The Forgotten Viking War That Helped Unite England

The video begins by recalling the previous episode, which covered the Battle of Brunanburh, the largest clash of 10th-century Britain. According to the narrator, King Æthelstan had decisively defeated the Vikings and secured control over northern England. But when he died, the Vikings returned to England's shores, starting a war that lasted a generation.

At the centre of the conflict was York. The question was whether it would become an independent Viking realm or fall to the English kingdom. The narrator explains that the war was fought in an unusual way: "Large pitched battles were mostly avoided; instead, it was fought through raids, counter-raids, ambushes, threats, deception, and alliance building." Territory was won and lost through speed, forced surrenders and the shifting allegiances that followed a king's death.

The narrator describes this as a often-forgotten 15-year war and the final stage of the House of Wessex's attempts to bring all of England under its control. It is presented as a reminder that England was forged not only by unifying various groups but also by long-fought wars and conquest.

The narrator sets the scene in 939, when King Æthelstan died at Gloucester at the age of 45. In a 15-year reign, he was the first to bring all of England under his rule, and kings from Wales, Strathclyde and Scotland had submitted to him. Even when his vassals turned against him by siding with the Vikings, he had still defeated them at Brunanburh.

He died unmarried and without children, leaving two younger brothers, Edmund and Eadred, as his heirs. The narrator notes that Edmund had been groomed for rule for several years and at the age of 16 had proved himself in battle, leading troops at Brunanburh against the Scots and Vikings. At 18, Edmund was raised to his brother's throne and crowned at Kingston-upon-Thames.

The new king was not readily accepted in the north. The old kingdom of Northumbria now comprised two provinces: Bamburgh, an English lordship that hated the Vikings and was friendly to the House of Wessex, and York, a former Viking kingdom conquered by Æthelstan in 927 that had remained a reluctant part of the English kingdom. The narrator says only fear of Æthelstan had kept York loyal, and Edmund was not yet the mighty warlord his brother had been.

In the winter of 939, the leading men of York assembled, nostalgic for the days when York had stood at the head of a great Viking empire dominating the Irish Sea in union with the kingdoms at Mann and Dublin. They decided again to separate from English rule and invited the Viking King of Dublin, Olaf Guthrithson, to rule over them.

The narrator outlines why York wished to remain separate. It was still a great prize for any 10th-century warlord, guarded by old Roman walls, and a trading town second only to London in Britain, connected to Viking networks running from Dublin to Kyiv. It traded in amber, furs, weapons, whetstones, slaves, textiles and jewellery. A contemporary described York as "the metropolis of the Northumbrians, once nobly built and strongly walled…and filled with the wealth of merchants from all parts, especially merchants of Danish origin." Its merchants favoured independence over the tolls and taxes that came with English rule.

The most powerful figure in York was its Archbishop, Wulfstan, an Englishman, a stout defender of the northern church and a wily politician, willing to ally with anyone to stop Canterbury's power spreading northwards. Olaf was warmly welcomed at York in the final weeks of 939.

More detail: The video describes York's Norse warrior elite as having long regarded the English as their chief rivals.

More detail: Wulfstan is characterised as willing to ally with anyone to halt Canterbury's influence in the north.

Olaf's ambitions went beyond York. The narrator says he wished to return to the days of his great-grandfather, Ivar the Boneless, when all of England's eastern territories came under Viking rule. With the men of Dublin, York and the surrounding lands united under his banner, he marched south early in 940.

Fortress after fortress fell to him without a fight: Lincoln, Derby, Leicester, Nottingham and Stamford. He reached as far as Northampton, but when he met resistance and could not expand his new kingdom further, he turned west. He plundered Tamworth, Mercia's ancient capital, in a purely symbolic raid that showed the lords of the Midlands that Edmund could not protect their most prestigious town.

The narrator says Edmund was slow to raise an army and consolidate his rule at first, but the young king eventually gathered the men of the south and proved a skilled commander. The Vikings had split their forces into small raiding parties, but Olaf himself was stationed at Leicester. Edmund brought his whole army there, outnumbering Olaf and putting the town under siege.

Deception and surprise were used by both sides. Olaf used the cover of night to quietly slip out of Leicester and evade Edmund's army. The narrator adds that both kings were young warriors from great dynasties of victorious warlords, and neither wanted a stalemate.

The narrator states that reason then prevailed, because the chief counsellors of both kings were leading churchmen. Olaf was assisted by Wulfstan, Archbishop of York, and Edmund by Oda, Bishop of Ramsbury. The two prelates persuaded their masters to negotiate peace and agree on a mutual border. For Edmund, this quieter period let him consolidate his rule and enjoy peace for the first time since he inherited the crown. For Olaf, the narrator suggests, one war had ended and he began looking for the next.

