1.
Jorvik Viking Centre
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The Jorvik Viking Centre is a museum and visitor attraction in York, England. It was created by the York Archaeological Trust in 1984, jórvík is the Viking name for York. It suffered flooding over Christmas 2015 and has been repaired and it is due to re-open on 8 April 2017. Cravens, a firm of confectioners was founded in 1803, cravens relocated from their factory in Coppergate in central York in 1966. Unusually, wood, leather, textiles, and plant and animal remains from the period around 900 AD, were discovered to be preserved in oxygen-deprived wet clay. In all, over 40,000 objects were recovered, the Jorvik Viking Centre, which was designed by John Sunderland, opened in April 1984. Since its formation, the Centre has had close to 20 million visitors, in 2001, the centre was refurbished and enlarged at a cost of £5 million, a further investment of £1 million followed in February 2010. Among the exhibits is a replica of the Coppergate Helmet, which was found near the site of the centre and is now in the Yorkshire Museum, a new museum was opened on 13 February 2010, coinciding with the start of the annual Viking Festival in York. The centre contains new exhibitions and features, graham Ibbeson created the lifelike mannequins used in the Jorvik experience. At first the faces of these mannequins were modelled from modern day people, through advances in facial reconstruction technology eight new mannequins have been modelled through this process, which uses a low-powered laser beam and a video camera. These recreations were based on skulls found in a Viking age cemetery, although there is no guarantee that the skulls were Norse, the centre also organizes an annual Viking Festival that takes place in the second week of February. The festival is set up in tradition of an ancient Viking festival known as Jolablot, the festival includes Combat re-enactment involving volunteers from all over the world. It inspired other such sites as the “Canterbury Pilgrims Way” where visitors can join Geoffrey Chaucers pilgrimage, the centre was significantly affected by the flooding in Northern England in December 2015 with extensive water damage to the building and exhibits. The most valuable Viking artifacts were moved to prevent damage, the museum is presently closed due to the flood damage and is due to re-open in spring 2017. The Jorvik Viking Centre has been called one of Britains most popular attractions, the BBC spoke of the Time Warp experience as a new art form. The Jorvik Centre has been criticized as a book view of history. ”And its presentation of the past has been labelled “Disney-like”. Anthony Gaynor, one of the creators of the Centre, responded by stating and you cant do that if you wrap it in a lot of academic foliage. In late 2013 and early 2014, it was reported in English-language media outlets that Ragnarök
2.
Kingdom of Northumbria
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The Kingdom of Northumbria was a medieval Anglian kingdom in what is now northern England and south-east Scotland, which subsequently became an earldom in a unified English kingdom. The name reflects the southern limit to the kingdoms territory. Northumbria was formed by Æthelfrith in central Great Britain in Anglo-Saxon times, at the beginning of the 7th century, the two kingdoms of Bernicia and Deira were unified. At its height, the kingdom extended at least from just south of the Humber to the River Mersey, the later earldom came about when the southern part of Northumbria was lost to the Danelaw. The earldom was bounded by the River Tees in the south, much of this land was debated between England and Scotland, but the Earldom of Northumbria was eventually recognised as part of England by the Anglo-Scottish Treaty of York in 1237. On the northern border, Berwick-upon-Tweed, which is north of the Tweed but had changed many times, was defined as subject to the laws of England by the Wales. The local Environment Agency office, located in Newcastle Business Park, otherwise, the term is not the official name for the UK and EU region of North East England. See also, List of monarchs of Northumbria and Timeline of Northumbria Northumbria was originally formed from the union of two independent kingdoms, Bernicia and Deira, Bernicia covered lands north of the Tees, while Deira corresponded roughly to modern-day Yorkshire. Bernicia and Deira were first united by Aethelfrith, a king of Bernicia who conquered Deira around the year 604. He was defeated and killed around the year 616 in battle at the River Idle by Raedwald of East Anglia, who installed Edwin, the son of Ælla, a former king of Deira, as king. Edwin, who accepted Christianity in 627, soon grew to become the most powerful king in England, he was recognised as Bretwalda and conquered the Isle of Man and Gwynedd in northern Wales. He was, however, himself defeated by an alliance of the king of Gwynedd, Cadwallon ap Cadfan. After Edwins death, Northumbria was split between Bernicia, where Eanfrith, a son of Aethelfrith, took power, and Deira, cumbria tended to remain a country frontier with the Britons. Both of these rulers were killed during the year that followed, after the murder of Eanfrith, his brother, Oswald, backed by warriors sent by Domnall Brecc of Dál Riata, defeated and killed Cadwallon at the Battle of Heavenfield in 634. He incorporated Gododdin lands northwards up to the Firth of Forth and also extended his reach westward, encroaching on the remaining Cumbric speaking kingdoms of Rheged. Thus, Northumbria became not only part of modern Englands far north, King Oswald re-introduced Christianity to the Kingdom by appointing St. Aidan, an Irish monk from the Scottish island of Iona to convert his people. This led to the introduction of the practices of Celtic Christianity, a monastery was established on Lindisfarne. In 642, Oswald was killed by the Mercians under Penda at the Battle of Maserfield and this battle marked a major turning point in Northumbrian fortunes, Penda died in the battle, and Oswiu gained supremacy over Mercia, making himself the most powerful king in England
3.
