HOME





Thorkell The High
Thorkell the Tall, also known as Thorkell the High in the ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'' (Old Norse: Þorke(ti)ll inn hávi; ; Swedish: ''Torkel Höge''; ), was a prominent member of the Jomsviking order and a notable lord. He was a son of the Scanian chieftain Strut-Harald, and a brother of Jarl Sigvaldi, Hemingr and Tófa. Thorkell was the chief commander of the Jomsvikings and the legendary stronghold Jomsborg, on the Island of Wollin. He is also credited as having received the young Cnut the Great into his care and taken Cnut on raids. The '' Encomium Emmae,'' a document concerning significant individuals in the Anglo-Scandinavian court in the early 1040s, describes Thorkell as a great war leader and warrior. Thorkell notably partook in a campaign that saw him lead an army to Kent in the summer of 1009, where they proceeded to ravage most of Southern England. This soon culminated in the siege of Canterbury in 1011 and the kidnapping of archbishop Ælfheah, who had previously co ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

U 344, Orkesta
U, or u, is the twenty-first letter and the fifth vowel letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet and the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''u'' (pronounced ), plural ''ues''. Name In English, the name of the letter is the "long U" sound, pronounced . In most other languages, its name matches the letter's pronunciation in open syllables. History U derives from the Semitic waw, as does F, and later, Y, W, and V. Its oldest ancestor goes back to Egyptian hieroglyphs, and is probably from a hieroglyph of a mace or fowl, representing the sound or the sound . This was borrowed to Phoenician, where it represented the sound , and seldom the vowel . In Greek, two letters were adapted from the Phoenician waw. The letter was adapted, but split in two, with Digamma or wau being adapted to represent , and the second one being Upsilon , which was originally adapted to represent , later fronte ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Ælfheah Of Canterbury
Ælfheah ( â€“ 19 April 1012), more commonly known today as Alphege, was an Anglo-Saxon Bishop of Winchester, later Archbishop of Canterbury. He became an anchorite before being elected abbot of Bath Abbey. His reputation for piety and sanctity led to his promotion to the episcopate and, eventually, to his becoming archbishop. Ælfheah furthered the cult of Dunstan and also encouraged learning. He was captured by Viking raiders in 1011 during the siege of Canterbury and killed by them the following year after refusing to allow himself to be ransomed. Ælfheah was canonised as a saint in 1078. Thomas Becket, a later Archbishop of Canterbury, prayed to Ælfheah just before his murder in Canterbury Cathedral in 1170. Life Ælfheah was born around 953,Rumble "From Winchester to Canterbury" ''Leaders of the Anglo-Saxon Church'' p. 165 and became a monk early in life. He first entered the monastery of Deerhurst, but then moved to Bath, where he became an anchorite. He was not ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Harthacnut
Harthacnut (; "Tough-knot";  â€“ 8 June 1042), traditionally Hardicanute, sometimes referred to as Canute III, was King of Denmark from 1035 to 1042 and King of England from 1040 to 1042. Harthacnut was the son of King Cnut the Great (who ruled Denmark, Norway, and England) and Emma of Normandy. When Cnut died in 1035, Harthacnut struggled to retain his father's possessions. Magnus I took control of Norway, but Harthacnut succeeded as King of Denmark and became King of England in 1040 after the death of his half-brother Harold Harefoot, king of England. Harthacnut himself died suddenly in 1042 and was succeeded by Magnus in Denmark and Edward the Confessor in England. Harthacnut was the last Dane to rule England. Early life Harthacnut was born shortly after the marriage of his parents in July or August 1017. Cnut had put aside his first wife Ælfgifu of Northampton to marry Emma, and according to the '' Encomium Emmae Reginae'', a book she inspired many years later, ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Edmund Ironside
Edmund Ironside (30 November 1016; , , ; sometimes also known as Edmund II) was King of the English from 23 April to 30 November 1016. He was the son of King Æthelred the Unready and his first wife, Ælfgifu of York. Edmund's reign was marred by a war he had inherited from his father; his epithet "Ironside" was given to him "because of his valour" in resisting the Danish invasion led by Cnut. In the summer of 1013 Sweyn Forkbeard launched a full-scale invasion of England, driving out Aethelred by the end of the year. Edmund and his elder brother Aethelstan did not follow their father in exile. Sweyn died unexpectedly in February of 1014, and Æthelred was able to quickly reclaim the throne, driving out Sweyn's son Cnut, whom the Danes elected king. Aethelstan had died by June of 1014, making Edmund heir apparent. After regaining the throne, the royal family set about strengthening its hold on the country with the assistance of Eadric Streona (Edmund's brother-in-law). Pe ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Battle Of Assandun
The Battle of Assandun (or Ashingdon) was fought between Danish and English armies on 18 October 1016. There is disagreement whether Assandun may be Ashdon near Saffron Walden in north Essex, England, or, as long supposed, Ashingdon near Rochford in south-east Essex. It ended in victory for the Danes, led by King Cnut, who triumphed over an English army led by King Edmund Ironside. The battle was followed by a treaty dividing England between Cnut and Edmund, but Edmund died shortly afterwards and Cnut then became undisputed king. Prelude On 23 April 1016, King Æthelred the Unready died from an illness that he had been suffering from since the previous year. Two opposing assemblies gathered to name his successor; an assembly of London citizens declared Edmund king and the larger Witan at Southampton declared Cnut as king. During the autumn of 1016, King Edmund raised an army consisting of West-Saxon troops as well as men from Southern England to defeat a Danish force led ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Sweyn Forkbeard
