Lesson video

Hello, my name is Mrs. Tipping, and I'm really looking forward to learning with you today all about the Vikings and how the Viking settlement changed Britain.

So, shall we get started? Let's go.

By the end of today's lesson, you will be able to explain how the campaigns of Aethelflaed and her brother Edward laid the foundations for the birth of England.

Before we start, I would like to introduce you to some keywords.

We'll be using these keywords during the lesson, so it might be a good idea to write these words down.

The keywords we'll be using today are: formidable, campaign, stronghold.

I'm going to say those again, and I'd like you to repeat them after me.

Formidable, campaign, stronghold.

Good job.

Now let's think in more detail about what these keywords mean.

Here are the definitions for each of our keywords.

When something is formidable, it inspires fear or respect through being impressively large, powerful or capable.

A campaign is a series of military operations intended to achieve a particular goal.

A stronghold is a place that has been fortified to protect it against attack.

Pause the video here to make a note of the keywords, and when you are ready to continue, press play.

These are the learning cycles that we'll be working through together in today's lesson.

The campaigns led by Edward and Aethelflaed, laying the foundations for England.

In the first learning cycle, we will explore the campaigns led by Edward and Aethelflaed.

In 899 CE, King Alfred the Great of Wessex died.

At the time of his death, Wessex was the only kingdom that had remained free from Viking invasion.

Edward, also known as Edward the Elder, was King Alfred's son.

When King Alfred died, Edward inherited the throne, becoming King Edward of Wessex, and was crowned at Kingston upon Thames in 900 CE.

Let's take a moment to pause and check our understanding.

What year did Edward become King of Wessex? 899 CE, 900 CE, or 901 CE? Pause the video here, have a think about this question, and press play when you're ready to continue.

If you said 900 CE, you're absolutely right.

Well done.

As the new King of Wessex, Edward was keen to lead the armies of Wessex to take back lands from the Vikings.

He fought for control of the Danelaw, but he did not do it alone.

So you can see on the map here that Edward is King of Wessex on the west side, and you can see the Danelaw, which is the Viking land in the pink.

So Edward wanted to take back that Viking land in the Danelaw, but he did not do it alone.

King Edward was allied with the Mercians, led by his sister Aethelflaed, and their combined forces were formidable.

Their force was large and powerful, and this gained Aethelflaed and Edward a lot of respect.

Let's take a moment to pause here.

King Edward fought the Vikings alone.

Is that true or false? King Edward fought the Vikings alone.

Hmm, is that true or false? If you said that's false, you're absolutely right.

Now, looking at these two statements, which would help to justify your answer? King Edward combined forces with Aethelflaed and the Mercians.

King Edward combined forces with Alfred and Wessex.

Pause the video here and have a discussion with your partner.

Which of these two statements helps to justify your answer? And press play when you're ready to continue.

What did you think? If you said King Edward combined forces with Aethelflaed and the Mercians, you're absolutely right.

Well done.

One of the early campaigns of Aethelflaed and her brother Edward began in 910 CE, when a large Danish army invaded Tettenhall in Mercia.

King Edward marched his army to support Aethelflaed and to confront the Danish army.

At this time, Aethelflaed's husband, King Aethelred of Mercia, was severely ill, and Aethelflaed led many campaigns without him.

At the battle of Tettenhall, Edward and Aethelflaed fought together and heavily defeated the Vikings.

The Vikings came to fear Edward and Aethelflaed's formidable forces.

After her husband's death in 911 CE, Aethelflaed continued to lead campaigns with her brother Edward, King of Wessex, to attack the Vikings.

By 913 CE, Aethelflaed had captured and refortified Tamworth, Mercia's old capital.

She used Tamworth as a base from which to drive back the Vikings.

It was here that Aethelflaed prepared her attack on the Five Boroughs of the Danelaw, the five major towns of Danish Mercia.

Working together, Aethelflaed and Edward were a formidable force, and the success of these early campaigns was proof of this.

Let's take a moment to pause and check our understanding.

Jun and Sofia are discussing the campaigns.

Who is explaining them correctly? Jun says, "King Edward led successful campaigns on his own.

His army was a formidable force." Sofia says, "King Edward and Aethelflaed led successful campaigns together.

They were a formidable force." So take some time here now, pause the video, have a discussion with your partner.

Who is explaining the campaigns correctly, Jun or Sofia? When you're ready to continue, press play.

What did you think? Who did you think was explaining the campaigns correctly? Well, if you said that Sofia is correct, then you're right.

Well done.

Sofia is correct, because working together, Aethelflaed and Edward were a formidable force.

The successful campaigns they led, like the Battle of Tettenhall, were evidence of this.

Well done if you found Sofia to be correct.

This brings us to our first learning task.

Can you explain to your partner how Aethelflaed and Edward's combined force was formidable? A good answer will include campaigns, formidable, and Tettenhall.

Pause the video here and give yourself enough time to explain to your partner how Aethelflaed and Edward's combined force was formidable, and press play when you're ready to continue.

How did that go? Shall we take a look at an example answer? Your answer could include, "Working together, Aethelflaed and Edward were a formidable force.

Their force was large and powerful, which gained Aethelflaed and Edward a lot of respect.

They were able to lead successful campaigns against the Vikings.

The battle of Tettenhall is one example of when Edward and Aethelflaed fought together and heavily defeated the Vikings." Well done for completing that learning task.

