Invaders!
THE INVADERS -
Ø ANGLES AND SAXONS (AD 410)
Ø VIKINGS (AD 793)
The areas where the Anglo-Saxons (Angles, Saxons and Jutes) came from and where they settled. They flooded in after the Romans left. These Germanic peoples are the ancestors of the modern day English people. The native Celts of the island are the ancestors of the modern day Scots and Welsh.
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The Romans had been troubled by serious barbarian raids since around AD 360. Picts (northern Celts) from Scotland, Scots from Ireland (until AD1400 the word Scot meant an Irishman) and Saxons from Germany, all came to plunder the accumulated wealth of Roman Britain (modern day England and Wales - Scotland was not conquered by the Romans). The Roman legions began to withdraw from Britain in AD383 to secure the Empire's borders elsewhere in mainland Europe. By AD410 all Roman troops had been withdrawn, leaving the cities of Britain and the remaining Romano-British to fend for themselves.
As the Romans departed, so did the source of any major written historical data. For the rest of the fifth century and early sixth century, England entered what is now referred to as a period of time known as the Dark Ages. A time of legend, a time perhaps of a great hero and war leader of the Britons - King Arthur. Possibly a Romano-Celtic leader defending his lands from the pagan Anglo-Saxon invaders? It was during these Dark Ages that the Anglo-Saxons became established in eastern Britain. The Romans had employed the mercenary services of the Saxons for hundreds of years, preferring to fight alongside them rather than against these fierce warriors. An arrangement, which probably worked well with the Roman military in place to control their numbers, using their mercenary services on an as required basis. Without the Romans in place however, at the ports of entry to issue visas, stamp passports, etc., immigration numbers appear to have got a little out of hand.
There were several independent Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, each with their own king and royal family, before they unified together to form England. The dark blue areas show the lands of the native Celts in the North and West of the island which became what are today Wales and Scotland (except the Celtic kingdoms of Dumnonia and Cumbria which also became a part of England). Sometimes a kingdom would invade another and annex it, forming a larger kingdom, so the number of Anglo-Saxon kingdoms was not constant. This map shows how the kingdoms appeared in the year 650.
First Saxon warriors raided England's south and east coasts. Little mercy was shown as men, women and children were slaughtered. A British monk Adomnan, suggested a Law of Innocents to protect the women and children. The Saxons appear to have rejected this strange concept! Following these early Saxon raids, from around AD430 a host of Germanic migrants arrived in east and southeast England. The main groups being Jutes from the Jutland peninsula (modern Denmark); Angles from Angeln in southwest Jutland and the Saxons from northwest Germany. Much fun and fighting followed over the next hundred years or so as the invading kings and their armies established their kingdoms. Some of these kingdoms survive to this day, and are perhaps better know as these English counties; Kent (Jutes), Sussex (south Saxons), Wessex (west Saxons), Middlesex (middle Saxons), East Anglia (east Angles).
Anglo-Saxon kings wore masks before they started wearing crowns, as monarchs do nowadays
The mighty Midlands kingdom of Mercia (west Angles) grew in importance with its warlike King Offa (757-96), established as Bretwalda, or "Britain Ruler" (King of Kings)! On the subject of King of Kings, Christianity also returned to England, following the departure of the Romans, with the arrival of Saint Augustine in Kent in AD597. The Kentish King Ethelbert was converted to the faith. The church and monastery of Lindisfarne, off the Northumbrian coast, was established in AD635.
From AD793 a new prayer could be heard at Matins across England, "Save us, Lord, from the fury of the Northmen!" The Northmen or Vikings came from Scandinavia. Like the Saxons before them, the Viking onslaught first started with a few bloody raids. The first recorded raids include the sacking of the monasteries at Lindifarne, Jarrow, and Iona. A Micel Here (Great Army) of Heathen Danes landed in East Anglia in AD865. Within nine years the Vikings had attacked and established their rule Danelaw, over the kingdoms of Northumbria and East Anglia, their former Anglo-Saxon kings having been put to the sword. The Vikings also ravaged the once mighty East Mercia, driving King Burgred overseas.
