Hastein (Old Norse:Hásteinn, also recorded asHastingus,Anstign,Haesten,Hæsten,Hæstenn orHæsting[1][2] and aliasAlsting[3]) was aViking chieftain of the late 9th century who made several raiding voyages.
Little is known of Hastein's early life. He is described as aDane in theAnglo-Saxon Chronicle, but the 11th-century chronicler Raoul Glaber states that Hastein may have been born in the Pays de Troyes (county ofTroyes), in modern-day France, a claim at odds with sources identifying him as Scandinavian.[4]
Historian Michel Dillange suggests these views may be reconcilable, theorizing that around the year 800, Charlemagne relocated many Saxons and Danes to Christian lands to prevent rebellion in Saxony. Hastein may have been born around 810 to one of these families, later discovering his heritage and returning to Scandinavia, where he rose to become a notable ship captain and Viking leader.[5]
Hastein is credited with being involved with various raids on the dividedFrankish Empire. He also reportedly led a great raid into the Mediterranean in 859.[1]
For indeed the Frankish nation, which was crushed by the avenger Anstign [Hastein], was very full of filthy uncleanness. Treasonous and oath-breaking, they were deservedly condemned; unbelievers and faithless, they were justly punished ...Dudo of St. Quentin's. Gesta Normannorum. Book 1. Chapter 3.
During 859–862, Hastein jointly led an expedition withBjörn Ironside. A fleet of 62 ships sailed from theLoire to raid countries in the Mediterranean.[6]
At first the raiding did not go well, with Hastein being defeated by theAsturians and later the Muslims of the UmayyadEmirate of Córdoba atNiebla in 859. Success followed with the sacking ofAlgeciras, where the mosque was burned, and then the ravaging of Mazimma in theIdrisid Caliphate on the north coast of Africa, followed by further raids into the Umayyad Caliphate atOrihuela, theBalearic Islands andRoussillon. They occupiedNekor for 8 days.
Hastein and Björn wintered atCamargue island on the mouth of theRhone before ravagingNarbonne,Nîmes andArles, then as far north asValence, before moving onto Italy. There they attacked the city ofLuna. Believing it to be Rome, Hastein had his men carry him to the gate and tell the guards he was dying and wished to convert to Christianity. Once inside, he was taken to the town's church where he received the sacraments, before jumping from his stretcher and leading his men in a sack of the town. Another account has him claiming to want to convert before he died, and feigning death on the following day. Luna allowed his body and 50 of his men clad in robes enter for his burial. Hastein's men had concealed swords under their robes, and once inside Hastein leaped from his coffin, decapitated the priest and sacked the city. However, the veracity of this is much debated. He sailed down the coast and sackedPisa and, sailing on the RiverArno, ravagedFiesole. The fleet then possibly raided theByzantine Empire's territories in the eastern Mediterranean.
On the way back to the Loire, he stopped off in North Africa where he bought several African slaves (known to the Vikings as 'blámenn',blue men, possiblySoussians orTuaregs) whom he sold in Ireland. They were presumed to have lost 40 ships in a storm, and lost two more at theStraits of Gibraltar on their way home, nearMedina-Sidonia, but still managed to ravagePamplona before returning home to the Loire with 20 ships.
Settled back in Brittany, Hastein allied himself withSalomon, King of Brittany against the Franks in 866, and as part of a Viking-Breton army he killedRobert the Strong at theBattle of Brissarthe nearChâteauneuf-sur-Sarthe.[7] In 867 he went on to ravageBourges and a year later attackedOrléans. Peace lasted until spring 872 when the Viking fleet sailed up theMaine and occupiedAngers, which led to a siege by the Frankish kingCharles the Bald and a peace being agreed in October 873.
