The Gateway Chronicle 2020

41
England at this time was divided into
roughly five nations: Wessex (which Alfred
had come to inherit in 871), Mercia
(led by a man named king Ceowulf II),
East Anglia, Northumbria, and Kent. At
this point in time Northumbria was the
cultural hub of Britain and was the centre
of learning. The venerable Bede (author of
the Ecclesiastical History of the British
people) hailed from here along with many
other powerful Ealdorman and religious
figures such as the Saint Cuthburt. Crucially,
the ruler of Wessex, which in 871
becomes Alfred, is not the ruler of the
whole peninsula. Furthermore, the five
nations at the start of this period have
both Pagan and Christian cohorts living
within them.
When Alfred came to power in AD871 he
inherited a powerful Wessex with strong
economic ties with its neighbouring Mercia.
N.B. It was previously believed that
the Mercians and particularly their king
Battle of Edington
had been overshadowed by a more
powerful Alfred, but a treasure
trove of Anglo-Saxon coins depicting both
Ceowulf and Alfred were found suggesting
that later hostilities led to Wessex
seeking to erase this union from their
scriptures and history.
However, this Wessex was not to last as a
huge Danish invasion of East Anglia had
landed just before Alfred came to power.
Whilst there had been attacks on the country
before, with an attack on the Wessex
capitol Winchester in AD850, there had
not in living memory been an invasion
force that had intended to capture land
and settle there. Thus, the integrity of the
Christian population was preserved from
the infiltration of Pagan settlers.
It was in the year AD865 that the nature of
small attacks changed to a large invasion
on the east coast in East Anglia. Brothers,
Ivar the Boneless, Ubba the Frisian, Guthrum,
and a man named Halfdan brought a
huge Viking scourge with them from Denmark
to conquer Anglo-Saxon lands.
Guthrum declared himself the new king
of East Anglia and his brother Halfdan declared
himself king of Northumbria, and a
laborious campaign into Mercia began. By
877 almost the whole of Anglo-Saxony
had been defeated
with the exception
of Wessex who
paid Halfdan and
his men to leave
their lands. British
Christendom was
now threatened
once again by pagan
settlers. Not
only was the purse
of Wessex weakened
from paying
the Vikings for a
temporary truce,
but any hope of a
joint battle with
their allied armies
had collapsed with
Mercia. Notably
also, the collapse of
Northumbria and the way in which
churches across the island had been sullied,
including in Wessex, had landed a
significant blow to the church and had essentially
robbed them of their land and influence.