Battle of Maldon
 
| |
Location of the city of Maldon in Great Britain
|
The Battle of Maldon took place on August 10, 991 near Maldon on the Blackwater River in Essex in eastern England .
It falls during the reign of King Æthelred . The Anglo-Saxons , led by Byrhtnoth and his Thanes , fought a Viking invasion . The battle ended in defeat for the Anglo-Saxons.
Sources
An account of the battle, enriched with many speeches to the warriors and other details, is preserved in an old English poem called The Battle of Maldon . A linguistic investigation suggests that the entire poem was originally transmitted orally, then in a lost manuscript in the East Saxon dialect. It survived as a text excerpt in the West Saxon form, possibly from a scribe working in the monastery of Worcester in the late 11th century. By chance it was added to a special manuscript, the Life of King Alfred von Asser.
There is also a report in a manuscript in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle , in which it is alleged that the leader of the Vikings was the Norwegian Olaf Tryggvason , whereas Symeon von Durham writes that Justin and Guthmund, the son of Steytan, were the military leaders this information may have been added later, when the facts were already forgotten. The size of the Viking force is estimated at 2,000 to 4,000 fighters. A 12th century source , the Liber Eliensis , written by the monks of Ely , suggests that only a small number of warriors were under Byrhtnoth's command: “He was neither unsettled by the small number of his men nor frightened by them the multitude of enemies. ”Not all sources mention such numerical inequality.
background
Due to its proximity to Scandinavia , the British Isles were often the target of Viking raids. From the 8th century, the attackers also began to conquer parts of eastern England and colonize them; the area that was in the hands of the Norsemen was later Danelaw called because there the right ( law ) was predominantly Danish Northmen. At the beginning of the 10th century, this area was recaptured by King Edward , but the Vikings resumed their raids. As part of one of these raids, the Battle of Maldon took place; that the attackers were after prey, not land, can be seen from the speech of the Viking negotiator in The Battle of Maldon : "we willað wið þam golde grið fæstnian", d. H. "With the gold we will conclude a truce with you." (Vs. 36)
Noblemen like the Anglo-Saxon leader Byrhtnoth were representatives of the king and were entrusted with the task of protecting the coasts from attacks. The rank of ealdorman he inherited from his father made him in command of his household power and a bevy of peasants from the area who were armed when attacked.
course
According to a manuscript of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle , the Vikings had 2,000 to 4,000 fighters.
The Battle of Maldon depicts the battle as follows: The Anglo-Saxons, dismounted from their horses, reject the offer of the Viking negotiator who has come to the banks of the Blackwater to buy peace with gold. The Vikings, who have landed on an island in the river, hesitate to attack, as wading in the water or on a narrow land bridge would offer an easy target for the spears and arrows of the Anglo-Saxons who are occupying the river bank. Byrhtnoth then gives them safe conduct to dry land. In the fight that now follows, Byrhtnoth falls under the swords of the Vikings, whereupon many of his followers turn to flee. The remaining warriors fall next to the body of their master.
consequences
In the Tiberius manuscript of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle , the battle is placed in a larger context. There it says in the entry for the year 991:
- Her wæs Gypeswic gehergod, 7 æfter þæm swyðe raþe wæs Byrihtnoð ealdorman ofslagan æt Meldune. 7 on þam geare man gerædde þæt man geald ærest gafol Deniscum mannum for þam myclan brogan þe hi worhton be þam særiman, þæt wæs ærest .x. þusend punda. Þæne ræd gerædde ærest Syric arcebisceop.
- Then Ipswich was sacked. Very soon afterwards, the ealdorman Byrhtnoth was killed at Maldon. And that year it was decided to pay tribute to the Vikings for the great horror they brought upon the coast; this was initially 10,000 pounds. Archbishop Sigerīc was the first to decide on this matter.
Since 992 at the latest it has become clear that the trains were targeted, concentrated raids by the Norwegian Olaf Tryggvason and the Danish king Svein Gabelbart .
See also
swell
- anonymous, Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
- Symeon of Durham , Historia regum Anglorum et Dacorum
- Liber Eliensis
Web links
- The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle in Project Gutenberg (English)
- Symeon von Durham , Translator: J. Stevenson: The Historical Works of Simeon of Durham . In: Church Historians of England, volume III, part II . Seeley's. 1855. Retrieved October 3, 2009.
Individual evidence
- ↑ EVGordon, The Battle of Maldon (London, 1968) p 38
- ^ Symeon of Durham , Historia regum Anglorum et Dacorum
- ↑ Rudolf simek: The Vikings, 1998, CH Beck, ISBN 978-3-406-41881-5 , p. 57
Coordinates: 51 ° 42 ′ 55 ″ N , 0 ° 42 ′ 3 ″ E