4th century 

  • Circa AD 360 and after: A series of Roman forts and their garrisons were repurposed to defend Roman Britain against Frankish and Saxon pirates; the command was known as the ‘Count of the Saxon Shore’.

 

  • AD 383: Magnus Maximus, the commander of the Britannia province of the Roman empire (Most likely the Comes Britanniarum command). This year his troops proclaimed him emperor of the Western Roman Empire and pursued his imperial ambitions by usurping Emperor Gratian’s throne at Lugdunum (Lyon).

 

5th century 

  • AD 408 to 409: Britannia suffers severe Saxon raids. 

 

  • AD 410: Rome is under significant threat from internal and external warfare across the Western Roman Empire. These series of threats prompted Emperor Flavius Honorius to withdraw his legions from Britannia, and consequently no longer having the resources to maintain control over Britannia.

 

  • Emperor Honorius declines giving aid to the Romano-Briton civitates. Instead, he tells them to maintain their own defensives; consequently, the Britons expelled the Roman Magistrates which ended Roman Rule.

 

  • AD 429: Germanus of Auxerre leads the native Britons to a victory against Pictish and Saxon raiders. 

 

  • c. AD 437 – 440: An alliance of Britons defeated invading Jutes and Saxons at the Battle of Guoloph

 

  • c. AD 446: The final appeal for the return of Roman Military assistance in Britannia against the Pictish and Scot raiders. This was known as the ‘Groans of the Britons’.

 

  • AD 449: Briton leader Vortigern invites Anglo-Saxon mercenaries to help him fight against the Picts, who were raiding the east coast; for their service he grants them lands on “The eastern side of the island”.  (Vortigern may mean “Great King” rather than a personal name).

 

  • AD 455: Brothers Hengist and Horsa fought against Vortigern at the Battle of Aylesford. Horsa was slain during the battle, and Hengist with his son Æsc (Oisc), became the first Jutish Kings of Kent.

 

  • AD 457: King Hengist and Æsc fought against the Britons at a place called Crecganford (Crayford), they slew 4000 men. The Britons abandoned Kent and fled in fear to London.

 

  • c. AD 460: Treachery of the Long Knives – A peace summit held on Salisbury Plan without weapons between King Hengist and Vortigern. King Hengist had no intentions to sue for peace and ordered his men to conceal knives. They massacred Vortigern’s chieftains which began a violent land grab by the Anglo-Saxons.  

 

  • AD 466: King Hengist and Æsc defeated the Welsh at the Battle of Wippedesfleot; they slew twelve leaders to their one thane, named Wipped; Welsh means ‘foreigner’ by the invaders. 

 

  • AD 477: The first king of the South Saxons, Ælle, lands at Cymenesora (probably now The Owers, off the tip of Selsey Bill, West Sussex), with 3 ships and his sons Cymen, Wlenking, and Cissa. Many Welsh were slain, and some fled into the woods called Andred’sley (The Weald). Ælle is the first king recorded to have held “imperium”; or Bretwalda some four hundred years later. 

 

  • AD 485: King Ælle fought against the Welsh near Merced’s-Burnsted (Mercredesburne), known as the Battle of Mercredesburne.  

    

  • c. AD 490: King Ælle and his son Cissa, besieged the city of Andredescester (now Pevensey), they slew all the Britons who dwelt therein. 

 

  • AD 495: The first king of Wessex, Cerdic, and his son Cynric, landed with five ships at a place called Cerdices Ora (Cerdic’s Shore), modern day Charford, Hampshire; they fought against the Welsh on the same day. 

 

  • c. 497: A force of Britons led by the legendary King Arthur, defeated an Anglo-Saxon war band at the Battle of Mons Badonicus (Battle of Badon); Anglo-Saxon expansion was halted. (although the battle probably took place somewhen between AD 490 and 517). 

 

6th century

 

  • c. AD 500: Angles colonised the North Sea and Humber coastal areas, particularly around Holderness. 

 

  • AD 508: Cerdic and Cynric slew King Natanleod, a king of the Britons, including five thousand of his men. Thereafter, the land was named Natanleag (Netley Marsh, Hampshire).

 

  • AD 514: Cerdic’s nephews, Stuff and Wihtgar, landed at Cerdices Ora with three ships. They fought the Britons and put them to flight. 

