A Viking raiding party assisted by local Cornish men was defeated by Egbert of Wessex at the Battle of Hingston Down

Egbert was followed by his son Ethulwulf as King of Wessex.

Alfred, the fifth son of Ethelwulf King of Wessex, was born. ¹

Unhappy with his father's marriage to Judith and absence from the country, Ethelbald, Ethelwulf's second son claimed the kingdom of Wessex for himself. When Ethelwulf later died, Ethelbald married Judith, his stepmother. ¹

Upon the death of his elder brother, Ethelbert became the King of Wessex. ¹

Following the death of his elder brother, Ethelred became the King of Wessex. Alfred (the Great) became his deputy. ¹

Armies from Northumbria led by the two kings Aella and Osberht attacked the Danes at York but were defeated. The two kings were killed after gaining access to the city. After the battle the Danes moved south attacking Nottingham and taking control of it. The king of Mercia asked Ethelred and Alfred for assistance and an army from Wessex was sent to help. ¹

The Danes moved south into the Wessex area and captured Reading. ¹

After fighting the Danes all winter Aethelred died. He was only in his late twenties or early thirties. He was buried at Wimborne and was succeeded by his younger brother Alfred 'the Great'. Aethelred had two sons but they were too young to rule. The younger son Aethelwold would later rebel against Alfred's son Edward the Elder for the English throne. ¹

Led by Halfdan the Danes moved north to attack the Picts and the area of Strathclyde. The Danes divided Northumbria taking York for themselves and creating the area known as Danelaw. A second Danish King called Guthrum took his army back south to Cambridge where he prepared plans to attack Wessex. ¹

After the success at Edington Alfred decided to construct of a series of fortified villages or burhs to help protect Wessex. He set up a system that provided Wessex with both a standing army and defence at a local level.

Alfred the Great died on October 26th and Edward, his son, became king of Wessex. Apart from the English people under Danish rule, Alfred had ruled over all the English in the country. ¹

Aethelstan became King of Wessex and Mercia. His coronation took place at Kingston-upon-Thames. At this point Aethelstan was not king of all England. He had to wait until 927 to become overlord of the other regional rulers.

Eadred became King of Wessex. He followed his brother Edmund who was murdered. Edmund left two sons, Eadwig and Edgar, who were both too young to rule.

Eadwig became the King of England after the death of Eadred, his uncle.

Swein Fork-Beard and his son Canute sailed from Denmark to attack England. Again London defended itself and the Vikings moved elsewhere, taking Wessex, Mercia and Northumbria.

Edmund had gone to Wessex to accept the support of the people there as the new king of England but Canute had reached London and was besieging its inhabitants. The Londoners held out against Canute's attempts to defeat them while Edmund travelled back to help. Edmund's army grew as he advanced towards Canute. The English won a couple of battles forcing the Danes to retreat and regroup but the Danes won the important battle at Ashingdon. ¹

Canute defeated Edmund Ironside at Ashingdon and a treaty was signed leaving Edmund with only the area of Wessex.

Godwin, Earl of Wessex, his son Harold and a large fleet sailed up the Thames to London forcing Edward to reinstate them into their previous positions of power.

Godwin, Earl of Wessex, died and Harold Godwinson inherited his title.