Danelaw

Much of the north of 9th and 10th century England was occupied by Norse invaders.

The Danelaw was the portion of England that lived under conquest by Scandinavian invaders, for most of the 9th and 10th centuries.

In the late 8th century, the 9th, 10th and 11th centuries, Scandinavian people set out on aggressive expeditions, to distant lands, for both commerce, and raiding and conquest. They settled previously unoccupied territories, like Iceland, and the Faroe Islands. They also established authority over regions of Ireland, like Dublin, over regions of France, like the Duchy of Normandy, and over much of England, known as the "Danelaw", named after people from Denmark, who were a prominent part of that Scandinavian expansion.