What if Anglo-Saxon England had never united?

If England remains divided, then it is possible that the normans don't invade.
William's 1066 invasion was a result of his claim to the royal throne through the mother of Edward The Confessor. Edward ruled an England unified since the time of Aethelstan, with its unification rooted in Alfred The Great's counteroffensive from Wessex against the vikings in the late 9th century.
Though unification could have happened in a different way, such as during the time of the hegemony of Mercia earlier in the 9th century.
IMO, keeping England south of Hadrian's Wall divided for all of the medieval age is difficult, but doable.
 
I imagine the Scots, Welsh and Irish will benefit from this significantly, I wonder if you could even get a reverse of otl with the Scots unifying and pushing south, eventually dominating the islands.
 
Since Athelstan, while there was one England it was often divided, the last being that between Edmund Ironside and Cnut.
As stated an earlier division would be more likely to persist. One way would be to reduce the effectiveness of the Viking invasion; this could see a resumption of Northumbria albeit more Anglo-Danish versus a Wessex dominated south.
Alternatively a stronger British response to the Angle and Saxon invasions that prevents Mercia from forming could maintain a divide between Saxon south and Angle north.
 
If England remains divided, then it is possible that the normans don't invade.
William's 1066 invasion was a result of his claim to the royal throne through the mother of Edward The Confessor. Edward ruled an England unified since the time of Aethelstan, with its unification rooted in Alfred The Great's counteroffensive from Wessex against the vikings in the late 9th century.

Alternatively you might see a limited Norman (or some other group) invasion of some of the smaller petty kingdoms. Not sure how possible it is, but a Normanlaw would be cool.
 
The problem is the concept of Bretwalda clearly shows the Anglo-Saxons were well aware of the possibility of a unity and sooner or later someone will pull it off, especially when you look at the instability of the Heptarchy. I think the best you could manage is a North-East South West divide maybe on a Wash-Trent-Mersey line. The South-West would still have a significant population advantage but maybe if you focused their attention across the English or Irish Channels while the North-Easterns look to the North you could avoid unity for long enough that the division is entrenched.
 
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