Learnings: Church Testimonies
At the time of the Vikings, not many people could read and write; many of those who would were church officials. Their writings were created and kept in the monasteries. Most of the pre-Conquest English manuscripts that survive to this day were preserved during the Middle Ages in a handful of churches, shown on the map.
Because the clergy's writings were preserved, the Church's side of the story endured and dominated the historical narrative. The Church portrayed the Vikings as bloodthirsty pagan brutes, and this image still prevails today. But bias and political motives may have helped to shape the Church's records of the era.
The Vikings were pagan, or non-Christian, and the Church disliked and often demonized pagans. The Vikings, who would raid monasteries, were a hated threat to the Church's wealth and to the safety of its people.
Furthermore, by portraying the Vikings as ruthless murderers, the Church helped to drum up resistance to the invaders. THe testimonies of clergymen could be helpful for Anglo-Saxon leaders fighting the Vikings; the more publicity they gave the enemy, the more effective propaganda it would be.