Editing Anglo-Saxons (section)

==== West Saxon hegemony and the Anglo-Scandinavian Wars (793–878) ====
{{Main|Viking Age|Danelaw}}[[File:Exhibition in Viking Ship Museum, Oslo 01.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|The [[Oseberg ship]] prow, [[Viking Ship Museum (Oslo)|Viking Ship Museum]], Oslo, Norway.]]
During the 9th century, [[Wessex]] rose in power, from the foundations laid by [[Egbert of Wessex|King Egbert]] in the first quarter of the century to the achievements of [[Alfred the Great|King Alfred the Great]] in its closing decades. The outlines of the story are told in the ''[[Anglo-Saxon Chronicle]]'', though the annals represent a West Saxon point of view.<ref>Dumville, David N., Simon Keynes, and Susan Irvine, eds. The Anglo-Saxon chronicle: a collaborative edition. MS E. Vol. 7. Ds Brewer, 2004.</ref> On the day of Egbert's succession to the kingdom of Wessex, in 802, a Mercian ealdorman from the province of the [[Hwicce]] had crossed the border at [[Kempsford]], with the intention of mounting a raid into northern [[Wiltshire]]; the Mercian force was met by the local ealdorman, "and the people of Wiltshire had the victory".<ref>Swanton, Michael (1996). The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. New York: Routledge. {{ISBN|978-0-415-92129-9}}.</ref> In 829, Egbert went on, the chronicler reports, to conquer "the kingdom of the Mercians and everything south of the Humber".<ref name="Whitelock, Dorothy 1965">Whitelock, Dorothy, ed. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. Eyre and Spottiswoode, 1965.</ref> It was at this point that the chronicler chooses to attach Egbert's name to Bede's list of seven overlords, adding that "he was the eighth king who was [[Bretwalda]]".<ref>Bede, Saint. The Ecclesiastical History of the English People: The Greater Chronicle; Bede's Letter to Egbert. Oxford University Press, 1994.</ref> [[Simon Keynes]] suggests Egbert's foundation of a 'bipartite' kingdom is crucial as it stretched across southern England, and it created a working alliance between the West Saxon dynasty and the rulers of the Mercians.<ref>Keynes, Simon. "Mercia and Wessex in the ninth century." Mercia. An Anglo-Saxon Kingdom in Europe, ed. Michelle P. Brown/Carol Ann Farr (London 2001) (2001): 310–328.</ref> In 860, the eastern and western parts of the southern kingdom were united by agreement between the surviving sons of [[Æthelwulf of Wessex|King Æthelwulf]], though the union was not maintained without some opposition from within the dynasty; and in the late 870s King Alfred gained the submission of the Mercians under their ruler [[Æthelred, Lord of the Mercians|Æthelred]], who in other circumstances might have been styled a king, but who under the Alfredian regime was regarded as the 'ealdorman' of his people.

[[File:Viking weight combined only reflection.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|Anglo-Saxon-Viking [[Coin weights|coin weight]]. Material is lead and weighs approx 36&nbsp;g. Embedded with a [[sceat]] dating to 720–750 AD and minted in Kent. It is edged with a dotted triangle pattern. Origin is the northern [[Danelaw]] region, and it dates from the late 8th to 9th century.]]

The wealth of the monasteries and the success of Anglo-Saxon society attracted the attention of people from mainland Europe, mostly Danes and Norwegians. Because of the plundering raids that followed, the raiders attracted the name [[Viking]] – from the Old Norse ''víkingr'' meaning an expedition – which soon became used for the raiding activity or piracy reported in western Europe.<ref>Sawyer, Peter Hayes, ed. Illustrated history of the Vikings. Oxford University Press, 2001</ref> In 793, [[Lindisfarne]] was raided and while this was not the first raid of its type it was the most prominent. In 794, Jarrow, the monastery where [[Bede]] wrote, was attacked; in 795 [[Iona]] in Scotland was attacked; and in 804 the nunnery at [[Lyminge]] in Kent was granted refuge inside the walls of Canterbury. Sometime around 800, a Reeve from [[Isle of Portland|Portland]] in Wessex was killed when he mistook some raiders for ordinary traders.

Viking raids continued until in 850, then the ''Chronicle'' says: "The heathen for the first time remained over the winter". The fleet does not appear to have stayed long in England, but it started a trend which others subsequently followed. In particular, the army which arrived in 865 remained over many winters, and part of it later settled what became known as the [[Danelaw]]. This was the "[[Great Heathen Army|Great Army]]", a term used by the ''Chronicle'' in England and by Adrevald of Fleury on the Continent. The invaders were able to exploit the feuds between and within the various kingdoms and to appoint puppet kings, such as Ceolwulf in Mercia in 873 and perhaps others in Northumbria in 867 and East Anglia in 870.<ref name="Whitelock, Dorothy 1965" /> The third phase was an era of settlement; however, the "Great Army" went wherever it could find the richest pickings, crossing the [[English Channel]] when faced with resolute opposition, as in England in 878, or with famine, as on the Continent in 892.<ref name="Whitelock, Dorothy 1965" /> By this stage, the Vikings were assuming ever increasing importance as catalysts of social and political change. They constituted the common enemy, making the English more conscious of a national identity which overrode deeper distinctions; they could be perceived as an instrument of divine punishment for the people's sins, raising awareness of a collective Christian identity; and by 'conquering' the kingdoms of the East Angles, the Northumbrians and the Mercians, they created a vacuum in the leadership of the English people.<ref>Coupland, Simon. "The Vikings in Francia and Anglo-Saxon England to 911." The New Cambridge Medieval History 2 (1995): 190–201.</ref>

Danish settlement continued in Mercia in 877 and East Anglia in 879–80 and 896. The rest of the army meanwhile continued to harry and plunder on both sides of the Channel, with new recruits evidently arriving to swell its ranks, for it clearly continued to be a formidable fighting force.<ref name="Whitelock, Dorothy 1965" /> At first, Alfred responded by the offer of repeated tribute payments. However, after a decisive victory at Edington in 878, Alfred offered vigorous opposition. He established a chain of fortresses across the south of England, reorganised the army, "so that always half its men were at home, and half out on service, except for those men who were to garrison the burhs",<ref>Anglo-Saxon Chronicle s.a. 893</ref><ref name="Whitelock, Dorothy 1965" /> and in 896 ordered a new type of craft to be built which could oppose the Viking [[longship]]s in shallow coastal waters. When the Vikings returned from the Continent in 892, they found they could no longer roam the country at will, for wherever they went they were opposed by a local army. After four years, the Scandinavians therefore split up, some to settle in Northumbria and East Anglia, the remainder to try their luck again on the Continent.<ref name="Whitelock, Dorothy 1965" />