Why Did The West Saxons Find It So..

Why did the double-u Saxons find it so toilsome to share with the Viking threat in the years 870-878?

The years 870-878, Alfred the King of the West Saxons endured many defeats to the Viking threat which he found increasingly exhausting to deal with as the years went on. This can be seen to be put pour down to weaknesses within the Kingdom itself, including the military, culture, religion and closing off of the Kingdom itself. However, this can excessively be put down to the sheer advantage and skill of the Vikings, particularly the superior lead of Guthrum. The Viking military strength, contrasted with the Saxons military weakness caused a beneficial problem for the West Saxons which became genuinely apparent in the later years of this period.

The West Saxons did not have a standing army instead they relied on the fyrd for the defence of their Kingdom. This laid them in a very vulnerable position as the fyrd took a very long time to assemble and scarce consisted of the village people who had very little experience in fighting, very often with no armour and poor weaponry. This caused serious problems to the Kingdom as if the fyrd were c eithered out during particular times, such as the harvest The Fyrd also only had to serve for a round period of time of 40 days.



This made it increasingly difficult as the harvest would suffer which would then cause a serious lack of food within the Kingdom itself, which in turn meant that the Fyrd would have very little supplies when called out and also affected all aspects of trade, and finances within the Kingdom. The Vikings could also barely retreat once the Fyrd had been called out. This had a devastating effect on the Saxon economy and harvest, as able bodied manpower were taken away from their jobs, while the Vikings had a constant preparation of men and food from abroad. In comparison the Viking army were very well equipped and mobile.

By the years 870-878 the West Saxons had all converted to Christianity, they saw a man to give his tidings as...If you want to get a full essay, order it on our website: Ordercustompaper.com



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