10th Century in England - Events

Events

• 902
  • Irish Norsemen, expelled from Dublin, establish colonies on The Wirral.
• 910–920
  • Edward the Elder, King of Wessex, and his daughter, Æthelflæd, Lady of the Mercians, conquer most of the Danelaw.
• 910
  • 5 August - Battle of Tettenhall: Edward the Elder, King of Wessex, defeats a Viking army.
• 911
  • Edward transfers London and Oxford from Mercia to Wessex.
• 913
  • Æthelflæd rebuilds the ruined town of Tamworth as a burh and capital of Mercia.
• 914 or 923
  • Death of Plegmund, Archbishop of Canterbury.
• 915
  • First Battle of Corbridge: Viking victory over the Anglo-Saxons.
  • King Edward occupies Bedford.
• 917
  • King Edward captures Derby and seizes control of East Anglia. All Danes south of the Humber submit to his rule.
• 918
  • Æthelflæd of Mercia dies; Edward the Elder takes control of her kingdom.
  • Welsh princes pay homage to Edward.
  • Second Battle of Corbridge.
• 919
  • Ragnall ua Ímair seizes control of the Kingdom of York.
• 920
  • Norse Vikings under Sitric Cáech attack Cheshire.
  • Constantine II of Scotland, and the kings of Strathclyde, York, and Northumbria acknowledge Edward the Elder as their overlord.
• c. 923
  • Athelm enthroned as Archbishop of Canterbury.
• 924
  • 17 July - Edward the Elder dies and is succeeded by Æthelstan as King of Wessex.
• 925
  • 4 September - Coronation of Æthelstan as King of Wessex.
• 926
  • 8 January - Death of Athelm, Archbishop of Canterbury. He will be succeeded by Wulfhelm.
  • 30 January - A sister of King Æthelstan, perhaps Edith of Polesworth, is married to Sitric Cáech, the squint-eyed Norse King of Northumbria and Dublin (died 927), in Tamworth.
• 927
  • King Æthelstan occupies York following the death of Sitric Cáech.
  • King Æthelstan of Wessex unites the Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy into the Kingdom of England.
  • 12 July - Kings of Scotland and Strathclyde acknowledge Æthelstan as their overlord.
• 928
  • King Æthelstan defeats the Welsh, and sets the border of Wales at the River Wye.
  • King Æthelstan subdues the Cornish, and sets the border of Cornwall at the River Tamar.
• 931
  • Æthelstan holds the first Council of All England, at Colchester.
• 933
  • Æthelstan founds Milton Abbey in Dorset.
• 934
  • Æthelstan invades Scotland, reaching as far as Caithness.
• 935
  • Æthelstan mints the first coins proclaiming himself to be "King of All Britain".
• 937
  • Battle of Brunanburh: King Æthelstan defeats Olaf III Guthfrithsson, the Norse-Gael King of Dublin, Constantine II, King of Scots, and Owen I, King of Strathclyde.
• 939
  • Failed expedition to support King Louis IV of France against the Germans.
  • King Æthelstan dies and is succeeded by his brother Edmund I of England.
  • The Norse-Gael King of Dublin Olaf III Guthfrithsson captures York.
• 940
  • King Edmund cedes Northumbria and the Five Boroughs to Olaf Guthfrithsson.
  • Saint Dunstan becomes abbot of Glastonbury and initiates monastic reform and revival.
  • King Edmund summons Dunstan to his court where he becomes a favourite.
• 941
  • Olaf Guthfrithsson dies; Óláfr Sigtryggsson succeeds him as King of Northumbria.
  • 12 February - Death of Wulfhelm, Archbishop of Canterbury.
  • Oda enthroned as Archbishop of Canterbury.
• 942
  • King Edmund re-captures the Five Boroughs.
• 943
  • Vikings take Tamworth.
• 944
  • King Edmund takes York from the Vikings.
• 945
  • King Edmund invades Strathclyde, and grants Cumbria to King Malcolm I of Scotland.
• 946
  • 26 May - King Edmund is murdered by an exiled criminal at Pucklechurch and succeeded by his brother Eadred of England.
• 947
  • Wulfstan I, Archbishop of York invites the Viking leader Eric Bloodaxe to become King of Northumbria.
