la, Regnum Orientalium Anglorum , conventional_long_name = Kingdom of the East Angles , common_name = East Anglia , era = , status = Great Kingdom , status_text = Independent (6th century-869)
Kingdom of the

Danes Danes ( da, danskere, ) are a North Germanic ethnic group and nationality native to Denmark and a modern nation identified with the country of Denmark. This connection may be ancestral, legal, historical, or cultural. Danes generally regard t ...

(869–918)

Vassal A vassal or liege subject is a person regarded as having a mutual obligation to a lord or monarch, in the context of the feudal system in medieval Europe. While the subordinate party is called a vassal, the dominant party is called a suzerain. W ...

Mercia la, Merciorum regnum , conventional_long_name=Kingdom of Mercia , common_name=Mercia , status=Kingdom , status_text=Independent kingdom (527–879)Client state of Wessex () , life_span=527–918 , era=Heptarchy , event_start= , date_start= , ye ...

(654–655, 794–796, 798–825)
Vassal of the Danes (869–918) , life_span = 6th century918 , government_type =

Heptarchy The Heptarchy were the seven petty kingdoms of Anglo-Saxon England that flourished from the Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain in the 5th century until they were consolidated in the 8th century into the four kingdoms of Mercia, Northumbria, Wess ...

, event_start = , date_start = , year_start = 6th century , event_end = , date_end = , year_end = 918 , event1 = , date_event1 = , event2 = , date_event2 = , event3 = , date_event3 = , event4 = , date_event4 = , p1 = Sub-Roman Britain , flag_p1 = Vexilloid of the Roman Empire.svg , border_p1 = no , s1 = Kingdom of England , flag_s1 = Flag of Wessex.svg , border_s1 = , image_flag = , flag = , flag_type = , image_coat = , symbol = three golden crowns , symbol_type = , image_map = Williamson p16 3.svg , image_map_caption = , capital = , national_motto = , national_anthem = , common_languages =

Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, Anglo ...

British Latin British Latin or British Vulgar Latin was the Vulgar Latin spoken in Great Britain in the Roman and sub-Roman periods. While Britain formed part of the Roman Empire, Latin became the principal language of the elite, especially in the more roma ...

, religion =

Paganism Paganism (from classical Latin ''pāgānus'' "rural", "rustic", later "civilian") is a term first used in the fourth century by early Christianity, early Christians for people in the Roman Empire who practiced polytheism, or ethnic religions ot ...

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

, currency = , leader1 = , leader2 = , year_leader1 = , year_leader2 = , title_leader = , legislature = , stat_year1 = , stat_area1 = , stat_pop1 = , footnotes = The Kingdom of the East Angles ( ang, Ēastengla Rīċe; lat, Regnum Orientalium Anglorum), today known as the Kingdom of East Anglia, was a small independent kingdom of the

Angles The Angles ( ang, Ængle, ; la, Angli) were one of the main Germanic peoples who settled in Great Britain in the post-Roman period. They founded several kingdoms of the Heptarchy in Anglo-Saxon England. Their name is the root of the name ' ...

comprising what are now the English counties of

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...

and

Suffolk Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include Lowes ...

and perhaps the eastern part of

the Fens The Fens, also known as the , in eastern England are a naturally marshy region supporting a rich ecology and numerous species. Most of the fens were drained centuries ago, resulting in a flat, dry, low-lying agricultural region supported by a ...

. The kingdom formed in the 6th century in the wake of the

Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain The Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain is the process which changed the language and culture of most of what became England from Romano-British to Germanic peoples, Germanic. The Germanic-speakers in Britain, themselves of diverse origins, ev ...

. It was ruled by the

Wuffingas The Wuffingas, Uffingas or Wiffings were the ruling dynasty of East Anglia, the long-lived Anglo-Saxon kingdom which today includes the English counties of Norfolk and Suffolk. The Wuffingas took their name from Wuffa, an early East Anglian king ...

dynasty in the 7th and 8th centuries, but fell to

in 794, and was conquered by the

in 869, to form part of the

Danelaw The Danelaw (, also known as the Danelagh; ang, Dena lagu; da, Danelagen) was the part of England in which the laws of the Danes held sway and dominated those of the Anglo-Saxons. The Danelaw contrasts with the West Saxon law and the Mercian ...

