Beaduheard facts for kids

Beaduheard was an Anglo-Saxon official known as a reeve. A reeve was like a local sheriff or manager for the king. Beaduheard was based in a town called Dorchester in Dorset, England. In the year 789, he became the first person known to have been killed by a Viking raid in England. This event was a big moment in history, marking the start of the Viking Age in Britain.

Who Was Beaduheard?

We don't know much about Beaduheard's early life, like where he was born or who his parents were. However, his name, "Beaduheard," means "battle-hard," which suggests his family might have been important and involved in fighting. His position as a reeve also shows he was a respected and high-ranking person in his community. He served as a reeve during the time of Beorhtric of Wessex, who was the king of Wessex from 786 to 802.

The First Viking Attack

The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, an ancient historical record, describes what happened in the year 789:

787 [789] Here Beorhtric took King Offa's daughter Eadburh. And in his days came first 3 ships from Hordaland: and then the reeve rode there and wanted to compel them to go to the king's town because he did not know who they were; and then they killed him. These were the first ships of the Danish men which sought out the land of the English race.

This record tells us that three ships arrived from a place called Hordaland, which is in modern-day Norway. Beaduheard, as the local reeve, rode out to meet them. He likely thought they were traders and wanted them to report to the king's town, as was the custom. However, these newcomers were Vikings, and they killed Beaduheard and his companions. This was the very first time that Danish Vikings were known to have come to England and attacked its people.

More Details from Æthelweard

About 200 years after Beaduheard's death, another historian named Æthelweard wrote his own version of the events in a book called Chronicon Æthelweardi. This book was a Latin translation of an older Anglo-Saxon record that is now lost. Æthelweard's account gives us a few more details:

Suddenly a not very large fleet of the Danes arrived, speedy vessels to the number of three; that was their first arrival. At the report the king's reeve, who was then in the town called Dorchester, leapt on his horse, sped to the harbour with a few men (for he thought they were merchants rather than marauders) and admonishing them in an authoritiative manner, gave orders that they should be driven to the royal town. And he and his companions were killed by them on the spot. And the name of the reeve was Beaduheard.

Æthelweard's account confirms that Beaduheard thought the ships belonged to merchants, not raiders. He bravely rode to the harbor with a small group of men to tell the newcomers to go to the royal town. Sadly, he and his companions were killed immediately by the Vikings. Æthelweard's writing is also the first place where Beaduheard's name is specifically mentioned.

What Happened Next?

Beaduheard's death was a warning of what was to come. Just four years later, in 793, a much larger and more famous Viking raid happened. This attack targeted the important monastery of Lindisfarne in the kingdom of Northumberland. The Lindisfarne raid is often seen as the official start of the Viking Age in Britain, but Beaduheard's death shows that the Vikings had already made their presence known a few years earlier.