Life in the Viking Great Army

Archaeologists Dawn Hadley and Julian Richards discuss the Viking Great Army and its lasting impact on English history.

About the event

The Viking Great Army landed in East Anglia in late 865. Over the next 15 years, it fought several battles across all four Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, made and broke peace treaties, and deposed or killed at least three Anglo-Saxon kings, replacing them with its own appointees. Its presence changed the political, economic and social landscape of England forever, yet historical sources say very little about it.

Leading experts Dawn Hadley and Julian Richards use new archaeological evidence to highlight the Great Army’s impact on English society, while also looking at the daily lives of the people who made up this remarkable force.

Additional information

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About the speakers

Dawn Hadley is Professor of Medieval Archaeology at the University of York, and a member of the Centre for Medieval Studies. She joined York in 2018 after over 20 years in the Department of Archaeology at the University of Sheffield. She was previously British Academy Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the School of History at the University of Birmingham. Along with Julian Richards, she co-directed the ‘Tents to Towns’ project, investigating the winter camp of the Viking Great Army at Torksey.

Julian Richards is Professor of Archaeology at the University of York, and a member of the Centre for Medieval Studies. He was founding Director of both the Archaeology Data Service and the e-journal ‘Internet Archaeology’, established in 1996. In his archaeological research, Julian focuses on Viking Age England. He has directed excavations of settlements at Cottam, Cowlam, Burdale, Wharram Percy, and of the only Viking cremation cemetery in the British Isles at Heath Wood, Ingleby.