Timeline of the Anglo-Saxon invasion and takeover of Britain

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Constructing a chronology of the early Anglo-Saxon period is highly complex, and the limitations of our source material place restrictions on just how accurate any chronology can be. Much of our dating of the period comes from Bede, writing in the seventh century, who, in his Ecclesiastical History of the English People, tried to compute dates for events in early Anglo-Saxon history. Bede's work was widely read among the literate in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, and his dates were used by the monks who compiled the various Anglo-Saxon Chronicles from the late ninth century onwards.

It is essential to keep in mind that the most controversial dates - those from the fourth to the late sixth centuries - have no contemporary record, and are derived from later attempts to construct Anglo-Saxon history.

This is an outline of some events recorded in Bede's Ecclesiastical History, the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, and the Welsh Annals (Annales Cambriae). Many of the dates from the fourth, fifth, and sixth century are points of contention.[1]

AC = "from the Annales Cambriae" (English translation at this link).
ASC = "from the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle".
B = "from Bede's writings".

[edit] 4th century

  • 360 and after and perhaps before: various Germanic peoples came to Roman Britain: raiders, Roman armies recruited from among German tribes, authorized settlers: ref. Aelle of Sussex.

[edit] 5th century

  • 410: Emperor Honorious recalls the last legions from Britain. There is some uncertainty: some say that this "rescript" refers not to Britannia (= Britain) but to Bruttium in Italy.
  • 433: The Britons called the Angles to come and help them [as mercenaries ] against the Picts. ASC
  • about 446: The "Groans of the Britons" last appeal (possibly to the Consul Aetius) for the Roman army to come back to Britain.
  • 447: Vortigern let Anglo-Saxons settle on Thanet. (The name Vortigern may mean "Great King" rather than being a personal name.)
  • 455: Her Hengest 7 Horsa fuhton wiþ Wyrtgeorne þam cyninge, in þære stowe þe is gecueden Agælesþrep, 7 his broþur Horsan man ofslog; 7 æfter þam Hengest feng to rice 7 Æsc his sunu. ASC
  • 455: Battle of Aylesford: Here Hengest and Horsa fought against Vortigern the king, in the place that is called Aylesford, and his brother Horsa was slain; and after that Hengest and Æsc his brother took the kingdom.
  • 457: Her Hengest 7 Æsc fuhton wiþ Brettas in þære stowe þe is gecueden Crecganford 7 þær ofslogon .iiiim. wera, 7 þa Brettas þa forleton Centlond 7 mid micle ege flugon to Lundenbyrg. ASC
  • 457: Here Hengest & Æsc fought against Britons in the place which is called Crecganford and there slew 4000 men, and the Britons abandoned Kent and with great fear fled to London.
  • 465: Her Hengest 7 Æsc gefuhton uuiþ Walas neah Wippedesfleote 7 þær .xii. wilisce aldormenn ofslogon, 7 hiera þegn an þær wearþ ofslægen, þam wæs noma Wipped.
  • 466 (corrected from 465): Battle of Wippedesfleot: Here Hengest and Æsc fought together against Welsh (= Britons) near Wippedesfleot and there slew 12 Welsh leaders, and one of their thanes was slain, whose name was Wipped. [This battle is said to have resulted in much bloodshed and slaughter on both sides, to the extent that hostilities abated for a while thereafter. It is not known where Wippedesfleot (= "Wipped's tidal estuary") was.]
  • 473: Her Hengest 7 Æsc gefuhton wiþ Walas 7 genamon unarimedlico herereaf, 7 þa Walas flugon þa Englan swa þær fyr. ASC
  • 473: Here Hengest & Æsc fought against Welsh and took countless war-loot, and the Welsh fled from the English like fire.
  • 477: Her cuom Ælle on Bretenlond 7 his .iii. suna, Cymen 7 Wlencing 7 Cissa, mid .iii. scipum on þa stowe þe is nemned Cymenesora, 7 þær ofslogon monige Wealas 7 sume on fleame bedrifon on þone wudu þe is genemned Andredesleage. ASC
  • 477: Here Ælle came to Britain and [with him] his 3 sons Cymen & Wlencing & Cissa, with 3 ships to the place which is named Cymenesora [probably now The Owers, sandbanks off Selsey in West Sussex ], and there slew many Welsh & drove some in flight into the wood which is called Andredesleag [= The Weald ].
  • 491: Her Ælle 7 Cissa ymbsæton Andredescester 7 ofslogon alle þa þe þærinne eardedon; ne wearþ þær forþon an Bret to lafe. ASC
  • 491: Here Ælle and Cissa beseiged Andredescester [now Pevensey ] and slew all who dwelt therein; no Briton was left afterwards.
  • 485: Her Ælle gefeaht wiþ Walas neah Mearcrædesburnan stæðe. ASC
  • 485: Here Ælle fought against Welsh near the margin of Mearcrædesburna [= Mearcræd's stream).
  • 490 to 510: Likely range of dates for the Battle of Mons Badonicus. See Battle of Mons Badonicus#Effects of the battle for the strategic situation resulting afterwards.

