The church in the mid IXth century

So the Church made sure that it was closely linked with royalty and in the IXth century, Edmund’s son, Edgar (959-975), started to reform the monasteries, and Cantebury, Sherban, Winchester and Worcester all became monastic[монашеский] cathedrals. The church was well-inderved, the total income of monasteries and nuneries by the early XIth century was far greater than the income of the king. The Anglo-Saxon’s Church had long provided missionaries, such as Bonyface and Wilbred to help to convert Germany and the lower countries to Christianity. And that was the sign of great vitality of English Christianity in set others to Scandinavia in the late 10th and the early 11th centuries. This religious revival[возрождение] provided a literary and cultural activity, which rebuilt itself in brilliant manuscript illumination, and it was stonecarving and embroidery – so the stonecarving and embroidery started in the early 11th century.

The Kingdom of Wessex had by now become what was later termed the Old English Monarchy. This state was still very much centered on Wessex, Ethelstan alone among the 10th century rulers and he spent much time in Mercia. Wessex was administrated from its 4 partland shires: Hampshire, Willshire, Dorset and Somerset – the regions, where the kings spent most of their time. However, pretty relations of nationhood was indicated in 957, when the Mercians and Northumbrians renounced eligence to Edward in favour of his brother Edgar. The scheme was healed, although Edgar also became King of Wessex on Edwin’s death in 959. The eligence of Northumbria to who never ruled at Winchester remained uncertain until well into the 11th century.

The county prospered, however, as a result of agricultural advances and the production of wool and cloth England became wealthy by the standarts of contemporary Northern Europe. And, of course, it became a tempting price to foreign rulers. The power of the Old English Monarchy was displayed in 973, when other British rulers made a formal submission[подчинение] to king Edgar at Chester.

The peace and untiy of England was not to survive Edgar’s death in 975. The reason was that his both sons were too young to rule. The elder, Edward, still succeded, but he was unpopular and he was murded three years later, in 978, by the supporters of the younger son, Ethelred. And he was called Ethelred the Unready, because he was not ready by his age to rule the country. Ethelred has been the subject of scorn throughout history, not least because of the hostile tone of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. In fact Ethelred made major effort to improve the state defences, but he lacked the presence and natural authority. So he was not… Тимур!! J trusted by the people, so he lacked the natural authority to command or trust. And, of course, consequently this limited his ability to deal with the next crisis to hit the British Isles and it was the return of the Vikings.

England under the recent kings of Wessex, Scotland, under its outstanding 9th century ruler Kenneth[Scottish leader], much of Wales under the rulers of Kenneth had all experienced a welcome measure of statehood. But so two had devided lands, enabling them again to organize themselves into the large armies, so the armies of England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales can’t be orgainized as one army to fight the Vikings, because they lacked experience in fighting as a large army. Soon after Ethelred’s assetion[утверждение] the Danes started mounting major attacks, in one of which they defeated the Essex militia[народное ополчение, армия] under ea(r)ldorman Brington at Meldon in 991. Ethelred used a mixture of a very up-to-date thing – a mixture of dribes and violence, such as, for example, a pitiless massacres of English resident Danes in 1002 to maintain his power, so he simply killed their king. The Danes retaliated[возмездие] with fearsome vigmereance over (of a) decade and in 1013 the resistance collapsed. The following year Ethelred was briefly driven into Normandie by king Swein of Denmark, who was reconsidered but never crowned as king of England. Ethelred, however, returned on Swein’s death, but the struggle was continued by Swein’ s son, Cnut(Canute, Chnut, Knut).

So while the resistance was hamped[мешать] by divisions among the English, especially that between Ethelred and his eldest son, Edmund Ironside – violent and severe king. After Ethelred’s death England was devided between Cnut and Edmund in 1016 by the Peace of Alney: Cnut received Mercia and Northumbria. Edmund, however, died and Cnut became king of all England from 1016 up to 1035! And England was now almost by default a part of greater Scandinavian Empire.

Cnut following the death of his older brother Harold had also become King of Denmark for a short while, and thereby the newly conquered Norway, so he was a very powerful king at that time. The Vikings now largeraly pulled the Western sea bord of Europe including Normandy, which still bears their name as call of the Northern, so Normandy means the call(coal) of the Northmen. Cnut ruled all these dominants from England where he largely followed by the visible(peaceable)-?? practice of the local kings of Wessex, although he introduced a number of Danes in aristocracy and devided the kingdom into a small number of counties or at that time they were called “earldoms”. The earldem of Wessex was given to Godwin, an English protegy of Cnut who married a Danish princess and gave Danish names to four of his 6th sons, including Harold. And Anglo-Viking aristocracy was being created at that time and England started to look increasingly overseas to the land of her Scandinavian conquerers.

The End of the Anglo-Saxon England

So Cnut died in the year 1035 and there were several possible successors. ............