The city, which is situated on the banks of the wide River Ouse, was perfect prey for Viking invaders with their longships.
The Viking Raid on York in 866AD
York’s first raid by Viking invaders came in the year 866AD, when the city was already suffering disruption caused by civil war. The raiders marched on York from the south of England and the city was taken over the Danish king Halfdan, who used the city as part of an enormous trading area and was able to control much of the north of England.
Although King Eadred of Wessex drove out the Vikings in 965, Viking invasions were still happening in the north of England as late as 1066, the year of the Norman invasion.
Life in Viking York
The earliest Viking buildings in York were single storey dwellings, made out of wattle walls, which had thatched roofs. Once the Vikings were settled in York, they began to establish businesses and many traded from their own homes, using the front of their buildings as a shop front, or the rear as workshops, depending upon the type of business.
Because the area was crowded, most Viking houses followed the typical medieval pattern of a long narrow strip, with a large front, going back to further rooms and usually a garden or workshop at the back.
Although the natives of York must have been aggravated at the arrival of a conquering force, York does seem to have settled into a relatively peaceful state within a few years of the invasion.
New streets and buildings were established and many of the streets ended with the word ‘gate’, streets which still survive today.
Viking Trade and Industry
The Vikings were enthusiastic consumers and appreciated fine quality goods. By the time they had settled in York, trade with countries as far afield as Greenland and Russia was already well established. York’s inhabitants were able to buy imported clothes, spices, jewellery and perfumes.
Coppergate was one of York’s most important business areas and has since been excavated, revealing a large number of Viking finds. The excavations showed that the area was filthy and overcrowded, with people living and working amid rubbish which was hardly ever cleared away.
Coppergate was particularly well known for metal work and knives, jewellery and shoe buckles were manufactured on this street. Every month, raw materials from across Europe would arrive in the city, to be used by the tradespeople of York to fashion into goods for sale and trade.
Over the years, Vikings intermarried with English people, meaning that even once the Vikings no longer ruled the country, their legacy remained throughout the medieval period and beyond.
Source
Nuttgen, Patrick The History of York: From Earliest Times to the Year 2000 [Blackthorn Press, 2007]
History of York website
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