Events
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866 A.D.
Viking Invasion
Read More Led by Halfdan and Ivar the Boneless, the Viking army attacked York for the first time on November 1, 866.
This date may well have been chosen with care.
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918 A.D.
Norwegian Vikings Capture York
Read More Norwegian Vikings invade from Ireland and capture York.
Their leader, Ragnald, makes himself king.
He maintains the independence of both the city and Northumbria when it looked like falling to the kingdom of Wessex.
This Norse Kingdom, with Irish links, lasted without interruption for 35 years. -
954 A.D.
The Last Viking King
Read More For the best part of a century large parts of the north and east of England was ruled by Viking kings based in York. On the other side of an unstable boundary, the south and west were held by a succession of English kings.
The last of the Viking kings was the famous Eric Bloodaxe.
Read more...
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Outside the Walls
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1002 A.D.
Ethelred II (the Unready) Orders Slaughter of all Danes
Read More After 20 years of paying increasing sums of money, called Danegeld, to invading Viking armies, King Ethelred took the desperate measure of ordering the murder of all Danes living in England. A slaughter took place on St Brice's Day (November 13). The action did nothing to prevent further Viking attacks.
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1016 A.D.
Cnut Controls England
Read More The Danish King, Cnut, took control of England in 1016. He tied the two kingdoms together by marrying Emma, Ethelred's former queen, and by installing Danish noblemen.
