The True Story of the First Viking Attack on England

This is the true story of the first recorded Viking raid on English soil, at the priory of Lindisfarne in Northumbria in June 793. The devastating Viking attack on the church of St Cuthbert sent a shockwave through Christian Europe, and it marked the beginning of what is now called the Viking Age. Join medieval historian Matt Lewis as he retraces the steps of those early Viking raiders on Holy Island and separates fact from fiction. The raid on Lindisfarne was dramatised in the hit TV series ’Vikings’, but the real attack wasn’t led by the semi-legendary Ragnar Lothbrok. Matt looks in detail at what the Anglo-Saxon written sources really tell us about that day. As well as the Viking attack itself, Matt also explores how the English reacted to the event. From the letters of churchmen like Alcuin of York, some of the advice for avoiding future Viking incursions might surprise you! The arrival of the Great Heathen Army less than a century later proves that it probably didn’t wo