York
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York is a historic walled city at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. The municipality is the county town of Yorkshire to which it gives its name. The city has a heritage and has provided the backdrop to major political events in England throughout much of its two millennia of existence. The city offers a wealth of attractions, of which York Minster is the most prominent. The city was founded by the Romans as Eboracum in 71 AD and it became the capital of the Roman province of Britannia Inferior, and later of the kingdoms of Northumbria and Jórvík. In the Middle Ages, York grew as a wool trading centre and became the capital of the northern ecclesiastical province of the Church of England. In the 19th century, York became a hub of the railway network, in recent decades, the economy of York has moved from being dominated by its confectionery and railway-related industries to one that provides services. The University of York and health services have become major employers, from 1996, the term City of York describes a unitary authority area which includes rural areas beyond the old city boundaries. In 2011 the urban area had a population of 153,717, the word York derives from the Latinised name for the city, variously rendered as Eboracum, Eburacum or Eburaci. The first mention of York by this name is dated to circa 95–104 AD as an address on a wooden stylus tablet from the Roman fortress of Vindolanda in Northumberland, the toponymy of Eboracum is uncertain because the language of the pre-Roman indigenous population was never recorded. They are thought to have spoken a Celtic language related to modern Welsh, in his Historia Regum Britanniae the 12th century chronicler, Geoffrey of Monmouth, suggests the name derives from that of a pre-Roman city founded by the legendary king Ebraucus. Alternatively, the word already existed as an Old English word for wild swine. The Anglo-Saxon newcomers probably interpreted the part as eofor, and -rac as ric, while -um was a common abbreviation of the Saxon -heem. To them, it sounded as a home rich in boar, as is common in Saxon place names, the -um part gradually faded, eoforic. When the Danish army conquered the city in 866, its name became Jórvík, the Old French and Norman name of the city following the Norman Conquest was recorded as Everwic in works such as Waces Roman de Rou. The form York was first recorded in the 13th century, many company and place names, such as the Ebor race meeting, refer to the Roman name. The Archbishop of York uses Ebor as his surname in his signature, archaeological evidence suggests that Mesolithic people settled in the region of York between 8000 and 7000 BC, although it is not known whether their settlements were permanent or temporary. By the time of the Roman conquest of Britain, the area was occupied by a known to the Romans as the Brigantes
4.
