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...
Hild: The Power of One Woman in 7th-Century Britain
With all this talk of famous men being moneymakers and policy-shakers, it is easy to overlook famous women in British history. Such will not...
Ethelred: Kingly Conversion to the Monastery
It seems odd to us today that a powerful leader would leave all of his wealth, power, and prestige behind and retire to a...
Bede’s Ecclesiastical History of the English People
The Venerable Bede, noted scholar at the Jarrow monastery in Northumbria, was the most learned man of his time. His knowledge of the world...