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Alfred the Great
- Alfred the Great was the king of Wessex and Saxon England between 871-899.
www.discovermiddleages.co.uk/kings-and-queens/alfred-the-great/King Alfred the Great King of Anglo-Saxons - Discover Middle Ages
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Wessex, also known as the Kingdom of the West Saxons, was a large and extremely influential Anglo-Saxon kingdom from 519 to 927AD. In this article, we take a look at the Kings and Queens that ruled over the kingdom for almost half a millennium. Ben Johnson. 42 min read.
- King Offa
Offa, his Dyke and his legendary hospitality! Offa was King...
- The Venerable Bede
Written in Latin, Bede reveals how this dramatic conversion...
- Kingdom of Mercia
Mercia was one of the great seven Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of...
- King Offa
This is a list of monarchs of the Kingdom of the West Saxons (Wessex) until 886 AD. For later monarchs, see the List of English monarchs. While the details of the later monarchs are confirmed by a number of sources, the earlier ones are in many cases obscure.
Apr 24, 2023 · Wessex, from the Old English form of ‘West Saxon’ was one of the seven Anglo-Saxon kingdoms. As their dominion expanded through the centuries, the kings of Anglo-Saxon Wessex ruled much of modern-day Kent, East & West Sussex, Hampshire, Wiltshire, Dorset, Somerset, Devon and Cornwall.
Ceadwalla (685–688) recovered the Isle of Wight and South Hampshire, and there was a Saxon monastery at Exeter before 690. Ine (reigned 688–726), the first West Saxon king to issue a code of laws, placed a see at Sherborne (Dorset) for the western areas.
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Æthelstan
- Edmund I
- Eadred
- Eadwig
- Edgar The Peaceful
- Edward The Martyr
- Æthelred The Unready
- Edmund Ironside
- Canute
- Harold Harefoot
Æthelstanruled first as King of the Anglo-Saxons, before becoming the first King of England after conquering York and therefore unifying the kingdom for the first time. During his reign, Æthelstan centralised government to a greater degree and built working relationships with the rulers of Wales and Scotland, who acknowledged his authority. He also...
Although Æthelstan had unified the kingdoms of England to become the first king of all England, on his death England became partially fragmented again, with Viking rule in York and north-east Merciaresuming: something of an initial set back. Fortunately in 942, he was able to re-establish his authority in Mercia, and by 944 he had regained control ...
Relatively little is known about Eadred’s reign: his crowning achievement was to bring the kingdom of Northumbria firmly under the control of the English crown, expelling the Norwegian ruler Eric the Bloodaxe from the region in the process. He never married, and is thought to have suffered from severe digestive problems. On his death in 955, his ne...
Eadwig became king aged just 15: despite, or perhaps because of, his youth, he feuded with his nobles and clergy, including the powerful archbishops Dunstan and Oda. Some accounts suggest these feuds developed because of Eadwig’s inappropriate sexual relationships. His reign became gradually less stable, with nobles loyal to Oda switching their all...
One of the most stable and successful periods presided over by the Anglo-Saxon kings was during Edgar’s reign. He consolidated political unity and ruled firmly but fairly, taking advice from leading nobles and trusted counselors like Dunstan, Archbishop of Canterbury. By the end of his reign, it seemed unlikely England would remain anything other t...
Edward inherited the throne after a leadership tussle with his half-brother Æthelred: their father, Edgar the Peaceful, hadn’t officially acknowledged either son as his legitimate heir, leading to a power struggle after his death. After several months of struggle, Edward was chosen as king and crowned, but factionalism had weakened his authority, a...
Æthelred became king aged 12 after his older half-brother was assassinated. His nickname, the Unready, was something of a word-play: his name literally means ‘well advised’ but the Old English unræd, meaning poorly advised, was similar in lexical terms. Despite making important reforms to coinage, his reign was scarred by conflict with the Danes, w...
Reigning for a mere 7 months, Edmund II inherited a war from him his father, Æthelred the Unready against Canute, leader of the Danes. The country was divided into those who had supported the Danes and those who hadn’t, and Canute’s attempts to take the English throne were far from over. Edmund fought 5 battles against the Danes during his brief re...
Often referred to as Cnut the Great, Canute was a Danish prince. He won the throne of England in 1016, and succeeded his father to the Danish throne in 1018, uniting the two crowns. Whilst there were some cultural similarities which united the two countries, sheer force allowed Canute to maintain his power. He claimed the crown of Norway in 1028 an...
The oldest son of Canute but not his designated heir, Harold Harefoot was elected regent of England on his father’s death as his half-brother, and the true heir, Harthacnut, was stuck in Denmark. Two years into his regency, with Harthacnut still not returned to England, Harold was eventually proclaimed king with the support of several powerful earl...
- Sarah Roller
The Kingdom of the West Saxons, also known as the Kingdom of Wessex, was an Anglo-Saxon kingdom in the south of Great Britain, from around 519 until Alfred the Great declared himself as King of the Anglo-Saxons in 886.
Mar 31, 2023 · Harold Godwinson was the last Anglo-Saxon king of England and, it is believed, the first in the list of English monarchs to be crowned at Westminster Abbey. Victorious at the Battle of Stamford Bridge, Harold was famously defeated by William, Duke of Normandy, at the Battle of Hastings in 1066.
