England in the Ninth Century: The Crucible of Defeat Author(s): N. P.

Brooks Source: Transactions of the Royal Historical Society, Fifth Series, Vol. 29 (1979), pp. 1-20 Published by: Royal Historical Society Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3679110 . Accessed: 02/12/2013 20:33
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TRANSACTIONS OF THE

ROYAL HISTORICAL SOCIETY

ENGLAND IN THE NINTH CENTURY: THE CRUCIBLE OF DEFEAT M.A., D.Phil., F.R.Hist.S. By N. P. Brooks,
READ

3 FEBRUARY 1978

are vulnerable to medievalhistorians, HISTORIANS, particularly concentrate their attention thechargethatthey upon success-on the successful and ideas-and that theythereby institutions dynasties, seestheninth centhepast.Thus thepoliticalhistorian misrepresent a in of as the crucial the evolution unitaryEnglish tury period The four and independent Anglo-Saxon kingdoms kingdom. powerful in 8oo-Northumbria,Mercia, East Anglia and Wessexexisting to one,Wessex.But this had been reducedby theend ofthecentury was achievednotthrough theassertion of West Saxon supremacythe overlordship thatEgbertwon in 829 lastedbut a year-but by thedestruction oftheotherkingdoms by Vikingconquestand their by new Vikingstates.Though it is clear to us partialreplacement withhindsight thatAlfred's claim to be the rulerof all the English not underDanish rule' was thegermof the unification of England whenAlfred died in underhisdescendants, no one can have known, werenotbeingraised in theScandinavian armies 899,thatnewViking homelands to crushthe remaining At that time, Englishkingdom. formostEnglishmen, thedeepestimpression musthave been of the defeatand destruction of the Englishpolityand culture. Butwe cannotexamine theEnglish reaction totheDanishinvasions in thislightbecause thedynasties and kingdoms thatfailedhave left us fewor no records.Indeed mostof the East Angliankingsof the
1 ed. J. Earle and SaxonChronicles s.a. 886; Twoofthe Parallel, Chronicle, Anglo-Saxon in Alfred's theregnal C. Plummer style (Oxford, 1892), i, pp. 8o- . Aboutthesametime Saxonum' or 'rex Saxonum' to 'rex Anglorum seemsto have changedfrom charters Saxonicum See W. de Gray Birch,Cartularium (London, I885-I899) Angulsaxonum'. citedas B.C.S.] nos.564,567-8, 581, noneofwhichis ofcertain authenticity. [hereafter ed. W. H. Stevenson in Asser's arealsofound Thesestyles (Oxford,1904), LifeofAlfred, A. is alreadyfoundon coins ofc. 875- c. 885. rex in 893. The style whichwas written ed. R. H. M. Dolley (London, toF. M. Stenton, Coins:Studies See Anglo-Saxon presented
1961), pp. 8o-i.

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TRANSACTIONSOF THE ROYAL HISTORICAL SOCIETY

is relieved detailsofthegruesome ignorance onlybythose martyrdom ofthelast East Anglianking,Eadmund,at the handsofthe Danish theelaborations and armyin 869 thathave been preserved amongst of later Somewhat more is known misunderstandings hagiographers.2 of the ninth-century and Mercian fortunes of the Northumbrian ofthefamily butwe are largely let kingdoms, ignorant relationships, alone thepoliciesand government oftheir The evidencetherekings. fore neither allowsus to understand failednorto makeany whythey of Wessex. We cannotknow with the survival meaningful comparison from thatofother differed howfartheWestSaxon military response forwe are largelydependentupon West Saxon sources kingdoms, to tellus thedetailsof the Mercian,East whichwerenotconcerned Ifwe seekto control thenatural or Northumbrian resistance. Anglian in the bias of the West Saxon sourcesand to testthe temperature England, then we must study the meltingpot of ninth-century Vikingsand the Englishresponseto them in a wider European context. To comprehend the threat thatthe Vikingsposed, we mustfirst in so faras possible, the size of the armiesthatterrorized, establish, and ultimately demoralized Engconqueredmuchof ninth-century P. H. Sawyerelaborated a powerful land. In I962 Professor argument in 1958to theeffect thattheVikingarmies thathe had first ventured men'.3His arguments weresmall,'numbering at mosta fewhundred in have been echoed on the continent in relation to Vikingactivity the A. theFrankish and kingdoms by Belgianhistorian, D'Haenens,* such in Britain hisviewshave beenwidely accepted,evenbyscholars as Cameron,Fellows-Jensen, Loyn and Wallace-Hadrillwho have of the interpretation rejectedotheraspectsof Sawyer'sminimizing of the estimates to theunreliability Pointing impactoftheVikings.5 ofthesizeofarmies and numbers ofcasualties givenbycontemporary late-medieval chroniclers, whose figures can sometimes be checkedagainstofficial records, given Sawyeranalysedthe figures forthe size of the ninth-century Chronicle by the Anglo-Saxon Viking
xxxi (1969), 217-33; A. P. Smyth, Scandinavian Archaeol., Kings in theBritishIsles, 85088o (Oxford, 1977), pp. 201-i3. of Bir3 P. H. Sawyer, 'The densityof the Danish settlement in England', University Historical Journal,vi (I957), 1-17; Sawyer, The Age of the Vikings(London, mingham
1962),
4

ninthcenturyare just names to us, known only fromtheircoins. Our

2 D. Whitelock, 'Fact and fiction in the legendof St Edmund',Proc.Sufolk Inst.

au ixe siecle Les Invasions enBelgique normandes (Louvain, 1967), pp. 69-72. in theTerritory FiveBoroughs: ThePlaceSettlement ofthe 5 K. Cameron,Scandinavian 'The Vikings in England: name Evidence (Nottingham, 1965),p. i; G. Fellows-Jensen,
a review', Anglo-Saxon England England, iv (1975), 181-2o6; H. R. Loyn, Anglo-Saxon

pp. 117-28.

andtheNorman (London, 1962),p. 54; J. M. Wallace-Hadrill, Conquest EarlyMedieval (Oxford,1975), P. 219. History

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ENGLAND IN THE NINTH CENTURY

betweensmall fleets fleets. He noteda distinction of betweenthree whose could be countedexactly, and twenty-three numbers ships,6 at between and 350 shipsand largefleets estimated variously eighty whichare certainly and in hisvieware exagfigures roughestimates he arguedthatVikingshipsare likely to have had gerated. Although crews ofthirty to thirty-two for men,as seemsto have been intended theGokstadship,he pointedoutthatthose oftheVikingfleet of892, which isputat 200 or 250 shipsbytheChronicle, and horses, brought wivesand children, acrossthechannelto Appleprobablyalso their dore with them. After making allowance for the Chronicler's ofthesizeofthisfleet, Sawyerconcludedthatthisarmy, exaggeration hiscase by emphasizmen'.7He reinforced too,was 'wellunderI00ooo offeeding and maintaining in thefield ingthedifficulties largearmies forseveralyears,and he claimed thatwhat littlewas knownof the or established theirwinter-camps places whereVikingstookrefuge the argument thatthe armiesweresmall. supported Do thesearguments standup to detailedexamination? The accuofmedieval chroniclers in estimating forces racy enemy dependsupon theiraccess to reliableinformation and upon theirmotivation. A singlewriter may be reliablein some places, wildlyinaccuratein others. Thus K. Hannestadhas shownthatProcopius, whowas secretoBelisarius, in hisaccountofByzantine included warfare tary against theOstrogoths in Italygrossexaggerations ofthesize ofOstrogothic armies;in otherpartsofhisGothic War,however, figures Procopius's are consistently credibleand circumstantial.8 we do Unfortunately notknowtheidentity of the compilers ofthe ninth-century sections of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. But in the later ninth centurythe Chronicle'sdominantinterest in the activities of the West Saxon thelinks between it and the'Alfredian' translation ofOrosius's kings, thepalaeographical linksbetween theParkerChronicle and History, and the natureof thedissemination ofthe manuscripts Winchester, oftheChronicle-all suggest thatthecompilers had someassociations withAlfred's courtcircle.9 Even ifthe authors were not themselves withmen who fought the eye-witnesses, theyprobablyhad contacts and werein a position to receive accuratedescriptions Vikingarmies,
6 Sawyer, Age ofVikings (2nded.,London 1971), pp. 125-6. 7 Ibid. p. 128. 'Les forces militaires 8 de Procope',Classica etMediaevalia, la guerre d'apreis gothique xxi (Ig60), 136-183.I owe thisreference to thekindness ofProf.D. A. Bullough.See also Wallace-Hadrill, EarlyMedieval History, p. 219. 9

