- published: 16 May 2009
- views: 226
- author: Kirk Metcalfe
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- Anglo Saxon
- Anglo-Saxons
- Baghdad
- Baltic Sea
- Baptism
- Basing
- Battle of Ashdown
- Battle of Edington
- Battle of Hastings
- Battle of Marton
- Battle of Tettenhall
- BBC
- Belgium
- Berkhamsted
- Birklands
- Black Sea
- Blood eagle
- Blood of the Vikings
- Borough
- British Isles
- Bronze Age
- Burgred of Mercia
- Burial mound
- Chester
- Chippenham
- Christian
- Cnut the Great
- Cognate
- Constantinople
- County town
- Danelaw
- Danish language
- Denmark
- Derby
- Derbyshire
- Dnieper River
- Dorset
- Eadulf I of Bernicia
- Ealdorman
- Earl
- East Midlands
- Eboracum
- Edgar the Ætheling
- Edmund the Martyr
- Edward the Confessor
- Edward the Elder
- England
- English Heritage
- English language
- Eric Bloodaxe
- Essex
- Exeter
- Faroe Islands
- Frank M. Stenton
- Godparent
- Grammatical person
- Great Heathen Army
- Greenland
- Guthrum
- Halfdan Ragnarsson
- Hampshire
- Harald Hardrada
- Harald Hardråde
- Harald III of Norway
- Harold Godwinson
- Harold Harefoot
- Harold II of England
- Hebrides
- Hiberno-Norse
- Hoxne
- Iceland
- Ingleby, Derbyshire
- Ireland
- Ivar the Boneless
- Jutland
- Kievan Rus'
- Kingdom of England
- Law
- Leges Henrici Primi
- Leicester
- Leicestershire
- Lincoln, England
- Lincolnshire
- Lindisfarne
- London
- Longhouse
- Lynmouth
- Magnus I of Norway
- Marton, Wiltshire
- Mercia
- Mjöllnir
- Normandy
- Norse-Gaels
- North of England
- North Sea Empire
- Northumbria
- Nottingham
- Nottinghamshire
- Odda of Devon
- Odin
- Old East Norse
- Old English
- Old English language
- Old Norse
- Orkney
- Pennines
- Plural
- Polabian Slavs
- Pronoun
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- Pyrrhic victory
- Raven banner
- Reading, Berkshire
- Rolls Series
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- Rutland
- Scandinavia
- Sherwood Forest
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- Sussex
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- Sweyn II of Denmark
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- Tostig Godwinson
- Ubbe Ragnarsson
- Ukraine
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- Wales
- Wareham, Dorset
- Weregild
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- Æthelwold of Wessex
-
Baghdad
Baghdad (Arabic: بغداد, Baġdād, IPA: [bæɣˈdæːd]) is the capital of Republic of Iraq, as well as the coterminous Baghdad Province. The population of Baghdad as of 2011 is approximately 7,216,040, making it the largest city in Iraq, the second largest city in the Arab World (after Cairo, Egypt), and the second largest city in Western Asia (after Tehran, Iran).
Located along the Tigris River, the city was founded in the 8th century and became the capital of the Abbasid Caliphate. Within a short time of its inception, Baghdad evolved into a significant cultural, commercial, and intellectual center for the Islamic World. This in addition to housing several key academic institutions (e.g. House of Wisdom) garnered the city a worldwide reputation as the "Center of Learning". Throughout the High Middle Ages, Baghdad was considered to be the largest city in the world with an estimated population of 1,200,000 people. The city was largely destroyed at the hands of the Mongol Empire in 1258, resulting in a decline that would linger through many centuries due to frequent plagues and multiple successive empires. With the recognition of Iraq as an independent state (formerly the British Mandate of Mesopotamia) in 1938, Baghdad gradually regained some of its former prominence as a significant center of Arabic culture.
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Battle of Ashdown
The Battle of Ashdown, in Berkshire (possibly the part now in Oxfordshire), took place on 8 January 871. Alfred the Great, then a prince of only 21, led the army of his brother, King Ethelred of Wessex, in a victorious battle against the invading Danes.
Accounts of the battle are based to a large extent on Asser's "Life of Alfred", however there is some dispute about whether this is an authentic account.
The West Saxons had a slight advantage in numbers (around 800 to 1000 men) but the Danes held the high ground. The battle was little more than a great clash of shield walls and resulted in a victory for Alfred. The battle, however, was not decisive. This was a pyrrhic victory, for a great many lives were lost on each side and the Danes were subsequently able to win several victories after receiving reinforcements. Nevertheless, the hard fighting may have made the Danes more cautious in their raids into Wessex, preferring easier targets.
The Danes, full of confidence after successes at Reading and nearby, marched west to attack the Saxons who had retreated up onto the Berkshire Downs to reassemble their armies. Alfred had to act quickly to avoid disaster. The King’s troops had to be mustered from the surrounding countryside without delay. Alfred reputedly took his favourite white mare and rode up onto Blowingstone Hill (near Kingston Lisle), where stood an ancient perforated sarsen stone, called the 'Blowing Stone'. Anyone with the appropriate skill could generate a booming sound from this stone, by blowing into one of its holes. Alfred took a deep breath and blew hard. He did it exactly correctly and a great boom blew out across the Downs. From all over the surrounding country, men were stirred from their beds and they knew it was time to gather and defend their homes.
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Battle of Edington
Coordinates: 51°26′25″N 02°14′32″W / 51.44028°N 2.24222°W / 51.44028; -2.24222 At Battle of Edington an army of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Wessex under Alfred the Great defeated the Great Heathen Army led by Guthrum on a date between 6 and 12 May AD 878. It ultimately resulted in the Treaty of Wedmore the same year.
The first Viking raid on Anglo-Saxon England is thought to have been between AD 786 and 802 at Portland in the Kingdom of Wessex, when three Norse ships arrived and killed King Beorhtric's reeve. At the other end of the country, in the Kingdom of Northumbria, during AD 793 the Holy Island of Lindisfarne was raided. After the sacking of Lindisfarne the raids around the coasts were somewhat sporadic till the 830s, when the attacks became more sustained. In 835, heathen men ravaged Sheppey. In 836, Ecgberht of Wessex met in battle a force of thirty-five ships at Carhampton, and in 838 he faced a combined force of Vikings and Cornishmen at Hingston Down in Cornwall.
The raiding continued and with each year became more and more intense. In 865/866 it escalated further on the arrival of what the Saxons called the Great Heathen Army, the size of which has been estimated at between five hundred and a thousand men, which was under the leadership of the brothers Ivar the Boneless, Ubbe and Halfdan Ragnarsson. What made this army different from those before it was its intent. Its arrival began "a new stage, that of conquest and residence". By 870, the northmen had conquered the kingdoms of Deira and East Anglia, and in 871 they attacked Wessex. Of the nine battles mentioned by the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle during that year, only one was a West Saxon victory; but in this year Alfred succeeded his brother Ethelred, who died after the Battle of Merton.
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Battle of Hastings
Coordinates: 50°54′43″N 0°29′15″E / 50.91194°N 0.4875°E / 50.91194; 0.4875
The Battle of Hastings occurred on 14 October 1066 during the Norman conquest of England, between the Norman-French army of Duke William II of Normandy and the English army under King Harold II. It took place at Senlac Hill, approximately 10 km (61⁄4 miles) northwest of Hastings, close to the present-day town of Battle, East Sussex, and was a decisive Norman victory.
Harold II was killed in the battle—legend has it that he was shot through the eye with an arrow. He was the last English king to die in battle on English soil until Richard III was killed at the Battle of Bosworth Field. The battle marked the last successful foreign invasion of the British Isles. Although there was further English resistance, this battle is seen as the point at which William gained control of England, becoming its first Norman ruler as King William I.
The battle also established the superiority of the combined arms attack over an army predominately composed of infantry, demonstrating the effectiveness of archers, cavalry and infantry working cooperatively together. The dominance of cavalry forces over infantry would continue until the emergence of the longbow, and battles such as Crecy, Poitiers and Agincourt in the Hundred Years War.
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Battle of Tettenhall
The Battle of Tettenhall (sometimes referred to as the Battle of Wōdnesfeld) took place, according to the Anglo Saxon Chronicle near Tettenhall, on the 5 August 910. The allied forces of Mercia and Wessex met an army of Northumbrian Vikings in Mercia. The allied army scored a great victory over the Viking force, the last major army sent by the Danes to ravage England.
After successful raids by Danish Vikings, significant parts of North-Eastern England, formerly Northumbria, were under their control. Danish attacks into central England had been resisted and effectively reduced by Alfred the Great, to the point where his son, King Edward of Wessex, could launch offensive attacks against the foreigners. Edward was allied with the Mercians under his sister Æthelfleda, and their combined forces were formidable. The allies launched a five-week campaign against Lindsey in 909, and successfully captured the relics of Saint Oswald of Northumbria.
The Vikings quickly sought retaliation for the Northern excursion. In 910, the Danelaw Kings assembled a fleet and transported a Danish army, via the River Severn, directly into the heart of Mercia. There they ravaged the land and collected large amounts of valuable plunder, but quickly sought to return North rather than be trapped in hostile territory. They knew King Edward was away, massing a fleet of ships in Kent. However, to the surprise of the Danes, the King met with his Mercian allies and moved to surround the raiders. The Vikings' found their way to Bridgnorth was blocked by the allied army. Unable to reach their exit route to the sea, and pursued through hostile land by Edward and Aethelfleda's forces, they were forced to choose battle.
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Belgium
Belgium (
i/ˈbɛldʒəm/ BEL-jəm), officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO. Belgium covers an area of 30,528 square kilometres (11,787 sq mi), and it has a population of about 11 million people. Straddling the cultural boundary between Germanic and Latin Europe, Belgium is home to two main linguistic groups, the Dutch-speakers, mostly Flemish (about 60%), and the French-speakers, mostly Walloons (about 40%), plus a small group of German-speakers. Belgium's two largest regions are the Dutch-speaking region of Flanders in the north and the French-speaking southern region of Wallonia. The Brussels-Capital Region, officially bilingual, is a mostly French-speaking enclave within the Flemish Region. A German-speaking Community exists in eastern Wallonia. Belgium's linguistic diversity and related political conflicts are reflected in the political history and a complex system of government.
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Berkhamsted
Coordinates: 51°46′N 0°34′W / 51.76°N 0.56°W / 51.76; -0.56
Berkhamsted (
/ˈbɜrkəmstɛd/) is a historic town in England which is situated in the west of Hertfordshire, between the towns of Tring and Hemel Hempstead. It is also a civil parish with a designated Town Council within the administrative district (and borough since 1984) of Dacorum.
The town's most prominent role in national affairs took place in early December 1066. Duke William of Normandy, having defeated the English army at Hastings, then crossing the River Thames at Wallingford. In Berkhamsted he was met by a delegation of the English establishment. He accepted the surrender of the English led by Aetheling Edgar (the heir to the King Harold II's English claim to the Throne of England), Archbishop Aldred, Earl Edwin, Earl Morcar and the chief men of London who swore loyalty to William in return for good government. He was offered the crown there but instead said he would accept the keys to London in Berkhamsted but would accept the crown of England in London. Thus, in Berkhamsted, William of Normandy, William the Bastard, became William the Conqueror. On Christmas Day 1066 William was crowned William I of England in Westminster Abbey. A traditonal local legend refers to Berkhamsted as the real capital of England (if only for a few minutes).
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Chester
Coordinates: 53°11′33″N 2°53′30″W / 53.1926°N 2.8918°W / 53.1926; -2.8918
Chester ( /ˈtʃɛstər/ CHESS-tər), is a city in Cheshire, England. Lying on the River Dee, close to the border with Wales, it is home to 80,121 inhabitants, and is the largest and most populous settlement of the wider unitary authority area of Cheshire West and Chester, which had a population of 328,100 according to the 2001 Census. Chester was granted city status in 1541.
Chester was founded as a "castrum" or Roman fort with the name Deva Victrix in the year 79 by the Roman Legio II Adiutrix during the reign of the Emperor Vespasian. Chester's four main roads, Eastgate, Northgate, Watergate and Bridge, follow routes laid out at this time – almost 2,000 years ago. One of the three main Roman army bases, Deva later became a major settlement in the Roman province of Britannia. After the Romans left in the 5th century, the Saxons fortified the town against the Danes and gave Chester its name. The patron saint of Chester, Werburgh, is buried in Chester Cathedral.
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Chippenham
Coordinates: 51°27′31″N 2°06′57″W / 51.4585°N 2.1158°W / 51.4585; -2.1158
Chippenham is a market town in Wiltshire, England, located 21 km (13 mi) east of Bath and 163 km (101 mi) west of London. In the 2001 census the population of the town was recorded as 28,065, however, Council projections for 2009 estimate the population at 42,060.
The town was established on a crossing of the River Avon and is believed to have existed as some form of settlement since before Roman times. It was a royal vill, and probably a royal hunting lodge, under Alfred the Great. Kings lodge school, a primary school in Chippenham was named after King Alfred's Hunting lodge. The town continued to grow when the Great Western Railway arrived in 1841, and while historically a market town the economy has changed to that of a commuter town.
Chippenham is twinned with La Flèche in France and Friedberg in Germany. The town motto is "Unity and Loyalty".
Chippenham is set on a prominent crossing of the River Avon and lies between the Marlborough Downs to the east, the Cotswolds to the north and west and Salisbury Plain to the south.
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Constantinople
Constantinople (Greek: Κωνσταντινούπολις, Konstantinoúpolis; Latin: Constantinopolis; Ottoman Turkish: قسطنطینیه, Qostantiniyye; and modern Turkish: İstanbul) was the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire, the Latin and the Ottoman Empires. It was founded in AD 330, at ancient Byzantium as the new capital of the Roman Empire by Constantine I, after whom it was named. The city was the largest and wealthiest European city of the Middle Ages, and shared the glories of the Byzantine Empire, which was eventually reduced to the city and its environs.
Although besieged on numerous occasions by various peoples, it was taken only in 1204 by the army of the Fourth Crusade, in 1261 by Michael VIII, and in 1453 by the Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II. An inner wall was erected by Constantine I, and the city was surrounded by a triple wall of fortifications, begun during the 5th century by Theodosius II. The city was built on seven hills as well as on the Bosporus, and thus presented an impregnable fortress enclosing magnificent palaces, domes and towers. The Church of Hagia Sophia, the sacred palace of the emperors, the hippodrome, and the Golden Gate were among the largest of the many churches, public edifices, and monuments lining the arcaded avenues and squares.
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Danelaw
The Danelaw, as recorded in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (also known as the Danelagh; Old English: Dena lagu; Danish: Danelagen), is a historical name given to the part of England in which the laws of the "Danes" held sway and dominated those of the Anglo-Saxons. It is contrasted with "West Saxon law" and "Mercian law". The term has been extended by modern historians to be geographical. The areas that comprised the Danelaw are in northern and eastern England. The origins of the Danelaw arose from the Viking expansion of the 9th century, although the term was not used to describe a geographic area until the 11th century. With the increase in population and productivity in Scandinavia, Viking warriors, having sought treasure and glory in the nearby British Isles, "proceeded to plough and support themselves", in the words of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, for the year 876.
Danelaw is also used to describe the set of legal terms and definitions created in the treaties between the English king, Alfred the Great, and the Danish warlord, Guthrum, written following Guthrum's defeat at the Battle of Edington in 878. In 886, the Treaty of Alfred and Guthrum was formalised, defining the boundaries of their kingdoms, with provisions for peaceful relations between the English and the Vikings.
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Denmark
The Kingdom of Denmark (Danish: Kongeriget Danmark, pronounced [ˈkɔŋəʁiːəð ˈdanmɑɡ̊] (
listen)) is a constitutional monarchy and sovereign state consisting the country of Denmark in northern Europe and two autonomous constituent countries, the Faroe Islands in the North Atlantic and Greenland in North America. The kingdom is a unitary state with some power being devolved from Denmark proper to Greenland and the Faroe Islands; this polity is referred to as the Danish Realm. Denmark proper is the hegemonial area, where judicial, executive, and legislative power resides. The Faroe Islands are defined to be a community of people within the kingdom, and the Greenlandic people are defined as a separate people with the right to self-determination.
Denmark is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, located southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. The country consists of a large peninsula, Jutland and many islands, most notably Zealand, Funen, Lolland, Falster and Bornholm, as well as hundreds of minor islands often referred to as the Danish Archipelago.
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Derby
Derby (i/ˈdɑːbi/ DAR-bi), is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands region of England. It lies upon the banks of the River Derwent and is located in the south of the ceremonial county of Derbyshire. In the 2001 census, the population of the city was 233,700, whilst that of the Derby Urban Area was 229,407. According to the 2001 census, Derby was at that time the 18th largest settlement in England, measured by urban area.
