Gildas: The Monk Who Began the Historical View
With the coming of the Battle of Badon Hill we have the first of our “official” historical sources for the period of Arthur’s life:...
Paulinus: Deliverer of Northumbria
How a Marriage Brought Christianity to Northumbria
The giant kingdom of Northumbria had been getting by just fine on paganism for hundreds of years. Gods...
Sutton Hoo: Treasure Trove of Saxon Culture
At last we come to the famous Sutton Hoo burial site. Discovered in 1939, this burial site contains a wealth of information about Anglo-Saxon...
Raedwald: East Anglian King and All-Around Kingmaker
The Kingdom of East Anglia, it has been noted, was begun about 520 by the warlord Wuffa, who was succeeded by his son Tyttla...
The Beginning of the World?
The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, which was written by many different writers over a long period of time, has this interesting log entry for 616 A.D.:
And...
Edwin’s Lasting Legacy
In the previous article, we have seen how ambition got the better of Edwin, King of Northumbria.
However, Edwin did leave a lasting legacy.
His conversion...
The First Viking Landings in Britain
A.D. 787. This year King Bertric took Edburga the daughter of Offa to wife. And in his days came first three ships of the...
Heavenly Happenings in Anglo-Saxon Times
The Saxons, it would seem, at least the chroniclers who have given us the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, were mindful of strange happenings in the heavens.
The...
Alcuin: Saxon Scholar of the First Order
Many historians breathlessly proclaim the Venerable Bede as the greatest mind of his generation. This may very well have been true. However, Alcuin (just...
Offa’s Dyke: Moving Earth and Earth
Along about 784, Offa, King of Mercia, decided that he had had enough of the Celtic invasions from Wales. Cant really blame him, really....