Saxon England, v (1976), 149-71.

oftheChronicle, Laws and Sedulius,and historiography at Winchester', script Anglo-

D. Whitelock, 'The Prose ofAlfred's Continuations andBeginnings, ed. E. Reign', G. Stanley (London ed.D. White1966), p. 74,andcf. Anglo-Saxon p. 97; The Chronicle, lock M. B. Parkes, 'Thepalaeography ofthe (London Parker ff.; 1961), manupp.xxii

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TRANSACTIONS OF THE ROYAL HISTORICAL SOCIETY 4 of them.Equally, however, the compilers or theirinformants may have exaggerated in orderto magnify victories or excusedefeats. But in thiscontext we shouldnoticethatthe Chronicle, whichis so reand consistently secularin itsinterests and may therefore markably have been written fora secularaudience,neither tellsus the size of Viking armies nor claims that the West Saxon forceswere outnumbered. Thereis a striking contrast herewithsomecontemporary continental monastic as such the Annales Fuldenses and Regino sources, of Prum,who estimate the Vikingarmydefeatedby Louis III at thebattle ofSaucourt in 881 at 9,000and 8,000respectively,10 or such as Abbo who asserts thatParis in 886 was defendedby 200 Franks It mustbe held to the creditof the against40,000robust Vikings.11 Chronicle that it is so reticent and is content withthesimple Anglo-Saxon thatthearmythatarrived in East Angliain theautumnof assertion thesame adjective here, 865 was a largearmy(micel here); mycel hcethen is used to describea large summerforcethat arrivedin 871 (mycel sumor thelargearmythatarrived article, lida) and, withthedefinite at Appledorein 892 (se micla here).12 The Chronicle does occasionally indicatethe numbers of Vikings killedin battle.Enemycasualty are notoriously themostunfigures reliable ofwar-time buthereagain theChronicle is reticent. statistics, Twice we are givenvague estimates. At the battleofAshdown, one ofa series ofnineengagements in 87I withthe West Saxons, fought of Danes are said to have been slain,presumably 'manythousands' in an attempt to magnify themainWestSaxon success in a yearthat endedbadlywith their defeat at Wilton and their 'making peace' with theDanes, thatis payingthem money(Danegeld) to move protection to a different ofVikings in 894 'manyhundreds' kingdom. Similarly are said to have been killedby the burhwara of Chichester-a figure if equally vague. Twice however thatis lessprobablyexaggerated, theChronicle In 878 a brother ofIvarr givesus moreprecisefigures. was killedat Counoftwenty-three and Halfdan,leadinga fleet ships, in Devon 'with8oo men' and '40(60) ofhis army'.13And in tisbury ofthemain Danish army, one ofa number thedisbanding 896,after was of small sea-bornebands fromEast Anglia or Northumbria
10 Annales ed. F. Kurze (SS. Rer. Ger., Hannover,1891), p. 96; Reginonis Fuldenses, Prumiensis Abbatis ed. F. Kurze (SS. Rer. Ger., Hannover,1890), p. 120. Chronicon, on the continent remains The fullest accountoftheVikingraidsoftheninth century Reich W. Vogel, Die Normannen unddas frankische (Heidelberg,19o6). de l'histoire ed. H. Wacquet(Les Classiques deParispar lesnormands, 11Abbon,Lesiege de France au moyenage, Paris, 1964), p. 2412 Anglo-Saxon s.a. 866, 871, 893, ed. Earle and Plummer, Chronicle, pp. 68, 72 and 84may indicatethata phraseor a passage 13Ibid.,pp. 74-6. The awkwardphrasing has been omitted of the Chronicle. from the archetype

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5 new Alfred's 120 men from three Danish were ships ships; caughtby crews alivefrom theships killed, enoughoftheir leavinghoweverjust tobe rowedawaywithgreatdifficulty. It is significant thatboththese indicatecomparableaverage casualtiesper ship--thirty-six figures men killedper ship respectively. It may be that a count and forty to know of the dead was made afterthesebattles,forit is difficult was in these two instances alone. The annalist else the precise why thattheseVikingshipshad crewsof fifty-sixty might suggest figures ofthatsizeare notimpossible men.A. L. Binnshas arguedthatcrews butin viewofthelikelihood ofexaggerafortheScandinaviankarfi,14 tionwe shouldnot relyon such an estimate. it would be Certainly dangerousto calculatethe size of the large armiesfromthe figures forthecrews.For thelarge for thefleets and anysuchaveragefigure fleets may have had manysmallvesselsand manyshipsladen with bootyor non-combatants. of the Viking fleets which But it is on the Chronicle'sestimates oftheir themain Danish armiesthatour impression size transported mustdepend. For if Sawyeris rightthatnone of the Vikingarmies numberedmore than a fewhundredmen, then theirfleets would of the Gokstad never haveneededmorethantwenty-thirty ships type to transport boththemand their booty;theChronicle's figures rangto 350 shipswould thenbe grossexaggerations. We ing from eighty offleets that estimates too large to be countedcontain may accept thefigures an element ofexaggeration without to be so high supposing thatall informed wouldhaverecognised themas absurd.For laymen Irish and Frankish the figures sources,and givenby contemporary for the Moslem to theVikings, the earliest sources by Spanishreaction confirm thoseof the Chronicle.Thus the Irish annals recordtwo ofsixtyshipsin 836, a fleetof 140 shipsin 849 and separatefleets one of I6o shipsin 851, and 200 shipsin 870.15There is certainly a degreeofartificiality in these butthelate KathleenHughes figures, defended the of the 'Chronicleof Ireland' convincingly reputation from the chargeof exaggerating The Frankish the Vikingthreat.16 Annals record120shipsin theattackon Parisin 845, 6oo ofSt Bertin shipsin theattackon Hamburgin thesame year,252 shipsin Frisia in 852, 200 shipsin theSeine in 86I and another ofsixty fleet in the
ENGLAND IN THE NINTH CENTURY

14'The of Vikingshipsroundthe British Isles in Old Englishand Old navigation Norsesources',TheFifthViking ed. B. Niclasen (T6rshavn,1968), pp. 107Congress, io8. ed. W. M. Hennesy(Rolls Series, 1887),s.a. 836, 848, 851, 870; 15 Annals ofUlster Annals ed. R. I. Bestand E. MacNeill (London, i933), s.a. 836, 849, 852, ofInisfallen, 871. 16K. Hughes,EarlyChristian Ireland: Introduction tothe Sources (London, 1972), pp. 148-59-

