The Massacre of the Danish Settlement is a mass killing that happens in Season 3 Episode 5, The Usurper.
Description[]
Prince Aethelwulf learns from Judith that she is pregnant with Athelstan's child. While still furious about this, King Ecbert sends his son with a group of nobles and soldiers to the Danish settlement. Apparently frustrated by the refusal of the Danes to abandon their pagan gods, the Christians near the Danish settlement have burned down one of their houses. Aethelwulf is supposed to settle the issues between the two groups.
Instead of bringing peace, Aethelwulf, the soldiers, and some of the nobles slaughter the entire Danish settlement. This violates the peace treaty King Ecbert made with Ragnar. When Ecbert finds out what happened, he arrests the nobles that participated in the killing. Ecbert then asks to speak with Aethelwulf privately. When they're alone, he congratulates his son and tells him that this has been his plan since the beginning. He never wanted to let the Vikings settle on his land. By having his nobles be the ones to actually violate the peace treaty, Ecbert has been able to remove them from power and consolidate his own.
Unbeknownst to Ecbert and Aethelwulf, one man survived the massacre, a man named Stender. He makes his way back to Kattegat. Once there he informs Ragnar and Floki about what happened. After hearing what happened, Ragnar strangles Stender to prevent the other Vikings from shifting their focus from Ragnar's planned raid on Paris to revenge for the massacre. Stender's story also further fuels Floki's hatred of Christians.