After peace was agreed with the south, Olaf turned north in search of plunder. In 941 he invaded the lands of Bamburgh and raided its churches, including Lindisfarne and Tynninghame. The Viking leader died while fighting there, a death the narrator says had huge consequences for York.

Olaf's cousin, Olaf Sihtricson, was named York's new king. The narrator says he was likely a veteran of the campaigns at Brunanburh in 937 and York in 939, but was less capable and less ruthless than his predecessor.

Edmund seized the opportunity that the transition in power provided, just as the Viking had done to him. In 942 he struck at York's newly won eastern lands and, with its army scattered, retook the fortresses of the East Midlands. The narrator says the English now saw the young hero of Brunanburh re-emerge, and poets hailed him as "the brave Edmund" and the "doer of necessary deeds."

Olaf's answer was to sue for peace to avoid further losses. To many in York, however, this was a weak response, and they gathered around an alternative rival king: Ragnall, the brother of the first King Olaf.

In 943 both Olaf and Ragnall visited the English court separately, presenting themselves as the more favourable neighbour, and both were baptised in a bid to win Edmund's support. The narrator says Edmund proved a shrewder plotter than them both. He had been biding his time, sowing division and waiting for the moment to strike, and he began secret talks with the powerful Archbishop Wulfstan, who was tired of the squabbling of Viking warlords. Edmund won him over.

By 944, with an army from Mercia and Wessex, Edmund stormed forth and captured York. Ragnall, leading the defence, was slaughtered in the assault. Olaf fled and found refuge in Strathclyde.

With command of northern England, Edmund set about refashioning the region to protect his kingdom. His first target was Strathclyde, whose ruler, King Dyfnwal, refused to end his alliance with the Vikings. Edmund invaded in 945, forcing both kings to flee. Rather than keep Strathclyde for himself, he handed it over to the new King of the Scots, Malcolm, who swore in exchange to provide military support if the Vikings returned to York.

The narrator describes this as a clear break from Æthelstan's approach to the north, since Æthelstan had humiliated the Scots and pushed them into the arms of the Vikings, helping cause the bloody conflict at Brunanburh. Edmund, himself a veteran of that campaign, treated the Scots as junior partners in an anti-Viking alliance. The narrator says it looked like a sensible and lasting solution to Anglo-Scottish disputes in the north, but it was not to be.

In the spring of 946 the king withdrew to Pucklechurch to celebrate the festival of Saint Augustine, a rare moment for him to set aside his kingly duties. A notorious thief, Leofa, slipped into the king's hall and was recognised by the king's steward, who demanded he leave. When Leofa refused, a brawl broke out. Edmund intervened to help his servant, and in the chaos Leofa stabbed and killed the king.

The narrator notes that Edmund was 25 and had already imposed his authority over Britain. He left two sons, Eadwig and Edgar, but both were infants, so the throne passed to his younger brother, Eadred.

Eadred was only 23 and a capable soldier, but he suffered from a mysterious digestive illness. A contemporary observed: "At mealtimes, he would suck the juice out of his food, chew what was left of it for a little and then spit it out: a practice that often turned the stomachs of the thegns dining with him." The narrator says that as a young man his illness was episodic and did not stop him from being the warrior-king England needed.

Like his brothers, Eadred was crowned at Kingston-upon-Thames. Welsh kings, Archbishop Wulfstan of York and Osulf, Lord of Bamburgh, attended, all demonstrating their submission. The narrator describes it as the first national coronation of an English monarch, with all regions of the kingdom represented.

The following year Eadred rode north with an army to Tanshelf to receive pledges of loyalty from the remaining lords and bishops of the north. After the meeting the king marched south, contented, but the narrator says that with his back turned the northerners proved false to their word.

Late in 947, the Norse prince and adventurer Erik Bloodaxe led his fleet up the River Humber, offering to restore the Kingdom of York, and Wulfstan agreed. The narrator explains that this was part of a long-standing grudge with the House of Wessex. Erik had briefly been King of Norway, earning his nickname for killing his brothers to secure his throne. One brother, Prince Haakon, had been fostered at the English court and returned home supported by the English and his brother's enemies, taking the crown and forcing Erik into exile. Erik had since lived as a raider. A Norse saga described him as "a stout handsome man, strong, and very manly, - a great and fortunate man of war; but bad-minded, gruff, unfriendly, and silent".

