• Contact
  • About
  • Authors
DONATE TO BYLINES SCOTLAND
NEWSLETTER SIGN UP
  • Login
Bylines Scotland
  • Home
  • News
    • All
    • Bylines Scotland Breaking News
    • Europe
    • King Charles III
    • Queen Elizabeth II
    • Scotland
    • War in Ukraine
    • World
    Scotland's Pro-EU

    Scotland’s leading pro-EU organisation will be in good spirits when it meets in Edinburgh on Rejoin Day 

    Front cover of Scottish Currency Q&A booklet

    Priorities for the SNP and the Scottish Government on currency

    Portrait of Humza Yousaf

    Humza Yousaf’s plans if he becomes the SNP leader

    Media distortion

    Truth and Trust

    Kate Forbes, candidate for the SNP membership, official portrait

    Kate Forbes campaign for the SNP leadership contest 

    Health service

    Funding the Scottish Health Service 

    Sunflower in watercolour for the one year anniversary of the war in Ukraine 2022

    Euromove Scotland Campaign Raises Donations for Ukraine’s Frontline Communities.

    Nicola Sturgeon portraiture

    Nicola Sturgeon and Jacinda Ardern – what two shock resignations tell us about good leadership

    BBC Scotland in dismantling letters

    The three minute read. Scotland must seek to reform its media

    Trending Tags

    • Democracy
    • Devolution
    • Brexit
    • Ukraine
  • Politics
    • All
    • Council Areas
    • Europe
    • Holyrood
    • Liz Truss
    • Rest of UK
    • Tories
    • United Kingdom
    • Westminster
    • World
    Kate Forbes, candidate for the SNP membership, official portrait

    Kate Forbes campaign for the SNP leadership contest 

    Ash Regan and Tim Rideout Currency launch

    Ash Regan backs Scottish currency

    blue background, A younf woman holding a large black sign that says VOTE ! in white letters

    Scottish elections: young people more likely to vote if they started at 16 – new study

    A scene of people demonstrating, holding Scotland flags. One man wears a tartan cap and holds a blue flag with both the Scottish cross and the EU stars on it.

    Is Alister Jack sane?

    Image Malcom Laverty

    The Brown plan

    The climate change impacts of Russia’s war with Ukraine

    Britain wastes £1bn on drones to monitor English Channel

    The Autumn Statement – time to take a closer look

    Photo Mtaylor848, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

    Christmas cheer for Tesco if grim reading for the political classes

    Trending Tags

    • Equality
    • Johnson
    • Scottish National Party
  • Business
    • All
    • Agriculture
    • Aviation
    • Corporations
    • Energy
    • Finance
    • Fishing
    • Natural Resources
    • Shipbuilding
    • Trade
    • Transport
    • Workers
    Fish farm in Scotland

    A deeper dive into the history of Scottish fish farming

    Fish farms in a Scottish Loch

    How farmed salmon is produced – stage one

    Dead salmons

    Death in our waters

    Fish farming, Isle of Sky, Loch Ainort

    Fish Farming in Scotland 

    Offshore wind farm

    How will local communities get a fair share of record investment from offshore wind farms?

    Broadband optic fibres

    Scotland fulfilling its commitment to enable access to superfast broadband

    A row of tall houses on the left, with parked cars in front on the side of the street

    Saving Scotland’s tenements

    A large red researcgh vessel in the sea with ice sheets all around it on the water.

    Rosyth shipyard attracts UK Government contract to maintain fleet of scientific research vessels

    large posts saying 'Glasgow Airport Business Park' on the left and right of a road leading away from the main road in the front. . On that road leading away building with walls almost entirely existing of windows.

    Why doing business in Scotland may be better for your corporate wellbeing

    Trending Tags

    • Health
      • All
      • Assisted dying
      • Covid
      • Influenza
      • Polio virus
      • Respiratory
      • Scientific Research
      Tree representing lungs

      Where are the areas in Scotland most affected by lung conditions?

      Health service

      Funding the Scottish Health Service 

      A goose surrounded by avian flu

      Who is knocking our doors? A putative new pandemic?

      A woman walking in a field with a jerrycan of water on her back, spraying water on the vegetation

      The Ethiopia Medical Project

      Healthcare word seen in a scrabble

      “Leave no one behind” – the Health Foundation’s report into health inequalities in Scotland 2023.

      Sign saying NHS Greater Galsgow & Clyde in front of a hospital building

      Concern over patients waiting in corridors for free beds at Glasgow Superhospital

      A hospital corridor with trolleys on the sides.

