Historical Timeline http://www.britroyals.com/timeline.asp Index House Family Trees Succession Book Shop Movies Contact Select Language ▼ English Kings and Queens - Historical Timeline Back Scottish Historical Timeline Search Britroyals by name, year or event King Offa ( 757 - 796 ) 757 - Offa seizes the Kingdom Mercia after the murder of his cousin Aethelbald. 776 - Defeats the men of Kent at Otford 779 - Offa defeats Cynewulf of Wessex at Bensington in Oxfordshire. 784 - Offa defeats the Welsh. Around this time work on Offa's Dyke is started marking the border with Wales. Front Page 785 - Egbert son of Eahmund of Kent flees to Wessex and then to exile in the Frankish court of Charlemagne 787 - 1st recorded Viking raids on England Book Shop 789 - Beorhtric of Wessex marries Offa's daughter Eadburgh 792 - Aethelred king of Northumbria marries Offa's daughter Aelfflaed 793 - St Albans Abbey founded. Offa annexes East Anglia and joins it to the kingdom of Mercia Kings & Queens 793 - Vikings raid the Christian monastery on Lindisfarne 795 - Vikings raid the monastery on Iona in Scotland Biographies 796 - Offa's dyke is completed. The death of Offa marks the end of Mercian supremacy in England. His son Ecgfrith reigns for less than 6 months Family Trees King Egbert ( 802 - 839 ) Royal Family 800 - Around this time the Book of Kells is written in Ireland 802 - Death of King Beorthric of Wessex House of Windsor 802 - Egbert returns from exile in Charlemagne and becomes King of Wessex 825 - King Egbert of Wessex wins a decisive victory over King Beornwulf of Mercia at Ellendun. Wessex Line of Succession becomes the dominant kingdom. 827 - Following his conquest of Mercia, Egbert controls all of England south of the Humber 829 - Egbert defeats the Northumbrian king at Dore near Sheffield Frequently asked 830 - Wiglif of Mercia revolts against Wessex rule Questions 830 - Egbert subdues North Wales. He is recognized as overlord of other English kings 836 - Egbert is defeated by the Danes at Carhampton in Somerset Movies 838 - Defeats Vikings and Cornish at Hingston Down in Cornwall 839 - Death of Egbert. He is succeeded by his son Aethelwulf Quiz King Aethelwulf ( 839 - 856 ) Coat of Arms 839 - Aethelwulf succeeds his father Egbert as King of Wessex 841 - Vikings raid Kent and East Anglia, and establish a settlement at Dublin Great Britain 842 - Many die in London and Rochester during Viking raids 844 - Kenneth MacAlpine, King of the Scots, conquers the Picts; founds a unified Scotland 845 - Vikings are defeated by a Saxon force at the River Parrett 851 - Vikings forces enter Thames estuary and march on Canterbury 855 - Aethelwulf goes on a pilgrimage to Rome accompanied by his son Alfred 858 - Aethelwulf returns but finds his son Aethelbald has taken control of Wessex 858 - Aethelwulf dies at Steyning in Sussex. His son Aelthelbald becomes king. King Aethelbald ( 856 - 860 ) 858 - Aethelbald marries his father's widow Judith 860 - Vikings land on Iceland 860 - Aehelbald dies and his brother Aethelbert become king. King Aethelbert ( 860 - 866 ) 860 - Aethelbert becomes King of Wessex following the death of his brother Aethelbald 860 - Winchester sacked by the Danes 865 - The Viking 'Great Heathen Army' commanded by Halfdan and Ivar the Boneless lands in East Anglia and sweeps across England 866 - Vikings take York (Jorvik) and establish a North British Kingdom King Aethelred I ( 866 - 871 ) 1 of 21 6/13/2015 10:27 AM Historical Timeline http://www.britroyals.com/timeline.asp 866 - Aethelred becomes king on the death of his brother Aethelbert 869 - Edmund King of East Anglia resists the Vikings and is killed 870 - Aethelred defeated by the Danes (Vikings) at Reading 871 - Aethelred and his brother Alfred defeat the Danes at Ashdown 871 - Battle of Meretun, Hampshire. Aethelred is mortally wounded and dies. King Alfred the Great ( 871 - 899 ) 871 - Alfred becomes King of Wessex following the death of his brother Aethelred 872 - London falls to Viking raiders 875 - After persistent attacks by Vikings the monks of Lindesfarne travel through Northumbria and Galloway with the Lindesfarne Gospels. 878 - Guthrum's Danish army invades Wessex, and Alfred takes refuge on the isle of Athelney. Alfred defeats Guthrum at the battle of Ethandune (Edington) in Wiltshire. 878 - Treaty of Wedmore divides England into two. Guthrum accepts baptism as a Christian and agrees to leave Wessex and settle in East Anglia. 884 - Alfred defeats the Danes at Rochester 885 - Alfred imposes rules on South Wales 886 - Alfred takes London from the Danes. Danelaw - the territory occupied by the Danes in East Anglia is recognised by Alfred 890 - Guthrum dies. Alfred establishes a permanent army and navy 891 - Anglo Saxon Chronicle, source of much early British History, begun 893 - Asser, Bishop of Sherborne, completes his book The Life of Alfred the Great 894 - Northumbrian and East Angles swear allegiance to Alfred, but promptly break the truce attacking South West England. 