The Wessex culture is the predominant prehistoric culture of central and southern Britain during the early Bronze Age , originally defined by the British archaeologist Stuart Piggott in 1938.
173-687: The Kingdom of the West Saxons , also known as the Kingdom of Wessex , was an Anglo-Saxon kingdom in the south of Great Britain , from around 519 until Alfred the Great declared himself as King of the Anglo-Saxons in 886. The Anglo-Saxons believed that Wessex was founded by Cerdic and Cynric of the Gewisse , though this is considered by some to be a legend . The two main sources for
346-530: A Merovingian bride, and is one of the first Anglo-Saxon rulers who can be identified with some confidence. Bede and later sources portrayed Æthelberht as a descendant of the original group of "Saxons" mentioned by Gildas, although they apparently believed they were actually Jutish. Unfortunately the king lists and genealogies produced by Bede and later writers are not considered reliable for these early centuries. A 2022 genetic study used modern and ancient DNA samples from England and neighbouring countries to study
519-421: A "shameful habit" of drinking and eating in the outhouse, which some of the countrywomen practised at beer parties. In April 1016, Æthelred died of illness, leaving his son and successor Edmund Ironside to defend the country. The final struggles were complicated by internal dissension, and especially by the treacherous acts of Ealdorman Eadric of Mercia, who opportunistically changed sides to Cnut's party. After
692-601: A Roman officer in Britain, Constantine III declared himself Augustus of the West, and left for Gaul, taking with him Roman troops. Finally, in 410, when Romano-British officials requested military assistance from Emperor Honorius , he told them to manage their own defences. Economic decline occurred after these events: circulation of Roman coins ended and the importation of items from the Roman Empire stopped. Theories about
865-495: A cap badge featuring the heraldic beast, until the regiments took back up individual regimental badges in the late 1960s. The Territorial Army Wessex Regiment continued to wear the Wessex Brigade badge until the late 1980s when its individual companies too readopted their parent regular regimental cap badges. The now disbanded West Somerset Yeomanry adopted a Wessex Wyvern rampant as the centre piece for its cap badge, and
1038-583: A certain unnamed ruler in Britain (called "a proud tyrant" by Gildas) requested assistance from the Saxons in exchange for land. There were no conflicts between the British and the Saxons for a time, but following "a dispute about the supply of provisions" the Saxons warred against the British and severely damaged parts of the country. In time, however, some Saxon troops left Britain; under Ambrosius Aurelianus ,
1211-628: A coalition of his enemies – Constantine , King of the Scots; Owain ap Dyfnwal , King of the Cumbrians; and Olaf Guthfrithson , King of Dublin – at the battle of Brunanburh , celebrated by a poem in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle , opened the way for him to be hailed as the first king of England. Æthelstan's legislation shows how the king drove his officials to do their respective duties. He was uncompromising in his insistence on respect for
1384-490: A collective term, the compound term Anglo-Saxon , commonly used by modern historians for the period before 1066, first appears in Bede's time, but it was probably not widely used until modern times. Bede was one of the first writers to prefer " Angles " (or English) as the collective term, and this eventually became dominant. Bede, like other authors, also continued to use the collective term " Saxons ", especially when referring to
1557-439: A common collective term, and indeed became dominant. The increased use of these new collective terms, "English" or "Anglo-Saxon", represents the strengthening of the idea of a single unifying cultural unity among the Anglo-Saxons themselves, who had previously invested in identities which differentiated various regional groups. In contrast, Irish and Welsh speakers long continued to refer to Anglo-Saxons as Saxons. The word Saeson
1730-420: A formidable fighting force. At first, Alfred responded by the offer of repeated tribute payments. However, after a decisive victory at Edington in 878, Alfred offered vigorous opposition. He established a chain of fortresses across the south of England, reorganised the army, "so that always half its men were at home, and half out on service, except for those men who were to garrison the burhs", and in 896 ordered
1903-528: A king, but who under the Alfredian regime was regarded as the 'ealdorman' of his people. The wealth of the monasteries and the success of Anglo-Saxon society attracted the attention of people from mainland Europe, mostly Danes and Norwegians. Because of the plundering raids that followed, the raiders attracted the name Viking – from the Old Norse víkingr meaning an expedition – which soon became used for
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#17327583076212076-409: A large part of Britain, and writing about Romano-British kingdoms which had been limited to the north and west. Other historians have argued that in the 5th century many Romano-British people must have adopted the new culture which we now call Anglo-Saxon, even when they did not have Germanic ancestry or rulers. Unfortunately, there are very few written sources apart from Gildas until the conversion of
2249-479: A letter addressed by Aldhelm to Hadrian that he too must be numbered among their students. Aldhelm wrote in elaborate and grandiloquent and very difficult Latin, which became the dominant style for centuries. Michael Drout states "Aldhelm wrote Latin hexameters better than anyone before in England (and possibly better than anyone since, or at least up until John Milton ). His work showed that scholars in England, at
2422-572: A mere ealdorman , Aethelred , who acknowledged Alfred's overlordship and married his daughter Ethelfleda . The process by which this transformation of the status of Mercia took place is unknown, but it left Alfred as the only remaining English king. After the invasions of the 890s, Wessex and English Mercia continued to be attacked by the Danish settlers in England, and by small Danish raiding forces from overseas, but these incursions were usually defeated, while there were no further major invasions from
2595-558: A mission to Christianise the Kingdom of Northumbria from their native Anglo-Saxon paganism. Oswald had probably chosen Iona because after his father had been killed he had fled into south-west Scotland and had encountered Christianity, and had returned determined to make Northumbria Christian. Aidan achieved great success in spreading the Christian faith in the north, and since Aidan could not speak English and Oswald had learned Irish during his exile, Oswald acted as Aidan's interpreter when
2768-624: A monastery in Campania (near Naples). One of their first tasks at Canterbury was the establishment of a school; and according to Bede (writing some sixty years later), they soon "attracted a crowd of students into whose minds they daily poured the streams of wholesome learning". As evidence of their teaching, Bede reports that some of their students, who survived to his own day, were as fluent in Greek and Latin as in their native language. Bede does not mention Aldhelm in this connection; but we know from
2941-701: A new type of craft to be built which could oppose the Viking longships in shallow coastal waters. When the Vikings returned from the Continent in 892, they found they could no longer roam the country at will, for wherever they went they were opposed by a local army. After four years, the Scandinavians therefore split up, some to settle in Northumbria and East Anglia, the remainder to try their luck again on
3114-641: A number of casual references scattered throughout the Bede 's history to this aspect of Mercian military policy. Penda is found ravaging Northumbria as far north as Bamburgh and only a miraculous intervention from Aidan prevents the complete destruction of the settlement. In 676 Æthelred conducted a similar ravaging in Kent and caused such damage in the Rochester diocese that two successive bishops gave up their position because of lack of funds. In these accounts there
3287-579: A pilgrimage to Rome. The throne then passed to a series of other kings who claimed descent from Cerdic, but whose supposed genealogies and relationship to one another are unknown. During the 8th century Wessex was overshadowed by Mercia, whose power was then at its height, and the West Saxon kings may at times have acknowledged Mercian overlordship. They were, however, able to avoid the more substantial control which Mercia exerted over smaller kingdoms. During this period Wessex continued its gradual advance to
3460-512: A renaissance in classical knowledge. The growth and popularity of monasticism was not an entirely internal development, with influence from the continent shaping Anglo-Saxon monastic life. In 669 Theodore , a Greek-speaking monk originally from Tarsus in Asia Minor, arrived in Britain to become the eighth Archbishop of Canterbury . He was joined the following year by his colleague Hadrian, a Latin-speaking African by origin and former abbot of
3633-510: A reputation in Europe and showing that the English could write history and theology, and do astronomical computation (for the dates of Easter, among other things). During the 9th century, Wessex rose in power, from the foundations laid by King Egbert in the first quarter of the century to the achievements of King Alfred the Great in its closing decades. The outlines of the story are told in
