue. Moreover, the Danes soon converted to Christianity. These similarities made political unification easier, and by the beginning of the eleventh century, England was one kingdom with a Germanic culture throughout. Danish influence is still felt in some place-names ending in -by, -toft, such as Appleby or Lowestoft, as well as in the presence of some words in the English language.

In 1016, Canute, king of Denmark and Norway, became king of England. On Canute's death in 1035, his empire collapsed. In 1042, Ethelred's son, Edward, became king.

The northern part of Britain, meanwhile, was the home of the Picts and Scots. After the conquest of the Picts by the Scots in the ninth century this northern territory came to be called Scotland and a united Scottish kingdom, at least in name, was formed in the 11th century.