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THE LAST ANGLO-SAXON KING

Harold, England’s most powerful earl, claimed the throne on King Edward’s death. But to hold on to the crown, Harold knew he would have to fight

Harold’s mistress, Edith Swan-neck, may have been Eadgifu the Fair, one of the largest landholders in  England before 1066

The scandalous life and death of Harold’s elder brother

The estates of the Godwinsons produced an income of £8,500 a year in   the 1050s ; the king’s  estates returned  £6, 000

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All About History
Anglo Saxons
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Welcome to
ANGLO SAXONS
When William the Conqueror won on the battlefield
The Anglo-Saxons
Origins of the Anglo Saxons
Where did the Anglo-Saxons come from and how many of them were there in the first place?
CONTENTS
The once and future king
The legendary king of England, Arthur, actually fought against the English
THE HEPTARCHY
The Seven Kingdoms
Out of the chaos of the end of an empire, seven kingdoms emerged, known as the Heptarchy
Northumbria
The realm of heroes and saints
Mercia
The Mercians took their place in the heart of the country and fought to keep it
Wessex
The last Anglo-Saxon kingdom became the first kingdom of England
The Kingdom of the East Angles
The riches of Sutton Hoo show the wealth of an Anglo-Saxon kingdom
The Kingdom of Kent
This was where, according to tradition, the first kingdom of the Anglo-Saxons was established
Sussex
Sandwiched between Kent and Wessex, with Mercia bearing down from the north, Sussex struggled to survive
Essex
The kingdom of the East Saxons spread through Hertfordshire and included the land of the Middle Saxons (Middlesex)
Sutton Hoo
When the Anglo-Saxon hoard at Sutton Hoo was
NEW GOD FOR OLD
In the clash between religions, battle provided the answer as to which god to worship
The old gods
What we know of Anglo-Saxon paganism
Elves and dwarves
The Anglo-Saxons believed in elves who were nothing like Legolas
EARLY VIKING RAIDS
From Lindisfarne to the Great Heathen Army
What’s in a name?
It’s time to uncover why we call them ‘Vikings’
ALFRED VS THE VIKINGS
How a defeated and abandoned king rose from the ultimate underdog to become one of the most celebrated monarchs in English history
MAKING WESSEX VIKING-PROOF
Alfred had beaten the Viking invasion, but now he knew he had to prepare the kingdom in case they came back
The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
Along with everything else, Alfred also set up the first continuing record of the country’s history
The Alfred Jewel
Just over six centimetres in height, three centimetres
VIKING SETTLEMENT
The development of the Danelaw
Erik Bloodaxe
The last Viking king of York?
THE HOUSE OF WESSEX
England’s longest-lasting family that saw the nation invaded, reconquered and unified
THE PEDIGREE
THE QUEEN WHO MARRIED FATHER & SON
Judith  b.843-d.870 
KILLING FOR THE CROWN
Alfred the Great 
THE WARRIOR QUEEN
Æthelflæd 
THE FIRST KING OF ENGLAND
Æthelstan
THE WICKED QUEEN
Elfrida 
ENGLAND'S WORST KING PROBABLY
Æthelred the Unready 
THE THREE-TIME QUEEN
Emma of Normandy 
THE KING WHO FOUGHT AND LOST
Edmund Ironside 
THE EVERYDAY LIFE OF AN ANGLO-SAXON
In a society ruled by class and status, Anglo-Saxon life was hard but filled with surprising opportunities
A UNITED ENGLAND
ÆTHELSTAN THE GLORIOUS
Perhaps no king in English is history is more important and less remembered
A PORTRAIT OF A KING
This striking image from the Dark Ages depicts one of the greatest kings in English history
THE VIKINGS RETURN
Sweyn Forkbeard and the conquest of Anglo-Saxon England
EMPEROR OF THE NORTH
1,000 years ago, a young Viking warrior became king of England. No one at the time can have expected how remarkable his reign would be
EDWARD THE CONFESSOR
Edward brought the country stability and prosperity, but his failure to secure the succession to the throne left England open to war
THE NORMAN CONQUEST
ENGLAND’S AXE WARRIORS
The elite housecarls are surrounded by myth, but were they really the fearless fighters of legend?
CLASH OF CROWNS 1066
When three kings rose to claim Edward the Confessor’s crown, England’s fate would be decided with steel and blood
The king is dead
“Here King Harold has been killed”. This is
EDGAR ÆTHELING
Harold Godwinson was dead, his forces scattered and leaderless. As the king passed away, the future of Saxon England now lay with a little-known teenager
AFTER HASTINGS: ANGLO-SAXON ENGLAND’S RESISTANCE WAR
Even though William defeated Harold Godwinson in battle on 14 October 1066, the king’s death did not bring England under his control
HOW HASTINGS CHANGED HISTORY
After Hastings, the Normans set about fashioning England in their own image, sweeping away centuries of tradition and enacting reforms that are still felt today
WHAT IF?
With the clash of three kings, England faced three fates
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