Category: viking

THE WELSH (a brief history of Wales) The collapse of Roman rule sparked a resurgence of native Celtic kingdoms across Britain, above all in areas such as Wales that had only been slightly romanised.       Yet much subsequent Welsh history was one of internal division and of subjugation by its larger English neighbour….

THE IRISH (a brief history of Ireland) Ireland, never part of the Roman Empire, escaped the catastrophic consequences that overtook Britain with the ebbing of Roman rule after 410.  But though the country had an enduring tradition of Celtic kingship, it never consolidated into a centralised state. From the 9th century, it fell victim to…

THE SCOTS (a brief history of the Scotti) When the Romans left Britain, they left a divided country. Just as England consisted of seven rival kingdoms warring for control, so Scotland was being fought over by the Picts, the Scots and the Angles.       By 848,Kenneth Mac Alpin had united the Picts and…

THE PICTS (a brief description of the N.Scottish people) The writings of classical Roman authors,the likes of Eumenius and Tacitus, from the fourth century AD, refer to the predominant force in Northern Britain to be the ‘Picts’. To this day we do not fully know where this term came from, was it the Latin term…

THE SAXONS (an short introduction to the history of Wessex) One of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms in England. It may have been settled as early as 495 by Saxons under Cerdic, who is reputed to have landed in Hampshire. Cerdic’s grandson, Ceawlin (560–93), annexed scattered Saxon settlements in the Chiltern Hills and drove the Celts from…

THE NORTHUMBRIANS (an short introduction to their history) One of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms in England. It was originally composed of two independent kingdoms divided by the Tees River, Bernicia (including modern E Scotland, Berwick, Roxburgh, E Northumberland, and Durham) and Deira (including the North and East Ridings of Yorkshire), both settled by invading Angles c.500….

THE VIKINGS (a brief history ) The Norsemen lived in Denmark and other colder lands of Norway and Sweden. Their own name for themselves was Vikings.     They took to the sea in the 700’s seeking wealth through piracy, coastal raiding and trading. Expert at ship-building, they became the most daring seamen Europe had…

THE MERCIANS (an short introduction to their history) BEGINNINGS One of the kingdoms of Anglo-Saxon England, consisting generally of the region of the Midlands. It was settled by Angles c.500, probably first along the Trent valley. Its history emerges from obscurity with the reign of Penda, who extended his power over Wessex (645) and East…

THE MERCIANS(the beginnings) INTRO ‘In modern times in Mercia there ruled a mighty king called Offa, who struck all the kings and regions around him with terror.  He it was who ordered the great dyke to be constructed between Wales and Mercia, stretching from sea to sea.’ Between the Thames and the Humber, between the…