The Lingsberg Runestones are two 11th-century runestones , listed as U 240 and U 241 in the Rundata catalog, and one fragment, U 242 , that are engraved in Old Norse using the younger futhark . They are at the Lingsberg farm about 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) east of Vallentuna (halfway to Kusta), which is about 24 kilometres (15 mi) north of the center of Stockholm , Stockholm County , Sweden , which was part of the former province of Uppland .
67-603: The two intact runestones were raised by members of the same family, and on U 241 they engraved for posterity that a grandfather had taken two Danegelds in England . Because the receipt of the Danegeld (tax) indicates likely service with the Scandinavian troops in the Thingmen from 1018 to 1066, the runestones are dated to the second quarter of the 11th century. The U 240 runestone
134-580: A Christian cross and some beasts. The final portion of the text that translates as "and Holmfríðr in memory of her husbandman" is carved on the outside of the serpent to the right. U 240 is classified as being carved in runestone style Pr3, which is also known as Urnes style , and is considered to be a good example of an inscription in style Pr3. This runestone style is characterized by slim and stylized animals that are interwoven into tight patterns. The animal heads are typically seen in profile with slender almond-shaped eyes and upwardly curled appendages on
201-597: A document aimed at the movers and shakers of the Anglo-Scandinavian court in the early 1040s, describes Thorkell as a great war leader and warrior. Thorkell notably partook in a campaign that saw him lead a great Viking army to Kent in 1009, where they proceeded to overrun most of Southern England . This soon culminated in the siege of Canterbury in 1011 and the kidnapping of archbishop Ælfheah , who had previously converted Olaf Tryggvason , and Ælfheah's subsequent murder at Greenwich on 19 April 1012. Thorkell
268-480: A few years later. After the death of Edmund Ironside on 30 November 1016, Cnut became king of England and he divided the country into four earldoms – making Thorkell the Jarl of East Anglia. In 1021, for unknown reasons, Thorkell is very briefly described as falling out with Cnut, with the former being banished by the king and returning to Denmark. However, Cnut later reconciled with Thorkell in 1023, seemingly aware of
335-635: A large tribute from the conquered. Soon after, a report was sent to Charlemagne , then at Aachen contemplating a campaign against the Danish king, Godfred , stating that the Frisians had already collected through taxation and paid a sum of one hundred pounds of silver. These events are recorded in the Annales regni Francorum and the Vita Karoli Magni , both works of Charlemagne's court historian, Einhard , and in
402-429: A matter of royal favour, and were adjusted to meet changing circumstances ... in this way Danegeld was a more flexible instrument of taxation than most historians have been prepared to allow." Henry I granted tax liberties to London in 1133, and exempted the city from taxes such as scot , Danegeld, and murdrum . From the late twelfth century, a levy on moveables, which required the consent of parliament, replaced
469-624: A stipendiary Danegeld of an undisclosed amount to hire as mercenaries some Vikings with which to harass his opponent for the ducal throne of Brittany, Vurfand , Count of Rennes . The most important Danegeld raised in East Francia was that used by Charles the Fat to end the Siege of Elsloo and convert the Viking leader Godfrid into a Christian and a Duke of Frisia (882). Local Danegeld may have been raised in
536-522: A suis eos sedibus amovit. A smaller group of Danes left Gaul intending to settle among the Bretons. Thrice doing battle with the same, they overcame them. The vanquished Nominoe fled with his own, then through messengers bearing gifts removed the same Danes from their settlements. The possibility that the Danes were bought off by methods other than the raising of cash is raised by an incident in 869, recorded in
603-584: A tribute from the population of the region before leaving. This event is recorded in the Annales Fuldenses , Annales Bertiniani , Annales Xantenses , and the Vita Hludowici imperatoris of Thegan of Trier . In 846, during the reign of Louis's son Lothair I , the Vikings compelled the Frisians to collect a census to pay them off. The Bertiniani and Xantenses annals record how Lothair, though aware of
