The broken realm: an medieval TL

[Marc Anthony]

Brittain in the 10th century was in one word: a mess. the island was divided between the Briton kingdom of Strathclyde, the Scottish kingdom of Alba the the kingdom of Wessex and various Norse and Welsh polities.

in 924 AD Eadward of Wessex died and was succeeded by his son Aethelstan who in 927 fulfilled his fathers and grandfathers ambition of uniting England into one kingdom when he conquered the Norse kingdom of Northumbria and driving away its king, Guthfrith who was also king of Dublin.
Guthfrith died in 934 and was succeeded king of by his son Olaf. Olaf dreamed of retaking Northumbria and to achieve that goal had allied with Owain ap Dyvnwal of Strathclota and Causantin mac Aeda of Alba.

the three had invaded England in 937 and faced Aethelstan's army at Brunanbruh near Chester.
it soon turned into a disaster for the English when Aethelstan and his half brother Eadmund fell and the army routed. (1)

both Aethelstan and Eadmund had not had known issue and last brother left was the sickly 14 year old Eadred who was in condition to defend against the country. the witan, assembled to elect a new king, some wanted Aethelstan the viceroy of East Anglia and a great grandson of Aethelred I of Wessex. (2) others wanted Eadred, eventually Aethelstan was elected.
England had a new king the only question was, could he defeat the invasion?

Footnotes:
(1) this is the POD
(2) i read that according to one theory Aethelweard the chronicler's decent from Aethelhem son of Aethelred I was through Ealdorman Eadric of Sussex who was the brother of Aethelstan the viceroy of East Anglia and their conections was through their father Aethelfryth who was supposedly the son of said Aethelhelm. so i decided to go with that.

 

[Cymry-Korean]

Cool! I'm actually doing a timeline on that exact POD. Wonder how different they'll end up being.

 

[Marc Anthony]

Cool! I'm actually doing a timeline on that exact POD. Wonder how different they'll end up being.

thanks man. my favorite groups of the time are the the Anglo Saxons and the scandinavians. but most of TLs about the period are either about 1066 or 878 so i wanted to due one about brunanbruh. and it just started writing itself. and i thaught to kill off Eadred but then i decided to explore him surviving but not being the king and instead explore Aethelstan Half King reighning.
any advise is welcome.

 

[The Professor]

any advise is welcome.

If you're going to use Old English I recommend also using the contemporary forms of Brythonic and (Old) Gaelic too. It's really jarring to see Modern Welsh or even Irish spelling alongside West Saxon and Old Norse.

 

[HortenseMancini]

Subscribed. Will be interesting to see how things turn out. This was kind of the last golden age for the Anglo Saxons, regardless of the short lived kings.

 

[Marc Anthony]

If you're going to use Old English I recommend also using the contemporary forms of Brythonic and (Old) Gaelic too. It's really jarring to see Modern Welsh or even Irish spelling alongside West Saxon and Old Norse.

my bad ill fix that

 

[perdu42]

Old English timelines always have my attention. Best wishes for yours.

Just one question:

last brother left was the sickly 14 year old Eadred who was in condition to defend against the country

Eadred is doing what now?

 

[Marc Anthony]

Old English timelines always have my attention. Best wishes for yours.

Just one question:

Eadred is doing what now?

hes alive and present at court or maybe at a country estate. i haven't decided what to do with him yet.

i loved your TL by the way and the originality of the outcome of 1066

 

[Marc Anthony]

hey folks i was about to post earlier but i fell ill (not corona) so here it is

the ripple​

the newly elected king Aethelstan II had to set his kingdom in order. for that end he filled estates that had become vacant with his own men(1), among them his brothers Aethelwold and Eadric who became Ealdormen of Cent(2) and Hamptonscire(3) respectively.

meanwhile the allies had moved to secure their spoils. Causantin had received overlordship of Bernicia(4) and forced Osulf, the lord of Bebbanburg(5) to become his vassal. Owain received Cumbraland all the way south to the River Ribble(6) and Olaf received the rest of Northumbria. in 938 King Olaf of Northumbria launched his invasion of the five Burhs. the five burhs is the name given to the collective of the five towns of Snotingaham(7), Deoraby(8), Lindcolne(9), Stamford and Ledecestre(10). originally part of the Kingdom of Mercia they were conquered by the Great Heathen Army in the 860's and 870's, and reconquered by king Eadward and his sister Aethelflaed lady of the Mercians in the years 914-917. but the burhs still had mostly a population of Scandinavian extraction and at least some such as Ledecestre retained their Scandinavian rulers.
the invasion was divided in to a two pronged attack: one army was led by king Olaf's cousin, Olaf Sigtryggson and invaded Lindesege(11) were it captured Lincoln. the other, larger army was led by king Olaf and invaded the rest of the five burhs. it captured first Snottingaham and then Deoraby. Jarl Orm, of Ledecestre had changed sides to the invaders and betrothed his daughter to Olaf(12). then Stamford was also captured.