Alfred (The Great) the Saxon king of Wessex (AD 871-99) recognised the opportunity to establish himself as Bretwalda. He added southeast Mercia as well as London and the Thames Valley to his territories and organised Anglo-Saxon resistance to the Viking onslaught. Between AD 912 and AD 954 Anglo-Saxon Wessex conquered Danelaw and the Viking Kingdom of York, exit one Mr Eric Bloodaxe, the last Viking king of York. For the first time, the England of both Vikings and Saxons was united as a country, under the rule of Athelson, grandson of Alfred.
The good times ended with arrival on the throne of Aethelred the Unready. The Vikings had recognised some years earlier that whilst they enjoyed all of that looting and pillaging, just the threat of it was, in most instances, sufficient to extort money from their prey. This protection money, or Danegeld as it was called, was obviously much easier to obtain from a frightened weak king than from a strong one. Aethelred must have been very frightened, as more Saxon coinage has to-date been found in Scandanavia than has been found in England. The country was bled dry. Smelling weakness from the other side of the North Sea, an army of King Sweyn Forkbeard of Denmark conquered England in 1009.
Anticipating that he may have upset Sweyn a little, by having Sweyn's sister killed a few year's earlier, Aethelred fled abroad. Sweyn, was followed by his son Canute, and subsequently his son Harthcanute - The Three Danish Kings of England.
When Harthcanute died in 1042, Edward (later known as the Confessor) was chosen as king. Now, Edward was a Saxon - his real father was Aethelred the Unready. As established previously, anything to do with Aethelred was bad news for England. Edward's mother was from Normandy in northern France. The area had been gifted to the Nor(th)men or Vikings by the king of France, some 150 years earlier. Edward had spent much of his youth in Normandy, and Norman influence was evident in his London court. Amongst many Norman visitors to Edwards's court came the Duke of Normandy himself, a red haired man named William. It was during this visit in 1052 that Edward the Confessor is said to have promised the Crown of England to William.
On the 5th January 1066 Edward died. The Witan (a council of high ranking men), elected Harold Godwin, Earl of Wessex, to be the next king of England. Back at home in Normandy, William had some problems in coming to terms with this decision, and you know what happened next………………….
©HUK
http://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/England-History/index.htm
THE INVADERS -
Ø ANGLES AND SAXONS (AD 410)
Ø VIKINGS (AD 793)
The areas where the Anglo-Saxons (Angles, Saxons and Jutes) came from and where they settled. They flooded in after the Romans left. These Germanic peoples are the ancestors of the modern day English people. The native Celts of the island are the ancestors of the modern day Scots and Welsh.
-------------------------------
The Romans had been troubled by serious barbarian raids since around AD 360. Picts (northern Celts) from Scotland, Scots from Ireland (until AD1400 the word Scot meant an Irishman) and Saxons from Germany, all came to plunder the accumulated wealth of Roman Britain (modern day England and Wales - Scotland was not conquered by the Romans). The Roman legions began to withdraw from Britain in AD383 to secure the Empire's borders elsewhere in mainland Europe. By AD410 all Roman troops had been withdrawn, leaving the cities of Britain and the remaining Romano-British to fend for themselves.
As the Romans departed, so did the source of any major written historical data. For the rest of the fifth century and early sixth century, England entered what is now referred to as a period of time known as the Dark Ages. A time of legend, a time perhaps of a great hero and war leader of the Britons - King Arthur. Possibly a Romano-Celtic leader defending his lands from the pagan Anglo-Saxon invaders? It was during these Dark Ages that the Anglo-Saxons became established in eastern Britain. The Romans had employed the mercenary services of the Saxons for hundreds of years, preferring to fight alongside them rather than against these fierce warriors. An arrangement, which probably worked well with the Roman military in place to control their numbers, using their mercenary services on an as required basis. Without the Romans in place however, at the ports of entry to issue visas, stamp passports, etc., immigration numbers appear to have got a little out of hand.
There were several independent Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, each with their own king and royal family, before they unified together to form England. The dark blue areas show the lands of the native Celts in the North and West of the island which became what are today Wales and Scotland (except the Celtic kingdoms of Dumnonia and Cumbria which also became a part of England). Sometimes a kingdom would invade another and annex it, forming a larger kingdom, so the number of Anglo-Saxon kingdoms was not constant. This map shows how the kingdoms appeared in the year 650.