670-537: A year: in 863 Salomon made peace and the Vikings, deprived of an enemy, ravaged Neustria. In Kievan Rus during the rule of the Swedish Rus (from where the name Russia derives), the Slavs had to pay an annual tribute to the Vikings known as the dan from at least 859 onward. Prince Oleg , who was a relative of Rurik the Viking, after moving to Kiev, imposed a dan on the people of Novgorod of 300 griveni / per year "for
737-513: Is a historical figure, but his career, especially its early part, is steeped in associations with the legendary Jomsvikings. Thorkell took part in the Battle of Hjörungavágr in 986 and in the Battle of Swold in 1000. In August 1009, a large Danish army led by Thorkell the Tall landed on the shores of Sandwich . They first marched towards the city of Canterbury but were promptly paid 3000 pounds of silver by
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#1732851545328804-616: Is already released" ( Danosque victores tributum victis inposuisse, et vectigalis nomine centum libras argenti a Frisionibus iam esse solutas ). No further Danegeld was collected in Frisia until late in the reign of Louis the Pious (died 840). In 836 some Northmen, having burnt Antwerp and the marketplace at Wintla , agreed to leave on the payment of some tribute, the amount of which the Annales Fuldenses do not specify. In 837, either because
871-595: Is known locally as the Lingsbergsstenen 1 and was raised at the end of a causeway facing U 241. The causeway is only seen as traces in a field, and U 240 is the only runestone present. The area was much more marshy in the past and difficult to traverse until the water level in a local lake, Angarn, in Angarnsjöängen Nature Reserve was lowered in the 19th century. The inscription consists of runic text on two serpents or lindworms that bracket
938-479: Is no mention of Thorkell after 1023, and he seems to have disappeared from the historical record. Maybe he was cast out of the kingdom to return to Jomsborg or Scania. Alternatively, he may have died soon after he was made Jarl of Denmark, presumably in 1024. One theory is that he was chased down by an angry mob, another that he was simply too old for any more conflict; the Jomsvikings were known to have men serving in
1005-644: Is not recorded in the sources, although it is possible that some monies were raised this way. It is more likely that purely local Danegeld were raised in times of emergency. In 847 the Breton leader Nominoe was defeated three times by some Danish Vikings before finally opening negotiations with their leaders and enticing them to leave by offering them gifts, as recorded in the contemporary Annales Bertiniani : Dani partem inferioris Galliae quam Brittones incolunt adeuntes, ter cum eisdem bellantes, superant; Nomenogiusque victus cum suis fugit, dein [per] legatos muneribus
1072-534: The Encomium Emmae has Thorkell as being in service of, rather than the threat to, Cnut and Harthacnut's authority. It is known one of Thorkell's sons was a prominent member of Harthacnut's retinue; after the collapse and subsequent death of Harthacnut at the wedding feast of Tovi the Proud in 1042, Thorkell's wife and two sons were expelled from England. This was possibly linked to the intrigue that surrounded Magnus
1139-757: The News Chronicle , reported that Robert Hudson of the Department of Overseas Trade had visited the German Embassy in London two days before, to meet the German Ambassador Herbert von Dirksen and Helmuth Wohlthat of the Four Year Plan organisation, to offer Germany a huge loan worth hundreds of millions of pound sterling in exchange for not attacking Poland. The media reaction to Hudson's proposed loan
1206-571: The Battle of Assandun in 1016, especially considering the former's role in opposing Cnut and his father's invasion of England in 1013 and escorting Æthelred the Unready into exile, but it is assumed that Cnut considered him a valuable asset and powerful ally. Given the Jomsvikings' role in political events in Scandinavia, the possibility exists that Thorkell played a masterminding role in assisting with Sweyn Forkbeard's 1013 invasion and Cnut's re-invasion