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in865 and oo ships sameyear,fifty intheSeinein 876.17 Ermenships ofsixty-seven tariusgivesthe precisefigure for the fleet ofthe ships armywhichsackedNantesin 843 and thendevelopeda new Viking a permanent base on the island of Noirstrategy by establishing in Spain, though for notconmoutier.'x The sources Vikingactivity a similar of numbers; they speak of give temporary, impression seventy ships being burntat Corufiain 844, of eightyships then Sevilleand a further attacking thirty ships being lost in the battle ofTalayata; the expedition of 859-60 is said to have had a fleetof fleet ofall recordedby contemporary sixty-two ships.'9The largest is the 700 shipssaid byAbbo to have engagedin theViking sources Butwe have alreadyseenAbbo to be in a class siegeofParisin 886.20 An element ofexaggeration ofhisownas an exaggerator. mayindeed in any, or all, the otherfigures, and we may well wish be present Wallace-Hadrill to ruleout ofcourtthe600 shipssaid withProfessor to have been involvedin the attackon Hamburg (which,however, Danish king,Horic I).21 was an expedition directed by the reigning so sourcesfrom that But it is surely manycontemporary significant all thatthe of supposed widely separated parts Europe independently fleetswhich carried the main Viking armies, that is those that comoverseveral often inthefield for remained years, longcampaigns were by no meansrare. The agreement when we of thesourcesis particularly important often recallthatthesameVikingarmies movedbetween Ireland,Britainand theFrankish Thus one oftheleadersofthelarge kingdoms. in East Angliain 865, Ivarr (O.E. Inwar), Danish hostthatarrived withpart of that armyand to Ireland in 871 presumably returned ofa fleet sharedcommand of200 shipswiththeNorseleader,Olaf.22 The Danish armywhichcampaignedfrom 879 to 892 on the contito the Rhinewas led by two from the nentin theriver Seine valleys was in and who was killed Godefrid who killed Sigefrid kings, 885 in 887 or at thebattleoftheDyle in 891. In 882 Sigefrid either parted
and 250 ships, and that fleetsof prised between fifty
o100-200

ships

" Annales de Saint-Bertin, ed. F. Grat,J. Vieillardand S. Clemencet(Paris, 1964), s.a. The precisefigure of 252 shipsforthe year852 is probablyan errorfor250, by of thedate whichthescribehad written attraction before. immediately S. Filiberti, ed. O. Holder-Egger Translatio XV(i), 18 Ermentarii (M.G.H. Scriptores, ii (3rd ed., Leyden 1881),256surl'histoire etla littirature del'Espagne, Dozy, Recherches 58, 279-80. 20 Le SiigedeParis, p. 14. 21 Wallace-Hadrill, EarlyMedieval History, p. 219.
22

Hannover, 1887), p. 301. 19 The Moslemsources, are conveniently translated by R. especiallyIbn-Adhari,

a verystrong Ivarr with case foridentifying pp. 224-39. Dr Smythhas established the Imhar of the Irishannals.

s.a. 870. For Ivarr's career, see Smyth, Scandinavian AnnalsofUlster, Kings,especially

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ENGLAND IN THE NINTH CENTURY

his fellowleader and is said to have led 200 laden shipsaway from on the riverMeuse.23Ten years from the besiegedcamp at Ascloha theChannelto Appledore across wastransported samearmy laterthis estimated Chronicle at 200 or 250 ships.24 bytheAnglo-Saxon bya fleet evidencethat this army we have contemporary On the continent exercitus had been known'by all' as magnus because there precisely When it arrivedin Englandin 892 wereso manyshipsin itsfleet.25 here. it was also called se micla in the secondhalf Another notableVikingarmyon the continent was the Vikingforcebased on the riverLoire. of the ninthcentury thatthiswas Butitis noteworthy thatthesources consistently suggest to it on itsarrival a smaller force.Sixty-seven shipswereattributed its base in 843, and in the86os,whenwe hear ofit raidingfarfrom in thousands but wereesticamp, its casualtieswere not numbered whichwon 2whilst thearmyofLoire Vikings matedat 300 and 500,2 in 866, after Le was estimated thebattleofBrissarthe Mans, sacking From866 it was commanded by Hatsteinn byHincmarat 400 men.27 O.E. Hesten) who led it to theSommein 882 and to Eng(Hastingus, land in 892. It is therefore to theChronicle's creditthatit putsHitsin teinn'sfleetat eighty fewer than the 200 ships 892, considerably (250) shipsofthe 'large army'of thatyear. It would seemthatthe for fleets are neither randomnorwild; they Chronicle's figures Viking avoid theobviousexaggerations oflesswell-placed or morecolourful a continental and fit consistent ofViking sources, they mostly pattern thatis credibleand circumstantial. activity Thereare other reasons for Stenton's hesitant conclusion accepting thatthe 'large' Danish armiesof 865 and 892 should be numbered 'in thousands than in hundreds'.2" rather These armies,as English, Irishand Frankish sources all agree,wereled by kings-like someof thegreatest armiesof the 'second Vikingage' in the late-tenth and centuries. These kingswere not men whose titledeearly-eleventh rivedfromestablished settlements and kingdoms in the West, but
23 Annales for Fuldenses, s.a. 882,p. 99. For Godefrid's death,see ibid., Sigefrid, p. o02; see ibid., to thevague statement in Annales s.a. 891, p. 120, whichshouldbe preferred ed. B. de Simson(SS. Rer. Ger., Hannover,igo9), s.a. 887, p. 63. Vedastini, Chronicle 24 Anglo-Saxon 'A', 'E', 'F': 250 ships; 'B', 'C', 'D': 200 ships,(ed. Earle and Plummer, i, pp. 84-5Miraculorum S. Bertini, ed. O. Holder-Egger[M.G.H. Scriptores, 25 Libellus XV(i)] ... (Hannover,1887), p. 511: 'ab illa classicaperplurima quae pro sui numerositate ab omnibusdicebatur'. magnusexercitus 26 Annales de S. Bertin, s.a. 855, 865. For the size of the fleetin 843, see above, p. the same Loire VikingsunderBjornand His6, and n. I8. It was probablylargely teinnwho operatedin Spain and the Mediterranean from with 859 to 861, initially sixty-two ships.See above, p. 6, and n. 19. de S. Bertin, 27Annales s.a. 866, pp. 130-31. 28 F. M. Stenton, Anglo-Saxon England (3rd ed., Oxford,1971), p. 243, n. I.