We're now ready to move on to the second part of this lesson.

We're going to explore laying the foundations for England.

Both King Edward the Elder and Lady Aethelflaed worked together to build burhs, these are fortified towns, across their lands.

These burhs were strongholds, which protected their towns and cities from Viking attack.

With the protection of the burhs, Edward and Aethelflaed were able to lead successful campaigns against the Danes and the Vikings to take back large parts of the Danelaw.

You can see here on the map of Britain, those two boxes surrounding those pinkish reddish areas, those are the areas in the Danelaw that Edward and Aethelflaed tried to take back, and this allowed them to lay the foundations for the beginning of England.

Let's take a moment to pause here.

What did Edward and Aethelflaed establish to protect their towns? Campaigns, burhs, or weapons? Pause the video here and have a think about that question, and press play when you're ready to hear the answer.

What did you think? If you said burhs, you're absolutely right.

Well done.

So Jun is asking, how did they lay these foundations for the beginning of England? Well, to lay these foundations, Edward and Aethelflaed recaptured Viking lands and established strongholds.

One of the burhs created by Edward was in Hertford.

You can see Hertford here on the map.

In 914 CE, Edward marched into Essex from his new burh at Hertford and established another stronghold at Witham to control the local Danes.

He then marched north and drove out Viking forces at Northampton and Leicester.

So let's take a look at those places on the map here.

So Edward marched into Essex from Hertford, and he established that stronghold at Witham, and that's where he controlled the local Danes.

Then he marched north and drove out Viking forces at Northampton and Leicester.

By 915 CE, new burhs were also established in Buckingham and Bedford.

So Edward and Aethelflaed were making good progress recapturing those Viking lands and establishing those strongholds.

In 917 CE, Edward and Aethelflaed experienced some resistance.

Viking raids began in Maldon, Towcester and Aylesbury, and a new Danish fortification was built at Tempsford.

However, King Edward swiftly stamped out these raids and stormed Tempsford, killing the local Danish king.

At the same time, Aethelflaed launched an attack on the Viking town of Derby and captured it.

So you can see here, in all of these areas in the Danelaw, the Viking land that Edward and Aethelflaed were managing to take back.

Let's take a moment to pause and check our understanding.

Edward and Aethelflaed experienced no resistance from the Vikings.

Is that true or false? Hmm, what do you think? If you said that's false, you're absolutely right.

Well done.

Now, looking at these two statements, which of these would help to justify your answer? There were Viking raids and Danish fortifications were built.

The Vikings attacked the burhs.

Take a moment, pause the video here and have a discussion with your partner.

Which of these two statements helps to justify your answer? And press play when you're ready to continue.

What did you think? If you said there were Viking raids and Danish fortifications were built, you're absolutely right.

Well done.

Soon after, in 918 CE, Aethelflaed led a force into Leicester, and the town submitted to her.

The same year, Edward built another burh in Stanford, but in 1918 CE, Aethelflaed also suddenly died, leaving Mercia mourning their Lady.

It is not known how she died.

By the time of her death, only York remained as a Viking stronghold.

So you can see on the map there showing the recaptured Viking lands, all of those blue dots showing where Aethelflaed and Edward had recaptured those lands, but it was only York in the north that was still a Viking stronghold.

The Viking lands recaptured in the Danelaw highlight the enormous success of Aethelflaed and Edward in laying the foundations for England.

Let's take a moment to pause and check our understanding.

Which of these factors enabled Aethelflaed and Edward to lay the foundations for England? They were a formidable force together.

They led successful campaigns defeating the Vikings.

They created burhs to protect their towns.

Pause the video here and have a discussion with your partner.

Which of these factors enabled Aethelflaed and Edward to lay the foundations for England? And press play when you're ready to continue.

What did you think? Well, if you said they were a formidable force together, they led successful campaigns defeating the Vikings, and they created burhs to protect their towns, you would be absolutely correct.

Well done.

This brings us to our final learning task.

I'd like you to write one paragraph to explain how the campaigns of Aethelflaed and her brother Edward laid the foundations for the beginning of England.

You may want to include these words in your answer: formidable, campaigns, stronghold, Danelaw, and York.

Pause the video here and give yourself enough time to write one paragraph to explain how the campaigns of Aethelflaed and her brother Edward laid the foundations for the beginning of England.

And when you're ready to continue, press play.

How did that go? Shall we take a look at an example answer? So your answer may have included, "Aethelflaed and King Edward worked together to lead campaigns into the Danelaw to capture Viking land.

They created burhs to ensure their towns were protected.

Because they were a formidable force, they were successful in taking back land in large parts of the Danelaw.

The only Viking stronghold that was left was York.

The success of these campaigns laid the foundations for the beginning of England." Well done for completing that learning task.

Before we finish this lesson, let's summarise what we've learned about Aethelflaed and Edward.

When King Alfred died in 899 CE, his son Edward became the new King of Wessex.

King Edward worked together with Aethelflaed to lead campaigns against the Vikings.

Because they were a formidable force, Edward and Aethelflaed were able to take back land in large parts of the Danelaw, including Tamworth, Mercia's old capital.

Only York remained as a Viking stronghold by 918 CE.

The success of the campaigns laid the foundation for the beginning of England.

Thank you for joining me in this lesson.

I hope to see you in the next one.

See you next time.