Scandinavian York ( non, Jórvík) Viking Yorkshire or Norwegian York is a term used by historians for the south of
Northumbria
la, Regnum Northanhymbrorum
, conventional_long_name = Kingdom of Northumbria
, common_name = Northumbria
, status = State
, status_text = Unified Anglian kingdom (before 876)North: Anglian kingdom (af ...
(modern-day
Yorkshire
Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...
) during the period of the late 9th century and first half of the 10th century, when it was dominated by Norse warrior-kings; in particular, it is used to refer to
York
York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...
, the city controlled by these kings.
Norse monarchs controlled varying amounts of Northumbria from 875 to 954; however, the area was invaded and conquered for short periods by Anglo-Saxons between 927 and 954 before eventually being annexed by them in 954. It was closely associated with the much longer-lived
Kingdom of Dublin
Vikings invaded the territory around Dublin in the 9th century, establishing the Norse Kingdom of Dublin, the earliest and longest-lasting Norse kingdom in Ireland. Its territory corresponded to most of present-day County Dublin. The Norse refe ...
throughout this period.
History
![England Great Army map](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/35/England_Great_Army_map.svg)
York had been founded as the
Roman
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...
legionary fortress of ''
Eboracum
Eboracum () was a fort and later a city in the Roman province of Britannia. In its prime it was the largest town in northern Britain and a provincial capital. The site remained occupied after the decline of the Western Roman Empire and ultimate ...
'' and revived as the
Anglo-Saxon
The Anglo-Saxons were a Cultural identity, cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo- ...
trading port of ''Eoforwic''. It was first captured in November 866 by
Ivar the Boneless
Ivar the Boneless ( non, Ívarr hinn Beinlausi ; died c. 873), 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 Ragnar Loðbrok and his wife Aslau ...
, leading a large army of
Danish
Danish may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark
People
* A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark
* Culture of Denmark
* Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...
Vikings, called the "
Great Heathen Army
The Great Heathen Army,; da, Store Hedenske Hær also known as the Viking Great Army,Hadley. "The Winter Camp of the Viking Great Army, AD 872–3, Torksey, Lincolnshire", ''Antiquaries Journal''. 96, pp. 23–67 was a coalition of Scandin ...
" by Anglo-Saxon chroniclers, which had landed in
East Anglia
East Anglia is an area in the East of England, often defined as including the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire. The name derives from the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the East Angles, a people whose name originated in Anglia, in ...
and made their way north, aided by a supply of horses with which King
Edmund of East Anglia
Edmund the Martyr (also known as St Edmund or Edmund of East Anglia, died 20 November 869) was king of East Anglia from about 855 until his death.
Few historical facts about Edmund are known, as the kingdom of East Anglia was devastated by t ...
bought them off and by civil in-fighting between royal candidates in the
Anglian Kingdom of
Northumbria
la, Regnum Northanhymbrorum
, conventional_long_name = Kingdom of Northumbria
, common_name = Northumbria
, status = State
, status_text = Unified Anglian kingdom (before 876)North: Anglian kingdom (af ...
between the leaders of its two sub-kingdoms;
Bernicia
Bernicia ( ang, Bernice, Bryneich, Beornice; la, Bernicia) was an Anglo-Saxon kingdom established by Anglian settlers of the 6th century in what is now southeastern Scotland and North East England.
The Anglian territory of Bernicia was ap ...
and
Deira
Deira ( ; Old Welsh/Cumbric: ''Deywr'' or ''Deifr''; ang, Derenrice or ) was an area of Post-Roman Britain, and a later Anglian kingdom.
Etymology
The name of the kingdom is of Brythonic origin, and is derived from the Proto-Celtic *''daru' ...
. Declaring a truce, the rivals for the throne of Northumbria joined forces but failed to retake the city in March 867, and with their deaths Deira came under
Danish
Danish may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark
People
* A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark
* Culture of Denmark
* Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...
control as the Kingdom of Northumbria and the Northumbrian royal court fled north to refuge in Bernicia.