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rather wereleaderswho belongedto theDanish stirps Whether regia. some territorial in some regions of the theyall possessed authority Danish homeland is uncertain. of these as such Many kings, Bagsecg and Guthrum, Oscetel and Anwend,recordedby the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle the leadersof the 'large' Danish armyin 87 and amongst 878,arejustnamesto us. Others(Ivarr,Halfdan,Ubbe and Sigefrid) in Scandinavian mayhave beensonsofa Vikingleaderremembered Of as these Halfdan and saga RagnarrLothbr6k.29 mayhave Sigefrid exercised someroyalpowerwithin or partofit,for in 873 Denmark, ofthosenamesnegotiated twokings withLouis the peace separately But in an age when the Danish territories were not yet German.30 a consolidated and when Scandinavian kingdom kings(like other itis notsurprisGermanic have been rulers) may pagan polygamous, weremany'kings'who soughtto make theirfortunes ing thatthere and to foundtheircareersin the West. We are not,however, ofVikingprinces, dealingwitha multiplicity each operating with their independently personalwar-bands.The of865 was a co-ordinated It is nota coincidence micel here enterprise. from 866 to 879,whenthislargearmywas in England, thattheyears from on the freedom wereyearsof lull and relative Vikingactivity It is clear thatthis'large army'was the focusof Danish continent. intheWest.When,after tentofifteen years Viking activity campaigning, partsof it began to settlein the conqueredregionsof Northwas raisedin umbria,Mercia and East Anglia,a new Danish force of the homelandand came to England in 879 to join the remnant of865.31 It was thisnew force whichoperatedon thecontithearmy from nentunderthecommandofkings 879 to 892, yearswhichsaw a corresponding lull in Viking activity in Britain.It is of course truethatHitsteinn's Loire Vikingsmaintained a separateexistence until ninth later the they joined withthis'large century throughout to 896. But the Loire from in in the 892 England army' campaigns seemto have beenin originNorwegians from and Vestfold, Vikings themselves so longmaintained thismayexplainwhythey apartfrom In the second halfof the ninthcentury the main 'Danish' effort.32 had to facean armyled by theEnglish and Frankish therefore, kings,
in the Irishannals', SeventhVikingCongress, 29 R. W. McTurk, 'Ragnarr Lothbrok ed. B. Almquist and D. Greene (Dublin, 1976), pp. 93- 124; Smyth, Scandinavian Kings, passim. 30 s.a. 873, p. 78. AnnalesFuldenses, s.a. 879. 31 Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, ed. G. H. Pertz (M.G.H. Scriptores, 32 AnnalesEngolismenses, XVI, Hannover, 1859),

s.a. 843, p. 486: 'Nametiscivitasa Westfaldingis capitur.'HowevertheScandinavian also had links that Ragnarr Lothbr6kand his descendants suggests saga tradition Scandinavian area in southern withtheVestfold and connections Norway.See Smyth,
Kings, pp. 17-35-

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ENGLAND IN THE NINTH CENTURY

itscoherence and itsstrategy menofroyalblood,whichretained deleaderswithpartof the host.Had the ofparticular spitedepartures onlya fewhundredmen,it is difficult greatarmyof865 numbered how Ivarr could have achieved the captureof the to understand British ofDumbartonin 870, and established stronghold Strathclyde himself as kingofall theNorsemen in Irelandfrom 871 to 873, whilst leavingsufficient troopsbehindto continueto dominatethe AngloThose forces whichremainedin EnglandwereinSaxon kingdoms. deed reinforced, by the 'large summer perhaps only temporarily, force'of87I ;33but the 'large army'was again dividedin 875 when Yet thetroops who remained Halfdanled partofit to Northumbria. halfMercia in 877,whilst oftheHumberweresufficient tosettle south in 878 Wessexclose to submission leavingenoughto bringAlfred's ofEast Angliain 88o. and to establish and settle theDanish kingdom We do not,ofcourse, knowwhether new recruits from thehomeland the each but that we winter, against joined 'large army' possibility in battleand through must balance thecertainty oflosses illness. Had the'large army'of865 numbered onlya fewhundredmen,thenby 878 Guthrumcould scarcelyhave had more than one hundred veterans left. That suchtiny armiescould survive in enemy territory belief. yearin and yearout defies The armyof 865 introduced a new tacticto Vikingwarfare. For about a generation and previously Vikingarmieson the continent in Irelandhad concentrated their activities on a particular river basin and had used an islandsiteoff-shore or up-river as a permanent basewinter and for thesafe-keeping ofthetreasure and camp for quarters overseveralseasons.But the 865 army,likeits sucbootygathered cessoron the continent from 879 to 892, moved each autumnto a fresh or district where a new camp forthefolit established kingdom lowingyear.Moreoverthe'largearmy'of865 did notas a ruleconnew fortified struct camps.The siteschoseneach autumnwere not isolated islandsites, butroyal and administrative centres oftheAngloSaxon kingdoms: Yorkin 866-7, Nottingham in 867-8, York again in 868-9, Thetford in 869-70, Reading in 87o-1, London in 87 -2, in 872-3, Reptonin 873-4, Cambridge in 874-5, Wareham Torksey in 875-6, Exeterin 876-7, Chippenham in 877-8 and Cirencester in 879-88o.3 Most of theseplaces were chosenby the armyprecisely becausethey Thus in theautumnof867, when alreadyhad defences.
thatthisforce was led by Anwend, (Scandinavian Kings, 33 Smyth pp. 240-5) suggests Osceteland Guthrum, and thatit remained in England thereafter. But as Plummer force'suggests a distinction ii, 88) the phrase'summer argued (Two SaxonChronicles, in the Chronicler's mindbetweenarmiesthatremainedin England throughout the season. year and thosethatstayedonlyforthe summer campaigning 34Anglo-Saxon s.a. 866-88o. Chronicle,

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theDanish armytookup winter in the fortress of quarters (geweorc) it was able to defythe combinedbesieging armiesof Nottingham, theMercianand WestSaxon kings."In theautumnof875 theViking whichis dearmyevadedAlfred's armyand 'slippedinto'Wareham, scribed as a castellum.36 It maybe thatit was besetthere too, byAsser a year'sstayit made peace withAlfred, for after butthen'stoleaway' a new winterbase at Exeter.That it by coverof nightto establish was safein Warehamfrom could raiseat a any armywhichAlfred timeofhisownchoosing establishes thatthemassive defences primary of Wareham,whichthe archaeologists have onlyshownto be postinexistence in 875-6. Someofthe other winter Roman,7' werealready ofAnglo-Saxon campsofthe'large army'werealso boroughs origin whilstothers-York, London, Exeter and Cirencester-had walls from Romantimes. We shouldnotbe surprised tofind fortified dating in in the and for existence 86os boroughsalready 870s, 'boroughto buildand repairfortresses, had beenimposed theobligation work', in theMerciankingdom and in Wessex sincethemid-eighth century at leastsincethe850s.38 are notknown ButReadingand Chippenham a as burghalcentres, and each is describedby Asseras a villaregis, or a residence manor. have had Such centres of royal may degree but it is instructive thatReadingis the one winter protection, camp denovo; whichtheDanish largearmyof865 is known to havefortified for Asser howa vallum was dug from theThamesto theKendescribes vill a land attack.39 in the the net,thereby royal from protecting camp TheseDanishannualcampshad to be secureplacesto protect their and booty,theirfoodsuppliesand theirwoundedat times treasure whenthebulkofthearmywas out foraging, and terrorizing burning or fighting to raise.Had force which the local dare any kingmight themicel of865 been a force here ofonlya fewhundred men,it would often have been unable to maintainan effective guard on the 2180 ofRoman wall at Exeter,let alone the two milesor so (3200 m.) of the Roman defences centres of London.40 The size of the fortified
ed. Stevenson, LifeofAlfred, p. 36. For the date of the primary see 'Wareham West Walls', Mediaeval ramparts, iii (1959), 125-6, 130, 137, and D. Hinton,Alfred's Wessex and Kingdom: Archaeology,
3'
31

yards (1993 m.) ofthe rampartsat Wareham, or 2566 yards (2354 m.)