896 - Naval victory over the Danes in the Solent 899 - Alfred dies and is buried at Winchester. His son Edward becomes king. King Edward The Elder ( 899 - 924 ) 900 - Edward the Elder, son of Alfred, crowned at Kingston-upon-Thames 901 - Edward the Elder takes the title "King of the Angles and Saxons" 902 - Eric, ruler of the Danes in East Anglia, dies in the Battle of Holme 910 - Reconquest of Danelaw lands begins. The last great Viking army sent to ravage England is defeated by an army of Wessex and Mercia. 913 - Edward the Elder recaptures Essex from the Danes 915 - Edward is accepted as overlord by Ragnald ruler of the Viking Kingdom of York 916 - Edward's sister Aethlfleda of Mercia attacks and conquers most of Wales 916 - Vikings establish settlements at Dublin and Waterford in Ireland 918 - Edward becomes ruler of Mercia following the death of his sister Aethlfleda 920 - Edward takes East Anglia from the Danes 923 - The Scottish King Constantine II submits to Edward 924 - Edward dies at Farndon-on-Dee near Chester leading an army against the Welsh. He is buried in Winchester. King Athelstan ( 924 - 940 ) 924 - Athelstan becomes King of Wessex and Mercia on the death of his father Edward the Elder. 926 - Athelstan annexes Northumbria, and forces the kings of Wales, Strathclyde, the Picts, and the Scots to submit to him 926 - Athelstan marries his sister to Sihtric the Viking King of York to cement his ties with the North 934 - Athelstan invades Scotland 937 - Battle of Brunanburh: Athelstan defeats alliance of Scots, Celts, Danes, and Vikings, and takes the title of King of all Britain 940 - Athelstan dies at Gloucester and is buried at Malmesbury. King Edmund ( 940 - 946 ) 940 - Edmund becomes King. Scandinavian forces from Northumbria overrun the East Midlands. 942 - Edmund re-establishes control over Northumbria and rules a united England. 943 - Edmund extends his rule into southern Scotland, 945 - Dunstan becomes abbot of Glastonbury Abbey 945 - Edmund conquers Strathclyde, but Cumbria is annexed by the Scots. 946 - Edmund murdered at a party in Pucklechurch 2 of 21 6/13/2015 10:27 AM Historical Timeline http://www.britroyals.com/timeline.asp King Edred ( 946 - 955 ) 946 - Edred succeeds his brother Edmund 954 - Expulsion of Eric Bloodaxe, last Danish king of York 955 - Edred dies and is buried at Winchester. King Edwy (Eadwig) ( 955 - 959 ) 955 - Edwy crowned at Kingston-upon-Thames 956 - Dunstan sent into exile by Edwy 957 - Mercians and Northumbrians rebel against Edwy 959 - Edwy dies in Gloucester King Edgar ( 959 - 975 ) 959 - Edgar King of Mercia and Northumbria becomes King of all England. 965 - Westminster Abbey is founded 973 - Northern Kings submit to Edgar at Chester 975 - Edgar dies at Winchester King Edward The Martyr ( 975 - 978 ) 975 - 13 year old Edward succeeds to the throne 978 - Edward the Martyr murdered at Corfe Castle King Aethelred II The Unready ( 978 - 1016 ) 978 - Aethelred, son of Edgar, becomes King of England following the murder of his half brother Edward 980 - Danes renew their raids on England attacking Chester and Southampton 985 - Sweyn I, Forkbeard, rebels against his father Harold Blue-tooth and deposes him 991 - Battle of Maldon: Byrhtnoth of Essex is defeated by Danish invaders; Aethelred buys off the Danes with 10,000 pounds of silver (Danegeld) 992 - Aethelred makes a truce with Duke Richard I of Normandy 994 - Danes under Sweyn and Norwegians under Olaf Trygvesson sail up river Thames and besiege London; bought off by Aethelred 1002 - Aethelred orders a massacre of Danish settlers. After the death of his first wife Elfleda he marries Emma of Normandy 1012 - The Danes raid Kent, burning Canterbury Cathedral and murdering Archbishop Alphege 1013 - King Sweyn Forkbeard of Denmark lands in England and is proclaimed king; Aethelred II the Unready flees to Normandy 1014 - The English recall Aethelred II the Unready as King on the death of Sweyn at Gainsborough 1015 - King Canute II of Denmark & Norway again invades England King Edmund II lronside ( 1016 ) 3 of 21 6/13/2015 10:27 AM Historical Timeline http://www.britroyals.com/timeline.asp 1016 - Edmund Ironside, son of Aethelred II the Unready of England, becomes King. At the battle of Abingdon, in Essex, King Canute II of Denmark defeats Edmund. They meet on the Isle of Alney in the Severn and agree to divide the kingdom into two. Canute takes the land North of the Thames and Edmund the South. 1016 - Edmund is assassinated a few months later and Canute takes the throne as King Canute of England. King Cnut (Canute) ( 1016 - 1035 ) 1017 - Canute marries Emma of Normandy, the widow of Aethelred II. Canute divides England into four earldoms - Northumbria Wessex, Mercia and East Anglia.