The existence of England - English | Trường Đại học Khánh Hòa
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The existence of England is one that is often taken for granted and looked at far too scarcely. This
may be due to the overshadowing history of the development of Great Britain and the United
Kingdom but nonetheless, in order for these unions to be formed, England had to already exist and it
actually has since 927 A.D. So, how was England created? Who claimed the land before the English
and how did it become the nation that we know today? As the Roman Empire began to fade from the
British Isles, the area of modern day England started to see a wave of migration from Anglo Saxon
Germanic tribes. According to some historians after the Romans left, the native Britons came under
attack from the nearby Picts and Scots and subsequently welcomed some of these Anglo Saxons in
hopes that they would push out the other invaders. The Germanic peoples were successful in
expelling both the Scots and Picts but they then turned on the native Britons and established their
own authority by the start of the 7th century. The new Anglo Saxons rulers then installed the
kingdoms of Essex, Kent, Sussex, Mercia, East Anglia, Northumbria and Wessex on the British
mainland. There are minimal records of what happened over the next few centuries throughout
these kingdoms but we know that it would not be long before the Anglo Saxons would face invaders
of their own. In 793, a Viking army landed at the Lindisfarne Monastery and raided the sacred
building. Their violence and disrespect stunned the Anglo Saxons who were unprepared for what
these Vikings had in store. By the end of 870, East Anglia fell to the Danish invaders and Mercia was
lost only 4 years later. As the Vikings seized Northumbria next in 875, Wessex was the only remaining
major kingdom under Anglo Saxons authority. When the current king of Wessex - Ethelred died, his
younger brother Alfred was left to protect his kingdom’s independence. At first, he did so by paying
off the Viking aggressors until he was eventually prepared to lead an army against them. This
culminated in the Battle of Edington which left the Danes utterly routed and ended their attempts to
capture Wessex. A power vacuum in Mercia around the same time resulted in King Alfred also
gaining control of the kingdom and instead of establishing a new monarch, he placed an ealdorman
in charge. This nobleman would answer to King Alfred himself and kept the King of Wessex as the
ultimate authority throughout both regions now, although a part of Mercia would be ceded to the
Vikings. After the death of the King of Wessex and the contemporary leader of Mercia in 911, Edward
the Elder and Ethelred each became the respective successors. Together, these new rulers began to
increase the pressure that had already been put on the neighboring Dane law and they both worked
to further increase their territories. In 917, Ethelred expanded her lands to the north and Edward
was able to incorporate all of East Anglia into his kingdom. As Ethelred pushed forward with the
expansion, she managed to extend Mercian territory all the way up to York, where the locals decided
it would be best to simply pledge loyalty to her as opposed to fighting. Although Ethelred shortly
died, her daughter Efwynn was supposed to take her place and continue on the current course.
Unexpectedly, the Mercian people quickly ousted their new leader and accidentally created the
perfect opportunity for King Edward from Wessex to seize all of Mercia not long after. In 918, the
Anglo Saxons continued farther into Danelaw territory and slowly gained more and more land for
themselves. By the time of Edward’s death in 924, the newly acquired neighbors of the Anglo Saxons
had all pledged allegiance to the king. This put the Anglo Saxons in a confident position as Edward’s
son Ethelred took over the kingdom. Around this time, Ethelred’s sister would marry the local Viking
ruler, Sihtric who still controlled Northumbria. Ethelred marched on and was finally able to bring the
Kingdom of York under his crown as his sister’s husband passed away. This left Northumbria up for
grabs and the king swiftly consolidated it as a part of his kingdom. This is generally the time that
most historians view the Kingdom of England as having been created. But the situation was not
exactly so simple. Ethelred was not done trying to expand his kingdom however he could and
although he did term himself the King of the English at this point, it was still not quite what we know
as England today. In 937, Ethelred decided to give an invasion of Scotland a chance to see if he could
reach his authority even further. The Kingdom of Scotland or as it was known at the time, Alba was at
a disadvantage against the English and therefore appealed to the other remaining sovereign states
for assistance. This prompted an alliance between Constantine II, King of Alba, Olaf Guth-frith-son,
King of Dublin and Owain, King of Strathclyde. With King Olaf at the helm, the alliance faced the
English at the spectacular Battle of Brunanburh. Though it is unknown exactly where this battle took
place, it is certain that the alliance was severely crushed by the English invaders. The casualties on
both sides were disastrously high but Ethelred and the English were without a doubt the victors. It is
believed by many that this clash may have truly solidified the unity of England and stirred up a new
sense of nationalism and pride amongst the English people. Nonetheless, it didn’t result in the
incorporation of Alba nor Strathclyde into the Kingdom of England, as both stayed independent.
England on the other hand would have to prove its ability to do so. The Vikings though temporarily
defeated would return to the young kingdom at the end of the 10th century. After Ethelred’s death in
939, the previously defeated King of Dublin, who was a Viking ruler, took immediate advantage of
England’s temporary instability. While King Ethelred’s half brother Edmund took over the English
realm, King Olaf swooped in to reconquer some of the lands that had once been in Viking hands. York
was quickly captured and a large chunk of what used to be Northumbria and Mercia was also taken
as he strongarmed the English into accepting this annexation. Ironically, when Olaf died in 941 and
his cousin, who shared the same name, was transitioning to the throne as his successor, Edmund of
England jumped on the chance to pay the Vikings back for the invasion. The following year, the
middle chunk of annexed land was retaken by the English and in only 2 more years the Vikings were
entirely pushed out of Northumbria. This essentially reunited England since the territory was now all
under Edmund’s control. As ambitious as his ancestors, Edmund next invaded Strathclyde but only
took some of its southern territories by the end of the incursion. The rest was given to King Malcolm
I of Scotland as opposed to joining England. It once again appeared as though the Kingdom of
England had established some stability but this was once more short lived. Edmund was mysteriously
murdered in 946, which left his younger brother Eadred, as King of England. The next year, Eric
Bloodaxe from Norway attacked and seized the recently reincorporated Northumbria which
prompted almost a decade of conflicts over who throughout the Isles would lead Northumbria.
Eventually, the English king was able to once again and permanently, reclaim the territory on behalf
of England. His death soon ended his reign after this victory and his young nephew Eadwig,
temporarily succeeded him but was quickly deposed in favor of his brother Edgar. However, this was
only a partial deposition, which meant that Eadwig would still hold a small section of the kingdom as
a co-ruler. When Eadwig died only 2 years after this decision, Edgar simply took over the whole of
England. Under the reign of King Edgar, known as Edgar the Peaceful, the true foundations of the
English kingdom could finally be established. Many reforms were passed and a vast number of the
systems and laws that had existed in the Danelaw were actually upheld, in hopes of avoiding any
displeasure from the Danish portion of the population. Peace, unity and order were the pillars of
Edgar’s nearly 2 decades long reign and his work helped to fully solidify the unity of the young
Kingdom of England. The ultimate formation of England was a long and shaky process. From the
initial immigration of the Anglo Saxons into the region to the establishment of their first kingdoms,
extending into the invasion and rule of the Vikings, it was not until the Anglo Saxons began to seize
territory from the Danelaw that an inkling of modern day England could be seen. After a series of
conquering, being conquered, reconquering and so on, the Anglo Saxons eventually united the
existing kingdoms throughout England. From there, it was merely a matter of establishing solid
borders, maintaining their captured territory in order to keep their kingdom physically solid and
eventually, under the rule of Edgar the peaceful, building the foundational laws and structures of
what we now know as the Kingdom or nation of England.