The Full History of the Anglo-Saxons | Documentary

Who speaks in this episode?

• Fire of Learning (Host) · 1 h 5 min speaking

What is discussed, and when

1. 0:00 – 10:00: Gildas, Ambrosius Aurelianis, Bradley Rose, Charles Fleman
2. 10:00 – 20:00: Ethelbert, Chester A. Arthur
3. 30:00 – 40:00: Ben Alfred, Trollwolf II
4. 40:00 – 50:00: Ben Alfred, Ethel Stan, Alfred the Great, Battle of Brunenber
5. 50:00 – 1:00:00: Sven Forkbeard, Ben Alfred, Canute, Edgar the Peaceable
6. 1:00:00 – 1:04:34: Chris Godwin, Edward the Confessor, North Sea Empire, Canute

Notable quotes from "The Full History of the Anglo-Saxons | Documentary"

• There were so few written records left describing it. A main one is the work of Gildas, a monk who lived in the sixth century who wrote the relatively unreliable on the ruin of…

  about Gildas · at 4:24

• In his historium that the leader of the Britain at Mount Ben was a great commander named Arthur. This is the Arthur whose legend would evolve over the centuries becoming the…

  about Chester A. Arthur · at 9:38

• Bring the pagan Saxons to Christ, starting with the king of Kent, Ethlbert. Ethelbert, it seems, was an ideal candidate for multiple reasons.

  about Ethelbert · at 18:32

• Cunning ruler, 1100 years after his death, his name remains known to all Englishmen. His name was Alfred.

  about Ben Alfred · at 36:02

• That the Saxons would be blessed with the third ambitious, strong and competent leader in a row. Ethel Stan's succession nearly led to civil war as though he had the support of Mercia Wessex favored his brother Ellewart.

  about Ethel Stan · at 45:01

• The Viking wrath which the Danegel was gathered to prevent. In 994, the king of Denmark, Sven Forkbeard, laid siege to London and demanded Dnegel to leave.

  about Sven Forkbeard · at 55:57

• Later negotiations that England would be divided between the two kings. Most of it would go to Canute with only Wessix being retained by Edmund. It was also agreed…

  about Canute · at 59:25

• Deaths of these kings in 1042, the English, most notably a prominent figure named Godwin, the Earl of Wessix, one of the most powerful men in England at the time, sought to…

  about Chris Godwin · at 1:01:05

Who and what is mentioned in this episode?

People

• Ben Alfred — Person · 14 mentions · first at 36:08
• Ethel Stan — Person · 4 mentions · first at 45:06
• Sven Forkbeard — Person · 4 mentions · first at 56:03
• Gildas — Person · 3 mentions · first at 4:28
• Canute — Person · 3 mentions · first at 59:29
• Chris Godwin — Person · 3 mentions · first at 1:01:11
• Ethelred the Unready — Person · 3 mentions
• Chester A. Arthur — Person · 2 mentions · first at 9:43
• Ethelbert — Person · 2 mentions · first at 18:37
• Edgar the Peaceable — Person · 2 mentions · first at 50:38
  Edgar the peaceable, as he is remembered, would reign until his death in 975.
• Edward the Confessor — Person · 2 mentions · first at 1:01:38
  Godwin's daughter Edith soon after. The accession of Edward, remembered as Edward the Confessor on account of his piety, was celebrated in England, but met with outrage in…
• Bradley Rose — Person · 1 mention · first at 1:37
  Peoples whose history we have covered in our documentary series. Before we begin, we would like to thank Bradley Rose, Charles Fleman, Cory Stewart, and Mad Macaroni Cream for…
• Charles Fleman — Person · 1 mention · first at 1:39
  Our documentary series. Before we begin, we would like to thank Bradley Rose, Charles Fleman, Cory Stewart, and Mad Macaroni Cream for being our most recent supporters on…
• Cory Stewart — Person · 1 mention · first at 1:39
  Our documentary series. Before we begin, we would like to thank Bradley Rose, Charles Fleman, Cory Stewart, and Mad Macaroni Cream for being our most recent supporters on…
• Mad Macaroni Cream — Person · 1 mention · first at 1:39
  Our documentary series. Before we begin, we would like to thank Bradley Rose, Charles Fleman, Cory Stewart, and Mad Macaroni Cream for being our most recent supporters on…
• Hangus — Person · 1 mention · first at 6:47
  It is said that Vortigern met with two Anglo-Saxon chieftains, brothers named Hangus and Horsa, and offered them a deal. If they agreed to drive off the pits, he would grant…
• Ambrosius Aurelianis — Person · 1 mention · first at 8:55
  Gradual Saxon progression halted when the Britains led by a leader named Ambrosius Aurelianis met them at the battle of Monsbonicus or Mount Ben. The location of Mount Ben much…
• Trollwolf II — Person · 1 mention · first at 39:11
  Under Alfred, claims the Vikings had controlled Mercia through a puppet they had placed on its throne named Trollwolf II. However, in the late 870s or early 880s, Trollwolf…
• Alfred the Great — Person · 1 mention · first at 41:07
  Vikings accepted defeat and returned to the various lands from which they had assembled. Alfred the Great, as he would be hailed centuries later, died in 899.
• Ethelwald — Person · 1 mention · first at 41:33
  Hard. However, Edward's rule would be challenged upon his accession by his cousin, Ethelwald. For the record, the reason that so many people among the nobility were named Ethel…
• Ethelfled — Person · 1 mention · first at 42:53
  In 9/11, Ethel, Lord of the Mercians, likely ailing for years, died. He was succeeded by his wife Ethelfled, who you will recall was King Alfred's daughter and thus King…
• Ragnald — Person · 1 mention · first at 44:09
  Danes of York were conquered by Norwegian Vikings from Ireland under Ragnald of the Eivvar or Ivar dynasty.
• Harold Godwinson — Person · 1 mention · first at 1:02:51
  On the king with Edward becoming essentially a puppet. When Godwin died in 1053, his son Harold Godwinson ascended to his position and maintained a hold over Edward. Edward died childless in 1066.
• Ethelred — Person · 1 mention
• Horsa — Person · 1 mention
• Venerable Bede — Person · 1 mention
• William, Duke of Normandy — Person · 1 mention

Concepts & topics

• North Sea Empire — Concept · 2 mentions · first at 1:00:10
  Denmark and in 1028 king of Norway. This extensive dominion is referred to as the North Sea Empire. This was not a single kingdom or state, but a term used by historians to…
• Battle of Brunenber — Concept · 1 mention · first at 48:05
  England to make war on Ethan. Ethan and his brother Edmund assembled the army and met them at the battle of Brunenber in the autumn of that year. Brunenber would be remembered…
• Battle of Maldin — Concept · 1 mention · first at 55:06
  In 991, the English met the Danes at the Battle of Maldin, where they were defeated. Following this battle, Etheld, now a man of perhaps 23, was advised to buy the Danes off with silver.

Full transcript with timestamps

0:10 410 AD. The crumbling Roman Empire has abandoned the island of Britain, leaving the people there, the Romano Britons, to their own fate. Chaos reigns as warlords scramble to fill the power vacuum, and raiders from abroad assault virtually every corner of the former Roman province. Amid this tumultuousness, Germanic peoples from the continent traverse the North Sea and arrive on the island not merely to raid but to challenge the rule of the Romano Britain and establish their own order on the island. History knows these peoples as the Anglosaxons.