England
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England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west, the Irish Sea lies northwest of England and the Celtic Sea lies to the southwest. England is separated from continental Europe by the North Sea to the east, the country covers five-eighths of the island of Great Britain in its centre and south, and includes over 100 smaller islands such as the Isles of Scilly, and the Isle of Wight. England became a state in the 10th century, and since the Age of Discovery. The Industrial Revolution began in 18th-century England, transforming its society into the worlds first industrialised nation, Englands terrain mostly comprises low hills and plains, especially in central and southern England. However, there are uplands in the north and in the southwest, the capital is London, which is the largest metropolitan area in both the United Kingdom and the European Union. In 1801, Great Britain was united with the Kingdom of Ireland through another Act of Union to become the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. In 1922 the Irish Free State seceded from the United Kingdom, leading to the latter being renamed the United Kingdom of Great Britain, the name England is derived from the Old English name Englaland, which means land of the Angles. The Angles were one of the Germanic tribes that settled in Great Britain during the Early Middle Ages, the Angles came from the Angeln peninsula in the Bay of Kiel area of the Baltic Sea. The earliest recorded use of the term, as Engla londe, is in the ninth century translation into Old English of Bedes Ecclesiastical History of the English People. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, its spelling was first used in 1538. The earliest attested reference to the Angles occurs in the 1st-century work by Tacitus, Germania, the etymology of the tribal name itself is disputed by scholars, it has been suggested that it derives from the shape of the Angeln peninsula, an angular shape. An alternative name for England is Albion, the name Albion originally referred to the entire island of Great Britain. The nominally earliest record of the name appears in the Aristotelian Corpus, specifically the 4th century BC De Mundo, in it are two very large islands called Britannia, these are Albion and Ierne. But modern scholarly consensus ascribes De Mundo not to Aristotle but to Pseudo-Aristotle, the word Albion or insula Albionum has two possible origins. Albion is now applied to England in a poetic capacity. Another romantic name for England is Loegria, related to the Welsh word for England, Lloegr, the earliest known evidence of human presence in the area now known as England was that of Homo antecessor, dating to approximately 780,000 years ago. The oldest proto-human bones discovered in England date from 500,000 years ago, Modern humans are known to have inhabited the area during the Upper Paleolithic period, though permanent settlements were only established within the last 6,000 years
5.
Roman Britain
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Roman Britain was the area of the island of Great Britain that was governed by the Roman Empire, from AD43 to 410. Julius Caesar invaded Britain in 55 and 54 BC as part of his Gallic Wars, the Britons had been overrun or culturally assimilated by other Celtic tribes during the British Iron Age and had been aiding Caesars enemies. He received tribute, installed a king over the Trinovantes. Planned invasions under Augustus were called off in 34,27, in AD40, Caligula assembled 200,000 men at the Channel, only to have them gather seashells. Three years later, Claudius directed four legions to invade Britain, the Romans defeated the Catuvellauni, and then organized their conquests as the Province of Britain. By the year 47, the Romans held the lands southeast of the Fosse Way, control over Wales was delayed by reverses and the effects of Boudicas uprising, but the Romans expanded steadily northward. Around 197, the Severan Reforms divided Britain into two provinces, Britannia Superior and Britannia Inferior, during the Diocletian Reforms, at the end of the 3rd century, Britannia was divided into four provinces under the direction of a vicarius, who administered the Diocese of the Britains. A fifth province, Valentia, is attested in the later 4th century, for much of the later period of the Roman occupation, Britannia was subject to barbarian invasions and often came under the control of imperial usurpers and imperial pretenders. The final Roman withdrawal from Britain occurred around 410, the kingdoms are considered to have formed Sub-Roman Britain after that. Following the conquest of the Britons, a distinctive Romano-British culture emerged as the Romans introduced improved agriculture, urban planning, industrial production, after the initial invasions, Roman historians generally only mention Britain in passing. Thus, most present knowledge derives from archaeological investigations and occasional epigraphic evidence lauding the Britannic achievements of an emperor, over the centuries Roman citizens settled in Britain from many parts of the Empire, such as Italy, Spain, Syria and Algeria. Britain was known to the Classical world, the Greeks, Phoenicians and Carthaginians traded for Cornish tin in the 4th century BC, the Greeks referred to the Cassiterides, or tin islands, and placed them near the west coast of Europe. The Carthaginian sailor Himilco is said to have visited the island in the 5th century BC, however, it was regarded as a place of mystery, with some writers refusing to believe it existed at all. The first direct Roman contact was when Julius Caesar undertook two expeditions in 55 and 54 BC, as part of his conquest of Gaul, believing the Britons were helping the Gallic resistance. The second invasion involved a larger force and Caesar coerced or invited many of the native Celtic tribes to pay tribute. A friendly local king, Mandubracius, was installed, and his rival, hostages were taken, but historians disagree over whether any tribute was paid after Caesar returned to Gaul. Caesar conquered no territory and left no troops behind but he established clients, Augustus planned invasions in 34,27 and 25 BC, but circumstances were never favourable, and the relationship between Britain and Rome settled into one of diplomacy and trade. Strabo, writing late in Augustuss reign, claimed that taxes on trade brought in annual revenue than any conquest could
6.
