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Swein Forkbeard

King of Denmark, England, and Norway

17 dated entries naming Swein Forkbeard, drawn from 16 separate years between 960 CE and 1014 CE. Nothing here is written by us: each line is the sentence a Wikipedia year article used, and the link beside it opens the exact revision.

Also written as Sweyn Forkbeard in the source articles; Wikipedia redirects those to the same subject, so their entries are on this page.

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10th century

  • 960Sweyn Forkbeard, king of Denmark and England (d. 1014)source
  • 963April 17 – Sweyn Forkbeard, king of Denmark and Norway (d. 1014)source
  • 983King Harald Bluetooth rebels against the overlordship of Otto II. A Danish Viking army under his son Sweyn Forkbeard invades the March of Schleswig – along the northern border of modern Denmark. The Sorb Slavs in northern Germany overrun and conquer the March of Zeitz (Marca Geronis) from Saxon control.source
  • 986Winter – King Harald II (Bluetooth) dies after a 28-year reign (driven into exile). He is succeeded by his son Sweyn Forkbeard as ruler of Denmark and Norway.source
  • 990The city of Lund, Sweden is founded, during the reign of the Danish king Sweyn Forkbeard (approximate date).source
  • 994June 23 – Viking Age: Danish Viking raiders, (probably) under King Sweyn Forkbeard, plunder the city of Stade (Lower Saxony). Count Lothair Udo I is captured and killed, during the battle with the pirates.source
  • 999September 9 (999 or 1000) – Battle of Svolder: A Norwegian fleet, commanded by Olaf Tryggvason in his longship Ormrinn langi, is defeated by the combined fleet of the Danish king Sweyn Forkbeard and his Swedish counterpart Olof Skötkonung, resulting in Tryggvason's death, and the splitting up of Norway between Sweden and Denmark.source
  • 1000In Scandinavia, Christianization was in its early stages, with the Althing of the Icelandic Commonwealth embracing Christianity in the year 1000. On September 9, the King of Norway, Olaf Tryggvason, was defeated by the Scandinavian kingdoms of Denmark and Sweden in the Battle of Svolder. Sweyn Forkbeard established Danish control over part of Norway. The city of Oslo was founded in Norway (the exact year is debatable, but the 1,000 year anniversary was held in the year 2000). It is known that in or around this year, Norse explorer Leif Erikson became the first European to land in the Americas, at L'Anse aux Meadows in modern-day Newfoundland.source

11th century

  • 1002Winter – Æthelred pays tribute (or Danegeld) to Sweyn Forkbeard, buying him off with a massive payment of 24,000 lbs of silver to hold off further Viking raids against England.source
  • 1003King Sweyn I (Forkbeard) lands with a Danish Viking fleet in East Anglia, ravaging the countryside. Northumbria surrenders to him (approximate date).source
  • 1004A Danish Viking fleet under Sweyn Forkbeard lands in Norfolk. Ealdorman Ulfcytel orders his Anglo-Saxon troops to burn the raiding ships. The plan fails and Ulfcytel's small army is defeated by the Vikings.source
  • 1005Summer – Danish Viking raiders under Sweyn Forkbeard continue to ravage the cities (mostly poorly defended) in southern England. A famine strikes Sweyn's army, which has to live off the land.source
  • 1006Summer–Autumn – Danish Viking raiders led by Sweyn Forkbeard raid south-eastern England from the Isle of Wight to Reading in the Thames Valley where they overwinter at the Wallingford river crossing.source
  • 1009Danish Viking raiders led by Sweyn Forkbeard repeatedly attack southern England, destroying the land to avenge the St. Brice's Day massacre of 1002.source
  • 1013Summer – Danish Viking raiders led by Sweyn Forkbeard (accompanied by his son Cnut) sail from Denmark to attack England. Again London defends itself and the Vikings move elsewhere, plundering Wessex, Mercia and Northumbria. King Æthelred the Unready sends his sons Edward and Alfred to Normandy. Æthelred retreats to the Isle of Wight and follows them later into exile.source
  • 1014February 3 – Sweyn Forkbeard, king of Denmark and England (b. 960)source
  • 1014February 3 – King Sweyn Forkbeard dies at Gainsborough after a reign of five weeks. He is succeeded by Harald II who becomes king of Denmark, while Cnut is elected by the Vikings of the Danelaw as king of England.source

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