The city has Roman, Saxon and Viking origins.
The Roman camp of 'Derventio' was probably at Little Chester/Chester Green (grid reference SK353375); The site of the old Roman fort is at Chester Green. Later the town was one of the 'Five Boroughs' (fortified towns) of the Danelaw.
Djúra-bý, recorded in Anglo-Saxon as Deoraby "Village of the Deer". This popular belief is asserted by Tim Lambert who states, "The name Derby is derived from the Danish words deor by meaning deer settlement" without reference or proof. However some[who?] assert that it is a corruption of the original Roman name 'Derventio'. The proven origin of the name "Derby" would seem to be elusive.
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Derbyshire
Coordinates: 53°8′N 1°36′W / 53.133°N 1.6°W / 53.133; -1.6
Derbyshire (i/ˈdɑrbɨʃə/ DAR-bi-shər or /ˈdɑrbɪʃɪər/ DAR-bi-sheer; abbreviated Derbys. or Derbs.) is a county in the East Midlands of England. A substantial portion of the Peak District National Park lies within Derbyshire. The southern extremity of the Pennine range of hills extends into the north of the county. The county contains within its boundary of approximately 225 miles part of the National Forest. It borders on Greater Manchester to the northwest, West Yorkshire to the north, South Yorkshire to the northeast, Nottinghamshire to the east, Leicestershire to the southeast, Staffordshire to the west and southwest and Cheshire also to the west. In 2003 the Ordnance Survey placed Church Flatts farm, near Coton in the Elms, as the furthest point from the sea in Great Britain.
The city of Derby is now a unitary authority area, but remains part of the ceremonial county of Derbyshire. The non-metropolitan county contains 30 towns with between 10,000 and 100,000 inhabitants. There is a large amount of sparsely populated agricultural upland: 75% of the population live in 25% of the area.[citation needed]
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Dorset
Dorset (
/ˈdɔrsɨt/) (or archaically, Dorsetshire), is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The county town is Dorchester which is situated in the south. The Hampshire towns of Bournemouth and Christchurch joined the county with the reorganisation of local government in 1974. The ceremonial county comprises the area covered by the non-metropolitan county, which is governed by Dorset County Council, together with the unitary authorities of Poole and Bournemouth. Dorset covers an area of 2,653 square kilometres (1,024 sq mi); it borders Devon to the west, Somerset to the north-west, Wiltshire to the north-east, and Hampshire to the east. Around half of Dorset's population lives in the South East Dorset conurbation. The rest of the county is largely rural with a low population density.
The county has a long history of human settlement and some notable archaeology, including the hill forts of Maiden Castle and Hod Hill. A large defensive ditch, Bokerley Dyke, delayed the Saxon conquest of Dorset for up to 150 years. In 1348 the black death came ashore at Melcombe Regis and spread throughout England, killing a third of the population. Dorset has seen much civil unrest: the first trade union was formed by farm labourers from Tolpuddle in 1834, the Glorious Revolution was instigated in an ice-house at Charborough Park, and the Duke of Monmouth and his rebels landed at Lyme Regis. During the English Civil War (1642–1651) angry yokels fought with Cromwell's forces near Shaftesbury. The naval base at Portland has had a pivotal role in the nation's defence for many years, and with Weymouth and Poole was one of the main embarkation points on D-Day.
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East Midlands
The East Midlands is one of the regions of England, consisting of most of the eastern half of the traditional region of the Midlands. It encompasses the combined area of Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Rutland, Northamptonshire and most of Lincolnshire.
A looser definition of the East Midlands might also include the City of Peterborough (once part of Northamptonshire, but now Cambridgeshire), and North Lincolnshire.[citation needed]
The highest point in the region is Kinder Scout in the Peak District, at 2,088 ft (636 m). The centre of the East Midlands area lies roughly between Bingham and Bottesford. The geographical centre of England lies in Higham on the Hill in west Leicestershire, close to the boundary between the East and West Midlands. 88% of the land is rural, although agriculture accounts for less than three percent of the region's jobs. All of the coastline within the region falls within Lincolnshire.
The region is home to large quantities of limestone, and the East Midlands Oil Province. Charnwood Forest is noted for its abundant levels of volcanic rock, estimated to be approximately 600 million years old.
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Eboracum
Eboracum was a fort and city in Roman Britain. The settlement evolved into York, located in North Yorkshire, England.
The first known recorded mention of Eboracum by name is dated circa 95-104 AD and is an address containing the Latin form of the settlement's name, "Eburaci", on a wooden stylus tablet from the Roman fortress of Vindolanda in what is now the modern Northumberland. During the Roman Period the name was also written in the form Eboracum and Eburacum.
The etymology of Eboracum is uncertain as the language of the indigenous population of the area was never recorded. However, the generally accepted view of British history, is that the inhabitants of Britain at this time spoke a Celtic language related to modern Welsh. This language has been reconstructed from Latin place names and modern Celtic languages, and has been called by scholars Common Brythonic. The name "Eboracum" is thought to have derived from the Common Brythonic Eborakon which probably means "place of the yew trees". The word for "yew" was probably something like *eburos in Celtic (cf. Old Irish ibar "yew-tree", Irish: iobhar, Scottish Gaelic: iubhar, Welsh: efwr "alder buckthorn", Breton: evor "alder buckthorn"), combined with the suffix *-āko(n) "place" (cf. Welsh -og) meaning "place of the yew trees" (cf. efrog in Welsh, eabhrac in Irish Gaelic and eabhraig in Scottish Gaelic, by which names the city is known in those languages). The name is then thought to have been Latinized by replacing -acon with -acum, according to a common use noted in Gaul. The different Évry, Ivry, Ivrey, Ivory in France would all come from *Eboracum / *Eboriacum f. e. Ivry-la-Bataille (Eure, Ebriaco in 1023 - 1033), Ivry-le-Temple (Evriacum in 1199)Évry (Essonne, Everiaco in 1158), etc.
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England
Englandi/ˈɪŋɡlənd/ is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, while the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separate it from continental Europe. Most of England comprises the central and southern part of the island of Great Britain in the North Atlantic. The country also includes over 100 smaller islands such as the Isles of Scilly and the Isle of Wight.
The area now called England was first inhabited by modern humans during the Upper Palaeolithic period, but it takes its name from the Angles, one of the Germanic tribes who settled during the 5th and 6th centuries. England became a unified state in AD 927, and since the Age of Discovery, which began during the 15th century, has had a significant cultural and legal impact on the wider world. The English language, the Anglican Church, and English law—the basis for the common law legal systems of many other countries around the world—developed in England, and the country's parliamentary system of government has been widely adopted by other nations. The Industrial Revolution began in 18th-century England, transforming its society into the world's first industrialised nation. England's Royal Society laid the foundations of modern experimental science.
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Essex
Essex ( /ˈɛsɨks/) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is located to the northeast of Greater London. It borders with Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent to the South and London to the south west. Essex County Council is the principal local authority for much of the county, sharing functions with twelve district councils. The county town is Chelmsford. The southern Essex boroughs of Thurrock and Southend-on-Sea are governed separately as unitary authorities. It was established in antiquity and formed the eastern portion of the Kingdom of Essex. Sections of the county closer to London are part of the Metropolitan Green Belt, which prohibits development. It is the location of the regionally significant Lakeside Shopping Centre and London Stansted Airport; and the new towns of Basildon and Harlow.
The name Essex originates in the Anglo-Saxon period of the Early Middle Ages and has its root in the Old English Ēastseaxe (i.e. the "East Saxons"), the eastern kingdom of the Saxons. Originally (in 527 AD) it occupied territory to the north of the River Thames, incorporating all of what later became Middlesex and most of what later became Hertfordshire, though its territory was later restricted to lands east of the River Lea.Colchester in the north east of the county is Britain's oldest recorded town, dating back to before the Roman conquest, when it was known as Camulodunum and was sufficiently well-developed to have its own mint. Subsequently the Kingdom of Essex was subsumed into the Kingdom of England and Essex eventually became a county.
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Exeter
Exeter (i/ˈɛksɨtər/ EK-si-tər) is a historic city in Devon, England. It lies within the ceremonial county of Devon, of which it is the county town as well as the home of Devon County Council. Currently the administrative area has the status of a non-metropolitan district, and is therefore under the administration of the County Council. The city is on the River Exe, about 37 miles (60 km) northeast of Plymouth, and 70 miles (110 km) southwest of Bristol. According to the 2001 Census, its population in that year was 111,076, while the mid-2010 estimate was 119,600.
Exeter was the most south-westerly Roman fortified settlement in Britain. Its Exeter Cathedral, founded in the early 12th century, became Anglican at the time of the 16th century Reformation.
Exeter has been identified as one of the top ten most profitable locations for a business to be based. The city has good transport links, with Exeter St David's railway station, Exeter Central railway station, the M5 motorway and Exeter International Airport connecting the city both nationally and internationally. Although a popular tourist destination, the city is not dominated by tourism.
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Faroe Islands
Coordinates: 62°00′N 06°47′W / 62°N 6.783°W / 62; -6.783
The Faroe Islands (Faroese: Føroyar pronounced [ˈfœɹjaɹ], Danish: Færøerne Danish pronunciation: [ˈfæɐ̯øːˀɐnə]) are an island group situated between the Norwegian Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, approximately halfway between Norway and Iceland. The islands form a self-governing country under the sovereignty of the Kingdom of Denmark. The total area is approximately 1,400 km² (540 sq mi) with a 2010 population of almost 50,000 people.
The Faroe Islands has been a self-governing dependency of Denmark since 1948. Over the years, the Faroese have taken control of most domestic matters. Areas that remain the responsibility of Denmark include military defence, police, justice, currency and foreign affairs. The Faroe Islands also has representatives in the Nordic Council as members of the Danish delegation.
The Faroe Islands were associated with and taxed by Denmark and Norway up to 1814, when Norway fell under the rule of Sweden. Scandinavia was in political turmoil following the Sixth Coalition of the Napoleonic Wars, when the Treaty of Kiel granted Denmark control over the Faroes, Iceland and Greenland in 1814. The Danish trade monopoly ended in 1856.
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Greenland
Greenland (Kalaallisut: Kalaallit Nunaat, "Land of the Kalaallit";Danish: Grønland) is an autonomous country within the Kingdom of Denmark, located between the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Though physiographically a part of the continent of North America, Greenland has been politically and culturally associated with Europe (specifically Norway and later Denmark) for more than a millennium. Greenland is, by area, the world's largest island. With a population of 56,615 (January 2011 estimate) it is the least densely populated dependency or country in the world.
Greenland has been inhabited, though not continuously, by Arctic peoples via Canada for 4500–5000 years. In the 10th century, Norsemen settled on the uninhabited southern part of Greenland. In the 13th century, the Inuit arrived, and in the late 15th century the Norse colonies were abandoned. In the early 18th century, contact between Scandinavia and Greenland was re-established and Denmark established rule over Greenland.
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Hampshire
Hampshire (i/ˈhæmpʃɪər/ or /ˈhæmpʃər/; abbreviated Hants) is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, the former capital city of England. Hampshire is the most populous ceremonial county in the United Kingdom and if excluding newly formed metropolitan counties such as the West Midlands, Hampshire would be the most populous county in the whole of the United Kingdom. Hampshire is notable for housing the birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force. The ceremonial county borders Dorset to the west, Wiltshire to the north-west, Berkshire to the north, Surrey to the north-east, and West Sussex to the east. The southern boundary is the coastline of the English Channel and The Solent.
Hampshire is the largest county in South East England and the third largest shire county in the United Kingdom despite losing more land than any other English county during the Local Government Act 1972 boundary changes. At its greatest size in 1889, Hampshire was the fifth largest county in England. It now has an overall area of 3,700 square kilometres (1,400 sq mi), and measures approximately 86 kilometres (53 mi) east–west and 76 kilometres (47 mi) north–south.
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Hebrides
The Hebrides ( /ˈhɛbrɨdiːz/; Scottish Gaelic: Innse Gall) comprise a widespread and diverse archipelago off the west coast of Scotland. There are two main groups: the Inner and Outer Hebrides. These islands have a long history of occupation dating back to the Mesolithic and the culture of the residents has been affected by the successive influences of Celtic, Norse and English-speaking peoples. This diversity is reflected in the names given to the islands, which are derived from the languages that have been spoken there in historic and perhaps prehistoric times.
A variety of artists have been inspired by their Hebridean experiences. Today the economy of the islands is dependent on crofting, fishing, tourism, the oil industry and renewable energy. The Hebrides lack biodiversity in comparison to mainland Britain, but these islands have much to offer the naturalist. Seals, for example, are present around the coasts in internationally important numbers.
The Hebrides have a diverse geology ranging in age from Precambrian strata that are amongst the oldest rocks in Europe to Tertiary igneous intrusions.
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Hoxne
Coordinates: 52°21′N 1°12′E / 52.35°N 1.2°E / 52.35; 1.2
Hoxne ( /ˈhɒksən/) is an anciently established village in the Mid Suffolk district of Suffolk, England, about five miles (8 km) east-southeast of Diss, Norfolk and one-half mile (800 m) south of the River Waveney. The parish is irregularly shaped, covering the villages of Hoxne, Cross Street and Heckfield Green, with a 'tongue' extending southwards to take in part of the former RAF Horham airfield.
The area around the village is of archaeological note as the find-spot of the Hoxne Hoard of Roman treasure, very early finds of hand axes and as the type site for the Hoxnian Stage ("Hoxnian interglacial").
The village is also home to The Swan Inn. The Swan occupies a 15th Century, Grade II listed lodge, formerly known as Bishops Lodge. This pub is set at the bottom end of the village green, opposite the village Post Office and grocery store, only a short walk from Saint Edmund's memorial and bridge. Built in 1480 by the Bishop of Norwich, The Swan has a long history; both the restaurant and bars reflect Hoxne's ecclesiastical past, with ornate ceiling beams and wide-planked floors.
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Iceland
Icelandi/ˈaɪslənd/ (Icelandic: Ísland, IPA: [ˈislant]) is a Nordic European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. The country has a population of about 320,000 and a total area of 103,000 km2 (40,000 sq mi). The capital and largest city is Reykjavík, with the surrounding areas in the southwestern region of the country being home to two-thirds of the country's population. Iceland is volcanically and geologically active. The interior mainly consists of a plateau characterised by sand fields, mountains and glaciers, while many glacial rivers flow to the sea through the lowlands. Iceland is warmed by the Gulf Stream and has a temperate climate despite a high latitude just outside the Arctic Circle.
According to Landnámabók, the settlement of Iceland began in AD 874 when the chieftain Ingólfur Arnarson became the first permanent Norse settler on the island. Others had visited the island earlier and stayed over winter. Over the following centuries, Norsemen settled Iceland, bringing with them thralls (slaves) of Gaelic origin. From 1262 to 1918 Iceland was part of the Norwegian and later the Danish monarchies. Until the 20th century, the Icelandic population relied largely on fisheries and agriculture, and the country was one of the poorest and least developed in the world. Industrialisation of the fisheries and aid from the Marshall Plan brought prosperity in the years after World War II, and by the 1990s it was one of the world's wealthiest countries. In 1994, Iceland became party to the European Economic Area, which made it possible for the economy to diversify into economic and financial services.
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Ireland
Coordinates: 53°20′N 08°00′W / 53.333°N 8°W / 53.333; -8
Ireland (pronounced [ˈaɪrlənd] ( listen); Irish: Éire [ˈeːɾʲə] ( listen); Ulster Scots: Airlann or Airlan) is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth. To its east is the larger island of Great Britain, from which it is separated by the Irish Sea.
Politically, Ireland is divided between the Republic of Ireland, which covers just under five-sixths of the island, and Northern Ireland, a part of the United Kingdom, which covers the remainder and is located in the northeast of the island. The population of Ireland is approximately 6.4 million. Just under 4.6 million live in the Republic of Ireland and just under 1.8 million live in Northern Ireland.
Relatively low-lying mountains surrounding a central plain epitomise Ireland's geography with several navigable rivers extending inland. The island has lush vegetation, a product of its mild but changeable oceanic climate, which avoids extremes in temperature. Thick woodlands covered the island until the 17th century. Today, it is one of the most deforested areas in Europe. There are twenty-six extant mammal species native to Ireland.
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Kingdom of England
The Kingdom of England was, from 927 to 1707, a sovereign state to the northwest of continental Europe. At its height, the Kingdom of England spanned the southern two-thirds of the island of Great Britain (including both modern-day England and Wales) and several smaller outlying islands; what today comprises the legal jurisdiction of England and Wales. It had a land border with the Kingdom of Scotland to the north. At the start of the period its capital and chief royal residence was Winchester, but Westminster and Gloucester were accorded almost equal status, with Westminster gradually gaining preference.
