VIKING RAIDS IN BRITAIN: THE Viking raids and subsequent…

VIKING RAIDS IN BRITAIN: 

THE Viking raids and subsequent settlements define the period known as the Viking Age in Britain which had profound consequences on the development of the culture and language. The raids started in June of 793 CE when three ships docked at the shore by the abbey of Lindisfarne. The abbey’s reeve, Beaduheard, believed he recognized them as those of Norse traders and, thinking they had lost their way, went out to direct them up the coast to the estate he thought they had been aiming for. Upon approaching the ships, however, he was instantly killed by the sailors who then sacked the abbey and murdered everyone they found inside or on the grounds; this was only the beginning.

The raids continued in 794 CE when Viking ships sacked the monastery of Jarrow in Northumbria, in 795 CE when they struck at the monastery of Iona in Scotland and, in the same year, attacked sites in Ireland. Raids and military incursions continued in Britain through c. 1066 CE, ending with the invasion by the great Norwegian king Harald Hardrada (1046-1066 CE), known as “the last of the Vikings”, whose victories over the Anglo-Saxon king Harold Godwinson (1066 CE) contributed significantly to William the Conqueror’s Norman victory over Harold at The Battle of Hastings later in the same year.  

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