1273-514: The Miracula sancti Bavonis , a life of Saint Bavo . That these various Viking impositions were paid by the taxation of the Frisians is made evident in a record of events in 873. In that year, according to the annals Fuldenses , Bertiniani , and Xantenses , the Viking leader Rodulf sent messengers to the Ostergau calling for tribute. The Frisians replied that they owed taxes only to their king, Louis
1340-524: The taifa kingdoms. It is estimated that the total amount of money paid by the Anglo-Saxons amounted to some sixty million pence , and at the farm where the runestone Sö 260 talks of a voyage in the West, a hoard of several hundred English coins was found. In southern England the Danegeld was based on hidages , an area of agricultural land sufficient to support a family, with the exception of Kent, where
1407-458: The Belfast agreement might be built on sand, but I hoped otherwise. But as we have seen, Danegeld has been paid, and the thing about Danegeld is that one keeps on having to pay it. Concession after concession has been made. What will be the next one? To emphasise the point, people often quote Kipling's poem "Dane-Geld", especially its two most famous lines. For example, journalist Tony Parsons quoted
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#17328515453281474-605: The Danegeld to the Exchequer may be assessed by its return of about £2400 in 1129–1130, which was about ten per cent of the total (about £23,000) paid that year. Judged by an absolute rather than a contemporary standard, there is much to criticise in the collection of the Danegeld by the early 12th century: it was based on ancient assessments of land productivity, and there were numerous privileged reductions or exemptions, granted as marks of favour that served to cast those left paying it in an "unfavoured" light: "Exemptions were very much
1541-548: The Danegeld to the Vikings in West Francia took place in 845 when, under Ragnar Lothbrok , they tried to attack Paris . The Viking army was bought off from destroying the city by a massive payment of nearly six tons of silver and gold bullion. In November 858 a Danegeld was being collected, probably to pay off Bjørn (Berno) , who had ravaged the Seine and its district for the whole previous year (857). In 862 two groups of Vikings—one
1608-503: The Danegeld/ You never get rid of the Dane." The poem ends thus: It is wrong to put temptation in the path of any nation, For fear they should succumb and go astray; So when you are requested to pay up or be molested, You will find it better policy to say: – "We never pay any -one Dane-geld, No matter how trifling the cost; For the end of that game is oppression and shame, And
1675-535: The Eastern kingdom as needed, such as by one Evesa to ransom her son, Count Eberhard, at a "very great price" in 880, according to Regino of Prüm . The first Danegeld ever raised was collected in Frisia in 810. In that year a Danish fleet of some two hundred vessels landed in Frisia, harassing first all the coastal islands and then the mainland before defeating the Frisians in three battles. The victorious Danes then demanded
1742-642: The English than to take whatever booty they could plunder. Further payments were made in 1002, and in 1007 Æthelred bought two years peace with the Danes for 36,000 troy pounds (13,400 kg) of silver. In 1012, following the capture and murder of the Archbishop of Canterbury, and the sack of Canterbury , the Danes were bought off with another 48,000 troy pounds (17,900 kg) of silver. In 1016 Sweyn Forkbeard's son, Canute , became King of England. After two years he felt sufficiently in control of his new kingdom to
1809-420: The Frisians were unprepared or defected from their Frankish overlords, some Vikings managed to land on Walcheren , capture several counts and other leading men and kill them or hold them for ransom. They then proceeded to exact a census wherever they could, funnelling an "infinite" amount of money "of diverse kinds" into their coffers. They then moved to the mainland, where they assaulted Dorestad and extorted
1876-465: The German , and his sons ( Carloman , Louis , and Charles ), and a battle ensued, in which Rodulf was killed and his troops routed. One later, tenth-century source, Dudo of Saint-Quentin 's De moribus et actis primorum Normanniae ducum , records that Rollo forced the Frisians to pay tribute, but this is unlikely. All the various Frisian Danegeld was purely local in nature, raised by the local leaders and