England as a state began on 12 July 927 after a gathering of kings from throughout Britain at Eamont Bridge, Cumbria, but broadly traces its origins to the Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain and the Heptarchy of petty states that followed and ultimately united. The Norman invasion of Wales from 1067–1283 (formalised with the Statute of Rhuddlan in 1284) put Wales in England's control, and Wales came under English law with the Laws in Wales Acts 1535–1542. On 1 May 1707, England was united with Scotland to create the Kingdom of Great Britain under the terms of the Acts of Union 1707. Though no longer a sovereign state, modern England continues as one of the countries of the United Kingdom.
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Leicester
Coordinates: 52°38′03″N 1°08′19″W / 52.63422°N 1.13852°W / 52.63422; -1.13852
Leicester (/lɛstər/ LESS-tər pronunciation (help·info)) is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England, and the county town of Leicestershire. The city lies on the River Soar and at the edge of the National Forest. In 2010, the population of the Leicester unitary authority was estimated at 306,600, the second highest in the region, whilst 441,213 people lived in the wider Leicester Urban Area in 2006, making Leicester the tenth most populous settlement in the United Kingdom and the UK's fourteenth largest urban area. It is the largest city in the East Midlands yet has the second largest urban area in the region behind Nottingham Urban Area. Eurostat's Larger Urban Zone listed the population of the area at 772,400 people as of 2004.
Ancient Roman pavements and baths remain in Leicester from its early settlement as Ratae Corieltauvorum, a Roman military outpost in a region inhabited by the Celtic Corieltauvi tribe. Following the demise of Roman society the early medieval Ratae Corieltauvorum is shrouded in obscurity, but when the settlement was captured by the Danes it became one of five fortified towns important to the Danelaw. The name "Leicester" is thought to derive from the words castra of the "Ligore", meaning camp of the dwellers on the (river) Legro. Leicester appears in the Domesday Book as "Ledecestre". Leicester continued to grow throughout the Early Modern period as a market town, although it was the Industrial Revolution that facilitated a process of rapid unplanned urbanisation in the area.
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Leicestershire
Leicestershire (i/ˈlɛstəʃɪər/ or /ˈlɛstərʃər/ or /ˈlɛstəʃə/; abbreviation Leics.) is a landlocked county in the English Midlands. It takes its name from the heavily populated City of Leicester, traditionally its administrative centre, although the City of Leicester unitary authority is today administered separately from the rest of Leicestershire. The county borders Derbyshire to the north-west, Nottinghamshire to the north, Rutland to the east, Warwickshire to the south-west, Staffordshire to the west, Lincolnshire to the north-east, and Northamptonshire to the south-east. The border with Warwickshire is Watling Street (the A5).
County Hall, situated in Glenfield, about 3 miles (5 km) north-west of Leicester city centre, is the seat of Leicestershire County Council and the headquarters of the county authority. The City of Leicester is administered from offices in Leicester itself and the City Council meets at Leicester Town Hall.
The River Soar rises to the east of Hinckley, in the far south of the county, and flows northward through Leicester before emptying into the River Trent at the point where Derbyshire, Leicestershire, and Nottinghamshire meet. A large part of the north-west of the county, around Coalville, forms part of the new National Forest area extending into Derbyshire and Staffordshire. The highest point of the county is Bardon Hill at 278 metres (912 ft), which is also a Marilyn.
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Lincolnshire
Coordinates: 53°4′N 0°11′W / 53.067°N 0.183°W / 53.067; -0.183
Lincolnshire ( /ˈlɪŋkənʃə/ or /ˈlɪŋkənʃɪə/; abbreviated Lincs) is a county in the east of England. It borders Norfolk to the south east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south west, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire to the west, South Yorkshire to the northwest, and the East Riding of Yorkshire to the north. It also borders Northamptonshire in the south for just 20 yards (18 m), England's shortest county boundary. The county town is Lincoln, where the county council has its headquarters.
The ceremonial county of Lincolnshire is composed of the non-metropolitan county of Lincolnshire and the area covered by the unitary authorities of North Lincolnshire and North-East Lincolnshire. Therefore, part of the ceremonial county is in the Yorkshire and the Humber region, and part is in the East Midlands region. The county is the second largest of the English counties and one that is predominantly agricultural in land use. The county can be broken down into a number of geographical sub-regions including: the Lincolnshire Fens (south Lincolnshire), the Carrs (similar to the Fens but in north Lincolnshire), the Lincolnshire Wolds, and the industrial Humber Estuary and North Sea coast around Grimsby and Scunthorpe.
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Lindisfarne
Coordinates: 55°40′37″N 1°47′42″W / 55.677°N 1.795°W / 55.677; -1.795
Lindisfarne is a tidal island off the north-east coast of England. It is also known as Holy Island and constitutes a civil parish in Northumberland. Both the Parker Chronicle and Peterborough Chronicle annals of AD793 record the Old English name, Lindisfarena, which means "[island of the] travellers from Lindsey", indicating that the island was settled from the Kingdom of Lindsey, or possibly that its inhabitants travelled there. In 2001 the island had a population of 162.
The island of Lindisfarne appears under the Old Welsh name Medcaut in the ninth-century Historia Brittonum. Following up on a suggestion by Richard Coates, Andrew Breeze proposes that the name ultimately derives from Latin Medicata (Insula) "Healing (Island)", owing perhaps to the island's reputation for medicinal herbs. The Historia Brittonum recounts how in the sixth century, Urien, prince of Rheged, besieged the Angles led by Theodoric at the island for three days and three nights.
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London
Londoni/ˈlʌndən/ is the capital city of England and the United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its founding by the Romans, who named it Londinium. London's ancient core, the City of London, largely retains its square-mile mediaeval boundaries. Since at least the 19th century, the name London has also referred to the metropolis developed around this core. The bulk of this conurbation forms the London region and the Greater London administrative area, governed by the elected Mayor of London and the London Assembly.
London is a leading global city, with strengths in the arts, commerce, education, entertainment, fashion, finance, healthcare, media, professional services, research and development, tourism and transport all contributing to its prominence. It is the world's leading financial centre alongside New York City and has the fifth-largest city GDP in the world (and the largest in Europe). London has been described as a world cultural capital. It was the world's most visited city during 2011 and London Heathrow is the world's busiest airport by number of international passengers. London's 43 universities form the largest concentration of higher education in Europe. In 2012 London will become the first city to host the modern Summer Olympic Games three times.
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Lynmouth
Lynmouth is a village in Devon, England, on the north edge of Exmoor.
The village straddles the confluence of the West Lyn and East Lyn rivers, in a gorge 700 feet (210 m) below Lynton, to which it is connected by the Lynton and Lynmouth Cliff Railway.
The two villages are a civil parish governed by Lynton and Lynmouth Town Council. The parish boundaries extend southwards from the coast and includes hamlets such as Barbrook and small moorland settlements such as East Ilkerton, West Ilkerton and Shallowford.
Lynmouth was described by Thomas Gainsborough, who honeymooned there with his bride Margaret Burr, as "the most delightful place for a landscape painter this country can boast".
A lifeboat station was established in Lynmouth on 20 January 1869, five months after the nearby wreck of the sailing vessel Home. The lifeboat was kept in a shed on the beach until a purpose-built boat house was built at the harbour. This was rebuilt in 1898 and enlarged in 1906-7. It was closed at the end of 1944 as other stations in the area could provide cover with their newer motor lifeboats. The boat house was then used as a club but was washed away in the flood of 15 August 1952. It has since been rebuilt and includes a public shelter.
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Mercia
Mercia ( /ˈmɜrsiə/, /ˈmɜrʃə/) was one of the kingdoms of the Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy. It was centred on the valley of the River Trent and its tributaries in the region now known as the English Midlands. The name is a Latinisation of the Old English Mierce or Myrce, meaning "border people".
Mercia's neighbours included Northumbria, Powys and the kingdoms of southern Wales, Wessex, Sussex, Essex and East Anglia.
The name Mercia is still in use today by a wide range of organisations, including military units, public, commercial and voluntary bodies; and occurs as a female given name.
Mercia's exact evolution from the Anglo-Saxon invasions is more obscure than that of Northumbria, Kent, or even Wessex. Also, Mercia developed an effective political structure and adopted Christianity later than the other kingdoms. Archaeological surveys show that Angles settled the lands north of the River Thames by the 6th century. The name Mercia is Old English for "boundary folk" (see Welsh Marches), and the traditional interpretation is that the kingdom originated along the frontier between the native Welsh and the Anglo-Saxon invaders. However, P. Hunter Blair argued an alternative interpretation: that they emerged along the frontier of Northumbria and the inhabitants of the Trent river valley.
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Northumbria
Northumbria (Old English: Norþanhymbra / Norþhymbre) was a mediæval kingdom of the Angles, in what is now Northern England and South-East Scotland, becoming subsequently an earldom in a united Anglo-Saxon kingdom of England. The name reflects the approximate southern limit to the kingdom's territory, the Humber Estuary.
Northumbria was formed by Æthelfrith in central Great Britain in Anglo-Saxon times. At the beginning of the 7th century the two kingdoms of Bernicia and Deira were unified. (In the 12th century writings of Henry of Huntingdon the kingdom was defined as one of the Heptarchy of Anglo-Saxon kingdoms.) At its greatest the kingdom extended at least from just south of the Humber, to the River Mersey and to the Forth (roughly, Sheffield to Runcorn to Edinburgh) – and there is some evidence that it may have been much greater (see map).
The later (and smaller) earldom came about when the southern part of Northumbria (ex-Deira) was lost to the Danelaw. The northern part (ex-Bernicia) at first retained its status as a kingdom but when it become subordinate to the Danish kingdom it had its powers curtailed to that of an earldom, and retained that status when England was reunited by the Wessex-led reconquest of the Danelaw. The earldom was bounded by the River Tees in the south and the River Tweed in the north (broadly similar to the modern North East England).
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Nottingham
Nottingham (i/ˈnɒtɪŋəm/ NOT-ing-əm) is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England in the ceremonial county of Nottinghamshire and is one of eight members of the English Core Cities Group.
Nottingham is famed for its links with the legend of Robin Hood and, during the Industrial Revolution, obtained worldwide recognition for its lace-making, bicycle and tobacco industries. With origins tracable back to 600 AD, Nottingham was granted its city charter as part of the Diamond Jubilee celebrations of Queen Victoria in 1897 and has since been officially titled the City of Nottingham. The city has historically been nicknamed The Queen of the Midlands, being the smaller yet less industrialised regional neighbour to the Midlands biggest city, Birmingham. Nottingham is considered the primary centre of England's East Midlands region, being home to numerous regional headquarters and media stations including the BBC East Midlands and the Regional Government Office.
Whilst Nottingham has always had a tightly-drawn authority boundary, accounting for its relatively small population of 306,700, Nottingham's Urban Area has a population of approximately 670,000; in the 2001 census, it was the eighth largest urban area in the United Kingdom. Eurostat's concept of the Larger Urban Zone listed the area's population at 825,600 as of 2004.
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Nottinghamshire
Nottinghamshire ( /ˈnɒtɪŋəmʃər/ or /ˈnɒtɪŋəmʃɪər/; abbreviated Notts) is a county in the East Midlands of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. The traditional county town is Nottingham, though the county council is based in West Bridgford in the borough of Rushcliffe, at a site facing Nottingham over the River Trent.
The districts of Nottinghamshire are Ashfield, Bassetlaw, Broxtowe, Gedling, Mansfield, Newark and Sherwood, and Rushcliffe. The City of Nottingham was administratively part of Nottinghamshire between 1974 and 1998 but is now a unitary authority, remaining part of Nottinghamshire for ceremonial purposes.
As of 2006 the county is estimated to have a population of just over one million. Over half of the population of the county live in the Greater Nottingham conurbation (which continues into Derbyshire). The conurbation has a population of about 650,000, though less than half live within the city boundaries.
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Orkney
Orkney (Scottish Gaelic: Arcaibh) also known as the Orkney Islands (and sometimes "the Orkneys", a name which locals disparage), is an archipelago in northern Scotland, 16 kilometres (10 mi) north of the coast of Caithness. Orkney comprises approximately 70 islands of which 20 are inhabited. The largest island, known as the "Mainland" has an area of 523.25 square kilometres (202.03 sq mi) making it the sixth largest Scottish island and the tenth-largest island in the British Isles. The largest settlement and administrative centre is Kirkwall.
The name "Orkney" dates back to the 1st century BC or earlier, and the islands have been inhabited for at least 8,500 years. Originally occupied by Mesolithic and Neolithic tribes and then by the Picts, Orkney was invaded and forcibly annexed by Norway in 875 and settled by the Norse. It was subsequently annexed to the Scottish Crown in 1472, following the failed payment of a dowry for James III's bride, Margaret of Denmark. Orkney contains some of the oldest and best-preserved Neolithic sites in Europe, and the "Heart of Neolithic Orkney" is a designated UNESCO World Heritage Site.
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Rutland
Coordinates: 52°39′20.00″N 0°39′30.00″W / 52.65556°N 0.65833°W / 52.65556; -0.65833
Rutland ( /ˈrʌtlənd/) is a landlocked county in central England, bounded on the west and north by Leicestershire, northeast by Lincolnshire and southeast by Peterborough (a unitary authority ceremonially in Cambridgeshire) and Northamptonshire.
Its greatest length north to south is only 18 miles (29.0 km), greatest breadth east to west, 17 miles (27.4 km). It is the smallest (in terms of population) normal unitary authority in mainland England (only the City of London is smaller in terms of area), and is 348th of the 354 districts in terms of population. It is the smallest historic English county, leading to the adoption of the Latin motto Multum In Parvo or "much in little" by the county council in 1950. Among modern ceremonial counties the Isle of Wight, City of London and City of Bristol are all smaller. The former County of London, in existence 1889 to 1965, also had a smaller area.
The only towns in Rutland are Oakham, the county town, and Uppingham. At the centre of the county is the large artificial reservoir, Rutland Water, with a similar surface area to Windermere. It is an important nature reserve serving as an overwintering site for wildfowl and a breeding site for ospreys. The town of Stamford is just over the border in a protruding part of Lincolnshire.
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Sherwood Forest
Sherwood Forest is a Royal Forest in Nottinghamshire, England, that is famous through its historical association with the legend of Robin Hood. Continuously forested since the end of the Ice Age, Sherwood Forest National Nature Reserve today encompasses 423 hectares (1,045 acres) surrounding the village of Edwinstowe, the site of Thoresby Hall. The wooded forest of today is a remnant of a much larger royal hunting forest, named as the "shire wood" of Nottinghamshire, which in fact extended into several neighbouring counties (shires), bordered on the west along the River Erewash and the Forest of East Derbyshire.
The Forestry Commission manages most of the forest and provides walks and trails and a host of other activities. Part of the forest was opened as a country park to the public in 1969 by Nottinghamshire County Council, which manages a small part of the forest under lease from the Thoresby Estate. In 2002, a portion of Sherwood Forest was designated a National Nature Reserve by English Nature. In 2007, Natural England officially incorporated the Budby South Forest, Nottinghamshire's largest area of dry lowland heath, into the Nature Reserve, nearly doubling its size from 220 to 423 hectares (540 to 1,050 acres). Some portions of the forest still retain many very old oaks, especially in the portion known as the Dukeries, south of the town of Worksop, which was so called because it used to contain five ducal residences in proximity to one another. The River Idle, a tributary of the Trent, is formed in Sherwood Forest from the confluence of several minor streams.
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Shetland
Coordinates: 60°18′14″N 1°16′08″W / 60.3038°N 1.2689°W / 60.3038; -1.2689 Shetland (/ˈʃɛtlənd/) (from Middle Scots Ȝetland) is a subarctic archipelago of Scotland that lies north and east of mainland Great Britain. The islands lie some 80 km (50 mi) to the northeast of Orkney and 280 km (170 mi) southeast of the Faroe Islands and form part of the division between the Atlantic Ocean to the west and the North Sea to the east. The total area is 1,468 km2 (567 sq mi) and the population totalled 22,210 in 2009. Comprising the Shetland constituency of the Scottish Parliament, Shetland is also one of the 32 council areas of Scotland; the islands' administrative centre and only burgh is Lerwick.
The largest island, known simply as "Mainland", has an area of 967 km2 (373 sq mi), making it the third-largest Scottish island and the fifth-largest of the British Isles. There are an additional 15 inhabited islands. The archipelago has an oceanic climate, a complex geology, a rugged coastline and many low, rolling hills.