[edit] 6th century

  • around 500: Angles colonised the North Sea and Humber coastal areas, particularly around Holderness.
  • 501: Her cuom Port on Bretene 7 his .ii. suna Bieda 7 Mægla mid .ii. scipum on þære stowe þe is gecueden Portesmuþa 7 ofslogon anne giongne Brettiscmonnan, swiþe æþelne monnan. ASC
  • 501: Here Port and his 2 sons Bieda and Mægla came to Britain with 2 ships to the place which is called Portsmouth and slew a young British man, a very noble man. [But this may be an old fiction, as a folk-etymology to explain the placename Ports-mouth.]
  • 508: Her Cerdic 7 Cynric ofslogon ænne Brettisccyning, þam was nama Natanleod, 7 .v. þusendu wera mid him. Æfter was þæt lond nemned Natanleaga oþ Cerdicesford. ASC
  • 508: Here Cerdic and Cynric slew a British king, whose name was Natanleod, and 5000 men with him. Afterwards that land was named Natanleag as far as Cerdicesford [= North Charford and South Charford ].
  • 535 & 536: The climate changes of 535–536 likely caused a great famine and thus population loss.
  • On or before 547: Bernicia established by Anglo-Saxons taking over part of a Celtic area called Bryneich.
  • Around 549: A great plague caused much population loss.
  • about 560: Anglo-Saxons conquered all of east Yorkshire and the British kingdom of Ebrauc, and there established Deira.
  • 571: Her Cuþwulf feaht wiþ Bretwalas æt Bedcan forda. 7 .iiii. tunas genom, Lygeanburg. 7 Ægelesburg. Benningtun. 7 Egonesham. 7 þy ilcan geare he gefor. ASC
  • 571: Battle of Bedcanford: Here Cuthwulf fought against Britons at Bedcanford and took 4 settlements: Limbury & Aylesbury, Benson, & Eynsham. And in the same year he died.
  • 573: Battle of Arfderydd at Arthuret in Cumbria: Celt fought Celt and weakened their numbers.
  • 577: Her Cuþwine 7 Ceawlin fuhton wiþ Brettas, 7 hie .iii. kyningas ofslogon, Coinmail, 7 Condidan, 7 Farinmail, in þære stowe þe is gecueden Deorham. 7 genamon .iii. ceastro Gleawanceaster, 7 Cirenceaster, 7 Baþanceaster. ASC
  • 577: Battle of Dyrham: Here Cuthwine and Ceawlin fought against Britons and they slew 3 kings: Coinmail & Condidan & Farinmail, in the place which is called Dyrham, and took 3 towns: Gloucester & Cirencester & Bath.
These entries seem to show that the British defences in the English Midlands collapsed, and the peace that followed the Battle of Mons Badonicus ended, and the Anglo-Saxons obiterated the British Watling Street salient and united their areas and overran the London - Verulamium area and much of the plain of the Midlands. Loss of Bath would separate the Welsh from the Britons of the southwest. After this, the border between Saxons and the southwest Celts was likely at the Wansdyke along the ridge of the Mendip Hills.
  • 581: Ælla took land from the Britons, thus establishing or enlarging Deira.
  • around 584: The Kingdom of the Iclingas became Mercia.
  • 584: Her Ceawlin 7 Cuþa fuhton wiþ Brettas, in þam stede þe mon nemneþ Feþanleag. 7 Cuþan mon ofslog. 7 Ceaulin monige tunas genom, 7 unarimedlice herereaf, 7 ierre he hwearf þonan to his agnum. ASC
  • 584: Battle of Fethanleag: Here Ceawlin and Cutha fought against Britons in the place that is named Fethanleag [perhaps near Stoke Lyne in Oxfordshire ], and Cutha was slain, and Ceawlin took many settlements and countless war-loot, and in anger he turned back to his own land.
If so much weight can be put on the one word "ierre", "many settlements ... in anger" may point to a widespread violent "pacification" of the overrun British lands, leading later to more Anglo-Saxon expansion.

