We have covered a long period of time Year 5! Over 600 years of history and change in one term! Today we are going to review our timelines and add some more detail to it.

Anglo Saxon Britain (410AD – 1066AD)With the collapse of the Roman Empire, Angles, Jutes and Saxons quickly began to settle in Britain. At first the settlers remained in small tribal groups, but by the 9th century, England was divided into four kingdoms: Northumbria, Mercia, East Anglia and Essex. The Anglo Saxons avoided Roman settlements, preferring to build their villages from wood.

A reconstruction of an Anglo Saxon village at West Stow

Rome leaves us hanging (410AD)

Rome once the greatest empire in the world was facing trouble in the 5th century. Years of poor rulership and civil had driven the empire to infighting.In the 400’s German tribes began to attack Rome itself forcing Emperor Honorius to recall soldiers back to Italy. This ended Roman occupation of Britain after over 300 years.

Horsa and Hengest (449AD)

Rome had fallen. The Roman Britons had been abandoned. With no armies of their own, the King of Britain, Wurtgern sought the help of the Anglo Saxon mercenaries, Horsa and Hengist against the Scottish Picts.Although his plan was successful and the Picts were driven back, Horsa and Hengest refused to leave. Instead they sent for greater support to their homelands. Soon Britain was in the hands of the Saxons, the Angles and the Jutes.

Battle of Mount Badon (≈ 516AD)While Anglo Saxon settlements began in the fifth century, the native Britons were not as easy to dominate as Hengest and Horsa had predicted. The most famous reversal for the Anglo Saxon invaders was at Mount Badon, probably somewhere in south west England. Here a British leader defeated an army of Angles and Saxons. While the leader’s name was unknown at the time, it has been suspected that this man might have been Arthur, King of the Britons, better known for his round table, his wizard Merlin and his castle - Camelot.

An image showing the Britons led by King Arthur arrayed against the Anglo Saxons

Conversion to Christianity (597AD)The Anglo Saxons had brought their own religious beliefs to Britain. Many of the days of the week are named for their gods i.e. Wodin’s day or Wednesday. Although St Augustine is attributed with the conversion of the Anglo Saxons to Christianity, in reality it was the work of a number of Christian missionaries. The people of Northern England, in particular, were converted by Christians from the Irish Church, first established by St Patrick in 432AD.

An image of St Augustine converting King Ethelbert of Kent to Christianity

Christian King in the North (627AD) When Edwin became King of

Northumbria in 616AD, few of his subjects would have expected him to end his reign as king of a second Christian Kingdom.However, when, in 625AD, he married the princess Aethelberga of Kent, it quickly became clear that he sought to form an alliance with the only other Christian King in England. Two years later, having survived an assassination attempt, he travelled to York, and was baptised a Christian. He would reign for six more years, before being killed in battle with the king of Mercia and his Welsh allies.

Edwin’s conversion to Christianity John Speed - John Speed's Saxon Heptarchy 1611

The first monasteries (633AD)With the death of Edwin in 633, the Christian mission in northern England foundered. Only when Aidan was sent to be bishop in York, at the request of the new king, Oswald, did it regain impetus. Aidan went on to found the monastery of Lindisfarne, off the coast of Northumbria. Here, missionaries were trained who would go on to help convert the rest of Anglo Saxon England. And as a result of this work, Aidan became a saint.

An artist’s impression of the 7th-century monastery at Lindisfarne© Historic England (illustration by Peter Dunn)

Celts versus Romans (664AD)

In the early centuries of the Christian calendar, there had been a number of different ways to worship Christ. In mainland Europe, these divisions were symbolised by the Roman Catholic Church of Rome, and the eastern Church of Constantinople. In Britain, the split was between the Celtic Church of St Patrick and the traditional Catholic Church established by St Augustine. In order to resolve these differences, a synod met in Whitby. Amongst the many things discussed was when Easter should fall, a date that is still followed today.

The Venerable Bede (731AD)The main reason that we know so much about the Anglo Saxon period is down to the work of one man. St Bede, a monk living in Jarrow, near Newcastle, wrote Britain’s first English history, the Ecclesiastical History of the English. In it, he details the role of the church, the kings and the many saints who were venerated during his life. Together with the Anglo Saxon Chronicle, Bede’s history provides a window into life in Britain from the 1st century AD until the beginning of the 8th century.

An Anglo Saxon epic – Beowulf (680 –800AD)

.Around the same time that Bede was alive, an unknown poet first recorded the tale of Beowulf. The story of Beowulf’s battle against the monster Grendel, its mother, and a number of dragons is recognised as the first piece of English literature. While it is impossible to date when it was first told, it speaks fondly of the Danish Vikings, suggesting that it must come before the first Viking attacks on England.

First Viking attack (789AD)

While the many histories describe the attack on the monastery at Lindisfarne as the first Viking attack in Britain, in reality it was in Dorset.When three Viking longships landed near Dorchester, the king’s reeve, Beaduheard, went to meet them thinking, perhaps, that they were traders. He was killed along with his companions. It was a sign of things to come…

How the Danes Came Up the Channel a Thousand Years Ago, Herbert A Bone (Russell-Cotes Museum)

Viking sacking of Lindisfarne Monastery (793AD)While the Anglo Saxon Chronicle mentions the Viking raid in Dorset, the first real evidence of their true intentions came in 793 when the church on Lindisfarne was destroyed.Vikings would continue to raid monasteries and churches along the coast of Britain, seizing gold and silver, and carrying off Anglo Saxons to be slaves, for the next 70 years. However, the Anglo Saxon people quickly adapted to this new threat, and life, for most, continued as normal. And as for the Anglo Saxon rulers, they remained more preoccupied with defeating one another than driving the Vikings off.

