Battle of York (867)

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Battle of York
Part of the Viking invasions of England
Date21 March 867
Location
York
53°57′30″N1°4′49″W / 53.95833°N 1.08028°W / 53.95833; -1.08028
Result Viking victory
Belligerents
Great Heathen Army Kingdom of Northumbria
Commanders and leaders
Ivar (possibly Ímar)
Ubba 		Ælla of Northumbria   †
Osberht of Northumbria   †
North Yorkshire UK location map (2023).svg
Red pog.svg
York
class=notpageimage|
Location within North Yorkshire

The Battle of York was fought between the Vikings of the Great Heathen Army and the Anglo-Saxon Kingdom of Northumbria on 21 March 867 in the city of York.

Contents

Formerly controlled by the Roman Empire, York had been taken over by the Anglo-Saxons and had become the capital of the Kingdom of Northumbria. In 866 this kingdom was in the middle of a civil war, with Ælla and Osberht both claiming the crown. The Vikings, who had arrived on the eastern shores of the British Isles led by Ubba and Ivar, were able to take the city.[ citation needed ]

In the spring of 867 Ælla and Osberht united to try to push the Vikings out of York. Despite the Northumbrians making it inside the walls, the battle ended without success, and with the deaths of both Ælla and Osberht.

Following their victory the Vikings would initially set up a puppet king named Ecgberht, before later creating the Kingdom of Jórvík centred on York.

Background

York

The Multangular tower, part of York's Roman wall Multangular tower.jpg
The Multangular tower, part of York's Roman wall

Known as Eoferwic, York was taken over by the Anglo-Saxons after the Romans left in the 5th century. [1] The city became the capital of the Kingdom of Northumbria, serving the needs of both the king and the Archbishop of York. [2] The ancient Roman walls still stood, but by 867 they were crumbling and in disrepair, proving to be little defence against the attacking Northumbrians. [3]

Viking invasion

There had been Viking raids against Britain since the 8th century, but it was not until the 860s that Viking armies were formed with the intention of conquering lands. [4] In 865 the Great Heathen Army landed in East Anglia and started the invasion that would lead to the creation of the Danelaw. [5]

Led by Ubba and Ivar (who may be the same historical figure as Ímar) the Vikings first took York on 1 November 866. [3] [6] Ivar's apparent motive was to avenge the death of his father, Ragnar Lodbrok. [7] The Kingdom of Northumbria was in the middle of a civil war after Ælla had driven out the previous king Osberht by force. [8] The Vikings had little trouble taking York, but failed to capture Ælla. [8]

Battle

In the spring of 867 Ælla and Osberht put aside their differences and united in an attempt to push the invaders out of Northumbria, leading to the battle of York on the 21 March. [3] [9] The battle started well for the Northumbrian forces, who broke through the city's defences. [8] But then the experience of the Viking warriors showed through,[ according to whom ] as the narrow streets nullified any advantage of numbers the Northumbrians may have had. [3] [ citation needed ]. The battle ended with a defeat of the Northumbrian army, and the death of both Ælla and Osberht. [8] A somewhat different account stated that the Vikings were caught under the walls of York, between their attackers and York's Northumbrian garrison. However, the Danes rallied and the battle turned against the Northumbrians and resulted in the killing of both of their kings. [7]

Norse tradition holds that the victorious Ivar and Ubba were brothers and that they captured Ælla and subsequently blood eagled him. [10] [11] In contrast, the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle simply states "both kings were slain on the spot". [12]

Aftermath

Kingdom of Jorvik, shown next to Danelaw Kingdom of Jorvik.png
Kingdom of Jorvik, shown next to Danelaw

In York, Viking leaders established a puppet king named Ecgberht, [13] who remained until 872, when a revolt drove him into exile in Mercia. Halfdan Ragnarsson of the Vikings ended the revolt in 876 and directly occupied York and the rest of Deira (south-east Northumbria), partitioning it among his followers. [13] In time, this led to the creation of the Kingdom of Jórvík, which existed under Viking control until 910, when it was taken by the Anglo-Saxons. [14] The kingdom was reoccupied by the Vikings on several occasions until 954, from when it was subjected to the rule of Wessex. [14] No future attempt was made to re-establish the Kingdom of Northumbria. [15]

Before the area was integrated into Wessex, the surviving Anglo-Saxon lords ruled Northumberland north of the river Tees from Bamburgh. [13]

Related Research Articles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Northumbria</span> Medieval kingdom of the Angles

Northumbria was an early medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom in what is now Northern England and south-east Scotland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Danelaw</span> Part of England ruled by Danes (878–954)

The Danelaw was the part of England in which the laws of the Danes held sway and dominated those of the Anglo-Saxons. The Danelaw contrasts with the West Saxon law and the Mercian law. The term is first recorded in the early 11th century as Dena lage. The areas that constituted the Danelaw lie in northern and eastern England, long occupied by Danes and other Norsemen.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scandinavian York</span> Historical Norse colony in present-day England

Scandinavian York or Viking York is a term used by historians for what is now Yorkshire during the period of Scandinavian domination from late 9th century until it was annexed and integrated into England after the Norman Conquest; in particular, it is used to refer to York, the city controlled by these kings and earls. The Kingdom of Jórvíc was closely associated with the much longer-lived Kingdom of Dublin throughout this period.

