A seventh-century garnet-set cross from the Staffordshire Hoard, discovered in 2009; a filigree horse mount from the same hoard; and a coin minted under King Coenwulf (ruled 796–821). Mercian treasures like these hint at the kingdom’s wealth and power
GETTY IMAGES/AKG/BRIDGEMAN/ THE POTTERIES MUSEUM & ART GALLERY
Alfred and Bede. These are the two figures who tower over the first half-millennium of the history of Anglo-Saxon England. There’s a reason for that, of course: they wrote this history.
The Venerable Bede chronicled the conversion to Christianity of the Anglo-Saxons and the triumph of the kingdom of Northumbria over its southern foes up to about 730. As for King Alfred, it was during his reign that the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle documented the rise of Wessex and his own stunning victory over the Great Viking Army in the ninth century.