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 ........................ AD 633 - Mercians under Penda defeat Northumbrians 642 - Mercians under Penda again defeat the Northumbrians 655 - Oswy, king of Northumbria, defeats and kills Penda of Mercia 664 - Synod of Whitby; Oswy abandons the Celtic Christian Church and accepts the faith of Rome: decline of the Celtic Church 731 - Venerable Bede, British monk, completes his history of the Church in England 735 - Death of the Venerable Bede 757 - Offa, King of Mercia (to796): he builds Offa's Dyke to keep out the Welsh 779 - Offa, King of Mercia, becomes King of all England 782 - Charlemagne summons the monk and scholar Alcuin of York to head the palace school at Aachen: revival of learning in Europe 793 - Vikings invade Britain for the first time in a surprise attack on the monastic community at Lindisfarne (Holy Island). 796 - Death of Offa: end of Mercian supremacy in England 802 - Egbert, King of Wessex (to839) 828 - Egbert of Wessex is recognized as overlord of other English kings 839 - AEthelwulf, son of Egbert, King of Wessex (to 858) 844 - Kenneth MacAlpine, King of the Scots, conquers the Picts; founds a unified Scotland 858 - AEthelbald, eldest son of AEthelwulf, King of Wessex (to 860) 860 - AEthelbert, second son of AEthelwulf, King of Wessex (to 865) 865 - AEthelred I, third son of AEthelwulf, King of Wessex (to 871) 871 - The Danes attack Wessex; are defeated by AEthelred at Ashdown 878 - Alfred decisively defeats the Danes at Edington; by the Peace of Wedmore, England is divided between Wessex in the south and the Danes in the north, the Danelaw 886 - Alfred captures London from the Danes 899 - Edward the Elder, King of Wessex (to 924) 901 - Edward the Elder takes the title "King of the Angles and Saxons" 913 - Edward the Elder recaptures Essex from the Danes 924 - Athelstan, son of Edward the Elder, becomes king of Wessex and effective ruler of most of England (to 939) 926 - Athelstan annexes Northumbria, and forces the kings of Wales, Strathclyde, the Picts, and the Scots to submit to him 937 - Battle of Brunanburh: Athelstan defeats alliance of Scots, Celts, Danes, and Vikings, and takes the title of "King of all Britain" 939 - Edmund, brother of Athelstan, King of England (to 946) 945 - Dunstan becomes abbot of Glastonbury 946 - Edred, younger brother of Edmund, King of England (to 955); Dunstan is named his chief minister 955 - Edwy, son of Edmund, King of England (to 959) 956 - Dunstan sent into exile by Edwy 957 - Mercians and Northumbrians rebel against Edwy 959 - Edgar the Peaceful, younger brother of Edwy, King of England (to 975) 975 - Edward the Martyr, son of Edgar, King of England (to 978) 978 - Edward the Martyr murdered at Corfe Castle; AEthelred II, the Unready (ill-counselled), younger brother of Edward the Martyr, King of England (to 1016) 980 - The Danes renew their raids on England attacking Chester and Southampton 991 - Battle of Maldon: Byrhtnoth of Essex defeated by Danish invaders; AEthelred II buys off the Danes with 10,000 pounds of silver (Danegeld) 992 - AEthelred makes a truce with Duke Richard I of Normandy 994 - Danes under Sweyn and Norwegians under Olaf Trygvesson sail up river Thames and besiege London; bought off by AEthelred 1003 - Sweyn and an army of Norsemen land in England and wreak a terrible vengeance 1007 - AEthelred buys two years' peace from the Danes for 36,000 pounds of silver 1012 - The Danes sack Canterbury: bought off for 48,000 pounds of silver 1013 - Sweyn lands in England and is proclaimed king; AEthelred flees to Normandy 1014 - The English recall AEthelred II as King on the death of Sweyn; Canute retreats to Denmark 1015 - Canute again invades England; war between Danes and Saxons 1016 - Edmund Ironside, son of AEthelred II, King of England: he and Canute divide the kingdom, Canute holds the north and Edmund Wessex; Edmund is assassinated; Canute, King of England (to 1035) 1017 - Canute divides England into four earldoms 1019 - Canute marries Emma of Normandy, widow of AEthelred II 1035 - Death of Canute: his possessions are divided; Harold I, Harefoot, becomes King of England (to 1040) 1040 - Hardicanute, King of England (to 1042); he dies of drink 1042 - Edward the Confessor, son of AEthelred II, King of England (to 1066) 1051 - Earl Godwin exiled (until 1052): he returns with a fleet and wins back his power 1052 - Edward the Confessor founds Westminster Abbey, near London 1053 - Death of Godwin: his son Harold succeeds him as Earl of Wessex 1055 - Harold's brother Tostig becomes Earl of Northumbria 1063 - Harold and Tostig subdue Wales 1064 - Harold is shipwrecked in Normandy; while there, he swears a solemn oath to support William of Normandy's claim to England 1065 - Northumbria rebels against Tostig, who is exiled TIMELINE: 1066 AD-1487 AD | |
