Northumbria Predominant
On consideration, I don't think the Northumbrians can defeat the Mercians and Welsh at the same time.
Perhaps the best POD is that Edwin and Cadwallon don't fall out as young men/children. They somehow become friends, and Edwin marries one of Cadwallon/Cadfed's female relatives, which incidentally means he converts by to Christianity, and a British churchman is appointed to York.
This means that when Cadfan dies, Edwin doesn’t move against Gwynned, instead directing his forces north, rooting out the remainder of the Bernician dynasty from the Scottish and Pictish kingdoms to the North, and then, latterly, against Mercia. The dates are thus.
c.595 Edwin seeks refuge at the court of Gwynned, becoming friendly with Cadwallon, foster nephew of King Iago, and Cadfan, his heir.
612: Edwin marries his good friend Cadwallon of Gwynned's sister/cousin whilst in exile there, and accepts conversion to Christianity.
613: Aethelfirth defeats the North Welsh at Chester. Edwin and family flee Gwyned to the court of King Redwald of East Anglia.
616: Edwin and Redwald defeat Aethelfirth, with substantial aid provided by Gwynned. Aethelfith and two of his sons are slain. One flees to the north.
616-625: Edwin consolidates his position in Bernica and Deira, forming the foundations for what will be later called Northumbria. He leads warbands against the Scots and then the Picts who shelter the survivors of the Bernican dynasty. In alliance with North Rheged and Gwynned he conquors South Rheged, which is split between Gwynned and North Rheged, the latter which has accepted sub-Kingdom status to Northumbria. A Prince of North Rheged, Rhun, is made Bishop of what would be known OTL as York as part of the deal. During the same period he forces Lindsey and Emnet to accept sub-Kingdom status. He invites missionaries from Gwynned into his lands to convert his people, and accepts consecration from the aforementioned Prince Rhun before he crowns himself at York.
625: Like in OTL, the other English kingdoms have little fondness for a strong Northumbria, and the Mercians in particular have less fondness for Edwin's Welsh alliances, which threaten them to the West. As in OTL, they react by forming a Mercian-Wessex alliance, and by attempting assassination a year earlier than in OTL, which still fails. With his Welsh allies threatening Mercia from the West, and Edwin attacking from the North, Penda of Mercia betrays the Wessex kings and allows Edwin free passage. Edwin links up with a couple of Welsh warbands and defeats the Kings of Wessex, killing them and their heirs. Their successors accept him as Bretwalgda. In thanks, for his victory, Edwin sponsors / compels the conversion of his nobles/sub-Kings to Christianity, although of a different bent to OTL.
626: Edwin invades and conquers Man, on the pretext of them harbouring the South Redged royal family. King Cadfan of Gwynned dies, succeeded by Cadwallon. Fearing that Cadwollan is as much a friend to Edwin as his predecessor, the King of Man flees to Strathclyde. Penda becomes King of Mercia.
627: Edwin invades and conquers Strathclyde, killing King Bili, and installing a rival claimant to the throne would fled to Rheged 6 years previously at the death of King Neithon.
629: Penda of Mercia defeats an aliance of West Saxon Kings that sought revenge for his earlier treachery.
630-633: Edwin begins a long series of campaigns against the Dalradian Kingdom in Sctland, whilst Cadwallon and the Edwin's tributary King of Rheged does the same in Ireland, using Man as a stopping off point. During this period he fortifies York and establishes more than one monastery in thanks for his victories.
631-632: The West Saxons and Penda of Mercia begin attacking the southern and Western Welsh kingdoms, with the exclusion of Powyrs which entered an alliance with Gwynned during the war of 625, meeting significant success.
632: The Anglian throne changes hands from a pagan to a Christian who had been in exile in France. He invites missionaries from Canterbury into his lands
633: Penda of Mercia tries to take advantage of his northern rival's preoccupation to the north and west by attacking Powys, which is allied to Gwynned, whilst attempting to bribe Edwin not to intervene. Unfortunately, he underestimated the influence that Edwin's wife, Cadwallon's sister had on her husband, and Edwin brings forces home to attack Mercia.
634. After a series of victories against Powyrs and Gwynned, including a notable slaughter of the entire royal house of the former is annihilated, Penda is brought to battle by the combined forces of Edwin and Cadwallon. Penda is slain, and the Mercian forces are virtually annihilated.
The Northumbrian forces press into Mercia, seeing significant successes, whilst the forces from Gwynned move round the coats of Wales to expel the West Saxons. This campaign sees heavy use of the ships that Cadwallon had used in the Irish campaign.
635: Edwin defeats a second major Mercian army, and demands that Mercia accept status as a sub-Kingdom. The remaining Mercian royal family flees into Anglia, where they accept conversion to the Roman church as the price for sanctuary. Edwin attempts to impose a peace on Mercia, splitting the area into sub-kingdoms and accepting independent submission from various local nobles.
636-639: Having finished cleaning up the West saxons in Wales, Cadwallon invades Wessex in alliance with Dumnonia, and procedes to harow the place. Many lords of Wessex swear fealty to kings of Essex, Anglia, or Sussex for protection. The region takes generations to recover from the damage. During this period Edwin works to unify his rather fractious kingdom and keep his sub-kings in check. Surprisingly, he finds the British sub-kings in Rheged and Strathclyde to be more amenable than the Saxon lords.
636: Osric, eldest son of King Edwin of Northumbria, marries Princess Rhiainfelt, heiress of Rheged.
637: Edwin enters Goddoddin by invitation of one of the claimants to the throne after the King is slain in a series of devastating raids from the north.
638: Northumbrian (including men from several sub-Kingdoms) forces raid north from Goddoddin is accordance with the terms of their vassalage. These raids go poorly, and Edwin's eldest son, Osric, who had lead a warband as part of Cadwallon's campaign against the West Saxons in southern Wales, orders that naval raids be carried out against enemy positions north of the Forth, this is the beginning of the Northumbria tradition of naval warfare, which has significant future implications.
638: Various Kings of Essex, Anglia, and Kent meet, along with some of the lords of Wessex, to discuss an alliance against the Welsh-Northumbrian axis. They form a compact which in later years is called the Southumbrian axis
639: Cadwollan dies, apparently of natural causes. His death is a welcome relief to the West saxons however, and to the various Welsh forces who have grown weary of slaughtering them in the past three years. One of Cadwollan's sons is betrothed to a niece of Edwin, and the threat of Northumbria intervention ensures he becomes King.
643: Edwin is assassinated, at the grand old age of 58. The death is blamed on various parties, but Osric, seeking to prevent dynastic warfare, points the finger at the Southumbrian alliance and the still restive lords of Mercia.
A map of the situation on the eve of Edwin's death:
The situation is this:
Northumbria marks all the area which has been integrated under nobles directly sworn to Edwin.
Strathclyde, Goddodin and Rheged are British tributary kingdoms sworn in fealty to Edwin. Edwin's eldest son, Osric is married to the heiress of Rhegded, and has friendly relations with the other two tributary royal families, who fear the rapaciousness of the Saxon nobility of Northumbria proper.
Many (but not most) of the nobility in what as South Rheged are Saxons given land after its conquest, who see their main loyalty to Edwin rather than their nominal British overlords. It is fortunate that these unify in the person of Osric, Edwin's son.
Ynwys Manw is ruled by Saxon nobility transplanted from Northumbria after the conquest. They have converted to Christianity and married into the old royal family.
Mercia and Wessex are not unified. Both are fragmented into several sub-kingdoms which have all acknowledged Edwin as overking. Anglia, Essex, and Sussex have expanded into these lands, particularly Wessex. The nobility of both these lands have officially accepted conversion to Christianity under the auspices of the British church. Many of the the nobles in what is still acknowledged as northern Mercia are Northumbrians who have been given land after Edwin's conquests.
Gwynned has incorporated Powrys after the elimination of its royal family by Penda. Due to Northumbrian support Gwynned has remained unified upon the succession.
The kingdoms in the South of Wales are strongly Gywnned dominated after the war with the West Saxons killed much of the nobility, which was replaced by imports from the North.
Dumnonia has expanded at the expense of the West Saxons post-Harrowing.
Dalriada has suffered losses to Northumbria (or, more precisely, its client kingdom of Strathcylde, and was saved by the calling away of forces to the South).
Anglia, Kent, and Sussex all have accepted conversion to Christianity in the Roman tradition, and have been crowned by the Archbishop of Canterbury. Strong efforts of conversion are being made into Wessex by the Roman church. It is falling on receptive ears, as it is being combined with preaching against the heretic Britons, who up until recently have been ravaging the area.
Sussex has taken the Isle of Wight.
In religious news, relations between the Roman and provincial British church are significantly less good than OTL without Edwin's patronage. British and Irish missionaries are enjoying significant success in Northumbria and North/West Mercia.
643: Osric, as eldest surviving son of Edwin, heir of Redged, takes the throne of Northumbria as the age of 29. He invites "all the Kings of Britannia, inferior and superior" to the ceremony marking his accession, but few attend except for the King of Gwynned and it and Northumbria's vassals. Only one of the sub-Kings of Mercia attends, and none of the sub-Kings of Wessex nominally sworn to his father.. A number of minor Irish kings send representatives. He accepts consecration from the Abbot of the monastery of Eboracum (York), before crowning himself. The Saxon kings present accept him as Bretwalgda, but the absence of the other major Saxon kings is an embarrassment.
After the ceremony, he sends messengers to these Kings of the Southumbrian alliance (Anglia, Sussex, Essex, Kent, Wessex and the eastern sub-Kingdoms of Mercia), asking them to remember their oaths to his father and to turn over those he claim are the sponsors of his assassination, i.e. the royal family of Mercia in exile. They stonewall, and attempt to draw out negotiations.
644: Osric attempts to bring the two rebel sub-Kings of Mercia to heel. This does not go particularly well, an army lead by one of Osric's brothers is defeated at Hampton (OTL North Hampton). This endeavour is not aided by the eruption of South Wales into rebellion against their vassalage, meaning that Welsh troops cannot be brought to fight in Mercia. As a decade earlier, the North Welsh make good use of naval transport in their campaign.
645: With his position weakened at home by the defeats he previous year, and his absence from a couple of key battles, Osric takes a major risk. Using the ships built up in the North East for the past seven years to raid the Picts, combined with impressed merchant vessels, and a number of Frisian mercenaries/merchants, in late spring he launches the largest naval action seen in Britain since the arrival of the Saxons.
His heavily laden fleet raids down the east coast of Anglia, Essex, and even as far as Kent, looting and burning, and taking hostages. The port of Gippeswyc (Ipswich) is burnt to the ground and the ships there stolen, and many small coastal villages receive similar treatment.
In a notorious incident, a warband of less-Christianised Northumbrians burns a church to the ground, loots it and kills the priest when the locals seek sanctuary there.
This has a devastating effect on the Southumbrian alliance - there fighting men were in Mercia and those parts of Northumbria south of the Humber, fighting forces Osric had raised in Rheged, and there homes were undefended.
Osric returns to Northumbria with a significant amount of loot for his men, having secured his position, leaving the Southumbrian kingdoms in chaos.
Many of the Southumbrian warbands return home, and King Osric unites with the forces he has called from Rheged latter in the year, and drives the remaining hostile forces from Mercia by the end of the summer.
Osric is forced to divert significant forces north at this point, as the Picts have raided his Northern British vassals in considerable force, by both land and sea, so cannot press his advantage immediately.
646: After having dealt with the Picts in the north, and launched several punitive raids north, Osric sends forces into South Wales in support of Gwynned early in the year, whilst continuing serious raiding by land and sea against the Southumbria kingdoms.
Unusually, Osric offers a peacable settlement to the Southumbian kings (it is claimed it is offered from Christian fellow feeling, but in reality Osric is probably aware of the cost of the war and the need to consolidate his rulership over Northumbria). Having little choice, the surving Kings of Anglia, Essex, Sussex, and Wesex hand over the remaining Mercian royals, pay a humiliating tribute, and recognise Osric as Bretwalgda. The latter occurs in a ceremony at Eboracum, and oaths are sworn on the relics (any idea which Saint) at the monastery there, before the Abbot.
From this point on, everyone living in coastal Britain will be well aware of the dangers of pirate raids, what with the Picts going back to old piratical habits from the north and the Saxons adding naval raiding to their lexicon of warfare. The tendency for wealthy monasteries to be based on islands or very close to the coast gets scotched in the bud in this TL.
