BRITAIN MIGRATION AND EMPIRES
REVISION GUIDE
, Why did the Vikings invade Britain and how were they stopped?
The Vikings realised Britain offered more opportunities than their homeland. Norway was an
extremely hilly landscape; Denmark's soil was not good for farming and made it difficult to keep
cattle. Scandinavia was also becoming over crowded, so many left looking for a better life. The
Vikings also attacked Britain because they knew that some of the kingdoms of England had a lot of
wealth, as they had been trading with them for a number of years. The Vikings launched their
attempt to conquer and settle in England in 865. They landed in East Anglia. They marched straight
for the capital of Northumbria, York. They captured York and used it as their capital of what would
become known as the Danelaw.
After conquering Northumbria, East Anglia and most of Mercia the Vikings turned their attention to
Wessex. In 871, 22 year old Alfred became king of Wessex. In 876, the Vikings began a series of
attacks began on Wessex. After some early success the Vikings were pushed back by Alfred’s army
and eventually defeated. After his successful defeat of the invading Vikings, Alfred began to gather
and train an army. In 878 Alfred launched a counter-attack on the Vikings, he defeated a Viking army
at the Battle of Edington. The Viking leaders sat down to discuss peace terms with Alfred after the
defeat. Alfred insisted the leader of the Vikings in the Danelaw, Guthrum, had to become Christian
and they would not attack Wessex again. The Vikings agreed to the terms and a border was drawn
up that separated the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms from the Viking Danelaw. Alfred had accepted the
Vikings were here to stay.
During the rest of Alfred’s time as king, there were still some Viking raids on Wessex. However, most
Vikings stuck to the peace terms and settled down as farmers and lived peacefully. People could
travel safely between Wessex and the Danelaw and some wealthy families arranged marriages
between Vikings and Anglo-Saxons. After his death, the strong defences built up by Alfred were used
effectively by his sons. Alfred’s grandson, Athelstan, recaptured Northumbria in 927 and some
historians refer to him as the first real king of England.
Aethelred the unready: During his time as king a new wave of Viking invasions began. In August 991,
a huge Viking army led by Sven Forkbeard and Olaf Tryggvason, landed in England and defeated an
English army at the Battle of Maldon. Aethelred had to pay the Vikings for them to agree to leave,
this payment was called DANEGELD. Not all of the Vikings left however, as some remained as
mercenaries in the English army. Others had continued to raid and plunder the English coast, for the
next three years they terrorised the English coastline. In 997 a new wave of raid came and Aethelred
offered more Danegeld in an attempt to stop them.
Emma of Normandy: The Danegeld being paid by Aethelred was costing the country a fortune. After
the Battle of Maldon, the king had given the Vikings around 3300 kilo’s of silver- estimated at around
£900,000 in today’s money. To fund this Aethelred was taxing the people of England heavily and the
people resented it, so he looked for a new way to keep the Vikings away. Aethelred made a deal
with the Duke of Normandy, which saw them agree to help defend each other against enemies.
Aethelred hoped this would reduce the number of raids on England as the Vikings could no longer
use Normandy as a base. Aethelred sealed this agreement by marrying the Duke’s sister, Emma.
England was relatively peaceful again, due to this agreement. But, in 1002 Aethelred used the fear of
the Vikings south of the Danelaw to organise a massacre of all Viking men, women and children. This
became known as the St Brice’s day Massacre. This angered King of Denmark, Sven Forkbeard,
whose sister was murdered during the massacre.
, Cnut: Sven defeated Aethelred and became king of England, but he died after one year as king and
was replaced by his son Cnut. The Anglo Saxon’s wanted Aethelred back and in 1014, forced Cnut
back to Denmark and England was now under Aethelred control again. Cnut returned in 1016 after
defeating Aethelred’s son, Edmund, at the battle of Assandun. The two men agreed that Cnut would
rule England and Edmund would rule Essex however, if one of them should die they would inherit
the others land. About one month later Edmund died and Cnut became king of all of England up until
his death in 1035. Britain was important to Cnut as he saw it as the richest and most valuable part of
his empire (England, Denmark and Norway). He secured his position by having many Anglo-Saxon
nobles killed and bringing loyal Danes to England to replace them. To secure this further he married
Emma of Normandy. He was a religious man who had good relations with the church and brought
back many fair and popular laws to Britain.