 

  • AD 519: King Cerdic founded the Kingdom of Wessex in Hampshire. His son Cynric helped govern the West Saxons.

 

  • c. AD 520: The Anglo-Saxons took control of the kingdoms Sussex, Kent, East Anglia, and part of Yorkshire.  

 

  • 527: The Kingdom of Merica is established by King Icel, the last king of Anglia (Angles/Angeln). King Æscwine is widely excepted to be the first king of the Kingdom of East Saxons (Essex).

 

  • AD 530: King Cerdic and Cynric conquered the Isle of White and slew many inhabitants at Carisbrook.  

 

  • AD 547: The Anglian Kingdom of Bernicia was established by King Ida; they conquered a Celtic area called Bryneich. 

 

  • c. AD 556: West Saxons defeated the Britons at Barbury Castle Hill Fort near Swindon; known as the Battle of Beranburh or Beran Byrig. 

 

  • c. AD 560: East Yorkshire and the Briton kingdom of Ebrauc, are conquered by Anglian warriors. Ælla becomes the first known king of the Kingdom of Deira.

 

  • AD 568: King Ceawlin of Wessex (West Saxons) and his brother Cutha, fought against Æthelberht of Kent, and pursued him into the Kingdom of Kent; consequently, slaying two Ealdormen called Oslake and Cnebbe, at Wibbandun (Wibba’s Mount). This battle is notable as the first recorded conflict between Anglo-Saxons and the Britons. 

 

  • AD 571: Cuthulf defeated the Britons at the Battle of Bedcanford. He conquered four towns, Lenbury, Aylesbury, Benson, and Ensham. He died the same year. Wehha becomes the first king of the Kingdom of East Angles (East Anglia). 

 

  • c. AD 574: The Kingdom of Rheged defeated the Kingdom of Bernicia at the Battle of Alclud Ford

 

  • The Kingdom of Rheged defeated the Kingdom of Bernicia at the Battle of Argoed Llwyfain. The battle is dated to the 6th century; most likely happened between the battles of Alclud Ford and Dyrham. 

 

  • AD 577: West Saxon king Ceawlin and his son Cuthwine, defeated the Britons at the Battle of Dyrham or Deorham. They slew three kings: Commail, Condida, and Farinmail, and took three cities – Gloucester (Glevum), Cirencester (Corinuim Dobunnirum), and Bath (Aquae Sulis). This led to the permanent cultural and ethnic separation of the Kingdom of Dumnonia (Devon and Cornwall) from Wales. 

 

  • c. AD 584: King Ceawlin and Cutha fought against the Britons at the Battle of Fethanleag; Cutha was consequently slain. King Ceawlin took and plundered many settlements where he accumulated immense wealth. He is recorded as the second known Bretwalda, however, this was documented many years after his reign. 

 

  • AD 590: The Kingdom of Elmet joined an alliance of Celtic kingdoms against the expanding Angles of the Kingdom of Bernicia. 

 

  • AD 592: King Ceawlin is defeated by the Britons at the Battle of Woden’s Burg (1st Wodensburgh). However, Barbara York suggests King Ceawlin fought his nephew Ceol.

 

  • AD 596: Angles invaded the Fife coast near Raith, and defeated an alliance of Scots, Britons, and Picts, known as the Battle of Raith

 

  • AD 597: St. Augustine, a Benedictine monk, was sent by Pope Gregory I to the British Isles known as the Gregorian Mission. He arrived in the Kingdom of Kent with his mission to convert the Anglo-Saxons to Christianity, under the patronage of the converted Christian king of Kent, Æthelberht, reputedly a descendant of Hengist.

 

7th Century  

 

  • c. AD 600: A force raised by the Celtic Kingdom of Gododdin against the Angles of Deira and Bernicia. The Kingdom of Gododdin attacked the Angles at their stronghold of Catraeth; most likely Catterick, North Yorkshire; they were defeated by the Angles at the Battle of Catraeth

 

  • c. AD 603: King Æthelfrith of Bernicia defeated King Áedán mac Gabráin of Dál Riada (a Kingdom of Gaels) at the Battle of Degsastan

 

  • AD 604: The Kingdom of Bernicia shares the crown with the Kingdom of Deira, but not yet officially unified as the Kingdom of Northumbria. The Kingdom of Elmet built earthworks north and west of Berwick-in-Elmet, the royal seat of their king. 