647: Cadfan, King of Gwynedd, narrowly survives an assassination attempt, but his wife is killed. Blaming his recalcitrant sub-Kings in southern Wales, who only gained their current titles after the suppression of the latest rebellion there, he executes two of them (of Ceredigon and Dyfed) and resolves to rule them directly. He makes it clear to the two remaining client kingdoms that they are on a short leash. To secure his dynasty, he marries his son to the daughter of the High King of Dumnonia. Partially as a result of this, the King of Glastening is forced to accept vassalage to Dumnonia.
647-655: Britannia superior is generally peaceful. During this period Osric continues his father's work of unifying his Kingdom. This is a period notable for seeing the beginning of the tradition of monastic schools, particularly the one in York, educating the children of the powerful. This policy is invented by Osric to supply him with a ready supply of hostages/alternate claimants to titles. Osric also works to integrate the British and Saxon nobililities, given that more than half his kingdom(s) and British. Cadfan of Gwynedd spends a significant amount of effort during this period of Irish adventures, gaining and loosing vassals periodically, bu also works to integrate the lands he has seized. He also lays the ground work for his eldest son to inherit everything, rather than reverting to older principles. Osric also sponsors significant missionary activity, brining in missionaries from British and Irish churches and preventing backsliding amongst the ruling classes. This goes well, although it makes more headway in Mercia and Northumbria than in Wessex, where the Roman church is more active (even if less than OTL). During this period the Picts continue raiding the coasts, both East and West, all the way down to the Mersey and the Humber. Osric counter-raids, but spends more effort fortifying the coasts, and putting in place measures to make raiding unprofitable. In this period we see the beginning of the flowering of Anglo-British culture and theology as the British and Saxons begin to mutually assimilate.
648: The sub-King of the north-western part of Mercia dies. Osric asserts that it his right as Bretwalgda to determine the succession. He does do, appointing a Northumbrian man to the position, marrying him the the daughter of his predecessor. It is not the control of the succession which is notable, but Osric's assertion that it is legitimized by his position of Bretwalgda. The other Anglo-Saxon Kings take note.
649: Osric of Northumbria founds the Abbey of Dore (approximately the location of OTL Sheffield), giving it substantial lands and resources, and a mission to support conversion. In this year, Abbes Brigid of Kildare (who took the name of the Founder of the Abbey) sends the first of her letters, which are both a cause and a symptom of the continued divergence of the British and Roman faiths. The letters themselves, and the associated correspondence with other British theologians, are given a greater significance by later historians in light of later events. The first is titled The Fallibility of Man, and is on the subject of the possibility that individual clergy may fall into error, and that the church as a corporate body should determine doctrine. These letters
651: The sub-King of the northern part of Wessex dies. Once more Osric appoints a successor, but this time chooses amongst the dead man's heirs. The West saxons do not like this, but are too weak to protest, as the British are only held back by the good graces of Osric.
653: In retaliation for continued raiding, Osric's son Edwin leads significant forces against the Picts of Fife. He forces the King of Fife to accept vassalage to Northumbria.
654: Edwin marries the daughter of Cadfan of Gwynedd.
655: Anna, King of the East Angles dies. Osric plays safe and nominates his cousin Egric for the throne, the man most likely to take the throne anyway. Egric dosen't like being seen as taking the throne at the sufferance of the King of Northumbria, and the other independent Kings like Osric's presumption even less than they did when it only involved areas under greater Northumbrian dominance. No one is prepared to do anything about it at this point.
656: Egric, who has been king of the East Angles for less than a year, dies after a short illness. Accusations of poisoning (probably unfounded) fly wildly. This time, the succession is much less clear cut. There are two candidates of significant standing, Siegbert, nephew of Anna, and Aethelhere, Egric's brother. The deadlock is broken when Siegbert petitions Osric for his support, acknowledging his right to determine the succession. The Saxon kings find this unacceptable, and give their support to Aethelhere. After a couple of weeks of fighting, Siegbert flees to Eborac (York) seeking refuge with his patron. Osric demands that the Southumbrian kings remember their oaths, and renounce their support for Aethelhere, and support the real king of the Angles.
The Bishop of Canterbury, who has significantly less good relations with the British church than OTL, who have rebuffed all attempts at reconciliation, in the context of their significantly better position than OTL, makes a statement that marks a turning point in religious relations. He relieves the Kings of Sussex, Essex, Kent, their nobles and the nobility of East Anglia of their oaths to Osric, as “an oath sworn to a heretic King before a false priest is no oath”.
Osric raises his army and navy against the Southumbrians and attempts to compel their obedience. The Southumbrians have spent the last decade well, and after initial successes the naval attacks do not provide the knockout blow Osric had hoped, although they do pin down significant forces. On land Osric does reasonably well, but before he can prosecute his advantage, he suffers a wound at a minor skirmish that becomes infected, and he dies. The Northumbrian forces loose the initiative, and are driven back into Mercia.
Despite Osric's son Edwin being his favoured heir, his brother Oswald takes the throne, with the support of those Northumbrian lords unhappy with Osric's accommodation with the British, and not pleased with the thought of a mostly British, monastery educated king. Edwin retreats into old Rheged and sets himself up as an interdependent king. Oswald is unable to do anything about this, or about the fact that the North British kingdoms (Goddodin and Strathclyde) have sworn to Edwin, or that Gwynedd has recognized Edwin as King of Northumbria, due to his need to hold against the Southumbrians in Mercia. The Kingdom of Fife declares its vassalage ended with Osric's death.
657: Skirmishing in Mercia and naval raiding all along the East coast keep Oswald and the Southumbrians busy. The men of Wessex play little part in the war as they are too concerned about Dumnonian incursions. Many West Saxons flee. Gwynedd remains entangled in Ireland, restricing it's opportunity to meddle.
658: Frustrated with being unable to reclaim what he considers his rightful lands in the West, Oswald tries to knock Anglia out of the war so he can focus on Edwin. He launches an attack in strength against Anglia. He defeats the rebel East Anglians in a battle near OTL Ely, but a week later is defeated by the forces of the King of Kent. He flees back to Northumbria, unlucky enough to escape with his life. Soon afterwards he is brought to battle, along with some of the more recalcitrant Northumbrian lords by Edwin, where he is resoundingly defeated.
After this victory Edwin sweeps south, defeating first the Anglians, then the Kings of Kent and Sussex.. He takes a significant amount of loot personally, whilst Northumbian ships sail up the Thames looting and burning, taking even more. With most of the southern Kings dead, he takes the opportunity to affirm his right to determine the inheritance of the Saxon kingdoms. He makes Siegbert king of East Anglia, and selects the most friendly of the heirs available for the other kingdoms. He also demands that the Bishop of Canterbury be turned over to face a council of churchmen for his “crime”. The Bishop flees to the continent before this can happen. When he hears what has occurred, the Pope anathematises the Edwin and all who follow him. In response, a Conclave of British churchmen reiterate Hilda's teaching, that individual churchmen may fall into error, and that divine truth is revealed to the Church as a community, not an individual. The Kings and nobles of southern Britain are strongly encouraged to convert to the British flavour of Christianity, and the clergy urged to recognise the error of the Bishop of Rome.
Edwin accepts the crown as York, where all the Anglo-Saxon Kings and sub-Kings make obedience and swear oaths, the independent British Kings make oaths of friendship, and his vassals re-swear their oaths of obedience.
At the end of the year, Edwin persuades the High King of Dumonnia to restrain his sub-Kings from attacking Edwin's new vassals in Wessex, via their mutual relatives.
The State of Play in 658
Named characters:
Kings of Northumbria
616-643:
Edwin I: Married Ceindrech of Gwynedd, sister of Cadwallon.
643-656:
Osric: Son of Edwin I, was married to Rhiainfelt of Rheged
656-658:
Oswald: Son of Edwin I, brother of Osric
658-
Edwin II: Son of Osric, Prince of Rheged in his own right. Married to Elen of Gwynedd, Cadfan II's daughter.
Kings of Gwynedd:
Cadfan I 618-626
Cadwallon 626 - 639. His sister was married to Edwin I
Cadfan II 639-: His daughter is married to Edwin II.
Miscellanious characters:
Anna: Predecessor of Egric, King of the East Angles.
Egric, King of the East Angles. His death triggers another bout of war in Britannia.
Aethelhere: Southumbrian candidate the East Anglian throne. Reigned 656-658.
Siegbert: Northumbrian candidate for the East Anglian throne He takes the throne in 658.
Summary by area in 658:
Northumbria:
Unquestionably the greatest power in Britain, a Northumbrian King has been the most powerful iman n Britain, for decades. Northumbia is the most assimilated and Christianized of all the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, thanks to the efforts of its Kings. Due to it's integration of Rheged, Gododdin, and Strathclyde as client kingdoms, and the example of their kings, there is a distinct Anglo-British noble class emerging
Mercia
Mercia is split up into three sub-Kingdoms, and does not have a single king. These sub-Kings remained loyal to Northumbria during the latest war, mainly due to the fact that a significant part of the noble class are Northumbrian transplants after Edwin's victory over Mercia. It has been penetrated by British missionaries to a considerable degree.
Wessex
Wessex is split up into 4 sub-kingdoms, and like Mercia has no overall king. It has not recovered from the harrowing it received from the British, and has suffered significantly, in terms of land and men to its neighbours. There is distinct emigration of the West Saxons. Both British and Roman Christian missionaries are quite active in this area.
East Anglia
After recently being the prize in the wars between the Northumbrians and Southumbrian alliance, the people of this land are tired, and have suffered heavily from raiding by Northumbria ships and warbands. A Northumbrian appointed king sits on the throne.
Kent
This country is a hot bed of discontent. It has been heavily Christianised by the Roman church, and is taking excommunication, and British attempts at conversion hard. The new king has been selected by Edwin of Northumbria, and so sits lightly on the throne.
Sussex & Essex
Both Sussex and Essex have recently gained new Kings thanks to the Northumbrians, and and suffering from the aftermath of Northumbrian naval raids and tribute demands. On the other hand, both have absorbed parts of Wessex. The kings and nobles of this area are taking their enforced renunciation of the pope much better than those of Kent.
Dumnonia
Dumnonia has done rather well out of the past few years. The West saxons are still extremely weak, so present no threat, and every few years they are foolish enough to rebel against Northumbria, giving them free reigin to invade without annoying anyone with the power to object. It has absorbed a significant amount of formerly Saxon land, and has placed Glastening back into vassalage.
Gwynedd
King Cadfan II has rather alot on his plate, he is still dealing with integrating with southern Welsh Kingdoms and Powys. He is attempting to channel restless young men into the continuning Irish wars.
Important Developments
Rise of Anglo-British nobility/royalty in Northumbria, with accompanying Angle assimilation into existing British culture.
British/Roman church schism.
Consolidation of Welsh Kingdoms.
Continuing weakness+disunited state of Mercia and particularly Wessex, and hence less pressure on British.
Contined strong Northumbrian influence in Mercian sub-kingdoms.
Principle of Brewalgda having say in succession - existence of Bretwalgda as an institution with power.
Less effective Roman missionary activity in southern Britain.
Excommunication of Anglo-Saxons.
First effective Anglo-Saxon dynasty that keeps power in immediate family in Northumbria.
The Fallibility of Man is essentially a rebuttal of the concept of there being a universal Pope, and more broadly it is an argument that theology should be developed in a corporate sense, by debate amongst a council. It has a strong subtext about the superiority of monastic Christianity in developing doctrine rather than reserving it as the special prerogative of priests.
The later letters have more theological content, but I don't know enough about the tendancies of the British church to speculate in what fashion they might disagree with Rome over the nature of divinity or man's relationship to it. If someone can suggest something it would help - it's not as if there weren't plenty of schisms at this point.
The Anglo-British thing is just something I put in there randomly. Some "barbarians", like the Franks assimilated into the local country to a greater degree than others, like the Saxons. The main result has been (will be) a substantially faster conversion of the Northumbrian Angles, which has important cultural effects in stabilising the Kingdom. At this point the Anglo-saxons are pretty much like the Vikings, the way you stay King is by being a successful pirate, i.e. a strong warrior who provides plenty of loot for his followers. The greater continuity of rule also makes the place generally wealthier, as there have been less battles fought over places.
