![]() ![]() The successor of Edward the Confessor, Harold II managed to defeat Harald III of Norway who claimed the English throne at The Battle of Stamford Bridge in 1066. The most powerful was Godwin, Earl of Wessex whose son Harold was chosen King of England after Edward’s death in 1066. He ruled England from 1042 until his death in 1066 but he was unable to assert his authority over the powerful earls and barons. The sons of Canute the Great turned out to be incapable and the English throne was taken over by Edward the Confessor. The Saxon royal family lived in exile in Normandy during the period of Danish rule but returned to England in 1042. However, the Danish invasions were renewed at the end of the 10th century.ĭanish king Canute the Great conquered England and crowned himself King of England in 1016. His successor Edgar (959-975) managed to unify England and was also recognized overlord by the kings of Scotland and Wales. Edmund took possession of Northumbria in 927 and became the first king to have direct rule over all England. Successors of Alfred the Great, Ethelred and Edmund continued his policy and won back the lost territories. Despite repeated crises of succession and a Danish seizure of power at the start of the 11th century, by the 1060s England was a powerful, centralised state with a strong military and successful economy. ![]() In the 8th and 9th centuries England faced fierce Viking attacks, and the fighting lasted for many decades, establishing Wessex as the most powerful kingdom and promoting the growth of an English identity. However, the Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms were unable to withstand the Danish invasions which started at the end of the 8th century and resulted in the establishment of Danelaw in today’s northern and eastern England. Northumbria, Mercia and Wessex eventually became predominant over other kingdoms but Wessex subdued Mercia and Northumbria during the reign of Egbert of Wessex (802-839). The Anglo-Saxons converted to Christianity in the 7th century and a network of monasteries and convents were built across England. Barbarian invasions resulted in the formation of seven Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms also known as the Heptarchy: Northumbria, Mercia, East Anglia, Essex, Kent, Sussex and Wessex although there were other political units as well which played more important role than it was previously thought. Withdrawal of the Roman legions from Britain was followed by invasions of the barbarian peoples (Angles, Saxons, Jutes, Frisians) who occupied about one half of the British Isles by the end of the 6th century. A rich artistic culture flourished under the Anglo-Saxons, producing epic poems such as Beowulf and sophisticated metalwork. After several centuries of Germanic immigration, new identities and cultures began to emerge, developing into predatory kingdoms that competed for power. When England emerged from the collapse of the Roman Empire, the economy was in tatters and many of the towns abandoned. England in the Middle Ages concerns the history of England during the medieval period, from the end of the 5th century through to the start of the Early Modern period in 1485. ![]()
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