The Viking Age (793-1066)

Viking raiders attacked the monastery of Lindisfarne off the coast of Northumbria, killing monks, seizing treasures, and taking captives as slaves. The attack, recorded in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, is traditionally considered the beginning of the Viking Age. The Northumbrian scholar Alcuin of York wrote: "Never before in Britain has such a terror appeared."

Vikings began raiding the northern coast of Ireland, attacking the monastic center of Iona, a mother-house of Lindisfarne. The raids on Iona continued in 802 and 806, when 68 monks were massacred. The Vikings primarily targeted Ireland until 830 before expanding their campaigns across England and the Carolingian Empire.

A Viking fleet of 120 ships under the legendary leader Ragnar Lodbrok sailed up the Seine River and besieged Paris. King Charles the Bald paid a tribute of 7,000 pounds of silver (Danegeld) to spare the city from destruction. This was one of the earliest and largest recorded Danegeld payments, establishing a pattern that would be repeated across Europe for centuries.

A massive coalition of Norse warriors known as the Great Heathen Army, led by Ivar the Boneless, Halfdan Ragnarsson, and Guthrum, invaded England. They conquered East Anglia, Northumbria, and Mercia, establishing Viking control over much of northern and eastern England known as the Danelaw. Only Wessex, under King Alfred, resisted successfully.

After the decisive Battle of Edington, where King Alfred of Wessex defeated the Viking army under Guthrum, the Treaty of Wedmore was signed. Guthrum agreed to be baptized as a Christian, and a boundary was established dividing England between Anglo-Saxon territory (south and west) and Viking-controlled Danelaw (north and east). This treaty preserved an independent Anglo-Saxon England.

Frankish King Charles the Simple granted the territory of Normandy (land of the Northmen) to the Viking leader Rollo in exchange for fealty, conversion to Christianity, and protection against further Viking raids. This treaty integrated Vikings into the Frankish feudal system and led to the creation of the Norman people, who would later conquer England in 1066.

Leif Erikson, son of Erik the Red who had colonized Greenland around 985, led a Norse expedition westward and established a settlement at Vinland, in what is now Newfoundland, Canada. This made the Vikings the first Europeans to reach North America, nearly 500 years before Columbus. Archaeological evidence at L'Anse aux Meadows confirms the Norse presence.

Cnut the Great, son of Sweyn Forkbeard of Denmark, became King of England after defeating Edmund Ironside at the Battle of Assandun. Cnut later added Denmark (1019) and Norway (1028) to his domain, creating the North Sea Empire — the largest Scandinavian empire in history, spanning England, Denmark, Norway, and parts of Sweden. Cnut ruled until his death in 1035.

King Harold Godwinson of England defeated the invading Norwegian army under King Harald Hardrada at the Battle of Stamford Bridge. The Norwegian invasion was repelled with heavy losses. This battle is traditionally considered the end of the Viking Age in England. Just 19 days later, Harold was defeated and killed at Hastings by William the Conqueror, a descendant of the Viking Rollo.