IB History Pre-norman England Notes

The Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy

1. After Roman withdrawal (c. 410), Germanic tribes - Angles, Saxons, and Jutes - settled across Britain.
2. By the 7th century, seven major kingdoms had emerged: Northumbria, Mercia, East Anglia, Essex, Kent, Sussex, and Wessex.
3. The concept of a single dominant king - the Bretwalda - shows that overlordship shifted between kingdoms over time.
4. Mercia dominated in the 8th century under King Offa (757-796), who built Offa's Dyke and traded with Charlemagne.
5. From the late 8th century, Viking raids shattered the Heptarchy; Northumbria, East Anglia, and Mercia fell to Scandinavian control.
6. Wessex alone survived as an independent Anglo-Saxon kingdom, setting the stage for Alfred the Great.

Alfred the Great (871-899)

1. Alfred became King of Wessex in 871 during a period of relentless Danish invasion.
2. After near-defeat at Chippenham (878), he rallied forces and won the decisive Battle of Edington, forcing the Viking leader Guthrum to accept baptism.
3. The Treaty of Wedmore (878) divided England between Wessex and the Danelaw, establishing a formal boundary.

1. Alfred built a network of fortified towns called burhs and reorganised the fyrd (militia) so half could always be on duty.
2. He promoted literacy and learning, commissioning translations of key Latin texts into Old English and sponsoring the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle.
3. Alfred issued a new law code drawing on earlier codes from Mercia and Kent, unifying legal practice across his realm.
4. His reign laid the foundations for the unification of England under his descendants in the 10th century.

Edward the Elder and Athelstan

1. Edward the Elder (899-924) continued Alfred's strategy, conquering the southern Danelaw with his sister Aethelflaed of Mercia.
2. Edward built new burhs throughout East Anglia and the East Midlands, extending West Saxon control northward.
3. Athelstan (924-939) became the first king to rule all of England after conquering Northumbria in 927.
4. His victory at the Battle of Brunanburh (937) against a coalition of Scots, Norse, and Strathclyde Britons cemented English unity.
5. Athelstan forged diplomatic ties with continental rulers, marrying his sisters to European princes and emperors.
6. He issued extensive law codes regulating trade, coinage, and local governance, strengthening royal authority.

Edgar and the Benedictine Reform

1. King Edgar (959-975) presided over a period of peace and prosperity sometimes called the golden age of Anglo-Saxon England.
2. The Benedictine Reform was driven by three key churchmen: Dunstan, Aethelwold, and Oswald.
3. Monasteries were reformed under the Regularis Concordia (c. 970), standardising monastic practice across England.
4. Edgar's delayed coronation at Bath (973) established the ceremony still used in modified form for English monarchs today.
5. Edgar reformed the coinage system, creating a uniform national currency controlled from a central mint - a sign of strong royal administration.

Aethelred, the Vikings, and Danegeld

1. Aethelred the Unready (978-1013, 1014-1016) faced renewed and devastating Viking attacks from the 980s onward.