ed. Earle and Plummer, i, 70-I. 35Anglo-SaxonChronicle,

theSouth8o-i50oo

to D. Whitelock, ed. P. Studies theConquest: before Century presented England',England Clemoes and K. Hughes (Cambridge197i), pp. 69-84. 39 p. 27. LifeofAlfred,ed. Stevenson, of the ramparts at Wareham,see Anglo-Saxon ed. A. J. 40 For the length Charters, 'The Town Defences Robertson(Cambridge,i956), p. 495; forExeter,I. Burrow, of Exeter', Transactions cix (1977), 13-40; forLondon, Association, of theDevonshire Britain J. S. Wacher, The Towns ofRoman (London, 1974), p. 94-

(London 1977), PP- 33-5'The Developmentof MilitaryObligationsin Eighthand Ninth *8N. P. Brooks,

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ENGLAND IN THE NINTH CENTURY

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whichthe Vikingschose as winter quartersand as theirbases fora season would be unlessthe 'large' Danish inexplicable campaigning in thousands ratherthanhundreds. armieswere numbered of the betweenthe strategy There is herean instructive contrast In theautumnof872, here and thatofHasteinn'sLoireVikings. micel Hasteinn's of raidsfrom Noirmoutier, abandoningitsusual strategy set itswalls in orderand used it as armyseizedthetownofAngers, a winter campaignseason. It camp and as a base forthe following was apparently ofthe'largearmy'in England. thenewstrategy trying of873 Angers was besiegedby Charlesthe Bald But in thesummer and thearmy was eventually on terms thathalted forced to surrender itsraidingforsomenineyears.4' We have no reasonto supposethat thantheNorthumCharlestheBald was a moreeffective commander and /Elle, who attackedthe'large' Danish army briankings Osberht in York in 867, or Burgredof Mercia and the West Saxon king in 868. We who besiegedtheVikingarmyat Nottingham AEthelred, forceshould seen reasonto believe that Hatsteinn's have, however, be numbered in hundreds rather thanthousands. It may,therefore, have been thelargesize ofthearmyof 865 thatenabled it to adopt made possiblethe its new strategy, and indeed whichsubsequently and settlement of initial three conquest Englishkingdoms. Historians haveoften wondered whytheScandinaviansettlements in Englandprovedmoreeffective and lasting thantherepeated establishment of Danish forces in Frisia;42 part of the answermay lie in thefact thattheEnglish and initialsettlements werecarried conquests outbysignificantly armies.Foritwas notonlythe'large'Danlarger ish armyof865 whichsettled in England; the magnus exercitus which dominatednorthern Frankiafrom 879 to 892 onlydisbandedin 896 whenitsmembers settled in East Angliaand Northumbria. The Danish conquests and coloniesin England represented a major achievementand theymustalso have been a considerable strainon Danish resources. Without and manpower claimingan unrealistic precision withoutdenyingthat several importantViking armies probably a few numbered hundred seemsreasonable to accept men,it therefore thatthe'large' Danish armiesof 865 and 892 numbered a fewthousand. This helpsto explaintheshattering effect whichtheyachieved and thefact thatthey wereso seldomdecisively eventhough defeated, their of in in and policy remaining enemy territory year yearoutmade themmuchmorevulnerable thanthebrief 'hitand run' raidsofthe earlierninth-century Vikingarmies.43
41 42

227. ofour sourcesforthe earlierraids,below p. I4, n. 43But note the limitations 55.

Annales de St Bertin, s.a. 873, pp. 192-5. W. C. Braat,'Les Vikingsau paysde Frise',Annales de Normandie, iv (0957), 219-

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TRANSACTIONSOF THE ROYAL HISTORICAL SOCIETY

ed. Stevenson, is quotedby Fulk ownexplanation 44LifeofAlfred, pp. 8o-i. Alfred's in English Historical ofRheimsin a letter to theking(B.C.S., 555 (for556), translated see ed. D. Whitelock Documents (London, 1955),p. 814); fortheLudwigslied, 5oo-to42, ed. W. Braune,(I 5threv.ed. by E. A. Ebbinghaus, Althochdeutsches Lesebuch, Tiibingen, 1968), pp. I36-8. i (Rolls Series, Monachi S. Cutthberti, ed. T. Arnold, Omnia, Symeonis Opera 45 Historia
46 M. A. O'Donovan, 'An Interim of episcopaldates forthe provinceof revision 'The i (1972), 39-40; D. Whitelock, Canterbury, England, 850-950: partI', Anglo-Saxon caveat about age churchin East Anglia',ibid.,I8-22, has an important pre-Viking ofour knowledge. the limits Select Historical Documents (Camofthe 9thandiothCenturies 47 F. E. Harmer, English and theirdemise,see bridge,1913), no. VI, pp. 9-Io. For the Kentishmonasteries work,TheEarlyHistory ofCanterbury. oftheChurch my forthcoming ed. H. Sweet(Early Version Pastoral West Saxon 48 King Care, English Alfred's ofGregory's in Engl.Hist.Docs.i, p. 8 I8; Wallace Hadrill, Text Soc., o.s.,xlv,I871). p. 4; translated EarlyMedieval History, pp. 217-36.

was theeffect ofthesearmieson organizedreliEquallyshattering and on level of in the gion England. Writers literacy ninth-century likeAsser, orAlfred ortheauthor oftheLudwigslied himself, composed to celebrateLouis III's victory at Saucourt,saw theVikingsas the instruments ofGod's punishment ofan unworthy people.Holdingthis 'Old Testament' were not inclined to blame the they interpretation, forthe declinein monasticlifeand learning.They looked Vikings instead to the excessivecorrupting wealth of Englishmonasteries of earlierprean for the or attraction (itself Vikings) to the neglect homiletic But we beware their should of explanaadopting lates.44 and monasforthere is every reasonto supposethatchurches tions, and that the teries were the first of treasure-seeking target Vikings, theirin'large' Danish armiespillagedtheirwealthand terrorized matesfarmoresystemmatically than earlierforces. The Anglo-Saxon of churches and was not concerned to recordthe fortunes Chronicle ofthecommunity ofLindismonasteries. theflight Butifwe consider fame beforeHalfdan's army in 875,45or the demise of the East of Elmham and Dunwich with the consequent Anglianbishoprics or the disin break the East Anglian episcopal succession,46 long appearance fromrecordof the exposed Kentish 'monasteries'of Dover and FolReculver,Minster-in-Thanet, Minster-in-Sheppey, or the casual mention in thesecondhalfoftheninth kestone century, of St that benefactress a mid-ninth by century Augustine's herKentish of the heathenarmy (haeOen estatemightbe unable as a result folc) forone, two,threeor the agreedfood-rent to pay to the monastery Wallace-Hadrillthat we mayagreewithProfessor moreyears,47then whenhe spokeofthetimewhen'everyAlfred was notexaggerating thingwas ravagedand burnt'.4" The advantage of hindsight which enables the historianand settlers toseehowsoontheScandinavian adopteda way archaeologist

1882), 196-214.

