The Lindisfarne Gospels: A 7th-Century Thing of Beauty
The world of Anglo-Saxon England was often terrible and violent. People died in the blink of an eye, as the result of a mysterious...
Coenwulf: Mercian Overlord and Tyrant
Following Offa on the throne of Mercia was Coenwulf, who succeeded the great king in name and deed. He was indeed an overlord, much...
Bronze Age Surgery Evidence Found in Thames
You never know what you’re going to find when you fish stuff out of the Thames. The latest stunning discovery is evidence of brain...
Alfred’s Ingenious Defensive Strategy
With the treaty with the Danes concluded, Alfred could have taken great pride in his accomplishments and turned his concerns inward, there to help...
Alfred: Bringer of Knowledge
Alfred was a warrior king, and a brilliant one at that, but he was also a learned king, one who cared very much about...
Edward the Elder: Alfred’s Successful Successor
Great though he was, Alfred could not outlast the sands of time. He died in 899, with his kingdom well in hand and ready...
Athelstan the Great?
With each successive generation after Alfred, it seemed, the monarch was not as great. Edward, Alfred’s son, came close. His son, Athelstan, was not...
Edmund the Magnificent: A great (young) warrior
With the death of Athelstan came the kingship of Edmund, keeping the throne all in the family, so to speak.
Poor Edmund didn’t have very...
Vikings: Not Ones for Written Records
With the coming of the Vikings came another age with a dearth of written records.
As the Saxons before them, the Vikings didn’t believe in...
The Thegn: Beholden to His King
It’s always interesting to encounter words that have changed with time. Thegn is one of those words.
We now recognize this word as thane, originally...