In 1001, the Danes again failed to get into the city, but they were able to plunder it in 1003 because they were let in, for unknown reasons, by the French reeve of Emma of Normandy, who had been given the city as part of her dowry on her marriage to Æthelred the Unready the previous year.
År 1001 misslyckades danerna ånyo att intaga staden, men de förmådde att plundra den 1003 då de, av okänd anledning, släpptes in av den franske fogden under Emma av Normandie, som hade fått staden som en del av hemgiften när hon gift sig med Ethelred den villrådige föregående år.