The British church has not had to change much as part of its conversion efforts. It is still primarily monastic based, but there is significantly more of a missionary wing compared to OTL, basically because the Kings have bribed them to do it, and because they aren't being called on to convert enemies who are gradually defeating them, instead converting allies and forcing conversion on defeated kings, which is far more pleasant and easier. One change I have thrown in is the creation of monastic schools for the children of nobility, empasising the change in Angle culture to Anglo-British.
On the army and navy, it has to be remembered that the basic military unit is the warband. There is no official army and navy, just warlords and their men. The navy is those costal warlords who have been persuaded of the value of naval piracy in war time. This is changing.
The culture of southern England is different - there has been little to no assimilation - even in those places which have been retaken by the British from Mercia and Wessex. The Mercian sub-kingdoms are going the way of Northumbria, albeit more slowly. These differences are emphasised by the preexisting cultural differences between the Saxons and the Angles. East Anglia is closest to the north, being fellow Angles and being penetrated by British missionaries. The southern kingdoms are due for a period of unrest, as they have been defeated several times in a row and have had much of there power structure killed or disturbed, plus the Church there is in turmoil, having been severed from Rome.
Back to the Time Line
659-671: Mainland Britain is generally peaceful during this period, with the exception of bitter fighting between the Picts and the Dalriadians, which spills over into Strathclyde, and continued but low level Pictish raiding all the way down the coast of the North East, which lead into Northumbian counter raiding. West Saxons continue to emigrate during this period, sick of continued defeat in the West. Edwin II continues his father Osric's policies, particularly by encouraging inter-marriage between the British and Angle ruling classes. Significant resources continue to be expended on conversion. Producing Latin speaking and literate priests is becoming a significant problem. Cadfan II of the Welsh continues the integration of the southern Welsh and Powyrs, and continues to stir the Irish pot. He also aids Edwin II's Anglo-British integration “project” by permitting continued integration of the British and Angle nobility.
659: The northernmost sub-kingdom of what was Mercia swears direct allegiance to Edwin II of Northumbria.
661: The Abbey of Canterbury is refounded under the British rite.
662: Elen, Queen of Rheged and Northumbria, sponsors the formation of a monastic school for girls under the auspices of the Abbess of Caer Lune (Lancaster), which had been founded by her grandmother-in-law.
664: The King Of Lennister (south-east Ireland) finally accepts vassalage to Cadfan II of Wales, after being dependant on Welsh aid in the pst decade.
665: At the Synod of Chester, virtually all of the heads of the most significant monastic houses in the British Isles meet to discuss the proliferation of translations of the Gospels and Psalms that have sprung up over the past 20 years. After significant dissent, it is agreed that Latin should be emphasised as the true language of religion, but that to prevent falling into error, official translations should be produced for teaching purposes. This will prove a significant undertaking, as there are at least 4 notably different languages spoken in the British Isles. At the same Synod, Brigid of Kildare, who died the previous year, is canonised. He successor Hilda, who collaborated with her on several of her later Letters, successfully lobbies for the acceptance of her theories of the relation of God and the Church, and of the Church and Man*.
668: There is some bitter fighting in Wessex as a Hwicce warleader attempts to reunite Wessex. This attempt is put down after Northumbrian intervention under Edwin II's cousin.
671: The King of Strathclyde dies. Edwin decides that the dead man's eleven year old heir, who's being educated at the school at York, should take the throne, with Edwin appointing a Regent. The boy's uncle, leader of a faction unhappy with the Northumbrians' lack of success at suppressing raids from the north, refuses to accept this. He counteroffers loyalty for the price of Northumbrian ships and men to fight in the forth. Edwin does not tolerate this dissent, and retakes Strathclyde, imposing a Regent to hold until the boy's majority.
673: Aware that he has neglected the Picts, Edwin II launches the first in a series of campaigns designed to pacify them. He is hobbled in this by his unwillingness to leave an opportunity for what he still sees as then enemy to the south, and by him giving a higher priority to building in Eborac (York) and other cities (tows). As attacks into the Higlands on land are still a fool's game, this mainly involves ship-bourne raids.
675: Edwin finally takes and pacifies Fife, which he grants to some of his more loyal Anglo-British men. After this he leaves the campaign in the hands of his som Raedwaldas he does not trust the situation in the south.
676: Edwin compels the remaining Angle and Saxon lords to send their younger sons and daughters to the monastic schools at Eborac and Caer Lune respectively.
678: Cadfan II of Gwynedd accepts the submission of the King of Meath (central-East Ireland).
680: At the age of 44, Edwin II contracts a debilitating illness. Seeking to secure the succession, he abdicates in favour of his eldest son, Raedwald, Under the influence of the Abbot of Eborac, he enters the Abbey his father founded at Dore (OTL Sheffield). The abdication and coronation happen at the same ceremony, attended by virtually all the kings of Britain. There are rumblings of rebellion, but the Northumbrians possess alternate claimants to all the thrones of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms. Cadfan II looks forward to the absence of his old rival/ally from the scene.
*God reveals himself to the Church corporately, as a mystery split and shared between many individuals. Understanding God requires collaboration. The Church's role is to teach man about God. This can be done by any good means, but the best way is for a person to join a monastic community for a period of their life. Hilda modified these ideas to include the concept of temporary members of a community, who stay for a few years before leaving to live a secular life more informed by spiritual learnings and good works.
680-692: Another significant period of peace and security in Britannia Superior. After his recovery Edwin II continues to build the beginnings of a state, leaving his son to foreign adventures. In latter the last half of the 7th century is seen as a golden age.
681: The King of Middle Anglia dies. Raedwald (King of Northumbria) confirms the heir apparent (a graduate of the school at Eborac) in his position. Cadfan II is proclaimed High King of the Britons, after receiving the submission of the King of Ulster.
682: Raedwald’s sister marries the King of the Frisians, who converts to Christianity under the British rite. There has been substantial British missionary activity into north-west Europe for the latter half of Edwin II 25 year reign, following (or followed) by the establishment of stronger trading routes across the North Sea as the naval strength of the Northumbrians increases. What is during war a raider serves perfectly well to carry cargo and missionaries during peacetime. This conversion has been in competition with the efforts of the Roman church, but the notorious corruption of the Frankish clergy has crippled this effort.
684: Edwin II partially recovers from his long illness, but remains incapable of strenuous activity. It is proclaimed a miracle. Unable to retake the throne, he contents himself with the writing of letters, particularly to his son. Raedwald is relieved by this, as he is discovering that his patience for the trials of ruling is waning. He gets back to what he does best, raiding the Picts. Certain parts of the nascent British state which have begun to whither under 4 years of disinterested stewardship are put back on the road to recovery.
In this year Cadfan II dies, after an unprecedented rule of 45 years. He is remembered as Cadfan the Great, having received the submission of all of Wales, Dumnnonia, and Ireland during his long life. He is succeeded by his grand-nephew Rhun.
686: Having handily defeated the Picts, Raedwald defies his fathers advice and goes to the aid of Rhun against the rebellious Irish in the North and East.
687: The Franks invade Frisia, the first campaigns are inconclusive.
688: To the surprise of many, Raedwald manages to force the Irish back into Welsh vassalage, although he extracts a large tribute, both from Rhun and from the Irish, for the privilege. The two year campaign has primarily involved the naval raiding Raedwald practised against the Picts.
690: On the edge of defeat, the King of the Frisians appeals to Raedwald, his brother-in-law for aid. Once again disregarding his father’s council, Raedwald moves many of his veteran troops across the North Sea to fight the Franks. Combined with heavy raiding of the Frankish side of the North Sea and down the Channel, the Franks are driven back.
691-692: Fighting continues against the Franks. Northumbrian naval power allows Raedwald to raid almost at will, bringing back significant loot. This drives the Mayors across the Frankish territory to unite against him, temporarily bringing much of the internecine conflict across Frankia to a halt.
693: Stiffened by Frankish troops, Kent, Sussex, and Essex rise up in rebellion in support of heirs to these kingdoms who had fled to the Frankish court. The King of Kent is killed, and the other two are forced to flee.
Edwin II, by now an man old before his time with the burden of building a nation whilst no longer its King, is assassinated in the monastery at Dore, allegedly whilst at prayer.
The Northumbrian backed King of East Anglia defeats the Frankish backed claimant, but is subsequently driven into the marshes by attacks from the south.
The Mercian sub-Kingdoms stay loyal to the Northumbrian King.
The Irish take the opportunity to rebel once more, and Rhun feels unable to abandon his predecessor's gains, leaving him unable to commit substantial forces to a campaign on Britannia Superior.
Raedwald reacts by leading a series of heavy raids along both sides of the channel, whilst his brother leads warbands in attacks on the mainland. Towards the end of summer, he is slain during an attack on the Frankish side of the channel. His brother Oswain takes the throne as regent for his young nephew.
A renewed Frankish assault on Frankia falters due to squabbling between the Mayors.
The Dumnonnians take advantage of the conflict to invade Somersate. It is notable that they respect the sanctity of churches in these assaults.
694: Oswain defeats the men of Kent and a substantial contingent of Franks in a major battle on Whitsun (Pentecost, a couple of months after Easter), despite being outnumbered. The Frankish claimant to the throne of Kent is slain. He credits his victory to a miracle granted by his father.
Later in 694 the men of Essex are also defeated, after suffering greatly from sea-bourn raids.
Towards the end of the year the men of Sussex welcome back the Northumbrian backed King, the Frankish pretender flees across the Channel.
695: Edwin II is proclaimed a Saint of the British Church. He will later be known as St. Edwin the Great, and rather exaggerated claims made for his accomplishments, conflating them with doctrinal changes the British church was undergoing at arounf the same time.
Oswain invades north-west Frankia across the Channel, seeking a large blood-price for his father’s death. He meets initial success. A surprisingly large contingent of his troops was fighting against him only last year, but the bounty available is quite enticing.
The last Franks are expelled from Frisia.
696: The English can raid the coast and rivers of north west Frankia at will, but make significantly less headway in the interior. The Mayors are once again uniting to oppose them. Oswain is unwilling to settle the matter, however. The last Merovingian king is slain in the middle of the summer, but the Mayors couldn’t care less.
Late in the year Oswain is slain. His nephew Oscar, having reached his majority, takes the throne in his own right. He accepts a substantial payment from the Mayors to go away.
697: Oscar is crowned. At his coronation, the West Saxons beg for relief from Dumnonnian raids. Somersate has virtually ceased to exist. The Dumnonnian king is unwilling to call a halt to the raids, and Northumbrian forces move into Wessex. After a few minor skirmishes, when it becomes clear that Rhun (King of Wales) is unwilling to support his nominal ally against the Northumbrians, the Dumnonnians are forced to relent.
As his guarantee, Oscar takes Ygerna, daughter of the King of Dumnonia as his wife.
699: The Picts attempt to retake Fife. They fail, with heavy casualties.
700: Oscar sponsors significant building work at the Eborac (York) Monastery, dedicated to his grandfather, St. Edwin.
In Other News
The Eastern Empire:
629: Heraclius celebrates his victory over the Persians by entering Jerusalem as a pilgrim, one year earlier than OTL after making an earlier alliance with the Axumites, and maintaining the alliance with the Khazars for six months longer.
Khālid bin Walīd dies in battle against the Gassinids, along with several other important Arab leaders after more forces than OTL are sent to deal with them. This has important consequences for the future development of Islam.
634: The Arabs invaded Syria and the Levant on schedule
635: Heraclius is in significantly better health than OTL thanks to the earlier conclusion of the previous war, and his empire is slightly less exhausted by war. He mobilities faster, and prepares to liberate his possessions.
636: Heraclius leads his armies against the Arabs. He avoids making some the mistakes made in OTL, and manages to pay off the Gassanids so they don't defect, he is also helped by the fact that the Arabs are lacking several commanders they would have had in OTL. The Arabs are resoundingly defeated, many are put to the sword.
637: Heraclius presses the Arabs south into the Arabian peninsula, renewing his earlier alliance with the Axumites, paying them to attack from the south.
Unfortunately for the Axumites, later in the year rebellion erupts in Constantinople as a response to the heavy taxes required to pay for the wars and alliance. Heraclius returns to his capital, where the gates are opened for him by loyalists. It is discovered that Martina and her son Heraclius where amongst the conspirators, and they commit suicide.
638: Heraclius cleans up the mess the rebellion has left, and beds in some of his military reforms.
639: The Arabs defeat the Axumites in a major battle in OTL Yemen. Heraclius convenes the Conclave of Jerusalem, hoping to push Monothelitism to solve the schism.