Eboracum
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Eboracum was a fort and city in the Roman province of Britannia. In its prime it was the largest town in northern Britain, the site remained occupied after the decline of the Roman Empire and ultimately evolved into the present-day city York, occupying the same site in North Yorkshire, England. Two Roman emperors died in Eboracum, Septimius Severus in 211 AD, and Constantius Chlorus in 306 AD. The first known recorded mention of Eboracum by name is dated c. 95–104 AD and is an address containing the Latin form of the name, Eburaci. During the Roman period, the name was written in the form Eboracum and Eburacum. The etymology of Eboracum is uncertain as the language of the population of the area was never recorded. However, the accepted view of British history, is that the inhabitants of Britain at this time spoke a Celtic language related to modern Welsh. This language has been reconstructed from Latin place names and modern Celtic languages, the name Eboracum is thought to have derived from the Common Brythonic Iburakon which probably means place of the yew trees. The word for yew was probably something like *ibura in Celtic, the name is then thought to have been Latinized by replacing -acon with -acum, according to a common use noted in Gaul and Lusitania. The different Évry, Ivry, Ivrey, Ivory in France would all come from *Eboracum / *Eboriacum, for example, Ivry-la-Bataille, Ivry-le-Temple Évry, the Roman conquest of Britain began in 43 AD but advance beyond the Humber did not take place until the early 70s AD. This was because the people in the known as the Brigantes by the Romans became a Roman client state. When their leadership changed becoming more hostile to Rome, Roman General Quintus Petillius Cerialis led the Ninth Legion north from Lincoln across the Humber. Eboracum was founded in 71 AD when Cerialis and the Ninth Legion constructed a fortress on flat ground above the River Ouse near its junction with the River Foss. In the same year Cerialis was appointed Governor of Britain, a legion at full strength at that time numbered some 5,500 men, and provided new trading opportunities for enterprising local people, who doubtless flocked to Eboracum to take advantage of them. As a result, permanent civilian settlement grew up around the fortress especially on its south-east side, civilians also settled on the opposite side of the Ouse, initially along the main road from Eboracum to the south-west. By the later 2nd century, growth was rapid, streets were laid out, public buildings were erected, from its foundation the Roman fort of Eboracum was aligned on a north-east/south-east bearing on the north bank of the River Ouse. It measured 1,600 pes monetalis by 1,360 pes monetalis, the standard suit of streets running through the castra is assumed, although some evidence exists for the via praetoria, via decumana and via sagularis. Much of the understanding of the Fortress defences has come from extensive excavations undertaken by Leslie Peter Wenham
7.
Anglo-Saxons
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The Anglo-Saxons are a people who have inhabited Great Britain from the 5th century. Historically, the Anglo-Saxon period denotes the period in Britain between about 450 and 1066, after their settlement and up until the Norman conquest. The early Anglo-Saxon period includes the creation of an English nation, with many of the aspects that survive today, including government of shires. During this period, Christianity was re-established and there was a flowering of literature, charters and law were also established. The term Anglo-Saxon is popularly used for the language that was spoken and written by the Anglo-Saxons in England, in scholarly use, it is more commonly called Old English. The history of the Anglo-Saxons is the history of a cultural identity and it developed from divergent groups in association with the peoples adoption of Christianity, and was integral to the establishment of various kingdoms. Threatened by extended Danish invasions and occupation of eastern England, this identity was re-established, the visible Anglo-Saxon culture can be seen in the material culture of buildings, dress styles, illuminated texts and grave goods. Behind the symbolic nature of these emblems, there are strong elements of tribal. The elite declared themselves as kings who developed burhs, and identified their roles and peoples in Biblical terms, above all, as Helena Hamerow has observed, local and extended kin groups remained. the essential unit of production throughout the Anglo-Saxon period. Use of the term Anglo-Saxon assumes that the words Angles, Saxons or Anglo-Saxon have the meaning in all the sources. Assigning ethnic labels such as Anglo-Saxon is fraught with difficulties and this term began to be used only in the 8th century to distinguish the Germanic groups in Britain from those on the continent. The Old English ethnonym Angul-Seaxan comes from the Latin Angli-Saxones and became the name of the peoples Bede calls Anglorum, Anglo-Saxon is a term that was rarely used by Anglo-Saxons themselves, it is not an autonym. It is likely they identified as ængli, Seaxe or, more probably, also, the use of Anglo-Saxon disguises the extent to which people identified as Anglo-Scandinavian after the Viking age or the conquest of 1016, or as Anglo-Norman after the Norman conquest. The earliest historical references using this term are from outside Britain, referring to piratical Germanic raiders, Saxones who attacked the shores of Britain, procopius states that Britain was settled by three races, the Angiloi, Frisones, and Britons. The term Angli Saxones seems to have first been used in writing of the 8th century. The name therefore seemed to mean English Saxons, the Christian church seems to have used the word Angli, for example in the story of Pope Gregory I and his remark, Non Angli sed angeli. The terms ænglisc and Angelcynn were also used by West Saxon King Alfred to refer to the people, at other times he uses the term rex Anglorum, which presumably meant both Anglo-Saxons and Danes. Alfred the Great used Anglosaxonum Rex, the term Engla cyningc is used by Æthelred
8.