. It was conquered by

Edward the Elder Edward the Elder (17 July 924) was King of the Anglo-Saxons from 899 until his death in 924. He was the elder son of Alfred the Great and his wife Ealhswith. When Edward succeeded to the throne, he had to defeat a challenge from his cousin Æt ...

and incorporated into the

Kingdom of England The Kingdom of England (, ) was a sovereign state on the island of Great Britain from 12 July 927, when it emerged from various Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, until 1 May 1707, when it united with Scotland to form the Kingdom of Great Britain. On 1 ...

in 918.

History

The Kingdom of East Anglia was organised in the first or second quarter of the 6th century, with Wehha listed as the first king of the East Angles, followed by

Wuffa Wuffa (or Uffa, ang, Ƿuffa) is recorded in the Anglo-Saxon genealogies as an early king of East Anglia. If historical, he would have flourished in the 6th century. By tradition Wuffa was named as the son of Wehha and the father of Tytila, b ...

. Until 749 the

kings of East Anglia The kingdom of East Anglia (also known as the kingdom of the East Angles), was a small independent Anglo-Saxon kingdom that comprised what are now the English counties of Norfolk and Suffolk and perhaps the eastern part of the Fens. The kingd ...

were Wuffingas, named after the semi-historical Wuffa. During the early 7th century under

Rædwald of East Anglia Rædwald ( ang, Rædwald, ; 'power in counsel'), also written as Raedwald or Redwald (), was a king of East Anglia, an Anglo-Saxon kingdom which included the present-day English counties of Norfolk and Suffolk. He was the son of Tytila of East A ...

, it was a powerful Anglo-Saxon kingdom. Rædwald, the first East Anglian king to be baptised a Christian, is seen by many scholars to be the person buried within (or commemorated by) the ship burial at

Sutton Hoo Sutton Hoo is the site of two early medieval cemeteries dating from the 6th to 7th centuries near the English town of Woodbridge. Archaeologists have been excavating the area since 1938, when a previously undisturbed ship burial containing a ...

, near

Woodbridge Woodbridge may refer to: Places Australia *Woodbridge, Western Australia formerly called ''West Midland'' *Woodbridge, Tasmania Canada *Woodbridge, Ontario England *Woodbridge, Suffolk, the location of ** Woodbridge (UK Parliament constituency ...

. During the decades that followed his death in about 624, East Anglia became increasingly dominated by the kingdom of

. Several of Rædwald's successors were killed in battle, such as Sigeberht, under whose rule and with the guidance of his bishop,

Felix of Burgundy Felix of Burgundy, also known as Felix of Dunwich (died 8 March 647 or 648), was a saint and the first bishop of the East Angles. He is widely credited as the man who introduced Christianity to the kingdom of East Anglia. Almost all that is k ...

, Christianity was firmly established. From the death of Æthelberht II by the Mercians in 794 until 825, East Anglia ceased to be an independent kingdom, apart from a brief reassertion under Eadwald in 796. It survived until 869, when the

Vikings Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and se ...

defeated the East Anglians in battle and their king,

Edmund the Martyr Edmund the Martyr (also known as St Edmund or Edmund of East Anglia, died 20 November 869) was king of East Anglia from about 855 until his death. Few historical facts about Edmund are known, as the kingdom of East Anglia was devastated by t ...

, was killed. After 879, the Vikings settled permanently in East Anglia. In 903 the exiled Æthelwold ''ætheling'' induced the East Anglian Danes to wage a disastrous war on his cousin

. By 917, after a succession of Danish defeats, East Anglia submitted to Edward and was incorporated into the

Settlement

East Anglia was settled by the Anglo-Saxons earlier than many other regions, possibly at the start of the fifth century. It emerged from the political consolidation of the Angles in the approximate area of the former territory of the

Iceni The Iceni ( , ) or Eceni were a Brittonic tribe of eastern Britain during the Iron Age and early Roman era. Their territory included present-day Norfolk and parts of Suffolk and Cambridgeshire, and bordered the area of the Corieltauvi to the we ...

and the

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

civitas In Ancient Rome, the Latin term (; plural ), according to Cicero in the time of the late Roman Republic, was the social body of the , or citizens, united by law (). It is the law that binds them together, giving them responsibilities () on th ...

'', with its centre at ''

Venta Icenorum Venta Icenorum (, literally "marketplace of the Iceni") was the civitas or capital of the Iceni tribe, located at modern-day Caistor St Edmund in the English county of Norfolk. The Iceni inhabited the flatlands and marshes of that county and are ...