Tasks:
1. Summarise the main reasons the Vikings settled in England
2. Explain why Alfred was significant in the short and long term (at least two reasons for
each)
3. Summarise the reign of Aethelred- why was it such a disaster?
4. Create a timeline/flow diagram or spider diagram showing how Britain changed between
991 and 1035
Norman invasion
When William was crowned King of England on Christmas Day 1066, he still had a lot of work to do
to secure his position. The early years of his reign were filled with rebellions and unrest the most
notable coming in 1069-1070. The last claimant to the Wessex line of kings murdered Williams baron
in York and sparked a rebellion in Northumbria. William was outraged, he gathered an army and
marched north immediately, he killed, burnt and pillaged every town he came across, it became
known as the Harrying of the North. His actions were so ruthless it is estimated that around 100,000
people starved to death as a result of the devastation the Normans caused.
In addition to this William introduced a new way of ruling the land to England, the Feudal System. In
exchange for their loyalty and promised to provide taxes and soldiers when needed, William gave
powerful and rich Norman lords he could trust large areas of land, they were called barons. He also
gave positions in the church to people he could trust. He did all this by confiscating all the land of
Britain and redistributing it as he saw fit. To help control their lands many of these barons built
motte and bailey castles to ensure they could protect the land they had been given, around 500
castles were built before William died in 1087.
William changed more than just how Britain was ruled. He was a French ruler, and naturally spent as
much of his time as he could in France. This was important as William needed to be seen in France to
ensure no-one challenged his rule in Normandy. Due to his absence the new French ruling classes in
Britain brought their French customs with them. The built new churches and cathedrals and used the
French language in court instead of English. As a result hundreds of French words began to be used
such as soldier, parliament, royal, city, minister and army and they were absorbed into the English
language. The English were once again ruled by a foreign power: the land they once owned was
taken from them and they taxes they paid went to French lords. The Anglo-Saxons were no longer
the dominant force in England.
Task: Explain why Norman migration to Britain was significant (What did it change?)
REVISION GUIDE
, Why did the Vikings invade Britain and how were they stopped?
The Vikings realised Britain offered more opportunities than their homeland. Norway was an
extremely hilly landscape; Denmark's soil was not good for farming and made it difficult to keep
cattle. Scandinavia was also becoming over crowded, so many left looking for a better life. The
Vikings also attacked Britain because they knew that some of the kingdoms of England had a lot of
wealth, as they had been trading with them for a number of years. The Vikings launched their
attempt to conquer and settle in England in 865. They landed in East Anglia. They marched straight
for the capital of Northumbria, York. They captured York and used it as their capital of what would
become known as the Danelaw.
After conquering Northumbria, East Anglia and most of Mercia the Vikings turned their attention to
Wessex. In 871, 22 year old Alfred became king of Wessex. In 876, the Vikings began a series of
attacks began on Wessex. After some early success the Vikings were pushed back by Alfred’s army
and eventually defeated. After his successful defeat of the invading Vikings, Alfred began to gather
and train an army. In 878 Alfred launched a counter-attack on the Vikings, he defeated a Viking army
at the Battle of Edington. The Viking leaders sat down to discuss peace terms with Alfred after the
defeat. Alfred insisted the leader of the Vikings in the Danelaw, Guthrum, had to become Christian
and they would not attack Wessex again. The Vikings agreed to the terms and a border was drawn
up that separated the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms from the Viking Danelaw. Alfred had accepted the
Vikings were here to stay.
During the rest of Alfred’s time as king, there were still some Viking raids on Wessex. However, most
Vikings stuck to the peace terms and settled down as farmers and lived peacefully. People could
travel safely between Wessex and the Danelaw and some wealthy families arranged marriages
between Vikings and Anglo-Saxons. After his death, the strong defences built up by Alfred were used
effectively by his sons. Alfred’s grandson, Athelstan, recaptured Northumbria in 927 and some
historians refer to him as the first real king of England.