0:45 The Anglo-Saxons would not only establish a lasting presence on the island of Britain, but gradually forge the modern nation of England itself. However, this was not a guaranteed future. Not long after establishing roots on the island, they too would face the threat of invasion and conquest when invaders from Scandinavia known as the Vikings came to establish themselves on the island. The Anglo-Saxons would have to fight these Vikings for their very survival. In this video, we will discuss the full history of Anglo-Saxon England from the first Saxons to arrive on the island to the eve of the fateful year of 1066 AD. Ladies and gentlemen, hello and welcome to Fire of Learning's history of nations and peoples documentary series.

1:28 Thank you for joining us as we add the Anglo-Saxons to the list of nations and peoples whose history we have covered in our documentary series. Before we begin, we would like to thank Bradley Rose, Charles Fleman, Cory Stewart, and Mad Macaroni Cream for being our most recent supporters on Patreon. They join these supporters listed here who helped to make videos like this possible. Now then, let's get to it. While we have just released a documentary video on the history of Roman Britain, let us briefly recap its history to set the scene. In 43 AD, the Roman Emperor Claudius sent his army to invade the island of Britain. Britain at this time was inhabited by a number of warlike Celtic tribes who valiantly resisted Roman occupation for decades.

2:17 But these tribes were slowly, one by one, mostly defeated. The Romans occupied most of what is today England and Wales up to Hadrien's Wall in modern northern England, the land beyond which they never reliably held. These were ruled by the northern tribes of Britons and beyond them peoples known as the Picts. The Romans ruled Britain for centuries. In that time, the island became somewhat Romanized. This was especially true in the southeast where the advancements of Roman civilization were most evident in cities like Camulun and Londinium. In the north and west, the presence of Roman civilization was less felt, and life continued somewhat like it always had, albeit because of the presence of the Roman military, more quietly. In the 3rd and fourth centuries, the Roman Empire began to slowly crumble. Civil wars and barbarian invasions rocked the empire amid its many other problems. Because Britain was

3:12 a distant province, it was spared some of the strife, but not all of it. And for the same reason, it was also among the first to be abandoned when the troubles became severe enough to threaten the very survival of the empire. Troops were often taken from Britain for conflicts affecting the empire's core. This left Britain open to raiders from abroad, namely Ireland, Scotland, and the coasts of the North Sea, who wre havoc across the island. In the late 4th century, Britain had devolved into a shell of its former self with the presence of Roman civilization rapidly deteriorating. In the early fifth century, the situation had become very grave and the Romans abandoned Britain altogether. In 410, the Romano Britain wrote to the emperor Henorius requesting aid, but he responded informing them that they would have to see to their own defense. Thus, this date is traditionally held to mark the

4:05 end of Roman Britain. the Western Roman Empire itself would not long outlive it. Our understanding of British history in the next few centuries that followed, a period which marks the beginning of the Middle Ages, specifically the early Middle Ages, is relatively poor because there were so few written records left describing it. A main one is the work of Gildas, a monk who lived in the sixth century who wrote the relatively unreliable on the ruin of Britain. But apart from that, we only hear about this era in pieces until the venerable bead and the Anglo-Saxon chronicle in the 8th and 9th centuries respectively, which though they drew from now lost contemporary sources, were written hundreds of years after the events were about to describe took place. So take this opening section especially with a grain of salt. In Rome's absence, a number of Romano Britain warlords arose across the island to fill the void and

5:00 provide stability and protection to their people, or at least try to. Regardless of how bravely they stood against the raiders who were hitting them from essentially each side, they were being overwhelmed. To make matters worse, the Britain did not stand united and may very well have been at war with each other throughout this period. Sometime around the first half of the fifth century, dates are not very clear in this period. One of these struggling Romano Britain warlords, a ruler in the southeast referred to as Vortigern, came up with a temporary solution that would permanently change the island's history.

5:33 Set the Britain's enemies against each other by paying one group of raiders to drive off another. As mentioned, the peoples who raided Roman Britain at this time primarily hailed from three places. Gales from Ireland, picss from modern Scotland, and Germanic peoples from the continent along the shores of the North Sea. As we mentioned, these peoples had been periodically attacking the Britons since the 3rd century. However, the collapse of Western Rome in the fifth century would broaden their opportunities on the island radically.

6:05 None of these peoples acted as a single cohesive group, but belonged to a number of different tribal groups, which were generally themselves further subdivided. Regarding the Germanic raiders, the most well attested and important groups were the Saxons of modern northern Germany, the Angles of modern southern Denmark and northern Germany, and the Utes of Northern Denmark. Other groups like the Fians of the lands were present as well. For the sake of simplicity, these Germanic groups coming into Britain are often collectively referred to by the name of the two most prominent tribes, the Anglosaxons or even just the Saxons.

6:42 It is said that Vortigern met with two Anglo-Saxon chieftains, brothers named Hangus and Horsa, and offered them a deal. If they agreed to drive off the pits, he would grant them land to settle in what is today Kent in southeastern England. The chieftains agreed. It isn't actually certain that Vortigern, Hangust, or Horsa really existed. They're regarded as real mortal figures in the works of Bead. Hangus and Horsa in particular seem to have been Germanic versions of the mythological protoindo-uropean divine twins, equivalents of the Gemini. Regardless, it may very well still be the case that a British ruler invited Germanic mercenaries onto the island in this manner to fight off the raiders coming from modern Scotland and Ireland around this time. This was not Vortigern's unique original idea. The Romans across the empire had been increasingly employing barbarian mercenaries called Federati to fight their battles for them

7:40 in the centuries before this. In Roman Britain itself, Saxon mercenaries had been employed to defend against raiders, including other Saxons, as early as the 3rd century AD. But this time, this arrangement would not end so well, as was so often the case throughout this period. The Anglo-Saxons did drive off the pigs and as agreed were granted land in Kent to settle. Eventually, however, this uneasy partnership fell apart. It isn't clear exactly why. Gildas tells us only that at some point the Saxons began to complain that they were not receiving sufficient monthly supplies from the British king and threatened to break their agreement and plunder the land if this did not change. Gildas says that soon threats were followed up with deeds. War waged for many years between the Britain and Saxons with the Britain suffering on the losing end for much of it. Many other bands of Anglo-Saxons followed their kinsmen to Britain not

8:39 merely to plunder but now to claim the lands of the Britons for themselves. As the years passed, they cut deeper and deeper into the island. But at some point roughly around the year 500, the gradual Saxon progression halted when the Britains led by a leader named Ambrosius Aurelianis met them at the battle of Monsbonicus or Mount Ben. The location of Mount Ben much like many other details about this battle is lost to history, but historians believe it likely did happen. And what is written is that it was a great victory for the Britain that turned the tide of the struggle for the island for a time.