      Glasgow hospitals halt non-urgent operations due to pressure

      Two more unions reject Scottish Government NHS pay offer

      GMB union reject Scottish Government pay offer to NHS staff

      Trending Tags

      • Environment
        • All
        • Air Pollution
        • Biology
        • Climate Change
        • Wildfires
        Ardnish wildfire by Leslie Barrie, CC BY-SA 2.0 Creative Commons — Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic — CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons'

        Fire threats in the Scottish countryside

        Wood stove at the foot of the bed in the Danish Blue room at Pig Hill Inn, Cold Spring, New York. Printed with permission and confirmed to be licensed under the terms of the cc-by-2.0.

        When smoke gets in your eyes

        Opening of the United Nations Climate Change Conference COP27 in Egypt. Photo courtesy of the UNFCCC

        COP27 and the inconvenient truth

        Viscum album in trees

        Night of the strangling figs: a biological horror story

        Out & about with Charlie Mac: Cycling to the heart of Scotland – the National Cycle Network 7

        Scotland's mountain footpaths

        How do we care for Scotland’s mountain footpath network?

        climate science

        PM to be chosen by people with little grasp of climate science

        Trending Tags

        • Opinion
        No Result
        View All Result
        • Home
        • News
          • All
          • Bylines Scotland Breaking News
          • Europe
          • King Charles III
          • Queen Elizabeth II
          • Scotland
          • War in Ukraine
          • World
          Scotland's Pro-EU

          Scotland’s leading pro-EU organisation will be in good spirits when it meets in Edinburgh on Rejoin Day 

          Front cover of Scottish Currency Q&A booklet

          Priorities for the SNP and the Scottish Government on currency

          Portrait of Humza Yousaf

          Humza Yousaf’s plans if he becomes the SNP leader

          Media distortion

          Truth and Trust

          Kate Forbes, candidate for the SNP membership, official portrait

          Kate Forbes campaign for the SNP leadership contest 

          Health service

          Funding the Scottish Health Service 

          Sunflower in watercolour for the one year anniversary of the war in Ukraine 2022

          Euromove Scotland Campaign Raises Donations for Ukraine’s Frontline Communities.

          Nicola Sturgeon portraiture

          Nicola Sturgeon and Jacinda Ardern – what two shock resignations tell us about good leadership

          BBC Scotland in dismantling letters

          The three minute read. Scotland must seek to reform its media

          Trending Tags

          • Democracy
          • Devolution
          • Brexit
          • Ukraine
        • Politics
          • All
          • Council Areas
          • Europe
          • Holyrood
          • Liz Truss
          • Rest of UK
          • Tories
          • United Kingdom
          • Westminster
          • World
          Kate Forbes, candidate for the SNP membership, official portrait

          Kate Forbes campaign for the SNP leadership contest 

          Ash Regan and Tim Rideout Currency launch

          Ash Regan backs Scottish currency

          blue background, A younf woman holding a large black sign that says VOTE ! in white letters

          Scottish elections: young people more likely to vote if they started at 16 – new study

          A scene of people demonstrating, holding Scotland flags. One man wears a tartan cap and holds a blue flag with both the Scottish cross and the EU stars on it.

          Is Alister Jack sane?

          Image Malcom Laverty

          The Brown plan

          The climate change impacts of Russia’s war with Ukraine

          Britain wastes £1bn on drones to monitor English Channel

          The Autumn Statement – time to take a closer look

          Photo Mtaylor848, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

          Christmas cheer for Tesco if grim reading for the political classes

          Trending Tags

          • Equality
          • Johnson
          • Scottish National Party
        • Business
          • All
          • Agriculture
          • Aviation
          • Corporations
          • Energy
          • Finance
          • Fishing
          • Natural Resources
          • Shipbuilding
          • Trade
          • Transport
          • Workers
          Fish farm in Scotland

          A deeper dive into the history of Scottish fish farming

          Fish farms in a Scottish Loch

          How farmed salmon is produced – stage one

          Dead salmons

          Death in our waters

          Fish farming, Isle of Sky, Loch Ainort

          Fish Farming in Scotland 

          Offshore wind farm

          How will local communities get a fair share of record investment from offshore wind farms?

          Broadband optic fibres

          Scotland fulfilling its commitment to enable access to superfast broadband

          A row of tall houses on the left, with parked cars in front on the side of the street

          Saving Scotland’s tenements

          A large red researcgh vessel in the sea with ice sheets all around it on the water.