1943-580: The Good 's letter of intention to invade the realm of Edward the Confessor, with the ambition to reunite the kingdoms of what is now described as the North Sea Empire . Thorkell may have married a daughter of Æthelred the Unready called Wulfhild or Edith, who was the widow of Ulfcytel Snillingr . Thorkell had a son who accompanied Cnut back to England in 1023. [REDACTED] This article contains content from
2010-471: The aforementioned Annales and by Regino of Prüm . In that year Salomon, King of Brittany , put an end to some pagan raids by payment of five hundred heads of cattle. The more local type of Danegeld is exemplified by two chronologically close events in the County of Vannes . According to a record in the cartulary of Redon Abbey , the bishop Courantgenus was ransomed from Viking captivity in 854. His ransom
2077-408: The archbishop of Canterbury, Ælfheah. Thorkell and his men occupied Canterbury and took several hostages of importance, including Ælfheah himself, who was held prisoner for seven months. During the captivity, Ælfheah seems to have taken the opportunity to convert as many of the Vikings as possible to Christianity, prompting tension. The Vikings demanded an extra 3000 pounds of silver for the release of
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2144-507: The archbishop's murder, and sensing that he was losing control over his men, Thorkell and several other loyalists defected, taking 45 Viking ships with them. He and his men subsequently entered into the service of the English King Æthelred the Unready as mercenaries, for whom they fought in 1013 against the invasion of Danish King Sweyn Forkbeard and his son Cnut . It is not entirely clear how Thorkell became part of Cnut's army prior to
2211-405: The archbishop, but Ælfheah bravely refused to be ransomed or have his people pay the invaders. As a consequence, Ælfheah was murdered by Thorkell's men during a drunken feast at Greenwich on 19 April 1012: the Vikings pelted him with the bones of cattle before one Viking finished him off with a blow to the back of the head with the butt of an axe. Thorkell was said to have tried his best to prevent
2278-537: The commitment of Cnut in England, prompted King Olaf II of Norway and King Anund Jacob of Sweden to launch attacks on the Danish in the Baltic Sea . The Swedish and Norwegian navies led by kings Anund Jacob and Olaf II lay in wait up the river for the navy of King Cnut, which was commanded by Danish earl Ulf Jarl . Now known as the Battle of Helgeå , the decisive victory left Cnut the dominant leader in Scandinavia. There
2345-623: The costs of conquest, rather than for buying-off the Viking menace. He and his successors levied the geld more frequently than the Anglo-Saxon kings, and at higher rates; the six-shilling geld of 1084 is infamous, and the geld in Ely of 1096, for example, was double its normal rate. Judith Green states that from 1110, war and the White Ship calamity led to further increases in taxation efforts. By 1130 Henry I
2412-429: The death of the archbishop, offering the attackers everything he possessed to stop the killing, save for his ship. And someone, possibly Thorkell, is said to have carried the corpse to London the day after the murder. Thorkell's army eventually ceased their attacks across Southern England, but only after a large series of danegeld payments were made, eventually culminating to 48,000 pounds of silver. Disillusioned by
2479-480: The emperor to pay 1 grivna to every man on Oleg's ships in exchange for going away. According to the Russian chronicles, the followers of Prince Igor in 945 : ... said to him "The servants of Sveiald are adorned with weapons and fine raiment, but we are naked. Go forth with us, oh Prince, that you and we may profit thereby.” Igor heeded their words and attacked Dereva in search of tribute ( dan ). He demanded
2546-468: The extent of being able to pay off all but 40 ships of his invasion fleet, which were retained as a personal bodyguard, with a huge Danegeld of 72,000 troy pounds (26,900 kg) of silver collected nationally, plus a further 10,500 pounds (3,900 kg) of silver collected from London. This kind of extorted tribute was not unique to England: according to Snorri Sturluson and Rimbert , Finland , Estonia and Latvia (see also Grobin, now Grobiņa ) paid