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ENGLAND IN THE NINTH CENTURY

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our or partiallyChristian,49 can distort of lifethat was nominally Christhe Danish threat to if it leads us to minimize understanding If the East Anglianbishoprics came to an end in a kingdom tianity. Danish king(Guthrum/ thathad a Christian Ethelstan)as earlyas Is it a coincidence havesurvived 88o,wouldmonasteries any better? under and easternEngland brought thatin all thearea of northern dated before Danishrulethere are onlyeightcharters 900 whichhave documents;one was preserved any claimsto be based on authentic a group sevenform and theremaining at Christ Church, Canterbury, The unique survivalof this at Peterborough.so thatwere preserved and its houseofMedeshamstede from thepreeminent archivematerial servesto remindus at Breedon-on-the-Hill dependentmonastery in the Danelaw. elsewhere ofthetotalbreakin monastic continuity ofsaga and theobscurity rescuedfrom Dr. A. P. Smyth has recently of Christian the brutal dismemberment the tradition hagiographical and Eadmund of East Anglia, in the iElle of Northumbria kings, to thepagan god,O6inn.51 form oftheso-called 'blood-eagle'sacrifice This example was doubtlessintended'pour encouragerles autres' (that is Christian kingslike Burgredof Mercia and iEthelredand Alfred of Wessex) lesttheycontinueto resist;but it mustalso have led many Englishmento question the power of their Christian God. ofChristianity in thepopularity Concernfor thesurvival is evident oftheclausein charters theninth century bywhichrights throughout weregranted'as longas theChristian faith shouldlastin Britain'.52 It is notfanciful to see a similar in the decision-whosoever concern itwas-to translate adversus Orosius'sHistoriarum LibriSeptem Paganos into English.For Orosius'shorrible of of the the miseries catalogue in orderto dissuade Christians from pagan past had been written of the barbarianpagan abandoningtheirfaithunder the pressure assaultsupon thelate Roman world.Though the Englishtranslator
of the EasternDanelaw', Saga-Book 'The Conversion 49 D. Whitelock, oftheViking xii (i941), 159-76; D. M. Wilson'The Vikingrelationship Research, Society forNorthern British in northern withChristianity Association, ofthe Archaeological England',Journal 3rd ser.,xxx (1967), 437-47. at Peterborough charter is B.C.S., 414. The charters 50 The Canterbury preserved no. 7; theyweredisare B.C.S., 271, 454, 84o-3 and Robertson Charters, Anglo-Saxon cussedby F. M. Stenton, and itscolonies',Historical 'Medeshamstede EssaysinHonour and E. F. Jacob(Manchester, V. H. Galbraith Tait,ed. J.G. Edwards, 1933), ofJames
PP. 313-26. 51 ScandinavianKings, pp. 189-94 and 201-13. 52 B.C.S., 272-3, 289, 351, 360, 396, 406, 428, 434, 454, 495, 518 and 519 which

that the clause precedesthe Vikingincover the years793x6-868. The argument cursions B.C.S., 236 of the B.C.S., 231, and the uncertain dependsupon thespurious charters of Alfred's reignto attachany signifiyear780. There are too fewauthentic 868. cance to the absence of the clause after

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sometimes softened Orosius'srelentless polemicalthemeand cut it he could not removeit. The parallel betweenOrosius's ruthlessly,53 worldand the situation of ninth-century England was limitedbut obvious.Residualpagan practices the did not among Anglo-Saxons havethesamepull as theold Roman paganismofOrosius'sday, but the threat ofbeingoverwhelmed by pagan barbarianpeoples,and thedangerthatChristians and beliefs, would adopt pagan practices wereshareddangers. Indeed Pope Formosus claimedthathe had detheEnglishbishopsbecause of theirfailure cided to excommunicate to counter therevivalofpagan rites in their areas; he had onlybeen dissuadedwhenhe heardof the workof Archbishop Plegmundand his contemporaries.54 in Englanddependedupon thecontiofChristianity The survival and services were ofChristian institutions and, sincescriptures nuity in Latin, of Christianeducation.The decline in the standardsof and ninth oftheeighth indocuments isso evident written Latinwhich sincethegrowing be attributed to theVikings cannotsolely centuries of monasteries secularization undoubtedly played its part too. Sir FrankStenton out thatthedeclinein Latin was alreadyvery pointed evident in Canterbury ofthethird charters decade ofthe ninthcenhad in fact been time Kent But that Vikingattacks suffering tury. by tobelievethatVikingarmies and there isgoodreason for a generation, in fortified themselves had alreadybeen establishing camps,thatis out prolongedcampaignsin Kent theyhad already been carrying thatthesecutherefore It is possible rather than'hitand run'raids.55 was itself advanced by theVikingraids. ofthemonasteries larization In a famous wasat risk. passageofhisPreface Bythe87osbasicliteracy that Alfred recorded ofGregory's Pastoral version to hisEnglish Care, at hisaccession(871) therewere,so faras he could recall,veryfew mensouthoftheHumberand nonesouthoftheThames who could orevencomprehend in English Latinto English a letter from translate the meaningof their(Latin) services.56 ofthesituation a picture Thisclearstatement maypainttoogloomy
in D. Whiteand motives methods ofthetranslator's 53Thereisa valuablediscussion ofthetranslaoftheidentity lock,'ProseofAlfred's Reign',pp. 89-93. On theproblem ofOrosius',Anglia, Translation and theOld English see J.M. Bately, tor, 'King Alfred
lxxxviii (1970), 433-60.

theCanterbury wasonlypreserved amongst primacy 54B.C.S., 573.Thispapal letter has argued (Eng. Hist.Docs. i, p. 820) the early Whitelock but as Professor forgeries, of Formosus. partseemsto be acceptableas a letter Period Latin Charters (Oxford,1955), p. 40, citing ofthe Anglo-Saxon 55 F. M. Stenton, B.C.S., 370, of the year822. Evidenceforthe activity of'pagans', thatis Vikingsin centuries drawnfrom and early-ninth Kent in the late-eighth B.C.S., 848, 332, 335, in Brooks, 'MilitaryObligations', pp. 79-80. 348 and 380, is discussed 56 ed. H. in Eng. Hist.Docs. i, p. 818. Sweet,p. 2; translated

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15 in Mercia and especiallyat Worcester, but we would expectAlfred to have knownwhether therewereany literate menin Wessexitself. It is difficult to testhisasssertion of ninth-century giventhe scarcity booksand thedifficulty ofdatingor locatingthem.Butsome English on singlesheets ofparchment charters survive ninth-century fifty-two in whatappear to be contemporary or nearlycontemporary hands. No less than forty-four of thesewere fromthe archivesof Christ and amongst itis possible these toidentify the Church, Canterbury,57 workof nineteen scribeswho may be attributed to the Canterbury thescript or the internal eviscriptorium by reasonofthediplomatic, dence of the charters. For the first of the ninth forty years century Churchscribes a superbly mastered manyChrist calligraphic variety of the English pointed minuscule,and their Latin was at least thenormally formulaic contents ofa charter. In the85os adequate for and 86os,however, a few scribes continued to although producegood ofthis a widespread declinebecameapparent at Canexamples script, At thesame timethere was a deterioration in thegrammar, terbury. whilst the spellingof Latin wordswas invaded by the influence of vernacular on an scale. These pronunciation unprecedented developdocuments coincidedwiththeappearanceofa scribewhoseextant ments from and who soonbecame the spannedtheyears 855 to 87358 office. It is instructive that oftheCanterbury scribe writing principal work can he was thefirst whose be identified after scribe Canterbury in 85i by a partofthe Danish armywhich the sack of Canterbury had established We do not itself at Dorestadin the previous year.59 knowthefateofthecathedralat Canterbury, but it musthave been a maintarget that oftheVikingforce. The charter evidencesuggests theDanishraidhad madeitnecessary to introduce scribes to theCanwho weredemonstrably less adequatelytrained terbury community in the Latin language,and in spellingand script, than theirpredecessors. to linktheVikings with Here,at least,it wouldseempossible the declineoflearning. The last charter written scribebelongsto the by thisCanterbury
3. The charters from the Christ Church archives are B.C.S., 3o10, 312, 318-19, 321, 326, 332, 335, 341, 348, 353, 370, 373, 378, 380-81, 384, 400, 406, 421, 442, 448-9, 467, 496-7, 507, 515-16, 519, 536, 539, 562 and 576; Harmer, SelectEnglishHistoricalDocufromother archives are B.C.S., 152 (confirmation of c. 845), 339, 343, 416, 451, 480, 502 and 50o6.

