11th Century Overview

The 11th century saw many of the most serious changes to England since the Romans left and the Saxons invaded in the 5th century. The land would become ruled in turn by Danes, English and finally Norman kings. Many battles would be fought, including one of the most famous English conflicts - Hastings. A new era for the country was to be brought in along with new culture and history. While unaffected by some changes, Northumbria was to have some of its own, and would even play a pivotal part in the Norman Conquest.

Note: As with the Chronology, anything italicised is my own addition, anything red is World of Darkness, and anything red and italicised is my addition to the World of Darkness.

On 13th November, 1002, King Ethelred made the biggest mistake of his rule (even more fatal than the paying of Danegeld) - The St Brices day massacre. In this carefully planned and cowardly attack Ethelred ordered that every single Dane in England was killed. This badly affected the north of England (it wasn't called the Danelaw for nothing), and alienated many people from the King, though the Daenlaw as a whole stayed loyal to the throne. Unfortunately for Ethelred, included among the dead was Gunnhild, the daughter of King Sweyn (or Svein) of Denmark.

In 1006 Malcolm of Scotland led an army across to Tweed and penetrated Northumbria as far as Durham without Earl Waltheof of Bamburgh opposing him. Malcolm surrounded the city and began to lay siege to it. As his father would do nothing, Uhtred, Waltheof's son gathered a levy of men from Northumbria and Yorkshire and marched to Durham. He raised the siege and sent Malcolm back to Scotland. Ethelred noted this and dismissed Waltheof, making Uhtred ruler over all of Northumbria (that is both Bernicia and Deira) and wedded his daughter to the new Earl. This was possible due to the assassination of Earldorman Aelfhelm by Eadric Streona, a vicious turncoat that managed to play his way around Kings and Earls for a decade. Following this Eadric became Earldorman of Mercia and married another of Ethelred's daughters. Uhtred continued to harrass Malcolm and followed him so far north that the Lothians again came under Northumbrian rule. Uhtred's success was due in part to being Kinfolk of the local Fenrir, and when he needed it most a pack of Fenrir would join with him as his personal Huscarls for the battle. When fighting with them alongside him, he never knew defeat.

When King Sweyn of Denmark attacked England 1009 Yorkshire already appeared to have made a treaty with him, and the Danes marched through the county unmolested and it turn the land was also left alone. Unable to resist the army as it marched North, Uhtred made peace with Sweyn in 1013 and was allowed to retain his lands. This completed the invasion of the Danelaw, and with it went the rest of England. In early 1014 Ethelred was exiled to Normandy to join his sons Alfred and Edward, and his wife Emma (Aelfgifu). There is no record of the three elder Aethelings (Edmund, Athelstan and Eadwig) and it seems that they went to ground as the country was conquered.

Sweyn however did not have long to enjoy his new prize. On February 3rd, 1014 he died. As there was a large Danish fleet still anchored in the Thames, they elected Sweyn's son Cnut (Canute) as King. The Witan (English council that decides the next king) preferred Ethelred and summoned him back from Normandy. Upon his return he amassed an army and marched to attack Cnut who was in the Northern Danelaw. Cnut decided not to fight and returned to Denmark. Ethelred now took York from Uhtred for supported Sweyn earlier.

Jotunn saw the trouble that was being wreaked across Northumbria, and decided that soon it would affect all supernaturals. He approached the local garou and offered a permanant truce between himself and the local Sept, the Sept of Luna's Defence. Leoric, a native Fenrir and Leader of the Sept agreed and though it was uneasy, a truce was agreed upon. Each was to watch their own territories and not interfere with the others, but in times of need they would ally and defend all their territories.

One of Ethelred's sons, Edmund now began gathering power and soon was challenging Ethelred's authority quite seriously, declaring himself 'Champion of the Danelaw'. Eadric again rose his ugly head, when and he assassinated Morcar and Sigeferth, leading Thegns of the Five Boroughs of the Danelaw, in order to ingragiate himself with Ethelred. Ethelred ordered that Sigeferth's be brought to him as hostage bu Edmund had other ideas and married her. This marriage meant that Edmund then controlled all of the Danelaw that had been Morcar's and Sigeferth's. With a leader willing to champion their interests, the Danelaw fell behind Edmund and enthusiastically accpeted him as their lord. Uhtred also supported Edmund and York was restored to him by the prince, much to Ethelred's annoyance.

