10th century in England

Events from the 10th century in the Kingdom of England.

Events

902 Irish Norsemen, expelled from Dublin, establish colonies on The Wirral.
909 King Edward the Elder and his sister, Princess Æthelflæd of Mercia, raid Danish East Anglia and bring back the relics of St. Oswald in triumph. Æthelflæd translates them to the new minster in Gloucester, which is renamed St. Oswald's Priory in his honour. Edward dispatches an Anglo-Saxon army to attack the Northumbrian Vikings and ravages Scandinavian York. The Dioceses of Bath and of Crediton are separated from that of Sherborne, Athelm being appointed first Bishop of Wells and Eadwulf of Crediton. Æthelweard briefly serves as Bishop of Sherborne at about this time.
910–920 Edward the Elder, King of Wessex, and his sister, Æthelflæd, Lady of the Mercians, conquer most of the Danelaw.
910 5 August – Battle of Tettenhall: Edward the Elder, King of Wessex, allied with the forces of Mercia, defeats a Northumbrian Viking army; Eowils and Halfdan and Ingwær, kings of Northumbria, are killed.
911 Edward transfers London and Oxford from Mercia to Wessex. Æthelred, Lord of the Mercians, dies and his wife Æthelflæd takes over rule as Lady of the Mercians.
912 Æthelflæd of Mercia begins to establish fortified burhs, including one at Bridgnorth.
913 Æthelflæd rebuilds the ruined town of Tamworth as a burh and capital of Mercia, also establishing a burh at Stafford.
914 Æthelflæd of Mercia establishes Eddisbury and Warwick as burhs.
915 First Battle of Corbridge: Viking victory over the Anglo-Saxons. King Edward occupies Bedford. Æthelflæd of Mercia establishes Chirbury and Runcorn as burhs.
917 King Edward captures Derby and seizes control of East Anglia. All Danes south of the Humber submit to his rule.
918 12 June – Æthelflæd of Mercia dies at Tamworth; Edward the Elder takes control of her kingdom. Welsh kings pay homage to Edward. Second Battle of Corbridge.
919 Ragnall ua Ímair seizes control of the Kingdom of York.
920 Norse Vikings under Sitric Cáech attack Cheshire. Constantine II of Scotland, and the kings of Strathclyde, York, and Northumbria acknowledge Edward the Elder as their overlord.
c. 923 Athelm enthroned as Archbishop of Canterbury.
924 17 July – Edward the Elder dies and is succeeded by Æthelstan as King of Wessex.
925 4 September – coronation of Æthelstan as King of Wessex at Kingston upon Thames.
926 8 January – death of Athelm, Archbishop of Canterbury. He will be succeeded by Wulfhelm. 30 January – a sister of King Æthelstan, perhaps Edith of Polesworth, is married to Sitric Cáech, the squint-eyed Norse King of Northumbria and Dublin (died 927), in Tamworth. Possible date (or 936?) – Conan is nominated as Bishop of Cornwall by Æthelstan.
927 King Æthelstan occupies York following the death of Sitric Cáech. 12 July – King Æthelstan of Wessex claims his kingdom and receives the submission of High-Reeve Ealdred I of Bamburgh and probably also of Owain ap Dyfnwal, King of Strathclyde, at Eamont Bridge. He unifies the various small kingdoms of the Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy, creating the Kingdom of England, and also secures a pledge from King Constantine II of Scotland, that he will not ally with the Viking kings. This summer also Kings Hywel Dda of Deheubarth and Owain of Glywysing and Gwent submit to the overlordship of Æthelstan at Hereford.
928 King Æthelstan sets the border between England and Wales at the River Wye. King Æthelstan asserts authority over the Cornish, and sets the border of Cornwall at the River Tamar. The scribe known as "Æthelstan A" begins to draft royal charters.
931 Æthelstan holds the first Council of All England, at Colchester.
933 Æthelstan founds Milton Abbey in Dorset.
934 Æthelstan invades Scotland, reaching as far as Caithness.
935 Approximate date – Æthelstan mints the first coins proclaiming himself to be "King of All Britain" (Rex To[tius] Brit[anniae]).
937 Battle of Brunanburh: King Æthelstan defeats Olaf Guthfrithson, the Norse King of Dublin, Constantine II, King of Scots, and Owain ap Dyfnwal, King of the Cumbrians. In thanksgiving for his victory, on his return Æthelstan grants Beverley Minster collegiate status (according to legend).
939 Failed expedition to support King Louis IV of France against Otto, King of East Francia. 27 October – King Æthelstan dies at Gloucester; he is buried at Malmesbury Abbey and succeeded by his half-brother Edmund I. King Olaf Guthfrithson captures York.
940 King Edmund cedes Northumbria and the Five Boroughs of the Danelaw to Olaf Guthfrithson. King Edmund summons Dunstan to his court, where he becomes a favourite, and appoints him Abbot of Glastonbury, where he initiates English Benedictine Reform and revival.
941 King Olaf Guthfrithson dies; Amlaíb Cuarán (Óláfr Sigtryggsson) succeeds him as King of Northumbria. 12 February – death of Wulfhelm, Archbishop of Canterbury. Oda enthroned as Archbishop of Canterbury.
