Everything about Ingali totally explained
The
Þingalið ("assembly retinue") was a
standing army in the service of the English kings during the period 1018-1066.
In the
11th century, there were three European courts that recruited Scandinavians:
Novgorod-
Kiev (
Kievan Rus') c. 980-1060, and
London 1018-1066. The Assembly retinue attracted Swedish mercenaries, and probably some Norwegian as well.
History
Formation and structure
The Danish chronicler
Sven Aggesen wrote in the end of the 12th century on how the Assembly retinue was created. Canute the Great had attracted a great many warriors of many kinds and many of them hadn't had the opportunity to distinguish themselves in battle. Therefore, he'd a
herald proclaim that only those who had especially valuable weapons would have the distinction of counting themselves among the king's housecarls.
In those days, it brought glory to a commander if he'd a retinue that had splendid weaponry.
Because of this demand, those who were less affluent retired while the successful warriors, who had gathered considerable amounts of spoils of war, had their gold and silver manufactured to become decorations on their weaponry.
Everyone tried to compete with their brothers-in-arms in having the most sumptuous armour, and this was how king Canute managed to select the best of his warriors.
He had the men counted and they amounted to 3,000 men who were thenceforth the
Þingalið.
The retinue had its own laws which stipulated that every member was each other's equal, even equal to the king.
The Scandinavian warriors had no objections to being ruled by a chieftain, but they didn't accept that he'd any legal privileges.
Last battle
With the help of this elite force, which was distinguished by their broad battle axes, The English kings defended their country against all invaders until 1066.
After having defeated the Norwegian king
Harald Hardrada at the
Battle of Stamford Bridge, the Assembly Retinue had to march southwards in order to meet the invasion force of
William the Conqueror in the
Battle of Hastings.
The retinue was exhausted by the hard-fought battle against the Norwegians and the 386-kilometer march to Hastings, and they fought to the last man against William the Conqueror's
Normans, who were also of Scandinavian origin.
Runestones
Several of its members are commemorated on
runestones, such as the
Viking Runestones and the
England Runestones. One example is the
Komstad Runestone which was raised in memory the marshall Vrái, who had served in England with his brother Gunni, something that Vrái reported himself on the
Sävsjö Runestone.
Other examples are the
Kålsta Runestone, where two sons report that their father was a member of the Assembly Retinue,
and the
Gåsinge Runestone which was raised in memory of a warrior who served Canute the Great.
[Further Information]
Get more info on 'Ingali'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://__ingali_.totallyexplained.com">Þingalið Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