• 948
  • King Eadred expels Eric Bloodaxe from Northumbria.
  • King Malcolm I of Scotland raids Northumbria.
• 949
  • Óláfr Sigtryggsson returns as King of Northumbria.
• 952
  • Eric Bloodaxe reconquers York.
  • King Eadred imprisons Wulfstan of York.
• 954
  • Eric Bloodaxe dies allowing King Eadred to recover York.
• 955
  • 23 November - King Eadred dies and is succeeded by his nephew Eadwig.
• 956
  • Dunstan exiled after quarreling with King Eadwig.
• 957
  • Dunstan re-founds abbeys at Bath, Exeter, Malmesbury, and Westminster.
  • Mercia and Northumbria rebel, choosing Edgar of England as King.
• 958
  • 2 June - Death of Oda of Canterbury, Archbishop of Canterbury.
• 959
  • Ælfsige enthroned as Archbishop of Canterbury but dies en route to Rome.
  • Birthelm enthroned as Archbishop of Canterbury.
  • 1 October - King Edy dies and is succeeded by his brother Edgar of England.
  • Edgar overturns the appointment of Birthelm as Archbishop of Canterbury.
  • Dunstan enthroned as Archbishop of Canterbury.
• 961
  • Saint Oswald becomes Bishop of Worcester; he establishes or re-founds abbeys at Ramsey, Cambridgeshire, Evesham, Pershore, and Winchcombe.
• 963
  • King Edgar grants legal autonomy to the Danelaw.
  • Æthelwold becomes Bishop of Winchester; re-founds abbeys at Ely and Peterborough.
• c. 970
  • Regularis Concordia produced at Winchester.
• 971
  • 15 July The planned removal of the body of Saint Swithun during the re-building of Winchester Cathedral delayed by 40 days due to rain.
  • Kenneth II of Scotland raids England, reaching as far as Yorkshire.
• 973
  • 11 May - Coronation of King Edgar at Bath.
  • Edgar sails to Chester, and receives homage from the rulers of Alba, Strathclyde, Wales, and the Kingdom of the Isles.
• 975
  • 8 July - King Edgar dies and is succeeded by his 12-year-old son Edward.
• 978
  • 18 March - King Edward is murdered by the servants of his stepmother Queen Ælfthryth at Corfe Castle. He is succeeded by his stepbrother Æthelred the Unready.
• 980
  • Vikings begin a new wave of raids on England.
• 981
  • Danish raids on Dorset, Devon, and Cornwall begin, and continue for a further seven years.
• 985
  • King Æthelred grants lands at Hēatūn to Lady Wulfrun by royal charter, thus founding what will become Wolverhampton.
• 988
  • 19 May - Death of Dunstan, Archbishop of Canterbury.
  • Æthelgar enthroned as Archbishop of Canterbury.
• 990
  • 13 February - Death of Æthelgar, Archbishop of Canterbury.
  • Sigeric the Serious enthroned as Archbishop of Canterbury.
• 991
  • 1 March - Æthelred signs a treaty with Duke Richard I of Normandy, by which each agrees not to aid the others enemies.
  • August - Norse invasion force sacks Ipswich.
  • 10 August - Battle of Maldon: Danes defeat the English army.
  • The first Danegeld, of £10,000, is paid to the Danes in return for their leaving England.
• 993
  • Danes raid Northumbria.
• 994
  • Norse and Danish armies ravage the south-east, but fail to capture London.
  • £16,000 of Danegeld paid.
  • Olaf II of Norway is baptised at Andover, and swears not to return to England.
• 995
  • Ælfric of Abingdon enthroned as Archbishop of Canterbury.
  • Ælfric of Eynsham completes his Catholic Homilies.
• 997
  • King Æthelred issues a law code at Wantage, defining the legal position in the Danelaw and introducing trial by jury.
  • Ælfric of Eynsham completes the English Lives of Saints.
• 998
  • Danes raid southern and western coasts.
• 999
  • Danes raid Kent, attacking Rochester.
• 1000
  • English fleet invades the Isle of Man.
  • English invasion of Cumbria fails.
  • Heroic poem The Battle of Maldon composed.