In late 1015 Cnut returned to England with a much re-inforced Danish army. Ethelred was by now failing in health and so all hopes of keeping england ruled by an English king rested on Edmund, as the other eligible Aetheling, Aethelstan was already dead. Due to his treacherous ways, Eadric of Mercia was someone neither Edmund nor Cnut wanted 'loose', and as a gesture towrds his support of Ethelred and therefore England, he marched the Mercian army north to join Edmunds. However, from past experiences Edmund did not trust him, and so Eadric won over the crew of forty ships and deserted to Cnut's side with the Mercian army.

Edmund attempted to rally support throughout England but was unsuccesful, Ethelred would not leave London for fear of treachery, and Edmund's northern ally, Uhtred of Northumbria was killed by Cnut, after the Dane browbeat him into submission and took over Northumbria. Cnut then placed his own man, Eric of Norway, in charge and Uhtred's brother Edwulf became Earl. He was more like his father Waltheof and was happy to forgo glory for an easy life. Having Eric in charge of what was esentially a puppet Earl secured Cnut's hold on Northumbria and the Danelaw. As Edmund was forced to move south to Wessex for supplies, Cnut gathered his forces and waited. His fleet at Southampton meant he basically owned the entire south coast and the threat of his Dane in north meant that Edmund was caught in the middle. Eventually Edmund controlled nothing but London, and while London had him as king, the Witan voted for Cnut.

Edmund was forced to leave London as Cnut moved south to besiege the city. Wessex rallied to Edmund, while London stoutly held out. Eadric swung back to support Edmund, but at the descisive battle of Ashingdon, deserted him again and Edmund was crushed by Cnut. It was his reaction to this defeat that earny him the title 'Ironside'. The two leaders met and carved up England between them. Cnut was to be ruler of all England except for Wessex, which was to be Edmund's. However Edmund died in November, 1016 and Cnut was left to rule all of England.

One of Edwulf's first actions was to give the Scots back the Lothians that his brother had conquered, the Church was not happy about this and set about raising an army to try and prevent the return of the land. A levy of every man between Tyne and Tweed was raised, regardless of age, training, health or weaponry. This huge unwieldy army quikcly marched north to meet the Scots. At Carham on Tweed the two sides met and it was a bloodbath. The Scots army was a real military force, rather than the peasant rabble of the Northumbrians and it showed on the battlefield. At the end of the day the Northumbrians were routed and left the cream of their nobility dead on the field along with 18 churchmen of note. Overall it was a carbon copy of the 9th century clash with the vikings at Carham. The sole achievment of this battle was that it marked the Tweed as the border between England and Scotland. This was not a serious battle for Northumbria, as the Earl had already granted the lands back to the Scots, though for the local Garou it was a crushing blow. The Scots army had many Black Spiral Dancers and their Kinfolk within its ranks, and the Northumbrian army had many Fenrir, including Leoric. As the Northumbrians were swept away before the Scots, Leoric fell fighting an entire pack of Dancers. His personal bodyguard were also cut down and this seriously decimated the power of the Sept. The tragedy of this battle lasted for almost 50 years before the Sept was back at its previous strength, only their alliance with Jotunn prevented the Black Spiral Dancers pushing on and into their lands.

The mortal world of Northumbria was quiet and uneventful for the next two decades. Except for a single incident at some point between 1027 and 1031. During this period Cnut travelled as a pilgrim to Durham and attempted to reconile the leaders of Bernicia with Carl, hold of York, and Earl Ealdred of Bamburgh. Carl and Ealdred became sworn brothers the matter was settled. However, in 1024 the Black Spiral Dancers of the borders pushed a little too hard and came into Northumbria as far as Bebba, ravaging the land and taking captives. The Sept of Luna's Defence was powerless to prevent the attacks, and was nearly destroyed by the roving packs. Three of their own packs were slaughtered defending the Caern and only the arrival of the local Fyrd saved them, though many of the Fyrd were also killed. Siward was apointed Earl of York in 1033. In 1035 Cnut died and again Northumbria was involved in the fight for the crown. Cnut had intended that his son, Harthacnut, should succed him. However, Harald 'Harefoot' also wanted the throne and had the support of the north and of Mercia. Harald took the throne, but only for a few years as in 1040 Harthacnut succeded him as king.