Edmund the Martyr
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Edmund the Martyr was king of East Anglia from about 855 until his death. Almost nothing is known about Edmund and he is thought to have been of East Anglian origin and was first mentioned in an annal of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, written some years after his death. The kingdom of East Anglia was devastated by the Vikings, who destroyed any evidence of his reign. Later writers produced fictitious accounts of his life, asserting that he was born in 841, the son of Æthelweard, an obscure East Anglian king, whom it was said Edmund succeeded when he was fourteen. Later versions of Edmunds life relate that he was crowned on 25 December 855 at Burna, which at that time functioned as the capital. In 869, the Great Heathen Army advanced on East Anglia and killed Edmund. According to one legend, his head was thrown into the forest. Commentators have noted how Edmunds death bears resemblance to the fate suffered by St Sebastian, St Denis, a coinage commemorating Edmund was minted from around the time East Anglia was absorbed by the kingdom of Wessex and a popular cult emerged. In about 986, Abbo of Fleury wrote of his life, the saints remains were temporarily moved from Bury St Edmunds to London for safekeeping in 1010. His shrine at Bury was visited by kings, including Canute, who was responsible for rebuilding the abbey. During the Middle Ages, when Edmund was regarded as the saint of England, Bury and its magnificent abbey grew wealthy. Edmund is first mentioned in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle annal for 870, by tradition, Edmund is thought to have been born in 841 and to have acceded to the East Anglian throne in around 855. Nothing is known of his life or reign, as no contemporary East Anglian documents from this period have survived, later medieval chroniclers have provided dubious accounts of his life, in the absence of any real details. The most credible theory for Edmund’s parentage suggests Ealhhere, brother-in-law to King Æthelstan of Kent, as Edmund’s father, Edmund cannot be placed within any ruling dynasty. Numismatic evidence suggests he succeeded Æthelweard and it is known that a variety of different coins were minted by Edmunds moneyers during his reign. The letters AN, standing for Anglia, only appear on the coins of Edmund and Æthelstan of East Anglia, later specimens read + EADMUND REX and so it is possible for his coins to be divided chronologically. Otherwise, no chronology for his coins has been confirmed and it relates that Her rad se here ofer Mierce innan East Engle and wiñt setl namon. And þy wint Eadmund cying him wiþ feaht. and þa Deniscan sige naman þone cyning ofslogon. by tradition the leaders who slew the king were Ivar the Boneless and his brother Ubba
9.
Denmark
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The term Danish Realm refers to the relationship between Denmark proper, the Faroe Islands and Greenland—three countries constituting the Kingdom of Denmark. The legal nature of the Kingdom of Denmark is fundamentally one of a sovereign state. The Faroe Islands and Greenland have been part of the Crown of Denmark since 1397 when the Kalmar Union was ratified, legal matters in The Danish Realm are subject to the Danish Constitution. Beginning in 1953, state law issues within The Danish Realm has been governed by The Unity of the Realm, a less formal name for The Unity of the Realm is the Commonwealth of the Realm. In 1978, The Unity of The Realm was for the first time referred to as rigsfællesskabet. The name caught on and since the 1990s, both The Unity of The Realm and The Danish Realm itself has increasingly been referred to as simply rigsfællesskabet in daily parlance. The Danish Constitution stipulates that the foreign and security interests for all parts of the Danish Realm are the responsibility of the Danish government, the Faroes received home rule in 1948 and Greenland did so in 1979. In 2005, the Faroes received a self-government arrangement, and in 2009 Greenland received self rule, the Danish Realms unique state of internal affairs is acted out in the principle of The Unity of the Realm. This principle is derived from Article 1 of the Danish Constitution which specifies that constitutional law applies equally to all areas of the Danish Realm, the Constitutional Act specifies that sovereignty is to continue to be exclusively with the authorities of the Realm. The language of Denmark is Danish, and the Danish state authorities are based in Denmark, the Kingdom of Denmarks parliament, with its 179 members, is located in the capital, Copenhagen. Two of the members are elected in each of Greenland and the Faroe Islands. The Government ministries are located in Copenhagen, as is the highest court, in principle, the Danish Realm constitutes a unified sovereign state, with equal status between its constituent parts. Devolution differs from federalism in that the powers of the subnational authority ultimately reside in central government. The Self-Government Arrangements devolves political competence and responsibility from the Danish political authorities to the Faroese, the Faroese and Greenlandic authorities administer the tasks taken over from the state, enact legislation in these specific fields and have the economic responsibility for solving these tasks. The Danish government provides a grant to the Faroese and the Greenlandic authorities to cover the costs of these devolved areas. The 1948 Home Rule Act of the Faroe Islands sets out the terms of Faroese home rule, the Act states. the Faroe Islands shall constitute a self-governing community within the State of Denmark. It establishes the government of the Faroe Islands and the Faroese parliament. The Faroe Islands were previously administered as a Danish county, the Home Rule Act abolished the post of Amtmand and these powers were expanded in a 2005 Act, which named the Faroese home government as an equal partner with the Danish government
10.
