Chronology

This is a timeline of historic events, from the departure of the Romans from the British Isles, to the defeat of Harold at Hastings. It is in no way a complete record of all important events, but should serve to give a general idea of the history of the era. I have included some maps along the way to help picture the development of the Anglo-Saxon states.

407 The last Roman troops are withdrawn from Britain

410 The Emperor Honorius tells the British that they must look to themselves for defence

446 The British request military aid from Rome to assist them in their war with the Picts. Rome is unable to help, as they are busy fighting the Huns, who are led by Attila. They also ask the Angles, a Germanic tribe, to assist them.

449 The traditional date for the coming of the Anglo-Saxons to Britain. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle has it that Vortigern, the High King of Britain promised land in the south-east of Britain to some Angles, led by Hengest and his brother Horsa, in return for their military aid. They brought three longships of men. Soon they were joined by many more shiploads of men from the tribes of the Angles, the Old Saxons, and the Jutes. This cannot be regarded as fact - this story is considered to have been legend even by the time of Bede (c. 673-735)

Click here to see a map of where the Anglo-Saxons came from

455 According to tradition, Hengest and Horsa rebel and defeat Vortigern at Aegelesthrep. Horsa is killed. Hengest and his son Aesc rule Kent

c. 450-500 Anglo-Saxon tribes rebel against the British in the south-east

477 Traditional date of the Saxon settlement of Sussex

495 Traditional date of the Saxon settlement of Wessex

500-600 The early Anglo-Saxon kingdoms are consolidated

Click here to see a map of the early Anglo-Saxon kingdoms c. 550

560 Æthelberht becomes king of Kent - later he will be Bretwalda (high king, or over-king of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of Britain)

Click here to see a map of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms c. 584

597 A monastery is founded at Canterbury, in the Kingdom of Kent. St. Augustine arrives in Kent on a mission of conversion. Kent is the first kingdom to convert

616 Raedwald of East Anglia is Bretwalda, and makes Edwin king of Northumbria

c. 624 Raedwald dies - one theory has it that he was buried at Sutton Hoo, and the treasures unearthed there were his burial goods.

Click here to see a map of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms c. 626

626 King Edwin of Northumbria and his court are converted to Christianity

633 Oswald, the new king of Northumbria, becomes Bretwalda

634 The completion of the conversion of the Kingdom of Northumbria

635 Cynegils, king of Wessex, is converted to Christianity

648 The word 'Angelsaxonum' occurs in a private document written in the New Minster at Winchester. This is the first evidence for the use of the compound 'Angelsaxonnes' - which has become 'Anglo-Saxon'.

653 The Kingdom of Essex is converted to Christianity

642 Oswald of Northumbria is killed at Oswestry by Penda, king of Mercia

655 Penda is killed at the Winwaed by Oswy, king of Northumbria. Oswy becomes Bretwalda. Northumbria is the supreme Anglo-Saxon kingdom

655-750 The Anglo-Saxon kingdoms develop into more stable states

655 Heathen Mercia is defeated by the Northumbrians, and is converted to Christianity

664 Synod of Whitby determines the correct manner in which the date of Easter is to be calculated

669 Archbishop Theodore arrives

672 Synod of Hertford - Theodore organizes the Church in England. The battle of Trent marks the beginning of the rise of Mercia to supremacy

679 Northumbria is defeated in war by Mercia

685-688 Caedwalla of Wessex mounts a campaign of expansion and adds Kent, Surrey, and Sussex to his domain

686 Wessex is finally converted to Christianity - it is the last Anglo-Saxon kingdom to convert

716 Æthelbald becomes the king of Mercia

731 Bede completes 'Ecclesiastical History'

735 The see of York is elevated to an archbishopric

757-797 King Offa of Mercia reigns supreme in England as Bretwalda. He is treated as an equal by Charlemagne, the king of the Franks in France, and the first postclassical Emperor of the Western Roman Empire. He demonstrates his power by raising Offa's Dyke, a 120-mile long earthwork bank, 25 feet from the bottom of the ditch to the top of the bank, 60 feet wide, topped with a stockade in just one year! Mercia is the supreme English kingdom

793 The first recorded Viking raids against the English mainland. The monastery at Lindisfarne is one of the victims

800-900 The Anglo-Saxon kingdoms except for Wessex are all but destroyed by the Vikings

825 King Egbert of Wessex annexes Kent, Essex, Surrey, and Sussex. He defeats Mercia in war.

865-867 The Norse 'Great Army' captures York (Jorvik) from the Northumbrians

871 Alfred of Wessex (Alfred the Great) defeats the Vikings at Ashdown, and halts their advance

871-899 Alfred the Great reigns. As king of Wessex he defeats the Vikings. He makes many reforms, including the law

879 Wessex defeats the Vikings in East Anglia

886 Alfred makes a treaty with the Vikings, and the Danelaw is created - England is split into a Viking kingdom, and an Anglo-Saxon kingdom.

899-924 Edward the Elder reigns. The Danelaw is re-conquered including Norse East Anglia (912-917)

918 Norse Mercia conquered by Wessex

919 The part of Mercia that remained in English hands falls to Wessex. The Norse (Viking) kingdom of York is founded by Raegnald

920 Edward becomes the senior English king - all the other kings are sworn to him.

937 Celtic and Viking alliance defeated by the army of Wessex under Athelstan at Bramburgh

954 The last Viking king of York, Eric Bloodaxe dies. King Eadred does much to unify the country

959 England is finally united under one King, Edgar of Wessex, completing the work of the previous King, Eadred

975 Edgar dies - Edward the Martyr becomes king

979 Edward is murdered. Æthelred Unræd (commonly called 'The Unready', but what his Old English by-name actually means is 'the ill-advised', or 'the not advised'). He has poor control over his kingdom

991 The battle of Maldon - Ealdorman (Alderman) Bryhtnoth and the Essex fyrd (levies) choose to fight honourably and allow the Vikings form a shield wall, when they could have kept them bottled-up on an island. They are defeated by the Vikings. Danegeld is paid to the Vikings to stop them ravaging the country

1002 Æthelred  orders that all Danes (Vikings) on English soil be slaughtered

1003 The Danes, under king Swein, invade

1013 The Danelaw accepts Swein as king

1014 Swein dies and his army elect Cnut as their king.

1016 Æthelred dies - Edmund Ironside becomes king. His reign is short lived as Cnut defeats him at Ashingdon, and becomes King of England. He founds the Anglo-Norse dynasty

1017 Cnut divides England up into four earldoms, along the lines of the old kingdoms

1042 Edward the Confessor comes to the throne - the return of the Wessex dynasty and the end of the Anglo-Norse

1051-1052 Godwin, earl of Wessex comes into conflict with Edward

1053 Godwin dies - Harold inherits the earldom of Wessex

1055 Battle of Hereford. The Welsh are defeated

1062-1063 Harold defeats the High King of the Welsh

1064-1065 Earl Harold visits William, Duke of Normandy

Click here to see a map of England c. 1065

1066 Edward dies in January. Harold becomes king in September. King Harold Godwinson defeats the Norse invasion at Stamford Bridge. It is the most decisive battle of the entire era. The Vikings are smashed! After the battle much of the fyrd (the common army of the English) returns home. Harold, his huscarls, and many earls and thanes ride south immediately to give battle to the Norman invaders. Harold is killed at the Battle of Hastings (October). William 'the Bastard' of Normandy takes the throne
 
 

This page was last updated 09/01/00

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