 

  • AD 614: King Cynegils and King Cwichelm of Gewisse, the kingdom that was the predecessors of the West Saxons (Wessex), fought together at Beandun where they slew 2,046 Welsh.

 

  • c. AD 615/16: King Æthelfrith of Northumbria annihilated a combined force of the Welsh Kingdoms of Powys, Rhôs and perhaps the Kingdom of Mercia, known as the Battle of Chester.

 

  • AD 616: In Autumn, the Northumbrians invaded and conquered the Kingdom of Elmet. 

 

  • AD 628: King Penda of Mercia defeated Kings Cynegils and Cwichelm at the Battle of Cirencester. Mercia takes control of the Severn Valley and the territory of the minor Kingdom of Hwicce. 

 

  • c. AD 630: The anti-Northumbrian alliance between King Cadwallon ap Cadfan of Gwynedd and King Penda, defeated King Edwin of Northumbria at the Battle of Cefn Digoll or Long Mynd. 

 

  • c. AD 630: King Penda laid Siege to the Britons occupying Caer-Uisc (Exeter) in the Kingdom of Dummonia. This was known as the Siege of Exeter or Caer-Uisc, and resulted in a truce when the exiled High King of the Britons, king Cadwallon ap Cadfan, arrived to confront King Penda. 

 

  • AD 633: An alliance between the Welsh Kingdom of Gwynedd and the Kingdom of Mercia defeated the Northumbrians at the Battle of Hatfield Chase, near Doncaster. 

 

  • AD633/34: King Oswald of Bernicia commanded a Northumbrian army and defeated King Cadwallon ap Cadfan, at the Battle of Heavenfield, near Hexham, Northumberland. 

 

  • AD 641/42: King Penda and Prince Cynddylan ap Cyndrwyn of Powys, defeated King Oswald at the Battle of Maserfield, resulting in King Oswalds’s death and dismemberment.

 

  • AD 654: The Kingdoms of Bernicia and Deira become unified under the Bernician King Oswiu, officially becoming the Kingdom of Northumbria.

 

  • AD 654/55: king Oswiu of Northumbria defeats King Penda at the Battle of Winwaed. King Penda is slain along with 30 royal personages including his ally, King Aethelhere of East Anglia. 

 

  • c. AD 660: King Cenwalh of Wessex defeated the Britons at the Battle of Peonnum (Penselwood) and pursued the Britons as far as the river Parrett, Somerset. The battle was fought after King Cenwalh returned from East Anglia, as a result of being forced into three years of exile by King Penda. He was deprived of his Kingdom because he rejected Penda’s sister; the West Saxons gained control over Somerset. 

 

  • AD 671: King Ecgfrith of Northumbria defeated the King of the Picts, Drest VI, at the Battle of Two Rivers. It was a decisive victory for the Northumbrians, marking the end of the Pictish rebellion.  

 

  • c. AD 679: King Æthelred of Mercia defeated King Ecgfrith at the Battle of Trent, located in the territory of the Kingdom of Lindsey. The Mercians ended Northumbrian supremacy of the area.

 

  • AD 681: King Centwine of Wessex pursued the Britons into the sea.

 

  • AD 684: King Ecgfrith sent a raiding party to Brega in Ireland, under the command of his Alderman Berht. He captured many slaves, including plundering and burning many churches and monasteries. 

 

  • AD 685: King Ecgfrith was ambushed by the Picts, led by King Bridei III, at the Battle of Dun Nechtain (Nechtansmere). The battle ended with a decisive Pictish victory that marked their independence from the Kingdom of Northumbria. King Ecgfrith was slain, along with the greater part of his army.   

 

  • AD 686: King Cædwalla of Wessex and his brother Mul, spread devastation across the Kingdoms of Kent and Isle of Wight. He installed his brother as King of Kent. 

 

  • AD 687: King Mul was burned with twelve other men during the Kentish revolt. King Cædwalla returned with his wrath and laid waste to the lands of the Kingdom of Kent. 

    

  • AD 694: The Kingdom of Kent covenanted with King Ine of Wessex and gave him 30,000 pounds in restitution for burning King Cædwalla’s brother, King Mul. 

 

  • AD 697: The Southumbrians slew Osthryth, the Queen of King Æthelred of Mercia, and the sister of King Ecgfrith of Northumbria. 