9:15 Following the battle, Gildas claims that there was a relative peace that existed in Britain throughout much of the first half of the 6th century. Though the Anglo-Saxons were nowhere near expelled, they retained control of much of the east of the island and intended to stay there. This merely commenced the stalemate. 300 years after these events in 828 a Welsh author named Nennius would claim in his historium that the leader of the Britain at Mount Ben was a great commander named Arthur. This is the Arthur whose legend would evolve over the centuries becoming the legendary king who ruled in Camelot alongside his knights of the round table by the high middle ages. While historians are fairly certain that strange women lying in ponds distributing swords was not the basis of British government in this time, they are even doubtful that Arthur existed at all, even as a 6th century British commander. It should be said

10:09 though that there is more to this conversation than we're able to devote time to here. While peace had come, great damage had been done. The Roman lifestyle did not necessarily disappear from Britain entirely in 410 AD. Exactly. Some aspects had disappeared before this, others carried on for a few decades after. However, these conflicts did cause much of what was left of the wealth and prosperity of Roman Britain to decline relatively quickly and significantly. The cities became smaller and fell into ruin. Some cities and towns were abandoned altogether with the Britain's moving to occupy more defensible areas like the hill forts that their pre- Roman ancestors inhabited and took up a lifestyle similar to theirs. Trade declined. Many technologies involving things like plumbing and construction would not be seen here again for centuries. Some even a millennium or more. It is not clear how many Saxons were arriving in Britain

11:06 in this time. Some historians have argued that it was a large number who displaced the Britons altogether, while others argue that the invading Saxons were fewer in number and established themselves as a dominant warrior elite who simply ruled over the native British majority. In many cases, it seems both situations may have occurred in different regions, but overall, historians lean towards the belief that it was primarily small numbers of Saxons who took over as a dominant elite. Regardless, Anglo-Saxons and Britons did live side by side in many cases and would gradually merge into a single society, though this relationship was not founded on equality. Much of the rest of the Western Roman Empire was conquered by Germanic tribes similar to the Saxons as well at the same time who also established themselves as dominant minorities in the lands they conquered.

11:55 But there would be much more cooperation between the Romans and Germanic peoples on the continent such that a blending of cultures occurred. As a result, today the legacy of the Romans remains much more obvious in countries like Italy and France than it does in Britain. In Britain, Anglo-Saxon society became dominant, and the society of the Romano Britain seems to have been rejected and even suppressed in favor of it. This is evident in the religious, linguistic, cultural, and legal developments that would take place here, which deviate from developments on the continent.

12:28 Regarding language, for example, the Anglo-Saxons spoke Germanic languages, which would evolve into what we today call old English. As we discussed in our video from April of 2025 titled What Happened to Britain's Romance Language, which we will remind you of at the end of this video for those interested, unlike the other Germanic invaders of previously Western Roman territories, the Anglo-Saxons would not adopt Latin, and thus English is not a romance language, but remains a Germanic one. Latin influence is very strong in modern English, especially for a Germanic language. But most of this did not enter English in this time. It entered much later via the Normans. It is worth noting that as we alluded to, Latin did not remain spoken by the Romano Britain for long either, even those outside of Anglo-Saxon society who went back to speaking the Celtic brethonic languages of their ancestors. These languages

13:23 would evolve into the Welsh, Cornish, and Breton languages of today. The Britain within the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms would begin to adopt Old English. For the record, the Saxons did not adopt much from the Brethonic language either. There is very little Celtic influence in English, old or modern. Regarding religion, the Anglo-Saxons followed a form of Germanic paganism, which they seem to have pushed onto the native population, which at this point seems to have been majority Christian. This was also a deviation from what happened on the continent. More on that later.

13:56 Regarding law, as we see in examples such as the law code of Eno of Wessix, which was written in the 7th century in Anglo-Saxon society, the punishment for committing a crime against the Britain was less than the Saxon. Not all Britons were willing to accept life as secondclass citizens in the kingdoms being established by the Saxons. Some fled to the western half of the island into the various British kingdoms, which remained free and held their ground against the Saxons. Some fled across the channel to settle land in what is today the northwest corner of France. Their descendants remain there in the region that is known as Britany to this day.

14:33 Continuing to speak the aforementioned Britain, a Celtic language descended from Brethonic. How many Britons fit into each of these categories remains a subject of debate. Before we continue, we would like to take a moment to ask that you give this video a like if you do in fact like it, and consider subscribing to our channel and hitting the bell button to support us and keep up with more videos like this in the future. Now, back to the video. It seems that by around the year 550, conflict between the Britons and Saxons began again. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle claims that in 577, an army led by Chowolin, king of an Anglo-Saxon kingdom called Wessix, scored a great victory over a few British kings at the battle of Durham, which allowed them to take the settlements of Bath, Glouester, and Sirencester. The Britain were then forced to retreat further into the western edges of the island. The Britain

15:29 of modern Cornwall and Devon were now cut off from those of modern Wales by land, thus encouraging the divergence of their cultures. By this point, the Anglo-Saxons had divided the territory they had conquered into a number of distinct kingdoms. While the details concerning the origins of these kingdoms are murky, it is around this time that we see the development and emergence of the key players. By roughly 600 AD, it seems that there were around seven dominant Anglo-Saxon kingdoms on the island and a number of minor ones, each ruled by their own king. The term heptarchy, the rule of seven, has traditionally been used to describe this era. Though historians now generally dislike this term because the number of kingdoms and the power they each held would fluctuate throughout this period.

16:13 Regardless, these dominant seven were North Umbrea, a kingdom founded by angles, which as the name denotes, lay north of the river Humber in northern England and was formed in the beginning of the 600s by the unification of two smaller kingdoms called Bernissia and Dura. The other two major kingdoms founded by the Angles were Murcia which lay in the center of the island and East Anglia on its easternmost edge. South of these were the major kingdoms founded by the Saxons. Wessix, Sussex, and Essex or the kingdoms of the West, South and East Saxons, respectively. The final major kingdom was that of Kent in the bottom right corner of the island which was founded by the Utes. While the exact religious situation in Britain at the time is uncertain, Christianity seems to have become dominant here in the mid-Vth century around the same time as the rest of the Roman Empire. As mentioned, while the majority of Britain were Christians,

17:08 the Anglo-Saxons were Germanic pagans. The religious practices of the Anglo-Saxons varied regionally, but they had many shared aspects. Their beliefs are not fully understood, but there is a very clear relation between what they believed and what the Norse of the Viking age whose beliefs are better understood believed. Prominent Anglo-Saxon Issa or gods included two, the equivalent of tier, Woden, the equivalent of Odin, Thunor, the equivalent of Thor, and Fri the equivalent of Freak. Traces of their religion remain in English culture to this day. For example, you may recognize the names of these gods from your calendar. While essentially all other Germanic peoples who invaded Roman lands in this time would adopt one form of Christianity or another, the Saxons would not be influenced by the religion of the Britons. As Winston Churchill noted in his history of the English-speaking peoples, the divide

18:04 between Britons and Saxons may have been so stark that the former hardly even tried to convert the letter. However, as the power of the Anglo-Saxons grew, more influential Christian peoples became concerned with their conversion. In 597, a group of Benedicting monks from Rome, led by a monk named Augustine, landed in the Kingdom of Kent. Their mission given to them by Pope Gregory the Great himself, was to bring the pagan Saxons to Christ, starting with the king of Kent, Ethlbert. Ethelbert, it seems, was an ideal candidate for multiple reasons.

18:42 Firstly, he was probably already fairly well acquainted with Christianity and relatively tolerant of it on account of the fact that he was married to a Christian princess from Frankia across the channel. Secondly, Ezelbert was a very powerful ruler whose conversion would have influenced the other Saxon kings to some extent. He is sometimes referred to as a Brett Walda, a term meaning roughly high king, suggesting a certain degree of influence over at least some of the other Anglo-Saxon kings. However, many historians regard the word Bretoalda as an imperfect and possibly at this time at least anacronistic term and so we will avoid it for now without ignoring the reality that some kings did hold such influence.

