Early Anglo Saxon Hampshire

This entry is part 1 of 15 in the series Anglo Saxon Hampshire

Early Anglo Saxon settlement in Hampshire is an elusive creature, traces found on the chalk ridges and river valleys allow us the merest peek of a time of important change. Are current day settlement patterns a result of settlement 1500 years ago or are they a consequence of later Anglo Saxon settlement?

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Malaria in Anglo Saxon Hampshire

This entry is part 4 of 15 in the series Anglo Saxon Hampshire

Malaria was endemic in Southern Anglo Saxon England and brought misery and death to those living in the extensive marshlands. Bald’s leech book and other writings allude to this ‘spring’ or ‘yellow’ fever.

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Cenwalh Anglo Saxon King

This entry is part 6 of 15 in the series Anglo Saxon Hampshire

Winchester became the heart of the kingdom of Wessex thanks to the dynasty of the early Saxon king Cerdic but it was Cenwwalh, who, on converting to Christianity, established Winchester as an ecclesiastical centre whose force was felt throughout northern Europe.

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King Alfred and The Vikings

This entry is part 10 of 15 in the series Anglo Saxon Hampshire

King Alfred’s life was dominated by the incessant attacks by the Vikings but how did Alfred succeed in defeating them when so many other kings had failed and did that defeat then propel him to become King of all England.

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Old Minster Winchester

The Footprint of Old Minster Winchester
This entry is part 11 of 15 in the series Anglo Saxon Hampshire

The Old Minster Winchester was one of the most important religious houses and places of pilgrimage in the late Anglo Saxon period. It was the initial resting place of King Alfred the Great and the place where King Canute and Edward the Confessor were crowned.

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King Sigebert – The Usurper

This entry is part 13 of 15 in the series Anglo Saxon Hampshire

Sigebert ruled for one year, as King of Wessex, before losing his position on account of ‘wrong doings’. The importance to Hampshire history of this event is that its record in the Anglo Saxon Chronicle is the first time Hampshire is recorded as a separate entity.

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Vikings Move Against Wessex

This entry is part 14 of 15 in the series Anglo Saxon Hampshire

Alfred held out against the Viking invasion and showed great skills in organizing his militia, so that when the opportunity to crush the Danish attack, he did so, decisively and coherently at the Battle of Edington

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