 

8th century 

 

  • AD 702: Cœnred of Mercia succeeds to the throne of the Kingdom of Southumbria, of which, is a sub-kingdom of northern Mercia. 

 

  • AD 704: King Cœnred of Southumbria succeeds to the throne of the Kingdom of Mercia. 

 

  • AD 710: Ealdorman Berhtfirth, a nobleman second in rank only to King Osred of Northumbria, fought against the Picts between the Rivers Avon and Carron. He inflicted a crushing defeat for the Picts. King Ine and his relative, Nun, fought against King Geraint of Dumnonia, or ‘King of the Welsh’ as recorded in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles.

 

  • AD 715: King Ine and King Cœlred fought against an unrecorded enemy force. This battle is known as the Battle of Woden’s Burg (2nd battle of wodensburh), located at Adam’s Grave near Marlborough, Wiltshire. 

 

  • AD 721: King Ine slew Cynewulf Ætheling, of whom nothing else is known. His name suggests a connection with the Wessex royal line.

 

  • c. AD 721 – 722: The West Britons defeated the Anglo-Saxons, most likely the West Saxons, at the Battle of Hehil. Location is unknown except that it was “apud Cornuenses” – “among the Cornish”. 

  

  • c. AD 720 (722?): The Britons fought at the Battle of Pencon or Pencoed, resulting with a victory. However, the enemy is unclear, although it could either be the Kingdom of Mercia, or they fought amongst themselves. 

 

  • AD 722: Queen Æthelburg of Wessex destroys the stronghold at Taunton, whose husband, King Ine of Wessex, previously built. A quarrel arose in the royal family and she pursued the exiled rebel Ealdbert Ætheling to Taunton. 

 

  • AD 725: King Ine fought with the South Saxons and slew the exiled rebel Ealdbert Ætheling.

 

  • AD 733: King Æthelbold of Mercia undertook an expedition against the Kingdom of Wessex to maintain his overlordship and captured the royal manor of Somerton, Somerset. 

 

  • c. AD 740: A war broke out between the Picts and Northumbrians. King Æthelbold took advantage and ravaged the lands of the Northumbrians. 

 

  • AD 743: King Æthelbold and King Cuthred of Wessex fought against the Welsh.

 

  • AD 750: Ealdorman Æthelhun led an unsuccessful rebellion against his King, Cuthred of Wessex.

 

  • AD 752: King Cuthred, assisted by the now faithful Ealdorman Æthelhun, launched a rebellion against King Æthelbold. He defeated King Æthelbold at Battle Edge in Bulford; Wessex gained independence. 

 

  • AD 760: After years of hostility between the Welsh Kingdoms of Brycheiniog, Gwent, and Powys by Kings Æthelbold and Cœnred, the allied Welsh Kingdoms defeated the Mercian army at the Battle of Hereford; severing Anglo-Saxon influence.

 

  • AD 776: King Offa of Mercia fought against the Kingdom of Kent at the Battle of Otford, Kent. The victor is unrecorded, however, charters issued by the Kings of Kent without any reference to King Offa, suggest a Kentish victory.

 

  • AD 779: King Offa defeats King Cynewulf of Wessex at the Battle of Bensington (Oxfordshire?). The Kingdom of Wessex recognises the Kingdom of Mercia’s overlordship.  

 

  • AD 787: Three Danish ships (Vikings) were the first to seek out the land of the English Nation. 

 

  • AD 793: The Vikings attacked the Holy Island of Lindisfarne – “This year came dreadful forewarnings over the land of Northumbria, terrifying the people most woefully: these were immense sheets of light rushing through the air, and whirlwinds, and fiery dragons flying across the firmament…… heathen men made lamentable havoc in the church of God in Holy Island…” 

 

  • AD 794: Pope Hadrian I and King Offa die this year, however, in the Annales Cambriae 797: King Offa and King Maredudd of Demetians die; and the battle of Rhuddlan.

 

9th century

 

  • AD 812/14: The Archbishop of Canterbury, Wulfred, accompanied by Wigberht, Bishop of Sherborne, undertook a journey to Rome to consult with the papacy after a quarrel broke out with the consecutive Mercian Kings – Coenwulf and Ceolwul – over whether laymen or clergy should control monasteries. He was deposed from office for a couple of years over the issue and briefly exiled. 

 

  • AD 813 (815?): King Egbert of Wessex inflicted devastation in Cornwall (West Wales) from east to west.

