Northumbria And The Vikings

The golden age of Christian learning and building, and indeed the era of Northumbrian domination of Britain, came to a sudden end in the early 9th century; when the Vikings invaded. The Anglo-Saxons were as unprepared for the coming of the Vikings as had been the ancient Britons when the Anglo-Saxons themselves arrived 350 years earlier. Once again, the Christian land was overrun by a heathen invasion. Ironically it was by warriors who worshipped the religion which the Anglo-Saxons had forsaken.

The invasion came over the sea, and was well placed to overtake the religious centres which were placed along the Northumbrian coast, and which contained much of the kingdom's wealth and learning. At first the attacks were sporadic; capturing a goal, and withdrawing with the spoils, but from the middle of the 9th century the Vikings began to colonise and eventually they founded an extensive kingdom centred around York. One of the side affects of these raids was the founding of Durham. In 875 the monks of Lindisfarne decided that the island was indefensible and withdrew inland to Durham. They took with them the body of St. Cuthbert (the patron saint of Northumberland) carrying the body with them for over a century before finally building Durham Cathedral and laying the bones to rest.

The creation of the Viking kingdom was critical in its influence over the history and political structure in the land. First, it separated the Anglo-Saxons of Lothian their kin to the south. This brought Lothian under the influence of the Celtic kings of Scotland, and by the end of the 10th century the Scots had extended their hold over them as far as the Tweed. This greatly reinforced the division in the land which had been started almost a thousand years previously by the Romans and created a separation which would never be overcome. Second, and perhaps more important, it removed the influence of Northumbria over the rest of the land and thus removed its position as the political centre of the country. It could be argued that but for the Vikings, the most likely place for the capital of Britain would have been Newcastle-upon-Tyne.