Battlefields›Viking Sack of Lindisfarne
Early Medieval

Viking Sack of Lindisfarne

793
Northumberland, England
Also known as: Raid on Lindisfarne 793 · Holy Island 793
Era
Early Medieval
Battle Type
Skirmish
Location
Northumberland, England
Status
Unregistered
The Combatants

Who Fought

Defeated
Monks of Lindisfarne
Forces
Lindisfarne monks c.50–100
VS
Victor
Vikings (Norse raiders)
Forces
Norse raiders c.300–600
Outcome
Monastery attacked; monks killed, enslaved or scattered; treasures plundered; St Cuthbert's shrine desecrated
The Battle

History & Significance

The attack on Lindisfarne on 8 June 793 marks the conventional start of the Viking Age in England. Alcuin of York wrote in horror to King Aethelred of Northumbria: 'Never before has such terror appeared in Britain.' The raid shocked the Christian world and inaugurated 250 years of Norse raiding and settlement

Questions & Answers

Frequently Asked Questions

Protected heritage nearby

Scheduled Monuments near Viking Sack of Lindisfarne

Boundary cross 170m south west of Herring House
Scheduled monument · ~0.1 miles
Lindisfarne Priory pre-Conquest monastery and post-Conquest Benedictine cell
Scheduled monument · ~0.1 miles
'The Palace' medieval house and Tudor supply base, Holy Island village
Scheduled monument · ~0.1 miles
The Fort on the Heugh and underlying midden
Scheduled monument · ~0.2 miles
Medieval chapel and associated building on St Cuthbert's Isle
Scheduled monument · ~0.3 miles
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Anglian Assault on Roman York (c.450-500 AD)
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