640: In a controversial letter, Heraclius implies the equivalence of the Pope with the other Patriarchs, modifying Phocas' recognition of the Bishop of Rome as universal bishop, recognizing instead all the important Patriarchs as being the spiritual successors of the Apostles, each having a responsibility to check each other for error.
641: Heraclius falls ill. His son Heraclius Constantine inherits the throne, blaming the stress of holding the religious tensions in check for his father's death. He privately repeats his father's doctrine about papal non-supremacy.
642: Byzantine generals check another Arab invasion into Syria, but in the south Axumite resistance collapses. The Arabs also score significant successes against the Persians, still weakened after their defeat by Heraclius.
645: A major Arab invasion defeats the Byzantines in Egypt after the Copts refuse to fight.
646: Heraclius Constantine "leads" forces from the north whilst the Exarch of Cartage leads forces from North Africa into Egypt. The relatively small Arab armies are crushed, and the Copts are made to suffer quite significantly. Despite his strategic victory in the campaign he he is nearly killed during one battle, falling seriously ill, and the Exarch of Cartage is killed. He dies shortly after his return to Constantinople. At the tender age of 16 Constans II ascends to the throne, defying the odds, manages to resolve the crisis surrounding his succession relatively peacefully, as his predecessor had managed to remove several of his more dangerous rivals immediately before his death, by instigating a bloodletting over accession to the vacant position of Exarch of Carthage. Constans II is not the most fervent of souls, indeed, he received perhaps to thorough an education in classical philosophy to deeply believe. He is, above all, a pragmatist.
649: The Visigoths attack the Exarchy of Africa from Iberia. Constans II sends troops to support his vassal, but dares not go himself. The Western part of the Exarch falls to the Visigoths. The Exarchy pays them to stop their advance.
650: Constans II executes 4 prominent Orthodox churchmen and several of the higher nobility for treason. Included amongst the victims are the Patriarch of Alexandria, who has been notable in his persecution of the Copts. The confiscation and display of the personal wealth some of these holy men had accumulated puts the rest of the church on warning. This occurs after Constans had married the daughter of the last King of Persia, following her conversion to Christianity.
652: The Visigoths are expelled from Africa and given a severe thrashing when Constans II moves significant troops into North Africa. The Arabs choose this moment to invade the Byzantine’s Ghassanid vassal. This forces Constans II to return with his armies to the East.
The Ghassanids hold against the Arabs, bolstered by Imperial troops dispatched on Constans II orders from Greece, although they suffer several minor defeats, there is no conclusive battle
653: Constans II defeats the Muslims at Medina, and accepts the surrender of the 4th Caliph.
658: The Exarch of Carthage rebels, and declares the Exarch independent. The Exarch was a very devout man, who disapproved of Constans II tolerance of heresy in Egypt and amongst the Ghassanids. Constans II is busy leading a campaign against the Bulgars and Slavs at the time and could do little about it.
659: Constans II smashes the Bulgars in a series of decisive battles.
660: Seeing the massing of Imperial forces in Egypt (which remained under central control), senior officials in Carthage have the Exarch assassinated, and pledge loyalty to the Emperor.
662: Constans II has the Patriarch of Alexandria convene a Council, seeking yet again to find a formula to control religious strife within his Empire, hoping to succeed where his grandfather failed. He is helped by the fact that the Pope’s representative dies on the way to the council. Still, all that he gains is an advantage over the Pope in Northern Italian politics, as the Pope denounces the (rather minor) decisions made there as invalid without his consent. This council is remarkable as it is the first attended by representatives of the British church, the Bishop of Chester, who advocates the British church’s doctrine of Conciliarism. The British representatives go away rebuffed, as they disagree with both the Orthodox and monophysite churches on the date of Easter and other issues.
664: Constans II resumes his campaign against the Bulgars to the north, imposing Christianity as he goes. This will continue for the next 6 years, as the Bulgarians are unable to resist, and the rest of the Empire is relatively peaceful, and the Arabs are busy putting down rebellions that have sprung up during their long civil war. Vast numbers of Bulgars are deported to North Africa, dispersed across the Exarchate to help contain the Bulgars..
670-672: The Arabs invade Egypt. This time, the Copts resist, and supported by the Ghassanids attacking from the North, they hold long enough for Imperial armies to relieve them, and expel the Arabs. Punitive raids are launched into Arabia, and Medina is burnt to the ground, but the Caliphate’s centre of gravity has moved into old Persia. From this point on, wars between the Arabs and Eastern Romans strongly resemble those between the Sassanids and the Romans.
674: The Lombards attack the Imperial possessions in Northern Italy. The Exarch of Ravenna is killed. Constans II sends reinforcements, which stops the advance, but over half the territory the Empire held at the beginning of the year has been lost. He does not dare strip the Eastern or Balkan borders of the Empire, and after the wars of recent years, the Empire is too poor to support another major campaign to retake the lost territory.
677: Despite his many other successes, the losses of the Italian territories have done Constans II significant damage. Many in the church have not forgiven his tolerance of heresy or willingness to execute churchmen, and the wealthy have no love for the taxes required to finance his wars, or his reforms to the military system. At Christmas 677 he is assassinated in the Cathedral in Constantinople. Unfortunately for the conspirators, Constans II, and his son Heraclius (soon to be Heraclius II) are popular amongst the troops, and the rebellion is put down with a minimum of fuss. The new Emperor has learnt his father’s lesson, and conspiring churchmen do not receive the benefit of trials and public execution, and instead disappear to suffer rather gruesome ends.
The Roman Church:
618: Pope Adeodatus I dies. He is succeded shortly afterwards by Gregory II, who focuses his efforts on securing the Church's influence in Italy, via alliance with the Merovingian kings. The previous popes' focus on the Christianizing of Britain lapse during his reign, after an emissary to Edwin of Northumbria is seriously rebuffed when he accidentally implies that the already Christian Edwin should convert to the true faith. He allows relations with the Emperor in Constantinople deteriorate, as he sees the troubles the Eastern Empire are having as serving to free his hand in Italy. By the time of his death the Church has made significant advances against the power of the Exarch of Ravenna, capitalizing on the rebellion of the holder of that post in the year of his accession.
628: Pope Gregory II dies, and is succeeded by Boniface V (a different one to OTL). He modifies his predecessors policies towards the East, seeking to consolidate the Churches gains in the face of a resurgent Eastern Empire, although he continues his policies in other areas - much missionary effort is devoted to southern Germany. He does not support Monothelitism despite strong pressure from the Emperor to do so, although the Emperor has fewer levers than OTL thanks to the weaker nature of the Exarchate of Ravenna.
639: Pope Boniface V attends the Conclave of Jerusalem, where he rejects Monothelitism, but also manages to let down over a decade of quiet diplomacy on the part of his nuncios to the other Patriarchs by managing to offend not only the representatives of the monophysite churches, but also his nominal theological allies amongst the Chalcedonian churches, by re-emphasizing Gregory I's opinion that "without the authority and the consent of the apostolic see, none of the matters transacted [by a council] have any binding force."
This sets the scene for Heraclius letter movement against the Pope.
641; Boniface V rejects Heraclius' letter as a step above heresy, and sets about convincing the Western bishops of the benefits of deferring to him.
643: Boniface V dies and is succeeded by Gregory III
On consideration, I don't think the Northumbrians can defeat the Mercians and Welsh at the same time.
Perhaps the best POD is that Edwin and Cadwallon don't fall out as young men/children. They somehow become friends, and Edwin marries one of Cadwallon/Cadfed's female relatives, which incidentally means he converts by to Christianity, and a British churchman is appointed to York.
This means that when Cadfan dies, Edwin doesn’t move against Gwynned, instead directing his forces north, rooting out the remainder of the Bernician dynasty from the Scottish and Pictish kingdoms to the North, and then, latterly, against Mercia. The dates are thus.
c.595 Edwin seeks refuge at the court of Gwynned, becoming friendly with Cadwallon, foster nephew of King Iago, and Cadfan, his heir.
612: Edwin marries his good friend Cadwallon of Gwynned's sister/cousin whilst in exile there, and accepts conversion to Christianity.
613: Aethelfirth defeats the North Welsh at Chester. Edwin and family flee Gwyned to the court of King Redwald of East Anglia.
616: Edwin and Redwald defeat Aethelfirth, with substantial aid provided by Gwynned. Aethelfith and two of his sons are slain. One flees to the north.
616-625: Edwin consolidates his position in Bernica and Deira, forming the foundations for what will be later called Northumbria. He leads warbands against the Scots and then the Picts who shelter the survivors of the Bernican dynasty. In alliance with North Rheged and Gwynned he conquors South Rheged, which is split between Gwynned and North Rheged, the latter which has accepted sub-Kingdom status to Northumbria. A Prince of North Rheged, Rhun, is made Bishop of what would be known OTL as York as part of the deal. During the same period he forces Lindsey and Emnet to accept sub-Kingdom status. He invites missionaries from Gwynned into his lands to convert his people, and accepts consecration from the aforementioned Prince Rhun before he crowns himself at York.
625: Like in OTL, the other English kingdoms have little fondness for a strong Northumbria, and the Mercians in particular have less fondness for Edwin's Welsh alliances, which threaten them to the West. As in OTL, they react by forming a Mercian-Wessex alliance, and by attempting assassination a year earlier than in OTL, which still fails. With his Welsh allies threatening Mercia from the West, and Edwin attacking from the North, Penda of Mercia betrays the Wessex kings and allows Edwin free passage. Edwin links up with a couple of Welsh warbands and defeats the Kings of Wessex, killing them and their heirs. Their successors accept him as Bretwalgda. In thanks, for his victory, Edwin sponsors / compels the conversion of his nobles/sub-Kings to Christianity, although of a different bent to OTL.
626: Edwin invades and conquers Man, on the pretext of them harbouring the South Redged royal family. King Cadfan of Gwynned dies, succeeded by Cadwallon. Fearing that Cadwollan is as much a friend to Edwin as his predecessor, the King of Man flees to Strathclyde. Penda becomes King of Mercia.
627: Edwin invades and conquers Strathclyde, killing King Bili, and installing a rival claimant to the throne would fled to Rheged 6 years previously at the death of King Neithon.
629: Penda of Mercia defeats an aliance of West Saxon Kings that sought revenge for his earlier treachery.
630-633: Edwin begins a long series of campaigns against the Dalradian Kingdom in Sctland, whilst Cadwallon and the Edwin's tributary King of Rheged does the same in Ireland, using Man as a stopping off point. During this period he fortifies York and establishes more than one monastery in thanks for his victories.
631-632: The West Saxons and Penda of Mercia begin attacking the southern and Western Welsh kingdoms, with the exclusion of Powyrs which entered an alliance with Gwynned during the war of 625, meeting significant success.
632: The Anglian throne changes hands from a pagan to a Christian who had been in exile in France. He invites missionaries from Canterbury into his lands
633: Penda of Mercia tries to take advantage of his northern rival's preoccupation to the north and west by attacking Powys, which is allied to Gwynned, whilst attempting to bribe Edwin not to intervene. Unfortunately, he underestimated the influence that Edwin's wife, Cadwallon's sister had on her husband, and Edwin brings forces home to attack Mercia.
634. After a series of victories against Powyrs and Gwynned, including a notable slaughter of the entire royal house of the former is annihilated, Penda is brought to battle by the combined forces of Edwin and Cadwallon. Penda is slain, and the Mercian forces are virtually annihilated.
The Northumbrian forces press into Mercia, seeing significant successes, whilst the forces from Gwynned move round the coats of Wales to expel the West Saxons. This campaign sees heavy use of the ships that Cadwallon had used in the Irish campaign.
635: Edwin defeats a second major Mercian army, and demands that Mercia accept status as a sub-Kingdom. The remaining Mercian royal family flees into Anglia, where they accept conversion to the Roman church as the price for sanctuary. Edwin attempts to impose a peace on Mercia, splitting the area into sub-kingdoms and accepting independent submission from various local nobles.
636-639: Having finished cleaning up the West saxons in Wales, Cadwallon invades Wessex in alliance with Dumnonia, and procedes to harow the place. Many lords of Wessex swear fealty to kings of Essex, Anglia, or Sussex for protection. The region takes generations to recover from the damage. During this period Edwin works to unify his rather fractious kingdom and keep his sub-kings in check. Surprisingly, he finds the British sub-kings in Rheged and Strathclyde to be more amenable than the Saxon lords.