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#17327583076213806-457: A revival of scholarship and education. He gathered scholars from around England and Europe to his court, and with their help translated a range of Latin texts into English, doing much of the work personally, and orchestrated the composition of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle . As a result of these literary efforts and the political dominance of Wessex, the West Saxon dialect of this period became
3979-519: A series of English offensives overwhelmed the Danes of Mercia and East Anglia, bringing all of England south of the Humber under Edward's power. In 918 Æthelflæd died and Edward took over direct control of Mercia, extinguishing what remained of its independence and ensuring that henceforth there would be only one Kingdom of the English . In 927 Edward's successor Æthelstan conquered Northumbria , bringing
4152-443: A system of burhs . Alfred's son, Edward , captured the eastern Midlands and East Anglia from the Danes and became ruler of Mercia in 918 upon the death of his sister, Æthelflæd . Edward's son, Æthelstan , conquered Northumbria in 927, and England became a unified kingdom for the first time. Cnut the Great , who conquered England in 1016, created the wealthy and powerful earldom of Wessex, but in 1066 Harold Godwinson reunited
4325-426: A time—that was previously unknown to historians", according to the report. A report by The Guardian adds that "The presence of both kings on the two emperor coins suggests some sort of pact between the pair. But the rarity of the coins also suggests that Alfred quickly dropped his ally, who was just about written out of history". Alfred also reformed the administration of justice, issued a new law code and championed
4498-526: A turning point the continental ancestors of the Anglo-Saxons were probably quite diverse, and they arrived over a longer period. In another passage, Bede named pagan peoples still living in Germany ( Germania ) in the eighth century "from whom the Angles or Saxons, who now inhabit Britain, are known to have derived their origin; for which reason they are still corruptly called Garmans by the neighbouring nation of
4671-509: A working alliance between the West Saxon dynasty and the rulers of the Mercians. In 860, the eastern and western parts of the southern kingdom were united by agreement between the surviving sons of King Æthelwulf , though the union was not maintained without some opposition from within the dynasty; and in the late 870s King Alfred gained the submission of the Mercians under their ruler Æthelred , who in other circumstances might have been styled
4844-497: Is a rare glimpse of the realities of early Anglo-Saxon overlordship and how a widespread overlordship could be established in a relatively short period. By the middle of the 8th century, other kingdoms of southern Britain were also affected by Mercian expansionism. The East Saxons seem to have lost control of London, Middlesex and Hertfordshire to Æthelbald, although the East Saxon homelands do not seem to have been affected, and
5017-469: Is called "Old English". Yet neither are they "Middle English"; moreover, as Treharne explains, for around three-quarters of this period, "there is barely any 'original' writing in English at all". These factors have led to a gap in scholarship, implying a discontinuity either side of the Norman Conquest, however this assumption is being challenged. Wessex culture The culture is related to
5190-464: Is considered to have started by about 450 and ended in 1066, with the Norman Conquest . Although the details of their early settlement and political development are not clear, by the 8th century a single Anglo-Saxon cultural identity which was generally called Englisc had developed out of the interaction of these settlers with the pre-existing Romano-British culture . By 1066, most of
5363-661: Is little archaeological evidence of human settlements. By the Iron Age , Celtic British tribes such as the Durotriges , Atrebates , Belgae and Dobunni occupied the future Wessex. Following the Roman conquest of Britain , from the 1st century AD, numerous country Roman villa with attached farms were established across Wessex, along with the important towns of Dorchester and Winchester (the ending -chester comes from Latin castra , "a military camp"). The Romans, or rather
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5536-529: Is not regarded by historians as reliable due to duplication of Chronicle entries and evidence that the area was first occupied by Jutes . Although the entry mentions Cynric as Cerdic's son, a different source lists him as the son of Cerdic's son, Creoda of Wessex . The Chronicle continues, stating that "Port, and his two sons Bieda and Mægla", landed at Portsmouth in 501 and killed a high-ranking British nobleman. In 508, Cerdic and Cynric slew British king Natanleod along with five thousand of his men (though
5709-540: Is the Heptarchy , which has not been used by scholars since the early 20th century as it gives the impression of a single political structure and does not afford the "opportunity to treat the history of any one kingdom as a whole". Simon Keynes suggests that the 8th and 9th century was a period of economic and social flourishing which created stability both below the Thames and above the Humber . Middle-lowland Britain
5882-614: Is the modern Welsh word for "English people"; the equivalent word in Scottish Gaelic is Sasannach and in the Irish language , Sasanach . Catherine Hills suggests that it is no accident "that the English call themselves by the name sanctified by the Church, as that of a people chosen by God, whereas their enemies use the name originally applied to piratical raiders". Although it involved immigrant communities from northern Europe,
6055-399: Is variously given as Ceola, Ceolwulf, Ceol, Cuthwine, Cutha or Cuthwulf. The tradition embodied in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle , and in the genealogies of the West Saxon dynasty, is open to considerable doubt. This is largely because the founder of the dynasty and a number of his alleged descendants had Brittonic Celtic, rather than Anglo-Saxon Germanic, names. The name Cerdic is derived from
6228-613: The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle , though the annals represent a West Saxon point of view. On the day of Egbert's succession to the kingdom of Wessex, in 802, a Mercian ealdorman from the province of the Hwicce had crossed the border at Kempsford , with the intention of mounting a raid into northern Wiltshire ; the Mercian force was met by the local ealdorman, "and the people of Wiltshire had the victory". In 829, Egbert went on,
6401-535: The Baltic , jewellery from modern day Germany, gold from Brittany as well as daggers and beads from Mycenaean Greece and vice versa. They produced characteristic pendants in the shape of halberds, with handles made from gold or amber, or a combination of these materials. It has been speculated that river transport allowed Wessex to be the main link to the Severn estuary . The wealth from such trade probably permitted
6574-550: The Bush Barrow ). This period is closely associated with the construction and use of the later phases of Stonehenge . The second phase, Wessex II, is characterised by less rich grave goods without gold and a resurgence of cremations, believed to be a return to the previous funerary practices of the British Neolithic. They appear to have had wide ranging trade links with continental Europe, importing amber from
6747-536: The Chronicle , the Saxons conquered the Isle of Wight in 530 at a battle near Carisbrooke . Cynric became the ruler of Wessex after Cerdic died in 534, and reigned for twenty-six years. The sources do agree that Ceawlin , who succeeded Cynric in about 581, is the son of Cynric; he usually is named as the father of Cuthwine. Ceawlin's reign is thought to be more reliably documented than those of his predecessors, though
6920-485: The Chronicle' s dates of 560 to 592 are different from the revised chronology. Ceawlin overcame pockets of resisting Britons to the northeast, in the Chilterns , Gloucestershire and Somerset . The capture of Cirencester , Gloucester and Bath in 577, after the pause caused by the battle of Mons Badonicus, opened the way to the southwest. Ceawlin is one of the seven kings named in Bede's Ecclesiastical History of
7093-545: The Danelaw . This was the " Great Army ", a term used by the Chronicle in England and by Adrevald of Fleury on the Continent. The invaders were able to exploit the feuds between and within the various kingdoms and to appoint puppet kings, such as Ceolwulf in Mercia in 873 and perhaps others in Northumbria in 867 and East Anglia in 870. The third phase was an era of settlement; however, the "Great Army" went wherever it could find
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7266-578: The Frankish kingdom of Austrasia . Bede therefore called these the " Old Saxons " ( antiqui saxones ), and he noted that there was no longer any country of Angles in Germany, as it had become empty due to emigration. Similarly, a non-Anglo-Saxon contemporary of Bede, Paul the Deacon , referred variously to either the English ( Angli ), or Anglo-Saxons (Latin plural genitives Saxonum Anglorum , or Anglorum Saxonum ), which helped him distinguish them from
