Hello and welcome to today's lesson.

In this lesson, we're going to be looking at a case study, and our case study for today is Viking York.

Now, this lesson is part of a broader inquiry looking at how mediaeval England was impacted by migration.

But for today, we are just going to be focusing on a very specific part of Mediaeval England, and that is Viking York.

In order to do that, we're going through a piece of paper and a pen.

If you don't have one, absolutely fine.

Just pause the video now, go and get everything you need and then come back and press play when you're ready to get going.

Great, now you've got everything you need for the lesson.

Let's have a look our lesson outcome for today, and it's really simple.

We need to be able to explain how the Vikings changed York.

And in order to do that, we're going to need some keywords.

For this lesson we've got four keywords that will help us achieve our lesson outcome.

Now, first is a Viking, that's a member of the Scandinavian seafearing people who raided Britain from the late eighth century.

We also have Scandinavia, which is just the collective term for the countries of Northern Europe.

Trade is the exchange of goods.

And finally, mint a place where coins are produced.

Now we'll see all of these words again in the context of the lesson, and they'll make even more sense then.

But for now, we can get started because first we're going to be looking at the conquest of York.

Now, although The Great Heathen Army began their invasion in 865, it was not until the 1st of November 866 that the Viking leaders, Ivar the Boneless and king Halfdan took an army of Vikings from Scandinavia to settle in York.

And we can see York outlined here on our map.

It's in what was the kingdom of Northumbria in northern England, but located slightly lower than Durham.

Now, the City of York had been an important city for both the Romans and the Anglo-Saxons and the Anglo-Saxons as a result of its location, York was between two rivers as we can see here.

And because it was positioned where the two rivers meet, both rivers were able to provide natural defences in case of an enemy attack.

It was an excellent location for the rulers of the area.

York's location also made an important point of trade and communication as ships could easily come and go from the town.

So as a result of this, the Romas used the city as an army base before the Anglo-Saxons went on to use it as the capital of the kingdom of Northumbria.

As a city of such importance, it was the perfect site for a new Viking capital of the Danelaw.

So after several successful battles against local Anglo-Saxon rulers, a number of Viking migrants decided to set up their trades and farm their land in and around York.

The Vikings were excellent traders, ship builders, engineers, and craftsmen, and they used these skills to build up the city of York, which they renamed Jorvik.

In the 100 years the Vikings ruled York, the city prospered.

So before we go on to look more at the city, that became known as Jorvik, we're just going to pause and check our understanding so far.

So I'd like you to answer this question.

How do we know that York was an important city before the arrival of the Vikings? Was it a, the Romans used it as a capital city, b, the Romans used it as an army base, c, the Anglo-Saxons used it as a capital city, or d, the Anglo-Saxons used it as an army base.

So pause the video now, make a decision, and then come back and press play when you've got an answer for me.

Great work, hopefully you selected b and c, that the Romans used it as an army base, but also that the Anglo-Saxons used it as a capital city.

Really well done.

Now, I'd like you to tell me why York's location between two rivers was useful for the Vikings.

Was it because, a, it made it easier for the Vikings to find, b, rivers provided a great defence, c, the rivers were famous for their healing properties, or d, rivers made it easier to trade to and from York.

So pause the video now, again, make a decision and then come back and press play when you've got an answer for me.

Brilliant, hopefully you selected b and d, that the rivers provided a great defence, but also made it easier to trade to and from York.

Really well done.

Final check of our understanding.

I'd like you to have a discussion.

So I'd like you to explain to me what skills or each other, what skills did the Vikings have that allowed them to build up the city of York.

So if you're doing this lesson by yourself, not to worry, you can have a go articulating it out loud.

If you are doing it in a classroom or with someone else, you can now have a discussion together.

What skills did the Vikings have that allowed them to build up the city of York? Because remember we learned they weren't just good at sailing the seas, they had lots of other skills.

So pause the video now when you've had a chance to articulate out loud or discussed with the person next to you come back and press play.

Excellent, hopefully in your discussions, you mentioned that they were traders, ship builders, engineers, and craftsmen, all skills that would've been so useful when it came to building up the city of York.

Really well done.

So now I'd like you to put what we've learned about the conquest of York into practise by telling me whether these statements are true or false.

Firstly, The Great Heathen Army began their invasion in 865.

Iver the Boneless failed to take control of York.

York was located along important trade routes.

York had not been used as an important location by the Romans or Anglo-Saxons.

And finally, the Vikings tried to build up the city of York, but lack the skills to do so.

So pause the video now and give yourself five or so minutes to tell me whether each of these statements are true or false.

Excellent, now let's have a look at what your table should have looked like.

So we know that that first statement is true.

The Great Heathen Army did begin their invasion in 865.

The second statement however is false because I rather boneless did lead a Viking army to take control of York.

The third statement is true as York was located along important trade routes.

