Hello and welcome to today's history lesson.

My name is Mr. Merrett, and I'll be guiding you through today's lesson, so let's get started.

Today's lesson is looking at the Danish conquest, and by the end of the day's lesson, we'll be able to explain how the Vikings, led by Cnut, conquered England in 1016, bringing England into the North Sea Empire.

In order to do that, we need to use some key terms, and our key terms for today are Viking, Danegeld and empire.

A Viking is a member of the Scandinavian seafaring people who raided Britain from the late eighth century.

Danegeld is the name of the Anglo-Saxon tax used to defend England against Viking invasions.

And an empire is a group of countries or territories ruled from the centre by another country or person.

Today's lesson will consist of three separate learning cycles, and our first learning cycle is looking at the reign of Aethelred the Unready.

So let's get going.

Now, after Alfred the Great successfully prevented the Vikings from conquering Wessex, his son King Edward the Elder managed to force the Vikings out of the South of England.

And then this was followed by Alfred's grandson, King Athelstan conquering the Northern Vikings and becoming the very first king of all England in 927 CE.

So if the question's ever asked, who was the first King of England, a popular answer amongst many historians would be King Athelstan.

Although the Vikings later fought back, a period of relative peace followed in England.

This peace was shattered though upon the succession of King Aethelred the Unready in 978 CE.

Aethelred became king after the assassination of his half brother, King Edward the Martyr, and although there is no evidence to suggest that the 12-year-old King Aethelred was involved in the plot, the men who were involved then became his advisors.

Aethelred's rule was unpopular.

His name actually is a mediaeval play on words, a mediaeval joke.

Aethelred translate as nobly advised, and unready means poorly advised.

So the literal translation of his name would be nobly advised, the poorly advised.

So it's a mediaeval play on words that we've got there for you.

In any case, his rule was unpopular, and it became more so in 980 CE when Danish Vikings began raiding the English coastline, the raids became more destructive as time went on, and Aethelred did very little to prevent them.

In August 991 CE, a large Danish Viking fleet defeated an Anglo-Saxon force at the Battle of Maldon in Essex.

In an effort to make the Vikings leave, Aethelred paid them 3,300 kilogrammes of silver, which is the equivalent of roughly 1.

8 million pounds today.

And this payment became known as Danegeld or Dane payment is the translation there.

And although it caused the Vikings to leave, it also encouraged them to return.

Danegeld was paid repeatedly over the following years in increasingly large sums. And as an example, in 1012, 17,900 kilogrammes of silver was handed over.

Just an extraordinary amount of wealth.

Understandably, these payments made Aethelred extremely unpopular amongst the Anglo-Saxons, as they were bankrupting England, and doing very little to prevent Viking raids.

Right, so a quick check for understanding.

Now, it's a true or false statement.

A Danish Viking force defeated an Anglo-Saxon force at the Battle of Maldon in August 991 CE, is that true or is that false? Okay, if you answered true, then very well done, you are correct.

But let's justify that statement now.

Why is it a true statement? Is it true because it led to an immediate invasion of England and a Danish Viking King of England? Or is it true because it led to a period of regular ransoms called Danegeld being given to the Danish Vikings? So make your choice now.

Okay, if you chose B then very well done.

That is indeed the correct answer.

Now on the 13th of November, 1002, St.

Brice's Day, Aethelred attempted to fight back.

He ordered the murder of all Danes living in England in an event which has become known as the St.

Brice's Day massacre.

Many of these Danes were settlers who had lived peacefully in England for many years.

They were people who were not involved in the Danish Viking raids.

They just happened to have been of Danish descents.

The action was very unpopular in England, but it was even more unpopular in Denmark, which is to be expected.

One of the victims of the St.

Brice's Day massacre was Gunhilde, who was the sister of the Danish King Sweyn Forkbeard.