Despite being sword brothers, Carl attacked and killed Ealdred in 1038 and the north rebelled against the rest of England again. King Duncan of Scotland decided he may be able to win some land and attacked Durham. Siward defeated Duncan's attempt at taking Bernicia and in 1041 killed Ealdred's brother Edwulf and added Northumbria to his lands.

1042 saw the death of Harthacnut, and the last of Ethelreds sons, Edward 'the Confessor' came over from Normandy to take the throne. Uhtred's last surviving son Gospatric was exiled to Macbeth in Scotland.

Siward became very powerful in the north, controlling all of England north of the Humber. In 1045-46 he invaded Scotland and placed Duncan's brother Maldred, on the throne. He was forced to attack again in 1054 when he fought Macbeth to place Malcolm Canmore on the throne. Macbeth's army was swollen with exiled Norman knights, but Siward had royal soldiers, and while Macbeth escaped with his life, he lost the throne. Unfortunately for Siward, his sons fell fighting Macbeth leaving him with no heir. So when he died in 1055 it was the son of Earl Godwine of Wessex, Tostig that inherited Northumbria. Tostig gained Northumbria as his brother Harald, (later King Harald) was chief advisor to King Edward, and while they were later to be at each others throats, at this point they were mutually supportive. Another factor governing his aquisition of the Northern Earldom was that one of his closest supporters, a personal advisor called Aethelric, was also a great Mage and used his powers to manipulate the rise of Tostig so that his own personal and temporal power may be increased.

Tostig maintained in York a large prescence of Huscarls drawn from his southern estates and generally conducted his rule from the city. A small elite unit of men within his retinue were known as 'The War Dogs' because of their savage fighting in battle and utter obedience to Tostig. The root of their ferociousness was their commanding Thegn who was actually a vampire, who had turned his own loyal troops into ghouls to fight for him. His complete support of Tostig ensured that the Earl had these enhanced Huscarls at his disposal. When King Malcolm III of Scotland killed Macbeth in 1057-58, his successor turned south and made for Cumbria. The first raid was in 1058, and in 1059 Tostig, the Bishop of Durham and the Archbishop of York arranged for Malcolm and Edward to meet and sort out peace. They left sworn brothers and the raids ceased.

Archbishop Cynesige was one Tostig's most loyal supporters, and his death in 1060 was a painful blow to the Earl. Ealdred, another southern Abbot was appointed to replace him. Tostig and Ealdred went to Rome in 1061 for the pallium, and though Tostig relied on the treaty to keep Northumbria safe, he was wrong. Malcolm ravaged Lindisfarne and travelled as far south as County Durham. When he returned in 1062, Tostig took no action against Malcolm, as he was already experiencing political problems in Northumbria due to his exceptionally harsh law enforcement. Excepting his huscarls, Archbishop Eladred and the Bishop of Durham he was isolated in the north.

During christmas 1064 Tostig had the last remaining son of Uhtred, Gospatric, murdered, and himself murdered several of Gospatric's key supporters. Northumbria rebelled in 1065, and while it is possible that Harald incited it, Tostig had already alienated the Earldom himself. The revolt began in Bernicia where a large force gathered and marched south to York where a council decided to depose Tostig. At York they killed his household and seized the arsenal and treasury before marching on his holdings in Mercia. The joint action of the nobility of both Yorkshire and Northumbria meant that as a West Saxon, there was no family locally for Tostig to call upon for aid.

Edwin, Earl of Mercia had much sympathy and support for the Northern rebels and did not hinder them as they marched south. This revolt was so well organise that the rebels were able to dictate terms to the king. They demanded that they be able to choose their own Earls rather than having southern Earls thrust upon them. Thus they choose Edwin of Mercia's brother Morcar to be their new Earl. Harald chose to abandon his brother and let Nothumbria do what it wanted, rather than fight for it. Tostig and his remaining family fled to Flanders and Northumbria now ruled itself once again. The seats of power were again in Bamburgh under Osulf and in Yorkshire. This meant that the king had very little hold over the North, and Northumbria was part of England in name only.