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Æthelred's Danegeld
In 1002 English King Æthelred II ('the Unready') paid a large danegeld to the Danish Viking leader Sweyn Forkbeard and his allied fleet to secure a t…
Timeline
- 1002Winchester · HampshireSince the late 990s Danish fleets repeatedly raided the English coast. Pressed by his advisors, Æthelred II decided to buy a truce with a huge danegeld, continuing the policy of his predecessors.
- 1002Southern English coast · EnglandThe crown paid a large silver tribute to the Danish fleet led by Sweyn Forkbeard, and the Vikings temporarily withdrew. Chronicle accounts of the amount vary widely, but it was enough to fill Sweyn's war chest.
- 1002–1003England · EnglandThe tribute brought brief peace but did not resolve the Danish presence in England or the crisis of royal authority. The payment policy was criticized as financing the enemy and formed contradictory diplomacy with measures such as the St. Brice's Day massacre of the same year, ultimately leading to Sweyn's renewed invasion in 1003.
Sources
- Anglo-Saxon Chronicle https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglo-Saxon_Chronicle
- Aethelred the Unready: The Ill-Counselled King — Ann Williams (2003)