by Michael Wood
West Saxon kingship 63, 66, 109, 114–16, 151
see also bretwaldas; East Anglia; Mercia
Anlaf Guthfrithson, King of Ireland 144, 156, 157, 159, 166, 167
Anlaf Sihtricson 186, 188, 189, 191
Annals of St Neots 111
Annals of Ulster 158, 159, 162
Annals of Wales 10, 11, 52–3, 55, 57–8
anointing, and kingship 142
Anwend, Danish king 117
aristocracy, Norman 227
Arlflaed, daughter of Offa 106
Arthur, King 8, 11, 37–59
and Anglo-Saxon invaders 37, 46, 50–3, 55, 58
and Badon Hill 46, 50, 51–3, 54–5, 58
death 58–9
and northern battles 55–7
and South Cadbury hillfort 48–9, 50
and the twelve battles 53–5
and Victorian England 38–9
Ashdown, battle of 116–17, 134
Ashingdon
battle of 218–19, 239, 247
Canute’s church at 221–2
Asser, Bishop 112, 155
on Alfred the Great 115, 116, 117, 120, 123, 130
on Offa 81, 82, 102, 207
Athelney, fort of Alfred the Great at 120–1, 123–4, 125, 127, 128–9, 134
Athelstan, King 8, 11, 59, 109, 112, 126, 137–62, 168, 250, 261
and administrative history 258, 259, 260
and the battle of Brunanburh 158–60, 164, 240
birth and ancestry 139
burial place 138–9, 141
character 160–2
and coinage 151–2
and the conquest of Britain 144–7
Cornwall 146–7
Northumbria 144–5, 164
Scotland 152–3
Wales 145–6
coronation 140, 141–4
death 162
education 140
and Eric Bloodaxe 188, 193
and Ethelred 199, 207
and European rulers and writers 148–9, 161–2
grand alliance against 154–9
and lawmaking 149–51, 259
legacy of 137–8
and Normandy 228
and the succession crisis 140–1
and town planning 150–1
and William the Conqueror 248
and York 173
Augustine, St, Soliloquies 133
Badon Hill, battle of 46, 50–3, 54–5, 58, 61
Barons’ Revolt (1265) 261
Bath, Edgar’s coronation at 196
Bayeux Tapestry 231, 232, 241, 244, 245–6
beacon system 101
Bede 10, 132, 133, 156, 260
and Alfred the Great 132, 133
on the Anglo-Saxon invasions 43, 50–1
on the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms 63–4, 256
and Athelstan 160
on Edwin (Northumbrian bretwalda) 108
The Life of St Cuthbert 57, 71, 72
on Offa’s dyke 103
on royal standards 69–70
on trade in Anglo-Saxon England 75–6
Bedford, Offa’s burial at 109–10
Belgic invaders 14–15, 19
Beorhtric, brother of ealdorman Fadric 210
Beornred, Mercian king 85
Beowulf 61, 65, 68, 72, 93, 110
Boethius, Consolation of Philosophy 133
Boniface, St 100
Boudica (Boadicea) 8, 11, 12–36
appearance 12, 13
death 34–5
and the destruction of Colchester 25–7
and the destruction of London 30–2
and the Iceni 15, 17–21
last battle at Mancetter 32–5
and the Romans 24–5
Braudel, Fernand 172–3
bretwaldas 63–4, 77–8, 83, 85, 86, 256
and Offa 95–8, 108
Brian Boru 162
Britnoth, ealdorman of Essex 199, 200–1, 202, 203
Britons 8, 12
Brixworth, Anglo-Saxon church at 100, 108, 154
Brooke, Christopher 249
Brown, Basil 79
Bruce, Robert 111
Brunanburh, battle of 158–60, 164, 240
Burghal Hidage 127, 128, 257, 259
Burgred, king of Mercia 114, 118, 120
burgs 127–8, 139, 150, 214, 228, 257
Byrhtwold, and the battle of Maldon 201
Byzantine Empire 252
Cadbury–Camelot hillfort 48–9, 50
Camden, William, Britannia 71
Camlann, and the legend of Arthur 58–9
Canute, King 9, 196, 204, 213, 216–17, 218, 219–22, 248
and Christianity 220–2
and Earl Godwin 230
and Harald Hardrada 233
and Normandy 229
Carlisle 55, 56–7, 171