'', close to

Caistor St Edmund Caistor St Edmund is a village and former civil parish on the River Tas, in Norfolk, England. The parish covers an area of and had a population of 270 people in 116 households at the 2001 Census which increased to 289 people by the 2011 Census ...

. The region that was to become East Anglia seems to have been depopulated to some extent around the fourth century. Ken Dark writes that "in this area at least, and possibly more widely in eastern Britain, large tracts of land appear to have been deserted in the late fourth century, possibly including whole 'small towns' and villages. This does not seem to be a localised change in settlement location, size or character but genuine desertion." According to Bede, the East Angles (and the Middle Angles, Mercians and

Northumbrians la, Regnum Northanhymbrorum , conventional_long_name = Kingdom of Northumbria , common_name = Northumbria , status = State , status_text = Unified Anglian kingdom (before 876)North: Anglian kingdom (af ...

) were descended from natives of

Angeln Anglia (German and Low German: ''Angeln''; Danish and South Jutlandic: ''Angel''; ang, Engla land) is a small peninsula on the eastern coast of Jutland (the Cimbric Peninsula). Jutland consists of the mainland of Denmark and the northernmos ...

(now in modern Germany).Warner, ''Suffolk'', p. 61. The first reference to the East Angles is from about 704–713, in the Whitby ''Life of St Gregory''.Kirby, p. 20. While the archaeological and linguistic evidence suggests that a large-scale migration and settlement of the region by continental Germanic speakers occurred, it has been questioned whether all of the migrants self-identified as Angles. The East Angles formed one of seven kingdoms known to post-medieval historians as the

, a scheme used by Henry of Huntingdon in the 12th century. Some modern historians have questioned whether the seven ever existed contemporaneously and claim the political situation was far more complicated.Kirby, ''Earliest English Kings'', p. 4.

Pagan rule

The East Angles were initially ruled by the pagan Wuffingas dynasty, apparently named after an early king Wuffa, although his name may be a back-creation from the name of the dynasty, which means "descendants of the wolf". An indispensable source on the early history of the kingdom and its rulers is Bede's ''Ecclesiastical History'', but he provided little on the chronology of the East Anglian kings or the length of their reigns.Yorke, ''Kings and Kingdoms'', p. 58. Nothing is known of the earliest kings, or how the kingdom was organised, although a possible centre of royal power is the concentration of ship-burials at Snape and Sutton Hoo in eastern Suffolk. The "North Folk" and "South Folk" may have existed before the arrival of the first East Anglian kings.Yorke, ''Kings and Kingdoms'', p. 61. The most powerful of the Wuffingas kings was Rædwald, "son of Tytil, whose father was Wuffa", according to the ''Ecclesiastical History''. For a brief period in the early 7th century, whilst Rædwald ruled, East Anglia was among the most powerful kingdoms in Anglo-Saxon England: he was described by Bede as the overlord of the kingdoms south of the

Humber The Humber is a large tidal estuary on the east coast of Northern England. It is formed at Trent Falls, Faxfleet, by the confluence of the tidal rivers Ouse and Trent. From there to the North Sea, it forms part of the boundary between th ...

.Kirby, ''The Earliest English Kings'', p. 54. In 616, he had been strong enough to defeat and kill the Northumbrian king

Æthelfrith Æthelfrith (died c. 616) was King of Bernicia from c. 593 until his death. Around 604 he became the first Bernician king to also rule the neighboring land of Deira, giving him an important place in the development of the later kingdom of Nor ...

at the Battle of the River Idle and enthrone

Edwin of Northumbria Edwin ( ang, Ēadwine; c. 586 – 12 October 632/633), also known as Eadwine or Æduinus, was the List of monarchs of Northumbria, King of Deira and Bernicia – which later became known as Northumbria – from about 616 until hi ...