king Aethelstan had marched against the invaders with a newly raised army that was composed of survivors of Brunanbruh and freshly raised men. he met the invaders at the river Nene where he was defeated and had to retreat. they clashed again at west of Huntandun(13) and the norse won again. and the with autum coming the saxon army disbanded to collect the harvest. the norse consolidated theire gains. in 939 Aethelstan tried to raise a new army but the a great number of ealdormen and thengs refused to collect men for another defeat. Aethelstan was forced to seek peace and began negotiations with Olaf and the two signed the treaty of Tameworthig(14) on 17 of august.
as follows:
1. Aethelstan recognises all the territorial gains of Olaf Cousantin and Owain in Nuthumbria and the five burhs.
2. Olaf garentise the freedom of his christian subjects to worship according to their faith.
3. Olaf will protect the church in his lands.
4.Olaf will allow missionary activaty in Northumbria and the five burhs.
5. both kings will not raid each others lands.

with the treaty signed both sides had turned to their own affairs. Aethelstan returned to Wintancestre(15) and began consolidating his power and defending Englaland from viking war bands. while Olaf turned his gaze to the west.
unknown to Aethelstan Olaf's younger brother Blacaire had himself king of Dublin in his absence and Olaf had to react quickly or his authority will collapse.
in september Olaf sailed to Dublin and fought in a grove north of the city and Blacaire was killed.

in the following year Idwal Foel king of Gwynedd who had for years feared the power of his cousin king Hywel Dda of Deheubarth, who was a loyal vassal of the hated says(16), used the weakened state of Englaland to attack Deheubarth. he and his army marched down the coast to the mouth of the Afon Teifi and upstream all the while pillaging, raping, killing and burning his way through. in the battle Lingybi he killed Hywel and his son Owain but lost his own brother Elissed, king of Powys(17). Hywel's remaining sons, Eadwin and Rhodri, had fought over the kingship of the kingship for the next few years(18). after the battle Idwal would annex Powys and adopt the title ''king of the Britons''. in truth the title was empty since he controled only the center and north of the country and there were plenty of independent rulers around such as king Morgan of gwent and Hwyel's sons.

a model of a welsh chieftain​

Footnotes:
(1) think of Brunanbruh as an Anglo-Saxon Agincourt with plenty of lords killed or captured.
(2) Kent
(3) Hampshire
(4) Northumberland
(5) Bambrough Castle
(6) Cumbria and Lancashire north of the River Ribble
(7) Nottingham
(8) Derby
(9) Lincoln
(10) Liecester
(11) Lindsey
(12) in OTL he invadad the five borouhs and Jarl Orm switched sides and married his daughter to him.
(13) Huntingdun
(14) Tamworth
(15)Winchester
(16) Saxons
(17) from my understanding the status of Powys at the time is unclear so i decided to make Elissed king of Powys in vassalage to Idwal
(18) i decided that without Owain they would fight over the thrown


so i hope you enjoyed it. next update will cover the 940' and perhaps the early 950' and will deal with the butterfly effects and a certain Norwegian refugee
i just needed to get this one over and if anyone has a good guide to old welsh and old gaelic spellings please send me.

 

[Vargulfr]

Really enjoying this so far. How powerful will Idwal’s confederation become? Is there any chance of him or his descendants actually uniting the Brythonic kingdoms?

 

[Cymry-Korean]

I'm actually surprised that Aethelstan survived in your timeline. I honestly took his death as a given. Interested to see whether or not the north will remain lost with Aethelstan alive.

 

[Marc Anthony]

I'm actually surprised that Aethelstan survived in your timeline. I honestly took his death as a given. Interested to see whether or not the north will remain lost with Aethelstan alive.

actually this is Aethelstan Half King the ruler of East Anglia. i havent come upwith a nickname for him yet so if you have any suggestion your invited to offer

 

[Marc Anthony]

Really enjoying this so far. How powerful will Idwal’s confederation become? Is there any chance of him or his descendants actually uniting the Brythonic kingdoms?

thank you. it will become the greatest welsh state and i dont want to give spoilers but remember that they were never a united kingdom in the past and it did take till 1055 for them to unite OTL

 