 

  • AD 816: Saxons invaded the mountains of Eryri and the Welsh Kingdom of Rhufoniog. The school of the English Nation at Rome was destroyed by a fire. 

 

  • AD 818: King Cenwulf of Mercia devastated the Welsh Dyfed region.  

 

  • AD 825: The Welsh in Cornwall fought the people of Devonshire at Camelford. King Egbert defeated King Beornwulf of Mercia at the Battle of Ellandun, near Swindon or Wilton. Afterwards, King Egbert sent his son Æthelwulf into the Kingdom of Kent with a detachment of troops, accompanied by his bishop, Elstan, and Alderman, Wulfherd; who drove King Baldred of Kent northwards over the river Thames. Whereupon the men of Kent immediately submitted; as did the Kingdoms of Surrey, Sussex, and Essex. The Kingdom of East Anglia besought King Egbert for peace and protection against the terror of the Kingdom of Mercia. The decisive win of the Kingdom of Wessex effectively ended Mercian supremacy over the southern kingdoms. 

 

  • AD 829: King Egbert defeats King Wiglaf of Mercia and is consequently exiled from his kingdom. King Egbert also led his army against the Northumbrians as far as Dore, and received their king’s submission and obedience. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicles style King Egbert as a Bretwalda. 

 

  • AD 830: King Wiglaf recovers his kingdom, and King Egbert leads his army against the people of North Wales, compelling them into peaceful submission.

 

  • AD 832: Heathen men (Vikings) overran the Isle of Shepey.

 

  • AD 836: King Egbert is defeated by the crew of 35 Vikings ships at Carhampton, Somerset. 

 

  • AD 838: King Egbert defeats a combine force of West Wales and Vikings at the Battle of Hingston Down in Cornwall. 

 

  • AD 851: After years of Viking raids, the Heathens for the first-time winter at the Isle of Thanet. In the same year, a second force of 350 ships went into the mouth of the River Thames and stormed Canterbury and London: putting to flight King Beorhtwulf of Mercia, and marched southwards across the River Thames into the Kingdom of Surry. The Vikings were defeated by King Æthelwulf of Wessex and his son Æthelbold, at the Battle of Aclea, Ockley (Surry).  

 

  • AD 853: North Wales rebelled against King Bugred of Mercia, he besought King Æthelwulf to assist him to subdue the Welsh. Immediately King Æthelwulf marched his Army against the Welsh with King Bugred and his army. They successfully repressed the rebellion. King Æthelwulf sent his son Alfred (the Great) to Rome where he was confirmed by Pope Leo IV. 

 

  • AD 865: The Great Heathen Army (Vikings) landed in the Kingdom of East Anglia where King Edmund sued for peace; he provided horses for their campaign, as they fixed winter quarters at Thetford.  

 

  • AD 866/7: The Great Heathen Army set their sights on the Northumbrians and marched north to capture York (Battle of York), led by Ubba and Ivar the Boneless. At this time, the Kingdom of Northumbria was plagued with infighting between the royal candidates of its two sub-kingdoms: Bernicia and Deira. Declaring truce against a common foe, the Northumbrians failed to retake York from the Vikings.  

 

  • AD 867/8: The Kingdom of Mercia agreed terms with the Vikings as they marched deep into their kingdom and Wintered at Nottingham. 

 

  • AD 870: The Great Heathen Army returned to the Kingdom of East Anglia and wintered at the Isle of Thanet. That winter, King Edmund was defeated and killed by the Vikings; they overran his Kingdom and destroyed many monasteries in their path.  By late December, the Vikings invaded Wessex but were defeated by the West Saxons at the Battle of Englefield, near Reading.

 

  • AD 871: Three battles were fought in January between the Kingdom of Wessex and the Vikings; the Battle of Reading resulted in a Viking victory; the Battle of Ashdown resulted in a West Saxon victory; and the Battle of Basing resulted in a Viking victory. Two months later the belligerent forces fought again at the Battle of Meretun, resulting in a Viking Victory.

 

  • AD 878: The Vikings broke a truce between the Kingdom of Wessex and defeated them at the Battle of Chippenham, Wiltshire. King Alfred the Great was forced to flee his royal villa at Chippenham and retreated to the Island of Athelney, Somerset.  

