The Saint Brice's Day Massacre of 1002: A Case of Medieval Ethnic Cleansing?

'tis but a scratch: fact and fiction about the Middle Ages - A podcast by Richard Abels

Send us a textIn this episode Ellen and I talk about one of the more puzzling events in the history of England’s Viking Wars, the St. Brice's Davy Massacre. In the year 1002, King Æthelred "the Unready" issued an order that on St. Brice's Day all the Danes dwelling in England were to be killed in a "most just extermination." Writers from the late eleventh century to the present day--including the script writers for the recent Netflix series, "Vikings: Valhalla"--have depicted what occur...