2613-665: The fighting ranks of age 18 to 50. With no military commands, the final years of his life could have been spent at court or on his estates. He may have died in battle in 1039, a year before his foster son Harthacnut joined Emma of Normandy in Bruges prior to travelling to England and claiming the throne. Thorkell, celebrated in his lifetime by the poets, appears in the Jomsvikinga Saga and on runestones for his exploits. Thorkell's proven shrewd nature and wisdom were well documented. The sometimes contradictory contemporary literature of
2680-452: The former Seine Vikings, and hired them against Salomon for 6,000 pounds of silver. The purpose of this was doubtless to prevent them from entering the service of Salomon. Probably Robert had to collect a large amount in taxes to finance what was effectively a non- tributary Danegeld designed to keep the Vikings out of Neustria. The treaty between the Franks and the Vikings did not last more than
2747-449: The geld. The principle of "no consent, but exemption", gave way to that of "consent, but no exemption". That a country-wide Danegeld was ever collected in the Duchy of Brittany is uncertain. Certainly they were paid off on more than one occasion, and such payouts may have included money (besides other valuables), but the imposition of a tax on the people to pay either a stipend or a tribute
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2814-673: The larger of two fleets recently forced out of the Seine by Charles the Bald , the other a fleet returning from a Mediterranean expedition—converged on Brittany , where one (the Mediterranean group) was hired by the Breton duke Salomon to ravage the Loire valley . Robert the Strong , Margrave of Neustria , captured twelve of their ships, killing all on board save a few who fled. He then opened negotiations with
2881-419: The late eleventh century. In Anglo-Saxon England tribute payments to the Danes was known as gafol and the levy raised to support the standing army, for the defence of the realm, was known as heregeld (army-tax). In England, a hide was notionally an area of land sufficient to support one family; however their true size and economic value varied enormously. The hide's purpose was as a unit of assessment and
2948-592: The nation that plays it is lost!" Kipling's poem was set to music by filk musician Leslie Fish on her 1991 album, The Undertaker's Horse . In the United Kingdom , the term "Danegeld" has come to refer to a general warning and a criticism of any coercive payment, whether in money or kind. For example, as mentioned in the British House of Commons during the debate on the Belfast Agreement : I feared that
3015-871: The noses and the necks. The runic text on U 240 was intended to be read together with that on U 241 to form a unified message. Based on stylistic analysis, the inscription has been attributed to the runemaster Åsmund , who was active in the first part of the 11th century. tan Danr Dan auk ok ok hus(k)arl Húskarl Huskarl + auk ok ok suain Sveinn Svæinn + auk ok ok hulmfriþr Holmfríðr, Holmfriðr, × þaun þau þaun (m)(i)(þ)kin mœðgin møðgin litu létu letu rita rétta retta stin stein stæin þino þenna Danegeld Danegeld ( / ˈ d eɪ n ɡ ɛ l d / ; "Danish tax", literally "Dane yield" or tribute)
3082-524: The outrage, was unable to stop it, and the Vikings left Frisia laden with booty and captives. The last recorded Danegeld raised by the Frisians was paid in 852. In that year 252 Viking ships laid anchor off the Frisian coast and demanded tribute (of what kind we do not know), which was procured. Their demands met, the Vikings left without devastating the territory, as recorded in the Annales Bertiniani and
3149-417: The people of Kent to sway the army from attacking. They instead turned towards London and attempted to take the city several times, but were met with heavy resistance and ultimately abandoned their attack. On 8 September 1011 the Viking army returned to Canterbury and besieged the city for three weeks, eventually taking it through the treachery of a man named Ælfmaer, whose life had been previously saved by
3216-429: The people without royal aid or approval. In Lotharingia the Danegeld was only collected once. In 864 Lothair II exacted four denarii from every mansus in the kingdom, as well as large number of cattle and much flour, wine, and beer. The whole amount is not recorded, nor whether it was paid as a stipend or as a tribute , but it was paid to a Viking band led by one Rodulf . It has been suggested that Lothair
