This is a history of the kingdom of Wessex told through its more than twenty regnal kings, from its early foundations under Cerdic circa 500 to its apogee in 886 under Alfred the Great. Its roots are traced to the migration of Germanic tribes in the fifth century, with two of these tribes, the West Saxons of Hampshire and the Gewisse of the Upper Thames Valley, eventually uniting to form what would become the kingdom of Wessex.We move from the post-Roman period, in which Cerdic and...

Edward the Elder succeeded his father Alfred the Great to the kingdom of Wessex, but was largely overlooked by his contemporaries (at least in terms of the historical record) and to a greater or lesser extent by later historians. He is the forgotten son of Alfred. Edward deserves to be recognised for his contribution to Anglo-Saxon history and a new assessment of his reign is overdue. He proved equal to the task of cementing and extending the advances made by his father, and paved the way ...

Godwin and his family dominated English politics for almost half a century, establishing themselves as the most influential and powerful dynasty in Anglo-Saxon England. At the height of its power, it took a matter of weeks for the dynasty to fall. Earl Godwin established himself as Cnut’s most senior advisor and continued that role to become even more influential during the reign of Edward the Confessor, seeing his daughter Edith become queen and his two eldest sons, Swegn and Harold, give...

The language of Poetry is an art that most of us attempt at some point in our lives. Although its commonplace exposure has been somewhat marginalised in today’s often fast-paced lives we all recognise good verse that can empathise with our thoughts or open us up to experience new things in new ways, to better understand and to enjoy the many strands of our lives.But finding a starting point can be overwhelming, even off-putting, so in this series we offer up our Top 10 classic poet...