WI: The Tragedy of Brunanburth OR the Two Englands

In 937, Aethelstan, King of England (the first to truly hold the title with any merit) was faced with an invasion of a Grand Alliance of Scotland, Dublin, Strathclyde, the expelled ruler of York and others. Although caught by surprise, as the invasion occured late in the year, Aethelstan was triumphant. His victory secured, for the time, English domination of York (it would, for a short period, fall out of the crown'd hand during his successor's reign) as well as his place in history as the first true monarch of all England.

But; what if it hadn't? What if Aethelstan had been cut down in battle, along with his brother/heir Edwin?

York would have come back under the sway of the Norse, likely Olaf, and England would have been dealt a massive defeat withthe death of their King and his heir.

Would this have been enough to establish York as a Kingdom of its own, outside of the rule of England? And, if so, how would this Kingdom change the power dynamics in the isles? (extra points, if, somehow, this means Scrythclye also survives through butterflies :p )
 
In 937, Aethelstan, King of England (the first to truly hold the title with any merit) was faced with an invasion of a Grand Alliance of Scotland, Dublin, Strathclyde, the expelled ruler of York and others. Although caught by surprise, as the invasion occured late in the year, Aethelstan was triumphant. His victory secured, for the time, English domination of York (it would, for a short period, fall out of the crown'd hand during his successor's reign) as well as his place in history as the first true monarch of all England.

But; what if it hadn't? What if Aethelstan had been cut down in battle, along with his brother/heir Edwin?

York would have come back under the sway of the Norse, likely Olaf, and England would have been dealt a massive defeat withthe death of their King and his heir.

Would this have been enough to establish York as a Kingdom of its own, outside of the rule of England? And, if so, how would this Kingdom change the power dynamics in the isles? (extra points, if, somehow, this means Scrythclye also survives through butterflies :p )

Strathclyde might well survive. You'd also get a stronger Gwynedd. And possibly a very, very different England.
 
I'd think though that over time, the ambition to unify the whole island under one rule would persist and this outcome would be favored. There might be some debate which kingdom would manage the job, but once the island is united I think the south would come to dominate more and more, even if the capital is in York or somewhere north of that.

In short, you'd wind up with a Britain dominated by England.

But if in the interim, the outlying regions become stronger for longer, the overall culture might be quite interestingly different. Say York manages to secure all of Scotland quite early, so we have a Greater Scotland essentially, facing off against a truncated, southern England and an independent Gywnedd; with York distracting them England never has time to subjugate Gywnedd, which York also cultivates as an ally to check the English.

So eventually one party succeeds, by conquest or dynastic union or what have you, in absorbing the other. But in the interim Gwynedd's status is raised and it remains a very distinct and larger part of the united realm.

There's the Norman Conquest to consider. The OTL version happened in peculiar circumstances that might never apply here--but the general circumstance of the rise of Norman power and ambition does seem fairly likely. So assuming they rise to power and Britain remains divided. Would a William-analog set his sights on merely conquering the southeast kingdom, presumably named England, or would he press on to subjugate the whole island? Well, OTL he stopped at the Scottish border. We might wind up with only a partial conquest and a solidified set of lines, with the Anglo-Norman, Scando-Saxon, and Welsh kingdoms all seeing each other as too different to unify with. I'd think the Normans would eventually subjugate Gwynedd and push the York kingdom's boundaries northward, but perhaps there would be twists--say the Yorkists can undermine civil order in England by appealing to the Saxon populace to rise in favor of an Anglo-Saxon dynasty.

I do think in the long run the tendency is unity. But of course it took quite a long time for England and Scotland to come under a single rule, didn't it...
 
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