7439-674: The Franks on the Lower Rhine . At the same time, the Roman administration in Britain (and other parts of the empire) was recruiting foederati soldiers from the same general regions in what is now Germany, and these are likely to have become more important after the withdrawal of field armies during internal Roman power struggles. According to the Chronica Gallica of 452 Britain was ravaged by Saxon invaders in 409 or 410. This
7612-564: The Great Summer Army arrived from Scandinavia , to reinforce the Great Heathen Army. The reinforced army invaded Wessex and, although Æthelred and Alfred won some victories and succeeded in preventing the conquest of their kingdom, a number of defeats and heavy losses of men compelled Alfred to pay the Danes to leave Wessex. The Danes spent the next few years subduing Mercia and some of them settled in Northumbria, but
7785-786: The Hilversum culture of the southern Netherlands, Belgium and northern France, and linked to the Armorican Tumulus culture in northern France and the Unetice culture in central Germany. It is prototyped with the Middle Rhine group of the Bell Beaker culture and commonly subdivided in the consecutive phases of Wessex I (2000–1650 BC) and Wessex II (1650–1400). Piggott attributes the origin of this culture to an "actual ethnic movement" from Northern France. Piggott describes
7958-523: The Historia , Hengest and Horsa fought the invaders of Britain under the condition of gaining the Island of Thanet . The daughter of Hengest, Rowena, later arrived on a ship of reinforcements, and Vortigern married her. However, a war arose in Kent due to a dispute between Hengest and Vortigern's son. After losing several battles, the Saxons finally defeated the British by treacherously attacking them once
8131-526: The Isle of Thanet and proceeded to King Æthelberht 's main town of Canterbury . He had been sent by Pope Gregory the Great to lead the Gregorian mission to Britain to Christianise the Kingdom of Kent from their native Anglo-Saxon paganism . Kent was probably chosen because Æthelberht had married a Christian princess, Bertha , daughter of Charibert I the king of Paris , who was expected to exert some influence over her husband. Æthelberht in Kent
8304-458: The Isle of Wight , although Kent regained its independence almost immediately and Sussex followed some years later. His reign ended in 688 when he abdicated and went on pilgrimage to Rome, where he was baptised by Pope Sergius I but died soon afterwards. Bokerley Dyke appears to have been fortified around this period, and the former Roman Road at Ackling Dyke blocked by the Britons to prevent
8477-476: The Middle English language. Although the modern English language owes less than 26% of its words to Old English, this includes the vast majority of everyday words. In the early 8th century, the earliest detailed account of Anglo-Saxon origins was given by Bede (d. 735), suggesting that they were long divided into smaller regional kingdoms, each with differing accounts of their continental origins. As
8650-514: The Romano-British , built another major road that integrated Wessex, running eastwards from Exeter through Dorchester to Winchester and Silchester and on to London . In the mid-4th century there were increasing raids on Roman Britain by peoples such as the Picts , Scottish people , Attacotti , and Franks , as well as the Saxons. In 367, these tribes simultaneously invaded Britain from
8823-543: The Synod of Whitby was convened and established Roman practice as opposed to Irish practice (in style of tonsure and dates of Easter) as the norm in Northumbria, and thus "brought the Northumbrian church into the mainstream of Roman culture." The episcopal seat of Northumbria was transferred from Lindisfarne to York . Wilfrid , chief advocate for the Roman position, later became Bishop of Northumbria, while Colmán and
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#17327583076218996-538: The Thames and the (Bristol) Avon , encouraging the kingdom's reorientation southwards. Cenwealh married Penda 's daughter, and when he repudiated her, Penda again invaded and drove him into exile for some time, perhaps three years. The dates are uncertain but it was probably in the late 640s or early 650s. He spent his exile in East Anglia , and was converted to Christianity there. After his return, Cenwealh faced further attacks from Penda's successor Wulfhere , but
9169-569: The Thames and the Avon now probably formed the northern boundary of Wessex, while its heartland lay in Hampshire , Wiltshire , Berkshire , Dorset and Somerset . The system of shires which was later to form the basis of local administration throughout England (and eventually Ireland , Wales and Scotland as well) originated in Wessex, and had been established by the mid-8th century. In 802
9342-524: The Victorians . Nevertheless, the association with Wessex was only popularised in the 19th century, most notably through the writings of E. A. Freeman . By the time of the grant of armorial bearings by the College of Arms to Somerset County Council in 1911, a (red) dragon had become the accepted heraldic emblem of the former kingdom. This precedent was followed in 1937 when Wiltshire County Council
9515-496: The baptism of Cynegils by Birinus , at the end of the 630s, perhaps in 640. Birinus was then established as bishop of the West Saxons, with his seat at Dorchester-on-Thames . This was the first conversion to Christianity by a West Saxon king, but it was not accompanied by the immediate conversion of all the West Saxons: Cynegils' successor (and probably his son), Cenwealh , who came to the throne in about 642,
9688-592: The "Arms of Edward the Confessor", and the design is based on an emblem historically used by King Edward the Confessor on the reverse side of pennies minted by him. The heraldic design continued to represent both Wessex and Edward in classical heraldry and is found on a number of church windows in derived shields such as the Arms of the Collegiate Church of St Peter at Westminster ( Westminster Abbey , which
9861-470: The "War of the Saxon Federates". Unlike Bede and later writers who followed him, for whom this war turned into a very long war between two nations which was eventually won by the descendants of the Saxons, Gildas reported that by the time he was born this war ended successfully for the Britons after the siege at 'Mons Badonicus' . (The price of peace, Higham argues, must have been a better treaty for
10034-497: The "proud tyrant" as Vortigern . However, the date could have been significantly earlier, and Bede's understanding of these events has been questioned. The Historia Brittonum , written in the 9th century, gives two different years, but the writer apparently believed it happened in 428. Another 9th century source, the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle is largely based on Bede but says this Saxon arrival happened in 449. The archaeological evidence suggests an earlier timescale. In particular,
10207-646: The 1970s William Crampton , the founder of the British Flag Institute , designed a flag for the Wessex region which depicts a gold wyvern on a red field. A white cross on a field of red, known as the Flag of Saint Aldhelm (whose feast day on 25 May is also celebrated as "Wessex Day") is sometimes flown by Wessex regionalists as an alternative to the Wyvern. The flag is effectively an inverted version of
10380-438: The 4th century not with a specific country or nation, but with raiders in North Sea coastal areas of Britain and Gaul . An especially early reference to the Angli is the 6th-century Byzantine historian Procopius who however expressed doubts about the stories he had heard about events in the west, which he apparently heard through Frankish diplomats. He never mentions the Saxons, but he states that an island called Brittia, which
10553-430: The Anglo-Saxon period." In modern times, the term "Anglo-Saxons" is used by scholars to refer collectively to the Old English speaking groups in Britain. As a compound term it has the advantage of covering the various English-speaking groups on the one hand, and to avoid possible misunderstandings from using the terms "Saxons" or " Angles " (English), both of which terms could be used either as collectives referring to all
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#173275830762110726-408: The Anglo-Saxons to Christianity which began in the late 6th century. One eastern contemporary of Gildas, Procopius , reported a story which was apparently relayed to him by Frankish diplomats, that an island called Brittia which faced the Rhine was divided, between three peoples, the Britons, Anglii, and Frisians. Much later, Æthelberht of Kent (died 616) invited missionaries from the Pope and married
10899-412: The British name Caraticos. This may indicate that Cerdic was a native Briton, and that his dynasty became anglicised over time. Other members of the dynasty possessing Celtic names include Ceawlin and Cædwalla . Cædwalla, who died as late as 689, was the last West Saxon king to possess a Celtic name. Cynegils ' reign saw the first event in West Saxon history that can be dated with reasonable certainty:
11072-402: The British subsequently defeated those who remained. A lengthy conflict ensued, in which neither side gained any decisive advantage until the Britons routed the Saxons at the Battle of Mons Badonicus . After this, there occurred a peaceful period for the Britons, under which Gildas was living at the time he wrote the De Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae . One of the "English" traditions about
11245-413: The Britons": the Frisians , the Rugini , the Danes , the " Huns " ( Avars in this period), the "old Saxons", and the " Boructuari " who are presumed to be inhabitants of the old lands of the Bructeri , near the Lippe river. Gildas reported that a war broke out between the Saxons and the local population, who joined forces under a person named Ambrosius Aurelianus . Historian Nick Higham calls it