 

  • King Alfred the Great regroup, and called a levy of men from Somersetshire, Wiltshire, and Hampshire. They fought and defeated the Great Heathen Army at the Battle of Edington, Wilshire. Days later the Viking leader, Guthrum, surrendered to King Alfred, who was consequently baptized and left the Kingdom of Wessex.

 

  • Odda, the Ealdorman of Devon, defeated the Vikings at the Battle of Cynwit or Cynuit. He captures a trophy from the battlefield – the Raven banner or “Hrefn”.

 

  • AD 885: King Alfred the Great defeated the Vikings at the Battle of Rochester, in the Kingdom of Kent. The Vikings entered Medway and attacked Rochester, but the people of Rochester put up a strong resistance until King Alfred arrived with his army.   

 

  • AD 892: King Alfred the Great’s son, Edward the Elder, defeated the Vikings at the Battle of Farnham

 

  • AD 893: A combined force of men from the Kingdom of Mercia, the Kingdom of Wessex, and the Welsh, defeated the Vikings at the Battle of Buttington – the territory of the Kingdom of Powys. They besieged the Vikings at Buttington for several weeks, starving them out, until the Vikings finally met the allied forces in the field of battle. 

 

  • AD 894: The Danelaw Vikings defeated the West Saxon Ealdormen Æthelnoth at the Battle of Stamford (First Battle of Stamford). The town remained in the territory occupied by the Viking.  

 

  • In the same year, King Alfred the Great defeated the Vikings at the Battle of Benfleet, under the command of his son Edward the Elder and son-in-law Earl Æthelred of Mercia. 

 

  • AD 899: This year is the death of King Alfred the Great. The cause of death is unknown, however, he suffered throughout his life with a painful and unpleasant illness.  

10th century

 

  • AD 902: The Danes of East Anglia defeated the Kingdom of Kent at the Battle of Holme (Huntingdonshire?), although, suffered heavy losses themselves, including Æthelwold Ætheling – who revolted against his cousin, King Edward the Elder, thus ending his revolt upon his death.  

 

  • AD 910: Allied forces of the Kingdoms of Mercia and Wessex defeated the Danelaw Vikings at the Battle of Tettenhall (sometimes called the Battle of Wednesfield or Wōdnesfeld) now Wolverhampton. 

 

  • AD 917: King Edward the Elder of Wessex defeats the Vikings at the Battle of Tempsford, resulting in a Danish King being killed (probably from East Anglia), along with Jarls Toglos and Manna of Huntington.

 

  • In the same year Æthelflæd, Lady of the Mercians, daughter of King Alfred the Great, defeats the Danelaw Vikings at the Battle of Derby. This was her first offensive foray and resulted with her conquering the whole region.

 

  • AD 918: King Edward the Elder defeats the Danelaw Vikings at the Second Battle of Stamford.   

 

  • AD 927: King Æthelstan of Wessex captured York and received the submission of the Danish people. On the 12th of July, King Constantine II of Alba, King Hywel Dda of Deheubarth, Ealdred of Bamburgh, and King Owain of Strathclyde (or Morgan ap Owain of Gwent) accepted King Æthelstan’s overlordship, thus being the first southern king having dominion over the north, which led to seven years peace in the north. King Æthelstan evicted the Cornish from the city of Exeter and refortified. Is the first King to rule over all the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms. 

 

  • AD 936: King Æthelstan of the English, set the boundary between the Kingdom of England and the West Welsh of Cornwall at the River Tamar.   

 

  • AD 937: King Æthelstan and his brother, Edmund Ætheling, defeat a combine force of an alliance between the Kingdoms of Dublin, Scotland, and Strathclyde, at the Battle of Brunanburh.   

 

  • AD 839: King Æthelstan dies and his brother, King Edmund I, succeeds to the throne. After he died, the Northumbrians abandoned their allegiance and chose King Olaf of the royal Norse-Gael dynasty, Uí Ímair.  

 

  • AD 954: The Battle of Stainmore was probably fought between the Earldom of Bernicia, led by Osulf I of Bamburgh, and the forces of the last Norse king of Jórvik (York), Eric Bloodaxe; Osulf is victorious. The Norse consequently lost their territory of the Kingdom of Northumbria and reverted into the control of King Eadred of the English.

 

  • AD 978: King Edward the Martyr (of the English) was murdered at Corfe Castle. 

