History of Anglo-Saxon England

Anglo-Saxon England or Early Medieval England, existing from the 5th to the 11th centuries from soon after the end of Roman Britain until the Norman conquest in 1066, consisted of various Anglo-Saxon kingdoms until 927, when it was united as the Kingdom of England by King Æthelstan (r. 927–939). It became part of the short-lived North Sea Empire of Cnut the Great, a personal union between England, Denmark and Norway in the 11th century.

Quick facts: Sub-Roman Britain .mw-parser-output .nobold{f... ▼

Sub-Roman Britain (410–500s) Heptarchy (500s–927) Kingdom of England (927–1066) Engla land (Old English)
5th century–1066
Britain around the year 540. Anglo-Saxon kingdoms' names are coloured red. Britonnic kingdoms' names are coloured black.
Demonym(s)	Anglo-Saxon, Angle, Saxon
History
• Abandonment of the Roman province Britannia	5th century
• Various Anglo-Saxon kingdoms successfully established	6th century
• Battle of Hastings	1066

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The Anglo-Saxons migrated to Britain (Pretanī, Prydain) from mainland northwestern Europe after the Roman Empire withdrawal from the isle at the beginning of the 5th century. Anglo-Saxon history thus begins during the period of sub-Roman Britain following the end of Roman control, and traces the establishment of Anglo-Saxon kingdoms in the 5th and 6th centuries (conventionally identified as seven main kingdoms: Northumbria, Mercia, East Anglia, Essex, Kent, Sussex, and Wessex); their Christianisation during the 7th century; the threat of Viking invasions and Danish settlers; the gradual unification of England under the Wessex hegemony during the 9th and 10th centuries; and ending with the Norman conquest of England by William the Conqueror in 1066.

The Normans persecuted the Anglo-Saxons and overthrew their ruling class to substitute their own leaders for the purposes of overseeing and ruling England.[1] However, Anglo-Saxon identity survived beyond the Norman conquest,[2] came to be known as Englishry under Norman rule, and through social and cultural integration with Romano-British Celts, Danes and Normans became the modern English people.