Anglo-Saxon England II

  General Description  
The Kingdom of England was formed in 927 CE when the independent kingdoms of Wessex, Northumbria, Mercia, East Anglia, Danelaw (the Danish occupied kingdom) and the minor kingdoms of Essex, Sussex, and Kent were finally unified as one country after under King Æthelstan, after a drawn-out process of conflict and consolidation in the preceding few centuries.
Northumbria, the northern most region of England and therefore the most susceptible to invasion by Scandinavian forces, continued to fall in and out of English and Danish rule until 954 CE when King Eadred brought it fully under English control, where it remained. At the same time, Lothian, the small area which bordered northern Northumbria, was ceded to Scotland as part of the deal.
In 1016 Cnut (Canute), the son of Swein of Denmark invaded and defeated the weak King Ethelred of England. He was invited to take up the throne of England and established a strong and united England. Despite being a Dane, he was Christian, and the English people and nobles wanted a strong ruler who would end the incessant raids from the north. He married Ethelred’s widow, Queen Emma of Normandy. Cnut was allied with the English and the Danes and brought peace to the kingdom. Cnut also became King of Denmark in 1019 and King of Norway in 1028, which along with England, formed the Great North Sea Empire under his rule. Though both of his sons succeeded his rule - Harald 1035-1040, and Harthacnut 1040-1042 - the death of the second resulted in Edward, the son of King Ethelred and Queen Emma, to be recalled from Normandy (France) to take the throne.
Anglo-Saxon monarchs then ruled a united Kingdom of England in peace until January 1066 with the death of King Edward, who had no children. A succession crisis occurred when Harold, Edward’s brother-in-law, and William, duke of Normandy, his cousin, both claimed that Edward had promised them the throne. Though Harold was crowned immediately after Edward’s death, William later invaded the south coast and defeated King Harold’s forces at the Battle of Hastings in October 1066. His succession to the English throne as William the Conqueror marked the beginning of Norman England – bringing with it new language, customs, and culture - and the end of the Anglo-Saxon period.