In 793 Viking raiders attacked the coastal monastery of Lindisfarne. In 866 the Viking ‘great army’ attacked the city of York and conquered the kingdom of Northumbria. After that, as the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle records, ‘they shared out the land of the Northumbrians and they proceeded to plough and to support themselves’. Scandinavian kings ruled in York until 954, and even after that time, right up until 1066 and beyond, the area they had ruled over (roughly equivalent to the modern county of Yorkshire) showed strong signs of Scandinavian culture and political separatism.
Occurrence | Teaching period |
---|---|
A | Autumn Term 2021-22 |
This team-taught module will explore, from an inter-disciplinary perspective, the history and culture of the Vikings in Northumbria. Using a variety of sources and approaches (archaeological, artistic, textual, and linguistic), the module will examine questions of migration, settlement, religion, politics, economy, culture, and identity. A recurrent emphasis will be on issues of interaction and assimilation between Anglo-Saxons and Scandinavians.
On successful completion of this module, students will be able to demonstrate:
Seminar programme for Autumn Term 2021:
Week 2 Introduction: Migration (Dawn Hadley)
Week 3 The Viking Great Army, Aldwark and York (Dawn Hadley)
Week 4 The Viking kings of York (Pragya Vohra)
Week 5 Settlement archaeology (Julian Richards)
Week 6 Coinage of Viking kings in York (Dawn Hadley and Andy Woods, Yorkshire Museum)
Week 7 Place-names (Eleanor Rye)
Week 8 Stone sculpture (Jane Hawkes)
Week 9 Reception and re-discovery (Dawn Hadley)
[Week 10: Field trip (Jane Hawkes)]
Task | Length | % of module mark |
---|---|---|
Essay/coursework 3500-4000 word essay |
N/A | 100 |
None
Task | Length | % of module mark |
---|---|---|
Essay/coursework 3500-4000 word essay |
N/A | 100 |
For the summative assessment task, students will receive their provisional mark and written feedback within 20 working days of the submission deadline. The tutor will then be available during student hours for follow-up guidance if required.
Clare Downham, Viking Kings of Britain and Ireland: the dynasty of Ivarr to AD1014 (Edinburgh, 2008, chapter 3)
Dawn M. Hadley and Julian D. Richards, The Viking Great Army and the Making of England (Turnhout, 2000)
David Rollason, Northumbria 500-1100: creation and destruction of a kingdom (Cambridge, 2003, chapter 6)
Matthew Townend, Viking Age Yorkshire (Pickering, 2014)