19:25 In his mission, Augustine would be successful in converting Ethelbert and much of the kingdom of Kent. Augustine would then reside in Canterbury, the capital of Kent, for the rest of his life, serving as the first archbishop of Canterbury, a position which would retain great importance throughout the history of England at the center of English Christianity into the modern day. Influenced by the church, Ethelbert of Kent also became the first Anglo-Saxon king to create a written code of laws. While Augustine had difficulty convincing many outside of Kent, the door was now open for Christianity and the Gregorian mission would continue. Though it was not alone.

20:03 In the preceding centuries, what is today Ireland and Scotland had been brought Christianity by figures such as St. Patrick and St. Columba. Patrick himself actually having been a Romano Britain. Now, the church in these lands sought to bring Christianity back to the parts of Britain that had become pagan. However, the church here referred to by historians as the insular church or the Celtic church was not entirely on the same page with Rome. The insular church was not a distinct united separatist church. Rather, it was a product of semiisolation which had led the Christians here to adopt practices and beliefs which differed somewhat from what Rome decreed. Even though they viewed themselves as a part of the same church, there were regional variations within Britain and Ireland that differed as much from each other as they did from Rome. For the record, the insular church was also working hard to convert and

20:55 influence the Saxons. North Umbrea, for example, wavered between insular and Roman customs until its king Ow decided to embrace Rome in 664 at the sinet of Whitby. The Saxon decision to side with Rome would encourage insular Christianity to fade and conform to Rome slowly over the centuries. All of the Anglo-Saxon kings had converted to Christianity by 687, though the broader population most certainly clung to pagan beliefs for some time longer. This conversion linked the Saxons much more closely to the rest of the continent.

21:30 Returning to the political developments on the island, it must be emphasized that the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms did not develop as faithful comrades perfectly united against the Britons. As their power grew and their borders met, they quickly became rivals and often found themselves at war with each other. Throughout the 7th century, three kingdoms emerged to eclipse, dominate, and even sometimes absorb the others. North Umbrea, Mercuria, and Wessix. North Umbrea and Mercuria in particular would battle for supremacy throughout much of the 7th century. Under rulers like Edwin, Oswald and Oswu, North Umbrea enjoyed a great degree of territorial acquisition and a position of dominance throughout much of the century. However, Mercian rulers like Penda and Vulhira would quite seriously disrupt the sgemony for noteworthy periods. In 685, North Umbrean dominance began to wne following the death of their king Edge. Mercuria then rose to

22:25 dominance throughout much of the 8th century. In 716, Ethel became king of Mercia. He would extend his kingdom's territory throughout much of the Midlands and beyond, including London, and exert power and influence on the other Saxon kings. Bead tells us that all kings and provinces south of the river Humber were eventually subject to Ethal. And thus, his reign is said to have begun the period known as the Mercian supremacy. In a charter from 736 known as the Ismir diploma, Ethelbald is referred to as Rex Brattoni, King of Britain. Ethel Bald's reign ended in 757 when he was murdered by his own guards for reasons unknown to history. A civil war followed his death from which a nobleman named Offa would rise victorious. It seems that during this civil war, Mercia's hold over its surrounding territories weakened to a significant extent. In his 40-year reign as king, Offa would not only reestablish

23:25 and maintain the power and influence that Ethel had won for Murcia, but even surpass it. Offa seems to have regarded himself as Rex Anglorum, king of the English. And indeed, he was seen this way even outside Britain. For example, he was addressed as such by the Pope himself. The great Frankish emperor across the channel, Charlemagne, seems to have treated him and the North Umbrean king as the only true Anglo-Saxon kings. This is interesting in that it not only demonstrates his power but also the perspective that people had developed in this age. Alafa was not the first to use words like anglorum or in the Anglo-Saxon tongue words like angl or angulin. Earlier that century, bead had titled his famous work Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Anglorum, the ecclesiastical history of the English people. While this was not quite the beginning of the kingdom of England, as we understand it today, we do see

24:21 that the various Germanic peoples on the island had begun to conceive of themselves as something of a single English people by the 8th century. Like all other Saxon kings, however, Afa could not establish rule over the Britain of the rugged countryside to his west. Conflict with the kingdoms here, specifically the Kingdom of Pace, was a regular occurrence throughout his reign. At some point, it seems he began, or at least heavily contributed to, an earthen barrier between his kingdom and those of the Britain of this land, which would come to extend across much of the border. Known to us as Offas Dyke, the details surrounding its construction are largely unknown. It may, for example, have been mutually agreed to by the Britain and Saxons. Regardless, the divide it created was enduring. It would roughly, though not exactly, mark the border between England and Wales to this very day. The term Wales has its origins

25:15 in this time. It is an exonym, a term from the old English word whale, plural whales, meaning foreigner. Henceforth, the Britain of Wales will be called the Welsh. The Welsh endonym or a name for themselves for the record is Camry, meaning fellow countrymen. Apart from Wales, Cornwall and Britany, which we have already discussed, there was also another prominent hold out of the Britain in what is today southwestern Scotland and northwestern England in a region known to the Welsh as I henog the Old North. Often forgotten on account of the fact that much less of their history was recorded and unlike Wales and Cornwall, their culture no longer survives. The Britain here would endure for centuries, particularly in the Kingdom of Strathclyde. Offa died in 796. The mercy and supremacy would begin to wne after his death with the kingdom of Wessex beginning to present itself as a threatening challenger. However, none

26:11 of the Saxons yet knew it. But a much larger storm was brewing. A storm which would come to cover the whole of England and threaten the very survival of all of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms. The Anglo-Saxons had now lived, worked, fought, ruled, and died on the island of Britain for over 300 years. They had successfully rested control of much of the island from the Romano Britains, driven off the pits and gales from the kingdoms they created, and established deep roots in the land. But now, a new contender from across the sea had set their sights on Britain. Indeed, by this point, they had already struck. These invaders are known as the Vikings, and they would change English history forever.

26:59 The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle tells us, quote, Ano Demini 793, this year came dreadful for warnings over the land of the North Umbreans, terrifying the people most woefully. These were immense sheets of light rushing through the air and whirlwinds and fiery dragons flying across the ferment. These tremendous tokens were soon followed by a great famine. And not long after, on the sixth day before the eyides of January in the same year, the harrowing inroads of heathen men made lamentable havoc in the church of God and holy island by rapine and slaughter. End quote. The holy island mentioned here was an island off the coast of North Umbrea called Lindesfarn. The heathen men who made lamentable havoc here, Vikings.

27:44 Lindesfarn was home to a monastery which was not only prestigious but wealthy and most importantly unprotected. Indeed, the monasteries of this age were often built in relative isolation from the rest of society in order to encourage the monastic lifestyle. This worked relatively well in a Christian society as the monks were often not only left alone but even sponsored and revered. But the Vikings as pagans held no such reverence for them. Rather than an offlimits area, the wealthy and defenseless monastery became a target.

