Divorced, Beheaded, Died: The History of Britain's Kings and Queens in Bite-Sized Chunks (3 page)

Dark-Age Warlord Kings

When the Romans left Britain in 410, Britain was vulnerable to attack from Ireland, Scotland and Germany. The most serious threat came from the Germanic races of the Angles, Saxons, Jutes and Frisians, who invaded and initially settled in areas around the east coast, but then began to push northwards and westwards, driving the Celts into Cornwall, Wales and parts of the north. They were fiercely resisted, and the Battle of Mount Badon in the early 500s stopped the Germanic invasions for a generation or two.

V
ORTIGERN

Reigned
c.
425–460s

There are few certain sources of information concerning Vortigern, but it seems that he came to power during a time when Britain was under threat from the Picts and Caledonians in the north, the Gaelic Scotti tribe in Ireland, and the Germanic tribes in the east, filling the power vacuum left by the Romans’ departure. It is said that Vortigern made the decision to invite the Saxons to come over as mercenaries and settle in certain parts of Britain, asking in return that they help to defeat the other raiders. This policy was initially successful, but eventually the Saxon newcomers, led by legendary leaders Hengist and Horsa, rebelled and took over more territory, with Hengist declaring himself King of Kent. It was thus that Britain’s first Anglo-Saxon kingdom was established, and Vortigern came to be remembered as the architect of Britain’s betrayal.

A
MBROSIUS
A
URELIANUS

Reigned
c.
460s

Little is known about Ambrosius Aurelianus, though some have speculated that he was in fact the legendary King Arthur. Aurelianus has also been called ‘the last of the Romans’ due to his Roman ancestry, and was possibly even a descendant of one of the emperors. He is said to have been a sworn enemy of Vortigern, the leader who invited the dreaded Saxons into Britain, as his parents were killed by the Saxon marauders. He later rallied British forces against the Anglo-Saxon advance and met with some success.

R
IOTHAMUS

Reigned
c.
470

A sixth-century writer refers to one Riothamus as ‘King of the Britons’ when describing a battle against the Goths in France. Very little else is known about Riothamus, and it has been suggested that the name is a latinization of an old British word meaning ‘supreme king’. This in turn has led to speculation that Riothamus may not have existed and might simply be another name for Vortigern, Ambrosius Aurelianus or even the elusive King Arthur.

A
RTHUR

Reigned
c.
late fifth century–early sixth century

The trouble with King Arthur is that there is no contemporary, or even near contemporary, evidence that he ever really existed. The story of a British king or warlord who led the Christian Britons against the pagan Saxons fits with what we know of events in the fifth and sixth centuries; the story of Arthur leading an expedition to France and taking on the Romans fits the story of Constantine the Great, Magnus Maximus, Constantine III and Riothamus. So we don’t really know whether Arthur is a mythological composite hero or a real person. His association with legends in Brittany, Cornwall, Somerset, Wales and Scotland is either evidence that he is mythic or that he fought the Saxons wherever they showed their heads.

If he did exist, he was probably a general who controlled a highly trained cavalry force. He is said to have fought twelve great victorious battles leading up to the great battle at Mount Badon in around 518, which saw the Saxons so comprehensively defeated that peace broke out for a generation or more. Although the Battle of Mount Badon undoubtedly took place, Arthur’s name is not mentioned in the earliest sources.

According to legend, the Arthurian golden age continued until the treachery of his nephew, Modred, led to a terrible battle at Camlann at which Arthur was mortally wounded and taken off to the magical island of Avalon, never to be heard of alive again. Whatever the truth, a generation or so after the Battle of Mount Badon, the Saxons continued their advance, securing the Anglo-Saxon domination of England which has lasted to the present day.

Bretwaldas – Rulers of Anglo-Saxon Britain

As the Angles, Saxons, Jutes and Frisians (collectively known as the English or Anglo-Saxons) increasingly made inroads on the old Roman province of Britain, Roman civilization was destroyed and a new language and ethnic identity were forged. The English formed themselves into eight kingdoms. The Saxons claimed Essex, Wessex and Sussex; the Angles formed East Anglia, Mercia, and Bernicia and Deira (together known as Northumbria); and the Jutes claimed Kent. Some of the rulers of these new kingdoms became so powerful that their authority extended beyond their own lands and they were known as Bretwaldas (overkings).

