In 829 Egbert, king of Wessex, was acknowledged by Kent, Mercia and Northumbria. King Egbert became the first king of England.

The political unification of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms was sped up by the urgent task of defending the country against the raiders from Scandinavia, the Northmen, who were known in different countries by many other names, as the Vikings, the Normans, the Danes. They were a warlike people, quite at home upon the sea, very daring and cruel. They came over in ships, and plundered and burned wheresoever they landed.

The Norse raids began in 787. They returned over and over again and continued killing and robbing the population.

The Danes moved into northern and central England and almost managed to seize the rest of the country. They were beaten back only through the persistence and military skill of Alfred, King of Wessex. Under King Alfred of Wessex, one of the greatest figures in English history (849-900), by the peace treaty of 878 England was divided into two parts. The Danes settled in the north-eastern part of England (Northumbria, East Anglia and a part of Mercia), a region which was from that time called the Danelaw, because it was ruled according to the law of the Danes (9th century). So the vikings settled in England and mixed with Anglo-Saxons. The process wasn’t very painful as these two nations were very much alike and had similar languages.

South-western part of the country (i.e. Wessex) was under Alfred’s rule. Alfred the Great was a young man, twenty-three years old, when he became king. In time of peace Alfred the Great took measures to improve the laws in the interests of great landowners and to raise the standard of culture among them. He opened schools. English was used as the basic medium of instruction in reading and writing rather than Latin. Alfred asked scholars to translate into English the best works of world literature and worked out the English Code. He did so much that was good for the people of England that people called him Alfred the Good. During the reign of Alfred the Great the first British Navy was built and a war fleet of ships larger and faster than those of the Danes protected the islands.

Besides, many places were fortified. Due to it, the Kingdom of England became stronger.

3. Norman Conquest: Edward the Confessor.

Three Danish kings, one after the other, ruled over Britain. One of them, Canute, was at the same time king of England, Denmark, Norway and Sweden. On Canute’s death (1035) his kingdom broke up and England regained political independence. The new incompetent king, Edward the Confessor, was a pious half-wit who had spent his youth as an exile in Normandy. He brought over many Norman advisors and favourites and insisted on French being spoken by the nobles at his court. William, Duke of Normandy, visited his court and it was rumoured that Edward appointed him his successor. The king who died in 1066 had no children and William cherished the hope that he would succeed to the English throne. However, the Elders of England (OE Witan) proclaimed Harold Godwin, Earl of Wessex, king of England. William of Normandy claimed that England belonged to him. Feeling cheated, he mustered a numerous army and landed in the south of England. With harvest time approaching, and William failing to arrive because of northerly winds, the English fyrd dispersed to its homes. In the battle of Hastings, fought in October 1066, Harold was killed. The Normans won the victory. William of Normandy was crowned King of England on Christmas day in Westminster Abbey under the title of William I, but he is best known as William the Conqueror. The Norman period in English history had begun.

The invaders burnt houses and killed people. The land was taken from the British and given to the Normans. Most of the old Anglo-Danish aristocracy was depressed. The Normans occupied all the important posts in the church, in the government, and in the army. The invaders spoke French, and it was the language of the upper classes and the government.

The country now was divided into shires, or counties, as the Normans called them. William I appointed a royal official in each shire to be his “sheriff”. Through the sheriffs the king exercised control over his vassals. The sheriff administered justice in the shire, he collected taxes. He was also responsible for the gathering of an army for the king.

William I replaced the Witenagemot by a Great Council made up of bishops and barons who gave their advice to the king. One of the functions of the Great Council was to act as the king’s Supreme Court and it presided over all serious trials. The right to belong to the Great Council depended on the holding of land granted by the king.

In 1086 William the Conqueror sent his men into every shire to find out and register how much land and cattle every English inhabitant had.

That was actually the first registration. All the information that was collected was put into one book.

For the Anglo-Saxons this registration was the object of hatred. They were afraid of it very much. They said that nothing could be hidden from their king just as nothing could be hidden from the God on Doomsday. All the peasants were afraid of punishment on Doomsday if they did not tell the truth.

That is why the book got its name "the Doomsday book".

4. Medieval England: The Plantagenet Dynasty.

William the conqueror had 4 sons: Robert, Richard, William Rufus (killed in the new forest) and Henry. After Rufus (Red) become new king of England. William II after Conqueror’s death. When he was killed, he was succeeded by Henry who was called The Lion of Justice (справедливость) by people because he checked his barons and cared for the common folk. He was constantly in war with the King of France, but in 1120 he made peace with him. There were 2 claimants after his death (1135): Mathilda (his daughter) and Stephen (the son of Adela, the Conqueror’s daughter)

When Stephen died in 1154, Matilda’s son Henry II became King. He ruled for 35 years and started the Plantagenet dynasty, the royal family which included John, Richard I,II, Henry II,III and Edward I,II,III.

In 1189, after Henry’s death, Richard I the Lion-Heart became the king of England. He was very brave. During the 10 years of his reign he was nearly always away from England, participating in Crusades in the Holy Land. In 1199 John (his brother) became the king. As he was youngest in the family, he had no lands of his own. That’s why he was given the nickname of Lackland. In wars he failed very much and the list of his stupidities was endless, but he did one good thing. He sealed the Magna Carta, the document which provided that the Church and the barons were to retain their own rights and liberties. So he agreed to accept limits on his power as king.

His eldest son Henry was crowned in 1216 after John died. In his reign, a Parlament was formed in 1265 due to incessant (постоянной) activity of Simon de Montfort. The right of Par. to share in taxation was accepted.

5. Medieval England: Edward I.

Edward I was King of England from 1272 to 1307. The first son of Henry III, Edward was involved early in the political intrigues of his father's reign. Edward I was determined to strengthen his royal authorityand his Kingdom. He was to unite under one sovereign England, Scotland and Wales. Besides that, he was engaged in a war with France. As the Welsh Prince Llewellyn refused to sweat in allegiance to Edward, the king went to the coast of Wales and attacked Llewellyn. Then he was killed in a battle. The Welsh people wanted a new prince. Just at that time the Queen gave birth to a boy and Edward showd them it and called him the Prince of Wales.

The Scots fought for freedom and feel upon the English without mercy. Their leader, William Wallace, defeated the English army at Stirling. But Edward returned from France and took the field. But soon they declared Robert Bruce their King. Edward vowed to have his revenge on Bruce but he was old already and soon died. So, Scotland was recognized as independent under Bruce in 1328.

The name The Hundred Years’ War has been given by historians to the long fight between England and France, went on from 1337 to 1453. The results of the 1^st stage of the war were not as successful as the English had expected. But several victories were won. The French finally won and the English were forced to leave France.

In 1348 the outbreak of plague, “the Black Death” killed the people of England and Europe. It was a terrible disaster as more than one 3^rd of the Endlish population died.The plague disrupted industry and trade and depopulated whole villages.

The Government of E ordered the Poll-taxesto be levied on the people. And the people of Essex and Kent with Wat Tyler as their leader rose against the poll-tax. They set fire to the books and documents in the Temple in London. They also killed the Archbishop of Canterbury and Treasurer who had proposed the hateful poll-tax. The young King agreed to meet them and grant their requests. During the 2^nd meeting with the king Wat Tyler was killed and Richard II crushed the revolt with great severity. The Great Peasants’ Revolt was defeated. But the rulling class had been badly frightened and the unpopular poll-tax withdrawn.