 

  • AD 991: The Vikings defeat Ealdorman Byrhtnoth of Essex at the Battle of Maldon. King Æthelred the Unready is advised to pay off the Vikings. He made a payment of 10,000 Roman pounds of silver.  

 

11th century

 

  • AD 1001: The Danes invaded and spread terror and devastation wherever they went, plundering, burning, and desolating the country with such rapidity. The men of Hampshire met them at the First Battle of Alton, but failed to stop the Danish Army. 

 

  • The Danish Army attacked Devonshire, burning many towns such as Teignton. They proceeded towards Exmouth and defeated the Anglo-Saxons at the Battle of Pinhoe. They burned the village of Pinhoo to the ground, including Clist, and many towns. 

 

  • AD 1002: In response to the frequent Danish raids, King Æthelred the Unready, ordered the execution of all Danes living in England, this was known as the St. Brice’s Day Massacre. It is believed Gunhilde was killed, who may have been the sister of King Sweyn Forkbeard of Denmark. 

 

  • AD 1003: King Sweyn Forkbeard of Denmark and Norway invades England to avenge the St. Brice’s Day Massacre. He begins by campaigning in Wessex; the capital of Wiltshire, Wilton, is plundered and burned.

 

  • AD 1004: King Sweyne Forkbeard campaigns in East Anglia, beginning with the plundering of Norwich. He then sets his sights on Thetford but is met by a contingent of East Anglian fyrd. The Battle of Thetford follows with King Sweyne losing the battle. 

 

  • AD 1013: After years of raiding the Kingdom of England, King Sweyne Forkbeard usurps the throne of England on Christmas Day, but dies five weeks later.

 

  • AD 1014: King Sweyn Forkbeard’s son, Cnut (the Great), is chosen by the Danish fleet as King. The English nobility recalled Æthelred the Unready from exile to regain his crown. Cunt fled with his army to Denmark.

 

  • AD 1015: Cnut (the Great), invades England with a Danish army of perhaps 10,000 in 200 longships. He was the head of an array of Vikings from all over Scandinavia. 

 

  • AD 1016: King Edmund Ironside defeats the Danish army of Cnut the Great at the Battle of Brentford. However, King Edmund Ironside’s reign over the English was short-lived.

 

  • Cnut the Great defeats King Edmund Ironside at the Battle of Assandun. They meet on an island near Deerhurst to negotiate terms of peace – all of England north of the Thames was to be the domain of Cnut, while all to the south, including London, was to be the domain of King Edmund Ironside; whoever died first, the other succeeded to the throne of the kingdom of England, and their son being heir to the throne. King Edmund Ironside dies in November and Cnut succeeds to the throne. 

 

  • AD 1017: King Cnut the Great divided England into four geographical administrative units based on the largest separate Kingdoms that preceded the unification of England. Wessex was initially King Cnut, East Anglia went to Thorkell the Tall, Mercia remained in the hands of Eadric Streona, and Northumbria went to Erik of Hlathir.

 

  • AD 1035: King Cnut the Great died at Shaftsbury, Dorset. He was initially buried at Old Minster, Winchester. His bones are now in Winchester Cathedral, Winchester; although more or less on the same site, but in a ‘newer’ building. 

 

  • AD 1042: Edward the confessor becomes King of England and once again the royal House of Wessex is restored to the English throne. He is considered the last King of England from the House of Wessex.  

 

  • AD 1044: King Edward the Confessor married Edith Godwinson, the daughter of Earl Godwin of Wessex, who became one of the most powerful Earls in England under King Cnut the Great.

 

  • AD 1053: Earl Godwin of Wessex dies, his sons Harold Godwinson succeeds to the Earldom of Wessex, and Leofwine Godwinson succeeds to the Earldom of Kent.

 

  • AD 1054: King Edward the Confessor sends Earl Siward of Northumbria to Scotland to deal with Macbeth, King of Scotland.

 

  • AD 1055: Earl Harold Godwinson’s brother, Tostig Godwinson, is appointed to the Earldom of Northumbria.  

 

  • AD 1056: The son of King Edmund Ironside, Edward Ætheling (Edward the Exile), is recalled back to England by King Edward the Confessor to make him heir to the throne of England, but died within days of arriving in England. 

 

  • AD 1057: Gyrth Godwinson is appointed to the Earldom of East Anglia – the brother of Earl Harold Godwinson. The brothers of the House of Godwin controlled all of England (except from Mercia), under King Edward the Confessor.