Carlyle, Thomas, Frederick the Great 223
Carolingian empire 142, 258
see also Charlemagne
castles, Norman 228
Catroe (traveller), journey from Scotland to York 171–2
Ceawlin, king of the West Saxons 64
Cenwald, bishop of Worcester 162
Cenwulf, Mercian king 107
Ceolred, Mercian king 109
Ceolwulf, Mercian king 114, 129, 130
Charlemagne 10, 95, 98, 126, 247
and Alfred the Great 132, 134
and Athelstan 137, 148, 149, 160, 162
letters to Offa 92, 106–7
Charles the Simple, Frankish king 224
charters 11, 131, 259
Chester-le-Street 152, 154, 188
Childeric II, Merovingian king 72
Chippenham, Alfred the Great and the Viking wars 118–19
Christianity
Alfred the Great and 133, 134, 258
Canute and 220–2
the Church and Anglo-Saxon kings 112
and the East-Anglian kings 72–3, 74–5, 78
and Eric Bloodaxe 163, 189
and Ethelred 209
and Mercia 84, 88, 96, 97–8
and Normandy 224
Offa and 103–4, 105
in Viking York 175–7
chronicles 9–11
Cirencester 46–7, 51, 57, 125
Anglo-Saxon church at 154
Athelstan’s imperial assembly at 153–4
Clan Ivar (Viking dynasty in Dublin) 144
Claudius, Roman Emperor 16–17
coinage
Agnus Dei 211
Athelstan 151–2
Belgic 15
East Anglian 104
Edgar 196
and Ethelred 214–15
Iceni 17, 18, 19
Mercian 98–9, 108, 129
Sutton Hoo 65, 66
Viking York 166–7, 180, 188
Colchester (Camulodunum) 15–16, 16–17, 20, 21, 22–4, 28
destruction of 25–6, 29
Temple of Claudius 22–3, 25, 26–7
Collingwood, Professor W. 192
Colswein, thegn of Lincoln 251
Constantine the Great, Roman emperor 173
Constantine, king of the Scots 145, 152, 153, 154–5, 156, 171
Cornwall
Athelstan’s conquest of 146–7
Viking raids in 199
Cricklade 127, 215
Croft Hill, Leicestershire 94
Cumbria, kingdom of 171
Cuthbert, St 152, 188
Cynethryth, Queen (wife of Offa) 86, 90, 99
Cynewulf, king of Wessex 97
Dalriada, kingdom of 256
Danegelds 117, 200, 203, 208, 209, 213, 216, 220, 222
Danelaw 125–6, 161, 251
Danes/Vikings 8–9, 112–13
and Alfred the Great 111, 112, 113–14, 116–25, 199, 251, 257
archaeological finds 256–7
and Athelstan 144–5, 151, 156–7
and the battle of Maldon (991) 199–203
Danish settlement of northern and eastern England 125–6, 144–5
and East Anglian kings 78, 79
and Edgar 197
effects of the invasions 131, 133
and Ethelred 198–9, 203, 204, 207
Danish wars 208–13
fall of 213–14
Massacre of St Brice’s Day (1002) 205–6
and the Sandwich naval disaster 210–12
and the Five Boroughs 125, 164–5, 166, 189, 213, 234
Harald Hardrada’s invasion and defeat 233–8
and the martydom of Aelffieah 212–13
in Mercia 114, 117, 119, 129, 256–7
and Normandy 224–5
see also Eric Bloodaxe
Decianus, Roman agent in London 26, 28
Dee, John 65, 78–9
Deerhurst, meeting of Canute and Edmund Ironside at 219
Dekker, Thomas, Old Fortunatus 137
democracy, and Anglo-Saxon England 261
Devon
Alfred the Great and the Danish wars 121
Viking raids in 199
Dio Cassius, Roman History 12, 13, 33, 34–5
Domesday Book 169, 173, 224, 239, 249–50, 259–60, 261
Great Domesday 249
and thegns 251–2
Donald, king of the Strathclyde Welsh 145, 171
Dreux, count of the Vexin 229
Dublin, Viking 144, 155, 165, 184
Dunstan, Archbishop 199
Durham Cathedral 152, 188
Eadberht Praen 107
Eadhelm (slave) 142–3
Eadred, King of England 163, 164, 166, 167, 169, 180–1, 182–4, 186–7, 188, 189, 191
