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Viking expansion was the historical movement which led Norse explorers, traders and warriors, the latter known in modern scholarship as Vikings, to sail most of the North Atlantic, reaching south as far as North Africa and east as far as Russia, and through the Mediterranean as far as Constantinople and the Middle East, acting as looters, traders, colonists and mercenaries.
The Vikings stayed in East Anglia for the winter before setting out for Northumbria towards the end of 866, establishing themselves at York. In 867, the Northumbrians paid danegeld, and the Viking Army established a puppet leader in Northumbria before setting off for the Kingdom of Mercia , where in 867 they captured Nottingham.
In York, Viking leaders established a puppet king named Ecgberht, [13] who remained until 872, when a revolt drove him into exile in Mercia. Halfdan Ragnarsson of the Vikings ended the revolt in 876 and directly occupied York and the rest of Deira (south-east Northumbria), partitioning it among his followers. [13]
Repeated Viking assaults on religious centres were one reason for the decrease in production of manuscripts and communal monastic culture. [91] After 867, Northumbria came under control of the Scandinavian forces, and there was an influx of Scandinavian immigrants. [92] Their religion was pagan and had a rich mythology.
The invasion was repulsed at the Battle of Stamford Bridge, and Hardrada was killed along with most of his men. Whilst the Viking attempt was unsuccessful, the near simultaneous Norman invasion was successful in the south at the Battle of Hastings. Hardrada's invasion and defeat has been described as the end of the Viking Age in Britain. [51]
After successful raids by Danish Vikings, significant parts of northeastern England, formerly Northumbria, were under their control.Danish attacks into central England had been resisted and effectively reduced by Alfred the Great, to the point where his son, King Edward of Wessex, could launch offensive attacks against the foreigners.
Halfdan was the first Viking King of Northumbria and a pretender to the throne of the Kingdom of Dublin. It is also possible he was for a time co-ruler of Denmark with his brother Sigurd Snake-in-the-eye, because Frankish sources mention a certain Sigfred and Halfdan as rulers in 873.
Viking kings ruled Jórvík (southern Northumbria, the former Deira) from its capital York for most of the period between 867 and 954. Northern Northumbria (the former Bernicia) was ruled by Anglo-Saxons from their base in Bamburgh. Many details are uncertain as the history of Northumbria in the ninth and tenth centuries is poorly recorded.