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Thynghowe
Thynghowe was an important Danelaw meeting place, or thing, located in Sherwood Forest, Nottinghamshire, England. It was lost to history until its rediscovery in 2005-6 by local history enthusiasts.
The site lies amidst the old oaks of an area known as the Birklands in Sherwood Forest. Experts believe it may also yield clues as to the boundary of the ancient Anglo Saxon kingdoms of Mercia and Northumbria.
English Heritage has recently inspected the site, and has confirmed it was known as "Thynghowe" in 1334 and 1609. It functioned as a place where people came to resolve disputes and settle issues.
It is an Old Norse word, although the site may be older than the Danelaw, perhaps even Bronze Age. The word "howe" is derived from the Old Norse word haugr meaning mound. This often indicates the presence of a prehistoric burial mound. The word thyng or thing is (Old Norse, Old English and Icelandic: þing; other modern Scandinavian languages: ting) was the governing assembly in Germanic and introduced into some Celtic societies, made up of the free people of the community and presided by lawspeakers, meeting in a place called a thingstead.
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Ukraine
Ukraine (i/juːˈkreɪn/ yew-KRAYN; Ukrainian: Україна, transliterated: Ukrayina, [ukrɑˈjinɑ]; Russian: Украина; Crimean Tatar: Ukraina) is a country in Central and Eastern Europe. Ukraine borders the Russian Federation to the east and northeast, Belarus to the northwest, Poland, Slovakia and Hungary to the west, Romania and Moldova to the southwest, and the Black Sea and Sea of Azov to the south and southeast, respectively. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after the Russian Federation.
According to a popular and well established theory, the medieval state of Kievan Rus was established by the Varangians in the 9th century as the first historically recorded East Slavic state which emerged as a powerful nation in the Middle Ages until it disintegrated in the 12th century. By the middle of the 14th century, Ukrainian territories were under the rule of three external powers—the Golden Horde, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and the Kingdom of Poland. After the Great Northern War (1700–1721) Ukraine was divided between a number of regional powers and, by the 19th century, the largest part of Ukraine was integrated into the Russian Empire with the rest under Austro-Hungarian control. A chaotic period of incessant warfare ensued, with several internationally recognized attempts at independence from 1917 to 1921, following World War I and the Russian Civil War. Ukraine emerged from its own civil war, and on December 30, 1922 Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic became one of the founding republics of the Soviet Union. The Ukrainian SSR's territory was enlarged westward during the civil war shortly before, and after World War II, and further south in 1954 with the Crimea transfer. In 1945, the Ukrainian SSR became one of the founding members of the United Nations.
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Wales
Walesi/ˈweɪlz/ (Welsh: Cymru;Welsh pronunciation: [ˈkəm.rɨ] ( listen)) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain,bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km2 (8,023 sq mi). Wales has over 1,200 km (750 mi) of coastline, including its offshore islands; the largest, Anglesey (Ynys Môn), is also the largest island in the Irish Sea. Wales is largely mountainous, with its highest peaks in the north and central areas, especially in Snowdonia (Eryri), which contains Snowdon (Yr Wyddfa), its highest summit.
During the Iron Age and early medieval period, Wales was inhabited by the Celtic Britons. A distinct Welsh national identity emerged in the centuries after the Roman withdrawal from Britain in the 5th century, and Wales is regarded as one of the modern Celtic nations today. Gruffydd ap Llywelyn was recognised as King of Wales in 1057. Llywelyn ap Gruffydd's death in 1282 marked the completion of Edward I of England's conquest of Wales. The castles and town walls erected to ensure its permanence are now UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Owain Glyndŵr briefly restored independence to what was to become modern Wales, in the early 15th century. Wales was subsequently annexed by England under the Laws in Wales Acts 1535–1542 since when, excluding those matters now devolved to Wales, English law has been the legal system of Wales and England. Distinctive Welsh politics developed in the 19th century. Welsh Liberalism, exemplified in the early 20th century by Lloyd George, was displaced by the growth of socialism and the Labour Party. Welsh national feeling grew over the century; Plaid Cymru was formed in 1925 and The Welsh Language Society in 1962. The National Assembly for Wales, created in 1999 following a referendum, holds responsibility for a range of devolved policy matters.
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Wessex
The Kingdom of Wessex ( /ˈwɛsɨks/) or Kingdom of the West Saxons (Old English: Westseaxna rīce) was an Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the West Saxons in South West England, from the 6th century until the emergence of a united English state under the Wessex dynasty in the 10th century. It was to be an earldom after Canute the Great's conquest of 1016, from 1020 to 1066. After the Norman Conquest there was a dissolution of the English earldoms and Wessex was split among the followers of William the Conqueror.
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York
York (locali/ˈjɔːk/) is a walled city, situated at the confluence of the Rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. The city has a rich heritage and has provided the backdrop to major political events throughout much of its two millennia of existence. The city offers a wealth of historic attractions, of which York Minster is the most prominent, and a variety of cultural and sporting activities.
The city was founded by the Romans in 71 AD, under the name of Eboracum. It became in turn the capital of the Roman province of Britannia Inferior, and of the kingdoms of Northumbria and Jorvik. In the Middle Ages, York grew as a major wool trading centre and became the capital of the northern ecclesiastical province of the Church of England, a role it has retained.
In the 19th century York became a hub of the railway network and a confectionery manufacturing centre. In recent decades, the economy of York has moved from being dominated by its confectionery and railway-related industries to one that provides services. The University of York and health services have become major employers, whilst tourism has become an important element of the local economy.
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Yorkshire
Yorkshire (/ˈjɔːkʃə/) is a historic county of Northern England and the largest in the United Kingdom. Due to its great size in comparison to other English counties, functions have been increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have also been subject to periodic reform. Throughout these changes, Yorkshire has continued to be recognised as a geographical territory and cultural region. The name is familiar and well understood across the United Kingdom and is in common use in the media and the military, and also features in the titles of current areas of civil administration, such as North Yorkshire, South Yorkshire, West Yorkshire and East Riding of Yorkshire. The county's name is commonly abbreviated as Yorks.
Within the borders of the historic county of Yorkshire are areas which are widely considered to be among the greenest in England, due to the vast stretches of unspoiled countryside in the Yorkshire Dales and North York Moors and to the open aspect of some of the major cities. Yorkshire has sometimes been nicknamed God's Own County. The emblem of Yorkshire is the white rose of the English royal House of York, and the most commonly used flag representative of Yorkshire is the White Rose on a dark blue background, which after years of use, was recognised by the Flag Institute on 29 July 2008.Yorkshire Day, held on 1 August, is a celebration of the general culture of Yorkshire, ranging from its history to its own dialect.
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Alfred the Great
Alfred the Great (Old English: Ælfrēd, Ælfrǣd, "elf counsel"; 849 – 26 October 899) was King of Wessex from 871 to 899.
Alfred successfully defended his kingdom against the Viking attempt at conquest, and by his death had become the dominant ruler in England. He is the only English monarch to be accorded the epithet "the Great". Alfred was the first King of the West Saxons to style himself "King of the Anglo-Saxons". Details of his life are described in a work by the 10th century Welsh scholar and bishop Asser. Alfred was a learned and merciful man who encouraged education and improved his kingdom's legal system and military structure.
Alfred was born in the village of Wanating, now Wantage, Oxfordshire. He was the youngest son of King Æthelwulf of Wessex, by his first wife, Osburh.
In 853, at the age of four, Alfred is said to have been sent to Rome where, according to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, he was confirmed by Pope Leo IV who "anointed him as king". Victorian writers interpreted this as an anticipatory coronation in preparation for his ultimate succession to the throne of Wessex. However, his succession could not have been foreseen at the time, as Alfred had three living elder brothers. A letter of Leo IV shows that Alfred was made a "consul"; a misinterpretation of this investiture, deliberate or accidental, could explain later confusion. It may also be based on Alfred's later having accompanied his father on a pilgrimage to Rome where he spent some time at the court of Charles the Bald, King of the Franks, around 854–855.
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Burgred of Mercia
Burgred or Burhred or Burghred was the king of Mercia (852 - 874).
Burgred succeeded to the throne in 852, and in 852 or 853 called upon Ethelwulf of Wessex to aid him in subduing northern Wales. The request was granted and the campaign proved successful, the alliance being sealed by the marriage of Burgred to Æthelswith, daughter of Ethelwulf. In 868 the Mercian king appealed to Ethelred of Wessex and his brother, Alfred the Great for assistance against the Danes, who were in possession of Nottingham. The armies of Wessex and Mercia did no serious fighting, and the Danes were allowed to remain through the winter. In 874 the march of the Danes from Lindsey to Repton drove Burgred from his kingdom. They appointed a Mercian ealdorman Ceolwulf to replace him, demanding oaths of loyalty to the Danes. Burgred retired to Rome and died there. He was buried, according to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, "in the church of Sancta Maria, in the school of the English nation" in Rome.
Burgred is mentioned in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle in the years 852, 853, 868, and 874.
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Cnut the Great
Cnut the Great (Old Norse: Knútr inn ríki;c. 985 or 995 – 12 November 1035), also known as Canute, was a king of Denmark, England, Norway and parts of Sweden. Though after the death of his heirs within a decade of his own and the Norman conquest of England in 1066, his legacy was largely lost to history, historian Norman F. Cantor has made the paradoxical statement that he was "the most effective king in Anglo-Saxon history".
Cnut was of Danish and Slavic descent. His father was Sweyn Forkbeard, King of Denmark (which gave Cnut the patronym Sweynsson, Old Norse Sveinsson). Cnut's mother was the daughter of the first duke of the Polans, Mieszko I; her name may have been Świętosława (see: Sigrid Storråda), but the Oxford DNB article on Cnut states that her name is unknown.
As a prince of Denmark, Cnut won the throne of England in 1016 in the wake of centuries of Viking activity in northwestern Europe. His accession to the Danish throne in 1018 brought the crowns of England and Denmark together. Cnut held this power-base together by uniting Danes and Englishmen under cultural bonds of wealth and custom, rather than sheer brutality. After a decade of conflict with opponents in Scandinavia, Cnut claimed the crown of Norway in Trondheim in 1028. The Swedish city Sigtuna was held by Cnut. He had coins struck which called him king there, but there is no narrative record of his occupation.
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Danelaw
The Danelaw, as recorded in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (also known as the Danelagh; Old English: Dena lagu; Danish: Danelagen), is a historical name given to the part of England in which the laws of the "Danes" held sway and dominated those of the Anglo-Saxons. It is contrasted with "West Saxon law" and "Mercian law". The term has been extended by modern historians to be geographical. The areas that comprised the Danelaw are in northern and eastern England. The origins of the Danelaw arose from the Viking expansion of the 9th century, although the term was not used to describe a geographic area until the 11th century. With the increase in population and productivity in Scandinavia, Viking warriors, having sought treasure and glory in the nearby British Isles, "proceeded to plough and support themselves", in the words of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, for the year 876.
Danelaw is also used to describe the set of legal terms and definitions created in the treaties between the English king, Alfred the Great, and the Danish warlord, Guthrum, written following Guthrum's defeat at the Battle of Edington in 878. In 886, the Treaty of Alfred and Guthrum was formalised, defining the boundaries of their kingdoms, with provisions for peaceful relations between the English and the Vikings.
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Edgar the Ætheling
Edgar (the) Ætheling (also spelt Æþeling, Aetheling, Atheling or Etheling) or Edgar II (c. 1051 – c. 1126) was the last male member of the royal house of Cerdic of Wessex (see House of Wessex family tree). He was proclaimed, but never crowned, King of England in 1066.
Edgar was born in Hungary, where his father Edward the Exile, son of King Edmund II Ironside, had spent most of his life, having been sent into exile after Edmund's death and the conquest of England by the Danish king Cnut in 1016. His mother was Agatha, who was described as a relative of the German Emperor, but whose exact identity is unknown. He was his parents' only son but had two sisters, Margaret and Cristina.
In 1057 the childless king of England, Edmund Ironside's half-brother Edward the Confessor, who had only recently become aware that his nephew was still alive, summoned Edward back to England with his family to take up his place at court as heir to the throne. The returning exile died in uncertain circumstances shortly after his arrival in England. Edgar, at only 6 years old, was left as the only surviving male member of the royal dynasty apart from the king. However, the latter made no recorded effort to entrench his grand-nephew's position as heir to a throne which was being eyed by a range of powerful potential contenders including England's leading aristocrat Harold Godwinson, Earl of Wessex and the foreign rulers William, Duke of Normandy, Sweyn II Estrithson, King of Denmark and Harald Hardrada, King of Norway.
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Edmund the Martyr
Edmund the Martyr (Old English: Eadmund, ēad, "prosperity", "riches"; and mund, "protector"); also known as St Edmund or Edmund of East Anglia (died 20 November 869) was king of East Anglia from about 855 until his death.
Almost nothing is known of Edmund. He is thought to be of East Anglian origin and was first mentioned in an annal of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, written some years after his death. His kingdom was devastated by the Vikings, who destroyed any contemporary evidence of his reign. Later writers produced fictitious accounts of his life, asserting that he was born in 841, the son of Æthelweard, an obscure East Anglian king, whom it was said he succeeded when he was fourteen (or alternatively that he was the youngest son of a Germanic king named 'Alcmund'). Later versions of his life relate that he was crowned on 25 December 855 at Burna, an unidentified location, and that he became a model king.
In 869, the Great Heathen Army advanced on East Anglia and killed Edmund. He may have been slain by the Danes in battle, but by tradition he met his death at an unidentified place known as Haegelisdun, after he refused the Danes' demand that he renounce Christ: the Danes beat him, shot him with arrows and then beheaded him, on the orders of Ivar the Boneless and his brother Ubbe Ragnarsson. According to one legend, his head was then thrown into the forest, but was found safe by searchers after following the cries of a wolf that was calling, "Hic, Hic, Hic" – 'Here, Here, Here'. Commentators have noted how Edmund's death bears resemblances to the fate suffered by Saint Sebastian, St Denis and St Mary of Egypt.
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Edward the Confessor
Edward the Confessor, (Old English: Ēadƿeard se Andettere; French: Édouard le Confesseur; 1003–05 to 4 or 5 January 1066), son of Æthelred the Unready and Emma of Normandy, was one of the last Anglo-Saxon kings of England and is usually regarded as the last king of the House of Wessex, ruling from 1042 to 1066.
He has traditionally been seen as unworldly and pious, and his reign as notable for the disintegration of royal power in England and the advance in power of the Godwin family. His biographers, Frank Barlow and Peter Rex, dispute this, picturing him as a successful king, who was energetic, resourceful and sometimes ruthless, but whose reputation has been unfairly tarnished by the Norman conquest shortly after his death. Other historians regard this picture as only partly true, and not at all in the later part of his reign. In the view of Richard Mortimer, the return of the Godwins from exile in 1052 "meant the effective end of his exercise of power". The difference in his level of activity from the earlier part of his reign "implies a withdrawal from affairs".
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Edward the Elder
Edward the Elder (Old English: Ēadweard se Ieldra; c. 874–877 – 17 July 924) was an English king. He became king in 899 upon the death of his father, Alfred the Great. His court was at Winchester, previously the capital of Wessex. He captured the eastern Midlands and East Anglia from the Danes in 917 and became ruler of Mercia in 918 upon the death of Æthelflæd, his sister.
All but two of his charters give his title as "king of the Anglo-Saxons" (Anglorum Saxonum rex). He was the second king of the Anglo-Saxons as this title was created by Alfred. Edward's coinage reads "EADVVEARD REX." The chroniclers record that all England "accepted Edward as lord" in 920. But the fact that York continued to produce its own coinage suggests that Edward's authority was not accepted in Viking-ruled Northumbria. Edward's eponym "the Elder" was first used in Wulfstan's Life of St Æthelwold (tenth century) to distinguish him from the later King Edward the Martyr.
Edward was the second surviving child and elder son born to Alfred the Great and his Mercian queen, Ealhswith. Edward's birth cannot be dated with certainty. His parents married in 868 and his eldest sibling Æthelflæd was born soon afterwards as she was herself married in 883. Edward was probably born rather later, in the 870s, and probably between 874 and 877.
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Eric Bloodaxe
Eric Haraldsson (Eric, anglicised form of Old Norse: Eiríkr; died 954), nicknamed ‘Bloodaxe’ (blóðøx), was a 10th-century Scandinavian ruler. He is thought to have had short-lived terms as King of Norway and possibly as the last independent ruler of the kingdom of Northumbria (c. 947/8–948 and 952–5).
Distinct from the king of Norway of the Norse sagas, a member of the Fairhair dynasty, the historical Eric of Northumbria has recently been argued to have actually belonged to the Uí Ímair (House of Ivar), a distinct dynasty long established in the British Isles by the time of his rule.
