Timeline of Albion
Christian timeline event
Saxon Albion
c516AD
Britons defeat the Angles and Saxons at
Mount Badon, probably somewhere in south-west England, halting the Saxon
advance for a generation. This battle later becomes associated with
legends of King Arthur.
c563AD
Columba founds a monastery at Iona. For the next
two hundred years, this will be the most important centre of Christian
learning in the Celtic world.
597AD
Augustine is sent to Britain by Pope Gregory to
convert the Saxons, bringing Roman Christianinty to Britain for the first
time. Æthelberht becomes the first English king to convert to Christianinty,
and grants Augustine land at Canterbury on which to build a church. Augustine
becomes the first Archbishop of Canterbury.
627AD
Edwin of Northumbria becomes the first Christian
king in the north of England.
664AD
Oswiu, king of Northumbria, convenes the Synod
of Whitby. He wishes to determine whether the Celtic brand of Christianity
practiced in Wales, Scotland and the North should take precedence over the
Roman brand of Christianinty practiced in the South of England. Roman
Christianity prevails, and Oswiu abandons the Celtic church. The decline of
Celtic Christianity begins.
685AD
Ecgfrith of Northumbria is defeated by the Picts
and killed. Anglo-Saxon dominance in Scotland is ended.
731AD
The Venerable Bede completes his Ecclesiastical
History of the English People - one of the most important documents illuminating
the post-Roman period of English history.
757AD
Offa comes to the throne of Mercia. He goes on to build "Offa's Dyke" - an 80 mile
earthwork separating Mercia from the kingdoms of Wales.
789AD
The first recorded Viking attack on British shores takes place at Portland, in
Dorset.
793AD
Vikings attack the Christian monastery on Lindisfarne. "... harrowing inroads of
heathen men made lamentable havoc in the church of God in Holy-island, by
rapine and slaughter."
829AD
Following his defeat of the Mercians and the submission of the Northumbrians
to his rule, King Egbert of the West Saxons becomes known as the first king of
all England.
c843AD
Cináed mac Ailpín is rumoured to have united the Picts and the Scots around this
time, leading to some historians regardig it as the date that Scotland can first
be considered as a kingom in its own right.
866-877AD
The Vikings assemble a "great army" and invade Britain. Northumbria falls to them.
Yorvik (York) becomes the Viking capital. Deeper incursions into England follow.
878AD
Alfred the Great decisively defeats the Vikings at the Battle of Edington. The "Peace
of Wedmore"is established, ceding East Anglia, Essex and Eastern Mercia to the Vikings,
with Alfred ruling over the Kingdom of Wessex. The lands falling under Viking rule would
later become known as the "Danelaw".
878AD
King Guthrum of the Vikings converts to Christianity as part of the Peace of Wedmore.
886AD
Further hostilities break out, and Alfred retakes London from the Vikings.
899AD-924AD
Alfred the Great dies and is succeeded by his son, Edward the Elder. Edward pushed out
from Wessex, enjoying much military success against the Vikings, and eventually holding
all English territory South of the Humber.
925AD-939AD
Æthelstan uses his reign to push the boundaries of Saxon England to their furthest
extent, driving the Vikings from York.
937AD
Battle of Brunanburh. Æthelstan inflicts a crushing defeat on a combined invasion force of
Scots and Irish Vikings.
954AD
Eric Bloodaxe declares himself king of Northumbria. He is eventually driven out by
Eadred, leading to the permanent inclusion of Northumbria in the English realm.
959-975AD
Edgar comes to the throne of Mercia, and goes on to consolidate the other Saxon
fiefdoms into one inseparable kingdom. This is regarded by historians as the height
of Anglo-Saxon England, which declined following his death right up until the time of
the Norman conquest.
960AD
Dunstan becomes Archbisop of Canterbury, contiuning his reformation of the English church
and the restoration of monastic life that he began as King Edgar's advisor. Dunstan's
coronation ceremony designed to solidify Edgar's position as king remains the basis
for present-day coronations.
980AD
The Danes renew their raids on England, launching attacks against Chester and
Southampton.
991AD
Battle of Maldon. Byrhtnoth of Essex is defeated by Viking invaders.
King Æthelred II eventually buys off the Danes with 22,000 pounds of gold.
1002AD
Æthelred orders the massacre of all Danes in England.
1013AD
Swein Forkbeard forces Æthelred the Unready into exile.
1016AD
Edmund Ironside agrees a truce with the viking Cnut, dividing England
between them. Edmund is murdered, and Cnut becomes king of all England.
c1018AD
Malcolm II of Scotland unites the kingdoms of Alba, Lothian and Strathclyde,
becoming the first king of a united Scotland.
1066AD
Edward the Confessor dies, and Harold II comes to the throne. A chain of
events follows, culminating in the Norman Conquest. Harold is ultimately
defeated at the Battle of Hastings, and William the Conqueror is crowned King
of England on Christmas Day.
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