11418-502: The Continent. More important to Alfred than his military and political victories were his religion, his love of learning, and his spread of writing throughout England. Keynes suggests Alfred's work laid the foundations for what really made England unique in all of medieval Europe from around 800 until 1066. Thinking about how learning and culture had fallen since the last century, King Alfred wrote: ...So completely had wisdom fallen off in England that there were very few on this side of
11591-444: The Cross of Saint George, although it is also thought to have been derived from the arms of Sherborne Abbey , Dorset. A coat of arms was attributed by medieval heralds to the Kings of Wessex. These arms appear in a manuscript of the 13th century, and are blazoned as Azure , a cross patoncé (alternatively a cross fleury or cross moline ) between four martlets Or . The attributed arms of Wessex are also known as
11764-406: The Danes and that any charters issued in respect of such grants have not survived. When Athelflæd died, Mercia was absorbed by Wessex. From that point on there was no contest for the throne, so the house of Wessex became the ruling house of England. Edward the Elder was succeeded by his son Æthelstan , whom Keynes calls the "towering figure in the landscape of the tenth century". His victory over
11937-432: The East Saxon dynasty continued into the ninth century. The Mercian influence and reputation reached its peak when, in the late 8th century, the most powerful European ruler of the age, the Frankish king Charlemagne , recognised the Mercian King Offa 's power and accordingly treated him with respect, even if this could have been just flattery. Michael Drout calls this period the "Golden Age", when learning flourished with
12110-411: The Elder – who with his sister, Æthelflæd , Lady of the Mercians, initially, charters reveal, encouraged people to purchase estates from the Danes, thereby to reassert some degree of English influence in territory which had fallen under Danish control. David Dumville suggests that Edward may have extended this policy by rewarding his supporters with grants of land in the territories newly conquered from
12283-615: The English (Angle) migrants came from a country neighbouring those Saxons. Anglo-Saxon material culture can be seen in architecture , dress styles , illuminated texts, metalwork and other art . Behind the symbolic nature of these cultural emblems, there are strong elements of tribal and lordship ties. The elite declared themselves kings who developed burhs (fortifications and fortified settlements), and identified their roles and peoples in Biblical terms. Above all, as archaeologist Helena Hamerow has observed, "local and extended kin groups remained...the essential unit of production throughout
12456-524: The English People as holding "imperium" over the southern English: the Chronicle later repeated this claim, referring to Ceawlin as a bretwalda , or "Britain-ruler". Ceawlin was deposed, perhaps by his nephew, Ceol , and died a year later. Six years later, in about 594, Ceol was succeeded by a brother, Ceolwulf , who was succeeded in his turn in about 617 by Cynegils of Wessex . The genealogies do not agree on Cynegils' pedigree: his father
12629-533: The European Saxons who he also discussed. In England itself this compound term also came to be used in some specific situations, both in Latin and Old English. Alfred the Great , himself a West Saxon, was for example Anglosaxonum Rex in the late 880s, probably indicating that he was literally a king over both English (for example Mercian) and Saxon kingdoms. However, the term "English" continued to be used as
12802-499: The Great . This occurred because the first two brothers died in wars with the Danes without issue, while Æthelred's sons were too young to rule when their father died. In 865, several of the Danish commanders combined their respective forces into one large army and landed in England. Over the following years, what became known as the Great Heathen Army overwhelmed the kingdoms of Northumbria and East Anglia. Then in 871,
12975-538: The Great's Pastoral Care") What is presumed to be one of these "æstel" (the word only appears in this one text) is the gold, rock crystal and enamel Alfred Jewel , discovered in 1693, which is assumed to have been fitted with a small rod and used as a pointer when reading. Alfred provided functional patronage, linked to a social programme of vernacular literacy in England, which was unprecedented. Therefore it seems better to me, if it seems so to you, that we also translate certain books ...and bring it about ...if we have
13148-536: The Humber who could understand their rituals in English, or indeed could translate a letter from Latin into English; and I believe that there were not many beyond the Humber. There were so few of them that I indeed cannot think of a single one south of the Thames when I became king. (Preface: "Gregory the Great's Pastoral Care") Alfred knew that literature and learning, both in English and in Latin, were very important, but
13321-462: The Ionan supporters, who did not change their practices, withdrew to Iona. Wilfred also influenced kings to the south who were under the dominance of Oswiu, such as the son of Penda, Wulfhere of Mercia (died 675), who converted to Christianity and eventually recovered control over Mercia, and eventually expanded his dominance over most of England, beginning a long period of Mercian supremacy . By 660,
13494-527: The Old English speakers, or to specific tribal groups. Although the term "Anglo Saxon" was not used as a common term until modern times, it is not a modern invention because it was also used in some specific contexts already between the 8th and 10th centuries. Before the 8th century, the most common collective term for the Old-English speakers was "Saxons", which was a word originally associated since
13667-497: The Picts and Scots. Gildas did not report the year, and later writers (and modern historians) developed different estimates of when this occurred. Possibly referring to this same event, the Chronica Gallica of 452 records for the year 441: "The British provinces, which to this time had suffered various defeats and misfortunes, are reduced to Saxon rule". Bede, writing centuries later, reasoned that this happened in 450-455, and he named
13840-555: The Saxon arrival concerns Hengest and Horsa . When Bede wrote his Ecclesiastical History of the English People , he adapted Gildas' narrative and added details, such as the names of those involved. To the "proud tyrant" he gave the name Vortigern , and the Saxon commanders he named Hengest and Horsa. Further details were added to the story in the Historia Brittonum , which was partially written by Nennius . According to
14013-571: The Saxons, giving them the ability to receive tribute from people across the lowlands of Britain. ) Gildas himself did not mention the defeated Saxons as an ongoing problem, but instead he noted that the Britons had become divided into many small "tyrannies". His interest was in criticizing the Romano-British ruling class, whereas archaeological evidence shows that Anglo-Saxon culture had long become dominant over much of Britain. Historians who accept Bede's understanding interpret Gildas as ignoring
14186-399: The Scots, who had the capacity not merely to interfere in Northumbrian affairs, but also to block a line of communication between Dublin and York; and the inhabitants of northern Northumbria were considered a law unto themselves. It was only after twenty years of crucial developments following Æthelstan's death in 939 that a unified kingdom of England began to assume its familiar shape. However,
14359-531: The Thames estuary. Having defeated King Beorhtwulf of Mercia in battle, the Danes moved on to invade Wessex, but were decisively crushed by Egbert's son and successor King Æthelwulf in the exceptionally bloody Battle of Aclea . This victory postponed Danish conquests in England for fifteen years, but raids on Wessex continued. In 855–856 Æthelwulf went on pilgrimage to Rome and his eldest surviving son Æthelbald took advantage of his absence to seize his father's throne. On his return, Æthelwulf agreed to divide
14532-528: The Wessex people to construct the second and third ( megalithic ) phases of Stonehenge and also indicates a powerful form of social organisation. When the term 'Wessex Culture' was first coined, investigations into British prehistory were in their infancy and the unusually rich and well documented burials in the Wessex area loomed large in literature on the Bronze Age. During the twentieth century many more Bronze Age burials were uncovered and opinions about
14705-419: The West Saxons' advance into Dorset . Evidence suggests that Dorset, north Hampshire, eastern Devon and southern Wiltshire were substantially under West Saxon control by the beginning of the reign of Cædwalla of Wessex in 685, but details of their conquest are unclear. His successor was Ine , who also claimed to be a descendant of Cerdic through Ceawlin, but again through a long-separated line of descent. Ine
14878-463: The accession of his brother Centwine of Wessex . Centwine is known to have fought and won battles against the Britons , but the details have not survived. Centwine was succeeded by another supposed distant relative, Cædwalla , who claimed descent from Ceawlin. Cædwalla reigned for just two years, but achieved a dramatic expansion of the kingdom's power, conquering the kingdoms of Sussex , Kent and