First Saxon warriors raided England's south and east coasts. Little mercy was shown as men, women and children were slaughtered. A British monk Adomnan, suggested a Law of Innocents to protect the women and children. The Saxons appear to have rejected this strange concept! Following these early Saxon raids, from around AD430 a host of Germanic migrants arrived in east and southeast England. The main groups being Jutes from the Jutland peninsula (modern Denmark); Angles from Angeln in southwest Jutland and the Saxons from northwest Germany. Much fun and fighting followed over the next hundred years or so as the invading kings and their armies established their kingdoms. Some of these kingdoms survive to this day, and are perhaps better know as these English counties; Kent (Jutes), Sussex (south Saxons), Wessex (west Saxons), Middlesex (middle Saxons), East Anglia (east Angles).
Anglo-Saxon kings wore masks before they started wearing crowns, as monarchs do nowadays
The mighty Midlands kingdom of Mercia (west Angles) grew in importance with its warlike King Offa (757-96), established as Bretwalda, or "Britain Ruler" (King of Kings)! On the subject of King of Kings, Christianity also returned to England, following the departure of the Romans, with the arrival of Saint Augustine in Kent in AD597. The Kentish King Ethelbert was converted to the faith. The church and monastery of Lindisfarne, off the Northumbrian coast, was established in AD635.
From AD793 a new prayer could be heard at Matins across England, "Save us, Lord, from the fury of the Northmen!" The Northmen or Vikings came from Scandinavia. Like the Saxons before them, the Viking onslaught first started with a few bloody raids. The first recorded raids include the sacking of the monasteries at Lindifarne, Jarrow, and Iona. A Micel Here (Great Army) of Heathen Danes landed in East Anglia in AD865. Within nine years the Vikings had attacked and established their rule Danelaw, over the kingdoms of Northumbria and East Anglia, their former Anglo-Saxon kings having been put to the sword. The Vikings also ravaged the once mighty East Mercia, driving King Burgred overseas.
Alfred (The Great) the Saxon king of Wessex (AD 871-99) recognised the opportunity to establish himself as Bretwalda. He added southeast Mercia as well as London and the Thames Valley to his territories and organised Anglo-Saxon resistance to the Viking onslaught. Between AD 912 and AD 954 Anglo-Saxon Wessex conquered Danelaw and the Viking Kingdom of York, exit one Mr Eric Bloodaxe, the last Viking king of York. For the first time, the England of both Vikings and Saxons was united as a country, under the rule of Athelson, grandson of Alfred.
The good times ended with arrival on the throne of Aethelred the Unready. The Vikings had recognised some years earlier that whilst they enjoyed all of that looting and pillaging, just the threat of it was, in most instances, sufficient to extort money from their prey. This protection money, or Danegeld as it was called, was obviously much easier to obtain from a frightened weak king than from a strong one. Aethelred must have been very frightened, as more Saxon coinage has to-date been found in Scandanavia than has been found in England. The country was bled dry. Smelling weakness from the other side of the North Sea, an army of King Sweyn Forkbeard of Denmark conquered England in 1009.
Anticipating that he may have upset Sweyn a little, by having Sweyn's sister killed a few year's earlier, Aethelred fled abroad. Sweyn, was followed by his son Canute, and subsequently his son Harthcanute - The Three Danish Kings of England.
When Harthcanute died in 1042, Edward (later known as the Confessor) was chosen as king. Now, Edward was a Saxon - his real father was Aethelred the Unready. As established previously, anything to do with Aethelred was bad news for England. Edward's mother was from Normandy in northern France. The area had been gifted to the Nor(th)men or Vikings by the king of France, some 150 years earlier. Edward had spent much of his youth in Normandy, and Norman influence was evident in his London court. Amongst many Norman visitors to Edwards's court came the Duke of Normandy himself, a red haired man named William. It was during this visit in 1052 that Edward the Confessor is said to have promised the Crown of England to William.
On the 5th January 1066 Edward died. The Witan (a council of high ranking men), elected Harold Godwin, Earl of Wessex, to be the next king of England. Back at home in Normandy, William had some problems in coming to terms with this decision, and you know what happened next………………….
©HUK
http://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/England-History/index.htm
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