.Kirby, ''The Earliest English Kings'', p. 52. He was probably the individual honoured by the sumptuous

ship burial A ship burial or boat grave is a burial in which a ship or boat is used either as the tomb for the dead and the grave goods, or as a part of the grave goods itself. If the ship is very small, it is called a boat grave. This style of burial was pr ...

at Sutton Hoo.Kirby, ''The Earliest English Kings'', p. 55. It has been suggested by Blair, on the strength of parallels between some objects found under Mound 1 at Sutton Hoo and those discovered at

Vendel Vendel is a village at Tierp Municipality in Uppland, Sweden. The village overlooks Vendelsjön, a long inland stretch of water near the Vendel river which has its confluence with the river Fyris. Vendel was the site of an ancient royal estate, ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

, that the Wuffingas may have been descendants of an eastern Swedish royal family. However, the items previously thought to have come from Sweden are now believed to have been made in England, and it seems less likely that the Wuffingas were of Swedish origin.Yorke, ''Kings and Kingdoms'', p. 61. Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy

Christianisation

Anglo-Saxon Christianity In the seventh century the pagan Anglo-Saxons were converted to Christianity ( ang, Crīstendōm) mainly by missionaries sent from Rome. Irish missionaries from Iona, who were proponents of Celtic Christianity, were influential in the conversion o ...

became established in the 7th century. The extent to which paganism was displaced is exemplified by a lack of any East Anglian settlement named after the old gods.Hoops, ''Reallexikon der germanischen Altertumskunde, Volume 24'', p. 68. In 604, Rædwald became the first East Anglian king to be baptised. He maintained a Christian altar, but at the same time continued to worship pagan gods. From 616, when pagan monarchs briefly returned in Kent and Essex, East Anglia until Rædwald's death was the only Anglo-Saxon kingdom with a reigning baptised king. On his death in around 624, he was succeeded by his son

Eorpwald Eorpwald; also Erpenwald or Earpwald, (reigned from 624, assassinated c. 627 or 632), succeeded his father Rædwald as ruler of the independent Kingdom of the East Angles. Eorpwald was a member of the East Anglian dynasty known as the Wuffingas ...

, who was soon afterwards converted from paganism under the influence of Edwin, but his new religion was evidently opposed in East Anglia and Eorpwald met his death at the hands of a pagan,

Ricberht Ricberht ( ang, Ricbyhrt), may have briefly ruled East Anglia, a small independent Anglo-Saxon kingdom which today forms the English counties of Norfolk and Suffolk. Little is known of his life or his reign. According to Bede's ''Ecclesiastical H ...

. After three years of

apostasy Apostasy (; grc-gre, ἀποστασία , 'a defection or revolt') is the formal disaffiliation from, abandonment of, or renunciation of a religion by a person. It can also be defined within the broader context of embracing an opinion that i ...

, Christianity prevailed with the accession of Eorpwald's brother (or step-brother) Sigeberht, who had been baptised during his exile in

Francia Francia, also called the Kingdom of the Franks ( la, Regnum Francorum), Frankish Kingdom, Frankland or Frankish Empire ( la, Imperium Francorum), was the largest post-Roman barbarian kingdom in Western Europe. It was ruled by the Franks dur ...

.Kirby, ''The Earliest English Kings'', p. 66. Sigeberht oversaw the establishment of the first East Anglian see for Felix of Burgundy at Dommoc, probably

Dunwich Dunwich is a village and civil parish in Suffolk, England. It is in the Suffolk Coast and Heaths AONB around north-east of London, south of Southwold and north of Leiston, on the North Sea coast. In the Anglo-Saxon period, Dunwich was t ...

.Warner, ''The Origins of Suffolk'', p. 109. He later abdicated in favour of his brother Ecgric and retired to a monastery.Warner, ''The Origins of Suffolk'', p. 84.

Mercian aggression

The eminence of East Anglia under Rædwald fell victim to the rising power of

Penda of Mercia Penda (died 15 November 655)Manuscript A of the ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'' gives the year as 655. Bede also gives the year as 655 and specifies a date, 15 November. R. L. Poole (''Studies in Chronology and History'', 1934) put forward the theor ...

and successors. From the mid-7th to early 9th centuries Mercian power grew, until a vast region from the Thames to the Humber, including East Anglia and the south-east, came under Mercian hegemony.Brown and Farr, ''Mercia'', pp. 2 and 4. In the early 640s, Penda defeated and killed both Ecgric and Sigeberht,Yorke, ''Kings and Kingdoms of Anglo-Saxon England'', p. 62. who was later venerated as a saint. Ecgric's successor

Anna Anna may refer to: People Surname and given name * Anna (name) Mononym * Anna the Prophetess, in the Gospel of Luke * Anna (wife of Artabasdos) (fl. 715–773) * Anna (daughter of Boris I) (9th–10th century) * Anna (Anisia) (fl. 1218 to 12 ...

and Anna's son Jurmin were killed in 654 at the Battle of Bulcamp, near

Blythburgh Blythburgh is a village and civil parish in the East Suffolk district of the English county of Suffolk. It is west of Southwold and south-east of Halesworth and lies on the River Blyth. The A12 road runs through the village which is split ...