15051-553: The archaeological record in Britain begins to indicate a relatively rapid melt-down of Roman material culture, and its replacement by Anglo-Saxon material culture. At some time between 445 and 454 Gildas , one of the only writers in this period, reported that the Britons also wrote to the Roman military leader Aëtius in Gaul, begging for assistance, with no success. In desperation, an un-named "proud tyrant" at some point invited Saxons as foederati soldiers to Britain to help defend it from
15224-403: The battle and an apparent peace agreement with the Britons. The battle of Mons Badonicus is believed to have been fought around this time. Gildas states that the Saxons were completely defeated in the battle, in which King Arthur participated according to Nennius . This defeat is not recorded in the Chronicle . The thirty-year period of peace was temporarily interrupted when, according to
15397-404: The chronicler reports, to conquer "the kingdom of the Mercians and everything south of the Humber". It was at this point that the chronicler chooses to attach Egbert's name to Bede's list of seven overlords, adding that "he was the eighth king who was Bretwalda ". Simon Keynes suggests Egbert's foundation of a 'bipartite' kingdom is crucial as it stretched across southern England, and it created
15570-399: The conduct of government and warfare during Æthelred's reign. It is this evidence which is the basis for Keynes's view that the king lacked the strength, judgement and resolve to give adequate leadership to his people in a time of grave national crisis; who soon found out that he could rely on little but the treachery of his military commanders; and who, throughout his reign, tasted nothing but
15743-486: The continent encouraged Alfred to protect his Kingdom of Wessex. Over the following years Alfred carried out a dramatic reorganisation of the government and defences of Wessex, building warships, organising the army into two shifts which served alternately, and establishing a system of fortified burhs across the kingdom. This system is recorded in a 10th-century document known as the Burghal Hidage , which details
15916-465: The continent. The balance of power tipped steadily in favour of the English. In 911 Ealdorman Æthelred died, leaving his widow, Alfred's daughter Æthelflæd , in charge of Mercia. Alfred's son and successor Edward the Elder then annexed London, Oxford and the surrounding area, probably including Middlesex , Hertfordshire , Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire , from Mercia to Wessex. Between 913 and 918
16089-447: The culture as composed of an underlying substratum, similar to the contemporary food vessel culture found further north, and an intrusive ruling class who opened trading networks with France and central and northern Europe, and imported bronze tools and probably also artisans. The first phase, Wessex I, is characterised by rich depositions in the graves of chieftains, including gold artifacts, and crouched inhumations under barrows (e.g.
16262-535: The culture of the Anglo-Saxons was not transplanted from there, but rather developed in Britain. In 400, the Roman province of Britannia had long been part of the Roman Empire . Although the empire had been dismembered several times during the previous centuries, often because of usurpations beginning in Britain such as those of Magnus Maximus , and Constantine "III" there was an overall continuity and interconnectedness. Already before 400 Roman sources used
16435-517: The current Royal Wessex Yeomanry adopted a similar device in 2014 when the Regiment moved from wearing individual squadron county yeomanry cap badges to a unified single Regimental cap badge. When Sophie, Countess of Wessex was granted arms, the sinister supporter assigned was a blue wyvern, described by the College of Arms as "an heraldic beast which has long been associated with Wessex" . In
16608-489: The death of Constantine "III" in 411, "the Romans never succeeded in recovering Britain, but it remained from that time under tyrants." The Romano-Britons nevertheless called upon the empire to help them fend off attacks from not only the Saxons , but also the Picts and Scoti . A hagiography of Saint Germanus of Auxerre claims that he helped command a defence against an invasion of Picts and Saxons in 429. By about 430
16781-424: The death of King Harold II , who was previously Earl of Wessex . Dragon standards were in fairly wide use in Europe at the time, being derived from the draco standard employed by the later Roman army , and there is no evidence that it explicitly identified Wessex. A panel of 18th century stained glass at Exeter Cathedral indicates that an association with an image of a dragon in south west Britain pre-dated
16954-681: The defeat of the English in the Battle of Assandun in October 1016, Edmund and Cnut agreed to divide the kingdom so that Edmund would rule Wessex and Cnut Mercia, but Edmund died soon after his defeat in November 1016, making it possible for Cnut to seize power over all England. In the 11th century, there were three conquests: one by Cnut on October 18, 1016; the second was an unsuccessful attempt of Battle of Stamford Bridge in September, 1066; and
17127-755: The earldom with the crown and Wessex ceased to exist. From the Neolithic onwards the chalk downland of the area that would become Wessex was traversed by the Harrow Way , which can still be traced from Marazion in Cornwall to the coast of the English Channel near Dover, and was probably connected with the ancient tin trade . In the Late Neolithic , the ceremonial sites of Avebury and Stonehenge were completed on Salisbury Plain , but
17300-449: The earliest periods of settlement. Roman and British writers of the 3rd to 6th century had described those earliest Saxons as North Sea raiders, and mercenaries. Later sources such as Bede believed these early raiders came from the region they called " Old Saxony ", in what is now northern Germany , which in their own time had become well-known as a region resisting the spread of Christianity and Frankish rule . According to this account,
17473-521: The error of his ways, leading to a period when the internal affairs of the kingdom appear to have prospered. The increasingly difficult times brought on by the Viking attacks are reflected in both Ælfric 's and Wulfstan 's works, but most notably in Wulfstan's fierce rhetoric in the Sermo Lupi ad Anglos , dated to 1014. Malcolm Godden suggests that ordinary people saw the return of the Vikings as
17646-658: The final phase of Stonehenge was erected by the so-called " Wessex culture " of the Middle Bronze Age ( c. 1600–1200 BC ). The area has many other earthworks and erected stone monuments from the Neolithic and Early Bronze periods, including the Dorset Cursus , an earthwork 10 km (6 mi) long and 100 m (110 yd) wide, which was oriented to the midwinter sunset. Although agriculture and hunting were pursued during this long period, there
17819-472: The final unification of the kingdom of England. When Eadred died in 955, he was succeeded by Edmund's elder son Eadred, whose incompetent rule may have led to the division of England between Wessex under Eadred and Mercia and Northumbria under his younger brother Edgar in 957, although some historians argue that it was intended from the start that the kingdom would be divided when Edgar came of age, which occurred in 957. Eadwig died in 959 and Edgar became king of
17992-459: The first time following the Anglo-Saxon invasion, coins began circulating in Kent during his reign. His son-in-law Sæberht of Essex also converted to Christianity. After Æthelberht's death in about 616/618, the most powerful king was Rædwald of East Anglia , who also gave Christianity a foothold in his kingdom, and helped to install Edwin of Northumbria , who replaced Æthelfrith to become
18165-436: The fortunes of Wessex were transformed by the accession of Egbert who came from a cadet branch of the ruling dynasty that claimed descent from Ine's brother Ingild . With his accession the throne became firmly established in the hands of a single lineage. Early in his reign he conducted two campaigns against the " West Welsh ", first in 813 and then again at Gafulford in 825. During the course of these campaigns he conquered
18338-572: The garrison from Britain to Gaul, where he was made Augustus of the West , ruling Britain, Gaul, Spain and Roman Africa. Following the death of Maximus in 388, Roman authority in Britain again declined. During the late 390s, Stilicho attempted to restore control, with a campaign against the Picti, but this was undermined in 401 when Stilicho transferred troops to the Continent to fight the Goths . Two subsequent Roman rulers of Britain were murdered. In 407,
18511-461: The great earldoms of the late Anglo-Saxon period, 1066 marks the extinction of Wessex as a political unit. Wessex is often symbolised by a wyvern or dragon . Both Henry of Huntingdon and Matthew of Westminster talk of a golden dragon being raised at the Battle of Burford in 752 by the West Saxons. The Bayeux Tapestry depicts a fallen golden dragon, as well as a red/golden/white dragon at
18684-472: The historicity of Natanleod has been disputed), and Cerdic became the first king of Wessex in 519. The Saxons attacked Cerdicesford in 519, intending to cross the River Avon and block a road which connected Old Sarum and Badbury Rings , a British stronghold. The battle appears to have ended as a draw, and the expansion of Wessex ended for about thirty years. This is likely due to losses suffered during
