Sweyn Forkbeard returns to England
1011
The Danish king again ravaged southern England, capturing Canterbury in a treacherous siege and seizing Archbishop Alphege. Ethelred's paralysed government could only watch the burning. The renewed attacks pushed Danegeld to unprecedented heights and exhausted the exchequer beyond any reasonable means of recovery for years. The chronicle entry for 1011 is among the bleakest in the entire Anglo-Saxon record, a litany of fire and collapse.
In context
Also in 1011 (3 other events on record)
- Song Dynasty expands iron production · East Asia · Technology
- Swahili coast mosques built in coral stone · Africa · Culture
- Alphege captured at Canterbury · Europe · Religion
Before and after in Europe
Before and after in War
Era
High Middle Ages (1000–1300), one of 1,306 events from that era on Saeculum.