ENGLAND IN THE NINTH CENTURY

in myunpublished 57The evidenceon whichthisparagraphis based was presented Oxford D. Phil.thesis ThePre-conquest Charters Church, ofChrist ( 1969),chapter Canterbury

nos. 1-5, 7, 9-io; Robertson, nos. 3 and 6. The charters ments, Charters, Anglo-Saxon

charters:- B.S.C., 467, 496-7, 507 and 536, and 51This scribewrotethefollowing nos. 4 (Lufu's confirmation Historical Documents, Harmer,Select only) and 5. English deStBertin, Chronicle, s.a. 850,pp. 59-6o. ButsincePrudens.a.; Annales 59Anglo-Saxon tiusherereports the Englishvictory underthe year 850, it may be that (i.e. Acleah) the whole of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle's annal for851 belongsto the earlieryear.

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active year873.60 Bythattimehe appearsto have beentheonlyscribe at Canterbury, and the charter and patheticdocuis a remarkable ment. The scribe's is notcapable ofadaptingtheformulae grammar of a royaldiploma into a charterby which archbishopand comThereare numerous alienatedone oftheir estates. corrections munity and interlineations are repeated himself; bythescribe bymisphrases are omitted, and finally thewitnesses ofan earliertranstake,others action are written twicewhilstthoseof the 873 grantare entirely omitted eventhough in thetext.The factthatin 873 the introduced on a man,whosesight had to rely church ofCanterbury metropolitan was apparently so thathe could no longersee what he had failing is a vividtestimony to thedeclinein thequalityofinstruction written, and to thecrisis ofliteracy. We maywellbelievethatat Canterthere a Latin letter understand was no one who could properly burythere at the beginning ofAlfred's or even the daily worship reign. thatthe Danish and cultural, Such thenwas the threat, military and dynasties thatEnglish armies kingdoms posed;itis notsurprising saw no thatyoungEnglishnoblesand freemen failedor submitted, and life and inadequatemonastic in an exposed, vulnerable attraction lookeddark.To meet and worship ofChristian belief thatthefuture measureswere necessaryand in Alfred's the crisisrevolutionary two revolutionary policies can be recognized-his edukingdom and hisburghal cationalprogramme policy-policiesthatwerewithout parallelin Europe and are not likelyto have been anticipated in theotherEnglishkingdoms. intoEnglish The revolutionary qualityofthedecisionto translate and ephemeral thelanguageofspeechand ofadministrative (hitherto thanoflearnedand sacredworks)thosepastoral, rather documents thatwere Fathers oftheChristian works and historical philosophical The been has to know' all men for 'mostnecessary appreciated. long Buland Professor Whitelock Professor as in the first instance, purpose a corpusofedifying was to provide loughhaverecently emphasized,61 and at episcopalcentres court availablebothat Alfred's works English nobles inyoung weretobe usedtoinstil thekingdom; they throughout to read Englishwell.Withthesetranslations theability and freemen a motive for thepiousand seriousthefirst time wasfor availablethere a foundation ofEnglish, minded knowledge laityto acquirea reading enthusiAlfred's be built. in Latin on whicha clergy might proficient to asm was thatof a man who came late and withgreatdifficulty
60 B.C.S., 536 (British Library, Stowe Ch. 19; W. B. Sanders, Facsimiles of Angloiii [Ordnance Survey, Southampton, 1884], no. I9). Saxon Manuscripts, 61

di studiodel Centro tradition fromAlfred to AElfric:teaching utriusque linguae',Settimane xix (1972), 455-60. italianodi studisull'alto medioevo,

'The educational 'ProseofAlfred's D. Whitelock, Reign',pp. 68-9; D. Bullough,

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we cannotbe surehow effective his programme scholarly pursuits; notjust to makesurethat it as an attempt was,butwe can recognize therewerelaymenwho could read hislaws or hiswill or his written werelaymen who had someunderstanding butalso thatthere orders, in supporting 'the ecclesiastical and someinterest ofChristian truths order'. writes Asser ofcities wasAlfred's burghal policy. Equallyambitious and ofothers whichAlfred had restored and towns(civitates eturbes) difficulties thathe had builton fresh sites;he tellsus,too,oftheking's the king's in persuading his bishops,ealdormenand noblesto fulfil and offorts whichwereunfinished whentheDanish orders, (castella) a record ofsucha half-built attacks The Chronicle came.62 preserves fort on theestuary oftheriverLimen (Rother)whenthelargearmy of 892 arrivedin East Kent. This was presumably one of thosein inthefollowing Asser's mindwhenhewaswriting year.A crashbuildthe years reign, ing programme duringthe centralyearsofAlfred's oflullinViking from was therefore of to activity 879 892, part Alfred's work.But it is not easy to identify the fortresses that he built.The and refuge needfor fortified centres as a defence againstVikingattack had been well understood, in partsofEnglandat least,sincethelast of Alfred'sreignall yearsof the eighthcentury. By the beginning in midlandand southern estates Englandhad longbeen requiredto mento perform We musttherefore beware provide 'borough-work'.63 to Alfred forts whichhappen to be first recordedin his attributing reignor in thatofhisson. Archaeological datingof the West Saxon is a seldom and is there to label boroughs precise, dangerous tendency forts as 'Alfredian' as at Wareham,Wallingford and Lydford, where, the archaeological evidence only establishesdefences as postWe shouldnotruleout thepossibility thatsomeoftheWest Roman.64 Saxonboroughs thatwerein existence in theearlytenth were century ofDark Age origin, and thatothers weretheworkofAlfred's immediate predecessors. But the strategy of the Vikingarmyof 865 had invalidatedthe forthe of fortified centres of refuge(Fluchtburgen); policy building before as it needed Danish had seized these them, large army boroughs was to instal solution the local populationcould fleethere.Alfred's
ed. Stevenson, LifeofAlfred, pp. 77-8. Brooks, 'MilitaryObligations',69-8464 'Alfredian' is asserted 'The later datingfortheseforts by C. C. Ralegh Radford, and theirdefences', Medieval xiv (1970), 81-102, pre-conquest boroughs Archaeology, and byD. M. Wilson, 'DefenceintheViking inEconomic andSocial Archaeoage', Problems ed. G. Sieveking, and K. E. Wilson,(London, I. H. Longworth logy, i976), pp. 439theonlyterminus isprovided mediter40. Butat Lydford post quem bya sherdofimported raneanpottery ofthe sixthcentury, and at Wallingford and Warehamby a handful of body sherdsthatmay as well be Dark Age as Middle Saxon.
62
63

