Editing Danelaw (section)

==Chronology==
'''793''' − Viking raid on Lindisfarne<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Viking Raid on Lindisfarne |url=https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/lindisfarne-priory/History/viking-raid/ |url-status=live |website=English Heritage |access-date=13 April 2023 |archive-date=8 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230408053931/https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/lindisfarne-priory/History/viking-raid/ }}</ref>

'''800''' − Waves of Danish assaults on the coastlines of the British Isles.

'''865''' − Danish raiders first began to settle in England. Led by the brothers Halfdan and Ivar the Boneless, they wintered in East Anglia, where they demanded and received tribute in exchange for a temporary peace. From there, they moved north and attacked Northumbria, which was in the midst of a civil war between the deposed king Osberht and a usurper Ælla. The Danes used the civil turmoil as an opportunity to capture York, which they sacked and burned.

'''867''' − Following the loss of York, Osberht and Ælla formed an alliance against the Danes. They launched a counter-attack, but the Danes killed both Osberht and Ælla and set up a puppet king on the Northumbrian throne. In response, King Æthelred of Wessex, along with his brother Alfred, marched against the Danes, who were positioned behind fortifications in Nottingham, but were unable to draw them into battle. In order to effect peace, King Burgred of Mercia ceded Nottingham to the Danes in exchange for leaving the rest of Mercia undisturbed.

'''868''' − Danes captured [[Nottingham]].

'''869''' − Ivar the Boneless returned and demanded tribute from King Edmund of East Anglia.

'''870''' − King Edmund refused Ivar's demand. Ivar defeated and captured Edmund at Hoxne, adding East Anglia to the area controlled by the invading Danes. King Æthelred and Alfred attacked the Danes at Reading, but were repulsed with heavy losses. The Danes pursued them.

'''871''' − On 7 January, Æthelred and Alfred made their stand at Ashdown (on what is the Berkshire/North Wessex Downs now in Oxfordshire). Æthelred could not be found at the start of battle, as he was busy praying in his tent, so Alfred led the army into battle. Æthelred and Alfred defeated the Danes, who counted among their losses five [[Jarl (title)|jarls]] (nobles). The Danes retreated and set up fortifications at [[Old Basing|Basing]] ([[Basingstoke]]) in Hampshire, a mere {{convert|14|mi|km}} from Reading. Æthelred attacked the Danish fortifications and was routed. The Danes followed up with another victory in March at Meretum (now Marton, Wiltshire).

King Æthelred died on 23 April 871 and Alfred took the throne of Wessex. For the rest of the year Alfred concentrated on attacking with small bands against isolated groups of Danes. He was moderately successful in this endeavour and was able to score minor victories against the Danes, but his army was on the verge of collapse. Alfred responded by paying off the Danes for a promise of peace. During the peace, the Danes turned north and attacked Mercia, which they finished off in short order, and captured London in the process. King Burgred of Mercia fought in vain against Ivar the Boneless and his Danish invaders for three years until 874, when he fled to Europe. During Ivar's campaign against Mercia, he died and was succeeded by Guthrum the Old. Guthrum quickly defeated Burgred and placed a puppet on the throne of Mercia. The Danes now controlled East Anglia, Northumbria and Mercia, with only Wessex continuing to resist.

'''875''' − The Danes settled in [[Dorset]], well inside Alfred's Kingdom of Wessex, but Alfred quickly made peace with them.

'''876''' − The Danes broke the peace when they captured the fortress of Wareham, followed by a similar capture of Exeter in 877.

'''877''' − Alfred laid in a siege, while the Danes waited for reinforcements from Scandinavia. Unfortunately for the Danes, the fleet of reinforcements encountered a storm and lost more than 100 ships, and the Danes were forced to return to East Mercia in the north.

'''878''' − In January, Guthrum led an attack against Wessex that sought to capture Alfred while he wintered in Chippenham. Another Danish army [[Viking expansion#Wales|landed in south Wales]] arrived and moved south with the intent of intercepting Alfred should he flee from Guthrum's forces. However, they stopped during their march to capture a small fortress at Countisbury Hill, held by a Wessex [[ealdorman]] named [[Odda, Ealdorman of Devon|Odda]]. The Saxons, led by Odda, attacked the Danes while they slept and defeated their superior forces, saving Alfred from being trapped between the two armies. Alfred was forced to go into hiding for the rest of the winter and spring of 878 in the Somerset marshes in order to avoid the superior Danish forces. In the spring, Alfred was able to gather an army and attacked Guthrum and the Danes at Edington. The Danes were defeated and retreated to Chippenham, where the English pursued and laid siege to Guthrum's forces. The Danes were unable to hold out without relief and soon surrendered. Alfred demanded, as a term of the surrender, that Guthrum become baptised as a Christian, which Guthrum agreed to do, with Alfred acting as his godfather. Guthrum was true to his word and settled in East Anglia, at least for a while.

