England questions

[Weebeast]

What's Britain like before, during and after Norman Invasion in 1066? What were the major kingdoms and what did the borders look like during 1060's in England?

Thanks.

[Samurai Waki]

This site should answer most of your questions, on the political background of England/Scotland/and Wales...and every other little corner of the British Isles prior to 1066.

http://www.history.kessler-web.co.uk...BritishMap.htm

[Philippus Flavius Homovallumus]

That site looks very dodgy. It tries to pin down Arthur and Uther, which is always a bad sign.

I suggest you ask some more specific questions that are easier to answer.

Very basically England was England and that is what the Normans invaded in 1066.

[Incongruous]

Well Alfred the Great all though he did not rule all of England was the first monarch named King of all the Englisc (yes that c should be there).

Prior to the danes the most powerful English(Angles Saxons and Jutes) kingdoms were Mercia (which was ruled by the great king Offa who was known all the way to constantinople. Cient was the first English kingdom founded supposedly by Hengest and Horsa, there was also Northumbria which I think was an Anglian kingdom. Frome here came the great Bede from Lindasfarne the greatest centre of Western European knowledge (Bede actually worked out the ebb and flow of the tides depended upon the moon and pin poited there occurance aswell). There was then East Anglia and Wessex. Wessex was increadibly lucky that the Vikings destroyed Mercia for that was the dominant kingdom at the time. The overall leader of West Lothian was given the title of Bretwalda.

The first man to become king of all England and Emperor of Britain was Aethelstan, during his reign England becam the pre-eminent kingdom of most of Europe. By 1066 England was Western Europes walthiest nation and home of the oldest monarchy in Europe, the Cerdicings.

William's grandson Henry the First married the last heiress of the house of Wessex (the Cerdicing clan), putting upon the throne an English prince once again.

If anyone finds any mistakes thanks for telling me

p.s Aethelstan was also a great friend of Charlamagne.

[ajaxfetish]

England itself was pretty well unified by that time, and very prosperous, though if you want to go back farther there are plenty of internal divisions.

To the north Scotland was united as well, but independent of England, with frequent border fighting (as there was through pretty much all of the two nations histories until the unification--and possibly since?).

To the west Wales was divided into several small warring kingdoms that gradually became more unified with time. More border fighting here. Across the sea Ireland was similarly divided.

I'm having trouble finding a decent period map online, but I'll keep an eye out for you.

Ajax

[Justiciar]

How far before?

Most Kingdoms were ruled and populated by Angles, mate. The Saxon kingdoms were pretty much stuck in the south untill the Danes arrived. Opportunist scum that they were. Not that I'm biassed or anything.


Anyhoo..

Scotland is ruled by Malcolm III who shoved Macbeth of the throne with Edward the Conffessor's help. Edward the Conffessor dies without an heir, so his brother-in-law Harold is 'elected' (bull) to the throne, pathing the way for the subsequent war of succession. Gruffydd ap Llywelyn of Gwynedd rules a united Wales (and some parts of the Mid-West) though is later defeated by Harold II of England. After his defeat Wales breaks apart again. Scotland is at peace with England for most of the time prior to William's ascent.

Harold has to deal with a few issues; including his brother Tostig's rebellion (ending in Tostig's exile to Norway). King Harald of Norway (with Tostig's aid) goes ahead with his claim to England's throne (just as good as any of the others) and succeeds in defeating Edwin and Morcar (earls of Mercia and Northumbria respectively), taking the area around York. This results in the battle of Stamford Bridge which is puffed up by propaganda no end. William, final getting a favourable wind lands in England and defeats Harold at Hastings (who went straight ahead with a tired and depleated army.. ejit).

William becomes King; his corronation marked by the massacre of cheering civilians outside Westminster Abbey who were understandably mistaken as rioters (I'd probably have done the same, tbh). The south of England submitted almost instantly, but he had problems elsewhere, with Harold II's sons trying to invade, rebellions popping up every here-and-there, and a host of attempted invasions by Denmark and Scotland (the latter in support of Edgar (the Exile) Aetheling, the legitimate King of England, the brother-in-law of Malcolm III), and numerous problems back in Normandy.

Due to the invasions of the Scots and Danes William takes up a 'harrying' policy with the North, marching an army up-and-down burning fields as they go, so that invading forces couldn't sustain themselves. He ends up forcing Malcolm into vassalship. The instant consequences of this are supprisingly few, asside from a decade or so of famine. He then faces the revolt of the earls, again feulled by Edgar Aetheling, who finally submits. You've probably heard about William's death by hernia and eventual explosion of his corpse at his funeral? When William II came to England's throne Malcolm's vassalship was done and he went to war, but only succeeded in losing chunks of Scotland before dieing at Alnwick. Duncan II seems to have been taken hostage during that war.

I'm not entirely sure about borders, though during William I's reign he did gain some influence in Wales, and Scotland grabbed and ultimately lost the Lothian area (and perhaps some of Cumbria) during William II's reign. All-in-all, not that nice a place to be. Where was at that time, I suppose?