BattlefieldsViking Raid on Wearmouth Monastery 794
Early Medieval

Viking Raid on Wearmouth Monastery 794

794
Tyne and Wear, England
Era
Early Medieval
Battle Type
Skirmish
Location
Tyne and Wear, England
Status
Unregistered
The Combatants

Who Fought

Defeated
Wearmouth monastery
Forces
monastic garrison c.50–150
VS
Victor
Norse raiders
Forces
Norse raiders c.300–600
Outcome
Wearmouth monastery sacked; monks killed or enslaved; one Norse leader reportedly killed by English on the shore on departure
The Battle

History & Significance

Norse raiders struck the twin monasteries of Wearmouth and Jarrow in 794, one year after the Lindisfarne attack. Symeon of Durham records the pagans doing great harm at Wearmouth. The monasteries founded by Benedict Biscop, home of the Venerable Bede, represented the foremost centre of English learning and their repeated attacks were an incalculable cultural loss.

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