The fourth statement, however, is false because it said York had not been used as an important location by the Romans or Anglo-Saxons, but we know that it was.

And finally, the last statement is also false because we had just listed all their brilliant skills.

The Vikings tried to build up the city of York, but lack the skills to do so.

While we know that that's not true.

So what I'd like you to do in the second part of this task is to rewrite the three false statements as correct statements.

So give yourself about five minutes to complete this task and then come back when you're done.

Excellent, so hopefully you've written out these three statements now.

So you should have said that Ivar the Boneless led the Vikings to take control of York, that York had been used as an important location by the Romans and Ang Saxons.

And finally, the Vikings tried to build up the city of York using the wide variety of skills amongst their population.

Really, really well done.

Now we can move on to the next part of the lesson.

And in this part of the lesson, we are going to be looking at the city of Jorvik.

Now, the city of Jorvik showed several archaeological examples of the impact of Viking settlers on England.

For instance, the Vikings created paved streets in York and built many more houses for the growing population of the city.

Even today, evidence of the Vikings in York remains above ground two.

If you travelled to York, you would see the Scandinavian word for road, gaet in many street names such as Stone Gate and Peter Gates.

In the 1970s in an area known as Copper Gate, archaeologists found significant amounts of evidence that suggested that under the Vikings, York experienced an economic boom.

In fact, Jorvik had been a thriving town full of many, many skilled workers like Goldsmiths, silversmiths, farmers and bakers.

Furthermore, leather work and textile production, iron work and copper work, cup making and carpentry, bone and antler craft, minting of coins and glass recycling all took place in Jorvik on a huge scale.

Raw materials travelled many miles to reach craftsmen in New York, such as copper and lead from the Pennine Hills in northern England, tin from Cornwall and gold and silver from Europe.

And if we have a look at the slide here, we can see a photograph of Viking artefacts that reveal much of what we know from Jorvik.

So we can see swords, we can see utensils that would've been used by those goldsmiths, by those silver makers, by those cup makers and carpenters.

Now, before we go on to look a little bit more about what we would've found in the city of Urich, we're just going to pause and check our understanding quickly.

So I just need you to tell me whether this statement is true or false.

Historians have been able to discover lots about Viking Jorvik, pause the video now, make a decision, and then come back and press play when you're done.

Brilliant.

We know that this statement is true, but we need to think about why.

Is it true because they used diary entries uncovered from Viking Jorvik in the 1970s, or is it true because they used findings from archaeological digs from Copper Gate in the 1970s? Pause the video now make a decision and when you've got an answer, come back and press play.

Brilliant, hopefully you said that they use findings from archaeological digs from Copper Gate in the 1970s.

Really well done.

Let's go on to learn a little bit more about Viking Jorvik.

So the Viking success in York continued to multiply as York became the centre of several new trade routes from the east to the west.

In part, this was due to its location between two major rivers.

While many of the artefacts found in propagate were made in York, some artefacts revealed that the Viking trade routes stretched as far as the Arctic, the Baltic, and the Byzantine Empire.

We can see here on this map on our slide here, the Viking homelands are in green, where they settled is in red.

But those green lines are the trading routes and their raiding routes.

And we can see just how far they stretched.

And that was helped by the positioning and the conquest of York.

For example, in York, you would've found Walrus Ivory from the Arctic.

Amber, an orange precious stone from the Baltic, silk from Byzantine was also found by archaeologists at Copper Gate.

There is also evidence that there were strong trading links with France, the low countries, so Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg, and the Rhineland which is in modern day Germany.

And this can be seen through the discovery of wine in Copper Gate, this wine was from the Rhineland.

And York's thriving trade was a result of Viking merchants who had travelled thousands of miles across the globe buying and selling.

The Vikings were excellent seafearers who travelled by sea and sometimes overland reaching as far as Russia, Constantinople, modern day Istanbul in Turkey and Baghdad.

York became an important port that linked the northern part of the Danelaw with the rest of the world as far as the Vikings knew it to be.

So before we go on to look at the last part of the city of Jorvik, I'd like you to have a quick discussion from the work of archaeologists at Copper Gate in the 1970s.

What can historians learn about York's trading connections? So again, if you're doing this lesson by ourself, just have a go articulating out loud or jotting down a quick response from me before doing this lesson with someone else or in a classroom, have a go at having a discussion together.

So now give yourself enough time to either jot some ideas down, articulate a response out loud, or for both of you to contribute to the discussion.

Give yourself a few minutes at least, and then come back and press play when you're done.

Brilliant, hopefully your answer included some of the following.

Archaeologists found evidence of products made outside of York, which suggests that the Vikings had strong connections with other countries such as France, the low countries, and the Rhineland.

Really well done.

You might have also mentioned how far they traded.

So the Baltic, the Arctic, the Byzantine Empire, any of those would've been a brilliant response.

