The document summarizes the political divisions in 9th century England. It describes how England was divided into several major and minor Anglo-Saxon kingdoms that were constantly warring with each other and fighting off Viking invaders. By King Alfred's time in the late 9th century, England had consolidated into the Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy - seven major kingdoms of Kent, Sussex, Wessex, Essex, East Anglia, Mercia, and Northumbria. Wessex was the most powerful, eventually conquering the other kingdoms and unifying England under one ruler in the 10th century.

1. Focus:
The map of 9th
Century England
and the Anglo-Saxon political
Divisions

3.  England in the 9th
century was divided into many major and
minor kingdoms, such as King Alfred’s Wessex.
 During the 9th
century there were many raids and wars
between kingdoms as well as constant feuding with pagan
Danes [more commonly known as Vikings].
 The common language was Old English [Also known as
Anglo-Saxon] – which has, between the 12-14th
centuries,
died out.
 Before they became Christians, the Anglo-Saxons believed
in a form of Germanic paganism – close to the Old Norse
religion. Christianity replaced this old belief during the 7th
and 8th
centuries
 Anglo-Saxon literature included epic poems [like Beowulf],
sermons, translations of the Bible, legal works, chronicles,
riddles and others.

4.  In AD 600, a Germanic people from
northern Germany and Scandinavia
settled in Britain.
 These peoples were made up of Angles,
Saxons and Jutes.
 The term ‘Anglo-Saxon’, came from the
two more dominant Germanic races – the
Angles and the Saxons.

5.  At first, England was divided into numerous
small kingdoms, the main kingdoms
consisting of:
 Kent
 Essex
 Sussex
 East Anglia
 Lindsey
 Bernicia
 Deira
 Mercia
 Wessex
These kingdoms were formed
because the settlers were
essentially tribal groups that
were led by warrior-
aristocrats under one chieftain
or king. So through tribal
agreement – after conquering
England – these kings divided
the land because of the
different tribes amongst the
Angles, Saxons, and Jutes.

6. -They all had kings
- All these kings
had to obey the
High King or
‘Bretwalda’.
-Some kingdoms
were more
powerful than other
kingdoms.

7.  However, by King Alfred’s time,The
Kingdom of Lindsey had disappeared,
and Bernicia and Deira had combined to
form Northumbria.
 This lead to [what is known to historians
as] the Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy. Meaning,
England was divided into 7 major
kingdoms: Kent, Essex, Sussex, East
Anglia, Northumbria, Mercia, and
Wessex.

8. These were the kingdoms that were
either disappearing at Alfred’s time
or were not as relevant as the Major
Kingdoms.

9.  Kent was founded by the Jutes in the 5th
century.
 It lost it’s independence in the 8th
century,
becoming a sub-kingdom of Mercia.
Later in the 9th
century, it became part of
Wessex, and unified in the 10th
century as
part of the Kingdom of England – created
under the leadership of Wessex.
 It was one of the first Anglo-Saxon
kingdoms to be created.

10.  Was founded in the 6th
century, and
occupied the territories later taken by
the modern counties of Essex,
Hertfordshire, Middlesex and, for some
time, Kent.
 Kings of Essex were constantly
subservient to foreign overlords.
 The last King of Essex was Sigered, who
ceded the kingdom to Egbert of Wessex.

11.  Its territory was primarily and vastly
covered by the Forest of Andred – which
was recorded to be 120 miles wide and
30 miles deep.
 It was inhabited by wolves, boars and
even bears.
 The land was so dense that the
Domesday Book did not record some of
its settlements.

12. These were the kingdoms that were
more powerful and more relevant at
the time of Alfred the Great

13.  It is now known as the English counties of Norfolk, Suffolk and the
eastern part of the Fens.
 During the 7th
century, under King Raedwald, East Anglia became a
powerful Anglo-Saxon kingdom.
 However, during the decades that followed his death in 642, East
Anglia became increasingly dominated by the powerful kingdom
of Mercia.
 Several of Raedwald’s successors were killed in battle.
 After Aethelberht was killed by the Mercians in 794 and until 825,
East Anglia ceased to be a independant kingdom. Although, it re-
gained its independence under Eadwald in 796.
 It survived until 869.
 After 879, the Vikings defeated the East Anglians in battle and
their king, Edmund of East Anglia, was killed.
 The Vikings then settled in East Anglia permanently, making it
part of Danelaw.

14.  It is all of Northern England and Southern
Scotland.
 It was formed by Aethelfrith in central Great
Britain, in the 7th
century after the unification
of Bernicia and Deira.
 However, later on, the southern part of
Northumbria was lost to Danelaw.
 Northern Northumbria became weak and it
only retained status when England was
reunited by the Wessex-led conquest of
Danelaw.

15.  Is the region that is now known as the English Midlands
 Unlike the other kingdoms, Mercia’s evolution from Anglo-Saxon
invasions is obscure.
 It developed an effective political structure and adopted Christianity later
than all the other kingdoms.
 It grew to power in 584.
 In 852, Burgred of Mercia came to power and; with Ethelwulf of Wessex;
subjugated northern Wales. But at this point in time the Danes had taken
over Nottingham.
 The Danes drove Burgred from his throne and Ceolwulf II of Mercia
succeeded in his place.
 In 877, the eastern part of Mercia became part of Danelaw.
 Ceolwulf II was the last of the Mercian kings, and disappeared by 881.
 From 883 – 911, Earl Aethelred of Mercia ruled the western part of Mercia
as and Earl under the King of Wessex.
 After Aethelred’s death in 911, his wife Aethelflaed (Daughter of Alfred
the Great) took power as the Lady of the Mercians until her death in 918.
 Her brother, Edward the Elder of Wessex took power after her – hence,
Mercia was no longer independent and became part of Wessex.

16.  Is now the South-west of England.
 It was formed during the 6th
century and later
became the reason as well as a part of the unified
England in the 10th
century.
 Wessex was the only English kingdom that
remained independent after the Viking raids in
the 850s.
 It succeeded to defeat and exile Guthrum – the
leader of the Danes – under the rule of King
Alfred the Great and his predecessors , such as
Edward the Elder, gradually drove out the Danes.
 Eventually, England became a single kingdom
under the rule of one King.

17.  The heptarchy was a kingdom made up of seven sub-
kingdoms.
 If one of the sub-kingdoms were to fall under attack
the other six would strive to help it
 There were also some sub-kingdoms fighting
amongst each other – which was a negative effect.
 Each sub-kingdom had its own king, but the entire
heptarchy had a high-king or ‘Bretwalda’ who all
other kings had to answer to.
 Interactions politically, and economically. How did
they deal with their enemies on a unified level? Did
they ever do such a thing?

18. High King
/Emperor or
‘Bretwalda’
The Kings of All
7 Kingdoms
The Earls, Dukes and Other
Nobles
The Common Folk

19.  Essay:“Discuss the development of a heptarchy
in 9th
century England.”
Point, Evidence, Explanation, Comparison to most
prominent factor, and Link.
Division and Unity.
 Presentation:“Northumbria, Mercia, and Wessex:
Competition between the kingdoms and the
declining power of Northumbria and Mercia.”
 Presentation:“Economy, Agriculture, Coinage,
and European Trade.Towns and Markets.”