Table of Contents
Medieval England
Early Middle Ages
Anglo-Saxon England c.500–1066
Rulers of East Anglia
Rulers of Mercia
Rulers of Northumbria
Rulers of Kent
Rulers of Essex
Rulers of Wessex
Some key notes leading up to the formation of England as a single entity:
The Heptarchy of Anglo-Saxon kingdoms (East Anglia, Mercia, Northumbria, Kent, Essex, Sussex, and Wessex) had, by the ninth century, been consolidated into four: Wessex, Mercia, Northumbria and East Anglia.
Kings from throughout Britain gathered in Eamont (Eamont Bridge, Cumbria), on the 12th of July 927, where Æthelstan was recognised as king of the English. This date is concidered the 'foundation date' of England.
See Genealogical Chronicle of the English Kings, from the Heptarchy to Edward I as a king (1272-1307). British Library: Digitised Manuscripts.
Kings of the Anglo-Saxons
Alfred the Great 871-899
Edward the Elder 899-925
Kings of the English
Rex Anglorum
Æthelstan 925-940
- Eamont Bridge
- Battle of Brunanburh
Edmund I, the Magnificent 940-946
Eadred 946-955
Eadwig (Edwy) All-Fair 955-959
Edgar the Peaceable 959-975
Edward the Martyr 975-978
Æthelred II (Ethelred the Unready) 979-1013
Edmund II (Ironside) 1016
House of Knýtlinga
Sweyn Forkbeard 1013-1014
House of Wessex
Æthelred II (Ethelred the Unready) 1014-1016
Edmund Ironside 1016
House of Knýtlinga
Cnut the Great 1016-1035
Harold I (Harefoot) 1035-1040
Cnut II (Harthacnut) 1040-1042
House of Wessex
Edward (the Confessor) 1042-1066
Harold II 1066