A Viking attempt against
Mercia
la, Merciorum regnum
, conventional_long_name=Kingdom of Mercia
, common_name=Mercia
, status=Kingdom
, status_text=Independent kingdom (527–879)Client state of Wessex ()
, life_span=527–918
, era=Heptarchy
, event_start=
, date_start=
, ye ...
the same season failed, and in 869 their efforts against Wessex were fruitless in the face of opposition from Kings
Ethelred and
Alfred the Great
Alfred the Great (alt. Ælfred 848/849 – 26 October 899) was King of the West Saxons from 871 to 886, and King of the Anglo-Saxons from 886 until his death in 899. He was the youngest son of King Æthelwulf and his first wife Osburh, who bot ...
. The archbishop,
Wulfhere
Wulfhere or Wulfar (died 675) was King of Mercia from 658 until 675 AD. He was the first Christian king of all of Mercia, though it is not known when or how he converted from Anglo-Saxon paganism. His accession marked the end of Oswiu of North ...
, seems to have temporised and collaborated with the Norse, for he was expelled from York when a Northumbrian uprising in 872 was only temporarily successful; he was recalled and held his seat until his death. The Viking king
Guthred
Guthred Hardacnutsson (Old Norse: ''Guðrøðr''; la, Guthfridus; born c.844 – died 24 August 895 AD) was the Christian king of Viking Northumbria from circa 883 until his death.
Life
Kings of Northumbria in the Norse era
The first known ...
was buried in York Minster, a signal that he and the archbishop had reached a lasting accommodation. All the Viking coinage appears to have emanated from the mint at York, a mark of the city's unique status in Northumbria as an economic magnet. York's importance as the seat of Northumbria was confirmed when the Scandinavian warlord,
Guthrum
Guthrum ( ang, Guðrum, c. 835 – c. 890) was King of East Anglia in the late 9th century. Originally a native of what is now Denmark, he was one of the leaders of the "Great Summer Army" that arrived in Reading, Berkshire, Reading during April ...
, headed for East Anglia, while
Halfdan Ragnarsson
Halfdan Ragnarsson ( non, Hálfdan; oe, Halfdene or ''Healfdene''; sga, Albann; died 877) was a Viking leader and a commander of the Great Heathen Army which invaded the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England, starting in 865.
One of six sons of Ra ...
seized power in 875.
[Haywood (1995), p. 70.]
Native Danish rulers who eventually made
Jelling
Jelling is a railway town in Denmark with a population of 3,658 (1 January 2022), located in Jelling Parish, approximately 10 km northwest of Vejle. The town lies 105 metres above sea level.
Location
Jelling is located in Vejle municipalit ...
in
Jutland
Jutland ( da, Jylland ; german: Jütland ; ang, Ēota land ), known anciently as the Cimbric or Cimbrian Peninsula ( la, Cimbricus Chersonesus; da, den Kimbriske Halvø, links=no or ; german: Kimbrische Halbinsel, links=no), is a peninsula of ...
the site of
Gorm the Old
Gorm the Old ( da, Gorm den Gamle; non, Gormr gamli; la, Gormus Senex), also called Gorm the Languid ( da, Gorm Løge, Gorm den Dvaske), was ruler of Denmark, reigning from to his death or a few years later.Lund, N. (2020), p. 147 's kingdom, were in the East Anglian kingdom. The
Five Burghs
The Five Boroughs or The Five Boroughs of the Danelaw were the five main towns of Danish Mercia (what is now the East Midlands). These were Derby, Leicester, Lincoln, Nottingham and Stamford. The first four later became county towns.
Establ ...