3283-713: The poem in The Daily Mirror , when criticising the Rome daily La Repubblica for writing "Ransom was paid and that is nothing to be ashamed of", in response to the announcement that the Italian government paid $ 1 million for the release of two hostages in Iraq in October 2004. In Britain the phrase is often coupled with the experience of Chamberlain's appeasement of Hitler . On 22 July 1939, two British newspapers, The Daily Telegraph and
3350-563: The preservation of peace". The payments to Kiev continued until 1054 with the death of Prince Jaroslav of Kiev. When Prince Oleg made his expedition against Constantinople in 907, he demanded that the Romans "pay tribute to his men on his 2,000 ships at the rate of 12 griveni per man, 40 men reckoned to a ship". The treaty negotiated between Oleg and the Roman Emperor Leo VI the Wise committed
3417-524: The previous tribute and collected by violence from the people with the assistance of his followers.... William Shakespeare made reference to Danish tribute in Hamlet, Prince of Denmark , Act 3, scene 1 ( King Claudius is talking of Prince Hamlet 's insanity): ... he shall with speed to England, For the demand of our neglected tribute Danegeld is the subject of the poem " Dane-geld " by Rudyard Kipling , whose most famous lines are "once you have paid him
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#17328515453283484-762: The same kind of tribute to the Swedes . In fact, the Primary Chronicle relates that the regions paying protection money extended east towards Moscow , until the Finnic and Slavic tribes rebelled and drove the Varangians overseas . Similarly, the Sami peoples were frequently forced to pay tribute in the form of pelts. A similar procedure also existed in Iberia , where the contemporary Christian states were largely supported on tribute gold from
3551-519: The separate Reichsannalen called the Annales Mettenses and the Annales Maximiniani , as well as the work of the so-called " Poeta Saxo ". The total sum paid out is unknown, but it was without doubt raised through taxes, as Einhard in his Vita explicitly says: "And the victorious Danes imposed a tribute on the vanquished, by means of taxes one hundred pounds of silver from the Frisians
3618-502: The south-western provinces to buy off the Vikings rather than continue the armed struggle. One manuscript of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle said Olav Tryggvason led the Viking forces. In 994 the Danes, under King Sweyn Forkbeard and Olav Tryggvason, returned and laid siege to London. They were once more bought off, and the amount of silver paid impressed the Danes with the idea that it was more profitable to extort payments from
3685-464: The strong connections and influence he had in his home country and that he was too powerful a man to be made an enemy of. As a result, he was granted the earldom of Denmark and given custody of Cnut's son Harthacnut , to whom Thorkell would serve as foster-father. Thorkell's rule was a short one, with Cnut's brother-in-law Ulf the Earl to become Jarl of Denmark a year later. The perceived power vacuum of Thorkell's unexplained absence after 1023 and
3752-406: The sum of the denarii with a great payment of flour and cattle and even wine and beer to the Northman Rodulf, son of Heriold, and to his hirelings. There is also a story told by Dudo of Saint-Quentin in his De moribus et actis primorum Normanniae ducum of how Reginar Langhals was ransomed by his wife in 880 for all the gold in Hainault , but this is probably a legend. The first payment of
3819-467: The tribute payments made to the Vikings, prior to the Norman Conquest, are commonly known as Danegeld, the payments were at the time actually called gafol , meaning "tax" or "tribute". In 1012 Æthelred the Unready introduced an annual land tax to pay for a force of Scandinavian mercenaries, led by Thorkell the Tall , to help defend the realm. Following Æthelred the kings of England used the same tax collection method to fund their own standing armies; this
3886-487: The unit was a sulung of four yokes, the amount of land that could be ploughed in a season by a team of oxen; in the north the typical unit was the carucate, or ploughland, equivalent to Kent's sulung; and East Anglia was assessed by the hundred . Everywhere the tax was farmed (collected) by local sheriffs. Records of assessment and income pre-date the Norman conquest, indicating a system which James Campbell describes as "old, but not unchanging". According to David Bates, it