.Warner, ''The Origins of Suffolk'', p. 142. Freed from Anna's challenge, Penda subjected East Anglia to the Mercians.Yorke, ''Kings and Kingdoms of Early Anglo-Saxon England'', p. 63. In 655

Æthelhere of East Anglia Æthelhere (died 15 November 655) was King of East Anglia from 653 or 654 until his death. He was a member of the ruling Wuffingas dynasty and one of three sons of Eni to rule East Anglia as Christian kings. He was a nephew of Rædwald, who w ...

joined Penda in a campaign against

Oswiu Oswiu, also known as Oswy or Oswig ( ang, Ōswīg; c. 612 – 15 February 670), was King of Bernicia from 642 and of Northumbria from 654 until his death. He is notable for his role at the Synod of Whitby in 664, which ultimately brought the chu ...

that ended in a massive Mercian defeat at the

Battle of the Winwaed The Battle of the Winwaed (Welsh: ''Maes Gai''; lat-med, Strages Gai Campi) was fought on 15 November 655 between King Penda of Mercia and Oswiu of Bernicia, ending in the Mercians' defeat and Penda's death. According to Bede, the battl ...

, where Penda and his ally Æthelhere were killed.Kirby, ''The Earliest English Kings'', pp. 78–79. The last Wuffingas king was Ælfwald, who died in 749.Hoops, ''Reallexikon der germanischen Altertumskunde, Volume 6'', p. 328. During the late 7th and 8th centuries East Anglia continued to be overshadowed by Mercian hegemony until, in 794,

Offa of Mercia Offa (died 29 July 796 AD) was List of monarchs of Mercia, King of Mercia, a kingdom of History of Anglo-Saxon England, Anglo-Saxon England, from 757 until his death. The son of Thingfrith and a descendant of Eowa of Mercia, Eowa, Offa came to ...

had the East Anglian king Æthelberht executed and then took control of the kingdom for himself.Brown and Farr, ''Mercia'', p. 215. A brief revival of East Anglian independence under Eadwald, after Offa's death in 796, was suppressed by the new Mercian king,

Coenwulf Coenwulf (; also spelled Cenwulf, Kenulf, or Kenwulph; la, Coenulfus) was the King of Mercia from December 796 until his death in 821. He was a descendant of King Pybba, who ruled Mercia in the early 7th century. He succeeded Ecgfrith, the son ...

.Brown and Farr, ''Mercia'', p. 310. East Anglian independence was restored by a rebellion against Mercia led by

Æthelstan Æthelstan or Athelstan (; ang, Æðelstān ; on, Aðalsteinn; ; – 27 October 939) was King of the Anglo-Saxons from 924 to 927 and King of the English from 927 to his death in 939. He was the son of King Edward the Elder and his first ...

in 825.

Beornwulf of Mercia Beornwulf (died 826) was King of Mercia (roughly the Midlands of England) from 823 to 826. His short reign saw the collapse of Mercia's supremacy over the other kingdoms of the Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy. Biography A man named Beornwulf is mentio ...

's attempt to restore Mercian control resulted in his defeat and death, and his successor Ludeca met the same end in 827. The East Angles appealed to

Egbert of Wessex Ecgberht (770/775 – 839), also spelled Egbert, Ecgbert, Ecgbriht, Ecgbeorht, and Ecbert, was King of Wessex from 802 until his death in 839. His father was King Ealhmund of Kent. In the 780s, Ecgberht was forced into exile to Charlema ...

for protection against the Mercians and Æthelstan then acknowledged Egbert as his overlord. Whilst Wessex took control of the south-eastern kingdoms absorbed by Mercia in the 8th century, East Anglia could retain its independence.Brown and Farr, ''Mercia: an Anglo-Saxon kingdom in Europe'', pp. 222 and 313.

Viking attacks and eventual settlement

In 865, East Anglia was invaded by the Danish

Great Heathen Army The Great Heathen Army,; da, Store Hedenske Hær also known as the Viking Great Army,Hadley. "The Winter Camp of the Viking Great Army, AD 872–3, Torksey, Lincolnshire", ''Antiquaries Journal''. 96, pp. 23–67 was a coalition of Scandin ...