28:15 And on June 8th, almost certainly June, not January, as the chronicle says, of that year, they plundered it. The Lindes foreign raid was not the first Viking raid in England. Not even the first on record. In fact, the first on record, also mentioned in the chronicle, occurred in a coastal town in Wessex 6 years prior. This record states, quote, "In the days of King Bertrick came first three ships of the Northmen from the land of robbers. The Reeve then rode there too and would drive them to the king's town, for he knew not what they were, and there was he slain." These were the first ships of the Danish men that sought the land of the English nation." End quote. However, Lindesfarn is often cited as the beginning of the Viking age because of how dramatic and shocking it was. While the frequency of raiding and warfare is perhaps exaggerated in discussions of the dark ages, it was a fact of life in early

29:09 medieval Europe. But for the defenseless monks of a prominent center of Christianity to be slaughtered by strange heathens from a far-off land who appeared quite suddenly out of the blue on their long ships drew the attention and fear of all christrysendom and signal the beginning of something quite new. Lendisfarn may not have been the first, but it was far from the last Viking raid. The Vikings were not a single united force, nor did they even regard themselves as a single people, but belonged to a number of separate small chieftdoms and kingdoms from across Scandinavia, specifically what is today Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. At the time, they raided and fought with each other more than they did foreign cultures. Raiding parties themselves, furthermore, which usually consisted of only a few dozen to a few hundred men at most, often acted independently, even if they pledged loyalty to a local ruler in

30:01 Scandinavia. The Vikings, which would trouble England specifically, were primarily from Denmark, and thus they were often referred to as Danes, though many Norwegians and even some Swedes were active in Anglo-Saxon England as well, though the Norwegians were more active in Scotland and Ireland and the Swedes in the East. More general terms like northmen and Norsemen were also used in this time, but the term Viking or Viching in old English was not yet used to refer to these raiders specifically, but to pirates in general.

30:33 The exact reasons that the Vikings pounced on Europe when they did remains a subject of debate, but their arrival marked a shift not only in the history of Britain, but of all Europe. Britain would not be the only location that would be struck by the Vikings throughout this period. The Slavs, Germans, Franks, Baltz, even Bzantium and the Islamic world would be subjected to Viking violence, plundering, and enslavement. But with Britain being right next door to the Viking homeland, it would bear the brunt of their activities. As an island, the Vikings could quite easily strike a huge portion of Britain quite suddenly, and as was often their tactic, leave before an organized resistance could be mounted.

31:12 While the Viking raids were extraordinarily disruptive, they did not initially come to conquer or settle. Initially, their interest was only in raiding the portable wealth of England and taking it home to Scandinavia. That would one day change, however, but for now, following the horrendous raids on Lindesfarn as well as places like Jerro and Iona, there would be a lull in Viking activity in Britain for a generation. But they would be back. Meanwhile, in the south of England, in 802, Edgebert became king of Wessix. A strong and capable ruler, Edgebert would begin to challenge the hegemony of Mercia and King Offazair, inevitably leading to a major clash. In 825, Edgebert and his forces met the Mercians at the battle of Elandon. Ellen was a decisive victory for Wessix. It marked the end of the Mercian supremacy and the rise of Wessix as the dominant power in England. Edbert would now hold sway over

32:08 Kent, Suri, Essex, and Sussex alongside his own kingdom, and in 829 became ruler of all the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, including Mercuria and North Umbrea. While Edgebert was now king of all Anglo-Saxons, this was still not quite the beginning of the Kingdom of England, for his rule was not direct over all of them, and he held this position only briefly, for later, in the same year, Mercuria would regain his independence. Still, the idea of an England under one king was something that had perhaps begun to be conceived of and was something Edgebert's descendants would take great interest in. In 835, the Vikings returned to raid the Saxons on a regular basis. The Anglo-Saxons would see some successes against them and carry on with many of their own affairs, but in general, the severity of the Viking threat grew and became more and more disruptive as the years passed.

33:01 Respit from the Vikings was often gained only by paying them off which many local rulers were now forced to do. The Anglo-Saxon chronicle tells us that in 850 the Vikings wintered in England for the first time. Coincidentally, this was on the island of Thinnet off the coast of Kent where Vortigern is said to have first granted land to the Anglo-Saxon mercenaries. In 851, the Vikings sacked both London and Canterbury, but were defeated in battle by Etcher's son and successor, King Etheol of Wessix. Eventually, the nature of the Viking incursions began to change. In 865, the largest single force of Vikings which had ever gathered on English soil up to that point landed on the coasts of East Anglia. A force remembered as the great heathen army.

33:48 Led at first in part by three of the sons of the semi-leendary king Ragnar Lordbrook, Halon Ragnar, Uba, and Ivar the Boneless. The army was a coalition of a number of different Viking groups. The size of the army is a subject of debate, but is roughly estimated to have been around a few thousand, though more would come. For the record, the size of armies throughout this period was generally quite a bit smaller than the Roman period across much of Europe, and so this was a considerable threat, even though England was perhaps home to a million or so people. The army is remembered not only for its size, however, but its purpose. Emboldened by their successes against the Saxons, the Northmen were not here merely to plunder and pillage England, but now to take it for themselves and become its rulers.

34:35 The East Anglian king secured a peace with the Danes by paying them off. And so instead, they directed their conquest north, moving there on the backs of East Anglian horses. Ragnar Lord is said to have been executed by the North Umbrean king Ayah, who dropped him into a pit of snakes. In 867, the sons of Lord Broke would avenge their father. The great heathen army captured the capital city of North Umbrea, a city dating to Roman times called Aoperich, which the Vikings would call Yorvik and which is today called York. Aya was killed in battle.

35:08 The kingdom of North Umbrea was then divided along the river Tease as Bernia and Dra had been centuries ago. To the south, the Viking Kingdom of York would form. To the north, the Anglo-Saxons centered in Beanberg, modern-day Bamber, would remain largely free of Danish settlement, most especially in the land north of the River Tine, though they would periodically clash with the Vikings. Over the course of the next decade, the army would continue its conquest of England. In 871, the Vikings were reinforced by a force known as the Great Summer Army. One by one, the Anglo-Saxon lands fell to the Vikings until by 878, there was but one kingdom fully free of their rule. Wessix. The Dne's intention was to complete their conquest and now move to subjugate Wessex as well. But even in the face of this title wave, Wessex's king was not prepared to back down. A strong and cunning ruler, 1100 years after his

36:05 death, his name remains known to all Englishmen. His name was Alfred Alfred. Alfred was not initially likely to be king. Three of his older brothers were king before him, but each died young, and thus the throne was left to him in 871 around the age of 23. He had already seen battle against the Vikings on multiple occasions by the time of his succession, distinguishing himself, especially at the Battle of Ashdown earlier that year in which Wessex defeated the Danes. As his reign began, he was able to buy the Vikings off, allowing him time to organize his forces, build up his navy, and build fortifications around his country. But in 876, time had run out. A force of Danes that had split off from the main force led by a yl named Guam marched on his domain and made war on him. In January of 878, a surprise attack on the West Saxons during Epiphany celebrations sent Alfred and his men running to the

37:04 bogs of Somerset. Here they would remain, fighting a guerilla war against the Northmen until May. The future of England clung on in these marshes. It was in May that Alfred and his men emerged from the marshes, gathered his forces, and met Guthram's army at the Battle of Edington. Each army here numbered roughly around 4,000 men. The Welsh monk Oscer describes the outcome of the battle in his biography of Alfred, saying, quote, "The next morning at dawn he moved his standards to Edington, and there fought bravely and perseveringly by means of a close shield wall against the whole army of the heathen, whom at length, with the divine help, he defeated with great slaughter, and pursued them flying to their stronghold." End quote. The victory over the Danes was decisive. Guthram would surrender not long after. As part of their agreement, Guthram and many of his men would convert to Christianity with

38:04 Guthram even changing his name to a Christian one, Ethostan. This was far from the end of the Viking conquest. Wessix was only one kingdom and had defeated only one Viking force. Guthram, or as he was now, Ethlstan, retained his kingdom in East Anglia, and the rest of England lay in Viking hands as well. But at Edington, Alfred had done nothing less than save England from total Viking subjugation. A line between the lands of the Saxons and Danes would soon be established. The land subjected to the Danes would be known collectively as the Dne Law. The free Saxons were subject to Wessex and Alfred.