A
ELLE OF
S
USSEX

Reigned
c.
477–514

The first Saxon leaders to set up kingdoms in England were Aelle (Sussex), Hengist and Horsa (Kent), and Cerdic and Cynric (West Saxon or Wessex). According to the historian Bede, Aelle was the first to gain Bretwalda or overking status, although it is difficult to see how this can be, given the weak toehold the Saxons had in Britain at the time and the small size of his kingdom.

C
EAWLIN OF
W
ESSEX

Reigned
c.
560–591

Ceawlin was the grandson of Cerdic, the legendary founder of the West Saxon (Wessex) kingdom, and he became its third king. Few details are known of his life, but he seems to have taken advantage of the end of the peace established by the Battle of Mount Badon, when the invading Saxons were temporarily routed. His armies defeated three British kings – Coinmail, Condidan and Farinmail – at the pivotal Battle of Dyrham, taking Gloucester, Cirencester and Bath. This divided the Britons of Devon and Cornwall from the Britons of Wales and the north, and probably marked the end of any realistic British hope of getting rid of the English once and for all. Ceawlin’s name, and that of his grandfather Cerdic, seem to be Celtic in origin, suggesting the tantalizing possibility that Wessex was originally an alliance between the English and Britons.

A
ETHELBERHT OF
K
ENT

Reigned
c.
591–616

Aethelberht claimed descent from Hengist and Horsa, who had seized Kent from the Britons, and became the third Bretwalda. The Kentish kingdom had close ties to France and Aethelberht married the Christian daughter of the King of France, Bertha, whose marriage settlement allowed her freedom of worship. Pope Gregory sent a very reluctant Augustine to Britain to begin the conversion of the English to Christianity, and within a short time of Augustine’s arrival in Kent Aethelberht had been converted, thus becoming the first of the Anglo-Saxon Christian kings. In around 602, he composed a code of laws, possibly the first document written in Anglo-Saxon.

R
AEDWALD OF
E
AST
A
NGLIA

Reigned
c.
600–624

King Raedwald of East Anglia was baptized as a Christian during a visit to King Aethelberht in Kent. But his attitude to the new religion was ambivalent at best, and on his return to East Anglia he quickly slipped back into his pagan ways. He did set up a Christian altar, but in a temple where sacrifices to pagan gods continued. Raedwald defeated the Northumbrians at the Battle of the River Idle in Nottinghamshire in 616, thus becoming the first Bretwalda to hold sway north of the Humber.

In 1939, at Sutton Hoo, a seventh-century ship burial containing a host of treasures was excavated. Magnificent weapons and armour, fabulous feasting equipment and other royal paraphernalia were uncovered. The mix of pagan and Christian artifacts found at Sutton Hoo suggests that this great treasure belonged to Raedwald, and that even in death he continued to hedge his bets.

E
DWIN

Reigned
c.
616–633

In the north, Edwin of Deira was exiled by King Aethelfrith of Bernicia, who united the two kingdoms as Northumbria. Aethelfrith was a pagan who slaughtered his British Christian enemies with abandon. At the Battle of Chester in 614 he is said to have slaughtered 1,200 British monks, arguing that they were combatants as they supported their army with prayer. In 616 he was defeated by King Raedwald of East Anglia, who gave Northumbria to Edwin.

King Edwin completed the conquest of the local British kingdoms, securing Northumbria’s domination of the north. In 625 he married Aethelburga, sister of the Christian King of Kent, and converted to Christianity, and by 627 he was the most powerful of the Anglo-Saxon kings.

In 633 Edwin was killed by the combined armies of Penda, the pagan Anglo-Saxon King of Mercia, and the British King Cadwallon of Gwynedd at the Battle of Hatfield Chase.

O
SWALD

Reigned
c.
634–642

Oswald was the son of Aethelfrith, who united two kingdoms as Northumbria. When his father was killed, Oswald was exiled to Ireland, where he converted to Christianity. When the new King of Northumbria, Edwin, was defeated by the British King Cadwallon, Northumbria was again split into two. Oswald returned from exile with an army, defeated Cadwallon, reunited Northumbria, and spread Christianity throughout the land. Oswald was killed in 642 by the pagan King Penda of Mercia at the Battle of Maserfield, where his body was dismembered and hung on a tree. He is now venerated as a Christian saint.