Hastein remained in the Loire country until 882, when he was finally expelled by Charles and relocated his army north to the Seine. There he stayed until theFranks besieged Paris and his territory in thePicardy was threatened. It was at this point he became one of many experienced Vikings to look to England for riches and plunder.[3]
Hastein crossed to England fromBoulogne in 892 leading one of two great companies. His army, the smaller of the two, landed in 80 ships and occupied the royal village ofMilton Regis nearSittingbourne inKent, whilst his allies landed atAppledore with 250 ships.[8]Alfred the Great positioned aWessex army between them to keep them from uniting, the result of which was that Hastein agreed terms, including allowing his two sons to be baptised, and left Kent forEssex. The larger army attempted to reunite with Hastein after raiding Hampshire and Berkshire in the late spring of 893, but was defeated atFarnham by an army underEdward, Alfred's son. The survivors eventually reached Hastein's army atMersea Island, after a combined Wessex andMercian army failed to dislodge them from their fortress atThorney.[9]
As a result, Hastein combined his forces from Appledore and Milton and withdrew them to afortified camp atBenfleet, Essex. He used this camp as a base to raid Mercia. However, while his main force was out raiding in 894, the fort was attacked by thebolstered militia of eastern Wessex, who defeated the garrison in theBattle of Benfleet. The entire fort, along with the Danes' families – including Hastein's wife and sons – was captured, along with their ships.[10] Hastein re-established his combined force at a new fort, at Shoebury in eastern Essex,[8] and sent for reinforcements from the Danish kingdoms ofEast Anglia andYork. Shortly afterwards, according to theAnglo-Saxon Chronicle, Hastein held talks with Alfred, possibly to discuss terms for the release of his family.[11] Hastein had his two sons returned to him. According to theAnglo-Saxon Chronicle, this was because Hastein's sons had been baptised in early 893, with Alfred and his son-in-lawAethelred of Mercia as sponsors. Thus Alfred was godfather to one boy and Aethelred godfather to the other.[12]
The negotiations apparently achieved little because, shortly afterwards, Hastein launched a second raid along theThames valley and from there along theRiver Severn. Hastein was pursued all the way by Aethelred and a combined Mercian and Wessex army, reinforced by a contingent of warriors from the Welsh kingdoms. Eventually the Viking army was trapped at a place called Buttington—possibly the island by that name on the Severn, nearWelshpool,Powys.[13] At the subsequentBattle of Buttington, several weeks later, Hastein's forces fought their way out, with many casualties, and returned to the fortress at Shoebury.[11] According to the annals:
after many weeks had passed, some of the heathen [Vikings] died of hunger, but some, having by then eaten their horses, broke out of the fortress, and joined battle with those who were on the east bank of the river. But, when many thousands of pagans had been slain, and all the others had been put to flight, the Christians [English] were masters of the place of death. In that battle the most noble Ordheah and many of the king's thegns were killed ...[14]
In mid-893, Hastein's forces moved their camp from East Anglia, to the ruined Roman fortress atChester. Hastein apparently planned to rebuild the fortifications and use it as a base for raiding northern Mercia. However, the Mercians had other ideas, they laid siege to the fortress and attempted to starve the Danes out by removing or retrieving any livestock and destroying any crops in the area.[14]
In late 893, the besieged army left Chester, marching to South Wales and devastated the kingdoms ofBrycheiniog,Gwent andGlywysing[8] over several months. In mid-894, they left, possibly by sea, since they returned to the Chester area, in a circuitous route encompassing the Danish strongholds ofNorthumbria, theFive Burghs, andEast Anglia, before reaching their fort at Mersea Island.
Moving to south-east England in late 894, Hastein's army towed their ships up the Thames to a fort they constructed on theRiver Lea. However, in mid-895, a Wessex army arrived, led by Alfred, and built a pair of forts on both sides of the Lea, blocking Hastein's access to the Thames and the sea. The Danes abandoned their camp, returned their families to East Anglia and made another great march, across the West Midlands, to a site on the Severn (whereBridgnorth now stands), followed all the way by hostile forces. There they stayed until early-mid 896, when Hastein's army dissolved. Its former members retreated to East Anglia and Northumbria, except – according to theAnglo-Saxon Chronicle – those that were penniless, who found ships and set out to raidAustrasia via the Seine.[15][16]
Hastein disappeared from history in around 896, by then an old man having already been described as "the lusty and terrifying old warrior of the Loire and the Somme",[8] when he arrived in England several years earlier. He was one of the most notorious and successful Vikings of all time, having raided dozens of cities across many kingdoms in Europe and North Africa.
The Picard monkDudo of Saint-Quentin was very critical of Hastein:
This was a man accursed: fierce, mightily cruel, and savage, pestilent, hostile, sombre, truculent, given to outrage, pestilent and untrustworthy, insolent, fickle and lawless. Death-dealing, uncouth, fertile in ruses, warmonger-general, traitor, fomenter of evil, and double-dyed dissimulator ...Dudo of St. Quentin's. Gesta Normannorum. Book 1. Chapter 3.[17]
He is identified with theJarl Hasting who held theChannel Islands for a while.[clarification needed]
Some scholars have suggested that theHastings area of Sussex inEngland may have been founded by a forebear of Hastein.[18]
Hastein (spelt as "Hæsteinn") appears as a playable historical character inCrusader Kings III, developed byParadox Interactive. He begins the game's867 AD start date as the Norse ruler of the county ofMontaigu, noted for his strong martial skill and raiding potential. Within the game's community, Hastein has become notable for his advantageous starting position, which allows players to expand rapidly acrossFrance, theBritish Isles, or theMediterranean, echoing the exploits attributed to him in medieval chronicles. As a result, he is often regarded as one of the most popular and strategically flexible Norse rulers inCrusader Kings III.[19][20][21]