![]() On 8 September 1011 the Viking army returned to Canterbury and besieged the city for three weeks, eventually taking it through the treachery of a man named Ælfmaer, whose life had been previously saved by the archbishop of Canterbury, Ælfheah. They instead turned towards London and attempted to take the city several times, but were met with heavy resistance and ultimately abandoned their attack. They first marched towards the city of Canterbury but were promptly paid 3000 pounds of silver by the people of Kent to sway the army from attacking. ![]() In August 1009, a large Danish army led by Thorkell the Tall landed on the shores of Sandwich. Thorkell took part in the Battle of Hjörungavágr in 986 and in the Battle of Swold in 1000. Thorkell is a historical figure, but his career, especially its early part, is steeped in associations with the legendary Jomsvikings. This soon culminated in the siege of Canterbury in 1011 and the kidnapping of archbishop Ælfheah, who had previously converted Olaf Tryggvason, and Ælfheah's subsequent murder at Greenwich on 19 April 1012. ![]() Thorkell notably partook in a campaign that saw him lead a great Viking army to Kent in 1009, where they proceeded to overrun most of Southern England. The Encomium Emmae, a document aimed at the movers and shakers of the Anglo-Scandinavian court in the early 1040s, describes Thorkell as a great war leader and warrior. He is also credited as having received the young Cnut the Great into his care and taken Cnut on raids. Thorkell was the chief commander of the Jomsvikings and the legendary stronghold Jomsborg, on the Island of Wollin. He was a son of the Scanian chieftain Strut-Harald, and a brother of Jarl Sigvaldi, Hemingr and Tófa. Thorkell the Tall, also known as Thorkell the High in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle ( Old Norse: Þorke(ti)ll inn hávi Norwegian: Torkjell Høge Swedish: Torkel Höge Danish: Torkild den Høje), was a prominent member of the Jomsviking order and a notable lord.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |