#King alfred vikings vs last kingdom series#

They sailed in on their longboats, attacked a target that was not expecting them, killed those who opposed them, plundered what they cold easily carry, and then left quickly. The early Viking raids, in the period from the end of the 8 th century down into the 840s, were essentially hit-and-run raids that targeted remote monasteries or unsuspecting communities. These four kingdoms were poorly prepared for the start of the Viking raids. Similarly, while Mercia is better-documented, most of our sources come from either the Northumbrian or West Saxon perspective. The history of East Anglia is very poorly understood, because very few documents survive from East Anglia, and our two best sources of information on the period of the Heptarchy, the Venerable Bede’s History of the English Church and People and the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, largely ignore East Anglia or mention developments there only in passing. So the Heptarchy were only the most important states of the period, and they were not all truly independent states at the same time.īy the start of the 9 th century, the Heptarchy was really four states: Wessex (which had absorbed Sussex), Mercia (which had to some extent absorbed Essex and Kent), East Anglia, and Northumbria. And the list omits a variety of other groupings, such as Lindsey, Middle Anglia, the Hwicce, Magonsaeta, the Isle of Wight, and so on. Some of these states were generally subservient and overshadowed by others for example Essex was regularly dominated by its southern neighbor Kent, which in turn was increasingly dominated by its Western neighbor Wessex. Northumbria was really made up of two sub-kingdoms-Bernicia and Deira-that were sometimes united and sometimes independent. The name refers to the seven smaller kingdoms into which the region was divided: Kent, Essex, Sussex, Wessex, East Anglia, Mercia, and Northumbria The name is a bit of misnomer, because the reality was a bit of misnomer. The period between roughly 500 AD and about 829 AD in Anglo-Saxon England is often called the Heptarchy, the ‘Seven Kingdoms’ of Anglo-Saxon England.

My faithful reader Lyn has made a very generous donation and asked me to review the series, so today we’re going to start with the historical background to the events of the series.

#King alfred vikings vs last kingdom series#

The series is based on Bernard Cornwell’s The Saxon Stories novels. This provides a nice symmetry to the series, as it began with Wessex being the last kingdom in Saxon control, and ends with just one kingdom, Northumbria, remaining outside Saxon control.The BBC’s The Last Kingdom covers some of the same ground as The Vikings, but covers it from the Anglo-Saxon side of things. Edward dies of old age in the movie, leaving just one English kingdom unconquered: Northumbria. Edward does not make an appearance in Seven Kings Must Die, but his death is the catalyst for the plot, setting off the brief conflict over his succession and beginning Aethelstan's expansion northward.

In The Last Kingdom, Edward does much the same, however, he also has the help of the Uhtred. With the help of his sister, Aethelflaed, Lady of Mercia, Edward was able to re-establish Anglo-Saxon control of England, and by his death in 924 he ruled Wessex, Mercia, and East Anglia.

When Edward became king after the death of his father, Alfred, only Wessex and Western Mercia were under the control of the Anglo-Saxons. Edward was the son of Alfred the Great, and he is known for continuing Alfred's dream of a unified England.

The first king to die, both in real life and in The Last Kingdom: Seven Kings Must Die, was Edward of Wessex.