Viking Age Yorkshire

Viking Age Yorkshire Synopsis

In 866, the city of York was captured by a 'Great Army' of Viking warriors. Ten years later, according to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, the Viking army made the transition from warfare to settlement, as their leader 'shared out the land of the Northumbrians, and they proceeded to plough and to support themselves'. This conquest and settlement marked the beginning of two centuries of Scandinavian dominance in Yorkshire, a defining period in the county's history. Viking kings reigned in York until 954, when the last Scandinavian ruler, Eric Bloodaxe, was driven out and killed. But even after Yorkshire had come under the rule of the southern kings of England, Scandinavian culture remained extremely strong, and imparted a distinctive and enduring character to the region.