The little historical data which is available has been used by historians to reconstruct a narrative of his life and career. There is a distinction between contemporary or near contemporary sources for Eric's period as ruler of Northumbria, and the entirely saga-based sources that detail the life of Eric of Norway, a chieftain who ruled the Norwegian Westland in the 930s. Norse sources have identified the two as the same since the late 12th century, and while the subject was controversial among early modern historians, most historians have identified the two figures as the same since W. G. Collingwood's article in 1901. This identification has been rejected recently by the historian Claire Downham, who argued that later Norse writers synthesized the two Erics, possibly using English sources. This argument, though respected by other historians in the area, has not produced consensus.
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Halfdan Ragnarsson
Halfdan Ragnarsson, or Halfdene to the Anglo-Saxons, was a Viking chief and one of the sons of Ragnar Lodbrok with Aslaug. It has been suggested that Halfdan is the same person as Ragnar's son Hvitserk
Halfdan pillaged with his brothers Ivar Ragnarsson and Ubbe Ragnarsson, and later became a leader of the Great Heathen Army. The army first landed in England in East Anglia during 865.
Halfdan led the Danes in the taking of Reading in and inflicted defeat on Alfred the Great when the Saxons attempted to retake it. However he is also listed as one of the commanders of the Vikings four days later at The Battle of Ashdown on 8 January 871 when Alfred led the West Saxon army in a victorious battle. However, the Danes inflicted more defeats on Alfred and Halfdan became the ruler of London 871–872 where he had coins made.
In 875, he joined his brothers in conquering the Kingdom of Northumbria. He was widely unpopular due to his alleged cruelty. He was expelled from York and died during a new Viking expedition in 877.
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Harald Hardrada
Harald Sigurdsson (1015 – 25 September 1066), later given the epithet Hardrada (Old Norse: Haraldr harðráði, roughly translated as "stern counsel" or "hard ruler", Hardråde in modern Norwegian) was the king of Norway from 1047 until 1066. He also claimed to be the King of Denmark until 1064, often defeating King Sweyn's army and forcing him to leave the country. Many details of his life were chronicled in the Heimskringla and other Icelandic sources. Among English speakers, he is generally remembered for his failed invasion of England in 1066. Harald's death at the Battle of Stamford Bridge which brought an end to that invasion is often recorded as the end of the Viking Age.
Harald was the youngest of King Olaf II of Norway's three half-brothers born to Åsta Gudbrandsdatter. His father was Åsta's second husband Sigurd Syr. The Icelandic sources, in particular Heimskringla, state that Sigurd, like Olaf's father, was a great-grandson of Harald I of Norway (Harald Fairhair) in the male line. However, many modern scholars believe that the ancestors attributed to Harald, along with other parts of the Fairhair genealogy, are inventions reflecting the political and social expectations of the time of the authors rather than historical reality.
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Harold Godwinson
Harold Godwinson, or Harold II; Old English: Harold Gōdwines sunu (c. 1022 – 14 October 1066) was the last Anglo-Saxon King of England. Harold reigned from 6 January 1066 until his death at the Battle of Hastings on 14 October of that same year, fighting the Norman invaders led by William the Conqueror during the Norman conquest of England. Harold is the first of only three kings of England to have died in warfare; the other two were Richard I and Richard III.
Harold was a son of Godwin, the powerful Earl of Wessex, and his wife Gytha Thorkelsdóttir, whose supposed brother Ulf Jarl was the son-in-law of Sweyn I and the father of Sweyn II of Denmark.
Godwin and Gytha had several children, notably sons Sweyn, Harold, Tostig, Gyrth and Leofwine and a daughter, Edith of Wessex (1029–1075), who became Queen consort of Edward the Confessor.
As a result of his sister's marriage to the king, Godwin's second son, Harold, became Earl of East Anglia in 1045. Harold accompanied his father into exile in 1051, but helped him to regain his position a year later. When Godwin died in 1053, Harold succeeded him as Earl of Wessex (a province at that time covering the southernmost third of England). This arguably made him the most powerful figure in England after the king.
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Harold Harefoot
Harold Harefoot or Harold I (c. 1015 – 17 March 1040) was King of England from 1035 to 1040. His cognomen "Harefoot" referred to his speed, and the skill of his huntsmanship. He was the son of Cnut the Great, king of England, Denmark, and Norway by Ælfgifu of Northampton. Though there was some scepticism that he was really Cnut's son, this was probably just propaganda by those who opposed his kingship.
The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle reports that Harold said that he was a son of Cnut the Great and Ælfgifu of Northampton, "although it was not true". Florence of Worcester (12th century) elaborates on the subject. Claiming that Ælfgifu wanted to have a son by the king but was unable to. So she secretly adopted the newborn children of strangers and pretended to have given birth to them. Harold was reportedly the son of a cobbler, while his brother Svein Knutsson was the illegitimate son of a priest. She deceived Cnut into recognizing both children as his own. Harriet O'Brien doubts that Cnud, the shrewd politician who "masterminded the bloodless takeover of Norway" could have been deceived in such a way. She suspects that the tale started out as a popular myth , or intentional defamation. Presumably tailored by Emma of Normandy, the other wife of Cnud and rival to Ælfgifu.
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Ivar the Boneless
Ivar Ragnarsson (Old Norse: Īvarr; died possibly 873) nicknamed the Boneless (inn beinlausi), was a Viking leader and by reputation also a berserker. By the late 11th century he was known as a son of the powerful Ragnar Lodbrok, ruler of an area probably comprising parts of modern-day Denmark and Sweden.
In the autumn of AD 865, with his brothers Halfdan Ragnarsson (Halfdene) and Ubbe Ragnarsson (Hubba), Ivar led the Great Heathen Army in the invasion of the East Anglian region of England. An accommodation was quickly reached with the East Anglians. The following year, Ivar led his forces north on horseback and easily captured York (which the Danes called Jorvik) from the Northumbrians who were at that time engaged in a civil war.
Ivar and the Danes succeeded in holding York against a vain attempt to relieve the city in AD 867.
Ivar is also attributed with the slaying of St. Edmund of East Anglia in AD 869. The story is first known from Abbo of Fleury's Latin Passion of King Edmund and Ælfric's Old English adaptation thereof. By their accounts, when Edmund refused to become the vassal of a pagan, he was killed in much the same way as Saint Sebastian was martyred. Ivar had Edmund bound to a tree, whereupon Vikings shot arrows into him until he died. According to later accounts, Edmund was shot in the nave of a church.
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Mercia
Mercia ( /ˈmɜrsiə/, /ˈmɜrʃə/) was one of the kingdoms of the Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy. It was centred on the valley of the River Trent and its tributaries in the region now known as the English Midlands. The name is a Latinisation of the Old English Mierce or Myrce, meaning "border people".
Mercia's neighbours included Northumbria, Powys and the kingdoms of southern Wales, Wessex, Sussex, Essex and East Anglia.
The name Mercia is still in use today by a wide range of organisations, including military units, public, commercial and voluntary bodies; and occurs as a female given name.
Mercia's exact evolution from the Anglo-Saxon invasions is more obscure than that of Northumbria, Kent, or even Wessex. Also, Mercia developed an effective political structure and adopted Christianity later than the other kingdoms. Archaeological surveys show that Angles settled the lands north of the River Thames by the 6th century. The name Mercia is Old English for "boundary folk" (see Welsh Marches), and the traditional interpretation is that the kingdom originated along the frontier between the native Welsh and the Anglo-Saxon invaders. However, P. Hunter Blair argued an alternative interpretation: that they emerged along the frontier of Northumbria and the inhabitants of the Trent river valley.
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Odda of Devon
The Battle of Cynwit, also spelt Battle of Cynuit, took place in 878 at a fort which Asser calls Cynwit. This is now argued to be on Cannington Hill, near Cannington, Bridgwater in Somerset, England, but other locations are also put forward for it.
A party of Vikings led by Ubbe Ragnarsson, brother of Ivar the Boneless and Halfdan Ragnarsson, landed on the coast at Combwich with 23 ships and twelve hundred men. There they observed that a number of English Thanes and all of their men had taken refuge in the fort of "Cynwit" for safety. While the fort was secure on all sides except for the East, it lacked adequate fortifications.[citation needed]
Ubbe and the Vikings proceeded to besiege the fort, expecting the English to surrender eventually from lack of water (as there was no available source near the fort). The English however, instead of waiting to die of thirst on top of the hill, attacked suddenly out of the fortress at dawn, taking the Danes by surprise and winning a great victory.[citation needed]
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Polabian Slavs
Polabian Slavs (Lower Sorbian: Połobske Słowjany, Polish: Słowianie połabscy, Czech: Polabští Slované) - is a collective term applied to a number of Lechites tribes who lived along the Elbe river, between the Baltic Sea to the north, the Saale and the Limes Saxoniae to the west, the Ore Mountains and the Western Sudetes to the south, and Poland to the east. They have also been known as Elbe Slavs (German: Elbslawen) or Wends. Their name derives from the Slavic po, meaning "by/next to/along", and the Slavic name for the Elbe (Labe in Czech and Łaba in Polish).
The Polabian Slavs started settling in the territory of modern Germany in the second half of the first millennium. They were largely conquered by Saxons and Danes during the 12th century and subsequently included within the Holy Roman Empire. The tribes were gradually Germanized and assimilated in the following centuries; the Sorbs are the only descendants of the Polabian Slavs to have retained their identity and culture.
The Polabian language is now extinct. However, both Sorbian languages are spoken by approximately 60,000 inhabitants of the region and the languages are regarded by the government of Germany as official languages of the region.
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Sweyn II of Denmark
Sweyn II Estridsson Ulfsson (Old Norse: Sveinn Ástríðarson, Danish: Svend Estridsen) (c. 1019 – 28 April 1074 or 1076) was King of Denmark from 1047 until his death in 1074. He was the son of Ulf Jarl and Estrid Svendsdatter. He was married three times, and fathered 20 children or more, including the five future kings Harald III Hen, Canute IV the Saint, Oluf I Hunger, Eric I Evergood and Niels out of wedlock.
He was courageous in battle, but did not have much success as a military commander. His skeleton shows him to have been a tall, powerfully built man who walked with a limp.
Sweyn was born in England, as the son of Norwegian Ulf Jarl and Estrid Svendsdatter, the daughter of king Sweyn I of Denmark and sister of king Canute the Great. Sweyn grew up a military leader, and served under king Anund Jacob of Sweden for a time. He pillaged the Elbe-Weser area in 1040, but was caught by the Archbishop of Hamburg-Bremen, who released him shortly thereafter.
Svend was made jarl under Danish king Harthacnut, and led a campaign for him against Norway, but was beaten by Magnus I of Norway. When Harthacnut died in 1042, Magnus claimed the Danish throne and made Svend his jarl of Jutland. Sweyn fought for Magnus at the Battle of Lyrskov Heath in 1043. Sweyn won great reputation at Lyrskov Heath, and had the Danish nobles crown him king in Viborg in Jutland. He was defeated by Magnus on several occasions, and fled to Sweden where he eventually established a foothold in Scania.
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Tostig Godwinson
Tostig Godwinson (died 25 September 1066) was an Anglo-Saxon Earl of Northumbria and brother of King Harold Godwinson, the last crowned English King of England.
Tostig was the third son of Godwin (d. 1053), Earl of Wessex and Kent, and Gytha, daughter of Thorgils Sprakaleg. In 1051, he married Judith, the daughter of Count Baldwin IV of Flanders, half-sister of Baldwin V of Flanders, and aunt of Matilda of Flanders, who married William the Conqueror. The Domesday Book recorded twenty-six vills or townships as being held by Earl Tostig forming the Manor of Hougun.
In 1051, Tostig and his father were banished from England to which they forcefully returned in 1052. Three years later in 1055, Tostig became the Earl of Northumbria upon the death of Earl Siward.
Tostig appears to have governed in Northumbria with some difficulty. He was never popular with the Northumbrian ruling class, a mix of Danish invaders and Anglo Saxon survivors of the last Norse invasion. Tostig was said to have been heavy handed with those who resisted his rule, including the murder of several members of leading Northumbrian families. In late 1063 or early 1064, Tostig had Gamal, son of Orm and Ulf, son of Dolfin, assassinated when they visited him under safe conduct. Also, the Vita Edwardi, otherwise sympathetic to Tostig, states that he had 'repressed [the Northumbrians] with the heavy yoke of his rule'.
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Ubbe Ragnarsson
Ubbe, Ubba or Hubba Ragnarsson was a Norse leader during the Viking Age. Ubbe Ragnarsson was one of the sons of Ragnar Lodbrok and, along with his brothers Halfdan and Ivar the Boneless, a leader of the Great Danish Army.
In 878, a party of Vikings landed on the English coast at Combwich. There they observed that a number of Saxons had taken refuge in the fort of Cynwit. Ubba was originally part of the Danish invasion of England. Ubba was one of the main leaders of the invasion, also was his brother Ivar. The Vikings proceeded to besiege the fort, expecting the English to surrender eventually from lack of water. Instead of waiting to die of thirst on top of the hill, the Saxons attacked suddenly out of the fortress at dawn, taking the Danes by surprise and winning a great victory. Ubbe was killed by the Saxons under the leadership of Odda of Devon at the Battle of Cynuit in Somerset.
Little is known about Ubbe Ragnarsson. The information that is available about him is written principally in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle.
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Wessex
The Kingdom of Wessex ( /ˈwɛsɨks/) or Kingdom of the West Saxons (Old English: Westseaxna rīce) was an Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the West Saxons in South West England, from the 6th century until the emergence of a united English state under the Wessex dynasty in the 10th century. It was to be an earldom after Canute the Great's conquest of 1016, from 1020 to 1066. After the Norman Conquest there was a dissolution of the English earldoms and Wessex was split among the followers of William the Conqueror.
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Ælla of Northumbria
Ælla (or Ælle) (died 21 March 867) was king of Northumbria in the middle of the 9th century. Sources on Northumbrian history in this period are limited. Ælla's descent is not known and the dating of his reign is problematic. He is a major character in the saga Ragnarssona þáttr (The Tale of Ragnar's sons).
Ælla became king after Osberht was deposed. This is traditionally dated to 862 or 863, but may have been as late as 866. Almost nothing is known of Ælla's reign. Symeon of Durham states that Ælla had seized lands at Billingham, Ileclif, Wigeclif, and Crece, which belonged to the church. While Ælla is described in most sources as a tyrant, and not a rightful king, one source states that he was Osberht's brother.
The Great Heathen Army marched on Northumbria in the late summer of 866, seizing York on 21 November 866. Symeon of Durham, the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, Asser, and Æthelweard all recount substantially the same version of events in varying detail. Symeon's Historia Regum Anglorum gives this account of the battle on 21 March 867 where Osberht and Ælla met their deaths at the hands of the Vikings:
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Æthelflæd
Æthelflæd (Old English: Æðelflæd (869 / 870–918), was the eldest daughter of King Alfred the Great of Wessex and Ealhswith, wife of Æthelred, ealdorman of Mercia, and after his death, ruler of Mercia (911–918). The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle styles her "Lady of the Mercians" (Myrcna hlæfdige).
Æthelflæd is mentioned by King Alfred's biographer Asser, who calls her the first-born child of Alfred and Ealhswith and a sister to Edward, Æthelgifu, Ælfthryth and Æthelweard. By the time he wrote, roughly about the year 890, she was already married to Æthelred, then ealdorman of Mercia.
They had one daughter, Ælfwynn.
During a sustained campaign of repeated attack between 865 and 878 the Danish Vikings overran most of the English Kingdoms such as Northumbria, Eastern Mercia, East Anglia and even threatened the very existence of Wessex. Alfred and his descendants reconquered these lands from the Danes by 937. The aid given him in this by Mercia had to be acknowledged. Instead of making the dominion of Wessex over Mercia seem like a conquest, Alfred married Æthelflæd to Æthelred of Mercia and gave his son-in-law the title Ealdorman or Earl of Mercia, thus allowing some ongoing autonomy. Since much of Western Mercia was never under the control of the Danes, and remained strong, this was a prudent move. Further prudence prevailed when the kingdoms were finally absorbed; they were not absorbed into Wessex or greater Wessex but into England. The term Anglo-Saxon thus reflects King Alfred's diplomatic integration of the Mercians Angles and the Saxons.
wn.com/Æthelflæd -
Æthelred of Wessex
King Æthelred I (Old English: Æþelræd, sometimes rendered as Ethelred, "noble counsel") (c. 847 – 871) was King of Wessex from 865 to 871. He was the fourth son of King Æthelwulf of Wessex. He succeeded his brother, Æthelberht (Ethelbert), as King of Wessex and Kent in 865.
