The Vikings and Alfred the Great
Towards the end of the eight-century new raiders were tempted by Britain's wealth. These were the Vikings, a world that probably means either "pirates" or "the people of the sea inlets", and they came from Norway and Denmark. Like the Anglo-Saxons they only raided at first. They burnt churches and monasteries along the east, north and west coast of Britain and Ireland. London was itself raided in 848.
Plunder was not only aim. They were also searching for new places to live. Norsemen began the to settle on the treeless islands to the north and west of Scotland: the Shetlands, Orkneys, Faroes and Hebrides. They bought their families and lived by farming, fishing, and seal-hunting. These islands were ideal bases for attacks on Ireland.
Lonely Iceland was the next place to be settled by Norsemen. Although it was too cold for growing grain crops it had grassy regions suitable for cattle and sheep. Later sagas (stories) of the Icelanders describe further voyages they made across the unknown Atlantic Ocean. In 982 a though Norseman called Eric the Red (He had red hair) killed a man and was banished from Iceland for three years. He spent the time exploring a snow-covered land to the west, which had earlier been sighted by fishermen. After much searching he found a few areas of grassland along the coast. When Eric returned to Iceland he called this new country 'Greenland'.
The Norsemen also wanted to settle along the North American coast but all their attempts failed because of the attacks by people the Norsemen called Skraelings, probably the red Indians.
At the time of the early Norse settlements around the British Isles, Danish, and Vikings were spreading panic in France, Germany and eastern England. At first they plundered coastal villages and monasteries. Then they grew bolder and sailed up great rivers bringing destruction deep in to the heart of the countryside. Late in 870 the Great Danish Army, let by Guthrum, set up a base near Reading and prepare to attack Wessex - the strongest English kingdom. King Ethelred and his brother Alfred led the men of Wessex straight into the attack and they defeated them in a great battle on the Berkshire Downs. Ethelred died suddenly in 871 living the kingdom and all English hopes in the hands of his brother. After many hard struggles, Alfred's men defeated the Danes and made peace. Guthrum was baptized a Christian, and then the Viking chief let his men across the country to east England, where they settled peacefully to plough the land and sow crops. Soon, a frontier between the English lands and the Danelaw, where Danish laws and customs were followed was fixed. In the rest of the country Alfred was recognized as king. During his struggle against the Danes, he had built walled settlements to keep them out. These were called burghs (this where the word 'borough' comes from) and they were built at places like Exeter, Bath and Winchester.
Who should be king? By 950 England seemed rich and peaceful again after the troubles of the Viking invasion. But soon afterwards the Danish Vikings started raiding westwards. The Saxon king, Ethelred, decided to pay the Vikings to stay away. To find the money he set a tax on all his people, called Dangeld, or "Danish money". It was the beginning of a regular tax system of the people, which would provide the money for armies. The effects of this tax were most heavily felt by the ordinary villagers, because they had to provide enough money for their village landlord to pay Danegeld.
When Ethelred died Cnut (or Canute), the leader of the Danish Vikings, controlled much of England. He became king for the simple reason that the royal council, the Witan, and everyone else, feared disorder. Rule by a Danish king was far better than rule by no one at all. Cnut died in 1035, and his don died shortly after, in 1040. The Witan chose Edward, one of Saxon Ethelred's son to be king.
Edward, known as "the Confessor", was more interested in the Church than in kingship. Church building had been going on for over a century, and he encouraged it. By the time Edward died there was a church in almost every village. The pattern of the English village, with its manor house and church, dates from this time. Edward started a new church fit for a king at Westminster, just outside the city of London. In fact Westminster Abbey was spent almost all his life in Normandy, and his mother was a daughter of the duke of Normandy. As their name suggest, the Normans were people from the north. They were the children and grandchildren of Vikings who had captured, and settled in northern France. They had soon become French in their language and Christian in their religion. But they are still well known for their fighting skills.