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in theWestSaxon boroughs. The recordofDanish attacks garrisons on Alfred's from onwards showsthatfrom the siegeof kingdom 885 in thatyearit was no longerpossibleforDanish armies Rochester to 'slip into' the boroughs of Wessex.Rochester in 885, Exeterand a fort in north Devon (?Pilton) in 893, and Chichester in 894, were found to be defendedby burhwara, that is by inhabitants of the had arrangedthat boroughs.In 893, the Chronicletellsus, Alfred halfhis armyshouldbe alwaysat homeand halfon service'except forthosewho had to guard the boroughs'(butan monnum fiefa baem The implication healdan seemsto be thattheborough burga scolden).5 werepermanent and did notsharetheking'snew arrangegarrisons mentforhis troopsto be relievedby fresh ones. Be that as it may, in themilinewelement werean important bythatyearthegarrisons Men from the to situation. tary nearbyboroughshelped check the Danish partiesthatwenton sorties from theircamps in Kent; and 'who werethenat home at the laterin 893 an armyofking'sthegns fortresses' set out fromthe boroughsof Somerset,Wiltshireand theDanish armyat ButtMercia and besiegedand defeated English had homes that this time It would by ington. king'sthegns appear offixedresidence in theboroughs, thatis theyhad someform there. forthegarrisoning Details ofthearrangements (waru)and repair are containedin a famous oftheWestSaxon boroughs (wealstilling) document of Edward the Elder's reign known as the Burghal Here it is providedthatone man from everyhide ofland Hidage.66 WestSaxon boroughs, was togo for thedefence ofsomethirty making this is. We do notofcourseknowthepopulawhatan amazingfigure ruralpopuWessex.In DomesdayBooktherecorded tionofAlfredian lationoftheshires is 94,681. If coveredby theBurghalHidage forts we accept the multiplier of fiveforeach household,if we include and and sub-tenants, and ifwe allow foromissions tenants-in-chief an urbanpopulationofc. 50,000,we reacha totalpopulationfor for thisarea ofc. 56o,oooin Io86.67 We might expectthatthepopulation
'A' s.a. 894, ed. Earle and Plummer, i, 84. Chronicle, Anglo-Saxon in thehidagefigures ed. Robertson, Charters, Anglo-Saxon pp. 246-8.The variations are discussed in D. Hill, to different in thedifferent attributed boroughs manuscripts of a text',Medieval xiii (i969), 'The BurghalHidage: the establishment Archaeology,
65
66

a total garrisonof27,o7 I men. It has not been sufficiently appreciated

84-92.

67 My figures, whichincludeall theshires southof theThames (exceptKent) plus Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire, H. C. Darbyand R. WelldonFinn, aredrawnfrom TheDomesday (Cambridge,1967), and H. C. Darby ofSouth-West Geography England and E. M. J. Campbell, TheDomesday ofSouth-East Geography England (Cambridge, ofestimating totalpopulations from see Domesdayevidence, 1962). For theproblems H. C. Darby, Domesday (Cambridge 1977), pp. 87-91, and the worksthere England, and Society, cited. M. Postan ( The Medieval Economy (London, 1972), pp. 27-9) has sug-

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ENGLAND IN THE NINTH CENTURY

19

and eleventh centhetenth had grown ofWessex substantially during Butevenifithad remained the turies. static, Burghal Hidage garrisons almostone in fiveof the able-bodiedadult male would represent When we recallthatit is onlywithgeneralconscription population. and the two world wars of this centurythat modern states have oftheir achievedsucha proportion manpowerunderarms,we may to place on sought beginto appreciatetheheavyburdenthatAlfred his subjects.68 Historians ofcourse,be used withreserve. Such figures must, may the populationof England represented have underestimated by the the The BurghalHidage does notstatewhether Domesdaystatistics. servedpermen who went fromthe hides to defendthe boroughs a skeleton Butmodern ormerely manently garrison. helpedtoprovide of the West Saxon boroughssuggests archaeologicalinvestigation oftheChronicle thatthe'men thehints thatwe shouldtakeseriously and that king's who held the boroughs'were permanent residents, in ofout'at home' the seasons were settled Many boroughs. thegns haveestablished thatthatcity was transwork at Winchester standing in the lateryearsof the ninthcentury formed by the creationof a To the single more or less and elaborate new, regularstreet-system. added back thansixteen Street' were two more streets, 'High existing and an intra-mural street aroundtheentire circross-streets running Biddle has convincingly cuit of the walls. As Professor argued,the of streetwith about 8,ooo involvedin laying8.6 kilometres effort is inconceivable was to tonnesofknappedflints unlessthe intention a substantial in thetown.69 The installation ofa garsettle population risonof 2,400 men-the BurghalHidage figurefor Winchesterthe townon a scale could have providedan occasionforreplanning thatProfessor Biddle has shownto have takenplace, as well as the manpowerto achieveit. thelargest oftheBurghal We do notyetknowwhether Winchester, was typicalor exceptional. in the streetHidage forts, Irregularities and of otherlarge West Saxon boroughs plans bothof Winchester before thattheyare all the thatwe shouldhesitate accepting suggest an exercise in military and urban productof a deliberatecreation, evidenceforstreet-plans with planning.None the less the growing
underestimate the Englishpopulationin gestedthatall theseestimates mayseriously the late-eleventh century. in 1945,i.e. fromI in 5 to I in 2.5 of the able-bodiedadult male population.See D.
61

British armed forced in 1940 totalled 2,273,000

and rose to a peak of 5,098, Ioo

Butler and A. Sloman, British PoliticalFacts 1goo-1975 (4th ed., London, 1975), p. 371. (London, 1976), pp. 124-34-

li (1971), 69 M. Biddleand D. Hill, 'Late Saxon plannedtowns', Journal, Antiquaries ed. D. M. Wilson 70-85; M. Biddle,'Towns', TheArchaeology ofAnglo-Saxon England,

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20

TRANSACTIONS OF THE ROYAL HISTORICAL

SOCIETY

and forthe regularlay-outof akin to thatof Winchester elements timber housesand ancillary makesit increasingly difficult buildings, to resist the conclusion by Biddle and Hill thatAlfred put forward was attempting to establish townsand to create,in a fewyears,an and economy.70 thereis a great contrast urban tradition Certainly thesize ofmanyoftheWestSaxon boroughs and theseries between in the oftiny circular thecastella erected recensfacta, campsofrefuge, allies in Flandersas defences 88os by Alfred's against the Viking armies." Much morearchaeologicalworkis needed in otherWest we can be sure thatAlfred can be credited Saxon boroughs before with a major colonisingenterprise, a significant of redistribution newtowns. from toessentially Butalready thecountryside population size oftheBurghalHidage garrisons and we can see theremarkable as a radicaland effective to the oftheWestSaxon boroughs response ofthesecond bythe'large'Danisharmies military presented problems halfoftheninth West Saxon kingswould not have needed century. in some to bullyand persuade 27,000 men to committhemselves if the some and to defend out, thirty boroughs, repair capacity lay to no more amounted thatthey wouldeverneedto resist army largest thana fewhundredmen. evidencefor thatthe contemporary We may concludetherefore, thescale of Vikingarmiesand fortheirimpact on Englishpolitics Of coursein Englandas elseand culture needsto be takenseriously. fortheirown were capable of exaggerating where,contemporaries when they to roughestimates purposes;and ofcoursetheyresorted But where theycondid not have access to detailed information. armies as largeones,wherethestrategy certain distinguished sistently wheretheyparaofthese'large armies'itself implieslargenumbers, and wealthy kingdomsand lysed and overran long-established to historical we do no service ofChristianity, thesurvival threatened To do so is a blanket minimizing by interpretation. understanding taskand his achievement. to misunderstand Alfred's
reviewof the 70 Biddleand Hill, 'Planned Towns', p. 82-5. There is a morerecent evidencein Biddle,'Towns' (see note69 above). aan de vlaamseen de zeeuwsekust',Mede'De oudsteburchten 71 H. van Werweke,
xxvii vanBelgie (kl. Letteren), van de kon.vlaamseAcad. voorLett. en SchoneKunsten delingen en Belgique, pp. 1 16-24. (1965), fasc.i; D'Haenens, Invasionsnormandes

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