18857-608: The history of Wessex are the West Saxon Genealogical Regnal List and the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (the latter of which drew on and adapted an early version of the List), which sometimes conflict. Wessex became a Christian kingdom after Cenwalh ( r. 642–645, 648–672 ) was baptised and was expanded under his rule. Cædwalla later conquered Sussex , Kent and the Isle of Wight . His successor, Ine ( r. 689–726 ), issued one of
19030-419: The ignominy of defeat. The raids exposed tensions and weaknesses which went deep into the fabric of the late Anglo-Saxon state, and it is apparent that events proceeded against a background more complex than the chronicler probably knew. It seems, for example, that the death of Bishop Æthelwold in 984 had precipitated further reaction against certain ecclesiastical interests; that by 993 the king had come to regret
19203-407: The imminent "expectation of the apocalypse," and this was given voice in Ælfric and Wulfstan writings, which is similar to that of Gildas and Bede. Raids were taken as signs of God punishing his people; Ælfric refers to people adopting the customs of the Danish and exhorts people not to abandon the native customs on behalf of the Danish ones, and then requests a "brother Edward" to try to put an end to
19376-411: The insistence of Athelstan, right at the end of his reign in 939. Between 970 and 973 a council was held, under the aegis of Edgar, where a set of rules were devised that would be applicable throughout England. This put all the monks and nuns in England under one set of detailed customs for the first time. In 973, Edgar received a special second, 'imperial coronation' at Bath , and from this point England
19549-523: The king of Northumbria . He thereby became the Bretwalda , or high king of Britain. This position of dominance was short-lived, as Wiglaf returned and restored Mercian independence in 830, but the expansion of Wessex across south-eastern England proved permanent. Egbert's later years saw the beginning of Danish Viking raids on Wessex, which occurred frequently from 835 onwards. In 851 a huge Danish army, said to have been carried on 350 ships, arrived in
19722-483: The kingdom of England was indeed made whole. In his formal address to the gathering at Winchester the king urged his bishops, abbots and abbesses "to be of one mind as regards monastic usage . . . lest differing ways of observing the customs of one Rule and one country should bring their holy conversation into disrepute". Athelstan's court had been an intellectual incubator. In that court were two young men named Dunstan and Æthelwold who were made priests, supposedly at
19895-419: The kingdom with his son to avoid bloodshed, ruling the new territories in the east while Æthelbald held the old heartland in the west. Æthelwulf was succeeded by each of his four surviving sons ruling one after another: the rebellious Æthelbald, then Æthelbert , who had previously inherited the eastern territories from his father and who reunited the kingdom on Æthelbald's death, then Æthelred, and finally Alfred
20068-404: The latter date to around 879 CE. According to a news report, "experts believe it [the hoard] was buried by a Viking during a series of raids known to have taken place in the area at that time", while Wessex was ruled by Alfred the Great and Mercia by Ceolwulf II. Two imperial coins recovered from the treasure hunters depict the two kings, "indicating an alliance between the two kingdoms—at least, for
20241-507: The latter was preaching. Later, Northumberland 's patron saint, Saint Cuthbert , was an abbot of the monastery, and then Bishop of Lindisfarne . An anonymous life of Cuthbert written at Lindisfarne is the oldest extant piece of English historical writing, and in his memory a gospel (known as the St Cuthbert Gospel ) was placed in his coffin. The decorated leather bookbinding is the oldest intact European binding. In 664,
20414-522: The law. However this legislation also reveals the persistent difficulties which confronted the king and his councillors in bringing a troublesome people under some form of control. His claim to be "king of the English" was by no means widely recognised. The situation was complex: the Hiberno-Norse rulers of Dublin still coveted their interests in the Danish kingdom of York ; terms had to be made with
20587-519: The locals and immigrants were being buried together using the same new customs, and that they were having mixed children. The authors estimate the effective contributions to modern English ancestry are between 25% and 47% "north continental", 11% and 57% from British Iron Age ancestors, and 14% and 43% was attributed to a more stretched-out migration into southern England, from nearby populations such as modern Belgium and France. There were significant regional variations in north continental ancestry ― lower in
20760-467: The location and garrisoning requirements of thirty-three forts, whose positioning ensured that no one in Wessex was more than a long day's ride from a place of safety. In the 890s these reforms helped him to repel the invasion of another huge Danish army – which was aided by the Danes settled in England – with minimal losses. In 2015, two individuals found a large hoard near Leominster consisting primarily of Saxon jewellery and silver ingots but also coins;
20933-461: The major political problem for Edmund and Eadred , who succeeded Æthelstan, remained the difficulty of subjugating the north. In 959 Edgar is said to have "succeeded to the kingdom both in Wessex and in Mercia and in Northumbria, and he was then 16 years old" (ASC, version 'B', 'C'), and is called "the Peacemaker". By the early 970s, after a decade of Edgar's 'peace', it may have seemed that
21106-570: The marshes of the Somerset Levels , but after a few months he was able to gather an army and defeated the Danes at the Battle of Edington , bringing about their final withdrawal from Wessex to settle in East Anglia. There were simultaneous Danish raids on the north coast of France and Brittany in the 870s – prior to the establishment of Normandy in 911 – and recorded Danish alliances with both Bretons and Cornish may have resulted in
21279-527: The most powerful and influential women in Europe. Double monasteries which were built on strategic sites near rivers and coasts, accumulated immense wealth and power over multiple generations (their inheritances were not divided) and became centers of art and learning. While Aldhelm was doing his work in Malmesbury , far from him, up in the North of England, Bede was writing a large quantity of books, gaining
21452-428: The north, west and east. The invaders reportedly defeated or co-opted Roman forces in most parts of northern and western Britain. However, the Roman general Theodosius had recaptured most areas by the end of 368. In 380–1, Magnus Maximus defeated further raids. However, there was increasing internal conflict across the Roman Empire. During 383–4, in the context of the overthrow of Emperor Gratian , Maximus took most of
21625-468: The oldest surviving English law codes and established a second West Saxon bishopric . The throne subsequently passed to a series of kings with unknown genealogies. During the 8th century, as the hegemony of Mercia grew, Wessex largely retained its independence. It was during this period that the system of shires was established. Under Egbert , Surrey , Sussex, Kent, Essex , and Mercia, along with parts of Dumnonia , were conquered. He also obtained
21798-529: The overall group in Britain as the "English" people (Latin Angli , gens Anglorum or Old English Angelcynn ). In Bede's work the term "Saxon" is also used to refer sometimes to the Old English language, and also to refer to the early pagan Anglo-Saxons before the arrival of Christian missionaries among the Anglo-Saxons of Kent in 597. The term "Saxon", on the other hand, was at this time increasingly used by mainland writers to designate specific northern neighbours of
21971-468: The overlordship of the Northumbrian king. However, Mercian independence was restored in 830. During the reign of his successor, Æthelwulf , a Danish army arrived in the Thames estuary, but was decisively defeated. When Æthelwulf's son, Æthelbald , usurped the throne, the kingdom was divided to avoid war. Æthelwulf was succeeded in turn by his four sons, the youngest being Alfred the Great . Wessex
22144-424: The peace, that all the youth of free men who now are in England, those who have the means that they may apply themselves to it, be set to learning, while they may not be set to any other use, until the time when they can well read English writings. (Preface: "Gregory the Great's Pastoral Care") This began a growth in charters, law, theology and learning. Alfred thus laid the foundation for the great accomplishments of
22317-401: The people of what is now England spoke Old English, and were considered English. Viking and Norman invasions changed the politics and culture of England significantly, but the overarching Anglo-Saxon identity evolved and remained dominant even after the Norman Conquest. Late Anglo-Saxon political structures and language are the direct predecessors of the high medieval Kingdom of England and
22490-581: The people to their knees in 1009–12, when a large part of the country was devastated by the army of Thorkell the Tall . It remained for Swein Forkbeard , king of Denmark, to conquer the kingdom of England in 1013–14, and (after Æthelred's restoration) for his son Cnut to achieve the same in 1015–16. The tale of these years incorporated in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle must be read in its own right, and set beside other material which reflects in one way or another on