Eadric, ealdorman of Mercia 216, 217, 218–19
Eadwig, son of Ethelred 220
Ealdred, Archbishop of York 238, 248
Ealdred Ealdufing, Anglo-Saxon earl 145
Ealdulfing family 188
Ealhswith, wife of Alfred the Great 116
Eamont Bridge, Cumbria 145
East Anglia
and bretwaldas 64, 77–8, 83
and the Danes 114, 119, 125, 151, 177, 212
and the Sutton Hoo burial 62–3, 70–5, 77–8, 79
and trade 75–6
Ecgfrith, son of Offa 98, 99–100, 107
Ecgric, East-Anglian king 66, 75
Edgar, King of England 112, 159, 193, 196–7, 220, 230
coronation 196, 248
death 197
and Ethelred 207, 214
rowed at Chester by subkings 196, 197
and the succession 198
Edington, battle of 123–5, 133, 224, 257
Edmund Ironside, King 216, 217–19
Edmund, King (half-brother of Athelstan) 164, 166, 188
Edmund, St, East-Anglian king 79, 114, 177
education, in Anglo-Saxon England 131–4
Edward, atheling (son of Edmund Ironside) 230
Edward the Confessor 9, 216, 229, 230, 231, 250
Edward the Elder 112, 126, 139, 140, 151, 258, 259
Edward, King (son of Edgar) 197–8
Edward VII, King, coronation of 143
Edwin, brother of Athelstan 140, 141
Edwin, earl of Mercia 234
Edwin, Northumbrian king 64, 69–70, 72, 108, 189
Egbert, king of Wessex 256
Egbert’s Stone 122
Eiriksmal (poem) 179–80, 193
Elizabeth I, Queen 65, 111, 137
Elizabeth II, Queen 101, 143
Emma, Queen (wife of Ethelred and later Canute) 215, 219, 228–9
English individualism 261
English Revolution (1640s) 223
Eni, father of East-Anglian kings 66
Eorpwald, East-Anglian king 66, 75
Eric Bloodaxe 9, 11, 163–93, 235
appearance 179
and Archbishop Wulfstan of York 165–6, 189–90
background in Norway 167–8
career of 163
and Catroe 172
character 179
and the Church 163, 189–90
death 163, 190–3
and the Eiriksmal 179–80, 193
exile and the slave trade 183–6
invited to be king in York 168–9
and Norse sagas 164, 178–9, 190–1
and Norse synoptic histories 164, 169
return of 186–7
second and last reign in York 187–90
and war in the north 180–1
Ethelred, eldorman of English Mercia 130
Ethelred the Unready 9, 11, 117, 160, 195–222, 234
and the battle of Maldon 199–203
character 206–7
coronation 198
and the Danes 198–9, 203, 204, 207, 208–13, 215
and the martyrdom of Aelffieah 212–13
Massacre of St Brice’s Day (1002) 205–6
and the Sandwich naval disaster 210–12
death 206, 217
decline of England under 196
Enham code 209–10
exile 214
fall of 213–14
foreign policy 215
legacy of 195–6
and the murder of Edward 198
and Normandy 215, 228–9
reason for the nickname 206–7
and the unknown chronicler 203–5, 206, 207
weakness of kingship in 207–8
and William the Conqueror 228–9
Eustace of Boulogne 246
Exeter, Athelstan’s restoration of 146–7, 150
Fagrskinna 190
Five Boroughs 125, 164–5, 166, 189, 213, 234
Florence of Worcester 130, 217, 237, 240, 241, 243
Francia (France) 10, 106–7, 113, 161, 162
and Normandy 224–5, 226–7
Freeman, E.A. 223 Gallic Chronicle 43
Geoffrey of Monmouth 39
Germanus, St 42
Gibbon, Edward 38
Gildas 43, 44, 45–6, 48
on the battle of Badon Hill 50, 51, 54
Glastonbury, discovery of ‘Arthur’s tomb’ at 39
Gloucester, and the Danes 117
Goda, sister of Edward the Confessor 229
Godwin, Earl of Wessex 229–30
Gorm the Old, king of Denmark 168
Great Glen, Leicestershire 94
Greece, emigration of the English to 252
Greenwich, martyrdom of Aelffieah at 212–13