636: Osric, eldest son of King Edwin of Northumbria, marries Princess Rhiainfelt, heiress of Rheged.
637: Edwin enters Goddoddin by invitation of one of the claimants to the throne after the King is slain in a series of devastating raids from the north.
638: Northumbrian (including men from several sub-Kingdoms) forces raid north from Goddoddin is accordance with the terms of their vassalage. These raids go poorly, and Edwin's eldest son, Osric, who had lead a warband as part of Cadwallon's campaign against the West Saxons in southern Wales, orders that naval raids be carried out against enemy positions north of the Forth, this is the beginning of the Northumbria tradition of naval warfare, which has significant future implications.
638: Various Kings of Essex, Anglia, and Kent meet, along with some of the lords of Wessex, to discuss an alliance against the Welsh-Northumbrian axis. They form a compact which in later years is called the Southumbrian axis
639: Cadwollan dies, apparently of natural causes. His death is a welcome relief to the West saxons however, and to the various Welsh forces who have grown weary of slaughtering them in the past three years. One of Cadwollan's sons is betrothed to a niece of Edwin, and the threat of Northumbria intervention ensures he becomes King.
643: Edwin is assassinated, at the grand old age of 58. The death is blamed on various parties, but Osric, seeking to prevent dynastic warfare, points the finger at the Southumbrian alliance and the still restive lords of Mercia.
A map of the situation on the eve of Edwin's death:
The situation is this:
Northumbria marks all the area which has been integrated under nobles directly sworn to Edwin.
Strathclyde, Goddodin and Rheged are British tributary kingdoms sworn in fealty to Edwin. Edwin's eldest son, Osric is married to the heiress of Rhegded, and has friendly relations with the other two tributary royal families, who fear the rapaciousness of the Saxon nobility of Northumbria proper.
Many (but not most) of the nobility in what as South Rheged are Saxons given land after its conquest, who see their main loyalty to Edwin rather than their nominal British overlords. It is fortunate that these unify in the person of Osric, Edwin's son.
Ynwys Manw is ruled by Saxon nobility transplanted from Northumbria after the conquest. They have converted to Christianity and married into the old royal family.
Mercia and Wessex are not unified. Both are fragmented into several sub-kingdoms which have all acknowledged Edwin as overking. Anglia, Essex, and Sussex have expanded into these lands, particularly Wessex. The nobility of both these lands have officially accepted conversion to Christianity under the auspices of the British church. Many of the the nobles in what is still acknowledged as northern Mercia are Northumbrians who have been given land after Edwin's conquests.
Gwynned has incorporated Powrys after the elimination of its royal family by Penda. Due to Northumbrian support Gwynned has remained unified upon the succession.
The kingdoms in the South of Wales are strongly Gywnned dominated after the war with the West Saxons killed much of the nobility, which was replaced by imports from the North.
Dumnonia has expanded at the expense of the West Saxons post-Harrowing.
Dalriada has suffered losses to Northumbria (or, more precisely, its client kingdom of Strathcylde, and was saved by the calling away of forces to the South).
Anglia, Kent, and Sussex all have accepted conversion to Christianity in the Roman tradition, and have been crowned by the Archbishop of Canterbury. Strong efforts of conversion are being made into Wessex by the Roman church. It is falling on receptive ears, as it is being combined with preaching against the heretic Britons, who up until recently have been ravaging the area.
Sussex has taken the Isle of Wight.
In religious news, relations between the Roman and provincial British church are significantly less good than OTL without Edwin's patronage. British and Irish missionaries are enjoying significant success in Northumbria and North/West Mercia.
643: Osric, as eldest surviving son of Edwin, heir of Redged, takes the throne of Northumbria as the age of 29. He invites "all the Kings of Britannia, inferior and superior" to the ceremony marking his accession, but few attend except for the King of Gwynned and it and Northumbria's vassals. Only one of the sub-Kings of Mercia attends, and none of the sub-Kings of Wessex nominally sworn to his father.. A number of minor Irish kings send representatives. He accepts consecration from the Abbot of the monastery of Eboracum (York), before crowning himself. The Saxon kings present accept him as Bretwalgda, but the absence of the other major Saxon kings is an embarrassment.
After the ceremony, he sends messengers to these Kings of the Southumbrian alliance (Anglia, Sussex, Essex, Kent, Wessex and the eastern sub-Kingdoms of Mercia), asking them to remember their oaths to his father and to turn over those he claim are the sponsors of his assassination, i.e. the royal family of Mercia in exile. They stonewall, and attempt to draw out negotiations.
644: Osric attempts to bring the two rebel sub-Kings of Mercia to heel. This does not go particularly well, an army lead by one of Osric's brothers is defeated at Hampton (OTL North Hampton). This endeavour is not aided by the eruption of South Wales into rebellion against their vassalage, meaning that Welsh troops cannot be brought to fight in Mercia. As a decade earlier, the North Welsh make good use of naval transport in their campaign.
645: With his position weakened at home by the defeats he previous year, and his absence from a couple of key battles, Osric takes a major risk. Using the ships built up in the North East for the past seven years to raid the Picts, combined with impressed merchant vessels, and a number of Frisian mercenaries/merchants, in late spring he launches the largest naval action seen in Britain since the arrival of the Saxons.
His heavily laden fleet raids down the east coast of Anglia, Essex, and even as far as Kent, looting and burning, and taking hostages. The port of Gippeswyc (Ipswich) is burnt to the ground and the ships there stolen, and many small coastal villages receive similar treatment.
In a notorious incident, a warband of less-Christianised Northumbrians burns a church to the ground, loots it and kills the priest when the locals seek sanctuary there.
This has a devastating effect on the Southumbrian alliance - there fighting men were in Mercia and those parts of Northumbria south of the Humber, fighting forces Osric had raised in Rheged, and there homes were undefended.
Osric returns to Northumbria with a significant amount of loot for his men, having secured his position, leaving the Southumbrian kingdoms in chaos.
Many of the Southumbrian warbands return home, and King Osric unites with the forces he has called from Rheged latter in the year, and drives the remaining hostile forces from Mercia by the end of the summer.
Osric is forced to divert significant forces north at this point, as the Picts have raided his Northern British vassals in considerable force, by both land and sea, so cannot press his advantage immediately.
646: After having dealt with the Picts in the north, and launched several punitive raids north, Osric sends forces into South Wales in support of Gwynned early in the year, whilst continuing serious raiding by land and sea against the Southumbria kingdoms.
Unusually, Osric offers a peacable settlement to the Southumbian kings (it is claimed it is offered from Christian fellow feeling, but in reality Osric is probably aware of the cost of the war and the need to consolidate his rulership over Northumbria). Having little choice, the surving Kings of Anglia, Essex, Sussex, and Wesex hand over the remaining Mercian royals, pay a humiliating tribute, and recognise Osric as Bretwalgda. The latter occurs in a ceremony at Eboracum, and oaths are sworn on the relics (any idea which Saint) at the monastery there, before the Abbot.
From this point on, everyone living in coastal Britain will be well aware of the dangers of pirate raids, what with the Picts going back to old piratical habits from the north and the Saxons adding naval raiding to their lexicon of warfare. The tendency for wealthy monasteries to be based on islands or very close to the coast gets scotched in the bud in this TL.
647: Cadfan, King of Gwynedd, narrowly survives an assassination attempt, but his wife is killed. Blaming his recalcitrant sub-Kings in southern Wales, who only gained their current titles after the suppression of the latest rebellion there, he executes two of them (of Ceredigon and Dyfed) and resolves to rule them directly. He makes it clear to the two remaining client kingdoms that they are on a short leash. To secure his dynasty, he marries his son to the daughter of the High King of Dumnonia. Partially as a result of this, the King of Glastening is forced to accept vassalage to Dumnonia.
647-655: Britannia superior is generally peaceful. During this period Osric continues his father's work of unifying his Kingdom. This is a period notable for seeing the beginning of the tradition of monastic schools, particularly the one in York, educating the children of the powerful. This policy is invented by Osric to supply him with a ready supply of hostages/alternate claimants to titles. Osric also works to integrate the British and Saxon nobililities, given that more than half his kingdom(s) and British. Cadfan of Gwynedd spends a significant amount of effort during this period of Irish adventures, gaining and loosing vassals periodically, bu also works to integrate the lands he has seized. He also lays the ground work for his eldest son to inherit everything, rather than reverting to older principles. Osric also sponsors significant missionary activity, brining in missionaries from British and Irish churches and preventing backsliding amongst the ruling classes. This goes well, although it makes more headway in Mercia and Northumbria than in Wessex, where the Roman church is more active (even if less than OTL). During this period the Picts continue raiding the coasts, both East and West, all the way down to the Mersey and the Humber. Osric counter-raids, but spends more effort fortifying the coasts, and putting in place measures to make raiding unprofitable. In this period we see the beginning of the flowering of Anglo-British culture and theology as the British and Saxons begin to mutually assimilate.
648: The sub-King of the north-western part of Mercia dies. Osric asserts that it his right as Bretwalgda to determine the succession. He does do, appointing a Northumbrian man to the position, marrying him the the daughter of his predecessor. It is not the control of the succession which is notable, but Osric's assertion that it is legitimized by his position of Bretwalgda. The other Anglo-Saxon Kings take note.
649: Osric of Northumbria founds the Abbey of Dore (approximately the location of OTL Sheffield), giving it substantial lands and resources, and a mission to support conversion. In this year, Abbes Brigid of Kildare (who took the name of the Founder of the Abbey) sends the first of her letters, which are both a cause and a symptom of the continued divergence of the British and Roman faiths. The letters themselves, and the associated correspondence with other British theologians, are given a greater significance by later historians in light of later events. The first is titled The Fallibility of Man, and is on the subject of the possibility that individual clergy may fall into error, and that the church as a corporate body should determine doctrine. These letters
651: The sub-King of the northern part of Wessex dies. Once more Osric appoints a successor, but this time chooses amongst the dead man's heirs. The West saxons do not like this, but are too weak to protest, as the British are only held back by the good graces of Osric.
653: In retaliation for continued raiding, Osric's son Edwin leads significant forces against the Picts of Fife. He forces the King of Fife to accept vassalage to Northumbria.
654: Edwin marries the daughter of Cadfan of Gwynedd.
655: Anna, King of the East Angles dies. Osric plays safe and nominates his cousin Egric for the throne, the man most likely to take the throne anyway. Egric dosen't like being seen as taking the throne at the sufferance of the King of Northumbria, and the other independent Kings like Osric's presumption even less than they did when it only involved areas under greater Northumbrian dominance. No one is prepared to do anything about it at this point.
656: Egric, who has been king of the East Angles for less than a year, dies after a short illness. Accusations of poisoning (probably unfounded) fly wildly. This time, the succession is much less clear cut. There are two candidates of significant standing, Siegbert, nephew of Anna, and Aethelhere, Egric's brother. The deadlock is broken when Siegbert petitions Osric for his support, acknowledging his right to determine the succession. The Saxon kings find this unacceptable, and give their support to Aethelhere. After a couple of weeks of fighting, Siegbert flees to Eborac (York) seeking refuge with his patron. Osric demands that the Southumbrian kings remember their oaths, and renounce their support for Aethelhere, and support the real king of the Angles.
The Bishop of Canterbury, who has significantly less good relations with the British church than OTL, who have rebuffed all attempts at reconciliation, in the context of their significantly better position than OTL, makes a statement that marks a turning point in religious relations. He relieves the Kings of Sussex, Essex, Kent, their nobles and the nobility of East Anglia of their oaths to Osric, as “an oath sworn to a heretic King before a false priest is no oath”.
Osric raises his army and navy against the Southumbrians and attempts to compel their obedience. The Southumbrians have spent the last decade well, and after initial successes the naval attacks do not provide the knockout blow Osric had hoped, although they do pin down significant forces. On land Osric does reasonably well, but before he can prosecute his advantage, he suffers a wound at a minor skirmish that becomes infected, and he dies. The Northumbrian forces loose the initiative, and are driven back into Mercia.
