He sought to vanquish,., but was himself vanquished by, the new religious force which was making such rapid inroads on the decaying paganism of the Roman empire.
During this time of prosperity there was no dread of Carthaginian inroads.
The Danish inroads had told heavily upon it; the monasteries had been special points of attack, and though Alfred founded two or three monasteries and imported foreign monks, there was no general revival of monasticism under him.
At this period the Danish inroads upon the coast of Lindsey had already begun, and in 873 Healfdene wintered at Torksey, while in 878 Lincoln and Stamford were included among the five Danish boroughs, and the organization of the districts dependent upon them probably resulted about this time in the grouping of Lindsey, Kesteven and Holland to form the shire of Lincoln.
It was abandoned in the 15th century on account of the inroads of pirates, and the inhabitants took refuge higher up at the two towns of Capri and Anacapri.