Pillaging Vikings didn't wipe out all of England's Anglo-Saxon monks after all trends now
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Pillaging Vikings did not wipe out England's Anglo-Saxon monks after all as archaeologists found that the Kent monastery survived repeated attacks from Norse invaders for nearly a century.
Lyminge was on the 'frontline' of long-running Viking hostility which ended in the victories of Saxon King Alfred the Great.
Researchers say that new evidence suggests the monasteries had 'more resilience' than previously believed and were not simply 'sitting ducks' as previously portrayed.
Historical sources indicate that a 'double' monastery - a mixed community of monks and nuns placed under the rule of a royal abbess - was founded at Lyminge during the 7th Century.
Archaeologists say it endured several attacks, but resisted collapse for almost a century through effective defensive strategies put in place by ecclesiastical and secular rulers of Kent.
The excavation site at Lyminge, Kent which housed new evidence to suggest the monasteries had 'more resilience' than previously believed and were not simply 'sitting ducks'
Lyminge was on the 'frontline' of long-running Viking hostility which ended in the victories of Saxon King Alfred the Great
The new evidence arose from a detailed examination of archaeological and historical artefacts by Dr Gabor Thomas.
The Associate professor for the University of Reading, said: 'The image of ruthless Viking raiders slaughtering helpless monks and nuns is based on written records, but a re-examination of the evidence show the monasteries had more resilience than we might expect.'
Despite being in an area of Kent which bore the
