Editing Danelaw (section)

==Background==
[[File:England Grosses Heer 892.jpg|thumb|left|Map of England showing the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms and Danish districts – from ''Cassell's History of England,'' Vol. I – anonymous author and artists]]

===Scandinavian York===
{{main|Scandinavian York}}
From around 800, there had been waves of [[Norsemen|Norse]] raids on the coastlines of Britain and Ireland. In 865, instead of raiding, the Danes landed a large army in [[East Anglia]], with the intention of conquering the four Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England. The armies of various Danish leaders had collaborated to make one combined force under a leadership that included [[Halfdan Ragnarsson]] and [[Ivar the Boneless]], the sons of the legendary Viking leader [[Ragnar Lodbrok]].<ref name=sawyer52>Sawyer. ''The Oxford Illustrated History of the Vikings.'' pp. 52–55 {{ISBN?}}</ref> The combined army was described in the annals as the [[Great Heathen Army]].<ref name=asc865>ASC 865&nbsp;– English translation at [http://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/657/pg657.html project Gutenberg] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201005201716/http://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/657/pg657.html/ |date=5 October 2020 }}. Retrieved 16 January 2013</ref> After making peace with the [[Kingdom of East Anglia|local East Anglian king]] in return for horses,{{Citation needed|date=October 2024|reason=reference in third paragraph of this section states the EA King (Edmund) was defeated two years later, and article on Edmund does not mention an initial peace or providing horses to the Norse}} the Great Heathen Army moved north. In 867 they captured Northumbria and its capital, [[York]] ("Jórvík"), defeating both the recently deposed King [[Osberht of Northumbria]] and the usurper [[Ælla of Northumbria]]. The Danes then placed an Englishman, [[Ecgberht I of Northumbria]], on the throne of Northumbria as a [[puppet state|puppet]] ruler.<ref>Flores Historiarum: Rogeri de Wendover, ''Chronica sive flores historiarum'', pp. 298–299. ed. H. Coxe, [[Rolls Series]], 84 (4 vols, 1841–42)</ref>

King [[Æthelred of Wessex]] and his brother, [[Alfred the Great|Alfred]], led their army against the Danes at [[Nottingham]], but the Danes refused to leave their fortifications. King [[Burgred of Mercia]] negotiated peace with Ivar, with the Danes keeping Nottingham in exchange for leaving the rest of Mercia alone.

Under Ivar the Boneless, the Danes continued their invasion in 869 by defeating King [[Edmund the Martyr|Edmund of East Anglia]] at [[Hoxne]] and conquering East Anglia.<ref>Haywood, John. ''The Penguin Historical Atlas of the Vikings'', p. 62. Penguin Books. 1995. {{ISBN?}}</ref> Once again, the brothers Æthelred and Alfred attempted to stop Ivar by attacking the Danes at [[Reading, Berkshire|Reading]]. They were repelled with heavy losses. The Danes pursued, and on 7 January 871, Æthelred and Alfred defeated the Danes at the [[Battle of Ashdown]]. The Danes retreated to [[Old Basing|Basing]] (in [[Hampshire]]), where Æthelred attacked and was, in turn, defeated. Ivar was able to follow up this victory with another in March at [[Battle of Marton|Meretum]] (now Marton, [[Wiltshire]]).

On 23 April 871, King Æthelred died and Alfred succeeded him as King of Wessex. His army was weak and he was forced to pay tribute to Ivar in order to make peace with the Danes. During this peace, the Danes turned to the north and attacked Mercia, a campaign that lasted until 874. The Danish leader Ivar died during this campaign. Ivar was succeeded by Guthrum, who finished the campaign against Mercia. In ten years, the Danes had gained control over East Anglia, Northumbria and Mercia, leaving just Wessex resisting.<ref>Carr, Michael. "Alfred the Great Strikes Back", p. 65. ''Military History Journal''. June 2001.</ref>

Guthrum and the Danes brokered peace with Wessex in 876, when they captured the fortresses of [[Wareham, Dorset|Wareham]] and [[Exeter]]. Alfred laid siege to the Danes, who were forced to surrender after reinforcements were lost in a storm. Two years later, Guthrum again attacked Alfred, surprising him by attacking his forces wintering in [[Chippenham]]. King Alfred was saved when the Danish army coming from his rear was destroyed by inferior forces at the [[Battle of Cynuit]].<ref name=abels153>{{Cite book|last=Abels|first=Richard|title=Alfred the Great: War, Kingship and Culture in Anglo-Saxon England|publisher=Routledge|location=Abingdon|year=1998|isbn=0-582-04047-7 |pages=153–154}}</ref><ref name=asc878>ASC 878&nbsp;– English translation at [http://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/657/pg657.html project Gutenberg] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201005201716/http://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/657/pg657.html/ |date=5 October 2020 }}. Retrieved 9 June 2014</ref> The modern location of ''Cynuit'' is disputed but suggestions include Countisbury Hill, near [[Lynmouth]], [[Devon]], or Kenwith Castle, [[Bideford]], Devon, or [[Cannington, Somerset|Cannington]], near [[Bridgwater]], [[Somerset]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Kendrick|first=T.D.|title= A History of the Vikings|location=New York|publisher= Charles Scribner's Sons|year= 1930|page=238|oclc=314512470}}</ref> Alfred was forced into hiding for a time, before returning in early 878 to gather an army and attack Guthrum at [[Battle of Edington|Edington]]. The Danes were defeated and retreated to Chippenham, where King Alfred laid siege and soon forced them to surrender. As a term of surrender, King Alfred demanded that Guthrum be [[Baptism|baptised]] a Christian; King Alfred served as his [[Godparent|godfather]].<ref>Hadley, D. M. ''The Northern Danelaw: Its Social Structure, c. 800–1100''. p. 310. Leicester University Press. 2000. {{ISBN?}}</ref>

[[Edward the Elder]] and his sister, [[Æthelflæd]], the Lady of the Mercians, conquered Danish territories in the [[The Midlands|Midlands]] and East Anglia in a series of campaigns in the 910s, and some Danish [[Earl|jarls]] who submitted were allowed to keep their lands.<ref>Lesley Abrams, 'Edward the Elder's Danelaw', in N. J. Higham & D. H. Hill eds, ''Edward the Elder 899–924'', Routledge, 2001, pp. 138–139</ref> Viking rule ended when [[Eric Bloodaxe]] was driven out of Northumbria in 954.

The reasons for the waves of immigration were complex and bound to the political situation in Scandinavia at that time; they occurred when Viking settlers were also establishing their presence in the [[Hebrides]], [[Isle of Man]], [[Orkney]], [[Shetland]], [[Faroe Islands]], [[Ireland]], [[Iceland]], [[Greenland]], [[L'Anse aux Meadows]], France ([[Normandy]]), the Baltics, Russia and Ukraine (see [[Kievan Rus']]).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://viking.hgo.se/Files/VikHeri/Viking_Age/expansion.html|title=The Viking expansion|website=hgo.se|access-date=27 March 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090512165332/http://viking.hgo.se/Files/VikHeri/Viking_Age/expansion.html|archive-date=12 May 2009|url-status=dead}}</ref>