/Jarldoms were based upon the
Kingdom of Lindsey
The Kingdom of Lindsey or Linnuis ( ang, Lindesege) was a lesser Anglo-Saxon kingdom, which was absorbed into Northumbria in the 7th century. The name Lindsey derives from the Old English toponym , meaning "Isle of Lind". was the Roman name of th ...
and were a sort of frontier between each kingdom. King
Canute the Great
Cnut (; ang, Cnut cyning; non, Knútr inn ríki ; or , no, Knut den mektige, sv, Knut den Store. died 12 November 1035), also known as Cnut the Great and Canute, was King of England from 1016, King of Denmark from 1018, and King of Norway ...
would later "reinstall" a
Norwegian
Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to:
*Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe
* Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway
* Demographics of Norway
*The Norwegian language, including ...
dynasty of
jarl
Jarl is a rank of the nobility in Scandinavia. In Old Norse, it meant "chieftain", particularly a chieftain set to rule a territory in a king's stead. ''Jarl'' could also mean a sovereign prince. For example, the rulers of several of the petty k ...
s in Northumbria (
Eric of Hlathir
The given name Eric, Erich, Erikk, Erik, Erick, or Eirik is derived from the Old Norse name ''Eiríkr'' (or ''Eríkr'' in Old East Norse due to monophthongization).
The first element, ''ei-'' may be derived from the older Proto-Norse ''* ain ...
), with a Danish dynasty of jarls in East Anglia (
Thorkel Thorkel or Thorkell (Þórkæll / Þorkell) is an Old Norse masculine personal name. Among the more famous holders of the name are:
*Thorkel of Namdalen, ninth-century jarl and father of Ketil Trout.
*Thorkell Súrsson, tenth-century Icelander and ...
). Northern England would continue to be a source of intrigue for the Norwegians until
Harald III of Norway
Harald Sigurdsson (; – 25 September 1066), also known as Harald III of Norway and given the epithet ''Hardrada'' (; modern no, Hardråde, roughly translated as "stern counsel" or "hard ruler") in the sagas, was King of Norway from 1046 to ...
's death at the
Battle of Stamford Bridge
The Battle of Stamford Bridge ( ang, Gefeoht æt Stanfordbrycge) took place at the village of Stamford Bridge, East Riding of Yorkshire, in England, on 25 September 1066, between an English army under King Harold Godwinson and an invading N ...
in 1066 just prior to the
Battle of Hastings
The Battle of Hastings nrf, Batâle dé Hastings was fought on 14 October 1066 between the Norman-French army of William the Conqueror, William, the Duke of Normandy, and an English army under the Anglo-Saxons, Anglo-Saxon King Harold Godw ...
and the
Norman conquest
The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Norman, Breton, Flemish, and French troops, all led by the Duke of Normandy, later styled William the Conque ...
.
The Old Norse placename ''Konungsgurtha'', Kings Court, recorded in the late fourteenth century in relation to an area immediately outside
the site of the ''porta principalis sinistra'', the east gatehouse of the Roman encampment, perpetuated today as
King's Square, which nucleates the
Ainsty
The Ainsty or the Ainsty of York was a historic district of Yorkshire, England, west of the city of York. Originally a wapentake or subdivision of the West Riding of Yorkshire it later had a unique status as a rural area controlled by the corpo ...
, perhaps indicates a Viking royal palace site based on the remains of the east gate of the Roman fortress. New streets, lined by regular building fronts for timber houses were added to an enlarging city between 900 and 935, dates arrived at by tree-ring chronology carried out on remaining posts preserved in anaerobic clay subsoil.
With the violent death of the last King of York,
Eric Bloodaxe
Eric Haraldsson ( non, Eiríkr Haraldsson , no, Eirik Haraldsson; died 954), nicknamed Bloodaxe ( non, blóðøx , no, Blodøks) and Brother-Slayer ( la, fratrum interfector), was a 10th-century Norwegian king. He ruled as King of Norway from ...
, in 954, the Viking kingdom was fully absorbed into England. After the Kingdom of Northumbria was remerged (by now an Earldom of England under the
House of Wessex
The House of Wessex, also known as the Cerdicings and the West Saxon dynasty, refers to the family, traditionally founded by Cerdic of Wessex, Cerdic, that ruled Wessex in Southern England from the early 6th century. The house became dominant in so ...
