Month: September 2016

216 – The Great Heathen Army: Always Be Prepared

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Click here to go the Summary of Zee’s PhD that I talked about.

We are coming to a major turning point in the story of Britain.The Anglo Saxon kingdoms never had a chance of turning the Great Heathen Army back, and now it looks like they’re here to stay. There’s no denying it anymore. But that’s as much a problem to solve for the Danes as it is for the Anglo Saxons. What happens when you’re no longer invaders, but rulers? History as we know it is littered with empires that fail right at this point, when they switch from the the activity of conquering to the business of governance.

This is also a major new problem for one of the last independent Anglo Saxon kings.

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215 – King Burgred and the end of the Danish Sausage Fest

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It’s 873 and so far Halfdan has extracted THREE Danegelds from King Burgred in exchange for promising to not occupy Mercia. And, of course, he’s gone on to occupy Mercia… most recently in a town called Torksey. He also put down a rebellion in Jorvik and reclaimed the city. He pushed King Ricsige of Northumbria beyond the Tyne, effectively demoting him to King Ricsige of Bernicia. And now, he was marching (or potentially rowing) towards Repton, which was also in Mercia.

Burgred couldn’t catch a break with this guy.

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214 – National Lampoon’s Viking Vacation

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It’s 872 and Halfdan’s year has been a bit of a mixed bag. On the one hand, he had received a major Danegeld from Mercia, to add to the one he received from Wessex in the previous year. And now he was residing within London. But on the other hand, he had just gotten word that his northern kingdom had exploded into rebellion and now some guy named Ricsige had claimed the title of King… and Halfdan’s handpicked puppets, King Ecgberht and Archbishop Wulfred, were running south. Probably, in search of Halfdan’s protection.

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