38:45 Alfred's peace was only with Guthram. Other Viking groups continued conducting small raids in his land and the threat of another major invasion was likely. Thus, Alfred continued constructing a network of fortified settlements called burrs across his land so that any assault anywhere in the country could be speedily dealt with. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, which was begun in Wessex under Alfred, claims the Vikings had controlled Mercia through a puppet they had placed on its throne named Trollwolf II. However, in the late 870s or early 880s, Trollwolf died or disappeared and Ethel became leader of the western half of Mercuria with the eastern half remaining in the Danlaw. Etheld would lead western Mercuria away from Viking control and aligned himself with Wessex.

39:33 As we have seen, even before the arrival of the Danes, though partly held in place by the sword, the Anglo-Saxons had been gravitating towards greater political consolidation and cooperation, such that single rulers held sway over many, if not all, of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms for transient periods. The arrival of the Vikings would strengthen the ties between the Saxons. However, to align himself with Wessex, Alfred required Ethel Red submission to him. Weakened by the Danes as well as conflicts with the Welsh, Etheld was forced to accept. As such, Ethel was not king of Mercuria, but lord of the Mercians. To cement their ties, Ethel Red married Alfred's daughter. Ethel fled. Around the same time, in 886, Alfred took London from the Vikings and returned control of it to the Mercians.

40:24 For the record, while it was an important city, London was not the capital of either kingdom. The capital of Mercuria was Tamworth, while the capital of Wessex was Winchester. As the king of all free Anglo-Saxons, Alfred now began to style himself as such, King of the Anglo-Saxons. Some coins from this time period titled Alfred Rex Anglorum, King of the English. Major war would return in either 892 or 893 when a fleet of over 300 Viking ships landed in Kent. At battles such as Farnum and Buddington, however, these Vikings were repelled once more. And in 896, the Vikings accepted defeat and returned to the various lands from which they had assembled. Alfred the Great, as he would be hailed centuries later, died in 899.

41:14 He was succeeded as king of the Anglo-Saxons by his son Aadwir Edward. Edward appeared, much like his father, to be a strong and cunning ruler, capable of retaining the accomplishments for which his father had worked so very hard. However, Edward's rule would be challenged upon his accession by his cousin, Ethelwald. For the record, the reason that so many people among the nobility were named Ethel something or other was essentially because the prefix Ethel indicated nobility. Ethel Wald fled to North Umbrea where, according to the chronicle, he was made king. He still sought the throne of Wessex, however, and in this quest he was able to attract support from some Danes.

41:55 However, he and one of his allies, the East Anglian king Aoric, fell at the battle of the Holm in 902 against Wessex. And thus, in spite of the fact that their army had defeated Wessex here, it had no reason to continue. In the early 900s, it is uncertain when exactly, war came again in Northern Mercia with the Danes of York, who were reinforced by Norwegian Vikings from Ireland. This fighting concluded with the battle of Tetanhal, where the Mercians and West Saxons scored a great victory in which three Danish kings perished and the remaining Danes fled back into North Umbrea. With York crippled, the other Viking kingdoms in Britain suddenly found themselves significantly threatened by a mighty Saxon resurgence. The tides had now turned. After Tetanhal, Edward began to move on them.

42:47 In 9/11, Ethel, Lord of the Mercians, likely ailing for years, died. He was succeeded by his wife Ethelfled, who you will recall was King Alfred's daughter and thus King Edward's sister. In 914, the Danes were relieved by an invasion of Vikings from the continent. Though this invasion was a failure. Three years later, in 917, Edward and Ethel fled. Each pressed hard to proclaim the lands of the Danlaw south of the Humber. By 918, they were victorious in this goal. All of England south of the Humber was once more in Anglo-Saxon hands. Edward extended to the Danes the right to remain in his kingdom and even allowed some of them to retain their lands and continue to live by their own customs, something many of his successors would do as well. But it was his kingdom. This fact he would soon assert on the Mercians as well. That same year, shortly before the end of the conflict, Lady Ethel died. Her intention was to be

43:47 succeeded by her daughter Elwin. But within months of Elfwin's rule, Edward arrived and deposed her, claiming Mercia's throne for himself. As direct ruler of all the Saxons south of the Humber, he may very well have determined to march north of it and claim York as well. However, in 919, the weakened Danes of York were conquered by Norwegian Vikings from Ireland under Ragnald of the Eivvar or Ivar dynasty. Ireland, for context, had also suffered heavily from both Viking raiding and conquest, with portions of the island occupied and ruled by Scandinavians at this time. Ragnald would recognize Edward as Lord, but this recognition was quite tenuous and seems to have ended in York when Ragnald died and was succeeded by his cousin Seagrigger. Edward died in 924. He had built heavily upon the foundation laid by his father, freeing many more Saxons from Danish rule, bringing strength and unity to his

44:41 kingdom and doubling its size. He was succeeded by his 30-year-old son, Ethan. Ethan then received the daunting task of living up to his two elders, and ideally finishing the great task to which they had devoted themselves. It was during this very dark time in English history when there is so little room for error that the Saxons would be blessed with the third ambitious, strong and competent leader in a row. Ethel Stan's succession nearly led to civil war as though he had the support of Mercia Wessex favored his brother Ellewart.

45:16 However, Elfir died within a few weeks of his father which prevented the breakup of his domain. However, friction between these separate Saxon kingdoms who had become accustomed to working together but not yet being under the same king remained. In 926, Ethel Stan sent his sister to marry the Viking King Sie Trigger of York. Sie Trigger lived long enough to witness the birth of his son and thus Ethan's nephew, but then died in 927. His son was declared his heir, but upon hearing the news, Sieger's brother, Guthri, traveled from Ireland to York to be his regent.

45:52 However, Ethel Stan soon arrived as well and drove Guthri out of North Umbrea. Ethan then incorporated the kingdom of York into his domain and soon received a submission of the Earl of Bamber as well. Now his kingdom which now stretched to the first of fourth encompassed almost all of modern England which made him the direct king of all the Anglo-Saxons or king of the English. While his accomplishments were built upon the foundation laid by his predecessors. It is because he was the first king to rule over all English people directly that he is regarded by historians as the first true king of England. 927 then is regarded as the year of England's birth. His grip even extended beyond England. He was recognized as a kind of overlord by the Welsh kings, King Owen of the Britain of the Kingdom of Strathclide and King Constantine of Scotland. As such, he was titled Rex Totous Breatani, King of all

46:51 Britain. These peoples had regarded his father as their, as the chronicle describes it, father and lord as well. But Ethl Stan's reach was now even greater, perhaps too great. In 934, war came with Scotland. Many details about this war, including the very reason it was even fought, are not known, but it seems to have ended in an English victory, as Constantine returned to recognizing Ethan as overlord. Though this did not necessarily ensure total obedience. Around the same time as this, Olaf, son of Guthri, had become king of Viking Dublin in Ireland. He resented Ethlstein for driving his father out of York and began to communicate with King Constantine and King Owen.