In 853 his younger brother Alfred went to Rome, and according to contemporary references in the Liber Vitae of San Salvatore, Brescia, Æthelred accompanied him. He first witnessed his father's charters as an Ætheling in 854, and kept this title until he succeeded to the throne in 871. In 862 and 863 he issued charters as King of the West Saxons, which must have been as deputy or in the absence of his elder brother, King Æthelberht, as there is no record of conflict between them and he continued to witness his brother's charters as Ætheling.
In the same year as Æthelred's succession as king, a great Viking army arrived in England, and within five years they had destroyed two of the principal English kingdoms, Northumbria and East Anglia. In 868 Æthelred's brother-in-law, Burgred king of Mercia, appealed to him for help against the Vikings. Æthelred and his brother, the future Alfred the Great, led a West Saxon army to Nottingham, but there was no decisive battle, and Burgred bought off the Vikings. In 874 the Vikings defeated Burgred and drove him into exile.
wn.com/Æthelred_of_Wessex -
Æthelwold of Wessex
Æthelwold or Alwaldus (c. 868 – 902) was the younger of two known sons of King Æthelred of Wessex. His older brother, Æthelhelm, is only recorded as a beneficiary of King Alfred's will in the mid 880s, and probably died soon afterwards. When Æthelred died in 871, his sons were too young to be king, and he was succeeded by his younger brother, Alfred the Great.
After his brother's death, Æthelwold was the senior Ætheling (prince of the royal dynasty who was eligible for kingship), with a strong claim to succeed Alfred. In the only surviving charter which has Æthelwold's signature, he is listed above Alfred's eldest son, Edward the Elder, implying that he ranked above him. However, Alfred naturally favoured his own son, leaving the bulk of his property to Edward in his will, and giving him opportunities for command in battle once he was old enough.
On Alfred's death in 899, Æthelwold made a bid for the throne by seizing Wimborne Minster, symbolically important as his father's burial place. However, he was unable to gain sufficient support to meet Edward in battle, and sought refuge with the Danes of Northumbria, who, according to one version of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, accepted him as king. Northumbrian coins were issued at this time in the name of 'Alwaldus', who is thought to have been Æthelwold. In 901 he sailed with a fleet to Essex, and in 902 he persuaded the Danes of East Anglia to wage war against Edward, joining them in a raid on Mercia and Wessex. Edward retaliated by ravaging the southern Danelaw, but when he withdrew the men of Kent refused to obey the order to retreat. They met the Danes at the Battle of the Holme, and although the Danes won they suffered the heavier losses, including Æthelwold.
wn.com/Æthelwold_of_Wessex
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Danelaw - Dunghaven The Motion Picture Part1
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 8:15
- Updated: 28 May 2010
Danelaw's slapstick Intro/ Promo Video of the Danelaw property from 2003
http://wn.com/Danelaw_Dunghaven_The_Motion_Picture_Part1
Danelaw's slapstick Intro/ Promo Video of the Danelaw property from 2003
Danelaw - Midday Show 1996 Part1
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 3:39
- Updated: 06 Jul 2012
Danelaw appearing on the Midday show with Kerrie Anne in 1996 Part 1
http://wn.com/Danelaw_Midday_Show_1996_Part1
Danelaw appearing on the Midday show with Kerrie Anne in 1996 Part 1
- published: 11 May 2009
- views: 658
- author: Kirk Metcalfe
Danelaw - Promo Video
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 2:46
- Updated: 28 Dec 2012
Danelaw's recently produced Promo Video for your enjoyment and perusal.It consists of stills and footage from some of our more recent shows and displays
http://wn.com/Danelaw_Promo_Video
Danelaw's recently produced Promo Video for your enjoyment and perusal.It consists of stills and footage from some of our more recent shows and displays
- published: 19 Aug 2009
- views: 970
- author: Kirk Metcalfe
Danelaw Medieval Fight
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 1:54
- Updated: 22 Mar 2012
Danelaw Fight 11
http://wn.com/Danelaw_Medieval_Fight
Medieval Games SCA
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 2:54
- Updated: 23 Oct 2012
Not everyone watches the bulldawgs play between the hedges on Saturday.
http://wn.com/Medieval_Games_SCA
Not everyone watches the bulldawgs play between the hedges on Saturday.
- published: 23 Oct 2008
- views: 5247
- author: edmonster33
Danelaw Medieval Fighting Society @ Blacktown Lords and Ladies' Fayre 2012 - Doonside, NSW
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 3:35
- Updated: 09 Sep 2012
"Danelaw is one of Australia's longest running independent Re-enactment groups with a long and glorious history of battlefield domination due to superior tactics, high training standards and the best equipment." This is a short TV segment about the Danelaw Society's participation at the Blacktown Lords and Ladies' Fayre 2012 held in Doonside, NSW, who were kind enough to donate their time and attention for its production. It was submitted as part of a final project for postgraduate MECO6924: Broadcast Journalism students from the University of Sydney. Special thanks goes to Danelaw, The Lords and Ladies' Fayre participants and attendees, Blacktown City Council, course lecturer Alison Ray and The University of Sydney media department.
http://wn.com/Danelaw_Medieval_Fighting_Society_@_Blacktown_Lords_and_Ladies'_Fayre_2012_Doonside,_NSW
"Danelaw is one of Australia's longest running independent Re-enactment groups with a long and glorious history of battlefield domination due to superior tactics, high training standards and the best equipment." This is a short TV segment about the Danelaw Society's participation at the Blacktown Lords and Ladies' Fayre 2012 held in Doonside, NSW, who were kind enough to donate their time and attention for its production. It was submitted as part of a final project for postgraduate MECO6924: Broadcast Journalism students from the University of Sydney. Special thanks goes to Danelaw, The Lords and Ladies' Fayre participants and attendees, Blacktown City Council, course lecturer Alison Ray and The University of Sydney media department.
- published: 24 Jul 2012
- views: 171
- author: CJ Weerasinghe
Danelaw - XIVAMC 2007 Australian Medieval and Re enactment Convention
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 5:40
- Updated: 20 Nov 2012
A brief video outlining the participants, activities and highlights from the 14th Australian Medieval Re enactment Convention. Held at the danelaw property in Easter 2007.
http://wn.com/Danelaw_XIVAMC_2007_Australian_Medieval_and_Re_enactment_Convention
A brief video outlining the participants, activities and highlights from the 14th Australian Medieval Re enactment Convention. Held at the danelaw property in Easter 2007.
- published: 22 Dec 2009
- views: 397
- author: Kirk Metcalfe
Danelaw - Iron Fest 2010
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 5:46
- Updated: 17 Jan 2013
A short Picture Video Highlighting the 2 days we spent performing at the 2010 Iron Fest Festival held at Lithgow Showgrounds.
http://wn.com/Danelaw_Iron_Fest_2010
A short Picture Video Highlighting the 2 days we spent performing at the 2010 Iron Fest Festival held at Lithgow Showgrounds.
- published: 15 Mar 2011
- views: 405
- author: Kirk Metcalfe
Danelaw - Midday Show 1996 Part 2
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 2:25
- Updated: 22 Feb 2012
Danelaw appearing on the Midday Show with Kerrie Anne 1996 part 2
http://wn.com/Danelaw_Midday_Show_1996_Part_2
Danelaw appearing on the Midday Show with Kerrie Anne 1996 part 2
- published: 11 May 2009
- views: 531
- author: Kirk Metcalfe
Danelaw Tower Siege
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 9:37
- Updated: 25 Aug 2010
Danelaw Tower Siege 2002
http://wn.com/Danelaw_Tower_Siege
Danelaw Medieval Fight
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 0:32
- Updated: 27 Aug 2010
Danelaw Fight 4
http://wn.com/Danelaw_Medieval_Fight
Danelaw Medieval Fight
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 1:29
- Updated: 23 Aug 2010
Danelaw Fight 3
http://wn.com/Danelaw_Medieval_Fight
Danelaw Thumbs Up
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 3:58
- Updated: 25 Dec 2012
The pony that popped out of the dartmoor and changed our lives forever!! He was 11 yrs old and had only been broken 3 weeks when we got him on loan...we didnt actually hear that however, until we'd had the little sod 4 months!! previously it had taken them 3 attempts to saddle him as he used to just sit down lol!! he was amazing and we miss him desperately!! my 10yr old sister (at the time) brought this pony so far in under a year!! Thankyou anne for loaning him to us!!
http://wn.com/Danelaw_Thumbs_Up
The pony that popped out of the dartmoor and changed our lives forever!! He was 11 yrs old and had only been broken 3 weeks when we got him on loan...we didnt actually hear that however, until we'd had the little sod 4 months!! previously it had taken them 3 attempts to saddle him as he used to just sit down lol!! he was amazing and we miss him desperately!! my 10yr old sister (at the time) brought this pony so far in under a year!! Thankyou anne for loaning him to us!!
- published: 16 Jun 2008
- views: 162
- author: bexnalfie
Guild, Danelaw, Uppsala and Black Ravens - Training
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 4:12
- Updated: 23 May 2012
The Australian Medieval Guild invade Black Ravens training. Danelaw and Uppsala came to give support and help make it fair. It is one sport where more players make it more fun.
http://wn.com/Guild,_Danelaw,_Uppsala_and_Black_Ravens_Training
The Australian Medieval Guild invade Black Ravens training. Danelaw and Uppsala came to give support and help make it fair. It is one sport where more players make it more fun.
- published: 23 Jun 2008
- views: 1867
- author: MedievalFightclub
Danelaw Tower Seige 2008
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 10:00
- Updated: 23 Mar 2012
Highlights from the third fight.
http://wn.com/Danelaw_Tower_Seige_2008
The Danelaw - Training session
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 0:22
- Updated: 10 Jan 2013
My brother discovered a medieval re-enactment group call the Danelaw. They train every wednesday around Fairfield and consist of around 15 people. This is their training session... Pretty cool if you
http://wn.com/The_Danelaw_Training_session
My brother discovered a medieval re-enactment group call the Danelaw. They train every wednesday around Fairfield and consist of around 15 people. This is their training session... Pretty cool if you
- published: 01 Feb 2012
- views: 158
- author: Nassar Zeitoune
Danelaw - Dunghaven The Motion Picture Part 2
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 8:15
- Updated: 01 Jun 2012
Danelaw's slapstick Intro/Promo video of the Danelaw property from 2003
http://wn.com/Danelaw_Dunghaven_The_Motion_Picture_Part_2
Danelaw's slapstick Intro/Promo video of the Danelaw property from 2003
- published: 16 May 2009
- views: 180
- author: Kirk Metcalfe
Danelaw - Today Show Blacktown Medieval Fair 2011
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 2:20
- Updated: 19 May 2012
Danelaw appearing on the weekend Today Show at the 2011 Blacktown Medieval Fair. Also appearing are members of the Companie of Knights Bachelor and Michael Brown from AAF.
http://wn.com/Danelaw_Today_Show_Blacktown_Medieval_Fair_2011
Danelaw appearing on the weekend Today Show at the 2011 Blacktown Medieval Fair. Also appearing are members of the Companie of Knights Bachelor and Michael Brown from AAF.
- published: 03 Jun 2011
- views: 381
- author: Kirk Metcalfe
Danelaw - All Saints 2006 Part 1
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 2:00
- Updated: 23 Jul 2010
Danelaw appearing on an episode of All Saints
http://wn.com/Danelaw_All_Saints_2006_Part_1
Danelaw appearing on an episode of All Saints
- published: 12 May 2009
- views: 220
- author: Kirk Metcalfe
Danelaw Medieval Fight
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 1:20
- Updated: 26 Aug 2010
Danelaw Fight 10
http://wn.com/Danelaw_Medieval_Fight
Danelaw - Blacktown Medieval Fair 2011
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 4:17
- Updated: 20 Oct 2012
A Short video on Danelaw's Particpation at the 2011 Blacktown Medieval Fair .
http://wn.com/Danelaw_Blacktown_Medieval_Fair_2011
A Short video on Danelaw's Particpation at the 2011 Blacktown Medieval Fair .
- published: 11 Feb 2012
- views: 147
- author: Kirk Metcalfe
Danelaw Medieval Fight
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 0:21
- Updated: 27 Aug 2010
Danelaw Fight
http://wn.com/Danelaw_Medieval_Fight
My bro @ The Danelaw - Playing with swords
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 1:25
- Updated: 30 Dec 2012
My brother found out about The Danelaw and decided to turn up to one of their training sessions. Here he is practicing swordwork.
http://wn.com/My_bro_@_The_Danelaw_Playing_with_swords
My brother found out about The Danelaw and decided to turn up to one of their training sessions. Here he is practicing swordwork.
- published: 01 Feb 2012
- views: 38
- author: Nassar Zeitoune
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Danelaw - Midday Show 1996 Part 2
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 2:25
- Updated: 22 Feb 2012
Danelaw appearing on the Midday Show with Kerrie Anne 1996 part 2
http://wn.com/Danelaw_Midday_Show_1996_Part_2
Danelaw appearing on the Midday Show with Kerrie Anne 1996 part 2
- published: 11 May 2009
- views: 531
- author: Kirk Metcalfe
2012 What will be the impact of François Hollande's election on France's role in NATO?
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 7:37
- Updated: 22 May 2012
Is Stéphane Abrial the French pilot who shot down Aerolinee Itavia Flight 870 on 27 June 1980? General Stéphane Abrial, Supreme Allied Commander Transformation, NATO FRANCE 24 - 14/05/2012 - THE INTERVIEW | What will be the impact of François Hollande's election on France's role in NATO? What is NATO's withdrawal strategy from Afghanistan? And what impact will European defence cuts have on NATO's operations? General Stéphane Abrial, NATO's Supreme Allied Commander Transformation, tells France 24's Philip Crowther what challenges lie ahead for the Atlantic Alliance, just days before the NATO summit in Chicago. Latest update: 15/05/2012 - Afghanistan - Europe - NATO THE INTERVIEW An interview with a French or international personality from the world of economics, politics, culture or diplomacy. Monday to Thursday at 9.45 pm. www.france24.com Stéphane Abrial (French pronunciation: [abʁiɑl]), born on 7 September 1954 in the South-Western French region of Armagnac, is a French General who is the Commander of Allied Command Transformation based in Norfolk, VA, one of the two NATO strategic commands. His previous posting was as the Chief of Staff of the French Air Force.[1] French Military career General Stéphane Abrial graduated in 1973 from the French Air Force academy (the Ecole de l'Air), and in 1974 from the US Air Force Academy. He completed pilot training at the French Air Force Academy in 1976. From 1977 to 1991, he served as a fighter pilot both in France (in Cambrai ...
http://wn.com/2012_What_will_be_the_impact_of_François_Hollande's_election_on_France's_role_in_NATO?
Is Stéphane Abrial the French pilot who shot down Aerolinee Itavia Flight 870 on 27 June 1980? General Stéphane Abrial, Supreme Allied Commander Transformation, NATO FRANCE 24 - 14/05/2012 - THE INTERVIEW | What will be the impact of François Hollande's election on France's role in NATO? What is NATO's withdrawal strategy from Afghanistan? And what impact will European defence cuts have on NATO's operations? General Stéphane Abrial, NATO's Supreme Allied Commander Transformation, tells France 24's Philip Crowther what challenges lie ahead for the Atlantic Alliance, just days before the NATO summit in Chicago. Latest update: 15/05/2012 - Afghanistan - Europe - NATO THE INTERVIEW An interview with a French or international personality from the world of economics, politics, culture or diplomacy. Monday to Thursday at 9.45 pm. www.france24.com Stéphane Abrial (French pronunciation: [abʁiɑl]), born on 7 September 1954 in the South-Western French region of Armagnac, is a French General who is the Commander of Allied Command Transformation based in Norfolk, VA, one of the two NATO strategic commands. His previous posting was as the Chief of Staff of the French Air Force.[1] French Military career General Stéphane Abrial graduated in 1973 from the French Air Force academy (the Ecole de l'Air), and in 1974 from the US Air Force Academy. He completed pilot training at the French Air Force Academy in 1976. From 1977 to 1991, he served as a fighter pilot both in France (in Cambrai ...
