St. Brice's Day massacre

During the St. Brice's Day massacre on November 13, 1002 (the memorial day of St. Brictius ), the Danes living in England were killed on the orders of King Æthelred .

background

Since 997 there have been raids by Danish Vikings every year . The Vikings demanded ever higher tribute payments, the so-called Danegeld , which Æthelred was forced to pay because he could not defend himself against the attacks.

The St. Brice's Day massacre

When his advisors informed him in 1002 that the Danes in the Danelag had conspired against him, Æthelred ordered all Danes living in England to be killed.

The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle states: “The king ordered all Danes living in England to be killed on St Bricius' Day - November 13th - because he had learned that they had conspired with him and to kill his counselors and to appropriate his kingdom. "

A woman named Gunhilde, believed to be the sister of the Danish King Sven Gabelbart, was also probably killed in the massacre .

consequences

Æthelred's attempt to show strength against the Danish Vikings achieved just the opposite. So Sven now had a justification for conquering England, which he did with success in the following years. In 1013 he drove Æthelred to Normandy and was the de facto ruler of England until his death.

Historical-critical consideration

It is controversial to what extent the attack on the Danish settlers actually reached and whether the term massacre in this context is not more of an exaggeration. It is also assumed that it was not the Danes living directly in Danelag who were killed, but rather those who lived in the surrounding cities such as Oxford, Bristol and London.

Web links

A Brief History Of The Anglo-Danes

Individual evidence

^ ^A ^b Ryan Lavelle: Aethelred II: king of the English . The History Press, Stroud, Gloucestershire 2008, ISBN 978-0-7524-4678-3 .
↑ ^a ^b Arnulf Krause: The world of the Vikings . Campus, Frankfurt am Main 2006, ISBN 978-3-593-37783-4 .
^ Frank M. Stenton: Anglo-Saxon England . Oxford History of England. 3. Edition. Clarendon Press, Oxford 1971, ISBN 978-0-19-821716-9 .

[Lavelle-1] A ^b Ryan Lavelle: Aethelred II: king of the English . The History Press, Stroud, Gloucestershire 2008, ISBN 978-0-7524-4678-3 .

[Krause-2] Arnulf Krause: The world of the Vikings . Campus, Frankfurt am Main 2006, ISBN 978-3-593-37783-4 .

[3] Frank M. Stenton: Anglo-Saxon England . Oxford History of England. 3. Edition. Clarendon Press, Oxford 1971, ISBN 978-0-19-821716-9 .