The Monastery That Held Back the Vikings

Gone Medieval

History Hit

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4.6 • 2.2K Ratings

🗓️ 7 February 2023

⏱️ 30 minutes

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Summary

For monks and monasteries in Anglo-Saxon England, obliteration by Vikings was a constant threat. Like Lindisfarne - first raided in 793 AD - religious houses were frequently preyed upon by marauding Danes searching for rich and easy pickings. But just how devastating were these raids? And were some monasteries capable of survival?

In this episode of Gone Medieval, Dr Cat Jarman talks to Dr Gabor Thomas from the University of Reading about his research into Lyminge, a monastery in Kent that adopted genius defensive strategies to hold back the Viking menace.

This episode was edited by Joseph Knight, and produced by Rob Weinberg.

Read more about the latest research into Lyminge Monastery here >

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1:33.2	Hello and welcome to Gone Medieval. I'm Dr Cat Jarman. Vikings brutally attacking Anglo-Saxon
1:41.6	monasteries. It's probably one of the best known images that people have of the Viking age.
1:47.5	It's absolutely no doubt that these attacks happened and that they could be devastating
1:52.1	for the monastic communities. But exactly how devastating were they?
1:57.2	With the monasteries actually able to endure them. Brand new research from the University of
2:01.8	Reading suggests that actually they could through effective defensive strategies.
	...

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