Danish army occupies and breaks treaty at Wareham, Dorset, 876
Who Fought
Danish army under Guthrum; West Saxon forces under King Alfred
History & Significance
The Danelaw (, Danish: Danelagen; Norwegian: Danelagen; Old English: Dena lagu) was the part of England between the late ninth century and the Norman Conquest under Anglo-Saxon rule in which Danish laws applied. The Danelaw originated in the conquest and occupation of large parts of eastern and northern England by Danish Vikings in the late ninth century. The term applies to the areas in which English kings allowed the Danes to keep their own laws following the early tenth-century Anglo-Saxon conquest of Danish-ruled eastern and northern England in return for the Danish settlers' loyalty to the English crown. "Danelaw" is first recorded in the early 11th century as Dena lage.
The Danelaw originated from the invasion of the Great Heathen Army into England in 865, but the term was not used to describe a geographic area until the 11th century. With the increase in population and productivity in Scandinavia, Viking warriors, having sought treasure and glory in the nearby British Isles, "proceeded to plough and support themselves", in the words of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle for 876.
Danelaw can describe the set of legal terms and definitions created in the treaties between Alfred the Great, the king of Wessex, and Guthrum, the Danish warlord, written following Guthrum's defeat at the Battle of Edington in 878, starting with the Treaty of Wedmore.
Between the aftermath of the Treaty of Wedmore and Guthrum's death in 890, the Treaty of Alfred and Guthrum was formalised, defining the boundaries of their kingdoms, with provisions for peaceful relations between the Danes and the Anglo-Saxons, including allowing the self-governance of the Danes in exchange of loyalty to England. The language spoken in England was affected by this clash of cultures, with the emergence of Anglo-Norse dialects.
The Danelaw approximately covered Yorkshire, the central and eastern Midlands, and the East of England.
From around 800, there had been waves of Norse raids on the coastlines of Britain and Ireland. In 865, instead of raiding, the Danes landed a large army in East Anglia, with the intention of conquering the four Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England. The armies of various Danish leaders had collaborated to make one combined force under a leadership that included Halfdan Ragnarsson and Ivar the Boneless, the sons of the legendary Viking leader Ragnar Lodbrok. The combined army was described in the annals as the Great Heathen Army. In 867 they captured Northumbria and its capital, York ("Jórvík"), defeating both the recently deposed King Osberht of Northumbria and the usurper Ælla of Northumbria. The Danes then placed an Englishman, Ecgberht I of Northumbria, on the throne of Northumbria as a puppet ruler.
The ground they fought on
The site of Danish army occupies and breaks treaty at Wareham, Dorset, 876 lies on Bracklesham Group And Barton Group (Undifferentiated), bedrock that formed in the Eocene. The rock here is sand, silt and clay.
The occupation of Wareham in 876 marked a significant shift in Danish ambitions, with the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle recording that the Danes at this time proceeded to "plough and support themselves", signalling their intent to settle the land permanently rather than merely extract tribute and withdraw.
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