43

Roman invasion of Britain

700

Lindesfarne Gospel, superb example of Celtic illuminated manuscript

125

Emperor Hardian builds wall to secure the northern frontier against Picts

731

Bede completes his Ecclesiastical History

394

St. Ninian brings Christianity to Scots and Picts (d 432)

757-

Period of Mercian dominance under King Offa (-796)

350-

Raids by northern barbarians and decline of Roman Empire bring an end to Roman occupation (-450)

787

First Danish invasion

432

St. Patrick begins mission to Ireland

806

Iona sacked by Northmen

550

Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of Mercia, East Anglia and Northumbria founded

865

Danes occupy Northumbria, then move into Anglia, killing King Edmund

563

St. Colomba founds Celtic monastery of Iona on northwest coast.

871

Alfred (“the Great”), King of Wessex, begins to turn the tide against the invaders; he translates St. Gregory’s “Cura pastoralis” into English (885)

597

Pope Gregory sends missionaries to England; St. Augustine baptizes King Ethelbert of Kent and becomes first archbishop of Canterbury

913

Edward the Elder, king of England (-924) recaptures Essex from the Danes

625

Paulinus converts King Edwin of Northumbria at York

925

His successor Athelstan completes the reconquest

633

Edwin killed while fighting the pagan Mercians

950

Revival of Benedictine monasticism

635

At the request of Edwin’s successor, Oswald, St. Aidan travels east form Iona to found monastery at Lindesfarne; Christianization of Wessex

957

St. Dunstan becomes archbishop

642

Oswald slain in battle against Penda, heathen king of Mercia

958

Edgar the Peaceful becomes king (-975)

650-

Golden age of Northumbrian art and learning (-735)

979

King Edward, his son, is martyred

Ethelred “the Unready” crowned; signs treaty with Normans (992)

654

Penda killed in a battle led by Oswald’s brother, King Oswy of Northumbria, who had instigated the murder of his cousin, the pious King Oswin of Deira (651)

980-

Renewal of Danish raids; they sack monasteries and churches

657

Founding of Whitby and Ripon (661) monasteries

1003

Ethelred flees to Normandy

664

Synod of Whitby decides in favor of Roman over Celtic rite, strengthening future ties with Rome

1016

Canute, a Dane, becomes king and embraces Christianity (d. 1035)

664

St. Cuthbert becomes abbot of Lindesfarne (d 687)

1042

Edward the Confessor, son of Ethelred, summoned from Normandy to become king (d. 1066)

673

Ely Abbey founded by St. Etheldreda (Audrey); monasteries founded at Hexham (674) and Jarrow (680)

1066

Norman conquest; Edward’s cousin Harold seizes the crown Norman soldiers land at Pevensey; Harold killed at the Battle of Hastings; William the conqueror is crowned, signaling the end of the Anglo-Saxon State

686

Sussex converted to Christianity