Jórvík
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The Kingdom of Jórvík was a Norse Viking kingdom, covering the area of what is now Yorkshire and further parts of Northern England. The name Jórvík was also that of the kingdom's capital city, now known as York. With a few interruptions due to wars with Wessex, the Norse monarchy lasted from 876 to 954.[1][2]
Between 1070 and 1085 there were occasional attempts by the Danish Vikings to recapture their Kingdom of Jórvík, however these attempts did not materialise into the return of the kingdom.[3]
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[edit] History
York had been founded as the Roman legionary fortress of Eboracum and revived as the Anglo-Saxon trading port of Eoforwic. It was first captured in November 866 by a large army of Danish Vikings, called the "Great Heathen Army" by Anglo-Saxon chroniclers, which had landed in East Anglia and made their way north, aided by a supply of horses with which King Edmund of East Anglia bought them off and by civil in-fighting between royal candidates in the Anglian Kingdom of Northumbria. Declaring a truce, the rivals for the throne of Northumbria joined forces but failed to retake the city in March 867, and with their deaths the kingdom Deira came under Danish control, and the Northumbrian royal court fled north to refuge in Bernicia. A Viking attempt against Mercia the same season failed and in 869 their efforts against Wessex were fruitless in the face of opposition from Kings Ethelred and Alfred the Great.
Jórvík became the capital of a flourishing small kingdom when the Danish warlord, Guthrum, headed for East Anglia, while Prince Halfdan Wide-Embrace of Sjaelland took the York throne in AD 876. Both were in the Danelaw, as were their English subjects. While the Danish army was busy in the British Isles, the Swedish army was occupied with defence of the Danish and Swedish homelands where Halfdan's brothers were in control.
Jorvik was founded by the paternally Halfdan Ragnarsson as a Danish institution but was passed onto the Norwegians, who fought for it. Native Danish rulers who eventually made Jelling in Jutland the site of Gorm the Old's kingdom, were in the East Anglian Kingdom. The Five Boroughs/Jarldoms were based upon the Kingdom of Lindsey and were a sort of frontier between each kingdom. King Canute the Great would later "reinstall" a Norwegian dynasty of jarls in Northumbria (Eric of Hlathir), with a Danish dynasty of jarls in East Anglia (Thorkel). Northern England would continue to be a source of intrigue for the Norwegians until Harald III of Norway's death at the Battle of Stamford Bridge.
The area of the palace built by the Viking rulers was known as the Konungsgårthr and is today known as King's Square, which nucleates the Ainsty. New streets, lined by regular building fronts for timber houses were added to an enlarging city between AD 900 and 935, dates arrived at by tree-ring chronology carried out on remaining posts preserved in anaerobic clay subsoil. The Viking kingdom was absorbed into England in 954, without cramping its economic success: by ca 1000, the urban boom brought Viking Jórvík to a population total second only to that of London within the British Isles. William the Conqueror brought the independence of Jórvík to an end and established garrisoned castles in the city.
[edit] Aftermath
After the Kingdom of Jórvík was merged with Northumbria, the title King of Jórvík became redundant, and was succeeded by the title Earl of York, created in 960. Although some of the early Earls of York were Nordic like the Jórvík Kings, they were succeeded by Normans after the Conquest, until the title was abolished by King Henry II. The title Duke of York, a title of nobility in British peerage, was created in 1341, but was merged with the Crown when the 4th Duke became King Edward IV. Subsequently, the title of Duke of York has usually been given to the second son of the King or Queen.
[edit] Kings of Jórvík
| Name | Reign | Longevity | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Halfdan I Ragnarson | 876–877 | 01 year | First ever King of Jórvík, reign only lasted one year due to a six year nominal Bernician rule following it. |
| Guthfrith, King of York | 883–895 | 12 years | |
| Siefred / Sigferth | 895–900 | 05 years | |
| Knutr / Cnut | 900–902 | 02 years | |
| Æthelwald | 902 | 01 year | |
| Halfdan II and Eowils Ragnarson | 902–910 | 08 years | Joint rule over the Kingdom of Jórvík. |
| Ragnall ua Ímair | 910–920 | 10 years | |
| Sihtric ua Ímair | 920–927 | 07 years | |
| Gofraid ua Ímair | 927 | Less than six months | Norse claimant |
| Olaf I Guthfrithson | 934–941 | 07 years | Some of his reign was as a claimant under Wessex Rule, however the last two years were not. |
| Olaf II Cuaran the Sandal | 941–943 | 02 years | |
| Ragnall II Guthfrithsson | 943–944 | 01 year | |
| Eric Bloodaxe | 947–948 | 01 year | |
| Olaf II Cuaran the Sandal | 949–952 | 03 years | Second reign. |
| Eric Bloodaxe | 952–954 | 02 years | Second reign. Kingdom of Wessex gained control of Jórvík after 954, incorporating it into Northumbria. |
[edit] Archaeological findings
From 1976 to 1981, the York Archaeological Trust conducted a five-year excavation in and around the street of Coppergate. This demonstrated that, in the 10th century, Jórvík's trading connections reached to the Byzantine Empire and beyond: a cap made of silk survives, and coins from Samarkand were familiar enough and respected enough for a counterfeit to have passed in trade. Both these items, as well as a large human coprolite known as the Lloyds Bank coprolite, were famously recovered in York a millennium later. Amber from the Baltic is often expected at a Viking site and at Jórvík an impractical and presumably symbolic axehead of amber was found. A cowrie shell indicates contact with the Red Sea or the Persian Gulf. Christian and pagan objects have survived side-by-side, usually taken as a sign that Christians were not in positions of authority.
After the excavation, the York Archaeological Trust took the decision to recreate the excavated part of Jórvík on the Coppergate site, and this is now the JORVIK Viking Centre.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ "Guthfrith I Hardicnutson Norse King of York", Britannia.com, 24 October 2007.
- ^ "The Scandinavian Kingdom of York / Jorvik", HistoryFiles.co.uk, 24 October 2007.
- ^ "The Rulers of Jorvik (York)", Viking.no, 24 October 2007.
[edit] External links
de:Königreich Jorvik fr:Royaume viking d'York no:Jorvik nn:Jorvik simple:Jorvik
