The Great Heathen Army

There was an invasion in England in 865 by a coalition of Scandinavian warriors referred to in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle as the Great Heathen Army or the Viking Great Army. It was supposedly commanded by Halfdan Ragnarsson, Ivar the Boneless, and Ubba, who were three of the five sons of the legendary Ragnar Lodbrok. For 14 years they fought the resident Anglo-Saxons, starting from their landing spot in East Anglia and moving north to York and then south through Nottingham and Cambridge down to London. Let's talk about the three brothers.

Ivar the Boneless was actually discussed over a decade ago in this post. Although "Boneless" (see the link, although there are several theories) he was considered wise and cunning, and a master of battle strategy. Ivar and Ubba are credited with killing Edmund the Martyr when the army returned to East Anglia in 869. Ivar died in 870.

Ubba's existence and role in the Great Heathen Army are fairly sketchy. From the Historia de sancto Cuthberto ("History of Saint Cuthbert") we are told that he was a dux ("leader, duke") of the Frisians, but that the army was Scaldingi, meaning they were either Scyldings (an ancient designation mentioned in the poem Beowulf from which the kings of Denmark claimed descent), or they were from the river Scheldt, meaning Ubba was from an island in the mouth of the Scheldt in Northern France that was granted to a Viking named Herioldus in 841 by King Lothair I.

The Battle of Arx Cynuit, mentioned by the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle and the Vita Alfredi, was a loss for the Heathen Army. The army's leader was killed according to the chronicles, but not named; he is only designated the brother of Ivar and Halfdan. Contemporary records do not say that Ivar and Ubba were brothers; that link comes later in the 11th-century Annals of St. Neots.

Halfdan is better attested in history, because he became King of Jorvik (York), King of Dublin, and co-ruler of Denmark. I'll explain how he managed all that tomorrow.

Oda the Good

Lately the name Oda has come up as the Archbishop of Canterbury during the time of Dunstan, Æthelwold, and Oswald. 

According to Oswald's biographer, Byrhferth of Ramsey (writing years later), Oda's father was a Dane who arrived in 865 with a Viking army and settled in East Anglia. Byrhtferth writes that Oda was a member of a nobleman's household, and accompanied the man on a pilgrimage to Rome, during which Oda cured the man's illness. We don't know his date of birth, but he was old enough to become Bishop of Ramsbury by 928. 

William of Malmesbury (c.1095 - c.1143) tells a different story, about Oda as a soldier under the Saxon king Edward the Elder and becoming a priest later. Biographers erroneously call him Bishop of Wilton, but evidence doesn't exist for that appointment.

It was likely King Æthelstan who appointed Oda Bishop of Ramsbury, and made him a royal advisor. Oda's name is on a lot of royal charters as witness. Another historian, Richer of Rheims, tells us that Æthelstan sent Oda to France to help King Louis IV (whose queen was Æthelstan's granddaughter through Edward the Elder) to return to the throne. (This story has no contemporary evidence.) Oda was also said to be with Æthelstan at the Battle of Brunanburh, but there is no contemporary evidence of this. These later accounts that ascribe so much to his life tell you that there was a desire to increase his standing because he was considered important to history.

What did happen for certain is that he was made Archbishop of Canterbury after the death of Wulfhelm in 941. In either 945 or 946, at Easter, new law codes were proclaimed by King Edmund that included new ecclesiastical laws developed by Oda and Edmund. Oda also established his own set of rules for clergy, in a work called Constitutions. In it, he dropped any references to dealing with pagans.

As archbishop he supported Dunstan's monastic reforms, and would have been helpful to Oswald, who was Oda's nephew and became Archbishop of York.

Other actions by Oda: renovating Canterbury Cathedral by raising the walls and installing a new roof, building several churches, translating the relics of St. Wilfrid. He also acquired relics of 7th-century Frankish bishop St. Ouen. He was nicknamed both "the Good" and also "the Severe."

He is venerated in both the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches with a feast day on 4 July. That's him in the illustration holding a chalice.

Let's make a change away from religious figures for a bit and take a look at the invasion that brought Oda's father to England, the Viking army of Ubba and Ivar. See you tomorrow.