Royal Britain(1): Eight Events That Embedded Monarchy Into British Society

(This brief snapshot of British history, particularly relating to our obsession with the monarchy, is meant mainly to raise awareness, and is told from an irreverent, lighthearted, unscholarly perspective!)

Name an institution in the United Kingdom - Parliament, the Armed Forces or the Church - no matter how far back in time they go, they pale into insignificance against the age of the British monarchy. While Parliament can claim a mere few hundred years into being, kingship of various tribes, especially in relation to each of the four individual nations - England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland - has been around for over 5,000 years.

However, Britain did not exist before the polar ice melted to form the English Channel and Irish sea over 6,500 years ago! It was firmly attached to somewhere else when, according to one historian, Britain was ‘cleft from the Eurasian landmass’. From then on, this comparatively small country has never looked back, making its impact by governing a quarter of the world for many years!

Initially, the population consisted mainly of Celtic pagan, nomadic hunter-gatherers, but with land being the premium currency of people with high ambition, who fancied their chances, invasion and change were inevitable, as adventurers fought to conquer and gain power by governing new lands. Once the invasions began, starting with the intrepid Romans, the development of the British Isles was set in motion. The arrival of the Romans was the forerunner of seven other significant events.

• The Roman occupation of Britannia, as it was named, lasted nearly 400 years (43- 410 AD): Administratively, this was good for the country, as the newcomers brought their technical wizardry with them which improved the lives of the natives in many ways. These organised, sophisticated invaders gave the Celtic tribes protection, new roads, new forts, the establishment of Latin as the language of administration, religion and law, and the emphasis on stable government, literacy and architecture.

• The Dark Ages followed about 20 years after the Romans left, and lasted 500 years. The lack of new leadership created a vacuum that resulted in chaos, confusion and fear as tribes tried to adapt to the new situation. But where you have no leadership, and land waiting to be had, there is bound to be new takers. Enter invaders from the north of the country to kick things off, with numerous leaders emerging as ‘kings’ after that, up to the Norman Conquest.

• Invasion of the Picts and Caledonians from the north in mid-5th century, and the Gaelic Scotti marauders from the Irish Sea. Being unable to cope with the increasing attacks, a powerful leader (who was labelled Vortigern) sought the help of the Germanic tribes of Angles, Saxons and Danish Jutes to defend Britannia against the invaders. Unfortunately, once these mercenary tribes saw the opportunities for the good life, they abandoned any plans to return to their homeland. Instead they fanned out across Britannia and formed kingdoms of their own. The Angles settled in the east of the country (called East Anglia), the Saxons in the west (Wessex) and east (Essex), and the Jutes mainly in the Isle of Wight and Kent. Collectively, these three main tribes became the ‘English’. The Celtic natives themselves were driven to the south-west of the island and formed their kingdom of Dumnonia (now Devon and Cornwall) .

• A Heptarchy of seven main kingdoms (c.500-c.900) now represented Britannia. Formed by the Anglo-Saxons, they were Northumbria, Mercia, East Anglia, Essex, Kent, Sussex, and Wessex, but there would be lots of jostling for power and ousting one another over the four centuries as the kings, especially of Northumbria, Mercia and Wessex, the acknowledged big-wigs due to their size, fought for dominance and control in the bid to expand their kingdoms.

• Invasion of the Vikings from 795 gradually changed parts of Britain, especially East Anglia and Northumbria, where they were most successful in defeating the opposition. In fact, Viking presence enabled new alliances to be formed and Britannia to gradually become united as the kings made pacts with each other to resist the common enemy. The Vikings first started with sporadic raids on the coasts, looting what they could and capturing slaves to take home. Some kings began to pay them off (known as the Danegeld) to prevent their attacks. However, in time the Vikings grew tired of that strategy, and by 835, they wanted the English spoils for themselves, especially from the rich monasteries, and decided to set down roots in Britannia, rather than returning home.

• King Egbert (spelt various ways!), took over the Wessex throne in 802, while the Vikings were busy causing havoc, and became Britannia’s most powerful ruler. From 815 to 827 he subdued the west of the country, home of the native Celts, he conquered Mercia in the great Battle of Ellandun in Wroughton, and installed his son as sub-king over Kent, Sussex and Essex, with the blessing of Northumbria, and the alliance of independent East Anglia. King Egbert was acknowledged as the eighth ‘Bretwalda’ (overlord of most of the other kingdoms in Britain). In essence, for one stunning year at least, in 829, (before King Wiglaf retook Mercia), he was the king of everything ‘south of the Humber’. This marked the beginning of an almost unified England, as Egbert significantly increased his power and status. When Egbert died in 839, he was acknowledged as the first monarch who had ‘established a stable rule over all of Anglo-Saxon England’. His very able son, Aethelwulf, took over, continuing a dynasty that ruled over a more unified Britain until the Danes invaded in the 11th century. In total, there have been 62 monarchs since King Egbert.

• The Vikings conquered the southern part of Northumbria as their kingdom which they named Yorkvik (now Yorkshire), and gradually spread to different areas, particularly across East Anglia and Mercia where the impact of their culture can still be seen today.

• Alfred The Great, son of Aethelwulf, became king of most of Britain in 871, changing the social and administrative fabric of the country forever, which eventually led to the conquest of the UK by the French in 1066. But that’s another story!

Resources: Wikipedia, Historic.uk, English Monarchs

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