 

  • AD 1063: Earl Harold Godwinson and his brother Earl Tostig lead a successive campaign against Gruffydd ap Llywelyn of Gwynedd, King of Wales. Earl Harold led a sea-force first to south Wales and then north to rendezvous with his brother’s army. King Gruffydd is slain. 

 

  • AD 1065: The thegns of Northumbria rebelled against Earl Tostig, they killed his officials and members of his clan, and nominated Morcar, the brother of Earl Edwin of Mercia. To keep peace in the north, King Edward the Confessor banished Earl Tostig, who blamed his brother, Earl Harold, for fomenting the rebellion. 

 

  • 5th January 1066: King Edward the Confessor dies. Earl Harold Godwinson succeeds to the throne of England.

 

  • 20th September 1066: King Harald Hardrada of Norway invades England with Tostig, they defeat the English earls Edwin of Mercia and Morcar of Northumbria at the Battle of Fulford.

 

  • 25th September 1066: King Harald Godwinson marches north and defeats King Harald Hardrada and Tostig at the Battle of Stamford Bridge; both are slain in battle.

 

  • 28th September 1066: William I, Duke of Normandy (William the Conqueror) lands in England at Pevensey Bay. He proceeds to Hastings where he builds a castle as a base of operations, and ravages the interior while waiting for King Harald Godwinson to return from the north.

 

  • 14th October 1066: King Harald Godwinson marches south to deal with the threat of the Norman invasion. Both forces meet at Senlac Hill (Battle, East Sussex) known as the Battle of Hastings. The Normans are victorious, and King Harald Godwinson is killed in battle. The last male member of the royal House of Wessex, Edgar Ætheling, is elected King of England by the Witenagemot, but was never crowned.

 

  • Mid-October 1066: Duke William of Normandy sends 500 knights to secure Southwark for the control of London Bridge. The Normans defeat a contingent force of Ansgar the Staller (sheriff of Middlesex); but were unable to hold London Bridge as the inhabitants put up a fierce resistance, the town of Southwark was set ablaze as the Normans withdrew, known as the ‘Burning of Southwark’.  

 

  • 25th December 1066: The Duke of Normandy finally crossed the Thames at Wallingford in early December where he received the submission of Archbishop of Canterbury, Stigand. The Duke’s forces cut off the supply routes to London; Edgar Ætheling, Earls Edwin and Mocar, Archbishop of York, Ealdred, submitted at Berkhamsted. He was crowned at Westminster Abbey on Christmas Day.  

 

  • AD 1067: Eadric the Wild refused to submit to William the Conqueror. He raised a rebellion and allied himself to the Welsh prince of Gwynedd and Powys. Initially attacking the Norman Hereford Castle unsuccessfully, but continued the rebellion for another three years. 

 

  • AD 1068: William the Conqueror marched his army to the Anglo-Saxon stronghold of Exeter and besieged the city – ‘The Siege of Exeter’. The inhabitants were loyal to the Godwin family and were eventually forced in a conditional surrender. 

 

  • AD 1069-70: After taking refuge at the court of King Malcolm III of Scotland, Edgar Ætheling sparked a rebellion in the north of England against the Normans by initially attacking the city of York. King William I responded swiftly and brutally and is described by some scholar as an act of genocide. This was known as the ‘Harrying of the North’ and resulted with the subjugation of northern England.

  

  • AD 1070: notorious rebel Hereward the Wake, participated in the anti-Norman insurrection centred on the Isle of Ely. He joins the small army of King Sweyn Estrithson of Denmark, who were camped on the island, and later joined by a small army led by Morcar. 

 

  • AD 1075: The Revolt of the Earls was the last serious rebellion against King William I Norman conquest. 

 

  • c. AD 1075: An exodus of Anglo-Saxons exiles fleeing the Norman conquest are said to have migrated to Constantinople and joined the Varangian Guard of the Byzantine Emperor Alexius I Comnenus (or perhaps Michael VII). The Byzantines had lost their influence over lands in the Crimean Peninsula and the Anglo-Saxons were looking for a new home. Therefore, any Anglo-Saxons who did not join the service of the Varangian Guard, where offered lands now inhabited by heathens in the Crimean Peninsula area and was renamed ‘New England’ (Nova Anglia) once they retook it.