Viking raids

Raids by seaborne Scandinavian pirates on sites in Britain,

especially largely undefended monastic sites, began at the end of
the eighth century AD.
By the end of the ninth century there were large-scale settlements
of Scandinavians in various parts of Britain, and they had achieved
political domination over a significant territory.
Early in the 11th century the king of Denmark became king of
England as well. And in 1066 there were separate invasions by the
king of Norway, Harald Hardrada, and duke of Normandy, William,
the latter the descendant of Scandinavian settlers in northern
France.

Many monasteries in the north were destroyed, and with

them any records of the raids.

Yet the most significant development of the period was an indirect

result of Scandinavian involvement in the affairs of Britain - the
emergence of two kingdoms of newly unified territories, England
and Scotland.
In 793 AD, an anguished Alcuin of York wrote to the Higbald, the
bishop of Lindisfarne and to Ethelred, King of Northumbria,
bemoaning the unexpected attack on the monastery of Lindisfarne
by Viking raiders, probably Norwegians sailing directly across the
North Sea to Northumbria.
It is clear from the letter that Lindisfarne was not destroyed. Alcuin
suggested that further attack might be averted by moral reform in
the monastery.
Over the next few decades, many monasteries in the north were
destroyed, and with them any records they might have kept of the
raids. We know no historical details of the raids in Scotland,
although they must have been extensive.
Iona was burnt in 802 AD, and 68 monks were killed in another raid
in 806 AD. The remaining monks fled to Kells (County Meath,
Ireland) with a gospel-book probably produced in Iona, but now
known as the 'Book of Kells'.
Other monasteries in Scotland and northern England simply
disappear from the record. Lindisfarne was abandoned, and the
monks trailed around northern England with their greatest
possession, the relics of St Cuthbert, until they found a home in
Durham in 995 AD.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/vikings/overview_vikings_01.
shtml

The first place the Vikings raided in Britain was the

monastery at Lindisfarne, a small holy island
located off the northeast coast of England. Some of
the monks were drowned in the sea, others killed or
taken away as slaves along with many treasures of
the church.
The raid on Lindisfarne marks the start of the
Viking migration from Scandinavia in 793.

The Vikings came across the North Sea, just as the

Anglo-Saxons had done 400 years earlier. In time,
like the Anglo-Saxons, the Vikings made their
home here. They drove the Saxons out of part of the
country and took it for themselves.
King Alfred, Saxon king of Wessex, fought them in a
great battle, but he could not drive them right away
and had to let them have part of the country, called
Danelaw.