Medieval Invasions of Britain

The British Isles have been the object of different foreign invasions for many times and we have
documented historical sources relating to these invasions dating back from 320 BC all the way through
to modern times.

During the Middle Ages the Vikings, the Normans and the Danes invaded England.

1. The Viking Invasions

Viking raids began in England in the late 8th century focusing mainly on monasteries. The first
monastery to be raided was at Lindisfarne in 793 ad, off the northeast coast. Monasteries and churches
were popular targets because they were wealthy and had valuable objects that were portable. It is
known that several Viking leaders grouped their bands together to form a great army that landed on the
shores of the kingdom of East Anglia in 866, where they would start their attempted conquest of
England.

In 867 the great army went north and captured York, and by the late 9th century the Vikings had
overrun most of the Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms that formed England at the time. However, Alfred the Great,
king of Wessex, defeated the Vikings at the Battle of Edington in 878. After the battle the Danes took
control of northern and eastern England, while Alfred and his successors were left to control Wessex. In
the eleventh century, England was unified with Norway and Denmark, during the reign of the Danish
king Cnut.

When Cnut died, he was succeeded by king Edward the Confessor who managed to reign until
his death in 1066. He was succeeded by the Earl of Wessex, Harold Godwinson. Harold's accession to the
throne, however, was not unanimously accepted.

To the north, the Norwegian king Harald Hardrada invaded England. In the late summer of 1066,
the invaders sailed up the Ouse before making their way to York. Outside the city they defeated a
northern English army led by Edwin, Earl of Mercia and his brother Morcar, Earl of Northumbria at the
Battle of Fulford on 20 September 1066. Upon hearing of the northern army's defeat Harold Godwinson
led the southern army north and defeated Hardrada at Stamford Bridge.

While Godwinson was busy up north William the Bastard (later to be known as William the
Conqueror), landed his army in Sussex, intent on seizing the throne of England.

2. The Norman conquest of England

Harold Godwinson was shipwrecked at Ponthieu in 1064 and taken captive by Guy I, the Count of
Ponthieu. It is believed that William (Duke of Normandy), discovering that Harold had been taken
prisoner, sent messengers ordering Count Guy to hand him over. William then persuaded Harold to
support his claim to the throne of England and forced Harold to swear an oath of support him.

When Harold was crowned king of England, William was angered by Harold's accession, and started
gathering an invasion army. After putting together an army and a fleet to transport it, William landed in
Pevensey Bay in the late summer of 1066. Having just defeated Hardrada in the north, Harold marched
his troops back south, where, exhausted, they encountered William near Hastings.

During the battle that ensued, William's forces suffered heavy casualties, but they managed to rout
Harold's infantry. However, Harold and his housecarls stood firm, despite a torrent of arrows shot at
them by William's archers. Soon after Harold was hit by an arrow and killed, the housecarls were
overwhelmed by William's victorious soldiers. William was crowned in London by the Archbishop of
York.

3. The Danish invasion of 1069–70

William's rule was not yet definitive and a number of revolts against the Normans took place in the
North of England and East Anglia. A large Danish army arrived in England in 1069 to support an uprising
in the North. In the winter of the same year William marched his army from Nottingham to York with
the intention of engaging the rebel army, but by the time William's army had reached York, the rebel
army had fled. As the Danes had nowhere suitable to stay for the winter, on land, they decided to go
back to their ships in the Humber estuary. They were reinforced in 1070 by a fleet from Denmark and
sailed to East Anglia where they raided the area. However, William met with the Danish army and it was
agreed that if he made payment to them then they would return home to Denmark, without a fight.

Rebellions continued to occur in various parts of the country. William sent earls to deal with
problems in Dorset, Shrewsbury and Devon while he dealt with rebels in the Midlands and Stafford.

Bibliography:

1. Frederick Attenborough, “The laws of the earliest English kings”, Cambridge, Cambridge
University Press, 1922;
2. R.R. Davies, “The Revolt of Owain Glyn Dwr”, Oxford, Oxford University Press., 1997
3. David Bates, “William the Conqueror”, Stroud, UK: Tempus, 2001;
4. Frank Barlow, ”The Godwins”, London, Pearson Longman, 2002;