- published: 17 May 2012
- views: 426
- author: rettznorge
2:25
Danelaw - Midday Show 1996 Part 2
Danelaw appearing on the Midday Show with Kerrie Anne 1996 part 2...
published: 11 May 2009
author: Kirk Metcalfe
Danelaw - Midday Show 1996 Part 2
Danelaw appearing on the Midday Show with Kerrie Anne 1996 part 2
- published: 11 May 2009
- views: 531
- author: Kirk Metcalfe
7:37
2012 What will be the impact of François Hollande's election on France's role in NATO?
Is Stéphane Abrial the French pilot who shot down Aerolinee Itavia Flight 870 on 27 June 1...
published: 17 May 2012
author: rettznorge
2012 What will be the impact of François Hollande's election on France's role in NATO?
Is Stéphane Abrial the French pilot who shot down Aerolinee Itavia Flight 870 on 27 June 1980? General Stéphane Abrial, Supreme Allied Commander Transformation, NATO FRANCE 24 - 14/05/2012 - THE INTERVIEW | What will be the impact of François Hollande's election on France's role in NATO? What is NATO's withdrawal strategy from Afghanistan? And what impact will European defence cuts have on NATO's operations? General Stéphane Abrial, NATO's Supreme Allied Commander Transformation, tells France 24's Philip Crowther what challenges lie ahead for the Atlantic Alliance, just days before the NATO summit in Chicago. Latest update: 15/05/2012 - Afghanistan - Europe - NATO THE INTERVIEW An interview with a French or international personality from the world of economics, politics, culture or diplomacy. Monday to Thursday at 9.45 pm. www.france24.com Stéphane Abrial (French pronunciation: [abʁiɑl]), born on 7 September 1954 in the South-Western French region of Armagnac, is a French General who is the Commander of Allied Command Transformation based in Norfolk, VA, one of the two NATO strategic commands. His previous posting was as the Chief of Staff of the French Air Force.[1] French Military career General Stéphane Abrial graduated in 1973 from the French Air Force academy (the Ecole de l'Air), and in 1974 from the US Air Force Academy. He completed pilot training at the French Air Force Academy in 1976. From 1977 to 1991, he served as a fighter pilot both in France (in Cambrai ...
- published: 17 May 2012
- views: 426
- author: rettznorge
Vimeo results:
10:12
East Side Story
Jeremy Taub / Capicu Productions presents
A Silver Rocket Film...
East Side Story
Synopsi...
published: 27 May 2009
author: colin mowbray
East Side Story
Jeremy Taub / Capicu Productions presents
A Silver Rocket Film...
East Side Story
Synopsis
Dan is on a first date when a mysterious director appears and starts telling him how to act. But can Dan take direction?
East Side Story is a slightly surreal romantic comedy set on the streets of Alphabet City in New York. Its a tongue-in-cheek look at the art of love when everybody is being watched and everybody is a star.
Key Credits.
Starring Ian Walters, Milena Govich, Marc Lane, Scotty Schwartz.
Director of Photography - Dane Lawing
Music Manas Pandey
Editor Branden Fillmore
Online Editor Christopher Benz
Written and directed by Colin Mowbray
Produced by Jeremy Taub
© Silver Rocket Films MMV
www.silverrocketfilms.com
Technical Specifications:
Running time: 10mins, Aspect Ratio: 4:3, Colour, English, No subtitles.
Shot on: Mini DV 24p
Shooting Location: East Village, New York city, New York.
Country of Production: USA/Australia
Release Date: December 2005
Screenings: London International Film Festival
Private cast and crew screenings in New York and Melbourne.
photo: Creative Commons / Gage Skidmore
18 Jan 2013
Angelina Jolie likes being a sex symbol. The Oscar-winning actress is regarded as one of the world's most beautiful women and she enjoys being told she looks good as it's important to feel sexy ... ....(size: 1.0Kb)
photo: AP / Sergei Chuzavkov
19 Jan 2013
MOSCOW — The government of President Viktor F. Yanukovich of Ukraine said Friday that it planned to bring murder charges against his political rival, the jailed former prime minister, Yulia V. Tymoshenko, in connection with the 1996 assassination of a member of Parliament. Connect With Us on Twitter. Follow @nytimesworld for international breaking news and headlines. Twitter List. Reporters and Editors ... He said that Ms ... Ms ... Ms ... ... ....(size: 8.0Kb)
photo: US Army / Staff Sgt. Michael R. Noggle
18 Jan 2013
“For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction” is Newton’s third law of physics. Its counterpart in geopolitics is “blowback,” when military action in one sphere produces an unintended and undesirable consequence in another. September 11, 2001, was blowback. George H.W. Bush had sent an army of half a million to hurl Saddam Hussein out of Kuwait, a triumph ... bases in Saudi Arabia ... Patrick J....(size: 5.8Kb)
photo: AP / SITE Intel Group
18 Jan 2013
He's known as Mr Marlboro because of his cigarette smuggling. The French intelligence service calls him "The Uncatchable".. The truth is Mokhtar Belmokhtar and his fellow North African Jihadists are rapidly emerging as Europe's most potent strategic threat.. Born in central Algeria in 1972 he grew obsessed with Jihadi ideology in his teens. At 19 he volunteered to fight alongside the mujahedeen in Afghanistan. ... "He is very cold ... ....(size: 8.4Kb)
photo: AP / BP
18 Jan 2013
The twin crises unfolding either side of the Sahara Desert in Mali and Algeria are closely interlinked - the Islamist groups in Mali have their roots in Algeria, while the kidnappers who have just struck in Algeria say they are acting in revenge for France's intervention against their allies to the south ... Continue reading the main story “Start Quote ... Natural target ... Continue reading the main story Mokhtar Belmokhtar ... ....(size: 6.7Kb)
The Examiner
02 Jan 2013
About the Author.. Mary Ann is the author of The Briton and the Dane trilogy. She fell in love with medieval England after she read Sir Walter Scott's Ivanhoe ... Add to the mix Camelot and an incurable romantic Anglophile was born! ... Video. U Tube ... Travel back in time to late Ninth Century Anglo-Saxon Britain where Alfred the Great rules with a benevolent hand while the Danish King rules peacefully within the boundaries of the Danelaw ... ....(size: 8.6Kb)
noodls
30 Nov 2012
News. Professors claim the English language derives from Scandinavia. [Date. 2012-11-30] ... But there is more behind it ... Professor Faarlund says; 'One especially important, geographic point in our research is that the East Midlands region, where the spoken language later developed into Modern English, coincides almost exactly with the densely populated, southern part of the Danelaw ... Usually one borrows words and concepts for new things....(size: 6.1Kb)
York Press
31 Aug 2012
PR Newswire
22 Aug 2012
PRODUCT INTRODUCTIONS/INNOVATIONS II-21OMNOVA Solutions Launches Judder, Whirl and Bona Fide WallCoverings II-21Roya Manufacturing Launches Prime Walls Wall Coverings II-21KnollTextiles to Launch New Collections of Wall Covering Fabrics II-21Audimute Launches Deluxe Wall Coverings II-21Sigma to Unveil Sigmacryl Ecoplus - Paint with Eco-Label from ......(size: 75.1Kb)
BBC News
18 Jul 2012
The Guardian
11 Apr 2012
Plus. Zaleski – the greatest fictional detective? Why don't the French like vegetables? Another failed rebellion … the death of Wat Tyler, leader of the peasant's revolt of 1381. Picture. Hulton Getty ... You can see this in the chapters of the Domesday Book that list the landholdings subject to dispute at the time of the survey, when the rights established in the Saxon kingdoms and the Danelaw were holding up against the Normans ... Close. ....(size: 6.3Kb)
The Observer
11 Mar 2012
There's often a lot of controversy surrounding how history is taught. Maybe educationists would say I'm wrong but it seems to get discussed much more than, say, maths or geography ... I hate the expression "island story" ... If you want to appeal to the under-25s, they'd know, you could exploit their understanding of the Crimean war, while you can always touch the over-40s with Industrial Revolution-, interregnum- or Danelaw-themed stuff ... ....(size: 12.3Kb)
The Guardian
20 Feb 2012
As the Olympics loom, Alexandra Topping takes a tour within sight and sound of the London 2012 site An alternative tour of the Olympics area takes in filter beds and football pitches, street art and the former Matchbox factory, as well as the swoop of the Aquatic Centre and the unromantic bulk of the media hub. Photograph ... in the ninth century part of the Danelaw boundary between the Saxons and Vikings, later a haunt of highwaymen ... ....(size: 7.2Kb)
PhysOrg
25 Jan 2012
A crew of Viking mercenaries – some of the fiercest and most feared killers in the medieval world – could be the occupants of a mysterious mass grave in the south of England, according to a new theory ... Historians differ about how many people were actually killed and whether those who were murdered were residents of the Danelaw (the Viking-occupied part of England at the time), or just mercenaries based elsewhere ... ....(size: 5.6Kb)
PhysOrg
19 Dec 2011
The new proposal by Dr. Briggs is unusual in that it is based on a detailed analysis of the linguistic structure of the various place-names involved ... Dr ... Dr. Briggs said, “In 869 the Vikings were proceeding in the direction of London; soon afterwards King Alfred the Great halted their advance and took the English throne, while the rule of the Vikings, the Danelaw, was established in the north and east ... ....(size: 2.8Kb)
The Daily Telegraph
02 Nov 2011
A Viking legend which tells of a glowing "sunstone" that, when held up to the sky, disclosed the position of the Sun on a cloudy day may have some basis in truth, scientists believe. Here is a look at how Vikings inspired terror across Europe. Image 1 of 2 The Viking influence is still very visible in the Shetlands Photo ... Comments ... Leaving Wessex, the Danes settled to the north, in an area known as "Danelaw."...(size: 15.3Kb)
The Guardian
13 Oct 2011
Photograph. Nils Jorgensen/Rex. Richard Hall, who has died of cancer aged 62, was one of the foremost archaeologists of the Viking age ... He followed this with a doctorate at Southampton University on the Anglo-Scandinavian towns of the Danelaw, under the supervision of Peter Addyman, who shortly thereafter left the university to become director of the newly formed York Archaeological Trust ... Hall's first marriage was dissolved ... ....(size: 7.2Kb)
Business Wire
31 Aug 2011
AC Yule Clement Windows Group Comar Architectural Aluminium Systems English Architectural Glazing Eurocell Profiles Geze UK Gilgen Door Systems UK Ltd Guardian Industries UK Hambleside Danelaw Hydro Building Systems IKON Aluminium Solutions Josef Gartner GmbH Kawneer UK Lakesmere Latium Group Lindner Facades Metallbau Frh UK Norking Aluminium Parry ......(size: 6.2Kb)
The Danelaw, as recorded in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (also known as the Danelagh; Old English: Dena lagu; Danish: Danelagen), is a historical name given to the part of England in which the laws of the "Danes" held sway[1] and dominated those of the Anglo-Saxons. It is contrasted with "West Saxon law" and "Mercian law". The term has been extended by modern historians to be geographical. The areas that comprised the Danelaw are in northern and eastern England. The origins of the Danelaw arose from the Viking expansion of the 9th century, although the term was not used to describe a geographic area until the 11th century. With the increase in population and productivity in Scandinavia, Viking warriors, having sought treasure and glory in the nearby British Isles, "proceeded to plough and support themselves", in the words of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, for the year 876.[2]
Danelaw is also used to describe the set of legal terms and definitions created in the treaties between the English king, Alfred the Great, and the Danish warlord, Guthrum, written following Guthrum's defeat at the Battle of Edington in 878. In 886, the Treaty of Alfred and Guthrum was formalised, defining the boundaries of their kingdoms, with provisions for peaceful relations between the English and the Vikings.
The Danish laws held sway in the Kingdom of Northumbria and Kingdom of East Anglia, and the lands of the Five Boroughs of Leicester, Nottingham, Derby, Stamford and Lincoln.
The prosperity of the Danelaw, especially of Eoforwic (Danish Jórvík, modern York), led to its becoming a target for later Viking raiders. Conflict with Wessex and Mercia sapped the strength of the Danelaw. The waning of its military power together with the Viking onslaughts led to its submission to Edward the Elder in return for protection. It was to be part of his Kingdom of England, and no longer a province of Denmark, as the English laid final claim to it.
Contents |
Background[link]
From around 800, waves of Danish assaults on the coastlines of the British Isles were gradually followed by a succession of Danish settlers. Danish raiders first began to settle in England from 865, when the brothers Halfdan Ragnarsson and Ivar the Boneless wintered in East Anglia. They soon moved north and in 867 captured Northumbria and its capital, York, defeating both the recently deposed King Osberht of Northumbria, as well as the usurper Ælla of Northumbria. The Danes then placed an Englishman, Ecgberht I of Northumbria, on the throne of Northumbria as a puppet.[3]
King Æthelred of Wessex and his brother, Alfred, led their army against the Danes at Nottingham, but the Danes refused to leave their fortifications. King Burgred of Mercia then negotiated peace with Ivar, with the Danes' keeping Nottingham in exchange for leaving the rest of Mercia unmolested.
Under Ivar the Boneless, the Danes continued their invasion in 869 by defeating King Edmund of East Anglia at Hoxne and conquering East Anglia.[4] Once again, the brothers Æthelred and Alfred attempted to stop Ivar by attacking the Danes at Reading. They were repelled with heavy losses. The Danes pursued, and on 7 January 871, Æthelred and Alfred defeated the Danes at the Battle of Ashdown. The Danes retreated to Basing (in Hampshire), where Æthelred attacked and was, in turn, defeated. Ivar was able to follow up this victory with another in March at Meretum (now Marton, Wiltshire).
On 23 April 871, King Æthelred died and Alfred succeeded him as King of Wessex. His army was weak and he was forced to pay tribute to Ivar in order to make peace with the Danes. During this peace the Danes turned to the north and attacked Mercia, a campaign that lasted until 874. Both the Danish leader Ivar and Mercian leader Burgred died during this campaign. Ivar was succeeded by Guthrum, who finished the campaign against Mercia. In ten years the Danes gained control over East Anglia, Northumbria and Mercia, leaving only Wessex to resist.[5]
Guthrum and the Danes brokered peace with Wessex in 876, when they captured the fortresses of Wareham and Exeter. Alfred laid siege to the Danes, who were forced to surrender after reinforcements were lost in a storm. Two years later, Guthrum again attacked Alfred, surprising him by attacking his forces wintering in Chippenham. King Alfred was saved when the Danish army coming from his rear was destroyed by inferior forces at Countisbury Hill, near Lynmouth Devon. Alfred was forced into hiding for a time, before returning in the spring of 878 to gather an army and attack Guthrum at Ethandun. The Danes were defeated and retreated to Chippenham, where King Alfred laid siege and soon forced them to surrender. As a term of surrender, King Alfred demanded that Guthrum be baptised a Christian; King Alfred served as his godfather.[6]
Establishment of Danish self-rule[link]
This peace lasted until 884, when Guthrum again attacked Wessex. Alfred defeated him, with peace codified in the Treaty of Alfred and Guthrum.[7] The treaty outlined the boundaries of the Danelaw and allowed for Danish self-rule in the region. The Danelaw represented a consolidation of power for Alfred; the subsequent conversion of Guthrum to Christianity underlines the ideological significance of this shift in the balance of power.
Edward the Elder and his sister, Æthelflæd, the Lady of the Mercians, conquered Danish territories in the Midlands and East Anglia in a series of campaigns in the 910s, and some Danish jarls who submitted were allowed to keep their lands.[8] Viking rule ended when Eric Bloodaxe was driven out of Northumbria in 954.
The reasons for the waves of immigration were complex and bound to the political situation in Scandinavia at that time; moreover, they occurred when Viking settlers were also establishing their presence in the Hebrides, Orkney, the Faroe Islands, Ireland, Iceland, Greenland, France (Normandy), Russia and Ukraine (see Kievan Rus').[9] Polabian Slavs (Wends) settled in parts of England, apparently as Danish allies.[10]
Cnut and his successors[link]
The Danes never gave up their designs on England. From 1016 to 1035 Cnut the Great ruled over a unified English kingdom, itself the product of a hitherto resurgent Wessex, as part of his North Sea Empire, together with Denmark, Norway and part of Sweden. Cnut was succeeded in England by his son Harold Harefoot, until he himself died in 1040, after which another of Cnut's sons, Harthacnut, took the throne. Since Harthacnut was already on the Danish throne, this reunited the North Sea Empire.
Harthacnut lived only another two years, and from his death in 1042 until 1066 the monarchy reverted to the English line in the form of Edward the Confessor.
Edward died in January 1066 without an obvious successor, and an English nobleman, Harold Godwinson, took the throne. In the autumn of that same year, two rival claimants to the throne led invasions of England in short succession. First, Harald Hardrada of Norway took York in September, but was defeated by Harold at the Battle of Stamford Bridge, in Yorkshire. Then, three weeks later, William of Normandy defeated Harold at the Battle of Hastings, in Sussex, and in December he accepted the submission of Edgar the Ætheling, last in the line of Anglo-Saxon kings, at Berkhamsted.
