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| A Danish force of 350 ships overwinters for the first time in Thanet, Kent. | Danish
attacks on Canterbury and London put the Mercian
king to flight. The Danes are then defeated by Aethelwulf
of Wessex at a place the Anglo-Saxon
Chronicle refers to as Aclea. In the first naval battle in recorded English history, Aethelstan, the Kentish under-king, defeats a Danish naval force off Sandwich, seizing nine ships. |
Burgred,
King of Mercia,
asks for and receives King
Aethelwulf of Wessex's help to subject the Welsh. Burgred marries Aethelwulf's
daughter. Once again a Danish force overwinters in Kent, this time in Sheppey. Olaf the White is recognised as overlord by the Vikings and Danes in Ireland and establishes his capital in Dublin. |
Aethelwulf
goes to Rome taking his young son Alfred
with him. Another son, Aethelbald, governs in his absence. Edmund becomes king of East Anglia. |
On Aethelwulf's return from Rome he visits the court of Charles the Bald, the king of the West Franks. On Oct 1, Aethelwulf marries Charles's 13 year old daughter Judith, at Verberie-sur-Oise. | When Aethelwulf arrives back in England he learns that his son Aethelbald and some of the Wessex nobility do not want to receive him as king. Rather than fight a civil war he divides his kingdom, giving Wessex to his son and taking Kent and SE England for himself. | 13
Jan: Aethelwulf,
former king of Wessex,
dies and Kent and SE England pass to his son Aethelberht. Aethelbald, Aethelwulf's
eldest surviving son and King of Wessex,
marries his father's widow. Kenneth MacAlpin, 'first King of Scotland', dies. He is succeeded by his brother, Donald I. |
King
Aethelbald dies and the West Saxon kingdom of Wessex,
Kent and other parts of SE England, is reunited under Aethelberht. A Danish force destroys Winchester, but is repulsed by Earl Osric. |
Constantine
I becomes king of Scotland, succeeding Donald I. St Swithin, the bishop of Winchester, dies. Aed Finnliath becomes the high king of Ireland. |
A great Danish army arrives in East Anglia, not to raid, but to occupy.
They stay in East Anglia for 12 months, strengthening their base and gathering
supplies. King Aethelberht of Wessex dies and Aethelred, his brother, becomes king. |
1 Nov: the Danish army moves north and takes York. | The
civil-warring Northumbrians, finally unite to attack the Danes in York.
The two rivals for the kingdom are killed, along with eight earldormen.
A peace is bought, but it doesn't prevent much of the north from savage
destruction by the Danes. Libraries, schools and churches are destroyed
and along with many manuscripts. Scotland too is ravaged by Danes from Ireland under Olaf the White. |
The
Danish force, now in Nottingham, is faced by a united army of Mercians,
led by Burgred, and West-Saxons, led by Aethelred and his brother Alfred.
The Danes decide not to engage and Mercia
buys a peace. Battle of Killineery: Aed Finnliath, high king of Ireland, defeats the Irish Danes and Norwegians. |
The Danes move back to East Anglia and set up a base in Thetford. They defeat Edmund, king of East Anglia, at Hoxne in Suffolk. | 20
Nov: Edmund is killed, apparently shot through with Danish arrows while
tied to a tree. His memory becomes a cult and his place of burial (Bury
St. Edmunds) a shrine. Olaf the White, the Danish king of Dublin, attacks the British kingdom of Strathclyde capturing Dumbarton and forcing King Artgal to flee. |
Jan:
Battle of Ashdown; a notable English victory which forces the Danes back
to their camp in Reading. Two weeks later the English are defeated at Basing. April: King Aethelred dies and his brother Alfred becomes king of the West Saxons. May: King Alfred is defeated at Wilton. The Danish army over-winters in London. |
The
Danes gain control of Mercia,
forcing its king, Burgred, into exile in Rome and appointing one of his
thegns, Ceowulf, as their client in his place. After campaigning as a unit since 865 the Danish force divides into two: the kings Guthrum,Oscytel and Anund lead one section and Halfdan the other. |
Halfdan
settles some of his men permanently in the area around York. Guthrum,Oscytel and Anund attack Wessex. The Norse earldom of Orkney is founded by Harold Haarfager. Battle of Dollar (about this time): King of Scots Constantine I is defeated by Halfdan, the Danish ruler of York, and all of northern Scotland falls under Norse control. |
After a year of campaigning against Wessex the Danish force withdraws to Mercia, which it partitions (877), leaving only a third in the hands of Ceowulf and retaining direct control of the rest. They begin to make permanent settlement there. | (or 876) Battle of Forgan: Constantine I is defeated by Norsemen and is succeeded by Aed, his brother, as the Scottish king. | Guthrum
attacks Chippenham, where Alfred's
army is celebrating Christmas. Alfred
retreats, leaving much of Wessex
in Danish hands. From the Isle of Athelney he continues to harry the Danes. Battle of Edington, near Chippenham: Alfred wins a decisive victory. By The Peace of Wedmore Guthrum leaves Wessex and is baptised. Aed, king of Scots, is killed in battle with rivals at Strathallan. |
The
Danes under Guthrum move into East Anglia with the intention of permanent
settlement. Northumbria, Mercia and East Anglia now have permanent Danish settlements and the Danes form the most powerful community in these kingdoms. Only Wessex has remained independent and outside this territory known as Danelaw. |
Rhodri the Great dies. He was king of Powys, Gwynedd and Seisyllwg. | June: Most of the Viking force in France moves on to England. | London,
a Mercian town occupied by a Danish garrison, is taken by King
Alfred. It becomes a symbol of resistance to Danish rule and Alfred
is recognised as overlord of all the English, even those beyond of Wessex.