In retaliation, Sweyn Forkbeard began a series of devastating raids in England, and this culminated in a full invasion in 1013, in which Aethelred was soon driven into exile in Normandy.

Sweyn was crowned king of England in December, and Sweyn was already king of Denmark and Norway.

So this created a powerful North Sea Empire.

Unfortunately for Sweyn, he died just five weeks later on the 3rd of February 1014.

Right, let's have a quick check for understanding now.

So which event encouraged Sweyn Forkbeard to begin a campaign against England, which led to him becoming King in 1013? Was it the St.

Bartholomew's Day massacre, the St.

Brice's Day Massacre, or the St.

Valentine's Day massacre? Make your choice now.

Okay, if you chose B then very well done, that is the correct answer.

And let's go for our first task for today now then.

So I'd like you to choose two factors from the list below and explain how they contributed to the invasion of England by the Danish Vikings.

So the two factors are completely your choice, but just write down the factor and then a brief explanation of how it contributed to the Danish Viking invasion.

So pause the video while you do this, and I'll see you again in just a moment.

Okay, welcome back.

I hope you got okay with that task.

Let's think about what you could have said then.

So the two factors that I chose were government and economic resources.

So for government, I said Aethelred's decision to order the massacre of the Danes on St.

Brice's Day in 1002 and the subsequent killing of Gunhilde was a primary reason why Sweyn Forkbeard began his attacks on England.

And the second factor, economic resources, I said the payment of Danegeld had the opposite of the desired effect and encouraged the Vikings to return frequently in order to be paid again.

If you've chosen different factors, that's great.

You got your examples and now you've got mine as well, if you wanted to get those ones down.

If you've chosen my factors but different examples then that's fantastic as well.

It's good to have a variety of different examples you can throw into an answer.

Right, let's move on then to our second learning cycle of the day, which is looking at Cnut's invasion.

So Sweyn's son Cnut succeeded his father as king, but the witan, which is the council of leading English nobles, instead arranged for the return of Aethelred, who arrived at the head of a large army and drove Cnut out of England.

Cnut returned to Denmark and assembled a large force of Danish Vikings and Polish and Swedish mercenary allies.

And then in summer 1015, Cnut returned to England at the head of around 10,000 men in roughly 200 longboats.

He began his campaign in Wessex, which very quickly surrendered to him and the Kingdom of Mercia subsequently not only surrendered, but actually also offered Cnut additional troops.

Aethelred was unable to mount a successful defence, as he was already dealing with a rebellion from his son Edmund, who were taking control of the Midlands.

Now, Edmund managed to mount a limited defence against Cnut's aggression.

He did as much as he possibly could at this point in time.

He was actually a very good field commander.

But this situation actually improved for Edmund when his father Aethelred died of an illness on the 23rd of April 1016 and allowed Edmund to succeed him.

King Edmund was given a nickname Ironside, so he is known to historians as Edmund Ironside, and the reason being, it was because of his vigorous defence that he managed to lead against Cnut's forces.

However, the Battle of Assandun in Essex on the 18th of October 1016 resulted in a decisive victory for the Danish Vikings.

Following the battle, Edmund Ironside and Cnut signed a treaty in which Edmund would control Wessex and Cnut the rest of England, with each inheriting the other's territory if the other one died.

Edmund died just a month later on the 30th of November, making Cnut King of all England.

Now, the timing of Edmund's death is very suspicious, but as historians, we don't actually know for certain what it is that Edmund died of.

It's entirely possible that he was assassinated by Cnut's agents.

It's also entirely possible that he died of wounds that he received during the Battle of Assandun.

We just don't know for certain.

What we do know though is that the timing was very fortuitous for Cnut, who managed to very quickly become king of all England again.

Well, let's have for a quick check for understanding now.

So what nickname was King Edmund given for his defence against the Vikings? Was it Edmund Ironside, Edmund Quicksword or Edmund Vikingsbane? Make your choice now.

Okay, if you chose A then very well done, that's the correct answer.