942 King Edmund re-captures the Five Boroughs.
943 Vikings take Tamworth.
944 King Edmund takes York from the Vikings.
945 King Edmund invades Strathclyde, and grants Cumbria to King Malcolm I of Scotland.
946 26 May – King Edmund is murdered by an exiled criminal at Pucklechurch and succeeded by his brother Eadred of England who is crowned on 16 August at Kingston upon Thames.
947 Wulfstan I, Archbishop of York invites the Viking leader Eric Bloodaxe to become King of Northumbria. First record of Horsham.
948 King Eadred expels Eric Bloodaxe from Northumbria. King Malcolm I of Scotland raids Northumbria.
949 Óláfr Sigtryggsson returns as King of Northumbria.
952 Eric Bloodaxe reconquers York. King Eadred imprisons Wulfstan of York.
954 Eric Bloodaxe is killed at Stainmore allowing King Eadred to recover York, reuniting the kingdom of Northumbria with that of England, under the administration of Osulf I of Bamburgh.
955 23 November – King Eadred dies at Frome and is succeeded by his nephew Eadwig.
956 Dunstan exiled after quarreling with King Eadwig.
957 Dunstan re-founds abbeys at Bath, Exeter, Malmesbury, and Westminster. Mercia and Northumbria rebel, choosing Edgar as King.
958 2 June – death of Oda of Canterbury, Archbishop of Canterbury.
959 Ælfsige enthroned as Archbishop of Canterbury but dies en route to Rome. Byrhthelm enthroned as Archbishop of Canterbury. 1 October – King Edwig dies and is succeeded by his brother Edgar the Peaceful. Edgar overturns the appointment of Byrhthelm as Archbishop of Canterbury in favour of Dunstan.
960 21 September – Dunstan receives the pallium as Archbishop of Canterbury from Pope John XII.
961 Saint Oswald becomes Bishop of Worcester; he establishes or re-founds abbeys at Ramsey, Cambridgeshire, Evesham, Pershore, and Winchcombe. Ordgar, Ealdorman of Devon, founds Tavistock Abbey.
963 King Edgar grants legal autonomy to the Danelaw. Æthelwold becomes Bishop of Winchester; re-founds abbeys at Ely and (about 966) Peterborough (Medeshamstede).
c. 970 Regularis Concordia produced at Winchester. Oak tree begins growing in what will become Blenheim Park in Oxfordshire which will still be living in the second decade of the 21st century.
971 15 July – the planned removal of the body of Saint Swithun during the re-building of Winchester Cathedral is delayed by 40 days due to rain. Kenneth II of Scotland raids England, reaching as far as Yorkshire.
973 11 May – coronation of King Edgar at Bath. Edgar sails to Chester, and receives homage from the rulers of Alba, Strathclyde, Wales, and the Kingdom of the Isles. Edgar has the coinage called in and re-struck as uniform pennies.
975 8 July – King Edgar dies and is succeeded by his 12-year-old son Edward.
978 18 March – King Edward is murdered by the servants of his stepmother Queen Ælfthryth at Corfe Castle. He is succeeded by his stepbrother Æthelred the Unready.
980 Vikings begin a new wave of raids on England.
981 13 February – start of a 7-day procession in which the bones of St Edward the Martyr are translated from Wareham to Shaftesbury Abbey, overseen by Dunstan and Ælfhere, Ealdorman of Mercia. Viking raids on Dorset, Devon, and Cornwall begin, and continue for a further seven years.
985 King Æthelred grants lands at Hēatūn to Lady Wulfrun by royal charter, thus founding what will become Wolverhampton.
986 Cholsey Abbey, a nunnery, is founded in the upper Thames valley by dowager queen Ælfthryth.
988 19 May – death of Dunstan, Archbishop of Canterbury. He is succeeded by Æthelgar.
990 13 February – death of Æthelgar, Archbishop of Canterbury. Sigeric the Serious enthroned as Archbishop of Canterbury.
991 1 March – Æthelred signs a treaty with Duke Richard I of Normandy, by which each agrees not to aid the others' enemies. August – Norse invasion force sacks Ipswich. 10 August – Battle of Maldon: Danes defeat the English army, whose leader, Byrhtnoth, is killed. The first Danegeld, of £10,000, is paid to the Danes in return for their leaving England (according to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle).
993 Danes raid Northumbria, destroying the original fortifications at Bamburgh Castle.
994 Norse and Danish armies ravage the south-east, but fail to capture London. £16,000 of Danegeld paid. Olaf II of Norway is baptised at Andover, and swears not to return to England.
995 Ælfric of Abingdon enthroned as Archbishop of Canterbury. Aldhun, Bishop of Lindisfarne, moves his episcopal see from Chester-le-Street to Durham, to which the remains of Saint Cuthbert (d. 687) are translated. Ælfric of Eynsham completes his Catholic Homilies.
997 King Æthelred issues a law code at Wantage, defining the legal position in the Danelaw and introducing trial by jury. Ælfric of Eynsham completes the English Lives of Saints.
998 Danes raid southern and western coasts.
999 Danes raid Kent, attacking Rochester.
1000 English fleet invades the Isle of Man. English invasion of Cumbria fails. Heroic poem The Battle of Maldon composed.

