After decades of conflict, England enjoyed a degree of stability ... ruled by Alfred the Great—is known to have withstood the Viking invasion. Alfred and his son, Edward, built up an army ...

The conquest of England was a task far greater than anything the Vikings had ever attempted before. England was divided into four powerful, well-organised kingdoms: Northumbria, East Anglia ...

On 22 March 871, West Saxon forces met the incoming Viking invasion, and a brutal battle ... whose vision inspired the formation of England. Less is known about the warrior bishop Heahmund ...

For centuries—indeed, ever since Viking raiders savagely attacked England's Lindisfarne monastery ... and it was an invasion of the sanctitude of Christ and their religion.

Harald Hardrada was a Viking and king of Norway ... had been waiting in the south of England, anticipating an invasion from William from France. He quickly marched his army 185 miles north ...

The Viking invasions eventually smashed the state system of the English. Wessex survived and, in the reign of King Alfred (d. AD 899) a campaign began to bring the whole of England under the rule ...

The decorative 25mm by 20mm (0.9 by 0.7in) brooch has been bent in half at some point in the past 1,000 years A rare 9th Century silver brooch has been linked to the greatest Viking silver ...

Above: Detail from the Bayeux Tapestry, which commemorates the Norman invasion of England. Countless sailing experiments with replica ships continue to confirm the excellence of Viking ship design.

The Viking Invasion of Wessex 878 AD is the second DVD in this sensational new series The Dark Ages which delves into a wartorn and obscure period of Britains past to focus on some of the pivotal ...