The Ninth and Tenth Century Invasions

During the time of the ninth and tenth centuries, England was under attack from the Normans, and in order to survive, they would have to adopt clever tactics. It was at this time that people began to come up with ways to protect themselves, and one of the most efficient of these was Feudalism, which became a popular defence strategy, and without this successful economic arrangement, England could very well have been destroyed and taken by the invading Northerners. 

            During these years, the terrible Viking Northerners invaded the coast of England and were marching at an alarming rate, but Feudalism was able to slow them down, such that a defence to be mounted. Also, in addition to the invasions, England was dealing with chaos in certain areas, as places like North Umbria were in turmoil because their king had been overthrown, and places like these were highly vulnerable to Viking attack because of their lack of defence. This is why the Northerners were able to conquer more and more land, slowly working their way to the heart of the country. Next the Vikings attacked Wessex, but were finally repulsed by King Ethelred of Wessex at The Battle of Ashdown, on January 8, 871 because they incorporated the feudal system. This was the first large scale result partially brought about by Feudalism. Essentially, Feudalism was a private agreement between a serf and a lord, who was typically a wealthy land owner, and he would be approached by peasants who wanted protection from the Viking raids, so the Lord would allow them to have the protection of his estate in exchange for their labor as surfs. To defend the estate itself though, the Lord would hire knights or vassals which when the Vikings were invading, and to these he gave portions of land called fiefs to sustain themselves. With this new Feudal System, both the wealthy and the common man could enjoy safety. Now with this in place they were able to resist the invaders, and though Feudalism may not have directly driven the Vikings away, it definitely helped, as it did buy England enough time to gather a capable fighting force. Following their defeat at Ashdown the Vikings marched on other districts, conquering practically half of England despite the local defence. However Alfred became King of Wessex replacing his brother Ethelred and tried to arrange peace with the attackers which was unsuccessful, so he mustered his forces and formed a wall of troops to clash with the enemy, this very well could have been England’s last hope for victory, which did succeed at The Battle of Edington, in May of 878. However, had these invaders not been inconvenienced by the local Lord’s vassals they might have swiftly fallen on Alfred’s forces and defeated them before they could establish a line. Following this, the Vikings surrendered and cooperated with the treaties. But none of this might have been possible if Feudalism had not been in place at the perfect moment to distract the Normans, otherwise they could have defeated Alfred’s forces and there would have been nothing to stand in their way. 

            The Viking raids devastated much of England and it proved to be a very difficult time in the history of that nation, but also helped to develop the defence strategy which saved them. Also, this illustrates the point that a nation is much stronger if it bands together in times of trouble, and just as the Feudal System saved England by holding the Normans back, coming to a successful economic arrangement for mutual protection plays a critical role in any successful defence.