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Back to the Anglo-Saxons calendar



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By now the seven kingdoms we talked about last time had become just five. There was Northumbria, in the north; Mercia in the middle and Wessex covering the south west, excluding some Celts who were still living in what is now Cornwall. Just like now, the most crowded part of England was the south east with the kingdom of Kent roughly where it is now and the East Angles living in East Anglia (another piece of historical good fortune).

Over the next 200 years these kingdoms remained much the same but you would not believe how many wars and battles went on. It was not just battling against outside attackers either. The Northumbrians had to fight the Picts who lived in Scotland and the Mercians had to fight the Welsh who lived in Wales but they also spent years fighting each other. I am not going to take you through all the wars but different kingdoms were on top at different times.

Once Kent had lost its dominance, East Anglia became the most powerful kingdom for a while. Each kingdom had a King and, if you want to look them up, you will find they all had weird names, like Æthelberht and Ecgfrith of Northumbria who was killed by the Scots after presumably scrambling his forces to go there because maybe they had poached some of his land.

Ordinary people would be expected to fight for whoever was their king. They would be enlisted by the lords of their area and go off to fight sometimes for years at a time. When not fighting, they would be looking after their families and farms.

Forward to 630AD