, which occupied winter quarters and secured horses before departing for

Northumbria la, Regnum Northanhymbrorum , conventional_long_name = Kingdom of Northumbria , common_name = Northumbria , status = State , status_text = Unified Anglian kingdom (before 876)North: Anglian kingdom (af ...

.Kirby, ''The Earliest English Kings'', p. 173. The Danes returned in 869 to winter at

Thetford Thetford is a market town and civil parish in the Breckland District of Norfolk, England. It is on the A11 road between Norwich and London, just east of Thetford Forest. The civil parish, covering an area of , in 2015 had a population of 24,340 ...

, before being attacked by the forces of Edmund of East Anglia, who was defeated and killed at ''Hægelisdun'' (identified variously as Bradfield St Clare in 983, near to his final resting place at

Bury St Edmunds Bury St Edmunds (), commonly referred to locally as Bury, is a historic market town, market, cathedral town and civil parish in Suffolk, England.OS Explorer map 211: Bury St.Edmunds and Stowmarket Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher:Ordnance Survey – ...

Hellesdon Hellesdon is a village and suburb of Norwich in the District of Broadland in Norfolk, England. It lies approximately north-west of Norwich city centre and has a population of 11,132, according to the 2011 Census. Norwich International Airport is ...

in Norfolk (documented as Hægelisdun c. 985) or

Hoxne Hoxne ( ) is a village in the Mid Suffolk district of Suffolk, England, about five miles (8 km) east-southeast of Diss, Norfolk and south of the River Waveney. The parish is irregularly shaped, covering the villages of Hoxne, Cross Street a ...

in Suffolk, and now with Maldon in Essex).Hoops, ''Reallexikon der germanischen Altertumskunde, Volume 6'', p. 328. From then on East Anglia effectively ceased to be an independent kingdom. Having defeated the East Angles, the Danes installed puppet-kings to govern on their behalf, while they resumed their campaigns against Mercia and Wessex. In 878 the last active portion of the Great Heathen Army was defeated by

Alfred the Great Alfred the Great (alt. Ælfred 848/849 – 26 October 899) was King of the West Saxons from 871 to 886, and King of the Anglo-Saxons from 886 until his death in 899. He was the youngest son of King Æthelwulf and his first wife Osburh, who bot ...

and withdrew from Wessex after making peace. In 880 the Vikings returned to East Anglia under Guthrum, who according to the medieval historian Pauline Stafford, "swiftly adapted to territorial kingship and its trappings, including the minting of coins." Along with the traditional territory of East Anglia, Cambridgeshire and parts of Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire, Guthrum's kingdom probably included Essex, the one portion of Wessex to come under Danish control. A peace treaty was made between Alfred and Guthrum sometime in the 880s.

Absorption into the Kingdom of England

In the early 10th century, the East Anglian Danes came under increasing pressure from Edward, King of Wessex. In 902, Edward's cousin Æthelwold ''ætheling'', having been driven into exile after an unsuccessful bid for the throne, arrived in Essex after a stay in Northumbria. He was apparently accepted as king by some or all Danes in England and in 903 induced the East Anglian Danes to wage war on Edward. This ended in disaster with the death of Æthelwold and of Eohric of East Anglia in a battle in the Fens.Stenton, ''Anglo-Saxon England'', pp. 321–322. In 911–919, Edward expanded his control over the rest of England south of the Humber, establishing in Essex and Mercia burhs, often designed to control the use of a river by the Danes. In 917, the Danish position in the area suddenly collapsed. A rapid succession of defeats culminated in the loss of the territories of Northampton and Huntingdon, along with the rest of Essex: a Danish king, probably from East Anglia, was killed at Tempsford. Despite reinforcement from overseas, the Danish counter-attacks were crushed, and after the defection of many of their English subjects as Edward's army advanced, the Danes of East Anglia and of Cambridge capitulated.Stenton, ''Anglo-Saxon England'', p. 328. East Anglia was absorbed into the Kingdom of England. Norfolk and Suffolk became part of a new Earl of East Anglia, earldom of East Anglia in 1017, when Thorkell the Tall was made earl by Cnut the Great. The restored ecclesiastical structure saw two former East Anglian bishoprics replaced by a single one at North Elmham.

