10th century in England

Events

902

Irish Norsemen, expelled from Dublin, establish colonies on The Wirral.

909

The Diocese of Bath is separated from that of Sherborne, Athelm being appointed first Bishop of Wells. Æthelweard briefly serves as Bishop of Sherborne at about this time.

910–920

Edward the Elder, King of Wessex, and his sister, Æthelflæd, Lady of the Mercians, conquer most of the Danelaw.

910

5 August - Battle of Tettenhall: Edward the Elder, King of Wessex, allied with the forces of Mercia, defeats a Northumbrian Viking army.

911

Edward transfers London and Oxford from Mercia to Wessex.

Æthelred, Lord of the Mercians, dies and his wife Æthelflæd takes over rule as Lady of the Mercians.

912

Æthelflæd of Mercia begins to establish fortified burhs, including one at Bridgnorth.

913

Æthelflæd rebuilds the ruined town of Tamworth as a burh and capital of Mercia, also establishing a burh at Stafford.

914

Æthelflæd of Mercia establishes Eddisbury and Warwick as burhs.

(or 923) Death of Plegmund, Archbishop of Canterbury.

915

First Battle of Corbridge: Viking victory over the Anglo-Saxons.

King Edward occupies Bedford.

Æthelflæd of Mercia establishes Chirbury and Runcorn as burhs.

917

King Edward captures Derby and seizes control of East Anglia. All Danes south of the Humber submit to his rule.

918

12 June - Æthelflæd of Mercia dies at Tamworth; 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 at Kingston upon Thames.

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.

Possible date (or 936?) - Conan is nominated as Bishop of Cornwall by Æthelstan.

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 asserts authority over the Welsh kings, and sets the border of Wales at the River Wye.

King Æthelstan asserts authority over 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

Approximate date - Æthelstan mints the first coins proclaiming himself to be "King of All Britain" (Rex To[tius] Brit[anniae]).

937

Battle of Brunanburh: King Æthelstan defeats Olaf Guthfrithson, the King of Dublin, Constantine II, King of Scots, and Owain ap Dyfnwal, King of the Cumbrians. In thanksgiving for his victory, on his return Æthelstan grants Beverley Minster collegiate status (according to legend).

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.

King Olaf Guthfrithson captures York.

940

King Edmund cedes Northumbria and the Five Boroughs of the Danelaw to Olaf Guthfrithson.

King Edmund summons Dunstan to his court, where he becomes a favourite, and appoints him Abbot of Glastonbury, where he initiates English Benedictine Reform and revival.

941

King Olaf Guthfrithson dies; Amlaíb Cuarán (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 who is crowned on 16 August at Kingston upon Thames.

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 is killed at Stainmore allowing King Eadred to recover York, reuniting the kingdom of Northumbria with that of England, under the administration of Osulf I of Bamburgh.

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 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.

Byrhthelm enthroned as Archbishop of Canterbury.

1 October - King Edy dies and is succeeded by his brother Edgar the Peaceful. Edgar overturns the appointment of Byrhthelm as Archbishop of Canterbury in favour of Dunstan.

960

21 September - Dunstan receives the pallium as Archbishop of Canterbury from Pope John XII.

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.

Edgar has the coinage called in and re-struck as uniform pennies.

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

Viking 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, whose leader, Byrhtnoth, is killed.

The first Danegeld, of £10,000, is paid to the Danes in return for their leaving England (according to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle).

993

Danes raid Northumbria, destroying the original fortifications at Bamburgh Castle.

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.

Aldhun, Bishop of Lindisfarne, moves his episcopal see from Chester-le-Street to Durham, to which the remains of Saint Cuthbert (d. 687) are translated.

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.

Births

902

Dunstan, Archbishop of Canterbury (died 988)

922

King Edmund I of England (died 946)

923

King Eadred of England (died 955)

943/44

King Edgar of England (died 975)

c. 950

Sigeric the Serious, Archbishop of Canterbury (died 994)

962

King Edward the Martyr (died 978)

968

King Æthelred the Unready (died 1016)

Deaths

923

Plegmund, Archbishop of Canterbury

924

17 July - Edward the Elder, King of Wessex (born c. 871)

2 August - Ælfweard of Wessex, King of Wessex

926

Athelm, Archbishop of Canterbury

927

Sitric Cáech, Norse King of Northumbria

939

27 October - Æthelstan, King of England (born c. 895)

941

12 February - Wulfhelm, Archbishop of Canterbury

946

26 May - King Edmund I of England (born 922)

954

Eric Bloodaxe, Norse King of Northumbria (born c. 895)

955

23 November - King Eadred of England (born c. 923)

958

Oda, Archbishop of Canterbury

959

Ælfsige, Archbishop of Canterbury

c. 962/3

Æthelwald, Ealdorman of East Anglia

973

15 May - Byrhthelm, Archbishop of Canterbury

975

8 July - King Edgar of England (born c. 943)

978

King Edward the Martyr (born c. 962)

988

Dunstan, Archbishop of Canterbury (born c. 909)

990

13 February - Æthelgar, Archbishop of Canterbury

994

28 October - Sigeric the Serious, Archbishop of Canterbury (born c. 950)