The True Story of the First Viking Attack on England

foreign [Music] one of the most picturesque and tranquil locations in England but also the setting for one of its most calamitous events on the 8th of June 793 the piece of holy Island was shattered as ships hoved into view on the horizon ran aground and emptied themselves of a vast Army of heathen men no compunction about killing monks and shedding blood Linda Spahn became the subject of a Viking attack that's often used to Mark the beginning of the great Viking age that would see northmen spread across the whole of Europe it's entered myth and Legend but what do we really know about that day I'm Matt Lewis a medieval historian and I've come here to the stunning coast of what was northumbria to retrace the steps of those early Viking Raiders the attack on lindisfarne sent a shockwave through Christian Europe at the time and is still considered a pivotal moment in English history today the beginning of the Viking age it even entered popular culture with the attack being dramatized recently in the popular TV series Vikings in the series The Assault is led by the semi-legendary figure of Ragnar Lothbrok which definitely isn't what really happened what do contemporary sources actually say about the attack and what can they reveal about the attitudes beliefs and fears of the people who wrote them the year 793 had begun with portents of Doom that terrified the monks of lindisfarne they'd seen visions and experienced storms that they knew meant something the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle a great record of anglo-saxon England kept by monks in various regions records of early 793 dire4 warnings were come over the land of the northumbrians and miserably terrified the folk there were excessive whirlwinds and lightning and fiery dragons were seen flying in the air these tokens followed a Great Famine and a little after that in the same year the harrying of the Heathen men lamentably destroyed God's Church in lindisfarne by means of plunder and Slaughter the Vikings arrived on Dragon proud ships these were the dragons that the monks feared they'd seen flying through the sky if they'd known what Terror these dragons really bought they'd have been even more scared this wasn't really the first Viking incursion to hit English Shores in 789 four years earlier three ships of northmen landed on the coast of Wessex and reportedly killed the king's Reeve the local official but the attack on lindisfarne was so devastating because it struck at one of England's most important religious centers the burial place of the revered Saint Cuthbert from the perspective of the Vikings the settlement here was a soft target this Harbor is believed to be the most likely spot where the Vikings made their Landing although it would have looked very different then the sea came much closer to The Priory that they were going to attack and lindisfarne Castle didn't exist that's a mid-16th century Edition to protect this region against the Scots in 793 the monks were completely at the mercy of their Pagan attackers the objective of the attackers is made clear from the sources this wasn't an army of Conquest like the later Viking forces of the 9th century the raiding Force may only have been made up of a few dozen men they weren't looking for land they were grabbing anything of value that they could take back to Scandinavia on the 8th of June the Vikings burst into lindisfarne Priory shattering the peace they went from room to room robbing stealing everything they could find killing anyone that got in their way as the monks tried to hide their precious books that they were so proud of they realized that wasn't what the Vikings wanted they wanted the gold and the silver that was on the Altar and they wanted the humans as their slaves the men who attacked lindisfarne were clearly well-armed Warriors but their Pagan religion and total disregard for Christians magnified the terror of the brutal assault it's hard to overstate the fear created by men willing to attack the most sacred of spots a later medieval Source lamented that they trampled the holy places with polluted steps dug up the altars and seized all the Treasures of the holy church the Vikings took everything they could get their hands on gold silver crosses jewel encrusted cups anything of value that the monks might have and they herded up the people as well because they had value to the Vikings alcoin of York would record of the attack the church of Saint Cuthbert is spattered with the blood of the priests of God stripped of all its treasures and left unprotected from these plundering pagans Linda's Farm Priory that we can visit today is a 12th century replacement of what was originally here the place that the Vikings attacked at the end of the 8th Century would have been a wooden building surrounded by the buildings that the monks lived and worked in but it's believed to have been on the same site as the new lindisfarne Priory archaeological finds point in that direction particularly the existence of this Saxon well right at the heart of lindisfarne Priory one thing that seems outrageous about this attack is the carrying off of defenseless monks into slavery it's something the scene in Vikings captures quite well but the idea that only Norse men did this is a myth slavery was part of life in both Anglo-Saxon England and Scandinavia at this time so there was nothing particularly unique about the Vikings taking human captives still for monks used to the routine of a quiet religious life at this isolated Priory the prospect of being carried across the seas into slavery in an unknown Heathen land must have been petrifying as the attack on the church ended many of the monks lay dead in pools of blood inside the church buildings and all around outside some were clapped in Chains to be taken away as slaves to these Heathen men others were brought down here to the seaside but would make it no further Simeon a monk at Durham recorded some of the monks they killed some They carried off in Chains most of them they stripped naked insulted and cast out of the doors and some they drowned in the sea the attack would leave all of England in a State of Shock these brutal Heathen men had arrived and ransacked and murdered in God's Church stolen God's Property and killed God's holy men as news of the attack on lindisfarne spread across England and then Europe it's not hard to imagine the Panic it would have caused what might surprise you though is how people sought to prevent such a disaster in the future in the shock and aftermath of the brutal attack here at lindisfarne all of England tried to rationalize what had happened and perhaps more important to work out how to stop it happening ever again alcoin of York penned a letter containing his thoughts on the event his initial idea was that this was the outcome of the sins of those who lived there he thought that the monks must have been living Unholy unpious lives that had angered God and caused him to send this against them he went on either this is the beginning of Greater tribulations or else the sins of the inhabitants have called it upon them truly it has not happen by chance but it is a sign that it was well merited by someone he thought that someone must be to blame someone had angered God in this place to bring down this horror upon them and he thought that they should continue to resist Viking attacks wherever they could his final piece of advice for how to avoid future Viking attacks said consider carefully brothers and examine diligently lest per chance this unaccustomed and unheard of evil was merited by some unheard of evil practice consider the dress the way of wearing the hair the luxurious habits of the princes and people Alchemy thought that people living to excess had annoyed God and brought down vengeance upon all of them and they should stop these things the advice sounds a little bit crazy though he's essentially saying cut your hair to save yourself from Viking attacks and history would show cutting your hair was no defense against the Vikings in fact the north men were only just getting started raids would increase in scale and regularity over the course of the 9th century until the arrival of the great Heathen Army in 865 which heralded a new chapter of conquest and settlement the belief that the Vikings were an instrument of God's Wrath to be dealt with by more piety would persist until eventually Anglo-Saxon Kings like Alfred the Great demonstrated that they could also be pushed back through military force and diplomacy those monks who'd survived had little choice but to abandon lindisfarne for a while they dug up the remains of their beloved Saint Cuthbert and took his coffin with them as they traveled around seeking a new home monks and religion would return to lindisfarne as this 12th century Priory proves but the Viking attack of 793 is at the template of Terror that would haunt England for decades I hope you enjoyed that video if you're a fan of the Viking era take a look at our episode on the real last Kingdom exploring the history behind the hit Netflix series it's on the channel now

Channel: History Hit

Views: 274,185

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Id: Bm3o7iz-PVY

Length: 10min 42sec (642 seconds)

Published: Fri Jan 13 2023