Gregory the Great, Pope 96, 100
Pastoral Care 132, 133
Grimbald 258
Grumley, Leicestershire 94
Gunderic 172
Guthfrith, King 176, 191
Guthrum, Danish king 117, 118–19, 121–2, 224
baptism of 123–4
Guttorm, Viking king 190
Guy of Amiens 246
Guy of Ponthieu 246
Gyrth, earl of East Anglia 230, 244
Hadrian’s Wall 58
Hakon the Good of Norway 164, 168
Hakon of Norway 148, 161
Harald Finehair, king of Norway 148, 164, 168
Harald Hardrada, king of Norway 233–8
Harek, Viking king 190
Harold Godwinson, King of England 9, 158, 223, 229–47
accession to the throne 230–1
and the Anglo-Saxon army 232
and the battle of Hastings 239–47
death 245–7
and Harald Hardrada’s invasion of England 233–8
Harthacanute, king of Denmark 233
Hastings, battle of (1066) 224, 240–7, 251–2
Henry I, French king 226–7
Henry VIII, King 64–5, 78
Hereford 151
History of the Ancient Northumbrians 192
Honorius, Emperor 41–2
Hugh the Great, Duke of the Franks 139
Humber, river 189–90
hundreds, system of 258, 261
Huwal, Welsh king 147, 153
Hwicce (Mercian tribe) 87, 88, 151
Hywel Dda, Welsh king 146
Iceni 15, 16
first revolt 20–2
and the Romans 17–21, 35–6
Iclinga royal family, Mercia 62
Idwal Foel of Gwynedd 146, 147, 153, 157
Ikey Oak 122, 123
Indulf, Scottish king 187
industry, in Viking York 173–5
Ipswich
Anglo-Saxon 76
Viking raids on 199, 201
Ireland
Annals of Ulster 158, 159, 162
Viking 113, 144, 155, 165
and the slave trade 183–4
Iron Age 14–16
hillforts 21, 32, 45, 48–50, 51, 116
mints removed to 214–15
Ispwich 75
Ivar, Viking king 190
Jaenberht, Archbishop of Canterbury 97–8
John, King 195
John of the Rhineland 258
John of Wallingford, Chronicle 165, 181, 182, 183
Jones, Thomas 53
Julius Caesar 14, 17
Kent 62, 96, 211, 212
Kingston, coronations at 141–4, 198
Kipling, Rudyard, Dane-geld 222
knights, Norman 227–8
Latin, in Anglo-Saxon England 131–2, 132–4
Laxdael Saga 185
Leeds, Dark Age travellers in 171, 172
Leofwine, earl of Middlesex 230, 244
Levellers, and the English Revolution (1640s) 223
Liddington Castle 51
Life of Catroe 171–2
Life of St Oswald 170, 202
Lincolnshire, Danish settlement in 125, 126
local government 258, 261
Logue, Christopher 195
London
Anglo-Saxon 75–6, 89, 199
and Alfred the Great 129–31
and the Danes 125, 205, 216–18
and Edmund Ironside 217–18
and Ethelred 213, 214, 216–17
Offa’s court in 106
Roman (Londinium) 20, 28–32
Lunt, Roman fort at 35–6
Lyng 128–9
Macaulay, Thomas Babington, 1st Baron 38
Maccus, Earl 191
Magna Carta 260
Magnus, king of Norway 233
Magonsaetan people 82
Maldon, battle of (991) 199–203
Malmesbury, Athelstan’s burial place at 138–9, 141
Malory, Thomas, Morte Darthur 59
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance 59
Mancetter (site of Boudica’s last battle) 32–5
Marcus Facilis 27
Marianus Scotus 237
Mercia
Anglo-Saxon church at Brixworth 100, 108
archaeological finds at Repton 256
and Athelstan 140, 151, 161
and Christianity 84, 88, 96, 97–8
and the Danes 114, 117, 119, 129, 256–7
economy 88–9
food rent 90–1
Iclinga royal family 62
and London 129–30
and the Norman Conquest 252
origins of 83–4
roads 88
royal residence at Tamworth 87, 90–4, 108
tribes 86–9
see also Offa, Mercian king Middle Ages, and Athelstan 137
Montfort, Hugh de 246
Montgomery, Roger de 250