          Rosyth shipyard attracts UK Government contract to maintain fleet of scientific research vessels

          large posts saying 'Glasgow Airport Business Park' on the left and right of a road leading away from the main road in the front. . On that road leading away building with walls almost entirely existing of windows.

          Why doing business in Scotland may be better for your corporate wellbeing

          Trending Tags

          • Health
            • All
            • Assisted dying
            • Covid
            • Influenza
            • Polio virus
            • Respiratory
            • Scientific Research
            Tree representing lungs

            Where are the areas in Scotland most affected by lung conditions?

            Health service

            Funding the Scottish Health Service 

            A goose surrounded by avian flu

            Who is knocking our doors? A putative new pandemic?

            A woman walking in a field with a jerrycan of water on her back, spraying water on the vegetation

            The Ethiopia Medical Project

            Healthcare word seen in a scrabble

            “Leave no one behind” – the Health Foundation’s report into health inequalities in Scotland 2023.

            Sign saying NHS Greater Galsgow & Clyde in front of a hospital building

            Concern over patients waiting in corridors for free beds at Glasgow Superhospital

            A hospital corridor with trolleys on the sides.

            Glasgow hospitals halt non-urgent operations due to pressure

            Two more unions reject Scottish Government NHS pay offer

            GMB union reject Scottish Government pay offer to NHS staff

            Trending Tags

            • Environment
              • All
              • Air Pollution
              • Biology
              • Climate Change
              • Wildfires
              Ardnish wildfire by Leslie Barrie, CC BY-SA 2.0 Creative Commons — Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic — CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons'

              Fire threats in the Scottish countryside

              Wood stove at the foot of the bed in the Danish Blue room at Pig Hill Inn, Cold Spring, New York. Printed with permission and confirmed to be licensed under the terms of the cc-by-2.0.

              When smoke gets in your eyes

              Opening of the United Nations Climate Change Conference COP27 in Egypt. Photo courtesy of the UNFCCC

              COP27 and the inconvenient truth

              Viscum album in trees

              Night of the strangling figs: a biological horror story

              Out & about with Charlie Mac: Cycling to the heart of Scotland – the National Cycle Network 7

              Scotland's mountain footpaths

              How do we care for Scotland’s mountain footpath network?

              climate science

              PM to be chosen by people with little grasp of climate science

              Trending Tags

              • Opinion
              No Result
              View All Result
              Bylines Scotland
              No Result
              View All Result
              Home Lifestyle Culture

              St Brice’s Day Massacre

              Why did King Æthelred order the assassination of all Danes living in his Kingdom in AD1002? How dangerous were the Danes (Vikings from Denmark)?

              Anna SchurerbyAnna Schurer
              16-02-2023 07:00
              in Culture, History
              Three women in medieval clothing looking at a ypung man in Viking dress with an axe and shield. A local man looks on from behind a tree.

              Medieval women looking at a Viking warrior, and a local man looking on. Picture by dormouse

              Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

              Some diseases are said to be ‘Viking diseases’, having spread through the population in Viking DNA. These are mainly diseases that are most prevalent in people of Northern European descent. Some examples are Paget’s bone disease, multiple sclerosis, Dupuytren’s disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, long QT syndrome and certain lung diseases. The list is long. 

              Even in the case of the Viking connection having been proved wrong by modern genomics testing, the story of the association remains as, for many, it is just too good not to repeat. 

              When I first found out we had two Viking diseases in the family, I felt sorry for my great-great-great- (however many times great-) grandmother who must surely have been violated by a Viking. After all, that is what history lessons told us: Vikings raped and pillaged. Somehow that touched my imagination and I spent years feeling sorry for my ancestor. 

              ‘Medieval Twitter’

              A few years ago, I came across a post on ‘Medieval Twitter’ which changed the way I thought about the poor woman. Maybe she wasn’t violated, rather she fell head over heels in love with a strong stranger who combed his hair, bathed weekly and changed his clothes regularly? I liked that idea. Go girl! Possibly the first feminist in the family. 

              “We had to kill the Vikings, because they bathed and brushed their hair and our wives couldn’t resist such sophistication” is a HELL of a take by Medieval English chroniclers. pic.twitter.com/NKzpsiuX7H

              — Historic Vids (@historyinmemes) June 23, 2020

              What is St Brice’s Day? 

              But the post also raised new questions. St Brice’s Day? Never heard of it. And neither had the English people I worked with nor my English friends online. My quest to find out more began to take shape, but had to wait until I had the time and energy for it. 