Edward only lived until 1066, when he died without an obvious heir. The question of who should follow him as king was one of the most important in English history. Edward had brought many Normans to his English court from France. These Normans were not like by the more powerful Saxon nobles, particularly by the most powerful family of Wessex, the Godwinson. It was a Godwinson, Harold, whom the Witan chose to be the next king of England. Harold had already shown his bravery and ability. He had no royal blood, but he seemed a good choice for the throne of England.
Duke William of Normandy challenged Harold's right to the English throne. William had two claims to the English throne. His first claim was that King Edward had promised it to him. The second claim was that Harold, who had visited William in 1064 or 1065, had promised William that he, Harold, would not try to take the throne for himself. Harold, would do not deny this second claim, but said that he had been forced to make promise, and that because it was made unwillingly he was not tied by it.
Harold was faced by two dangers, one in the south and one in the north. The Danish Vikings had not given up their claim to the English throne. In 1066 Harold had to march north into Yorkshire to defeat the Danes. No sooner had he defeated them than than he learnt that William had landed in England with an army. His men were tired, but they had no time to rest. They marched south as fast as possible.
Harold decided not to wait for the whole Saxon army, the fyrd,, to gather because William's army was small. He thought he could beat them with the men who had done so well against the Danes. However, the Norman soldiers were better armed, better organized, and were mounted on horses. If he had waited, Harold might have won. But he has defeated and killed in battle near Hastings.
William marched to London, which quickly gave in when he began it burn villages outside the city. He was crowned king of England in Edward's new church of Westminster Abbey on Christmas Day, 1066. A new period has begun.
During the coronations ceremony all the people assembled in the church were asked to say whether they accept William as their lord. A great shout of agreement went up. On hearing this, the Norman guards outside feared William was being attacked. They panicked and set fire to the buildings around the abbey. Amidst the crackle of flames, the screams and the sound of brawling outside, William stayed calmly at the altar while the Archbishop of York finished the service. No one could doubt the new king's determination!
Although William was now crowned kings, his conquest had only just begun, and the fighting lasted for another five years. There was an Anglo-Saxon rebellion against the Norman army marched from village to village, destroying places it could not control, and buildings forts to guard others. It was a true army of occupations for at least twenty years.
Few Saxon lords kept their lands and those who did were the very small number who had accepted William immediately. All the others lost everything. William gave the Saxon lands to his Norman nobles. But he was careful in the way he gave land to his nobles. In England, as each new areas of land was captured, William gave parts of it as a reward to his captains. At the same time, he kept enough land for him, to make sure he was much stronger than his nobles. He kept the Saxon system of sheriffs and use these as a balance to local nobles.
William organized his English kingdom according to the feudal system, which had already begun to develop in England before his arrival. The word 'feudalism' comes from the French word 'feu', which the Normans use to refer to land held in return for duty or service to a lord. The bases of feudal society were the holding of land and its main purpose was economic. The central idea was that the king owned all land but others, called vassals, in return for services and goods, held it. There were two basic principles to feudalism: everyman had a lord and every lord had land. At each level a man had to promise loyalty and service to his lord. This was called "homage" and has remained part of the coronation ceremony of British kings and queens until now. On the other hand, each lord had responsibilities to his vassals. He had to give them land and protection. The king had to make sure he had enough satisfied nobles who would be willing to fight for him.
William gave out land all over England to his nobles. By 1086 he wanted to know exactly who owned each piece of land, and how much was worth. He needed this information so that he could plan his economy; find out how much was produced and how much he could ask in tax. He therefore sent a team of people all through England to make a complete economic survey. This survey was the only one of its kind in Europe. Not surprisingly, it was most unpopular with the people because they felt they could not escape from its findings. It so reminded them of the paintings of the Day of Judgment (or doom), on the walls of their churches that they called it the "Domesday Book". The Domesday Book still exists and gives us an extraordinary amount of information about England at this time: population, the effects of the Norman Conquest and the lands they owned.