Despite Osric's son Edwin being his favoured heir, his brother Oswald takes the throne, with the support of those Northumbrian lords unhappy with Osric's accommodation with the British, and not pleased with the thought of a mostly British, monastery educated king. Edwin retreats into old Rheged and sets himself up as an interdependent king. Oswald is unable to do anything about this, or about the fact that the North British kingdoms (Goddodin and Strathclyde) have sworn to Edwin, or that Gwynedd has recognized Edwin as King of Northumbria, due to his need to hold against the Southumbrians in Mercia. The Kingdom of Fife declares its vassalage ended with Osric's death.
657: Skirmishing in Mercia and naval raiding all along the East coast keep Oswald and the Southumbrians busy. The men of Wessex play little part in the war as they are too concerned about Dumnonian incursions. Many West Saxons flee. Gwynedd remains entangled in Ireland, restricing it's opportunity to meddle.
658: Frustrated with being unable to reclaim what he considers his rightful lands in the West, Oswald tries to knock Anglia out of the war so he can focus on Edwin. He launches an attack in strength against Anglia. He defeats the rebel East Anglians in a battle near OTL Ely, but a week later is defeated by the forces of the King of Kent. He flees back to Northumbria, unlucky enough to escape with his life. Soon afterwards he is brought to battle, along with some of the more recalcitrant Northumbrian lords by Edwin, where he is resoundingly defeated.
After this victory Edwin sweeps south, defeating first the Anglians, then the Kings of Kent and Sussex.. He takes a significant amount of loot personally, whilst Northumbian ships sail up the Thames looting and burning, taking even more. With most of the southern Kings dead, he takes the opportunity to affirm his right to determine the inheritance of the Saxon kingdoms. He makes Siegbert king of East Anglia, and selects the most friendly of the heirs available for the other kingdoms. He also demands that the Bishop of Canterbury be turned over to face a council of churchmen for his “crime”. The Bishop flees to the continent before this can happen. When he hears what has occurred, the Pope anathematises the Edwin and all who follow him. In response, a Conclave of British churchmen reiterate Hilda's teaching, that individual churchmen may fall into error, and that divine truth is revealed to the Church as a community, not an individual. The Kings and nobles of southern Britain are strongly encouraged to convert to the British flavour of Christianity, and the clergy urged to recognise the error of the Bishop of Rome.
Edwin accepts the crown as York, where all the Anglo-Saxon Kings and sub-Kings make obedience and swear oaths, the independent British Kings make oaths of friendship, and his vassals re-swear their oaths of obedience.
At the end of the year, Edwin persuades the High King of Dumonnia to restrain his sub-Kings from attacking Edwin's new vassals in Wessex, via their mutual relatives.
The State of Play in 658
Named characters:
Kings of Northumbria
616-643:
Edwin I: Married Ceindrech of Gwynedd, sister of Cadwallon.
643-656:
Osric: Son of Edwin I, was married to Rhiainfelt of Rheged
656-658:
Oswald: Son of Edwin I, brother of Osric
658-
Edwin II: Son of Osric, Prince of Rheged in his own right. Married to Elen of Gwynedd, Cadfan II's daughter.
Kings of Gwynedd:
Cadfan I 618-626
Cadwallon 626 - 639. His sister was married to Edwin I
Cadfan II 639-: His daughter is married to Edwin II.
Miscellanious characters:
Anna: Predecessor of Egric, King of the East Angles.
Egric, King of the East Angles. His death triggers another bout of war in Britannia.
Aethelhere: Southumbrian candidate the East Anglian throne. Reigned 656-658.
Siegbert: Northumbrian candidate for the East Anglian throne He takes the throne in 658.
Summary by area in 658:
Northumbria:
Unquestionably the greatest power in Britain, a Northumbrian King has been the most powerful iman n Britain, for decades. Northumbia is the most assimilated and Christianized of all the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, thanks to the efforts of its Kings. Due to it's integration of Rheged, Gododdin, and Strathclyde as client kingdoms, and the example of their kings, there is a distinct Anglo-British noble class emerging
Mercia
Mercia is split up into three sub-Kingdoms, and does not have a single king. These sub-Kings remained loyal to Northumbria during the latest war, mainly due to the fact that a significant part of the noble class are Northumbrian transplants after Edwin's victory over Mercia. It has been penetrated by British missionaries to a considerable degree.
Wessex
Wessex is split up into 4 sub-kingdoms, and like Mercia has no overall king. It has not recovered from the harrowing it received from the British, and has suffered significantly, in terms of land and men to its neighbours. There is distinct emigration of the West Saxons. Both British and Roman Christian missionaries are quite active in this area.
East Anglia
After recently being the prize in the wars between the Northumbrians and Southumbrian alliance, the people of this land are tired, and have suffered heavily from raiding by Northumbria ships and warbands. A Northumbrian appointed king sits on the throne.
Kent
This country is a hot bed of discontent. It has been heavily Christianised by the Roman church, and is taking excommunication, and British attempts at conversion hard. The new king has been selected by Edwin of Northumbria, and so sits lightly on the throne.
Sussex & Essex
Both Sussex and Essex have recently gained new Kings thanks to the Northumbrians, and and suffering from the aftermath of Northumbrian naval raids and tribute demands. On the other hand, both have absorbed parts of Wessex. The kings and nobles of this area are taking their enforced renunciation of the pope much better than those of Kent.
Dumnonia
Dumnonia has done rather well out of the past few years. The West saxons are still extremely weak, so present no threat, and every few years they are foolish enough to rebel against Northumbria, giving them free reigin to invade without annoying anyone with the power to object. It has absorbed a significant amount of formerly Saxon land, and has placed Glastening back into vassalage.
Gwynedd
King Cadfan II has rather alot on his plate, he is still dealing with integrating with southern Welsh Kingdoms and Powys. He is attempting to channel restless young men into the continuning Irish wars.
Important Developments
Rise of Anglo-British nobility/royalty in Northumbria, with accompanying Angle assimilation into existing British culture.
British/Roman church schism.
Consolidation of Welsh Kingdoms.
Continuing weakness+disunited state of Mercia and particularly Wessex, and hence less pressure on British.
Contined strong Northumbrian influence in Mercian sub-kingdoms.
Principle of Brewalgda having say in succession - existence of Bretwalgda as an institution with power.
Less effective Roman missionary activity in southern Britain.
Excommunication of Anglo-Saxons.
First effective Anglo-Saxon dynasty that keeps power in immediate family in Northumbria.
The Fallibility of Man is essentially a rebuttal of the concept of there being a universal Pope, and more broadly it is an argument that theology should be developed in a corporate sense, by debate amongst a council. It has a strong subtext about the superiority of monastic Christianity in developing doctrine rather than reserving it as the special prerogative of priests.
The later letters have more theological content, but I don't know enough about the tendancies of the British church to speculate in what fashion they might disagree with Rome over the nature of divinity or man's relationship to it. If someone can suggest something it would help - it's not as if there weren't plenty of schisms at this point.
The Anglo-British thing is just something I put in there randomly. Some "barbarians", like the Franks assimilated into the local country to a greater degree than others, like the Saxons. The main result has been (will be) a substantially faster conversion of the Northumbrian Angles, which has important cultural effects in stabilising the Kingdom. At this point the Anglo-saxons are pretty much like the Vikings, the way you stay King is by being a successful pirate, i.e. a strong warrior who provides plenty of loot for his followers. The greater continuity of rule also makes the place generally wealthier, as there have been less battles fought over places.
The British church has not had to change much as part of its conversion efforts. It is still primarily monastic based, but there is significantly more of a missionary wing compared to OTL, basically because the Kings have bribed them to do it, and because they aren't being called on to convert enemies who are gradually defeating them, instead converting allies and forcing conversion on defeated kings, which is far more pleasant and easier. One change I have thrown in is the creation of monastic schools for the children of nobility, empasising the change in Angle culture to Anglo-British.
On the army and navy, it has to be remembered that the basic military unit is the warband. There is no official army and navy, just warlords and their men. The navy is those costal warlords who have been persuaded of the value of naval piracy in war time. This is changing.
The culture of southern England is different - there has been little to no assimilation - even in those places which have been retaken by the British from Mercia and Wessex. The Mercian sub-kingdoms are going the way of Northumbria, albeit more slowly. These differences are emphasised by the preexisting cultural differences between the Saxons and the Angles. East Anglia is closest to the north, being fellow Angles and being penetrated by British missionaries. The southern kingdoms are due for a period of unrest, as they have been defeated several times in a row and have had much of there power structure killed or disturbed, plus the Church there is in turmoil, having been severed from Rome.
Back to the Time Line
659-671: Mainland Britain is generally peaceful during this period, with the exception of bitter fighting between the Picts and the Dalriadians, which spills over into Strathclyde, and continued but low level Pictish raiding all the way down the coast of the North East, which lead into Northumbian counter raiding. West Saxons continue to emigrate during this period, sick of continued defeat in the West. Edwin II continues his father Osric's policies, particularly by encouraging inter-marriage between the British and Angle ruling classes. Significant resources continue to be expended on conversion. Producing Latin speaking and literate priests is becoming a significant problem. Cadfan II of the Welsh continues the integration of the southern Welsh and Powyrs, and continues to stir the Irish pot. He also aids Edwin II's Anglo-British integration “project” by permitting continued integration of the British and Angle nobility.
659: The northernmost sub-kingdom of what was Mercia swears direct allegiance to Edwin II of Northumbria.
661: The Abbey of Canterbury is refounded under the British rite.
662: Elen, Queen of Rheged and Northumbria, sponsors the formation of a monastic school for girls under the auspices of the Abbess of Caer Lune (Lancaster), which had been founded by her grandmother-in-law.
664: The King Of Lennister (south-east Ireland) finally accepts vassalage to Cadfan II of Wales, after being dependant on Welsh aid in the pst decade.
665: At the Synod of Chester, virtually all of the heads of the most significant monastic houses in the British Isles meet to discuss the proliferation of translations of the Gospels and Psalms that have sprung up over the past 20 years. After significant dissent, it is agreed that Latin should be emphasised as the true language of religion, but that to prevent falling into error, official translations should be produced for teaching purposes. This will prove a significant undertaking, as there are at least 4 notably different languages spoken in the British Isles. At the same Synod, Brigid of Kildare, who died the previous year, is canonised. He successor Hilda, who collaborated with her on several of her later Letters, successfully lobbies for the acceptance of her theories of the relation of God and the Church, and of the Church and Man*.
668: There is some bitter fighting in Wessex as a Hwicce warleader attempts to reunite Wessex. This attempt is put down after Northumbrian intervention under Edwin II's cousin.
671: The King of Strathclyde dies. Edwin decides that the dead man's eleven year old heir, who's being educated at the school at York, should take the throne, with Edwin appointing a Regent. The boy's uncle, leader of a faction unhappy with the Northumbrians' lack of success at suppressing raids from the north, refuses to accept this. He counteroffers loyalty for the price of Northumbrian ships and men to fight in the forth. Edwin does not tolerate this dissent, and retakes Strathclyde, imposing a Regent to hold until the boy's majority.
673: Aware that he has neglected the Picts, Edwin II launches the first in a series of campaigns designed to pacify them. He is hobbled in this by his unwillingness to leave an opportunity for what he still sees as then enemy to the south, and by him giving a higher priority to building in Eborac (York) and other cities (tows). As attacks into the Higlands on land are still a fool's game, this mainly involves ship-bourne raids.
675: Edwin finally takes and pacifies Fife, which he grants to some of his more loyal Anglo-British men. After this he leaves the campaign in the hands of his som Raedwaldas he does not trust the situation in the south.
676: Edwin compels the remaining Angle and Saxon lords to send their younger sons and daughters to the monastic schools at Eborac and Caer Lune respectively.
678: Cadfan II of Gwynedd accepts the submission of the King of Meath (central-East Ireland).
680: At the age of 44, Edwin II contracts a debilitating illness. Seeking to secure the succession, he abdicates in favour of his eldest son, Raedwald, Under the influence of the Abbot of Eborac, he enters the Abbey his father founded at Dore (OTL Sheffield). The abdication and coronation happen at the same ceremony, attended by virtually all the kings of Britain. There are rumblings of rebellion, but the Northumbrians possess alternate claimants to all the thrones of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms. Cadfan II looks forward to the absence of his old rival/ally from the scene.
*God reveals himself to the Church corporately, as a mystery split and shared between many individuals. Understanding God requires collaboration. The Church's role is to teach man about God. This can be done by any good means, but the best way is for a person to join a monastic community for a period of their life. Hilda modified these ideas to include the concept of temporary members of a community, who stay for a few years before leaving to live a secular life more informed by spiritual learnings and good works.