), the title King of Jórvík became redundant and was succeeded by the title
Earl of York
In Anglo-Saxon England, the Earl of York or Ealdorman of York was the ruler of the southern half of Northumbria. The titles ealdorman and earl both come from Old English. The ealdormanry (earldom) seems to have been created in 966 following a peri ...
, created in 960. Loss of political independence did not cramp the region's economic success: by ''ca'' 1000, the urban boom brought the city to a population total second only to that of London within Great Britain.
Although some of the early Earls of York were Nordic like the Jórvík Kings, they were succeeded by
Normans
The Normans (Norman language, Norman: ''Normaunds''; french: Normands; la, Nortmanni/Normanni) were a population arising in the medieval Duchy of Normandy from the intermingling between Norsemen, Norse Viking settlers and indigenous West Fran ...
after the Norman conquest.
William the Conqueror
William I; ang, WillelmI (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), usually known as William the Conqueror and sometimes William the Bastard, was the first House of Normandy, Norman List of English monarchs#House of Norman ...
ended the region's last vestiges of independence and established garrisoned castles in the city. The Earldom of York was abolished by
King Henry II.
Aftermath
Between 1070 and 1085, there were
occasional attempts by the Danish Vikings to recapture their Kingdom of Jórvík; however, these attempts did not materialise into the return of the kingdom.
The title
Duke of York
Duke of York is a title of nobility in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. Since the 15th century, it has, when granted, usually been given to the second son of English (later British) monarchs. The equivalent title in the Scottish peerage was Du ...
, a title of
nobility
Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy (class), aristocracy. It is normally ranked immediately below Royal family, royalty. Nobility has often been an Estates of the realm, estate of the realm with many e ...
in British
peerage
A peerage is a legal system historically comprising various hereditary titles (and sometimes non-hereditary titles) in a number of countries, and composed of assorted noble ranks.
Peerages include:
Australia
* Australian peers
Belgium
* Belgi ...
, was created in 1341, but was merged with the Crown when the 4th Duke became
King Edward IV
Edward IV (28 April 1442 – 9 April 1483) was King of England from 4 March 1461 to 3 October 1470, then again from 11 April 1471 until his death in 1483. He was a central figure in the Wars of the Roses, a series of civil wars in Englan ...
. Subsequently, the title of Duke of York has usually been given to the second son of the King or Queen.
Kings of Jórvík
Archaeological findings
From 1976 to 1981, the
York Archaeological Trust
The York Archaeological Trust for Excavation and Research Limited (YAT) is an educational charity, established in 1972 in the city of York, England. It carries out archaeological investigations, fieldwork, excavation and research in York, Yo ...
conducted a five-year
excavation in and around the street of
Coppergate
Coppergate is a street in the city centre of York, in England. The street runs north-east from the junction of Castlegate, Nessgate, King Street and Clifford Street, to end at the junction of Pavement, Piccadilly, Parliament Street and High ...
in central York. This demonstrated that, in the 10th century, Jórvík's trading connections reached to the
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
and beyond: a cap made of silk survives, and coins from
Samarkand
fa, سمرقند
, native_name_lang =
, settlement_type = City
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from the top:Registan square, Shah-i-Zinda necropolis, Bibi-Khanym Mosque, view inside Shah-i-Zinda, ...
were familiar enough and respected enough for a counterfeit to have passed in trade. Both these items, as well as a large human
coprolite
A coprolite (also known as a coprolith) is fossilized feces. Coprolites are classified as trace fossils as opposed to body fossils, as they give evidence for the animal's behaviour (in this case, diet) rather than morphology. The name is de ...
known as the
Lloyds Bank coprolite, were famously recovered in York a millennium later.
