The English nation-state began to form when the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms united against Danish Viking invasion, beginning around 800.
Over the following 150 years England was for the most part a politically unified entity and remained permanently so after 937 when Athelstan of Wessex established the nation of England after the Battle of Brunanburh.
Followed his father and grandfather, Edward the Elder and Alfred the Great footsteps, Athelstan brought under his control the Norse kingdom of York and the Britons of Strathclyde.
Kings of Scotland and Strathclyde and ruler of Bamburgh recognized his authority in Northumbria. Athelstan ravaged Scotland in 934 with combined land and sea forces.
In 1937, Picts and Scots of Constantine III, Britons, Vikings of King Olaf Godfreyson of Dublin and some other Irish formed coalition and invaded and penetrated deep into England. They met at Brunanburh by Athelstan with combined Mercia and Wessex.
The northerners fought against Athelstan’s army in a great two-day battle at Brunanburh, near the English-Scottish border. The Saxons of Wessex and Mercia won an overwhelming victory. Athelstan stood supreme in the greater part of what is now England.
The Battle of Brunanburh is a short panegyric which appears in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle for the year 937.
Battle of Brunanburh
Over the following 150 years England was for the most part a politically unified entity and remained permanently so after 937 when Athelstan of Wessex established the nation of England after the Battle of Brunanburh.
Followed his father and grandfather, Edward the Elder and Alfred the Great footsteps, Athelstan brought under his control the Norse kingdom of York and the Britons of Strathclyde.
Kings of Scotland and Strathclyde and ruler of Bamburgh recognized his authority in Northumbria. Athelstan ravaged Scotland in 934 with combined land and sea forces.
In 1937, Picts and Scots of Constantine III, Britons, Vikings of King Olaf Godfreyson of Dublin and some other Irish formed coalition and invaded and penetrated deep into England. They met at Brunanburh by Athelstan with combined Mercia and Wessex.
The northerners fought against Athelstan’s army in a great two-day battle at Brunanburh, near the English-Scottish border. The Saxons of Wessex and Mercia won an overwhelming victory. Athelstan stood supreme in the greater part of what is now England.
The Battle of Brunanburh is a short panegyric which appears in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle for the year 937.
Battle of Brunanburh