680-692: Another significant period of peace and security in Britannia Superior. After his recovery Edwin II continues to build the beginnings of a state, leaving his son to foreign adventures. In latter the last half of the 7th century is seen as a golden age.
681: The King of Middle Anglia dies. Raedwald (King of Northumbria) confirms the heir apparent (a graduate of the school at Eborac) in his position. Cadfan II is proclaimed High King of the Britons, after receiving the submission of the King of Ulster.
682: Raedwald’s sister marries the King of the Frisians, who converts to Christianity under the British rite. There has been substantial British missionary activity into north-west Europe for the latter half of Edwin II 25 year reign, following (or followed) by the establishment of stronger trading routes across the North Sea as the naval strength of the Northumbrians increases. What is during war a raider serves perfectly well to carry cargo and missionaries during peacetime. This conversion has been in competition with the efforts of the Roman church, but the notorious corruption of the Frankish clergy has crippled this effort.
684: Edwin II partially recovers from his long illness, but remains incapable of strenuous activity. It is proclaimed a miracle. Unable to retake the throne, he contents himself with the writing of letters, particularly to his son. Raedwald is relieved by this, as he is discovering that his patience for the trials of ruling is waning. He gets back to what he does best, raiding the Picts. Certain parts of the nascent British state which have begun to whither under 4 years of disinterested stewardship are put back on the road to recovery.
In this year Cadfan II dies, after an unprecedented rule of 45 years. He is remembered as Cadfan the Great, having received the submission of all of Wales, Dumnnonia, and Ireland during his long life. He is succeeded by his grand-nephew Rhun.
686: Having handily defeated the Picts, Raedwald defies his fathers advice and goes to the aid of Rhun against the rebellious Irish in the North and East.
687: The Franks invade Frisia, the first campaigns are inconclusive.
688: To the surprise of many, Raedwald manages to force the Irish back into Welsh vassalage, although he extracts a large tribute, both from Rhun and from the Irish, for the privilege. The two year campaign has primarily involved the naval raiding Raedwald practised against the Picts.
690: On the edge of defeat, the King of the Frisians appeals to Raedwald, his brother-in-law for aid. Once again disregarding his father’s council, Raedwald moves many of his veteran troops across the North Sea to fight the Franks. Combined with heavy raiding of the Frankish side of the North Sea and down the Channel, the Franks are driven back.
691-692: Fighting continues against the Franks. Northumbrian naval power allows Raedwald to raid almost at will, bringing back significant loot. This drives the Mayors across the Frankish territory to unite against him, temporarily bringing much of the internecine conflict across Frankia to a halt.
693: Stiffened by Frankish troops, Kent, Sussex, and Essex rise up in rebellion in support of heirs to these kingdoms who had fled to the Frankish court. The King of Kent is killed, and the other two are forced to flee.
Edwin II, by now an man old before his time with the burden of building a nation whilst no longer its King, is assassinated in the monastery at Dore, allegedly whilst at prayer.
The Northumbrian backed King of East Anglia defeats the Frankish backed claimant, but is subsequently driven into the marshes by attacks from the south.
The Mercian sub-Kingdoms stay loyal to the Northumbrian King.
The Irish take the opportunity to rebel once more, and Rhun feels unable to abandon his predecessor's gains, leaving him unable to commit substantial forces to a campaign on Britannia Superior.
Raedwald reacts by leading a series of heavy raids along both sides of the channel, whilst his brother leads warbands in attacks on the mainland. Towards the end of summer, he is slain during an attack on the Frankish side of the channel. His brother Oswain takes the throne as regent for his young nephew.
A renewed Frankish assault on Frankia falters due to squabbling between the Mayors.
The Dumnonnians take advantage of the conflict to invade Somersate. It is notable that they respect the sanctity of churches in these assaults.
694: Oswain defeats the men of Kent and a substantial contingent of Franks in a major battle on Whitsun (Pentecost, a couple of months after Easter), despite being outnumbered. The Frankish claimant to the throne of Kent is slain. He credits his victory to a miracle granted by his father.
Later in 694 the men of Essex are also defeated, after suffering greatly from sea-bourn raids.
Towards the end of the year the men of Sussex welcome back the Northumbrian backed King, the Frankish pretender flees across the Channel.
695: Edwin II is proclaimed a Saint of the British Church. He will later be known as St. Edwin the Great, and rather exaggerated claims made for his accomplishments, conflating them with doctrinal changes the British church was undergoing at arounf the same time.
Oswain invades north-west Frankia across the Channel, seeking a large blood-price for his father’s death. He meets initial success. A surprisingly large contingent of his troops was fighting against him only last year, but the bounty available is quite enticing.
The last Franks are expelled from Frisia.
696: The English can raid the coast and rivers of north west Frankia at will, but make significantly less headway in the interior. The Mayors are once again uniting to oppose them. Oswain is unwilling to settle the matter, however. The last Merovingian king is slain in the middle of the summer, but the Mayors couldn’t care less.
Late in the year Oswain is slain. His nephew Oscar, having reached his majority, takes the throne in his own right. He accepts a substantial payment from the Mayors to go away.
697: Oscar is crowned. At his coronation, the West Saxons beg for relief from Dumnonnian raids. Somersate has virtually ceased to exist. The Dumnonnian king is unwilling to call a halt to the raids, and Northumbrian forces move into Wessex. After a few minor skirmishes, when it becomes clear that Rhun (King of Wales) is unwilling to support his nominal ally against the Northumbrians, the Dumnonnians are forced to relent.
As his guarantee, Oscar takes Ygerna, daughter of the King of Dumnonia as his wife.
699: The Picts attempt to retake Fife. They fail, with heavy casualties.
700: Oscar sponsors significant building work at the Eborac (York) Monastery, dedicated to his grandfather, St. Edwin.
In Other News
The Eastern Empire:
629: Heraclius celebrates his victory over the Persians by entering Jerusalem as a pilgrim, one year earlier than OTL after making an earlier alliance with the Axumites, and maintaining the alliance with the Khazars for six months longer.
Khālid bin Walīd dies in battle against the Gassinids, along with several other important Arab leaders after more forces than OTL are sent to deal with them. This has important consequences for the future development of Islam.
634: The Arabs invaded Syria and the Levant on schedule
635: Heraclius is in significantly better health than OTL thanks to the earlier conclusion of the previous war, and his empire is slightly less exhausted by war. He mobilities faster, and prepares to liberate his possessions.
636: Heraclius leads his armies against the Arabs. He avoids making some the mistakes made in OTL, and manages to pay off the Gassanids so they don't defect, he is also helped by the fact that the Arabs are lacking several commanders they would have had in OTL. The Arabs are resoundingly defeated, many are put to the sword.
637: Heraclius presses the Arabs south into the Arabian peninsula, renewing his earlier alliance with the Axumites, paying them to attack from the south.
Unfortunately for the Axumites, later in the year rebellion erupts in Constantinople as a response to the heavy taxes required to pay for the wars and alliance. Heraclius returns to his capital, where the gates are opened for him by loyalists. It is discovered that Martina and her son Heraclius where amongst the conspirators, and they commit suicide.
638: Heraclius cleans up the mess the rebellion has left, and beds in some of his military reforms.
639: The Arabs defeat the Axumites in a major battle in OTL Yemen. Heraclius convenes the Conclave of Jerusalem, hoping to push Monothelitism to solve the schism.
640: In a controversial letter, Heraclius implies the equivalence of the Pope with the other Patriarchs, modifying Phocas' recognition of the Bishop of Rome as universal bishop, recognizing instead all the important Patriarchs as being the spiritual successors of the Apostles, each having a responsibility to check each other for error.
641: Heraclius falls ill. His son Heraclius Constantine inherits the throne, blaming the stress of holding the religious tensions in check for his father's death. He privately repeats his father's doctrine about papal non-supremacy.
642: Byzantine generals check another Arab invasion into Syria, but in the south Axumite resistance collapses. The Arabs also score significant successes against the Persians, still weakened after their defeat by Heraclius.
645: A major Arab invasion defeats the Byzantines in Egypt after the Copts refuse to fight.
646: Heraclius Constantine "leads" forces from the north whilst the Exarch of Cartage leads forces from North Africa into Egypt. The relatively small Arab armies are crushed, and the Copts are made to suffer quite significantly. Despite his strategic victory in the campaign he he is nearly killed during one battle, falling seriously ill, and the Exarch of Cartage is killed. He dies shortly after his return to Constantinople. At the tender age of 16 Constans II ascends to the throne, defying the odds, manages to resolve the crisis surrounding his succession relatively peacefully, as his predecessor had managed to remove several of his more dangerous rivals immediately before his death, by instigating a bloodletting over accession to the vacant position of Exarch of Carthage. Constans II is not the most fervent of souls, indeed, he received perhaps to thorough an education in classical philosophy to deeply believe. He is, above all, a pragmatist.
649: The Visigoths attack the Exarchy of Africa from Iberia. Constans II sends troops to support his vassal, but dares not go himself. The Western part of the Exarch falls to the Visigoths. The Exarchy pays them to stop their advance.
650: Constans II executes 4 prominent Orthodox churchmen and several of the higher nobility for treason. Included amongst the victims are the Patriarch of Alexandria, who has been notable in his persecution of the Copts. The confiscation and display of the personal wealth some of these holy men had accumulated puts the rest of the church on warning. This occurs after Constans had married the daughter of the last King of Persia, following her conversion to Christianity.
652: The Visigoths are expelled from Africa and given a severe thrashing when Constans II moves significant troops into North Africa. The Arabs choose this moment to invade the Byzantine’s Ghassanid vassal. This forces Constans II to return with his armies to the East.
The Ghassanids hold against the Arabs, bolstered by Imperial troops dispatched on Constans II orders from Greece, although they suffer several minor defeats, there is no conclusive battle
653: Constans II defeats the Muslims at Medina, and accepts the surrender of the 4th Caliph.
658: The Exarch of Carthage rebels, and declares the Exarch independent. The Exarch was a very devout man, who disapproved of Constans II tolerance of heresy in Egypt and amongst the Ghassanids. Constans II is busy leading a campaign against the Bulgars and Slavs at the time and could do little about it.
659: Constans II smashes the Bulgars in a series of decisive battles.
660: Seeing the massing of Imperial forces in Egypt (which remained under central control), senior officials in Carthage have the Exarch assassinated, and pledge loyalty to the Emperor.
662: Constans II has the Patriarch of Alexandria convene a Council, seeking yet again to find a formula to control religious strife within his Empire, hoping to succeed where his grandfather failed. He is helped by the fact that the Pope’s representative dies on the way to the council. Still, all that he gains is an advantage over the Pope in Northern Italian politics, as the Pope denounces the (rather minor) decisions made there as invalid without his consent. This council is remarkable as it is the first attended by representatives of the British church, the Bishop of Chester, who advocates the British church’s doctrine of Conciliarism. The British representatives go away rebuffed, as they disagree with both the Orthodox and monophysite churches on the date of Easter and other issues.
664: Constans II resumes his campaign against the Bulgars to the north, imposing Christianity as he goes. This will continue for the next 6 years, as the Bulgarians are unable to resist, and the rest of the Empire is relatively peaceful, and the Arabs are busy putting down rebellions that have sprung up during their long civil war. Vast numbers of Bulgars are deported to North Africa, dispersed across the Exarchate to help contain the Bulgars..
670-672: The Arabs invade Egypt. This time, the Copts resist, and supported by the Ghassanids attacking from the North, they hold long enough for Imperial armies to relieve them, and expel the Arabs. Punitive raids are launched into Arabia, and Medina is burnt to the ground, but the Caliphate’s centre of gravity has moved into old Persia. From this point on, wars between the Arabs and Eastern Romans strongly resemble those between the Sassanids and the Romans.
674: The Lombards attack the Imperial possessions in Northern Italy. The Exarch of Ravenna is killed. Constans II sends reinforcements, which stops the advance, but over half the territory the Empire held at the beginning of the year has been lost. He does not dare strip the Eastern or Balkan borders of the Empire, and after the wars of recent years, the Empire is too poor to support another major campaign to retake the lost territory.