22663-665: The people's sins, raising awareness of a collective Christian identity; and by 'conquering' the kingdoms of the East Angles, the Northumbrians and the Mercians, they created a vacuum in the leadership of the English people. Danish settlement continued in Mercia in 877 and East Anglia in 879—80 and 896. The rest of the army meanwhile continued to harry and plunder on both sides of the Channel, with new recruits evidently arriving to swell its ranks, for it clearly continued to be
22836-408: The political map of Lowland Britain had developed with smaller territories coalescing into kingdoms, and from this time larger kingdoms started dominating the smaller kingdoms. The development of kingdoms, with a particular king being recognised as an overlord, developed out of an early loose structure that, Higham believes, is linked back to the original feodus . The traditional name for this period
23009-516: The preface: ...When I had learned it I translated it into English, just as I had understood it, and as I could most meaningfully render it. And I will send one to each bishopric in my kingdom, and in each will be an æstel worth fifty mancuses. And I command in God's name that no man may take the æstel from the book nor the book from the church. It is unknown how long there may be such learned bishops as, thanks to God, are nearly everywhere. (Preface: "Gregory
23182-416: The question of physical Anglo-Saxon migration and concluded that there was large-scale immigration of both men and women into Eastern England, from a "north continental" population matching early medieval people from the area stretching from northern Netherlands through northern Germany to Denmark. This began already in the Roman era, and then increased rapidly in the 5th century. The burial evidence showed that
23355-479: The raiding activity or piracy reported in western Europe. In 793, Lindisfarne was raided and while this was not the first raid of its type it was the most prominent. In 794, Jarrow, the monastery where Bede wrote, was attacked; in 795 Iona in Scotland was attacked; and in 804 the nunnery at Lyminge in Kent was granted refuge inside the walls of Canterbury. Sometime around 800, a Reeve from Portland in Wessex
23528-404: The rest returned to Wessex in 876. Alfred responded effectively and was able with little fighting to bring about their withdrawal in 877. A portion of the Danish army settled in Mercia, but at the beginning of 878 the remaining Danes mounted a winter invasion of Wessex, taking Alfred by surprise and overrunning much of the kingdom. Alfred was reduced to taking refuge with a small band of followers in
23701-463: The richest pickings, crossing the English Channel when faced with resolute opposition, as in England in 878, or with famine, as on the Continent in 892. By this stage, the Vikings were assuming ever increasing importance as catalysts of social and political change. They constituted the common enemy, making the English more conscious of a national identity which overrode deeper distinctions; they could be perceived as an instrument of divine punishment for
23874-414: The second king over the two kingdoms north of the Humber, Bernicia and Deira . After Rædwald died, Cadwallon ap Cadfan, the king of Gwynedd , in alliance with king Penda of Mercia , killed Edwin in battle at Hatfield Chase . Æthelfrith's son Oswald subsequently became the third king of Northumbria. Although not included in Bede's list of rulers with imperium, Penda defeated and killed Oswald in 642 and
24047-558: The settlement of Saxons, Jutes and Angles in Britain are divided into two categories by the historian Peter Hunter Blair (1956), namely "Welsh" and "English". The Welsh tradition is exemplified by Gildas , in De Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae . In brief, it states that after the Romans left, the Celtic Britons managed to continue for a time without any major disruptions. However, when finally faced with northern invaders,
24220-430: The southern Danelaw, and finally over Northumbria, thereby imposing a semblance of political unity on peoples, who nonetheless would remain conscious of their respective customs and their separate pasts. The prestige, and indeed the pretensions, of the monarchy increased, the institutions of government strengthened, and kings and their agents sought in various ways to establish social order. This process started with Edward
24393-503: The standard written form of Old English for the rest of the Anglo-Saxon period and beyond. The Danish conquests had destroyed the kingdoms of Northumbria and East Anglia and divided Mercia in half, with the Danes settling in the north-east while the south-west was left to the English king Ceolwulf , allegedly a Danish puppet. When Ceolwulf's rule came to an end he was succeeded as ruler of "English Mercia" not by another king but by
24566-476: The state of learning was not good when Alfred came to the throne. Alfred saw kingship as a priestly office, a shepherd for his people. One book that was particularly valuable to him was Gregory the Great's Cura Pastoralis (Pastoral Care). This is a priest's guide on how to care for people. Alfred took this book as his own guide on how to be a good king to his people; hence, a good king to Alfred increases literacy. Alfred translated this book himself and explains in
24739-568: The suppression of Cornish autonomy with the death by drowning of King Donyarth in 875 as recorded by the Annales Cambriae . No subsequent 'Kings' of Cornwall are recorded after this time, but Asser records Cornwall as a separate kingdom from Wessex in the 890s. In 879 a Viking fleet that had assembled in the Thames estuary sailed across the English Channel to start a new campaign on the continent. The rampaging Viking army on
24912-440: The surviving works of Anglo-Latin and vernacular literature, as well as the numerous manuscripts written in the 10th century, testify in their different ways to the vitality of ecclesiastical culture. Yet as Keynes suggests "it does not follow that the 10th century is better understood than more sparsely documented periods". During the course of the 10th century, the West Saxon kings extended their power first over Mercia, then into
25085-528: The tenth century and did much to make the vernacular more important than Latin in Anglo-Saxon culture. I desired to live worthily as long as I lived, and to leave after my life, to the men who should come after me, the memory of me in good works. (Preface: "The Consolation of Philosophy by Boethius") A framework for the momentous events of the 10th and 11th centuries is provided by the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle . However charters, law-codes and coins supply detailed information on various aspects of royal government, and
25258-533: The term Saxons to refer to coastal raiders who had been causing problems especially on the coasts of the North Sea . In what is now south-eastern England the Romans established a military commander who was assigned to oversee a chain of coastal forts which they called the Saxon shore . The homeland of these Saxon raiders was not clearly described in surviving sources but they were apparently the northerly neighbours of
25431-399: The third was conducted by William of Normandy in October, 1066 at Hastings. The consequences of each conquest changed the Anglo-Saxon culture. Politically and chronologically, the texts of this period are not Anglo-Saxon; linguistically, those written in English (as opposed to Latin or French, the other official written languages of the period) moved away from the late West Saxon standard that
25604-401: The time of Magnus Maximus in the late 4th century. Bede, whose report of this period is partly based on Gildas, believed that the call was answered by kings from three powerful tribes from Germania, Angles, Saxons, and Jutes. The Saxons came from Old Saxony on the North Sea coast of Germany, and settled in Wessex , Sussex and Essex . Jutland , the peninsula containing part of Denmark,
25777-461: The two parties had convened for a meeting. Some additional details of the Hengest and Horsa legend are found in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle . The Chronicle then records subsequent Saxon arrivals, including that of Cerdic, the founder of Wessex, in 495. According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle , Cerdic of Wessex and his son Cynric of Wessex landed in southern Hampshire in 495, but this account
25950-452: The vastly wealthy holders of this earldom, first Godwin and then his son Harold Godwinson , were the most powerful men in English politics after the king. Finally, on the death of Edward the Confessor in 1066, Harold became king, reuniting the earldom of Wessex with the crown. No new earl was appointed before the ensuing Norman Conquest of England , and as the Norman kings soon did away with
26123-530: The very edge of Europe, could be as learned and sophisticated as any writers in Europe." During this period, the wealth and power of the monasteries increased as elite families, possibly out of power, turned to monastic life. Anglo-Saxon monasticism developed the unusual institution of the "double monastery": a house of monks and a house of nuns, living next to each other, sharing a church but never mixing, and living separate lives of celibacy. These double monasteries were presided over by abbesses, who became some of
26296-586: The west, and highest in Sussex, the East Midlands and East Anglia. From the time of the Christian conversions the first well-attested English kings and kingdoms appear in the written record. This situation with a small number of kingdoms competing for dominance is traditionally called the Heptarchy , which indicates a period of seven kingdoms. There were however more than seven kingdoms, and their interactions were quite complex. In 595 Augustine landed on
