American reacts to 'How was England formed?'

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[DruncanUK]

Alfred - "the most privileged dude in the world". That is so funny. Alfred lived in a hut made of mud and cow dung and his most treasured possession was probably an old sword. Not much in the way of riches. He even spent some time living in the swamps of Wessex hiding from the Vikings.

[davebirch]

The look on an Americans face as they try to comprehend something being around since 927ad 😆

[mskatonic]

3:17 fun fact! Some of these kingdom names are still reflected in UK place names to this day! The northernmost English County is called Northumberland. Kent and Essex are both still county names in mostly the same place but the borders moved slightly. East Anglia isn't officially a county name but the area is still called that, Sussex survived as the counties of West and East Sussex, and Wessex and Mercia still occasionally get referred to.

[generaladvance]

2:53 Essex, Sussex & Kent still exist today as english counties. My home county of Essex still uses three seax (ancient saxon knife weapon) on a red field for our county coat of arms.

[NoldorianElf]

You are neither stupid nor silly and not dumb. I like that your interested, curious and open-minded. The history of Great Britain is very unusual and not taught everywhere in Europe. As you might know the „America“ derives from Amerigo Vespucci aka Americus Vesputius.

[judithhope]

The kings in those days led in battle. Aethelstan was one of our greatest kings. He stopped young children from being hanged. Essex is still here, where I live.

[dehro]

the fun thing about this map is that it's a modern map.. you can tell because it includes the Dtuch coastline... the Netherlands are there in their entirety, as they are today. Back when these events were happening, half the Netherlands were still underwater and had yet to be claimed by the Dutch..

[davebirch]

"they don't teach this here"
Well no, if it's not related to how brilliant America and Americans are they won't teach it 😆

[MichaEl-rhkv]

He ended the lesson a bit too early. Edgar's oldest son Edward became king in 975, but was murdered in 978 by servants of his stepmother Aethelflaed (he was allegedly the son of Edgar's mistress Wulfthryth, who was also the mother of his sister Edith and became later known as Holy Wulfthryth, the abbess of Wilton). He was succeeded by his younger stepbrother Aethelred the Unready, who lost the kingdom in 2013 to Sven Forkbeard, the King of Denmark and Norway (who had dethroned his father Harald Bluetooth). Sven however died in 1014, and Aethelred won back the throne only to die himself in 1016. His son Edmund Ironside only reigned for about 7 months before he died also. At the same time Sven's son Cnut tried to reconquer England since 1015; he became king of England in 1016 as well as after the death of his brother Harald II King of Denmark in 1019 (which included southern Sweden at that time) and King of Norway in 1028; he is also known as Cnut the Great. He married Aethelred's widow Emma of Normandy (daughter of Duke Richard I the Fearless of Normandy). After his death in 1035 his son Harald I Harefoot became King of England, but died in 1840, and his younger half-brother Harthacnut, already King of Denmark, seized the throne. Harthacnut invited his half-brother Edward the Confessor (7th son of Aethelred and 1st of Emma) to come back from his exile in Normandy. As Harthacnut died in 1042 while attending a wedding and drinking to much, Edward claimed to be the designated heir, won the support of the local nobility and was crowned in 1043.
In 1050 his father-in-law Earl Godwin Wulfnothson of Wessex led a rebellion of anglo-saxon (and viking) nobles against Edward and his Norman connections, but was defeated. Edward died childless in 1066, after designating his younger brother-in-law Harald Godwinson as successor. Duke William of Normandy, the son of Edward's cousin Robert I, however claimed the throne. After his victory in the battle of Hastings he became known as William the Conqueror.

[officechairpotato]

Eric Bloodaxe was the last Viking King of the Danelaw. His Death Ode (A sort of obituary) is about Odin waking to the sound of thunder, as though a great army approaches Valhalla. Odin is asked by the other warriors there who approaches, and explains "That is Eric Bloodaxe. In many a land he has reddened the blade." as the heroes and kings of Viking history cheer and drink their beers at his arrival through the doors of Valhalla. Odin explains that he only denies his children victory when he is in need of more warriors, for Ragnarok approaches, and the Great Wolf ever stalks the home of the gods. The doors to Valhalla finally close, as Odin cries "Hail Eric Bloodaxe, Last King of The Danelaw!" and the warriors arm themselves for the battle to come.

[hiz]

They might not teach it in America but you use it for TV shows. Vikings will take you from the Lidisfarne raid through to the Great Heathen Army. The Last Kingdom picks up not long after and takes you through Alfred, Edward and Æthelflæd. Both fictionalised of course but cover the history in broad strokes.

[neilgayleard]

I can confirm English people were and still are as hard as nails.

[stumccabe]

The most badass name I've ever heard: Eric Bloodax ! King Alfred (Alfred the Great) was truly a great King, centuries ahead of his time in his benevolent attitude to his people - he wanted them to be educated and to learn in English (rather than Latin) and wanted to improve the quality of their lives - he was clever, brave, wise and merciful.

[mina_en_suiza]

I especially love the history of England between the Romans leaving and the Norman invasion. That's the time of the legends, like from King Arthur.

[davinahandley]

Eric Blood Axe was even feared by other Vikings

[dorisschneider-coutandin]

"Ruling by conquest". Was quite common in these days, happened all the time, and went on for centuries.

[malcomflibbleghast]

the ROmans left about 410 ad, vid seemd to say it was 200 yrs latter.

[blotski]

Just to add a bit of detail - the Anglo-Saxons were two tribes. The Angles, who settled the midlands and the north. And the Saxons who settled further south. Added to these were also the Jutes who settled parts of the south. The Saxons were from what is modern day north Germany and the Angles and Jutes were from what is now modern day Denmark.

[StephenSilverbeard]

Understanding the early history of England is the foundation of why there are so many dialects. accents and unpronounceable place names that confuse modern day visitors to the UK. These comes from the merging of different cultures, and languages as invaders swept across the land and populations intermarried, especially in the north. It is also worth noting this happened after the Romans and the original Celtic Britons left their mark.

[paulinachlastakova]

I recommend serie "The last Kingdom" it is not historicaly exact (many things we don't know) but it's realy cool with focus on this part of english history.