'''Between 886{{efn|name=Wedmore}} and 890,{{sfn|Yorke|2014|p=228}}''' − The [[Treaty of Alfred and Guthrum]] formally comes into action, establishing the boundaries of the Danelaw and allowed for Danish self-rule in the region.<ref name=attenbborough96 />

'''902''' − [[Essex]] submitted to [[Æthelwold of Wessex|Æthelwald]].

'''903''' − Æthelwald incited the East Anglian Danes into breaking the peace. They ravaged Mercia before winning a [[pyrrhic victory]] that saw the death of Æthelwald and the Danish King Eohric; this allowed [[Edward the Elder]] to consolidate power.

'''911''' − The English defeated the Danes at the [[Battle of Tettenhall]]. The Northumbrians ravaged Mercia but were trapped by Edward and forced to fight.

'''917''' − In return for peace and protection, the Kingdoms of Essex and East Anglia accepted Edward the Elder as their [[Suzerainty|suzerain]] overlord.

Æthelflæd, Lady of the Mercians, took the [[borough]] of Derby.

'''918''' − The borough of Leicester submitted peaceably to Æthelflæd's rule. The people of York promised to accept her as their overlord, but she died before this could come to fruition. She was succeeded by her brother, the Kingdoms of Mercia and Wessex united in the person of King Edward.

'''919''' − Norwegian Vikings under King Ragnvald Sygtryggsson of [[Dublin]] took York.

'''920''' − Edward was accepted as father and lord by the King of the Scots, by Rægnold, the sons of [[Eadulf I of Bernicia|Eadulf]], the English, Norwegians, Danes and others all of whom dwelt in Northumbria and the King and people of the [[Kingdom of Strathclyde|Strathclyde]] Welsh.

'''954''' − King Eric was driven out of Northumbria, his death marking the end of the prospect of a Northern Viking Kingdom stretching from York to Dublin and the Isles.

'''1002''' – [[St. Brice's Day massacre]] of the Danes

'''1066''' − [[Harald Hardrada]] landed with an army, hoping to take control of York and the English crown. He was defeated and killed at the [[Battle of Stamford Bridge]]. This event is often cited as the end of the Viking era. The same year, [[William the Conqueror]], himself a descendant of Vikings, successfully took the English throne and became the first Norman king of England.

'''1069''' − [[Sweyn II of Denmark]] landed with an army, in much the same way as Harald Hardrada. He took control of York after defeating the Norman garrison and inciting a local uprising. King William eventually defeated his forces and devastated the region in the [[Harrying of the North]].

'''1075''' − One of Sweyn's sons, [[Canute IV of Denmark|Cnut]], set sail for England to support an English rebellion, but it had been crushed before he arrived, so he settled for plundering the city of York and surrounding area, before returning home.<ref name=sawyer17>{{Cite book|last=Sawyer|first=Peter |title=The Oxford Illustrated History of the Vikings |location=Oxford|year=2001|edition=3rd|publisher= OUP|isbn=0-19-285434-8|pages=17–18}}</ref>

'''1085''' − Cnut, now king, assembled a fleet for a major invasion against England. Informed of his planned crossing, William hurried back to England to prepare a defence, but internal threats forced Cnut to cancel his plan.<ref>{{cite book|last=Bates |first=David |authorlink=David Bates (historian) |title=William the Conqueror|pages=457-459 |publisher=Yale University Press |location =New Haven, Connecticut |year=2016|isbn=978-0-300-23416-9}}</ref> Other than [[Eystein II of Norway]] taking advantage of the [[The Anarchy|civil war]] during [[King Stephen of England|Stephen's reign]], to plunder the east coast of England,<ref>{{Cite book|last=Forte|first=Angello|title=Viking Empires|publisher=Cambridge University Press|location=Cambridge|year=2005|isbn=0521829925|page=216}}</ref>&nbsp;there were no serious invasions or raids of England by the Danes after this.<ref name=sawyer17 />