26469-567: The west, overwhelming the British kingdom of Dumnonia ( Devon ). At this time Wessex took de facto control of much of Devon, although Britons retained a degree of independence in Devon until at least the 10th century. ( William of Malmesbury claimed that the Britons and Saxons inhabited Exeter "as equals" until 927.) As a result of the Mercian conquest of the northern portion of its early territories in Gloucestershire and Oxfordshire ,
26642-569: The western Britons still in Devon and reduced those beyond the River Tamar , now Cornwall , to the status of a vassal . In 825 or 826 he overturned the political order of England by decisively defeating King Beornwulf of Mercia at Ellendun and seizing control of Surrey , Sussex, Kent and Essex from the Mercians, while with his help East Anglia broke away from Mercian control. In 829 he conquered Mercia, driving its King Wiglaf into exile, and secured acknowledgement of his overlordship from
26815-516: The whole of England under one ruler for the first time. The Kingdom of Wessex had thus been transformed into the Kingdom of England . Æthelstan never married, and when he died in 939 he was succeeded by his half-brother Edmund . Edmund's sons were young children when he died in 946, so he was succeeded by his full brother Eadred . Edmund and Eadred both lost control of Northumbria at the beginning of their reigns but had regained it by their deaths. Northumbria's acceptance of West Saxon rule in 954 meant
26988-416: The whole of England. After the conquest of England by the Danish king Cnut in 1016, he established earldoms based on the former kingdoms of Northumbria, Mercia and East Anglia, but initially administered Wessex personally. Within a few years, however, he had created an earldom of Wessex, encompassing all of England south of the Thames, for his English henchman Godwin, Earl of Wessex . For almost fifty years
27161-399: The work of Catherine Hills and Sam Lucy on the evidence of Spong Hill has moved the chronology for the settlement earlier than 450, with a significant number of items now in phases before Bede's date. Historian Guy Halsall has even speculated that Gildas was badly misread by Bede and all subsequent historians, and that the invitation of the foederati was part of a military reorganization in
27334-487: Was a pagan at his accession. However, he too was baptised only a few years later and Wessex became firmly established as a Christian kingdom. Cynegils' godfather was King Oswald of Northumbria , and his conversion may have been connected with an alliance against King Penda of Mercia , who had previously attacked Wessex. These attacks marked the beginning of sustained pressure from the expanding kingdom of Mercia . In time this would deprive Wessex of its territories north of
27507-459: Was able to expand West Saxon territory in Somerset at the expense of the Britons . He established a second bishopric at Winchester , while the one at Dorchester was soon abandoned as Mercian power pushed southwards. After Cenwealh's death in 673, his widow, Seaxburh , held the throne for a year; she was followed by Æscwine , who was apparently descended from another brother of Ceawlin. This
27680-571: Was dominant over the southern kingdoms. At the time of the battle of the river Winwæd, thirty duces regii (royal generals) fought on his behalf. Although there are many gaps in the evidence, it is clear that the seventh-century Mercian kings were formidable rulers who were able to exercise a wide-ranging overlordship from their Midland base. Mercian military success was the basis of their power; it succeeded against not only 106 kings and kingdoms by winning set-piece battles, but by ruthlessly ravaging any area foolish enough to withhold tribute. There are
27853-562: Was founded by the king). Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons , in some contexts simply called Saxons or the English , were a cultural group who spoke Old English and inhabited much of what is now England and south-eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages . They traced their origins to Germanic settlers who became one of the most important cultural groups in Britain by the 5th century. The Anglo-Saxon period in Britain
28026-471: Was granted arms. Two gold Wessex dragons were later granted as supporters to the arms of Dorset County Council in 1950. In the British Army the wyvern has been used to represent Wessex: the 43rd (Wessex) Infantry Division , and postwar regional 43 (Wessex) Brigade adopted a formation sign consisting of a gold wyvern on a black or dark blue background. The regular Wessex Brigade of the 1960s adopted
28199-465: Was invaded by the Danes in 871, and Alfred was compelled to pay them to leave. They returned in 876 , but were forced to withdraw. In 878 they forced Alfred to flee to the Somerset Levels , but were eventually defeated at the Battle of Edington . During his reign Alfred issued a new law code, gathered scholars to his court and was able to devote funds to building ships, organising an army and establishing
28372-426: Was killed when he mistook some raiders for ordinary traders. Viking raids continued until in 850, then the Chronicle says: "The heathen for the first time remained over the winter". The fleet does not appear to have stayed long in England, but it started a trend which others subsequently followed. In particular, the army which arrived in 865 remained over many winters, and part of it later settled what became known as
28545-603: Was known as the place of the Mierce , the border or frontier folk, in Latin Mercia. Mercia was a diverse area of tribal groups, as shown by the Tribal Hidage; the peoples were a mixture of Brittonic speaking peoples and "Anglo-Saxon" pioneers and their early leaders had Brittonic names, such as Penda . Although Penda does not appear in Bede's list of great overlords, it would appear from what Bede says elsewhere that he
28718-476: Was later seen by Bede as the third king to have imperium over the English south of the Humber , having replaced Ceawlin of Wessex (died about 593), and before this generation there are only semi-mythical accounts of earlier kings. Æthelberht's law for Kent, the earliest written code in any Germanic language , instituted a complex system of fines. Kent was rich, with strong trade ties to the continent, and Æthelberht may have instituted royal control over trade. For
28891-402: Was one of several occasions when the kingship of Wessex is said to have passed to a remote branch of the royal family with an unbroken male line of descent from Cerdic; these claims may be genuine, or may reflect the spurious assertion of descent from Cerdic to legitimise a new dynasty. Æscwine's reign only lasted two years, and in 676 the throne passed back to the immediate family of Cenwealh with
29064-449: Was only a few years after Constantine "III" was declared Roman emperor in Britain, and during the period that he was still leading British Roman forces in rebellion on the continent. The rebellion was soon quashed, the Romano-British citizens reportedly expelled Constantine's imperial officials during this period, but they never again received new Roman officials or military forces. Writing in the mid-sixth century, Procopius states that after
29237-508: Was ruled by Edgar under the strong influence of Dunstan, Athelwold, and Oswald , the Bishop of Worcester. The reign of King Æthelred the Unready witnessed the resumption of Viking raids on England, putting the country and its leadership under strains as severe as they were long sustained. Raids began on a relatively small scale in the 980s but became far more serious in the 990s, and brought
29410-586: Was supposedly distinct from Britain itself, was settled by three nations: the Angili, Frissones, and Brittones, each ruled by its own king. Each nation was so prolific that it sent large numbers of individuals every year to the Franks, who planted them in unpopulated regions of their territory. By the 8th century the Saxons in Germany were seen as a country, and writers such as Bede and some of his contemporaries including Alcuin , and Saint Boniface , began to refer to
29583-465: Was the dominant king of the English until he was himself killed in battle against Oswald's brother Oswiu in 655. Oswiu remained the dominant king of England until he died in 670. In 635, Aidan , an Irish monk from Iona , chose the Isle of Lindisfarne to establish a monastery which was close to King Oswald 's main fortress of Bamburgh . He had been at the monastery in Iona when Oswald asked to be sent
29756-580: Was the homeland of the Jutes who settled in Kent and the Isle of Wight . The Angles (or English) were from 'Anglia', a country which Bede understood to have now been emptied, and which lay between the homelands of the Saxons and Jutes. Anglia is usually interpreted as the old Schleswig-Holstein Province (straddling the modern Danish - German border), and containing the modern Angeln . Although this represents
29929-474: Was the most durable of the West Saxon kings, reigning for 38 years. He issued the oldest surviving English code of laws apart from those of the kingdom of Kent, and established a second West Saxon bishopric at Sherborne , covering the area west of Selwood Forest , which formed an important boundary between east and west Wessex. Near the end of his life he followed in Cædwalla's footsteps by abdicating and making
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