Alfred the Great
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Alfred the Great was King of Wessex from 871 to 899. Alfred successfully defended his kingdom against the Viking attempt at conquest and he is one of only two English monarchs to be given the epithet the Great, the other being the Scandinavian Cnut the Great. He was also the first King of the West Saxons to style himself King of the Anglo-Saxons, details of Alfreds life are described in a work by the 10th-century Welsh scholar and bishop Asser. In 2002, Alfred was ranked number 14 in the BBCs poll of the 100 Greatest Britons, Alfred was born in the village of Wanating, now Wantage, historically in Berkshire but now in Oxfordshire. He was the youngest son of King Æthelwulf of Wessex by his first wife, Osburh. In 853, at the age of four, Alfred is reported by the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle to have sent to Rome, where he was confirmed by Pope Leo IV. Victorian writers later interpreted this as a coronation in preparation for his eventual succession to the throne of Wessex. This is unlikely, his succession could not have foreseen at the time. A letter of Leo IV shows that Alfred was made a consul and it may also be based on Alfreds later having accompanied his father on a pilgrimage to Rome, where he spent some time at the court of Charles the Bald, King of the Franks, around 854–855. On their return from Rome in 856, Æthelwulf was deposed by his son Æthelbald, with civil war looming, the magnates of the realm met in council to hammer out a compromise. Æthelbald would retain the western shires, and Æthelwulf would rule in the east, when King Æthelwulf died in 858, Wessex was ruled by three of Alfreds brothers in succession, Æthelbald, Æthelberht and Æthelred. Bishop Asser tells the story of how as a child Alfred won as a prize a book of Saxon poems, legend also has it that the young Alfred spent time in Ireland seeking healing. Alfred was troubled by health problems throughout his life and it is thought that he may have suffered from Crohns disease. Statues of Alfred in Winchester and Wantage portray him as a great warrior, evidence suggests he was not physically strong, and though not lacking in courage, he was noted more for his intellect than as a warlike character. During the short reigns of the two of his three elder brothers, Æthelbald of Wessex and Æthelberht of Wessex, Alfred is not mentioned. This arrangement may have been sanctioned by Alfreds father, or by the Witan, the arrangement of crowning a successor as royal prince and military commander is well known among other Germanic tribes, such as the Swedes and Franks, to whom the Anglo-Saxons were closely related. In 868, Alfred is recorded as fighting beside Æthelred in an attempt to keep the Great Heathen Army, led by Ivar the Boneless. At the end of 870, the Danes arrived in his homeland, the year which followed has been called Alfreds year of battles
11.
