History Tellers

The Battle of Ellandun has been dubbed one of “The most decisive Battle of English History” by many. It completely changed the face and politics of Saxon Britian and ensured King Egbert (Ecgbehrt) of Wessex made the history books. More information on Egbert can be found on my previous blog, “From exile to First King of England”.  The Battle of Ellandun ended Mercian Supremcy.  This blog probably isn’t going to be very long, the reason being is because the Battle of Ellandun was not recorded, or if it was recorded then these records got lost.  However I wanted to do a blog on it as it was such a important battle in Saxon Britian and it was, as previously mentioned, the battle which put King Egbert in the history books.  Location  Due to no records being recorded, or the records being lost, the exact location of the Battle is unknown and very much debatable. However, we know it was near Swindon. Evidence and research suggests that it was likely to have taken place...

Egbert (Ecgberht) was a Saxon King, and arguably the first monarch of England. Egbert’s reign lasted from around 802AD until 839AD.  Egbert was the first monarch to establish a stable and extensive rule over all of England. Egbert was born in Wessex or Kent in 770AD, He had two children Athelwulf and Athelstan with his wife, Redburga. Athelwulf succeeded his father, Egbert, when he died in 839AD. Egbert is buried in Winchester.  Wessex or Kent?  I have done a lot of reading on where Egbert was born, there is a lot of disagreement. Some say Wessex others say Kent. The reason this is so debatable is because very little, if anything, is known about his youth.  We know that his father was Eahlmund, a short lived ruler of Kent, Eahlmund reigned over Kent between 784AD until 785AD. There is also a claim that he can trace his ancestry back to Cerdic. Cerdic was the founder and first King of Wessex. However this claim was written by scribes of Wessex but not until after Egbe...

In this post I am going to be giving you a snap shot of the Saxons. The first kings of England were Saxons, which is why I believe it is important to have a basic understanding of the Saxons before we look at their kings.  Who are the Saxons? The Saxons were a Germanic tribe that originally occupied the region which today is the North Sea coast of the Netherlands, Germany and Denmark.  The Saxon period in Britian dates from 450AD until 1066AD, until the Norman Conquest.  The Saxons attempted to raid English shores in 350AD but was pushed back by the Romans, then when the Romans left Britain in 410AD, it left the English shores unprotected and allowed the Saxons to settle in 450AD in Kent.  In 556AD, the Saxons created the 7 Kingdoms. These are crucial to remember, as they will be mentioned a lot when we start looking at the Saxon kings.  The Seven Kingdoms  The Seven Kingdoms were created by the Saxons in 556AD. The seven kingdom were, Northumbria, Mercia, ...

Welcome to History Tellers UK!  One of my biggest insterests is History, I love learning about the past and I believe there is so much to learn from the past which can help us with the present and future.  The United Kingdom is rich in history from kings and queens, to success and tragedy. I am going to be looking at it all, I am going to be looking at key events, as well as key figures.  The good thing is, history is  continuously being made so the directions this blog could go in are endless.  While I am going to try my hardest to make this blog factual, there will be parts which are my personal opinion or questionable depending who you ask, however I will make this very clear in future blogs.  My blogs will be posted randomly but will be announced before publishing day. I don’t want to promise blogs and then rush to get them finished. I would rather take my time, make decent content and post them when they are ready. Also some blogs will be longer than o...