Лекции по "Истории Англии"

     His state in the camp for several days, until he was absolutely satisfied with what he had heard, and then he went back to  Athelney immaches, gathered together his own leaders and explained to them, how easily this time he could beat the Vikings. Then he wrote to Egbeth’s stone, which is situated East of Satwood, where he met all the people of Somerset, Wilshire and Hampshire. And these people of these three counties were very happy to see him and rejoined him. And after one night he went to Iey and after another night – to Edington and there he fought against the whole Viking army, and he put the army to fight. The Vikings were pursued[оттеснены] to the British Channel and there, near the British Channel, a peace treaty was drawn up at Edington in Wilshire. Gatrum swore to leave the Kingdom of Wessex in peace and even agreed to be baptised with Alfred as his sponsor. Edington was a great victory for the English king, and until his death in 899, he kept the invadors as they threw out his lands, conquering London in 886. Alfred’s successful opposition to those further Danish attacks enabled him to accumulate wealth and begin minting “good pennies” (they were called like that) to historians almost a clear sings of the well-ordered kingdom; and what’s more – these “good pennies” were used not only in Wessex, but all over Britain and even the Danes accepted this money.

     And now a few words about the Danelaw.

     The country was devided into two parts and they were Danelaw, that was under the control of the Danish army, and little part - Wessex, controlled by King Alfred. Despite king Alfred’s succes in keeping the Vikings out of his own kingdom of Wessex, a vast slice of the British Isles was now under the Danish occupation. The Treaty of Edington(Wedmore) left the Danes with what became known as the Danelaw, that is England East and North of a line from Chester to London, so Danelaw was the territory, where the Danish ruled. Excepted Danish settlement is indicated by the large number of Scandinavian place names ending in –by, for example, Deby, a very famous place, where the horseracing and –thrope. And in the North-East today, by the many Scandinavian surnames ending in –son, for example, a very  popular surname in England – Thompson. The centre of Danelaw was, of course, the county of Northumbria, while the Norwegians established a base in Dublin in 841 and in the first two decades of the seventh century colonise. They colonised the coastline of the North-West England invading the wirral from Dublin in 902. Scandinavian place names are extensive in Cumbria and coastal Lankshire. (And Cumbria is Lake District).

      Meanwhile a separate lifestyle continued in those part of Britain, not controlled by Danelaw. Free from Viking power, Alfred had turned to strenghtening Wessex, building a fleet as creating a more effective system of military recruitement and army, and, of course, constructing a system of 45 towns. Existing towns had their walls restored or new walls were constructed, while new burghs were established. It was a very long process, that was continued by Alfred’s successor, Edward, and by his daughter, Ethelthred, who ruled English Mercia, the area South and West of Watling Street not settled by the Danes.

      Descents under Alfred was followed by conquest under his airs. Edward the Elder, it was his successor (899-924), Ethelston(924-939) and Edmund(939-946) conquered East Anglia, Eastern Mercia and Yorkshire. The kings of Wessex brought modern England under their authority. Edward overran the Danish bases in Eastern Mercia and built ports in the North-West Midlands, including Manchester(919) and Roodlu(a)n(921) to limit the danger of attack from the Norwegian Kingdom of Dublin. The defeated Danes were allowed to keep their land and the Danelaw rectaned distinctive features including its own legal system. English Mercia was absolutely absorbed by Wessex after the death of Ethelred(918).

      In 923 the rulers of Scotand, Northumbria, Stratchclyde and the Welsh Kingom accepted Edward’s lordship, giving the first idea of a United Kingdom of Britain. In 927 Ethelston captured York, in 934 he invaded Scotland, and in 937 he defeated a united army of Scotts, Stratchclyde, Britons and Northmen(Norwegians) from Ireland at Broomenburgh. He formed aliances with leading continental rulers, fixed the wire and the bundery with South Wales and restricted konnish power to West of the Tama[та-ама-а]. Despite formidable resistance from the Yorkshire Danes, they were finally reduced. Eric Bloodex, their last king, being killed in 954 in an ambush(??) . The areas reconquered from the Danes were very quick to abandon their old gods and to adopt to Christianity.

     Altimately it was their conversion to Christianity, which ended the Vikings’ warlike habits and turned them into peaceful farmers and sea tradors. England was now making remarkably swift progress in political and social terms. Royal authority again had been reestablished under an extending state, ruled by the House of Wessex. A county or shire system extended into areas recognised and reconquered from the Danes. The shires in their turn were devided into hundreds, and in Scandinavian areas they were responsible for maintaing law and order. Their public courts were a link between rulers and the sel(m)i-numerous three groups in the society. The coinage was improved with 70 mints set up around the country with a flexible rate of exchange boosting foreign trade and actually forbidding foreign money. There was also a system of assessment for the station and military service, based on hides(the amount of land, necessary to support a peasant family).