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Year 10
AQA

The Danish conquest

I can explain how the Vikings led by Cnut conquered England in 1016, bringing England into the North Sea Empire.

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New
New
Year 10
AQA

The Danish conquest

I can explain how the Vikings led by Cnut conquered England in 1016, bringing England into the North Sea Empire.

Download all resources
Share activities with pupils

Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. The Anglo-Saxon defeat against the Vikings in the 991 Battle of Maldon led to the Danegeld.
  2. Aethelred provoked the Danish Vikings by ordering the massacre of all Danes during the St Brice’s Day Massacre in 1002.
  3. In 1016 King Cnut invaded and conquered England and became king.
  4. Under King Cnut, England became part of the North Sea Empire which included Denmark and Norway.
  5. After the early violence of invasion, Cnut's reign saw a period of peace in England.

Common misconception

Vikings come from Norway.

Whilst Vikings did come from Norway, some of the most problematic Vikings from an English perspective came from Denmark. Vikings also came from Sweden.

Keywords

  • Viking - a member of the Scandinavian seafaring people who raided Britain from the late 8th century

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

  • Empire - a group of countries or territories ruled from the centre by another country or person

Encourage students to create a page for each of the factors that they can then populate with examples from each of the lessons they study. This will provide them with a wealth of examples that they can then use to revise for their factors question.
Teacher tip

Content guidance

  • Depiction or discussion of sensitive content

Supervision

Adult supervision recommended

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2024), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

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Starter quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
Which word describes a surprise attack?
Correct Answer: raid, Raid
Q2.
Which of the following were pull factors for the Vikings?
Scandinavia was experiencing overpopulation.
Correct answer: England had good farmland and a temperate climate.
Correct answer: England was economically rich.
Scandinavia lacked opportunities for sons to inherit land.
Q3.
Complete the sentence with the correct number: In the 8th century, what we now think of as ‘England’ was primarily made up of __________ different Anglo-Saxon kingdoms.
five
Correct answer: seven
ten
Q4.
Put the following events in chronological order.
1 - The Romans left Britain.
2 - Angles, Saxons and Jutes invaded.
3 - Lindisfarne was raided.
4 - Viking raids became a seasonal occurrence.
5 - The cyclical migrations turned into emigration.
Q5.
Complete the sentence with the correct year: By __________ CE, less than a century after first contact, the Vikings had conquered the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of East Anglia, Northumbria and Mercia.
Correct answer: 871
876
878
Q6.
How did the establishment of the Danelaw affect England?
Correct answer: It gave Vikings a permanent recognised home in Britain.
Viking raids increased.
Correct answer: Vikings introduced new words into the English language.
All Vikings remained pagan.
Correct answer: Vikings introduced new laws and customs.

Exit quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
Which word describes the name of the Anglo-Saxon tax used to defend England against Viking invasions?
Correct Answer: Danegeld, danegeld, The Danegeld, The danegeld
Q2.
Which word describes a group of countries or territories ruled from the centre by another country or person?
Correct Answer: empire, Empire
Q3.
Complete the sentence: Aethelred provoked the Danish Vikings by ordering the massacre of all Danes during the St __________ Day Massacre in 1002.
Valentine's
Swithin's
George's
Correct answer: Brice’s
Q4.
Who conquered England in 1016?
King Sweyn Forkbeard
William the Conqueror
Correct answer: King Cnut
King Aethelred the Unready
Q5.
What reasons did the people of England have to be happy with the reign of King Cnut the Great?
He ordered the massacre of all Anglo-Saxon Christians.
Correct answer: He married Emma of Normandy.
Correct answer: He supported the Church.
He named an Anglo-Saxon as his heir.
Correct answer: There were no more Viking raids.
Q6.
Which battle led to the establishment of the Danegeld?
Correct answer: Battle of Maldon
Battle of Assandun
Battle of Brice

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