[Marc Anthony]

the new order​

with the treaty of Tameworthig concluded both signatories returned home, though to vastly different realms. King Aethelstan had to rule over a broken realm. many of the professional and experienced warriors dead and groups of crippled men roaming the land searching for handouts, with bellies empty and faces grim.
Aethelstan had to deal with a double threat: on one hand vikings who had been emboldened by Anglalands weakness, on the other, nobles who had lost confidence in the crown's abilities and had refused to acknowledge his authority. he would spend the rest of the decade putting down rebelions while fighting viking raiders and would be invaders. he would eventualy be remembered as ''Athelstan the Troubled''.
he also witnessed the rise of a religious movement that claimed that the kingdoms suffering was due to the sins of the inhabitants and demanded not only repentance but a greater emphasis on clerical celibacy.

in stark contrast king Olaf's star was on the rise. having won Brunanbruh and expanding his rule without any defeats his authority was unquestionable. ruling from Jorvik over a much expanded Northumbria and controling his native Dyflin through a local jarl(1) he was able to rest on his laurels.
now he set his eyes to the north, Osulf of Bebbanburg wasn't happy with being forced to be a vassal of king Causantin of Alba and was looking for a way to shake of his yoke. he knew he needed allies to beat Causantin, so he reached out to kings Owain of Strathclota and Olaf of Northumbria and suggested to them that he submit to Olaf in exchange for half the rate of taxes he previously paid to Causantin and have his title upgraded from High-Reeve to Ealdorman. Owain was offered plunder and whatever he could hold whatever lands he captured. Olaf hesitated but finally agreed because it was a way of reducing Alba's power.

in may 941 King Olaf left Jorvik on his way north for campaign with a delightful piece of information, his favoured wife, the daughter of Orm Jarl, was pregnant! he later linked up with Osulf at Bebbanburg and from there they both invaded Alba by land while the king's cousin, Olaf Siggtrygson Jarl of Lindsege took a fleet and raided Alba's shores. the first battle was fought outside of Ystremelyn(2) where a swine's head formation lead by Osulf smashed through the enemy shield wall. the next battle was fought at Dunottar. the scots were again defeated, Causantin agreed to cede bernicia to Northumbria in return for the allies deserting King Owain.
in the meanwhile Owain of Strathclota had invaded Alba and defeated the initial defenders in battle, but was soon defeated by Causantin at Scone and was driven back over the border were he met the Scots again at the battle of mocetauc were the king Alba was killed.

the ruins of the latterDunottar castle

after the death of Aethelstan the Mighty in battle in 937 the exiled king of norway, Eiric Bloodaxe had found an opportunity to regain his kingdom. along with promises of gold he started a whisper campaign in 938 were he portrayed his half-brother King Haakon as a a man to weak and inexperienced to lead his subjects and who relied on the backing of Aethelstan and Jarl Sigurd Haakonarson. at the same time the Danes harried Norway's coasts on Eiric's behalf and Haakon wasn't able to stop them, thus giving relevancy to the whispers.
some Jarls and Hersar had secretly sworn allegiance to Eiric.
finally in 946 Eiric was ready to make his move, he sailed from his base in Orkney with a massive fleet and captured Augvaldsness(3) and waited for Haakon to react. Haakon who at the time was at his estate at Fitjar gathered a fleet and sailed to Augvaldsness to fight Eiric. the two met north of Augvaldsness at the mouth of the strait.
during the battle Haakon received an arrow to his right eye and died. his men demoralised, retreated. after the battle Eiric had declared himself king with the support of the Rogalanders but most of Norway was against his cause.
in 947 he conquerd Hordaland. and in 948 he assaulted Trondelag but had to retreat after a revolt broke out in Hordaland and after crushing it he attacked westfold in 949 and fought Gudrod Bjornsson for three years until killing him, forcing his wife and child to flee. the following year he fought Tryggve Olafson King of Raumarike and Ranrike and killed him as well. in the meantime Thorfinn Skull-splitter invaded Trondelag in 953 on Eiric's behalf but was repulsed. finally King Eiric was ready to invade in 954 and invading jointly with Thorfinn Jarl they overwhelmed the defenders, killing Sigurd Jarl. with Sigurds death resistence to King Eiric's rule quickly collapsed thou there would be sporadic revolts against him the rest of his reign. a side affect of the First Norwegian civil war would be an infloox of refugees fleeing Norway. some went to Iceland and Kievan Rus but most went to Northumbria and Dyflin.

King Haakon portrayd by Icelandic actor Gunlaug Arnesson in the 2001 movie: Eiric Bloodaxe

in southern Wales the war between Eadwin and Rhodri raged on for three years until Rhodri gained the uper hand, causing King Morgan of Gwent to intervene intervene on behalf of Eadwin. in 944 Deheubarth was split into the Kingdom of Dyfed under Rhodri and the kingdom of Seisyllwg under Eadwin who became a vassal of Morgan. all the while Welsh raids into Anglaland continued.

Footnotes:
(1) the same idea of the Jarls of Lade
(2) OTL Stirling. i chose the Briton theory of its etymology
(3) Avaldsnes