Erik was once again at York in his former royal position, and Eadred immediately marched north. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle reports: "King Eadred harried the whole land of the Northumbrians, because they had taken Eric for their king; and then, during the pillage, the great minster at Ripon was burnt." The narrator says the raid, in line with the Wessex-York wars, avoided direct conflict with Erik and was meant to show his inability to defend his new kingdom. It was also a targeted punishment of Wulfstan's disloyalty, since Ripon Minster was one of the most important sites in the northern church.

Erik answered with trickery. As Eadred began to retreat, Erik quietly crept up on the English army and, at Castleford, as the English crossed the River Calder, ambushed their rear guard. The English were cut off from the main force and almost every man was killed.

King Eadred was furious after the ambush, but the narrator says he now reached for the pen instead of the sword, writing to the leading men of York and demanding they abandon Erik or face another devastating raid across their kingdom. The northern nobles, seeking to preserve what was left of their estates, withdrew support for Erik, who was forced into exile again. York surrendered to Eadred, gold and silver were given as tribute, and Eadred returned south.

The narrator notes that leaving York unattended was a mistake. In 949 Wulfstan, for the third time, proved unfaithful to the House of Wessex by inviting King Olaf back from Dublin to restore York's independence. Eadred's response was not a northern campaign, raiding or threats. The narrator suggests he may simply have grown tired of constant marching and fighting without reward.

York remained chaotic. Its focus turned north as it fought Strathclyde, Scotland and Bamburgh, and amid this chaos Erik returned and toppled Olaf in 952. Wulfstan, aware of Eadred's hatred for Erik Bloodaxe, travelled south to negotiate with the English, perhaps hoping for recognition of Erik's rule or at least a peace treaty.

Eadred instead ordered Wulfstan seized, named him a traitor and held him prisoner. The narrator says that away from his homeland Wulfstan could no longer plot, and York was robbed of its most experienced political leader, who had long been the power behind the throne.

The narrator links Eadred's inactivity to his health. His illness grew more severe in his thirties. He appears to have become increasingly immobile, and one chronicler described the king as weak or disabled in both feet. Royal charters from 953 suggest he was too ill or physically unable to attend council meetings, so daily governance was left to his chief counsellors, including Æthelstan, Ealdorman of East Anglia, whose followers called him 'the Half-king'; Dunstan, Abbot of Glastonbury; and Oda, the former right-hand man of King Edmund, now Archbishop of Canterbury.

The king's failing health made it impossible for him to lead an army against Erik, but the north was already stirring against him under Lord Osulf of Bamburgh, perhaps supported by southern troops as well as Erik's Viking rivals led by Earl Maccus, a son of King Olaf. In 954 Erik was forced to flee York, marching northwest in hope of quietly reaching the northern isles he had come from. He was caught by the armies chasing him, and the two sides clashed at Stainmore, where the last king of York was defeated and killed in battle.

Osulf then formally recognised Eadred as his king and was named Ealdorman of all Northumbria. The narrator presents this as the apparent permanent solution to Viking York: empowering other, more loyal northerners to govern on behalf of their southern overlords, who shared a desire to keep the Vikings out.

For those living in the former kingdom of York, the period had been chaotic, confusing and violent, with power changing hands ten times in 15 years. The narrator suggests they might have embraced the peace and stability that came with integration into the English kingdom, but they did not welcome it. To many, Eadred was a foreign conqueror, and the loss of independent rule was lamented. The 13th-century chronicler John of Wallingford observed: "from that time to the present, Northumbria has been subject to the south English, and has been grieving through want of a king of their own and of the liberty they once enjoyed."

Eadred's health continued to decline. At 32 he felt the fatigue and discomforts of an old man: his teeth decayed, he suffered a heavy cough, and his diet of liquid foods no longer gave him the nourishment he needed. He nonetheless remained active and planned for England's future. In 955 he returned to the royal council with his nephews, 15-year-old Eadwig and 12-year-old Edgar, to publicly show his approval of the next generation and ensure the council backed Eadwig's imminent accession. He also remained fearful of a Viking return and left money in his will to raise troops to fight off, or pay off, future raiders. In the winter of 955 he died at Frome in Somerset. The narrator notes that it had been 16 years since Æthelstan's death, and his two brothers had become worthy successors who completed the mission of bringing the north to heel.

England could now look to a future that seemed free of Vikings and was led by a new young ruler, King Eadwig. But as the Vikings were defeated and disappeared and the country entered an age of peace, new tensions, rivalries and factions emerged within the royal family. The narrator says the young king soon faced problems that would once again threaten to tear England apart, and promises a future video on Eadwig's reign, his rivalry with his brother Edgar, and how England was eventually drawn back into a Second Viking Age.