A treaty between Alfred and Guthrum defines the land under Danish control and the legal standing of the English within it. |
Battle of Dundurn: Donald II becomes the first king to be known by contemporaries as king of Scotland (ri Alban) after defeating and killing Giric I and reuniting the Picts and Scots in one kingdom. However, the kingdom was only a small part of modern-day Scotland. |
A large Danish army under Hæsten, having been driven from the Low
Countries, lands in Kent and receives support from the Danish populations
of Northumbria
and East Anglia. It attacks Wessex
but is unable to break the defenses of the kingdom. Alfred begins his translations of Latin works into Old English. |
Hæsten is defeated at Farnham and Bemfleet. | Asser writes the Life of King Alfred. | Alfred traps and captures the Danish fleet on the River Lea north of London, forcing the Danes to retreat from the London area. | The Danish army which had landed in 892 disperses, much of it to Northumbria. | 26 Oct: King Alfred dies. His son, Edward the Elder, becomes king. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Danish forces attack Aquitaine, Rouen and elsewhere in France. | 28 May: the Saracen, Masar, is executed by Louis II: Sicilian Saracens take revenge by occupying Calabria. | Guthrum defeats Horik in Denmark, leading to the disintegration of Horik's kingdom. | Vikings
sail up the Seine and establish a camp from which to raid into France. 28 Dec: Vikings burn Paris. |
The Saracens complete their conquest of Sicily. | A Viking attack on Constantinople is beaten off. | 28
May: Paris is again burnt by Viking
raiders. Pisa is captured by Vikings. |
The cathedral at Rheims is dedicated. | Count Baldwin I is given a 'march' to hold against the Vikings; it becomes Flanders. | Constantinople
is laid siege to by Vikings
coming from Russia. The Khazar peoples convert to Judaism about this time. |
Louis II leads his third campaign against the Saracens of Sicily. | The Byzantine Empire now includes all the Balkans. | Saracen forces conquer Malta. | 12 Aug: Louis II, Frankish Emperor, dies | Charles
the Bald pays off the Danes who still occupy land around the River Seine. |
The double cathedral at Santiago de Compostela is begun. | 3rd
Aug: a Viking
force is defeated at Saucourt by Louis III. Vikings attack many towns along the Rhine. |
A Viking force moves into eastern France, having been bought off in Germany by Charles the Fat. | A Viking force besieges Paris. Resistance is led by Count Odo. Charles the Fat buys them off and they move into Burgundy. | 13 Jan: death of Charles the Fat. His empire is split up. Odo becomes king of the West Franks. | 28 Jan: Odo is overthrown( but lives on) and Charles the Simple is crowned King of the West Franks. | Odo regains the French throne, pardoning Charles the Simple. | 1 Jan: Odo dies and is succeeded by Charles the Simple. | King Arnulf of Germany dies. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| The oldest surviving printed work, a Chinese translation of a Buddhist text, dates from this time. | Al-Hakam, writes a history of the Muslim conquest of Egypt, N Africa and Spain. | Nepal
becomes independent of Tibet. Foreign traders in Canton are killed. |
Taketori Monogatari: The Story of the Bamboo Gatherer; a narrative written in Japanese. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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