[edit] 7th century

[edit] 8th century

  • 710: .... 7 þam ylcan geare feaht Beorhtfrið ealdorman wið Pehtas betwux Hæfe 7 Cære, 7 Ine 7 Nun his mæg gefuhton wið Gerente Weala cyninge, ... ASC
  • 710: ... and in the same year ealdorman Beorhtfrith fought against Picts between [the rivers] Avon and Carron [which flow into the River Forth from the south about 20 miles west of Edinburgh ], and Ine and his relative Nunna fought against Geraint king of Welsh ... [This second battle may have been the Battle of Llongborth.]
  • 722: According to the Annales Cambriae, "the battle of Hehil among the Cornish, the battle of Garth Maelog, the battle of Pencon among the south Britons, and the Britons were the victors in those three battles."
  • before 730: Northumbria annexed Rheged.
  • 760: A battle between the Britons and the Saxons, that is the battle of Hereford and Dyfnwal son of Tewdwr dies. AC
  • 778: The devastation of the South Britons by Offa. AC
  • 784: The devastation of Britain by Offa in the summer AC
  • 794: Her Adrianus papa 7 Offa cyning forþferdon ... ASC
  • 794 (corrected to 796): Here pope Hadrian and king Offa die. (AC: 797: Offa king of the Mercians and Maredudd king of the Demetians die, and the battle of Rhuddlan.)
  • 798: Caradog king of Gwynedd is killed by the Saxons. AC

[edit] 9th century

  • 813: ... 7 þy geare gehergade Ecgbryht cyning on West Walas from easteweardum oþ westewearde. ASC
  • 813 (corrected to 815): ... and in this year king Ecgbryht raided in Cornwall from east to west.
  • 816: ... Saxons invaded the mountains of Eryri and the kingdom of Rhufoniog. AC
  • 818: Cenwulf devastated the Dyfed region. AC
  • 822:: The fortress of Degannwy is destroyed by the Saxons and they took the kingdom of Powys into their own control. AC
  • 823:: Her wæs Wala gefeoht 7 Defna æt Gafulforda. ... ASC
  • 823 (corrected to 825): Here was a fight of Welsh/Britons [against] Devon-men at Gafulford ...
  • 835: Her cuom micel sciphere on Westwalas 7 hie to anum gecierdon, 7 wiþ Ecgbryht West Seaxna cyning winnende wæron. Þa he þæt hierde 7 mid fierde ferde 7 him wiþ feaht æt Hengestdune 7 þær gefliemde ge þa Walas ge þa Deniscan.
  • 835 (corrected to 838): Here a great ship-army [of Vikings] came to Cornwall and they [= the Cornish] joined them, and were fighting against Ecgbryht king of the West Saxons. Then he heard and with an army fought against them at Hengestdun and there put to flight both the Cornish and the Danes.
  • 877: Rhodri and his son Gwriad are killed by the Saxons.. AC

[edit] 10th century

  • 946: ... And Strathclyde was laid waste by the Saxons. AC

[edit] 11th century

  • 1063: Here Earl Harold and his brother Earl Tostig went into Wales both with land-army and ship-army, and conquered that land; and that people gave hostages and submitted to them, and afterwards went to and killed their king Gruffydd, and brought Harold his head, and he set another king for it. ASC (Peterborough manuscript)

[edit] References

  1. ^ J. Campbell, 'The Lost Centuries: 400-600' in The Anglo-Saxons. ed. J. Campbell et al (London: Penguin, 1982), pp. 20-44

[edit] See also

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