              Simply speaking, St Brice’s Day is a Saints Day. The feast day of St Brice. Brice, also known as Britius, was a man born in France, around AD370. He was an orphan, raised by St Martin of Tours, and had a career in the Catholic Church. He was said to have been vain and ambitious, and not very pious, until he spent some years in Rome, where he changed so significantly that he became Bishop of Tours. His changed lifestyle made people consider him a saint. His feast day is 13 November. He died in AD440. St Brice is the patron saint of stomach disorders. 

              The Danes in England

              Since the Danes first landed on British soil in AD793 there had been much fighting to rule the land. Danes had the habit, in their homeland, of sending their sons away when they became mature, only allowing one to stay and inherit the land of his father. The others had to go out and find a place of their own. This resulted in armies of young men going overseas to inhabit, or indeed, conquer foreign lands. 

              Reading chronicles (especially the Chronicles of John of Wallingford, the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, and the Chronicle of Henry Huntingdon) from that time, they were brutal. But Scottish and English armies gave as good as they got. Over the years, some English kings even employed Danes to protect the shores and help fight enemies. So it was a two-way relationship, with atrocities from both sides, but also times of friendship, marriage between royal families to strengthen ties, mutual dependence and even benefits. 

              Danes came to rule a large part of the country (Danelaw, consisting of the largest parts of modern Northumbria, Yorkshire, Lancashire, the Midlands and Anglia). However, the death of a royal could change the relationships, with brothers trying to get more land and putting favourite family members in charge of certain areas that may have had Danes in charge before. 

              The massacre

              An ornate comb with a few teeth missing.
              The Setre Comb, found in 1932 in Norway, dating to the 2nd half of the 7th century. Picture from Wikipedia, public domain

              In AD983, Æthelred succeeded to rule England after his mother killed his half-brother, King Ædward. Ædward had been a benevolent king and there had been years of relative peace with the Danes. But Æthelred wasn’t happy that the Danes ruled in many major cities in the country, Danelaw or not. He feared the Danes were plotting to kill him. 

              The Danes also caused problems for the native English because they had the habit (John of Wallingford Chronicles – page 558-559) of combing their hair, washing themselves every Saturday and changing clothes regularly. By doing this, they formed a serious threat to “the virtues of the married ladies and the daughters” who could not resist a clean, well groomed man. (In contrast, some say English men were not supposed to even wash their face as that would cause blindness.) 

              So Æthelred decided that on 13 November AD1002, a Saturday and, coincidentally, St Brice’s Day, the English in all provinces should destroy as many Danes as they could and also those living peacefully amongst them (John of Wallingford, p559, Henry of Huntingdon, book VI, p184, Anglo-Saxon Chronicle). Whether this decree reached the whole of his kingdom is not known, but the only reported violence against Danes was in Oxford. 

              According to the Chronicles of John of Wallingford, the English did not spare women or children, nor those who were in a relationship with a Dane or had one Danish parent. Twelve young men from London escaped via a boat on the Thames, but most others were mutilated and brutally killed. Some who were chased into a church, St Frideswide Monastery in Oxford where they hoped to be safe, died when the church was burned to the ground. It was later rebuilt in AD1004, as told by a Royal Charter.

              The young men who escaped went back to Denmark to tell the Danish King what had happened and this led to revenge attacks from both Denmark and Norway. Æthelred’s English allies refused to help him as they considered the killing of the Danes to have been unholy. Æthelred fled the country to ask his cousin for help. Help did not come, so Æthelred returned to face the Danes and Norwegians himself. And so the fighting continued. 

              St Brice’s Day Massacre historical finds

              The Royal Charter from AD1004 is the first document that describes the events as there is no copy of the decree from AD1002 that survived the times. A number of chronicles (some quoted here) mention the massacre, but if it was localised to Oxford, it is difficult to say. 

              In 2008, a mass grave of 35 young Viking men, dating from the time of the massacre, was found in the grounds of Oxford University. The skeletons showed evidence of injuries consistent with being killed unsuspectedly. One of the skeletons showed a familial match with a skeleton found in Denmark and the relatives are being reunited. 

              What have I learned?

              There are two sides to every story, and neither the Danes nor the English were without blame for the fighting. But the St Brice’s Day Massacre was down to the English: King and countrymen. 

              And my great-great-great- (however many times great-) grandmother may have liked a well groomed man (or at least better groomed than most), and I like that idea.