Swedes
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Swedes are a Germanic ethnic group native to Sweden. They mostly inhabit Sweden and the other Nordic countries, in particular Finland, with a substantial diaspora in other countries, the English term Swede has been attested in English since the late 16th century and is of Middle Dutch or Middle Low German origin. The term is believed to have derived from the Proto-Indo-European reflexive pronominal root, *se. The word must have meant ones own, the same root and original meaning is found in the ethnonym of the Germanic tribe Suebi, preserved to this day in the name Swabia. Sweden enters proto-history with the Germania of Tacitus in AD98, in Germania 44,45 he mentions the Swedes as a powerful tribe with ships that had a prow in both ends. Which kings ruled these Suiones is unknown, but Norse mythology presents a line of legendary and semi-legendary kings going back to the last centuries BC. In the 6th century Jordanes named two tribes, which he calls the Suehans and the Suetidi, who lived in Scandza and these two names are both considered to refer to the same tribe. The Suehans, he says, has very fine horses just as the Thyringi tribe, the Icelander Snorri Sturluson wrote of the 6th-century Swedish king Adils that he had the finest horses of his days. The Suehans supplied black fox-skins for the Roman market, then Jordanes names the Suetidi which is considered to be the Latin form of Svitjod. He writes that the Suetidi are the tallest of men - together with the Dani, later he mentions other Scandinavian tribes as being of the same height. Originating in semi-legendary Scandza, a Gothic population had crossed the Baltic Sea before the 2nd century AD and they reaching Scythia on the coast of the Black Sea in modern Ukraine, where Goths left their archaeological traces in the Chernyakhov culture. In the 5th and 6th centuries, they divided as the Visigoths and the Ostrogoths. Crimean Gothic communities appear to have survived intact in the Crimea until the late 18th century, the Swedish Viking Age lasted roughly between the 8th and 11th centuries. During this period, it is believed that the Swedes expanded from eastern Sweden and it is believed that Swedish Vikings and Gutar mainly travelled east and south, going to Finland, the Baltic countries, Russia, Belarus, Ukraine the Black Sea and further as far as Baghdad. Their routes passed through the Dnieper down south to Constantinople, on which they did numerous raids, the Byzantine Emperor Theophilos noticed their great skills in war and invited them to serve as his personal bodyguard, known as the varangian guard. The Swedish Vikings, called Rus are also believed to be the fathers of Kievan Rus. The Arabic traveller Ibn Fadlan described these Vikings as following, I have seen the Rus as they came on their merchant journeys, each man has an axe, a sword, and a knife, and keeps each by him at all times. The swords are broad and grooved, of Frankish sort, the adventures of these Swedish Vikings are commemorated on many runestones in Sweden, such as the Greece Runestones and the Varangian Runestones
12.
Sweden
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Sweden, officially the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and Finland to the east, at 450,295 square kilometres, Sweden is the third-largest country in the European Union by area, with a total population of 10.0 million. Sweden consequently has a low density of 22 inhabitants per square kilometre. Approximately 85% of the lives in urban areas. Germanic peoples have inhabited Sweden since prehistoric times, emerging into history as the Geats/Götar and Swedes/Svear, Southern Sweden is predominantly agricultural, while the north is heavily forested. Sweden is part of the area of Fennoscandia. The climate is in very mild for its northerly latitude due to significant maritime influence. Today, Sweden is a monarchy and parliamentary democracy, with a monarch as head of state. The capital city is Stockholm, which is also the most populous city in the country, legislative power is vested in the 349-member unicameral Riksdag. Executive power is exercised by the government chaired by the prime minister, Sweden is a unitary state, currently divided into 21 counties and 290 municipalities. Sweden emerged as an independent and unified country during the Middle Ages, in the 17th century, it expanded its territories to form the Swedish Empire, which became one of the great powers of Europe until the early 18th century. Swedish territories outside the Scandinavian Peninsula were gradually lost during the 18th and 19th centuries, the last war in which Sweden was directly involved was in 1814, when Norway was militarily forced into personal union. Since then, Sweden has been at peace, maintaining a policy of neutrality in foreign affairs. The union with Norway was peacefully dissolved in 1905, leading to Swedens current borders, though Sweden was formally neutral through both world wars, Sweden engaged in humanitarian efforts, such as taking in refugees from German-occupied Europe. After the end of the Cold War, Sweden joined the European Union on 1 January 1995 and it is also a member of the United Nations, the Nordic Council, Council of Europe, the World Trade Organization and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Sweden maintains a Nordic social welfare system that provides health care. The modern name Sweden is derived through back-formation from Old English Swēoþēod and this word is derived from Sweon/Sweonas. The Swedish name Sverige literally means Realm of the Swedes, excluding the Geats in Götaland, the etymology of Swedes, and thus Sweden, is generally not agreed upon but may derive from Proto-Germanic Swihoniz meaning ones own, referring to ones own Germanic tribe