677: Despite his many other successes, the losses of the Italian territories have done Constans II significant damage. Many in the church have not forgiven his tolerance of heresy or willingness to execute churchmen, and the wealthy have no love for the taxes required to finance his wars, or his reforms to the military system. At Christmas 677 he is assassinated in the Cathedral in Constantinople. Unfortunately for the conspirators, Constans II, and his son Heraclius (soon to be Heraclius II) are popular amongst the troops, and the rebellion is put down with a minimum of fuss. The new Emperor has learnt his father’s lesson, and conspiring churchmen do not receive the benefit of trials and public execution, and instead disappear to suffer rather gruesome ends.
The Roman Church:
618: Pope Adeodatus I dies. He is succeded shortly afterwards by Gregory II, who focuses his efforts on securing the Church's influence in Italy, via alliance with the Merovingian kings. The previous popes' focus on the Christianizing of Britain lapse during his reign, after an emissary to Edwin of Northumbria is seriously rebuffed when he accidentally implies that the already Christian Edwin should convert to the true faith. He allows relations with the Emperor in Constantinople deteriorate, as he sees the troubles the Eastern Empire are having as serving to free his hand in Italy. By the time of his death the Church has made significant advances against the power of the Exarch of Ravenna, capitalizing on the rebellion of the holder of that post in the year of his accession.
628: Pope Gregory II dies, and is succeeded by Boniface V (a different one to OTL). He modifies his predecessors policies towards the East, seeking to consolidate the Churches gains in the face of a resurgent Eastern Empire, although he continues his policies in other areas - much missionary effort is devoted to southern Germany. He does not support Monothelitism despite strong pressure from the Emperor to do so, although the Emperor has fewer levers than OTL thanks to the weaker nature of the Exarchate of Ravenna.
639: Pope Boniface V attends the Conclave of Jerusalem, where he rejects Monothelitism, but also manages to let down over a decade of quiet diplomacy on the part of his nuncios to the other Patriarchs by managing to offend not only the representatives of the monophysite churches, but also his nominal theological allies amongst the Chalcedonian churches, by re-emphasizing Gregory I's opinion that "without the authority and the consent of the apostolic see, none of the matters transacted [by a council] have any binding force."
This sets the scene for Heraclius letter movement against the Pope.
641; Boniface V rejects Heraclius' letter as a step above heresy, and sets about convincing the Western bishops of the benefits of deferring to him.
643: Boniface V dies and is succeeded by Gregory III
The Arabic World
646: The Persian Empire has effectively ceased to exist. All central government has disappeared, save for that of the Arabs. All major cities are under Arab rule, or destroyed, and the Zoroastrian hereditary priesthood has been all but exterminated. In this year Ctesiphon is exterminated by the Arabs for the 2nd and final time after rebelling. From this date on, the city effectively ceases to exist. In an event which leads to a whole host of complications down the road, the daughter of the last King of Persia seeks sanctuary in the West, in Antioch, with her people’s old enemies. The Arabs have arrived at a consensus that Zoroastrianism is not a religion of the book, and so conquest is not peaceful. Massacres and religious persecution is common. This slows the Arabic conquest to the East. Towards the end of the year, the 3rd Caliph dies of wounds received fighting the Byzantines.
The Arabs have just about finished the conquest of Axum, and are surging down the Eastern coast of Africa, trading and conquering. Arabic sailors are also beginning to appear on the Western coast of India.
652: The fourth Caliph, needing to unit commanders restless with continuously suppressing Persian rebellions (an activity which is no longer very lucrative, the place having been looted dry), invades the Eastern Roman Empire, or rather, their Ghassanid vassals. Although their has been continual raiding for the past few years, this is the first major effort since the death of the 3rd Caliph.
653: Roman forces invade Arabia from Egypt. The Caliph’s forces withdraw from the Ghassanid kingdom. At the Battle of Medina, the Byzantines capture the 4th Caliph who is forced to accept an unfavourable peace.
654: The 4th Caliph is assassinated by those unhappy with the terms of the peace agreed with the Romans. The 1st Islamic civil war starts. There are many factions and competing claims to the Caliphate. This period is complicated by many rebellions by subject peoples and invasions from outside.
658: Major rebellion in eastern Persia expels the Arabs.
660: The Tiryadd claimants to the Caliphate retire to Eastern Africa, having been defeated in Arabia. This is the beginning of the independent Islamic state there.
664: The Islamic civil war ends, with the first Haramad Caliph claiming rulership over all Muslims in Arabia and what was Persia.
668: The rebellion in Eastern Persia is crushed and returned to Muslim rule.
670-672: The Arabs try their luck at invading Egypt again. After initial successes, they fail due to superior Roman organisation and logistics, and their ability to rapidly transfer troops by sea.
674: The first Haramad Caliph dies, passing the title to his son.
676-678: The 2nd Haramad Caliph attempts to reunite the Islamic faith by re-conquering East Africa from the Tiryadd Caliph. He fails miserably, but retains his position.
680: The first Tiryadd Caliph dies, one of his nephews is proclaimed as the new Caliph.
646: The Persian Empire has effectively ceased to exist. All central government has disappeared, save for that of the Arabs. All major cities are under Arab rule, or destroyed, and the Zoroastrian hereditary priesthood has been all but exterminated. In this year Ctesiphon is exterminated by the Arabs for the 2nd and final time after rebelling. From this date on, the city effectively ceases to exist. In an event which leads to a whole host of complications down the road, the daughter of the last King of Persia seeks sanctuary in the West, in Antioch, with her people’s old enemies. The Arabs have arrived at a consensus that Zoroastrianism is not a religion of the book, and so conquest is not peaceful. Massacres and religious persecution is common. This slows the Arabic conquest to the East. Towards the end of the year, the 3rd Caliph dies of wounds received fighting the Byzantines.
The Arabs have just about finished the conquest of Axum, and are surging down the Eastern coast of Africa, trading and conquering. Arabic sailors are also beginning to appear on the Western coast of India.
652: The fourth Caliph, needing to unit commanders restless with continuously suppressing Persian rebellions (an activity which is no longer very lucrative, the place having been looted dry), invades the Eastern Roman Empire, or rather, their Ghassanid vassals. Although their has been continual raiding for the past few years, this is the first major effort since the death of the 3rd Caliph.
653: Roman forces invade Arabia from Egypt. The Caliph’s forces withdraw from the Ghassanid kingdom. At the Battle of Medina, the Byzantines capture the 4th Caliph who is forced to accept an unfavourable peace.
654: The 4th Caliph is assassinated by those unhappy with the terms of the peace agreed with the Romans. The 1st Islamic civil war starts. There are many factions and competing claims to the Caliphate. This period is complicated by many rebellions by subject peoples and invasions from outside.
658: Major rebellion in eastern Persia expels the Arabs.
660: The Tiryadd claimants to the Caliphate retire to Eastern Africa, having been defeated in Arabia. This is the beginning of the independent Islamic state there.
664: The Islamic civil war ends, with the first Haramad Caliph claiming rulership over all Muslims in Arabia and what was Persia.
668: The rebellion in Eastern Persia is crushed and returned to Muslim rule.
670-672: The Arabs try their luck at invading Egypt again. After initial successes, they fail due to superior Roman organisation and logistics, and their ability to rapidly transfer troops by sea.
674: The first Haramad Caliph dies, passing the title to his son.
676-678: The 2nd Haramad Caliph attempts to reunite the Islamic faith by re-conquering East Africa from the Tiryadd Caliph. He fails miserably, but retains his position.
680: The first Tiryadd Caliph dies, one of his nephews is proclaimed as the new Caliph.
Frankia:
611: Theudebert II of Austrasia defeats his brother Theuderic and conquers Alsace.
612: Theudebert attacks Clotaire II of Neustria
615: Clotaire II, later known as the Great, finally defeats Theudebert..He is the first King of all Frankia since 561.
619: Clotaire II is forced to grant significant power to the mayors, making them a life time post and delegating significant law making powers to them..
622: Clotaire II proclaims his infant son Clovis King of Austrasia under threat of his nobility.
625: Clotaire II is assassinated. His young son Siegbert is placed on the Neustrian throne.
634: Ausrasian armies defeat the Slavs at Forchheim.
636: Clovis attempts to tame his nobles after his success against the Slavs.
638: Clovis is assassinated whilst parleying with his nominal vassals. They install Theudric III.
638-674: The Frankish kingdoms are chaotic in this period, dominated by the powerful Mayors and old nobility who dominate weak or infant Kings, realms split and reform in different combinations several times. During this period the southern Franks fight a series of inconclusive wars with the Basques, but fail to conquer the Basque Country. During this period the Frankish church becomes increasingly corrupt, with married clergy and inheritance of bishoprics occurring.
674: Childreic becomes Mayor of Burgundy. He proceeds to gradually calm the internicine fighting in northern Frankia.
686: Childeric, having constructed a reasonably secure realm in the north of Frankia, turns his eyes to Frisia, which he considers an easier target than the southern Frankish realms, he pressures the Frisian King to accept vassalage, who refuses.
688: After pausing to put down some last minute dissent, Childeric invades Frisia, progress is slower than expected, but eventual victory seems inevitable.
690: Unexpectedly, the Northumbrians intervene when the Frisians are on the edge of defeat. The Franks suffer significantly from coastal raiding. A League of Mayors forms across Frankia to oppose them. The Basques raid north.
693: Frankish troops invade southern Brittania in support of exiled heirs to the Saxon kingdoms.
695: The Franks retreat from Brittania.
696: The last Merovingian King is slain at a Battle at Paris. The Mayors fight on for another 3 months, before paying a substantial tribute to the Northumbrians to go away.
698: The Franks smash the Basques and take over Basque Country.
611: Theudebert II of Austrasia defeats his brother Theuderic and conquers Alsace.
612: Theudebert attacks Clotaire II of Neustria
615: Clotaire II, later known as the Great, finally defeats Theudebert..He is the first King of all Frankia since 561.
619: Clotaire II is forced to grant significant power to the mayors, making them a life time post and delegating significant law making powers to them..
622: Clotaire II proclaims his infant son Clovis King of Austrasia under threat of his nobility.
625: Clotaire II is assassinated. His young son Siegbert is placed on the Neustrian throne.
634: Ausrasian armies defeat the Slavs at Forchheim.
636: Clovis attempts to tame his nobles after his success against the Slavs.
638: Clovis is assassinated whilst parleying with his nominal vassals. They install Theudric III.
638-674: The Frankish kingdoms are chaotic in this period, dominated by the powerful Mayors and old nobility who dominate weak or infant Kings, realms split and reform in different combinations several times. During this period the southern Franks fight a series of inconclusive wars with the Basques, but fail to conquer the Basque Country. During this period the Frankish church becomes increasingly corrupt, with married clergy and inheritance of bishoprics occurring.
674: Childreic becomes Mayor of Burgundy. He proceeds to gradually calm the internicine fighting in northern Frankia.
686: Childeric, having constructed a reasonably secure realm in the north of Frankia, turns his eyes to Frisia, which he considers an easier target than the southern Frankish realms, he pressures the Frisian King to accept vassalage, who refuses.
688: After pausing to put down some last minute dissent, Childeric invades Frisia, progress is slower than expected, but eventual victory seems inevitable.
690: Unexpectedly, the Northumbrians intervene when the Frisians are on the edge of defeat. The Franks suffer significantly from coastal raiding. A League of Mayors forms across Frankia to oppose them. The Basques raid north.
693: Frankish troops invade southern Brittania in support of exiled heirs to the Saxon kingdoms.
695: The Franks retreat from Brittania.
696: The last Merovingian King is slain at a Battle at Paris. The Mayors fight on for another 3 months, before paying a substantial tribute to the Northumbrians to go away.
698: The Franks smash the Basques and take over Basque Country.
Hispania:
623: Sisebut, King of the Visigoths, expels the last Byzantine troops from Hispania.
632: Sisebut dies, to be succeeded by his son, Reccard II. The bishops take the right to confirn election of the King to themselves.
634: Reccard defeats a rebellion led by Swinthilia, one of the most prominent of the nobility.
640: Reccard I dies, and is succeeded by his brother Sulithon I.
649: Suilithon I leads the visigoths to attack the Exarchate of Africa. Stressed by other enemies, the Byzantine Empire is unable to send much aid. The Western part of the Exarchate falls to the Visigoths. The Exarch pays them to stop their advance.
652: The Visigoths are expelled from Africa, Sulithon I is slain, and is succeeded by his nephew Sisebut II.
652: The Visigoths are expelled from Africa, Sulithon I is slain, and is succeeded by his nephew Sisebut II.
660: Sisebut II puts down a massive rebellion by the nobility.
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