And another check for understanding now, which battle led to Cnut being crowned King of England? Was it the Battle of Assandun in 1016, the Battle of Helgea in 1026, or the Battle of Maldon in 991 CE? Make your choice now.

Okay, if you chose A, then well done, that is also the correct answer.

Right, let's go for our next task for today.

So I'd like you to identify two similarities between Sweyn Forkbeard's invasion and Cnut's invasion of England.

So identify the similarities and just explain how it is that they are indeed similar.

So pause the video whilst you do this, and I'll see you again in just a moment.

Okay, welcome back.

Hopefully you got okay with that task.

Let's think what you could have said then.

So one similarity between Sweyn Forkbeard's invasion and Cnut's invasion is that both made rapid progress against the ineffective Aethelred.

Aethelred was unable to mount an effective defence against either Viking leader.

Another similarity is that Aethelred was having to contend with other issues when both Vikings attacked.

The Anglo-Saxon population were unhappy with Aethelred paying Danegeld prior to Sweyn's invasion, and Aethelred's son Edmund was in open rebellion prior to Cnut's invasion.

If you've got different examples to me, then that's fantastic, but hopefully your answer follows a similar structure to the one on the screen there in front of you.

Right, let's move on then to our third and final learning cycle of today, which is looking at the reign of King Cnut.

So King Cnut began his reign in brutal fashion, killing or exiling anyone who posed a threat.

After this, however, things dramatically improved for the people of England.

In order to secure his position, Cnut married Aethelred's widow Emma of Normandy, who was also the sister of the Duke of Normandy.

Now, this might seem strange to us, but the marriage to Emma actually helped Cnut seem like a legitimate King of England, because Emma provides that bridge from the previous regime to the new one.

So there's that sense of stability that Emma of Normandy can bring to this particular situation.

It also of course improved their relationship with Normandy as well.

The Normands at this time were also, they were of Viking descent as well, so it was already close cultural ties.

But they're not to say that all Vikings always got along.

So being married to Emma of Normandy means that the Franco Vikings living in Normandy now have a better relationship with England.

Being a Viking, Cnut prevented any more Viking raids from occurring, which drastically increased England's wealth as no more Danegeld had to be paid.

It was Danegeld that was bankrupting the country.

As soon as you stop it from happening, suddenly England's finances bounced right back.

Cnut initially gave control of key areas of England to Scandinavian allies, but over time these were replaced with Anglo-Saxon families who had gained his trust.

Cnut also reinstated the laws of Edgar the Peaceful, who was Aethelred's father, who had been very popular.

Cnut won a great deal of favour in his treatment of the church.

He repaired all churches that have been damaged by Viking raids, as well as building new ones, and he also sponsored various monasteries as well.

In 1027, he journeyed to Rome to be present for the coronation of Holy Roman Emperor Conrad II.

Now that journey in and of itself at this particular point in time was a really, really big deal.

It wasn't easy to travel halfway across Europe and back again in safety.

It was also not easy to leave your country or your empire effectively unattended.

The risk of rebellion was always very high.

So it was a mark of just how under control Cnut have managed to make England at this point in time, and also just how confident he was in his abilities as a leader.

Now, Cnut and Conrad, the new Holy Roman Emperor, got along so well that Conrad gifted land to Cnut on the southern border of Denmark, and also agreed to marry his son Henry to Cnut's daughter Gunhilda.

Cnut also stood alongside Conrad during his coronation, a sign of the respect in which the English king was held.

This was a really, really big deal.

You've got all of Christian Europe's best and brightest present for this coronation of Conrad II, and standing right next to him is Cnut, the King of England.

So just goes to show just how much of an elevated position he now has amongst the rulers of Europe.

Cnut actually was the second most powerful ruler in Western Europe behind Conrad, behind the Holy Roman Emperor.

The reason for this is that Cnut was able to recreate the North Sea Empire that his father had briefly held.

