English History: People, places and events that built a country - Robert Peal

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in the south of England, in 871. Aged only 23, he was immediately thrown into the long-running war with the Viking Great Heathen Army, who had by now settled throughout much of England. In 878, a Viking army led by King Guthram attacked King Alfred in Chippenham while he was celebrating Twelfth Night, the last day of Christmas. Alfred escaped the attack, but many of his men were slaughtered. Almost defeated, Alfred retreated to the marshes of Somerset, where he began to organise his counter-attack. Later that year, Alfred defeated Guthram’s Vikings at the Battle of Edington.

      Alfred and Guthrum agreed to divide England by a diagonal line from the mouth of the River Mersey in the north-west, to the mouth of the Thames in the south-east. Alfred ruled the land to the south of this line, and fortified it against any future Viking attacks. In 899, Alfred died. His defeat of the Vikings, and rule of Wessex laid the foundation on which his descendants would build the unified Anglo-Saxon Kingdom of England. Today, Alfred remains the only king in English history to be remembered as ‘the Great’.

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      Following King Alfred’s death in 899, it fell to his son King Edward the Elder to continue the fight against the Vikings. Edward was greatly helped by his older sister Æthelflæd, who ruled much of the English Midlands as the ‘Lady of Mercia’. Famed for her intelligence and strength, Æthelflæd led her armies into battle against the Vikings, winning back their land for the Anglo-Saxons. King Edward was so impressed by his tough older sister Æthelflaed that he sent his own son, Athelstan, to be brought up by her.

      Though he is not much talked about today, some historians say Athelstan should be remembered as the first King of England. When Athelstan became king, Northumbria remained an outpost of Viking power centred around the Viking capital of Jorvik. Athelstan gradually asserted Anglo-Saxon power over Northumbria, and in 937 he won a great victory at the Battle of Brunanburh, against an enormous Scottish, Viking and Northumbrian army. During his reign, Athelstan had new coins minted for his kingdom, on which he gave himself the title Rex Anglorum, meaning ‘King of the English’. For the first time since the Roman conquest, England could be described as a unified country under the rule of a single leader.

      In 1042, the English throne returned to Anglo-Saxon rule under Edward the Confessor. Edward the Confessor was mild-mannered, middle-aged, and extremely religious – hence his title ‘Confessor’. This intense religious faith may explain why King Edward remained childless even after he married. Edward’s failure to provide an heir set the scene for perhaps the most famous event in English history.

      As Edward the Confessor drifted into old age, three claimants started jockeying for the right to succeed him as King of England. Firstly, there was Harold Godwinson, the Earl of Wessex. Harold was a powerful Anglo-Saxon nobleman, and brother-in-law to the king through his sister Edith. Second, there was William Duke of Normandy, a ruthless warrior from France who claimed to have been promised the throne by King Edward back in 1051. Lastly, there was the King of Norway Harald Hardrada, who wanted to return England to Viking rule.

      Edward the Confessor did leave England another historic legacy, aside from an uncertain throne. His life’s work was the construction of Westminster Abbey, consecrated in December 1065, one week before Edward’s death. When completed, Westminster Abbey was the largest church in northern Europe, and has witnessed the coronation of every English monarch since 1066.

      Edward the Confessor died on 5th January 1066. As he lay dying, Edward bequeathed his throne to Harold Godwinson, the Earl of Wessex. On 6th January, Harold was crowned King at Westminster Abbey. He was to be England’s last Anglo-Saxon king.

      The Godwin family were known for their ruthless ambition, but lacked royal blood. Many feared that seizing the English throne had been a step too far. These fears appeared to be confirmed in April 1066 when a burning comet appeared in the night’s sky. Was this a bad omen, showing God’s anger that an illegitimate king now sat on the English throne?

      In September 1066, a Viking invasion force led by Harold Hardrada sailed up the Humber River and took York. Hardrada was accompanied by Harold Godwinson’s treacherous younger brother, Tostig. Harold marched his Anglo-Saxon army north to meet the Vikings, and caught them by surprise on the morning of 25th September at a location named Stamford Bridge. The Anglo-Saxons won a great victory, annihilating the Viking force and killing both Tostig and Hardrada. But this victorious start to Harold’s reign did not last long.

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      No sooner had King Harold vanquished the Viking invaders, he received news that the Duke of Normandy’s invasion force had landed on the south-east coast of England. Harold demanded that his army march the length of England in little over two weeks, and on 14th October they met the Norman invasion force 10 miles inland from the town of Hastings. This battle would decide the course of English history.

      Harold’s army of 7–8000 men men were weak and outnumbered by William’s superior army, which included heavily armoured knights on horseback and archers. In all, the Normans numbered perhaps 10,000 men. Despite this, the Anglo-Saxons started well, creating a defensive shield wall on top of the high ground of Senlac Hill. However, repeated waves of Norman attack slowly broke the Saxon formation.

      What happened next is hotly disputed. According to one story, Harold Godwinson was shot through the eye by an arrow, and then dismembered by Norman knights. This is what appears to be shown in the famous Bayeux Tapestry, a magnificent 70 metre-long embroidered cloth that was created to celebrate the Norman invasion (see picture). After six hours of brutal fighting, William Duke of Normandy was victorious.

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      On Christmas Day 1066, the Duke of Normandy was crowned King William I of England at Westminster Abbey. In the years that followed, William was brutally effective at spreading Norman power throughout his new kingdom. The Normans would respond to any Anglo-Saxon rebellion by descending on their community, burning down their villages and slaughtering their inhabitants.

      Perhaps the most infamous occurrence of Norman cruelty took place in 1069, when William’s newly appointed Earl of Northumbria was murdered by Anglo-Saxon rebels. William was furious, and vowed to make an example of the Northern rebels. His army marched north, and burnt to the ground every village between York and Durham. Farm animals were slaughtered, crops were destroyed, and the fields were laced with salt so that no more food could be grown. Known as the ‘Harrying of the North’, this event led to the starvation of perhaps 100,000 people.

      Other examples of Anglo-Saxon rebellions and resistance took place, but all in vain. Through sheer military superiority, William’s occupying force of 20,000 men were able to subdue a population of two million. England’s era of Anglo-Saxon rule was firmly at an end.

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