Births

902 Dunstan, Archbishop of Canterbury (died 988)
922 King Edmund I of England (died 946)
923 King Eadred of England (died 955)
943/44 King Edgar of England (died 975)
c. 950 Sigeric the Serious, Archbishop of Canterbury (died 994)
c. 955 Ælfric of Eynsham, abbot and religious writer (died 1010)
c. 962 King Edward the Martyr (died 978)
968 King Æthelred the Unready (died 1016)

Deaths

902 5 December – Ealhswith, queen consort of Alfred the Great
904 John the Old Saxon, Abbot of Athelney (approximate date)
908 Denewulf, Bishop of Winchester
909 – approximate date Asser, Bishop of Sherborne and scholar Wighelm, probable Bishop of Selsey
911 Æthelred, Lord of the Mercians
912 Wilferth, Bishop of Lichfield (approximate date)
913 Eadwulf II of Northumbria (killed)
914 or 923 2 August – Plegmund, Archbishop of Canterbury
915 Cutheard of Lindisfarne, bishop (approximate date)
917 Guthrum II, presumed king of East Anglia
918 12 June – Æthelflæd, Lady of the Mercians (born c. 870)
920 or 922 Æthelweard (son of Alfred)
921 Ragnall ua Ímair, Norse King of Northumbria and Mann
924 17 July – Edward the Elder, King of Wessex (born c. 871) 2 August – Ælfweard of Wessex, King of Wessex
926 8 January – Athelm, Archbishop of Canterbury
927 Sitric Cáech, Norse King of Northumbria
939 27 October – Æthelstan, King of England (born c. 895)
941 12 February – Wulfhelm, Archbishop of Canterbury
946 26 May – King Edmund I of England (born 922)
954 Eric Bloodaxe, Norse King of Northumbria (born c. 895)
955 23 November – King Eadred of England (born c. 923)
958 Oda, Archbishop of Canterbury
959 Ælfsige, Archbishop of Canterbury
c. 962/3 Æthelwald, Ealdorman of East Anglia
971 Ordgar, Ealdorman of Devon
973 15 May – Byrhthelm, Archbishop of Canterbury
975 8 July – King Edgar of England (born c. 943)
977 30 April–2 May – Sideman, Bishop of Crediton
978 18 March – King Edward the Martyr (born c. 962)
983 8 July – Ælfwynn, wife of Æthelstan Half-King
988 Dunstan, Archbishop of Canterbury (born c. 909)
990 13 February – Æthelgar, Archbishop of Canterbury
994 28 October – Sigeric the Serious, Archbishop of Canterbury (born c. 950)