Ragnar Lothbrok and the Great Army's Conquest of Mercia 874

After years of campaigning across England, the Great Heathen Army turns its attention to Mercia in 874. This episode follows the army's winter at Repton, the flight of King Burgred, and the installation of the puppet-king Ceolwulf. We examine the archaeological evidence from Repton, including the mass grave and the mysterious 'Viking warrior' burial, and ask what it tells us about the army's size, composition, and leadership under Ivar the Boneless and Halfdan Ragnarsson. We also explore the political aftermath: the partition of Mercia, the rise of the Danelaw, and the pressure it placed on Wessex, setting the stage for Alfred the Great's resistance. How did a coalition of Scandinavian warriors manage to shatter one of England's oldest kingdoms? And what really happened at Repton?

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