So Cnut's brother King Harold of Denmark died with Cnut as his heir, making him king of both England and Denmark.

Now, there was a plot to try and prevent Cnut from actually becoming King of Denmark, but he managed to successfully stop that plot from succeeding.

In 1028, Cnut then sailed 50 ships to Norway and easily defeated the Norwegian King Olaf Haraldsson.

And although Cnut's control of Norway was never particularly secure, he also managed to spread his influence further.

Cnut received the submission of three Scottish kings, and also gained considerable influence in Viking held Ireland.

If you look at the map on the screen in front of you there, the red coloured areas are areas that Cnut directly controlled.

The orange coloured areas are areas where he had considerable influence, but not strictly speaking had direct control over.

He could pretty much tell people in those countries what they needed to do though, or certainly could tell the rulers what they needed to do.

And the yellow sections are his allies as well.

So it's a considerable empire that Cnut has managed to build up in this point in time.

By the time of his death in 1035, Cnut the Great's North Sea Empire was already falling apart, and it did not last much longer under the rule of his two sons.

But for a few years, England was a central part of a Danish empire.

Right, I have a quick check for understanding now.

So which three countries made up the bulk of King Cnut the Great's North Sea Empire? So name those three countries.

All right, so hopefully you've said the correct answers, which are England, Denmark, and Norway.

There's another quick check for understanding.

Now it's a discussion based question.

I want you to think, what reasons did the people of England have to be happy with the reign of King Cnut the Great? So pause the video whilst you do this.

Make a little list and I'll see you again in just a moment.

Okay, welcome back.

I hope you got okay with that task.

Let's think what you could have said then.

So you could have said that he married Emma of Normandy, and this provides an alliance and legitimacy.

There were no more Viking raids.

There was a return to peace and prosperity.

He supported the church.

He returned popular laws.

He was a very well respected ruler throughout Europe.

And the people of England were now parts of a powerful empire.

So hopefully you got some of those answers on the screen in front of you there, and if you've got additional ones as well, then that's absolutely fantastic.

Right, let's go for our final task for today then.

So how significant was King Cnut the Great for the development of the North Sea Empire? And I'd like you to, when you're answering this question, to use at least two pieces of evidence to support your argument.

So pause the video whilst you complete this task.

I'll see you again in just a moment.

Okay, welcome back.

Hopefully you got okay with that task.

Let's think about then what you could have said.

So I've said King Cnut the Great was very significant for the development of the North Sea Empire.

Although the empire had already briefly been created by his father Sweyn Forkbeard, it had quickly broken up into its separate kingdoms upon his death.

Cnut had to fight to keep hold of the kingdom of Denmark when it was nearly taken from him by a plot, as well as fight for the Kingdom of Norway when he sailed 50 ships there in 1028 to take it by force.

The significance of Cnut in maintaining the North Sea Empire is evident in what happened when he died.

The Empire quickly broke apart under the rule of his two sons.

Although the empire was already in decline in Cnut's later years, it only remained in place for as long as it did thanks to Cnut.

If you have a different opinion to me, then it's absolutely fine, as long as you've justified it.

That's the key thing there.

Right, let's summarise today's lesson now then.

So at the end of the 10th century, the Anglo-Saxons are paying the Vikings enormous sums of money in Danegeld in a futile attempts to prevent Viking raids.

King Aethelred the Unready provoked an invasion from Sweyn Forkbeard when he ordered the massacre of all Danes in England in the St.

Brice's Day massacre in 1002.

Sweyn Forkbeard became King of England and briefly created a North Sea Empire before dying in 1014.

And his son Cnut reforged the North Sea Empire after leading a successful invasion of England, and Cnut was regarded as a good ruler of England.

Thank you very much for joining me today.

Hopefully you've enjoyed yourself.

Hope you've learned something, and hopefully I'll see you again next time.

Bye-bye.