47:38 Neither of these kings were content living under the thumb of Ethost, but neither could challenge him directly, nor could Olaf. However, combined, they could pose a significant threat. Together they began to plot and in 937 they struck. Strathclide Scotland and Viking Dublin united and marched into England to make war on Ethan. Ethan and his brother Edmund assembled the army and met them at the battle of Brunenber in the autumn of that year. Brunenber would be remembered for years as the great battle. The size of each army is not known, but they are said to have been roughly equal in size. After a long fight, the English took the field, though only just. Ethstan's enemies were defeated and fled back to their homelands. But his army too had been heavily battered to the point that Brunenber may have been a pirick victory. Still, as Frank M. Stanton wrote in his book Anglo-Saxon England, quote, "The battle has a distinctive

48:38 place which made for the ultimate unity of England. It associated Mercians and West Saxons in the common memory of a great achievement which blurred the traditions of their ancient wars. It was not decisive of the future as Alfred's victory at Edington had been, but it set the seal of a dramatic success on the work which Alfred had begun. End quote. Ethel Stan died 2 years later in 939. He had never married nor produced an heir, and thus he was succeeded by his brother Edmund. After Ethel Stan's death, York and even part of Mercuria, specifically a region known as the five burrows, referring to the five main settlements of Danish Murcia, were briefly taken by the Norris under Olaf Gruson and then by his cousin Olaf upon the former Olaf's death. North Umbrea, like Wessix, had reservations about being united with the other Saxon kingdoms and thus welcomed Olaf. Edmund set out to reclaim these

49:34 territories in 942, but troubles continued and loyalties continued to flip in North Umbrea until Edmund's brother and successor Aadrid reigned it back into the kingdom permanently in 954. By now, it must seem that the lives of the Anglo-Saxons consisted of trying to get by amid constant chaos, warfare, and hardship. While these events did happen and did deeply affect those living in England at the time, it is important to remember that we are compressing the events of several human lifetimes into a single hour or so long presentation, focusing on the highlights of that huge time span. If we were to zoom in, we would find that most people spent most of their lives occupied with significantly less dramatic affairs, namely raising a family, working on a farm, and practicing Christianity.

50:23 Aad died in 955 and was succeeded by his nephew Aadwig. The kingdom became divided as Aadwig quarreled with his brother Edgar until the former's death in 959 allowed the latter to rule unopposed over the whole of England. Edgar the peaceable, as he is remembered, would reign until his death in 975. As this moniker would suggest, England experienced a period of relative peace throughout his reign as he was substantially less burdened by the Vikings than his ancestors. CW Hollister argued that this was likely owed to his proficiency in military affairs which deterred attacks. While a period without Danish assaults, it was not a period without the influence of the Danes. Many of the descendants of the Scandinavians who had traveled to England and settled there throughout the past century remained in England as subjects of its kings. The effects of the Scandinavian presence remain visible in England to

51:19 this very day. The arrival of the Danes onto the shores of Britain from the 9th century onwards played out in a somewhat similar way to the arrival of the Anglo-Saxons in the fifth century. Pagan warriors from across the North Sea, establishing themselves as dominant minorities over the Anglo-Saxon majorities. Viking leaders would seize Anglo-Saxon lands and distribute them amongst their followers with the Anglo-Saxon peasants now paying their taxes to their new Viking lords. A lasting mark of their presence comes in the form of many place names scattered across England. Settlements in England with the suffixes of B and Thorp in particular tend to have Norse origins suggesting that they were founded by or more often as much of the country appears to have already been settled by the time of their arrival renamed by the Vikings. Another larger mark left by the Norse is found in the English language

52:11 itself. The language of the Vikings, called Old Norse, was similar to old English, such that they were even somewhat mutually intelligible, meaning that a speaker of one could often work out what a speaker of the other was saying without having to learn the other's language. Recall, of course, that many Vikings came from roughly the same area that the Saxons had only a few centuries prior. This encouraged cohesion between these groups to a somewhat greater extent. That being said, there were important differences.

52:41 Old Norse influence would begin to make its way into the English language, and it remains there to this day. What the Anglo-Saxons called Rathu or Wrath, the Vikings called anger, anger. What the Saxons called Blea or Bllythe, the Norse called hipin or happy. What the Saxons called a shanka or shank, the Norse called a leger or leg. Words like awkward boulder egg fellow gang irk ill knife mistake o rug skill skull, sky, trash, window, and even words that are very basic to daily conversation, such as the third person plural pronoun they, the conjunction and adverb though, and the noun walrus have Norse origins as well. However, the Norse would also conform to Saxon culture in many ways, especially when the Saxons had retaken their lands. An obvious example of this is their conversion to Christianity. As mentioned, when the Danes arrived on British shores, they did so as Germanic pagans who followed a religion very

53:48 similar to the one that the Saxons ancestors did. Gradually, however, they would adopt Christianity. Among the first of the Viking lords in England to do so as we saw earlier was Guthram following his defeat at Edington. Edgar the peaceable was succeeded in 975 by his son Edward. Edward however was assassinated. It is unknown who was ultimately behind the assassination or why exactly it occurred but the result was his half-brother Etheld coming to the throne in 978. Ethel Red was around the age of 10 or so when he came to the throne and thus affairs were handled by various other officials until the mid 980s. Ethel Red had inherited a kingdom that was soon to be embroiled in conflict once again. In the 980s, the Danes returned and raided various English settlements. By this point, the Scandinavians had, like the Saxons, begun to coalesce into united kingdoms led by individual kings, namely the

54:45 Kingdom of Denmark, the Kingdom of Norway, and the Kingdom of Sweden. Furthermore, Christianity had begun to make significant inroads into the Scandinavian homeland itself, with the Danish king Herald Bluetooth having converted in 965. The presence of the Danish raiders intensified in the 990s. In 991, the English met the Danes at the Battle of Maldin, where they were defeated. Following this battle, Etheld, now a man of perhaps 23, was advised to buy the Danes off with silver. Etheld was not the first Anglo-Saxon king to buy the Vikings off. Even the great Alfred had done so when it was necessary. But Ethel Red is remembered by historians for having done so in an ineffective manner. The taxes he collected to make this payment are referred to by historians as Danegeld, meaning Danish tribute. As the Danes realized that it was far easier to demand this tribute than to plunder England, they would repeatedly return

55:43 and demand it. Etheld would not always acquies, but did often enough for this to be a defining feature of his reign. To make matters worse, he would delay in paying it in some instances, which meant his kingdom suffered unnecessarily from the Viking wrath which the Danegel was gathered to prevent. In 994, the king of Denmark, Sven Forkbeard, laid siege to London and demanded Dnegel to leave. Etheld obliged him as he would oblige the Danes again in 1002. It was in 1002, shortly after paying this tribute, however, that Ethel Red made a move against the Danes. According to the chronicle on November 13th, St. Bryce's day, Etheld, evidently fearful that the Danes within his territory, including some in his service as mercenaries, were plotting against them, ordered a massacre of them. The number slain in this massacre is not known, but historians tend to believe that rather than a total onslaught, it was only a

56:41 few hundred Danes under specific circumstances. However, it may have nevertheless led to the deaths of a few Danes of high standing, including Gonhilda, the sister of Sven Forkbeard, the king of Denmark. Regardless of the circumstances, the St. Bryce's Day Massacre enraged the king of Denmark, who swore revenge. He returned and for 3 years ravaged England until Ethel Red once more paid him Dane in return for a truce. Ethel Red attempted to use the piece he had purchased to construct a fleet to defend against the Danes, but as the chronicle tells us, its leaders rebelled and fought with each other.

