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By the fourth century, the declining power of the Roman Empire became more threatened by political factionalism and barbarian attacks.
Roman legions evacuated Britain to fight elsewhere and never returned. -
The Nordic tribes that started to invade Britai were the Angles, the Saxons and the Jutes.They were not Christian and they were known as sailors of great skill whose zest for piracy and warfare made them the terror of more civilized neighbors.
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Taking advantage of the Roman retreat from the British Isles , the war-like tribes of Northwestern Germany initially terrorized and eventually settled in Britain.
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Britain is divided up into the Seven Kingdoms of Northumbria, Mercia, Wessex, Essex, Sussex and Kent. This division was called the Heptarchy.
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The Anglo-Saxon tribes transplanted their Germanic institutions to Britain. The gradual appearance of some resemblance of "national" unity was the most striking feature of this period.
At the center of government stood the king, who had full, but not absolute power. -
The epic poem Beowulf is written. It tells the story of a pagan Saxon hero who valiantly defies men and dragons with equanimity.
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Offa king of Mercia seized the throne after a civil war, and established supremacy over many lesser kings.
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1016 Cnut, king of Denmark becomes king of England
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1042-1066 Edward the Confessor is the last Anglo-Saxon king; Battle of Hastings
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Pope Gregory, as part of his effort to convert the conquerors of the Roman Empire, sent the Benedictine monk Augustine, to Britain with forty missionaries. King Ethelbert of Kent cordially received the missionary party and became himself a Christian and made his capital, Canterbury, the seat of archbishopric.
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Vikings attack Lindisfarne
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871-899 Alfred the Great king of Wessex
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878 Alfred defeats the Viking army and the Vikings settle Eastern and northern England (the Danelaw)
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957-75 England united under Edgar