Ivar the Boneless, also known as Ivar Ragnarsson, was a Viking leader who invaded England and Ireland. According to the Tale of Ragnar Lodbrok, he was the son of Aslaug and her husband Ragnar Loðbrok, and was the brother of Björn Ironside, Hvitserk, Sigurd Snake-in-the-Eye and Ubba. However, this is not sure to be historically accurate. Ivar is probably the same person as Ímar, a Viking king of Dublin between 870 and 873. He might have been born in Uppsala, Sweden in about 787.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Halfdan Ragnarsson</span> 9th Century leader of the Great Heathen Army

Halfdan Ragnarsson was a Viking leader and a commander of the Great Heathen Army which invaded the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England, starting in 865.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ælla of Northumbria</span> King of Northumbria

Ælla was King of Northumbria, a kingdom in medieval England, during the middle of the 9th century. Sources on Northumbrian history in this period are limited, and so Ælla's ancestry is not known, and the dating of the beginning of his reign is questionable.

This timeline summarises significant events in the history of Northumbria and Northumberland.

Eadwulf or Eadulf was ruler of Bamburgh in the early tenth century. A genealogy in the twelfth-century text De Northumbria post Britannos recording the ancestry of Waltheof Earl of Northampton, makes Eadwulf the son of Æthelthryth daughter of Ælla, King of Northumbria, but no source names Eadwulf's own father.

Ealdred was a ruler of Bamburgh, at least part of the former kingdom of Bernicia in northern Northumbria, in the early tenth century. He was the son of Eadwulf.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Great Heathen Army</span> Norse invasion of England in 865

The Great Heathen Army, also known as the Viking Great Army, was a coalition of Scandinavian warriors who invaded England in AD 865. Since the late 8th century, the Vikings had been engaging in raids on centres of wealth, such as monasteries. The Great Heathen Army was much larger and aimed to conquer and occupy the four kingdoms of East Anglia, Northumbria, Mercia and Wessex.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oswulf I of Bamburgh</span> High-reeve of Bamburgh

Oswulf was ruler of Bamburgh and subsequently, according to later tradition, commander of all Northumbria under the lordship of King Eadred of England. He is sometimes called "earl" or "high reeve", though the precise title of the rulers of Bamburgh is unclear. By the twelfth century Oswulf was held responsible for the death of Northumbria's last Norse king, Eric of York, subsequently administering the Kingdom of York on behalf of Eadred.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ubba</span> 9th-century Viking leader of the Great Heathen Army

Ubba was a 9th-century Viking and one of the commanders of the Great Heathen Army that invaded Anglo-Saxon England in the 860s. The Great Army appears to have been a coalition of warbands drawn from Scandinavia, Ireland, the Irish Sea region and Continental Europe. There is reason to suspect that a proportion of the Viking forces specifically originated in Frisia, where some Viking commanders are known to have held fiefdoms on behalf of the Franks. Some sources describe Ubba as dux of the Frisians, which could be evidence that he also associated with a Frisian benefice.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rædwulf of Northumbria</span> King of Northumbria

Rædwulf was king of Northumbria for a short time. His ancestry is not known, but it is possible that he was a kinsman of Osberht and Ælla.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Osberht of Northumbria</span> King of Northumbria

Osberht was king of Northumbria in the middle of the 9th century. Sources on Northumbrian history in this period are limited. Osberht's descent is not known and the dating of his reign is problematic.

Ecgberht was king of Northumbria in the middle of the 9th century. This period of Northumbrian history is poorly recorded, and very little is known of Ecgberht.

Ricsige was King of Northumbria from 873 to 876. He became king after Ecgberht I was overthrown and fled, with Wulfhere, Archbishop of York, to Mercia.

Events from the 9th century in England.

Eadwulf II, nicknamed Evil-child, was ruler of Bamburgh in the latter half of the tenth century. Although Eadwulf is sometimes described as the Earl of Northumbria, he ruled only a northern portion of Northumbria, a polity centred on Bamburgh that once stretched from the Firth of Forth to the River Tees.

References

  1. ↑ City of York Council 2006.
  2. ↑ York History 2007.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Bessell 2018.
  4. ↑ Edward 2011.
  5. ↑ Johnson.
  6. ↑ Sawyer 2001.
  7. 1 2 Eggenberger 1985, p. 484.
  8. 1 2 3 4 Hall.
  9. ↑ Cannon 2015.
  10. ↑ Whitelock.
  11. ↑ Frank 1984.
  12. ↑ Project Gutenberg 1996.
  13. 1 2 3 Arnold-Baker 2001.
  14. 1 2 Market House Books 2002.
  15. ↑ Loyn 2015.

Sources

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