57:19 Some ships were lost in a storm. Others were abandoned. Between 1009 and 1012, England was paged by the Danish warlord Thorl until he too was bribed with Danegel. Ethel Reded's reign was not the most prosperous. In 1013, Sven Forkbeard returned again. Like his ancestors over a century prior, this time he came not to raid, but to make England his own. His odds were promising. Ethel Reded's hold over his kingdom was weak, and his people were exhausted by these conflicts and payments. Sven pushed through England, and by the end of the year, Etheld had been driven from England across the channel into his brother-in-law's court in Normandy. and Sven Forkbeard, king of Denmark and now Norway as well, was proclaimed king of England. Because of his disastrous reign, Etheld would be remembered to history as Etheld the Unready. Unready meaning illconsled. This was a play on his name with Etheld meaning noble

58:19 council or well advised. He was well advised the ill- advised. However, he was not finished yet. In 1014, after having sat on England's throne for only a little over a month, Sven died. He left the English throne to his son Canon. However, the English people sought the return of Etheld on the condition that he govern more justly. Etheld returned to invade his occupied kingdom and drove Canon back to Scandinavia. Once back in power, Etheld would not rule more justly, punishing and assassinating subjects that had sided against him. This triggered a rebellion in the north led by his own son and heir Edmund. Canut returned in 1016. Ethel Red died of natural causes before he could meet him in battle. The throne then passed to Edmund, later known as Edmund Ironside because of his bravery in battle. Edmund soon after met Canoot at the Battle of Ashington in that year. Valeris though Edmund II may

59:18 have been, he would not find victory. He was crushed at Ashington and forced into a humiliating treaty. It was agreed in later negotiations that England would be divided between the two kings. Most of it would go to Canute with only Wessix being retained by Edmund. It was also agreed, furthermore, that upon the death of either of these kings, the portion of England that was under their control would be inherited by the survivor. The English would not have to ponder their future for long. Edmund died only a month later under uncertain circumstances and in accordance with their agreement Canute added Wessex to his domain. He now ruled the whole of the country. It was a reversal of everything the line of Alfred had worked for. In 1018 Canut became king of Denmark and in 1028 king of Norway. This extensive dominion is referred to as the North Sea Empire. This was not a single kingdom or state, but a term used by

1:00:15 historians to refer to the three separate kingdoms held in personal union by Kenoot. Nevertheless, Kenut was still an extraordinarily powerful ruler. To solidify his rule over England, Kenut would marry Eser the Unrey's widow, Emma, and drive out or execute many potential rivals to his throne. On the whole, the reign of Canute the Great, as he would later be known, was prosperous. With a Viking as king of England, not King of the English as his predecessors had titled themselves. The Viking raids on England came to an end. He died in 1035. The three kingdoms of his North Sea Empire went to separate rulers after his death. He was succeeded in England by his son Herald and then by hearthoot, both of whom reigned for only a few years, neither of whom were regarded well by the English. Following the deaths of these kings in 1042, the English, most notably a prominent figure named Godwin, the Earl of Wessix, one of

1:01:13 the most powerful men in England at the time, sought to bring one of their own back to the throne. This was Edward, son of Ethel the Unready, who had been residing in exile in the court of his mother in Normandy. In fact, Edward had already been brought to England and welcomed by Hearth as his heir shortly before his death. Edward married Godwin's daughter Edith soon after. The accession of Edward, remembered as Edward the Confessor on account of his piety, was celebrated in England, but met with outrage in Norway. King Harukanoot of England had made an agreement with Magnus the king of Norway that if one of them died without an heir, the other would inherit his kingdom. This is precisely what happened in 1042 when died without a son. By their agreement, Magnus had a claim to the English throne. But Edward and his people were not prepared to recognize it. Magnus was burdened by affairs in

1:02:08 Scandinavia and would not be able to enforce his claim before he died in 1047. But his son and successor Herald Hardrada would inherit the claim. While Edward the Confessor's accession was welcomed, he was not a strong king. During his reign, the Earls noblemen who administered and governed subdivisions of the kingdom called Earlddoms were able to act with a great degree of autonomy. When Edward tried to check there, specifically Godwin and his family's power, going so far as to remove him in the early 1050s, they rebelled and successfully forced him to reinstate them. Following this, Godwin of Wessix was able to tighten his hold on the king with Edward becoming essentially a puppet. When Godwin died in 1053, his son Harold Godwinson ascended to his position and maintained a hold over Edward. Edward died childless in 1066.

1:03:02 Supposedly, he left his throne to the man behind it. But as we shall see in the next video in this series, this was to be quite contested. Across the sea, Harold Hardrada, had not forgotten about his father's claim to the throne. Furthermore, across the channel, another figure, William, the Duke of Normandy, had something to say about the succession as well. The result of this contest would change England forever, such that 1066 stands out as one of the most prominent years in the history of the entire nation. For fans of the series, we have received a number of questions about whether or not we are going to remake our England part two documentary, the one from 2017, which we have since removed. The answer is that we are instead remaking both England videos altogether and breaking them into several separate videos, which is what this video and the previous one on Roman Britain are. We will not be uploading

1:03:56 these videos one after the other, however, because something unusual is going on with the algorithm, which we have to fix. We hope you enjoyed this video. If so, we invite you to come check out the rest of Fire Learning, especially our most recent videos on Roman Britain and the video on the fate of British Latin we mentioned earlier, and to subscribe to see more videos like this in the future. To support the channel, there is a link to our Patreon in the description. A special thanks to our current supporters listed here. This video was made without the use of AI.

1:04:26 This has been a history of nations and peoples documentary. Thank you for watching.

Questions about this episode

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Fire of Learning (Host).

What is discussed in "The Full History of the Anglo-Saxons | Documentary"?

In order: 0:00 Gildas, Ambrosius Aurelianis, Bradley Rose, Charles Fleman; 10:00 Ethelbert, Chester A. Arthur; 30:00 Ben Alfred, Trollwolf II; 40:00 Ben Alfred, Ethel Stan, Alfred the Great, Battle of Brunenber; 50:00 Sven Forkbeard, Ben Alfred, Canute, Edgar the Peaceable; 1:00:00 Chris Godwin, Edward the Confessor, North Sea Empire, Canute.

What is mentioned in this Fire of Learning episode?

30 people, works and ideas are mentioned, including Ben Alfred, Ethel Stan, Sven Forkbeard, Gildas, Canute, Chris Godwin. Each one on this page links to its own page with every episode that mentions it.

How long is "The Full History of the Anglo-Saxons | Documentary"?

The episode runs 1 h 5 min; the transcript is about 10,764 words in 80 timestamped sections.

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