3953-399: Was "a national tax of a kind unknown in western Europe"; indeed, J. A. Green asserts that the national system of land taxation developed to raise the Danegeld was the first to reappear in Western Europe since the collapse of the Western Roman Empire. It was used by William the Conqueror as the principal tool for underwriting continental wars, as well as providing for royal appetites and
4020-447: Was a tax raised to pay tribute or protection money to the Viking raiders to save a land from being ravaged. It was called the geld or gafol in eleventh-century sources. It was characteristic of royal policy in both England and Francia during the ninth through eleventh centuries, collected both as tributary , to buy off the attackers, and as stipendiary , to pay the defensive forces. The term Danegeld did not appear until
4087-429: Was a prominent member of the Jomsviking order and a notable lord. He was a son of the Scanian chieftain Strut-Harald , and a brother of Jarl Sigvaldi , Hemingr and Tófa. Thorkell was the chief commander of the Jomsvikings and the legendary stronghold Jomsborg , on the Island of Wollin . He is also credited as having received the young Cnut the Great into his care and taken Cnut on raids. The Encomium Emmae ,
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#17328515453284154-655: Was imitating the example set by Charles the Bald in 860, when he hired the Vikings of Weland to attack those encamped on the island of Oscellus in the Seine . Neither the reason for Lothair's payment nor the result is recorded in the only source to mention it, the contemporary Annales Bertiniani : Hlotharius, Hlotharii filius, de omni regno suo quattuor denarios ex omni manso colligens, summam denariorum cum multa pensione farinae atque pecorum necnon vini ac sicerae Rodulfo Normanno, Herioldi filio, ac suis locarii nomine tribuit. Lothair, son of Lothair, collecting from his whole kingdom four denarii from every mansus , allotted
4221-404: Was known as heregeld (army-tax). Heregeld was abolished by Edward the Confessor in 1051. It was the Norman administration who called the tax Danegeld. An English payment of 10,000 Roman pounds (3,300 kg) of silver was first made in 991 following the Viking victory at the Battle of Maldon in Essex, when Æthelred was advised by Sigeric , Archbishop of Canterbury , and the aldermen of
4288-537: Was overwhelmingly negative with the newspapers calling Hudson's plan "paying the Danegeld". Much to Hudson's humiliation, Chamberlain announced in the House of Commons that Hudson was acting on his own, and Britain would not offer Germany any such loan as a solution to the Danzig crisis. Thorkell the Tall Thorkell the Tall , also known as Thorkell the High in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle ( Old Norse : Þorke(ti)ll inn hávi ; Norwegian : Torkjell Høge ; Swedish : Torkel Höge ; Danish : Torkild den Høje ),
4355-433: Was quite probably raised on a local level. In 855 the monks of Redon had to ransom the count, Pascwet , from a similar captivity by handing over a chalice and a paten , weighing together sixty-seven solidi in gold. Sometime later Pascwet managed to redeem the sacred vessels from the pagans, and this payment too may have been raised as a sort of Danegeld. Certainly, according to Regino of Prüm, Pascwet later (in 873) paid
4422-442: Was taxing the Danegeld annually, at two shillings on the hide . That year, according to the chronicle of John of Worcester the king promised to suspend the Danegeld for seven years, a promise renewed by Stephen at his coronation but which was afterwards broken. Henry II revived the Danegeld in 1155–1156, but 1161–1162 marks the last year the Danegeld was recorded on a pipe roll , and the tax fell into disuse. The importance of
4489-457: Was the basis for the land-tax that became known as Danegeld. Initially it was levied as a tribute to buy off Viking invaders but after the Danish Conquest of 1016 it was retained as a permanent land-tax to pay for the realm's defence. The Viking expeditions to England were usually led by the Danish kings , but they were composed of warriors from all over Scandinavia , and they eventually brought home more than 100 tonnes of silver . Although
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