Aethelred the unready: During his time as king a new wave of Viking invasions began. In August 991,
a huge Viking army led by Sven Forkbeard and Olaf Tryggvason, landed in England and defeated an
English army at the Battle of Maldon. Aethelred had to pay the Vikings for them to agree to leave,
this payment was called DANEGELD. Not all of the Vikings left however, as some remained as
mercenaries in the English army. Others had continued to raid and plunder the English coast, for the
next three years they terrorised the English coastline. In 997 a new wave of raid came and Aethelred
offered more Danegeld in an attempt to stop them.
Emma of Normandy: The Danegeld being paid by Aethelred was costing the country a fortune. After
the Battle of Maldon, the king had given the Vikings around 3300 kilo’s of silver- estimated at around
£900,000 in today’s money. To fund this Aethelred was taxing the people of England heavily and the
people resented it, so he looked for a new way to keep the Vikings away. Aethelred made a deal
with the Duke of Normandy, which saw them agree to help defend each other against enemies.
Aethelred hoped this would reduce the number of raids on England as the Vikings could no longer
use Normandy as a base. Aethelred sealed this agreement by marrying the Duke’s sister, Emma.
England was relatively peaceful again, due to this agreement. But, in 1002 Aethelred used the fear of
the Vikings south of the Danelaw to organise a massacre of all Viking men, women and children. This
became known as the St Brice’s day Massacre. This angered King of Denmark, Sven Forkbeard,
whose sister was murdered during the massacre.
, Cnut: Sven defeated Aethelred and became king of England, but he died after one year as king and
was replaced by his son Cnut. The Anglo Saxon’s wanted Aethelred back and in 1014, forced Cnut
back to Denmark and England was now under Aethelred control again. Cnut returned in 1016 after
defeating Aethelred’s son, Edmund, at the battle of Assandun. The two men agreed that Cnut would
rule England and Edmund would rule Essex however, if one of them should die they would inherit
the others land. About one month later Edmund died and Cnut became king of all of England up until
his death in 1035. Britain was important to Cnut as he saw it as the richest and most valuable part of
his empire (England, Denmark and Norway). He secured his position by having many Anglo-Saxon
nobles killed and bringing loyal Danes to England to replace them. To secure this further he married
Emma of Normandy. He was a religious man who had good relations with the church and brought
back many fair and popular laws to Britain.
Tasks:
1. Summarise the main reasons the Vikings settled in England
2. Explain why Alfred was significant in the short and long term (at least two reasons for
each)
3. Summarise the reign of Aethelred- why was it such a disaster?
4. Create a timeline/flow diagram or spider diagram showing how Britain changed between
991 and 1035
Norman invasion
When William was crowned King of England on Christmas Day 1066, he still had a lot of work to do
to secure his position. The early years of his reign were filled with rebellions and unrest the most
notable coming in 1069-1070. The last claimant to the Wessex line of kings murdered Williams baron
in York and sparked a rebellion in Northumbria. William was outraged, he gathered an army and
marched north immediately, he killed, burnt and pillaged every town he came across, it became
known as the Harrying of the North. His actions were so ruthless it is estimated that around 100,000
people starved to death as a result of the devastation the Normans caused.
In addition to this William introduced a new way of ruling the land to England, the Feudal System. In
exchange for their loyalty and promised to provide taxes and soldiers when needed, William gave
powerful and rich Norman lords he could trust large areas of land, they were called barons. He also
gave positions in the church to people he could trust. He did all this by confiscating all the land of
Britain and redistributing it as he saw fit. To help control their lands many of these barons built
motte and bailey castles to ensure they could protect the land they had been given, around 500
castles were built before William died in 1087.
William changed more than just how Britain was ruled. He was a French ruler, and naturally spent as
much of his time as he could in France. This was important as William needed to be seen in France to
ensure no-one challenged his rule in Normandy. Due to his absence the new French ruling classes in
Britain brought their French customs with them. The built new churches and cathedrals and used the
French language in court instead of English. As a result hundreds of French words began to be used
such as soldier, parliament, royal, city, minister and army and they were absorbed into the English
language. The English were once again ruled by a foreign power: the land they once owned was
taken from them and they taxes they paid went to French lords. The Anglo-Saxons were no longer
the dominant force in England.
Task: Explain why Norman migration to Britain was significant (What did it change?)