O
SWY

Reigned
c.
642–670

When his brother Oswald was defeated and killed by the pagan King Penda of Mercia, Oswy became King of Bernicia. He married his daughter to the son of Penda, who became a Christian, and also persuaded the King of Essex to convert. Despite these diplomatic efforts, in 655 Penda invaded with a massive army, but Oswy unexpectedly defeated and killed him at the Battle of Winwaed (near Leeds), a victory which secured his status as a Bretwalda.

Concerned by the differences in religious practices between the Christian Celtic Church and the Roman Church, Oswy called the famous Synod at Whitby in 664 to decide the issue. It was agreed that the Roman traditions should be followed, thus confirming England’s status as a Roman Catholic country, which was to remain unchanged for the next 700 years.

A
ETHELBALD

Reigned
c.
716–757

Although Aethelbald of Mercia was not named as ‘Bretwalda’
this is probably because of prejudice on the part of the Saxon sources. Mercia (in the Midlands) developed from a series of small groupings of peoples including the Middle Angles and British tribes such as the Hwicce of Tewkesbury. King Penda (d. 655) put Mercia on the map until his aggression was ended by the Northumbrians. His son, Peada (d. 656), introduced Christianity, while Aethelbald was the first Mercian King to control all of England except Northumbria, and was therefore called Rex Britanniae (‘King of Britain’ in Latin). The Church accused him of being a lecher and adulterer, violating even nuns. He was murdered by his bodyguard.

O
FFA

Reigned
c.
757–796

Offa was King of Mercia, by far the most important kingdom in the eighth century. He took advantage of instability in various other kingdoms, and took control of Kent, Sussex and East Anglia, thereby subjecting most of Britain to his rule by the 780s. He corresponded with Emperor Charlemagne of France as an equal, and re-introduced coinage to Britain in order to trade with the Frankish empire. His power and influence were so great that he even managed to force the Church to create a new Mercian archdiocese in Lichfield. One of his greatest achievements was to build a huge dyke along the border with Wales as a defence against the Welsh tribes. After Offa’s reign, the kings of Mercia continued to be the leading monarchs in Britain until the time of King Egbert of Wessex, at which point Wessex came to dominate.

E
GBERT

Reigned 802–839

King Egbert was descended from Cerdic, the founder of the Wessex dynasty, and is claimed as the eighth Bretwalda. He undertook a savage attack on the Cornish and then he defeated the Mercians at the Battle of Ellendun near Swindon, and took control of Sussex, Surrey, Essex and Kent. Soon, Northumbria also submitted to his overlordship. However, his control of Britain was challenged by the coming of the Vikings – a group of fierce sea-faring Norsemen from Scandinavia who began raiding Britain from 787 onwards.

A
LFRED

Reigned 871–899

Alfred must have had little hope of becoming King of Wessex as he had three older brothers, though they each in turn died shortly after taking the throne. The crown passed to Alfred as his brother Aethelred I’s children were too young to take power at such a dangerous time: by 871 Alfred’s kingdom was the only one that had not fallen to the Vikings and it was in an extremely precarious position. In January 878 Wessex was attacked and Alfred was forced to flee in disguise to the Somerset marshes. It was here that, according to legend, he stayed with a peasant woman who asked him to mind the cakes she was cooking. Alfred, wrapped up in his plans to save England, let the cakes burn. He received his scolding most humbly – before revealing his true identity.

Alfred used his time in the marshes well, observing the tactics of the Vikings and gathering his forces. In May 878 he defeated the Danes at the Battle of Ethandune (or Edington), one of the most important battles ever held on British soil. One of Alfred’s masterstrokes was to marry his daughter Aethelfleda to Aethelred, the heir to the throne of Mercia, which enabled the two territories to fight a united war against the Danes. With this force, Alfred was able to impose a peace treaty on the Danes that saw England divided in two: the English south and west, and the Viking north and east (known as ‘Danelaw’). The leader of the Danes, Guthrum, agreed to convert to Christianity and took the name Aethelstan on baptism.

To consolidate his kingdom, Alfred established the navy, reorganized the army and set in motion a programme of building fortified settlements, known as
burhs
(boroughs). He rebuilt Winchester, which became the capital of Wessex and later England. He encouraged the arts and education by importing scholars, and developed the English language by translating parts of the Bible into English. He liberated kingdoms conquered by the Danes and kept them for himself, thus earning the title ‘King of the English’. His extraordinary achievements are the reason why he remains the only English king to be given the sobriquet ‘the Great’.