The Danelaw appeared in legislation as late as the early twelfth century with the Leges Henrici Primi, being referred to as one of the laws together with those of Wessex and Mercia into which England was divided.
Danish-Norwegian conflict in the North Sea[link]
In the years between the Sack of Lindisfarne in 793 and the Danish invasion of East Anglia in 865, Norwegian settlers founded the site of modern Dublin and fought as mercenaries in Irish tribal wars, liberally intermarrying with their Irish allies. Some 10 years later a Danish fleet probably from the Great Heathen Army in East Anglia arrived and attacked the settlement with the Irish and Norwegian enemies of the Hiberno-Norse, but were repulsed. It is also said in Irish and northern English oral history that Ivar the Boneless, and in some accounts also Ubbe Ragnarsson, died not in the Mercian campaign, but drowned fighting the Hiberno-Norse in the Irish sea. Dublin and other major Irish towns were under Danish rule for the next 100–200 years.
The haste with which the Danes resumed their attack on Norse Dublin before consolidating their control of Saxon England indicates that the entire Danish invasion was not primarily aimed at the conquest of Saxon England, but to secure a North Sea base of operations to use as a springboard in the conflict with the Norwegians, who controlled an extensive trade network in the Orkney Islands, the Hebrides, the Isle of Man, the Isle of Wight, and Ireland, which exported goods as the Danes did, from the British Isles south-east through Kievan Rus as far as Constantinople and Baghdad, following the Dniepr from the Baltic to the Black Sea.
In the 11th century, when King Magnus I had freed Norway from Cnut the Great, the terms of the peace treaty provided that the first of the two kings Magnus (Norway) and Harthacnut (Denmark) to die would leave their dominion as an inheritance to the other. When Edward the Confessor ascended the throne of a united Dano-Saxon England, a Norse army was raised from every Norwegian colony in the British Isles and attacked Edward's England in support of Magnus', and after his death, his brother Harald Hardråde's, claim to the English throne. On the accession of Harold Godwinson after the death of Edward the Confessor, Hardraada invaded Northumbria with the support of Harold's brother Tostig Godwinson, and was defeated at the Battle of Stamford Bridge three weeks before William I's victory at the Battle of Hastings.
Chronology[link]
800 Waves of Danish assaults on the coastlines of the British Isles.
865 Danish raiders first began to settle in England. Led by brothers Halfdan and Ivar the Boneless, they wintered in East Anglia, where they demanded and received tribute in exchange for a temporary peace. From there they moved north and attacked Northumbria, which was in the midst of a civil war between the deposed king Osberht and a usurper Ælla. The Danes used the civil turmoil as an opportunity to capture York, which they sacked and burned.
867 Following the loss of York, Osberht and Ælla formed an alliance against the Danes. They launched a counter-attack, but the Danes killed both Osberht and Ælla and set up a puppet king on Northumbrian throne. In response, King Æthelred of Wessex, along with his brother Alfred marched against the Danes, who were positioned behind fortifications in Nottingham, but were unable to draw them into battle. In order to establish peace, King Burhred of Mercia ceded Nottingham to the Danes in exchange for leaving the rest of Mercia undisturbed.
869 Ivar the Boneless returned and demanded tribute from King Edmund of East Anglia.
870 King Edmund refused, Ivar the Boneless defeated and captured him at Hoxne and brutally sacrificed his heart to Odin in a so-called “blood eagle ritual”, in the process adding East Anglia to the area controlled by the invading Danes. King Æthelred and Alfred attacked the Danes at Reading, but were repulsed with heavy losses. The Danes pursued them.
871 On January 7, they made their stand at Ashdown (on what is the Berkshire/North Wessex Downs now in Oxfordshire). Æthelred could not be found at the start of battle, as he was busy praying in his tent, so Alfred led the army into battle. Æthelred and Alfred defeated the Danes, who counted among their losses five jarls (nobles). The Danes retreated and set up fortifications at Basing in Hampshire, a mere 14 miles (23 km) from Reading. Æthelred attacked the Danish fortifications and was routed. Danes followed up victory with another victory in March at Meretum (now Marton, Wiltshire).
King Æthelred died on April 23, 871 and Alfred took the throne of Wessex, but not before seriously considering abdicating the throne in light of the desperate circumstances, which were further worsened by the arrival in Reading of a second Danish army from Europe. For the rest of the year Alfred concentrated on attacking with small bands against isolated groups of Danes. He was moderately successful in this endeavour and was able to score minor victories against the Danes, but his army was on the verge of collapse. Alfred responded by paying off the Danes in order for a promise of peace. During the peace the Danes turned north and attacked Mercia, which they finished off in short order, and captured London in the process. King Burgred of Mercia fought in vain against the Ivar the Boneless and his Danish invaders for three years until 874, when he fled to Europe. During Ivar’s campaign against Mercia he died and was succeeded by Guthrum the Old as the main protagonist in the Danes’ drive to conquer England. Guthrum quickly defeated Burgred and placed a puppet on the throne of Mercia. The Danes now controlled East Anglia, Northumbria and Mercia, with only Wessex continuing to resist.
875 The Danes settled in Dorset, well inside of Alfred’s Kingdom of Wessex, but Alfred quickly made peace with them.
876 The Danes broke the peace when they captured the fortress of Wareham, followed by a similar capture of Exeter in 877.
877 Alfred laid siege, while the Danes waited for reinforcements from Scandinavia. Unfortunately for the Danes, the fleet of reinforcements encountered a storm and lost more than 100 ships, and the Danes were forced to return to East Mercia in the north.
878 In January Guthrum led an attack against Wessex that sought to capture Alfred while he wintered in Chippenham. Another Danish army landed in south Wales and moved south with the intent of intercepting Alfred should he flee from Guthrum’s forces. However, they stopped during their march to capture a small fortress at Countisbury Hill, held by a Wessex ealdorman named Odda. The Saxons, led by Odda, attacked the Danes while they slept and defeated the superior Danish forces, saving Alfred from being trapped between the two armies. Alfred was forced to go into hiding for the rest of the winter and spring of 878 in the Somerset marshes in order to avoid the superior Danish forces. In the spring Alfred was able to gather an army and attacked Guthrum and the Danes at Ethandun. The Danes were defeated and retreated to Chippenham, where the English pursued and laid siege to Guthrum’s forces. The Danes were unable to hold out without relief and soon surrendered. Alfred demanded as a term of the surrender that Guthrum become baptised as a Christian, which Guthrum agreed to do, with Alfred acting as his Godfather. Guthrum was true to his word and settled in East Anglia, at least for a while.
884 Guthrum attacked Kent, but was defeated by the English. This led to the Treaty of Alfred and Guthrum, which established the boundaries of the Danelaw and allowed for Danish self-rule in the region.
902 Essex submits to Æthelwald.
903 Æthelwald incites the East Anglian Danes into breaking the peace. They ravage Mercia before winning a pyrrhic victory that saw the death of Æthelwald and the Danish King Eohric; this allows Edward the Elder to consolidate power.
911 The English defeat the Danes at the Battle of Tettenhall. The Northumbrians ravage Mercia but are trapped by Edward and forced to fight.
917 In return for peace and protection The Kingdoms of Essex and East Anglia accept Edward the Elder as their suzerain overlord.
Æthelflæd, Lady of the Mercians, takes the borough of Derby.
918 The borough of Leicester submits peaceably to Æthelflæd's rule. The people of York promise to accept her as their overlord, but she dies before this could come to fruition. She is succeeded by her brother, the Kingdoms of Mercia and Wessex united in the person of King Edward.
919 Norwegian Vikings under King Rægnold (Ragnald son of Sygtrygg) of Dublin take York.
920 Edward is accepted as father and lord by the King of the Scots, by Rægnold, the sons of Eadulf, the English, Norse, Danes and others all of whom dwell in Northumbria, and the King and people of the Strathclyde Welsh.
954 Eric Bloodaxe is driven out of Northumbria, his death marking the end of the prospect of a Northern Viking Kingdom stretching from York to Dublin and the Isles.
1066 Harald Hardrada lands with an army, hoping to take control of York and the English crown. He is defeated and killed at the Battle of Stamford Bridge. This event is often cited as the end of the Viking era.
1069 Sweyn II of Denmark lands with an army, in much the same way as Harald Hardrada. He took control of York after defeating the Norman garrison and inciting a local uprising. King William eventually defeated his forces and devastated the region in the Harrying of the North. Thus ended any association with Scandinavia.
Geography[link]
See also: Five Boroughs of the Danelaw
The area occupied by the Danelaw was roughly the area to the north of a line drawn between London and Chester, excluding the portion of Northumbria to the east of the Pennines.
Five fortified towns became particularly important in the Danelaw: Leicester, Nottingham, Derby, Stamford and Lincoln, broadly delineating the area now called the East Midlands. These strongholds became known as the Five Boroughs. Borough derives from the Old English word burh (cognate with German Burg, meaning castle), meaning a fortified and walled enclosure containing several households—anything from a large stockade to a fortified town. The meaning has since developed further.
Legal concepts[link]
The Danelaw was an important factor in the establishment of a civilian peace in the neighbouring Anglo-Saxon and Viking communities. It established, for example, equivalences in areas of legal contentiousness, such as the amount of reparation that should be payable in wergild.
Many of the legalistic concepts were compatible; for example the Viking wapentake, the standard for land division in the Danelaw, was effectively interchangeable with the hundred. The use of the execution site and cemetery at Walkington Wold in East Yorkshire suggests a continuity of judicial practice.[12]
Legacy[link]
The influence of this period of Scandinavian settlement can still be seen in the North of England and the East Midlands, and is particularly evident in place-names: name endings such as -howe, -by (meaning "village") or -thorp ("hamlet") having Norse origins. There seems to be a remarkable number of Kirby/Kirkby names, some with remains of Anglo-Saxon building [13] indicating both a Norse origin and early church building.[14] Scandinavian names blended with the English -ton give rise to typical hybrid place-names.[15]
Old East Norse and Old English were still somewhat mutually comprehensible. The contact between these languages in the Danelaw caused the incorporation of many Norse words into the English language, including the word law itself, sky and window, and the third person plural pronouns she, they, them and their.[16] Many Old Norse words still survive in the dialects of Northern England.[17][18][19]
Four of the five boroughs became county towns — of the counties of Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire. However, Stamford failed to gain such status—perhaps because of the nearby autonomous territory of Rutland.
Genetic heritage[link]
In 2000 the BBC commissioned a genetic survey of the British Isles by a team from University College London led by Professor David Goldstein for its programme 'Blood of the Vikings'. It concluded that Norse invaders settled sporadically throughout the British Isles with a particular concentration in certain areas, such as Orkney and Shetland.[20] In this finding, the Vikings refers to Norwegian Vikings only, as the study did not set out to genetically distinguish descendants of Danish Vikings from descendants of Anglo-Saxon settlers. That was decided on the basis that the two groups originated from an area that overlaps each other on the continental North Sea coast, opposite of England (ranging from the Jutland peninsula to Belgium) and therefore deemed inconvenient or difficult to genetically distinguish.[21]
Archaeology[link]
Major archaeological sites that bear testimony to the Danelaw are few. The most famous is the site at York, which is often said to derive its name from the Old Norse Jórvík. (That name is itself a borrowing of the Old English Eoforwic; the Old English diphthong eo being cognate with the Norse diphthong jo, the Old English intervocalic f typically being pronounced softly as a modern v, and wic being the Old English version of the Norse vik.) Eoforwic in turn was derived from an earlier name for the town, spelled Eboracum in Latin sources. Another Danelaw site is the cremation site at Heath Wood, Ingleby, Derbyshire.
Archaeological sites do not bear out the historically defined area as being a real demographic or trade boundary. This could be due to misallocation of the items and features on which this judgement is based as being indicative of either Anglo-Saxon or Norse presence. Otherwise, it could indicate that there was considerable population movement between the areas, or simply that after the treaty was made, it was ignored by one or both sides.
Thynghowe was an important Danelaw meeting place, today located in Sherwood Forest, in Nottinghamshire. The word "howe" often indicates a prehistoric burial mound. Howe is derived from the Old Norse word Haugr meaning mound.[22] The site's rediscovery was made by Lynda Mallett, Stuart Reddish and John Wood. The site had vanished from modern maps and was essentially lost to history until the local history enthusiasts made their discoveries. Experts think the rediscovered site, which lies amidst the old oaks of an area known as the Birklands in Sherwood Forest, may also yield clues as to the boundary of the ancient Anglo Saxon kingdoms of Mercia and Northumbria. English Heritage recently inspected the site and believes it is a national rarity. Thynghowe[23] was a place where people came to resolve disputes and settle issues. It is a Norse word, although the site may be older still, perhaps even from the Bronze Age.
See also[link]
- Norse-Gaels
- Raven banner
- Valknut
- Mjöllnir
- Runestone
- Stave church
- Longhouse
- List of generic forms in British place names
- Subpoena ad testificandum
References[link]
- ^ "The Old English word Dene ‘Danes’ usually refers to Scandinavians of any kind; most of the invaders were indeed Danish (East Norse speakers), but there were Norwegians (West Norse [speakers]) among them as well." —Lass, Roger, Old English: A Historical Linguistic Companion, p.187, n.12. Cambridge University Press, 1994.
- ^ Quoted by Richard Hall, Viking Age Archaeology (series Shire Archaeology), 2010:22; Gwyn Jones, A History of the Vikings. Revised ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1984:221.
- ^ Flores Historiarum: Rogeri de Wendover, Chronica sive flores historiarum, p. 298-9. ed. H. Coxe, Rolls Series, 84 (4 vols, 1841-42)
- ^ Haywood, John. The Penguin Historical Atlas of the Vikings, p.62. Penguin Books. ©1995.
- ^ Carr, Michael. "Alfred the Great Strikes Back", p. 65. Military History Journal. June 2001.
- ^ Hadley, D. M. The Northern Danelaw: Its Social Structure, c. 800-1100. p. 310. Leicester University Press. ©2000.
- ^ The Kalender of Abbot Samson of Bury St. Edmunds, ed. R.H.C. Davis, Camden 3rd ser., 84 (1954), xlv-xlvi.
- ^ Lesley Abrams, 'Edward the Elder's Danelaw', in N. J. Higham & D. H. Hill eds, Edward the Elder 899-924, Routledge, 2001, pp. 138-39
- ^ The Viking expansion
- ^ Shore, Thomas William (2008). Origin of the Anglo-Saxon Race - A Study of the Settlement of England and the Tribal Origin of the Old English People. READ BOOKS. pp. 84–102. ISBN 1-4086-3769-3. http://books.google.com/books?id=tDSsxref4C8C&pg=PA102&dq#v=onepage&q=&f=false.
- ^ Falkus & Gillingham and Hill
- ^ J.L. Buckberry & D.M. Hadley, "An Anglo-Saxon Execution Cemetery at Walkington Wold, Yorkshire", Oxford Journal of Archaeology 26(3) 2007, 325
- ^ Taylor, H.M. & Taylor, Joan, Anglo-Saxon Architecture. Cambridge 1965.
- ^ introduction, Biddulph, Joseph Old Danish of the Old Danelaw. Pontypridd 2003. ISBN 978-1-897999-48-6.
- ^ The "Grimston hybrids", noted by Richard Hall, Viking Age Archaeology (series Shire Archaeology) 2010:22.
- ^ Henry Loyn, The Vikings in Britain (Cambridge: Blackwell Publishers,1995), 85.
- ^ Joan Beal,"English Dialects in the North of England: Morphology and Syntax," in A Handbook of Varieties of English vol. 2, ed. Bernd Kortmann et al.(New York: Martin De Gruyter, 2004),137.
- ^ Katie Wales, Northern English: A Social and Cultural History (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006),55.
- ^ G.H. Cowling, The Dialect of Hackness:Northeast Yorkshire (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 1915), xxi-xxii.
- ^ "ENGLAND | Viking blood still flowing". BBC News. 2001-12-03. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/1689955.stm. Retrieved 2010-04-23.
- ^ http://www.geneticarchaeology.com/research/Blood_Of_The_Vikings.asp
- ^ Guide to Scandinavian origins of place names in Britain
- ^ "Detailed Result: THYNGHOWE". Pastscape. 2007-11-22. http://www.pastscape.org/hob.aspx?hob_id=1461548&search=all&criteria=thynghowe. Retrieved 2010-04-23.
Further reading[link]
- Types of Manorial Structure in the Northern Danelaw, Frank M. Stenton, London, 1910.
- The Anglo-Saxon Chronicles, Tiger Books International version translated and collated by Anne Savage,1995.
External links[link]
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- News Item: BBC Blood of the Vikings
- BBC Viking History Links
- According to Ancient Custom: Research on the possible Origins and Purpose of Thynghowe Sherwood Forest
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