Viking raiders sacking Lindisfarne

Vikings defeat (851AD)Having subjugated England, Egbert set about cementing his power. Rather than absorbing the existing kingdoms, he placed his sons on their thrones. So it was that his son, Athelstan, came to rule in coastal Kent. When a Viking fleet was sighted near Sandwich, rather than meeting the Vikings on the land, an Anglo Saxon fleet sailed out to fight them. In the subsequent sea battle, Athelstan drove the Vikings off, capturing nine of their ships. It may have been this sea battle that changed Viking tactics and led to the invasion of northern Britain and the establishment of Danelaw.

Viking raiders accepting defeat

Reconstruction of the battle

Viking Victories (867 -878 AD)When the Vikings returned to Britain in 867AD it was not as raiders, but as invaders. They had assembled a great army and were to make short work of conquering Northumbria, taking advantage of a feud between two of its leaders, Osberht and Aelie, who were fighting one another at the time. The Vikings quickly seized York, renaming it Jorvik. Two years later they marched south, conquered Mercia and East Anglia, leaving Wessex the sole Anglo Saxon kingdom in England.

A king in hiding (AD878)Beset on all sides, life in Wessex was a constant struggle for survival. Anglo Saxon towns became fortresses, ringed with wooden palisades and the scattered homesteads and villages were in constant danger from Viking raids.The inevitable happened in 878AD as Viking armies overran Wessex, forcing Alfred to hide in marshes of Athelney, in Somerset. It seemed that nothing now stood in the way of a Viking rather than Anglo Saxon England.

Alfred the Great, Danelaw and Athelstan (871AD – 937AD)

However, Alfred did not give up. Rallying men loyal to his crown, he built an army ready to face the Vikings. In 878, his forces defeated the Vikings at the Battle of Edington and the Viking leader, Guthrum, converted to Christianity. Despite this, Alfred was forced to agree a treaty with the Vikings, which established the Viking territory of Danelaw. It wasn’t until the English victory over the Vikings at the Battle of Brunaburh in 937 that an Anglo Saxon king could claim to rule over the whole of England. That King was Athelstan, grandson of Alfred the Great.

An Anglo Saxon England (954AD)An uneasy peace had existed in England for nearly twenty years. The Vikings ruled the north, effectively acting as a barrier between the Anglo Saxons and their Scottish rivals. So much so, that when Eric Bloodaxe came to the throne in Jorvik, Athelstan, king of Wessex, actually welcomed him.A hard and despotic leader, Eric was hated by his fellow Vikings and repeatedly had to defend himself against rivals. Eventually he was driven out of Jorvik and killed, ending the line of Viking kings who had ruled in the north for so long.

A coin and its replica minted in York during Eric’s reign

Reconstruction painting of the wooden houses of the Viking-Age city of Jorvik, © York Archaeological Trust

A Viking King (1016AD)Despite the end of Viking rule in Danelaw, the Anglo Saxons and Vikings continued to co-exist side by side in England throughout the next hundred years. However, while the Vikings who had settled Danelaw remained willing to treat the Anglo Saxons as equals, the Vikings of Denmark felt very different. In 1014, after twenty years of sustained raiding, Swein Forkbeard led an invasion of England. Quickly seizing Danelaw, he moved south and forced Aethelred to surrender. Two years later, Cnut, Swein’s son was crowned king of England. He would eventually also become King of Denmark, ensuring a temporary end to warfare between the Vikings and Anglo Saxons.

An artist impression of Swein Forkbeard

The last Anglo Saxon King (1042 – 1066)In 1042, Edward the Confessor, came to the throne of England. A deep thinker, and a very religious man, Edward forged strong bonds with the people of mainland Europe. In particular, he courted the Normans, and their influence increased in the Anglo Saxon court. Edward was often seen as a weak king, more interested in spiritual matters, than ruling his kingdom. Most vocal of his critics was his father-in-law, Earl Goodwin of Essex. Although he was exiled, it was his son, Harold Goodwinson, who was crowned Edward’s successor, in 1066, arguably the last Anglo Saxon King of England.

Battle of Hastings (1066AD)When Edward the Confessor died without a son, there were three men with claims to be King. Harold was Edward’s chosen heir and he was quickly crowned King of England. Immediately he had to travel north to fight off the forces of his exiled brother Tostig. At the same time, William of Normandy, the third claimant to the crown was preparing to sail for Britain. By the time Harold’s exhausted army had defeated Tostig and marched south to fight William, the odds were firmly in favour of William. Even so, it was only when Harold’s defensive shield wall was broken, than William the Conqueror defeated Harold and became King. Harold reputedly died on the battlefield with an arrow through his eye.

Create your own timeline!Your task for today is to create your own timeline to show the Anglo-Saxon period of Britain. From the departure of the Romans to the battle of Hastings you will create quite the timeline. It must have at least 8 points as you are going to be covering a period of over 600 years!

CHALLENGE!

See the second slide and add some additional details about your key timeline events. For example “Why did the Battle of Hastings happen?”