High Middle Ages · Europe · War

1004

Sweyn Forkbeard sacks Norwich

1004

The Danish king's longships rowed up the Wensum and torched the East Anglian capital. Ulfcytel Snilling harried the raiders as they withdrew and nearly caught Sweyn himself. The chroniclers praised Ulfcytel's courage and blamed the king in London for everything else that had gone wrong that year. East Anglia's exposed coastline would remain vulnerable to Scandinavian raiders for the next decade.