Journal of Undergraduate Research
Keywords
political unity, spiritual identity, Anglo-Saxon England, nationalism, Anglorum
College
Humanities
Department
English
Abstract
This project examined the development of English nationalism in the ninth and tenth centuries. Prior to this moment in the island’s history, England had been divided into a series of independent and self-governing kingdoms, including Mercia in the Midlands, Wessex in the West Country, Northumbria, stretching from the Humber River north into southeastern Scotland, and East Anglia in modern-day Norfolk and Suffolk. However, under the pressure of violent Viking expansion, these ancient kingdoms were largely dissolved. Only Wessex, under the leadership of the legendary Alfred the Great, survived essentially intact, and able to exert its cultural and political hegemony over the remnants of the other Anglo-Saxon kingdoms.
Recommended Citation
Morrison, Susannah and Wilcox, Miranda
(2017)
"Of Angles and Angels: Political Unity and Spiritual Identity in Anglo-Saxon England, 871 – 1016,"
Journal of Undergraduate Research: Vol. 2017:
Iss.
1, Article 150.
Available at:
https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/jur/vol2017/iss1/150