Old East Anglian dialect

The East Angles spoke

. Their language is historically important, as they were among the first Germanic settlers to arrive in Britain during the 5th century: according to Kortmann and Schneider, East Anglia "can seriously claim to be the first place in the world where English was spoken." The evidence for dialects in Old English comes from the study of texts, place-names, personal names and coins.Fisiak, ''Old East Anglian'', p. 22. A. H. Smith was the first to recognise the existence of a separate Old East Anglian dialect, in addition to the recognised dialects of Northumbrian dialect, Northumbrian, Mercian dialect, Mercian, West Saxon and Kentish dialect, Kentish. He acknowledged that his proposal for such a dialect was tentative, acknowledging that "the linguistic boundaries of the original dialects could not have enjoyed prolonged stability."Fisiak, ''Old East Anglian'', pp. 19–20. As no East Anglian manuscripts, Old English inscriptions or literary records such as charters have survived, there is little evidence to support the existence of such a dialect. According to a study by Von Feilitzen in the 1930s, the recording of many place-names in ''Domesday Book'' was "ultimately based on the evidence of local juries" and so the spoken form of Anglo-Saxon places and people was partly preserved in this way.Fisiak, ''Old East Anglian'', pp. 22–23. Evidence from ''Domesday Book'' and later sources suggests that a dialect boundary once existed, corresponding with a line that separates from their neighbours the English counties of Cambridgeshire (including the once sparsely-inhabited Fens),

and

.Fisiak, ''Old East Anglian'', p. 27.

Geography

The kingdom of the East Angles bordered the North Sea to the north and the east, with the River Stour, Suffolk, River Stour historically dividing it from the Kingdom of Essex, East Saxons to the south. The North Sea provided a "thriving maritime link to Scandinavia and the northern reaches of Germany", according to the historian Richard Hoggett. The kingdom's western boundary varied from the rivers River Great Ouse, Ouse, River Lark, Lark and Kennett to further westwards, as far as the River Cam, Cam in what is now Cambridgeshire. At its greatest extent, the kingdom comprised the modern-day counties of Norfolk, Suffolk and parts of eastern Cambridgeshire.Hoggett, The Archaeology of the East Anglian Conversion'', pp. 1–2. Erosion on the eastern border and Deposition (geology), deposition on the north coast altered the East Anglian coastline in Roman Britain, Roman and Anglo-Saxon times (and continues to do so). In the latter, the sea flooded the low-lying Fens. As sea levels fell alluvium was deposited near major river estuaries and the "Great Estuary" near Burgh Castle became closed off by a large Spit (landform), spit of land.Hoggett, ''The Archaeology of the East Anglian Conversion'', p. 2.

Sources

No East Anglian charters (and few other documents) have survived, while the medieval chronicles that refer to the East Angles are treated with great caution by scholars. So few records from the Kingdom of the East Angles have survived because of a complete destruction of the kingdom's monasteries and disappearance of the two East Anglian Episcopal see, sees as a result of Viking raids and settlement.Yorke, ''Kings and Kingdoms of Early Anglo-Saxon England'', p. 58. The main documentary source for the early period is Bede's 8th-century ''Ecclesiastical History of the English People''. East Anglia is first mentioned as a distinct political unit in the Tribal Hidage, thought to have been compiled somewhere in England during the 7th century.Carver, ''The Age of Sutton Hoo'', p. 3. Anglo-Saxon sources that include information about the East Angles or events relating to the kingdom:Carver, ''Age of Sutton Hoo'', pp. 4–5. *''Ecclesiastical History of the English People'' *''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'' *The Tribal Hidage, where the East Angles are assessed at 30,000 Hide (unit), hides, evidently superior in resources to lesser kingdoms such as Kingdom of Sussex, Sussex and Kingdom of Lindsey, Lindsey.Kirby, ''Earliest English Kings'', p. 11. *''Historia Brittonum'' *''Life of Foillan'', written in the 7th century Post-Norman sources (of variable historical validity): *The 12th century ''Liber Eliensis'' *Florence of Worcester's ''Chronicle'', written in the 12th century *Henry of Huntingdon's ''Historia Anglorum'', written in the 12th century *Roger of Wendover's ''Flores Historiarum'', written in the 13th century

Notes

References

Bibliography

* * *Fisiak, ''Old East Anglian'' * * * * * * * *