Really well done.

Now let's look at the final part of the city of Jorvik.

So the one thing we haven't discussed as much is how they impacted the English economy.

We've talked loads about the trade outside of York and across the world, but we haven't talked as much about how they impacted the English economy.

And they did this by setting up a mint in Europe.

Remember that's one of our key words.

It was a place that they could produce coins.

This allowed Y to become the centre of the Viking economy as all Viking coins would be minted here.

One coin that was discovered at Copper Gate had St.

Peter on it in Latin.

He was a Christian saint and a patron saint of the York minster.

But the same coin, as we can see on this slide here, also shows a sword and hammer in its design, which is thought to be the hammer of Thor, the Viking god of thunder.

The design of the coin therefore suggests to archaeologists that the Vikings in York both adopted elements of the local Christian practises and beliefs, but also continued the Pagan beliefs and practises that they brought with them.

So we know that a mint was set up in Jorvik, and from here, Viking trade expanded.

It became the centre of the Viking economy because this is where trade was produced.

But the coins aren't important just to tell us how the Vikings impacted the English economy through the city of Jorvik because it tells us about their lifestyle.

They suggest to historians that the Vikings continued their Pagan practises, but also adopted some of the local Christian practises in the area.

So we've looked at loads about the city of Yorvik and also how the Vikings conquered York.

We're gonna have a quick check of our understanding and then put that into practise for one final time.

So firstly, I'd like you to have a quick discussion.

How do historians know that the Vikings had a positive impact on York York's economy? So as you've done before, have a conversation with the person next to you or articulate a response out loud or jot it down if you prefer.

But give yourself a few minutes, give everyone a chance to have a go and then come back when you're done.

Brilliant, we know that the Viking Mint made your rate the centre of the economy as all Viking coins were made there.

You also might have mentioned the artefacts found in Copper Gate Show that Jorvik was a thriving trade hub and that the Vikings traded as far as the Arctic, the Baltic, and the Byzantine Empire.

Really well done.

So for our final task today, I'd like you to write an account describing how the Vikings transform the city of Yorvik.

And in your response, I want you to make sure that you use the following details.

Paved streets, Stonegate, skilled Workers, York mint, and trade.

So pause the video now.

Give yourself five to 10 minutes to complete this task and then come back when you are done.

Brilliant.

So let's have a look at what this final account might have looked like.

After the Vikings settled in York, the city was transformed with numerous well organised paved streets and many more houses for the growing population.

In addition, many streets were given names which came from Scandinavia.

One example of this is Stonegate.

The Vikings who settled in York worked a variety of jobs, from Goldsmiths to silversmith, from farmers to bakers.

The city would thrive from all these skilled workers, but also from the York Mint, which produced all Viking coins and allowed Yorvik to become the centre of the economy.

Jorvik also became an important hub for trade as the Vikings traded across the world as far as the Arctic and the Byzantine Empire.

So really well done.

If you were able to get in three of our keywords, the details that were mentioned on the slide before, but also other key details like the variety of jobs they worked from Goldsmith to silversmith and farmers to bakers.

But if you were also able to remember how they accommodated the growing population with many more houses, the impact of street names, but also the role of Yorvik as an important hub of trade and how far they traded.

So making reference to things like the Arctic and the Byzantine Empire.

Really, really well done.

If you weren't able to get all of those details in.

Absolutely not to worry.

You can pause the video now and just add them to your response.

Brilliant, now to finish off our lesson today, we're just going to have a look at a summary of what we've learned.

So we know that the Vikings conquered York because it had been used as an important location by the Romans.

They saw its potential as a new Viking capital.

Remember, its positioning between two rivers had made it so useful for the Romans and the Anglia Saxons, and therefore the perfect capital of the Viking Danelaw.

The Danelaw being the name given to the northeastern part of England ruled by the Vikings.

We know that York lay on an important east to west trading route and was therefore well placed to expand scandinavia's existing trade routes.

Remember we saw that map where the Scandinavian homelands were in one colour.

The lands they settled in were in another colour, and we saw just how far those trade routes had expanded.

And York was a large part of that process, particularly because of how easy it was to trade to and from York.

And finally, we know that the Vikings helped expand York and make it the centre of Viking culture and trade with a large number of skilled Vikings contributing to the economy as well as the York mint.

So we know that it wasn't just any other city.

It wasn't even just the capital of the Danelaw.

It was a hub of Viking culture and trade.

Remember the coins found by archaeologists suggest to us that they maintain some Pagan practises, but also adopted some elements of Christianity.

We can see in the street names they impacted the language that has lasted till today, but also through trade.

We know that they set up a York mint.

And from there all Viking coins were produced, making your Yokvic the centre of the Viking economy in England.

Really well done for today.

You have done some brilliant work, I am so impressed.

Now you can definitely say that you can explain how the Vikings changed York.