                  Great read!  Let me buy you a coffee.
              Tags: CultureHistory
              Previous Post

              First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, resigns

              Next Post

              LGBTQ rights back on the agenda in Brazil

              Anna Schurer

              Anna Schurer

              Related Posts

              Panoramic view of Florence with its cathedral
              Arts & Entertainment

              Florence is beautiful – but skip the tripe!

              byPaul Bassett
              10 March 2023
              The Cromie stag
              Culture

              Extremely rare Isle of Jura item goes on sale.

              byDonald E Darroch
              26 February 2023
              Sketch of a town on a river edge
              History

              Finding Grandpapa Renfrew

              byDr Pam Jarvis
              12 February 2023
              A thistle flowerr
              Culture

              Is it time tae think again about Flower of Scotland?

              byMartin Roche
              3 February 2023
              close up picture of part of a violin
              Arts & Entertainment

              Amateur orchestra delivers rousing performance in first post-lockdown concert

              byMartin Roche
              26 January 2023
              Next Post
              Lula and Biden at the White House

              LGBTQ rights back on the agenda in Brazil

              PLEASE SUPPORT OUR CROWDFUNDER

              Subscribe to our newsletters
              CHOOSE YOUR NEWS
              Follow us on social media
              CHOOSE YOUR PLATFORMS
              Download our app
              ALL OF BYLINES IN ONE PLACE
              Subscribe to our gazette
              CONTRIBUTE TO OUR SUSTAINABILITY
              Make a monthly or one-off donation
              DONATE NOW
              Help us with our hosting costs
              SIGN UP TO SITEGROUND
              We are always looking for citizen journalists
              WRITE FOR US
              Volunteer as an editor, in a technical role, or on social media
              VOLUNTEER FOR US
              Something else?
              GET IN TOUCH
              Previous
              Next

              LATEST

              Scottish flag with SYP (Scottish Youth Parliament)

              Scottish Youth Parliament in 2023: Facing the Future

              22 March 2023
              Tree representing lungs

              Where are the areas in Scotland most affected by lung conditions?

              21 March 2023
              Scotland's Pro-EU

              Scotland’s leading pro-EU organisation will be in good spirits when it meets in Edinburgh on Rejoin Day 

              20 March 2023
              Illustration for Arts and Entertainment

              Scottish Opera’s sensational new Puccini production has it all – love, death and laughter

              18 March 2023

              MOST READ

              Tree representing lungs

              Where are the areas in Scotland most affected by lung conditions?

              21 March 2023
              Prime Minister Boris Johnson speaking at 2022 special meeting of the North Atlantic Council and G7 leaders meeting at NATO Headquarters in Brussels during the Ukraine situation. Picture by Andrew Parsons / No 10 Downing Street. Licensed under the United Kingdom Open Government Licence v3.0

              Boris Johnson; Britain’s worst ever prime minister?

              6 September 2022
              Scottish flag with SYP (Scottish Youth Parliament)

              Scottish Youth Parliament in 2023: Facing the Future

              22 March 2023
              large posts saying 'Glasgow Airport Business Park' on the left and right of a road leading away from the main road in the front. . On that road leading away building with walls almost entirely existing of windows.

              Why doing business in Scotland may be better for your corporate wellbeing

              14 January 2023

              BROWSE BY TAGS

              Brexit Christmas ClimateChange Covid Covid19 Culture Defence Democracy Devolution FishFarms Glasgow Halloween health History Holyrood independence IndyRef2 Johnson Journalism Liz Truss Long Covid Monarchy nationalism NATO NHS Nicola Sturgeon politics Poverty Pro-EU Public Health Putin Russia Sars-CoV-2 Scotland Security Security and Defence shipbuilding SNP Sunak Tories Tourism Twitter Ukraine UK Supreme Court War in Ukraine
              Bylines Scotland

              We are a not-for-profit citizen journalism publication. Our aim is to publish well-written, fact-based articles and opinion pieces on subjects that are of interest to people in Scotland and beyond.

              Bylines Scotland is a trading brand of Bylines Network Limited, which is a sister organisation to Byline Times.

              Learn more about us

              No Result
              View All Result
              • Network
              • About
              • Authors
              • Contact
              • Donate
              • Privacy

              © 2023 Bylines Scotland. Citizen Journalism | Local & Internationalist

              No Result
              View All Result
              • Home
              • News
                • Scotland
                • World
              • Politics
                • Council Areas
                • Europe
                • Holyrood
                • Rest of UK
                • Westminster
              • Business
                • Fishing
                • Trade
                • Transport
              • Health
              • Environment
                • Climate Change
              • Opinion
              • Donate
              CROWDFUNDER

              © 2023 Bylines Scotland. Citizen Journalism | Local & Internationalist

              Welcome Back!

              Login to your account below

              Forgotten Password?

              Retrieve your password

              Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

              Log In