Sweyn Forkbeard ( ; ; 17 April 963 – 3 February 1014) was King of Denmark from 986 until his death, King of England for five weeks from December 1013 until his death, and King of Norway from 999/1000 until 1014. He was the father of King Harald II of Denmark, King Cnut the Great, and Queen Estrid Svendsdatter. In the mid-980s, Sweyn revolted against his father, Harald Bluetooth, and seized the throne. Harald was driven into exile and died shortly afterwards in November 986 or 987. In 1000, with the allegiance of Eric of Lade, Eric, Earl of Lade, Sweyn ruled most of Norway. In 1013, shortly before his death, he became the first Danish king of the English after a long effort. Life Historiographical sources on Sweyn's life include the ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'' (where his name is rendered as ''Swegen''), Adam of Bremen's 11th-century ''Gesta Hammaburgensis ecclesiae pontificum, Deeds of the Bishops of Hamburg'', and Snorri Sturluson's 13th-century ''Heimskringla''. Conflictin ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Æthelred The Unready
Æthelred II (,Different spellings of this king's name most commonly found in modern texts are "Ethelred" and "Æthelred" (or "Aethelred"), the latter being closer to the original Old English form . Compare the modern dialect word . ; ; 966 – 23 April 1016), known as Æthelred the Unready, was List of English monarchs, King of the English from 978 to 1013 and again from 1014 until his death in 1016. His epithet comes from the Old English word meaning "poorly advised"; it is a pun on his name, which means "well advised". Æthelred was the son of Edgar, King of England, King Edgar and Ælfthryth (wife of Edgar), Queen Ælfthryth. He came to the throne at about the age of 12, following the assassination of his elder half-brother, King Edward the Martyr. The chief characteristic of Æthelred's reign was conflict with the Danes (tribe), Danes. After several decades of relative peace, Danish raids on English territory began again in earnest in the 980s, becoming markedly more se ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Danegeld
Danegeld (; "Danish tax", literally "Dane yield" or tribute) was a tax raised to pay tribute or Protection racket, protection money to the Viking raiders to save a land from being ravaged. It was called the ''geld'' or ''gafol'' in eleventh-century sources. It was characteristic of royal policy in both England and Francia during the ninth through eleventh centuries, collected both as Tribute, tributary, to buy off the attackers, and as stipendiary, to pay the defensive forces. The term ''Danegeld'' did not appear until the late eleventh century. In History of Anglo-Saxon England, Anglo-Saxon England tribute payments to the Danes was known as ''gafol'' and the levy raised to support the standing army, for the defence of the realm, was known as ''heregeld'' (army-tax). England In England, a Hide (unit), hide was notionally an area of land sufficient to support one family; however their true size and economic value varied enormously. The hide's purpose was as a unit of assessmen ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Sandwich, Kent
Sandwich is a town and civil parish in the Dover District of Kent, south-east England. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour and has a population of 4,985. Sandwich was one of the Cinque Ports and still has many original medieval buildings, including several listed building, listed public houses and gates in the old town walls, churches, almshouses and the White Mill, Sandwich, White Mill. While it was once a major port, Sandwich is now from the sea due to the disappearance of the Wantsum Channel. Its historic centre has been preserved. Sandwich Bay, Kent, Sandwich Bay is home to nature reserves and two world-class golf courses, Royal St George's and Prince's Golf Club, Sandwich, Prince's. The town is also a home to many educational and cultural events. Sandwich also gave its name to Sandwich, the food by way of John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich, and the word ''sandwich'' is now found in several languages. Etymology The place-name 'Sandwich' is first attested in the ' ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Battle Of Swold
A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force commitment. An engagement with only limited commitment between the forces and without decisive results is sometimes called a skirmish. The word "battle" can also be used infrequently to refer to an entire operational campaign, although this usage greatly diverges from its conventional or customary meaning. Generally, the word "battle" is used for such campaigns if referring to a protracted combat encounter in which either one or both of the combatants had the same methods, resources, and strategic objectives throughout the encounter. Some prominent examples of this would be the Battle of the Atlantic, Battle of Britain, and the Battle of France, all in World War II. Wars and military campaigns are guided by military strategy, whereas batt ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Battle Of Hjörungavágr
A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force commitment. An engagement with only limited commitment between the forces and without decisive results is sometimes called a skirmish. The word "battle" can also be used infrequently to refer to an entire operational campaign, although this usage greatly diverges from its conventional or customary meaning. Generally, the word "battle" is used for such campaigns if referring to a protracted combat encounter in which either one or both of the combatants had the same methods, resources, and strategic objectives throughout the encounter. Some prominent examples of this would be the Battle of the Atlantic, Battle of Britain, and the Battle of France, all in World War II. Wars and military campaigns are guided by military strategy, whereas b ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Cnut's Invasion Of England
In the autumn of 1016, the Danish Realm, Danish prince Cnut the Great (Canute), supported by Eiríkr Hákonarson, and Thorkell the Tall successfully invaded England. Cnut's father, Sweyn Forkbeard, had previously conquered and briefly ruled England for less than five weeks. Background Sweyn Forkbeard conquered England by 1013, forcing Æthelred the Unready, King Æthelred of England to exile by the end of the year. However, Sweyn died on 2 February 1014, and the Danes proclaimed his son, Cnut, as king. Meanwhile, the English nobility recalled Æthelred who successfully expelled the Danes by the summer of 1014. That same summer Æthelred’s eldest son, Æthelstan Ætheling, Æthelstan died, leaving his younger brother, Edmund Ironside, Edmund, as heir to the English throne. Cnut wasted no time to prepare for the reconquest, Among the allies of Denmark was Bolesław I the Brave, the duke of Poland, (later crowned king) a relative to the Danish royal house. He lent some Polish pe ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]