The siege of Durham was a 1006 attack on the settlement of

Durham, England Durham ( , locally ) is a cathedral city and civil parish in the county of County Durham, Durham, England. It is the county town and contains the headquarters of Durham County Council, the unitary authority which governs the district of Count ...

, conducted by Scottish forces under

Malcolm II Máel Coluim mac Cinaeda (; anglicised Malcolm II; c. 954 – 25 November 1034) was List of Scottish monarchs, King of Alba (Scotland) from 1005 until his death in 1034. He was one of the longest-reigning Scottish Kings of that period. He was ...

against the English defenders, possibly as part of an attempt to gain complete control of

Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders the Scottish council areas of Dumfries and Galloway and Scottish Borders to the north, Northumberland and County Durham to the east, North Yorkshire to the south-east, Lancash ...

, or part of the traditional raiding of a new Scottish king intended to display their military might. The battle ended in defeat for the Scottish after

Uhtred of Bamburgh Uhtred of Bamburgh (Uhtred the Bold—sometimes Uchtred; died ca. 1016), was ruler of Bamburgh and from 1006 to 1016 the ealdorman of Northumbria. He was the son of Waltheof I, ruler of Bamburgh (Bebbanburg), whose family, the Eadwulfingas, ...

raised an army from the lands of

Bernicia Bernicia () was an Anglo-Saxon kingdom established by Anglian settlers of the 6th century in what is now southeastern Scotland and North East England. The Anglian territory of Bernicia was approximately equivalent to the modern English cou ...

and

York York is a cathedral city in North Yorkshire, England, with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss. It has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a Yor ...

to repel the attackers. This victory would lead to Uhtred being named Earl of Bamburgh, and later

Earl of York In Anglo-Saxon England, the Earl of York or Ealdorman of York was the ruler of the southern half of Northumbria. The titles ealdorman and earl both come from Old English. The ealdormanry (earldom) seems to have been created in 966 following a peri ...

, uniting these lands under his leadership. Despite his defeat, Malcolm would lead another attack into England in 1018 and gained recognition that the lands north of the

River Tweed The River Tweed, or Tweed Water, is a river long that flows east across the Border region in Scotland and northern England. Tweed cloth derives its name from its association with the River Tweed. The Tweed is one of the great salmon rivers ...

were under Scottish control after the

Battle of Carham The Battle of Carham was fought between the English ruler of Bamburgh and the king of Scotland in alliance with the Cumbrians. The encounter took place in the 1010s, most likely 1018 (or perhaps 1016), at Carham on Tweed in what is now Nor ...

Background

Anglo-Scottish relations

During the late 10th century, the kings of

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

attempted to gain control over the lands of

, with

Indulf Ildulb mac Causantín, Anglicisation, anglicised as Indulf or Indulph, nicknamed An Ionsaighthigh, "the Aggressor" (died 962) was king of Alba from 954 to 962. He was the son of Constantine II of Scotland, Constantine II; his mother may have b ...

gaining

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

during his reign of 954–62. A history of border raids between Scottish and Northumbrian rulers continued into the 11th century, despite an agreement in 973 between

Kenneth II of Scotland Cináed mac Maíl Coluim (, anglicised Kenneth II, and nicknamed , "The Fratricidal"; 932–995) was King of Alba (Scotland) from 971 to 995. The son of Malcolm I (Máel Coluim mac Domnaill), he succeeded King Cuilén (Cuilén mac Iduilb) o ...

and

Edgar of England Edgar (or Eadgar; 8 July 975), known sometimes as Edgar the Peacemaker or the Peaceable, was King of the English from 959 until his death in 975. He became king of all England on his brother Eadwig's death. He was the younger son of King Ed ...

, under which the rulers of Scotland gained the lordship of

in return for defending Cumbria and the English borders from raiders. MILCOLVMBVS

became king of Scotland in 1005 and may have wished to gain Cumbria outright at a time when Æthelred II of England was occupied fighting

Vikings Vikings were seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway, and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded, and settled throughout parts of Europe.Roesdahl, pp. 9� ...

in southern England, rather than waiting for the English king to gift the lands for which Malcolm would have had to give homage. There was also a tradition of Scottish kings leading raids shortly after ascending the throne to demonstrate their military might, which may have provided a reason for the invasion in 1006.

Durham

A settlement at Durham was founded in 995 by monks from

Lindisfarne Lindisfarne, also known as Holy Island, is a tidal island off the northeast coast of England, which constitutes the civil parishes in England, civil parish of Holy Island in Northumberland. Holy Island has a recorded history from the 6th centu ...

and the remains of

Cuthbert Cuthbert of Lindisfarne () ( – 20 March 687) was a saint of the early Northumbrian church in the Hiberno-Scottish mission, Celtic tradition. He was a monk, bishop and hermit, associated with the monastery, monasteries of Melrose Abbey#Histo ...

, patron saint of Northumbria, were moved to this new site. A small stone church had been built on a wooded hill overlooking a u-shaped bend in the river. Uhtred, son of Waltheof, the Earl of Bamburgh, helped the monks clear the site and married the bishop's daughter. '' De obsessione'' describes the site as "fortified by nature but not easily inhabitable". Simple defences may have been built to control access to the site.

Battle

In 1006, Malcolm marched into England and besieged Durham. Waltheof was too old to fight and remained in Bamburgh, and Ælfhelm,

, also declined to offer aid. Acting on his father's behalf, Uhtred, described in ''De obsessione'' as a young, energetic man skilled in warfare, raised a force from Bernicia and York and led them to victory over the Scottish invaders. The ''

Annals of Ulster The ''Annals of Ulster'' () are annals of History of Ireland, medieval Ireland. The entries span the years from 431 AD to 1540 AD. The entries up to 1489 AD were compiled in the late 15th century by the scribe Ruaidhrí Ó Luin� ...

'' describe a "slaughter of the good men of Scotland", suggesting many Scottish nobles were killed. Tradition holds local women were paid a cow each to clean the heads of the fallen attackers before these were mounted on spikes from the town's stockade.

Aftermath

Uhtred's victory brought him to Æthelred's attention, and the king recognised him as earl, despite the fact Waltheof seems to have still lived. Æthelred also granted Uhtred the earldom of York upon Ælfhelm's death, uniting the lands of Northumbria under Uhtred's rule. Malcolm would again invade Northumbria in 1018 and, after winning the

, gained formal recognition that Northumbrian lands north of the

were part of Scotland. These lands would remain in Scottish control.

References

Sources

* * * * * * * * * {{cite book , last1=Woolf , first1=Alex , last2=Brown , first2=Michael , last3=Lynch , first3=Michael , editor1-last=Lynch , editor1-first=Michael , title=The Oxford Companion to Scottish History , date=2001 , publisher=Oxford University Press , isbn=978-0-19-923482-0 , url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/acref/9780199234820.001.0001/acref-9780199234820-e-6?rskey=CaboIy&result=1#acref-9780199234820-eSub-0003 , language=en , chapter=Anglo-Scottish relations , doi=10.1093/acref/9780199234820.001.0001 Durham 11th century in Scotland 11th century in England Durham History of Durham, England