A Timeline of the Vikings

By Tim Lambert

793

The Vikings raid the monastery at Lindisfarne in England

795

The Vikings raid the monastery at Iona in Scotland. They also raid Ireland.

9th Century

The Vikings settle the Orkneys, Shetlands, Caithness and Sutherland in Scotland. They found Cork and Dublin in Ireland.

836

The English defeat the Vikings at Hingston Down

840

The English defeat the Vikings at Southampton

841

The Vikings raid Kent and East Anglia in England

842

The Vikings raid Southampton in England

844

The Vikings raid Spain and Portugal

845

The Vikings raid Hamburg in Germany

866

The Danes capture York in England

870

The Danes crush the East Anglians in battle. Marching south they capture Reading in England.

873

The Danes capture Western England. Only the South remains unconquered

874

The Vikings settle in Iceland

878

Alfred king of Wessex (Southern England) routs the Danes. Afterwards England is split between Wessex and the Danes with Watling Street as the border.

885

The Vikings raid Paris but are driven off

911

The French king gives the Viking leader Hrolf the Dukedom of Normandy on condition he helps to protect France from other Vikings

922

The Vikings found Limerick in Ireland

980

The Danes begin raiding England again

985

The Vikings settle in Greenland

1001

The Vikings land in North America

1014

The Irish crush the Vikings at the Battle of Clontarf

1016

A Dane called Canute becomes king of England

1066

An army of Norwegians is crushed by the English at Stamford Bridge

1069-70

A Danish army sails to England to assist English rebels against William the Conqueror but they eventually leave. It is the last Scandinavian intervention in England.