Why did the West Saxons find it so difficult to deal with the Viking threat in the years 870-878
by
hollyxbarrett (student)
Why did the West Saxons find it so difficult to deal with the Viking threat in the years 870–878? Throughout the years 870-878 the West Saxons were constantly seen to be fighting against the Viking threat and in these years it highlights the immense difficulty in which they faced trying to stop the Viking attacks. There are many factors to why the West Saxons found it difficult for example, their lack of defence and the fact that they had no strategy- adding to their naivety of Viking deceit, Viking tactics- their awareness of the Saxon culture, also their establishment of fortified camps and the leadership skills of Guthrum and Alfred. One contributing factor to why the West Saxons found it so difficult to deal with the Viking threat throughout 870-878 was their lack of defence and the fact that they had no standing army; also their naivety of Viking deceit. The Saxons had a fyrd but the key weakness of it was that that it didn’t entirely exist and it had to be summoned when a Viking threat arrived- it wasn’t properly organised before. This gave the Viking’s a major advantage over the West Saxons in battle and shows the idea of being reactive rather than