Amber
Amber is fossilized tree resin that has been appreciated for its color and natural beauty since Neolithic times. Much valued from antiquity to the present as a gemstone, amber is made into a variety of decorative objects."Amber" (2004). In Ma ...
from the
Baltic
Baltic may refer to:
Peoples and languages
* Baltic languages, a subfamily of Indo-European languages, including Lithuanian, Latvian and extinct Old Prussian
*Balts (or Baltic peoples), ethnic groups speaking the Baltic languages and/or originati ...
is often expected at a Viking site and at Jórvík an impractical and presumably symbolic axehead of amber was found. A
cowrie
Cowrie or cowry () is the common name for a group of small to large sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the family Cypraeidae, the cowries.
The term ''porcelain'' derives from the old Italian term for the cowrie shell (''porcellana'') d ...
shell indicates contact with the
Red Sea
The Red Sea ( ar, البحر الأحمر - بحر القلزم, translit=Modern: al-Baḥr al-ʾAḥmar, Medieval: Baḥr al-Qulzum; or ; Coptic: ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϩⲁϩ ''Phiom Enhah'' or ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϣⲁⲣⲓ ''Phiom ǹšari''; T ...
or the
Persian Gulf
The Persian Gulf ( fa, خلیج فارس, translit=xalij-e fârs, lit=Gulf of Persis, Fars, ), sometimes called the ( ar, اَلْخَلِيْجُ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Khalīj al-ˁArabī), is a Mediterranean sea (oceanography), me ...
. Christian and
pagan
Paganism (from classical Latin ''pāgānus'' "rural", "rustic", later "civilian") is a term first used in the fourth century by early Christians for people in the Roman Empire who practiced polytheism, or ethnic religions other than Judaism. ...
objects have survived side-by-side, usually taken as a sign that Christians were not in positions of authority.
After the excavation, the York Archaeological Trust took the decision to recreate the excavated part of Jórvík on the Coppergate site, and this is now the
Jorvik Viking Centre
The Jorvik Viking Centre is a museum and visitor attraction in York, England, containing lifelike mannequins and life-size dioramas depicting Viking life in the city. Visitors are taken through the dioramas in small carriages equipped with spea ...
.
See also
*
Coppergate Helmet
The Coppergate Helmet (also known as the York Helmet) is an eighth-century Anglo-Saxon helmet found in York, England. It was discovered in May 1982 during excavations for the Jorvik Viking Centre at the bottom of a pit that is thought to have on ...
*
Ebrauc
The history of York, England, as a city dates to the beginning of the first millennium AD but archaeological evidence for the presence of people in the region of York dates back much further to between 8000 and 7000 BC. As York was a town i ...
*
Harrying of the North
The Harrying of the North was a series of campaigns waged by William the Conqueror in the winter of 1069–1070 to subjugate northern England, where the presence of the last House of Wessex, Wessex claimant, Edgar Ætheling, had encouraged An ...
*
History of York
The history of York, England, as a city dates to the beginning of the first millennium AD but archaeological evidence for the presence of people in the region of York dates back much further to between 8000 and 7000 BC. As York was a town i ...
*
Raven banner
The raven banner ( non, hrafnsmerki ; enm, hravenlandeye) was a flag, possibly totemic in nature, flown by various Viking chieftains and other Scandinavian rulers during the 9th, 10th and 11th centuries. The flag, as depicted in Norse artwork, ...
*
Uí Ímair
The Uí Ímair (; meaning ‘''scions of Ivar’''), also known as the Ivar Dynasty or Ivarids was a royal Norse-Gael dynasty which ruled much of the Irish Sea region, the Kingdom of Dublin, the western coast of Scotland, including the Hebrides ...
References
Bibliography
*
External links
Brenda Ralph Lewis & David Nash Ford, "York: Viking Times"
{{Scandinavian England , state=expanded
954 disestablishments
Anglo-Norse England
Former countries in the British Isles
History of York
History of Yorkshire
Viking Age populated places
States and territories established in the 870s
Kingdom of Norway (872–1397)
875 establishments