The Great Heathen Army, Part I

Marches and Martyrdom

"A.D. 865. This year sat the heathen army in the isle of Thanet, and made peace with the men of Kent, who promised money therewith; but under the security of peace, and the promise of money, the army in the night stole up the country, and overran all Kent eastward.

A.D. 866. This year Ethered, (35) brother of Ethelbert, took to the West-Saxon government; and the same year came a large heathen army into England, and fixed their winter-quarters in East-Anglia, where they were soon horsed; and the inhabitants made peace with them." - The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (J.A. Giles and J. Ingram Translation)

By the time of the arrival of the force of medieval Danish Vikings known as "The Great Heathen Army", Britain was no stranger to incursions by the Northmen. They had been experiencing raids, plunder, and trade with the Vikings for the better part of a century at this point. From the sacking of monasteries and ill-defended waterfront towns to the capture and enslavement of many of her inhabitants, Anglo-Saxon England had developed a complicated relationship with the northern interlopers. The Vikings, by this time, had probably already even overwintered on mainland Britain, but the lingering presence of the Norse, though certainly quite concerning for the local residents, seemed to do nothing to turn the attention the Anglo-Saxon kings away from their own petty squabbles, border disputes, and infighting. This period in English history was defined by the Heptarchy, that is, the seven distinct Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of East Anglia, Essex, Kent, Mercia, Northumbria, Sussex and Wessex that divided rulership of England. This sort of political division, with only a loosely defined notion of potential nationhood, made Britain ripe for foreign aggression.