Location:
England
Coordinates:
51.0629, -1.3080
Events at Winchester (50)
829
ID: 2625
Egbert of Wessex becomes Bretwalda - overlord of all English kingdoms, Wessex supremacy begins
ID: 2625
860
ID: 2627
Vikings sack Winchester - West Saxon capital burned, but Vikings driven off by relieving force
ID: 2627
895
ID: 5814
Alfred establishes hundred courts - subdivisions of shires with reeves presiding over local justice and collecting royal dues
ID: 5814
899
ID: 2558
October 26, 899
Death of Alfred the Great - only English king called 'Great', saved England, promoted learning and law
ID: 2558
920
ID: 5815
Edward the Elder codifies shire court system - ealdormen preside with shire reeves, but reeves protect royal fiscal interests
ID: 5815
950
ID: 5831
Thegnship becomes hereditary - shift from service-based to land-based nobility, 'bookland' (chartered land) can be inherited
ID: 5831
962
ID: 2634
Edgar's law codes issued - uniform laws for all England, blend of Anglo-Saxon and Danish customs
ID: 2634
964
ID: 5850
Aethelwold expels secular clergy from Winchester - forcibly replaces married priests with celibate monks, seizes property
ID: 5850
970
ID: 5852
Council of Winchester establishes Regularis Concordia - unified rule for English monasteries, monks control major churches
ID: 5852
973
ID: 5842
Edgar reforms English coinage - standardizes silver penny weight using new German silver, establishes 70+ mints
ID: 5842
973
ID: 5853
Edgar grants vast estates to reformed monasteries - transfers perhaps 1/3 of royal lands to monastic control
ID: 5853
975
ID: 5854
July 8, 975
Death of Edgar triggers succession crisis - pro-monastic party backs Edward, anti-monastic nobles back Aethelred
ID: 5854
976
ID: 5856
Edward the Martyr backs monks despite opposition - teenage king supports Dunstan and Aethelwold against powerful nobles
ID: 5856
979
ID: 5858
Aethelred initially favors anti-monastic party - restores some secular clergy, reduces monastic privileges
ID: 5858
979
ID: 5865
Aelfthryth withdraws from court - queen mother absent from witness lists, possibly in disgrace or religious retreat
ID: 5865
984
ID: 5859
Death of Aethelwold weakens reform movement - last of the three great reformers, monastic influence wanes
ID: 5859
984
ID: 5866
Aelfthryth returns to prominence - reappears on charters as 'the king's mother', rehabilitation complete
ID: 5866
986
ID: 5867
Aelfthryth founds Wherwell Abbey - queen mother becomes major monastic patron, possibly as penance for Edward's murder
ID: 5867
990
ID: 5868
Aelfthryth regularly witnesses charters - appears as chief witness on royal documents, exercises significant influence
ID: 5868
993
ID: 5869
Aethelred's charter of repentance - acknowledges wrongdoing against monasteries, restores seized lands, admits 'youthful ignorance'
ID: 5869
995
ID: 5861
Aelfric of Eynsham criticizes monastic corruption - even reformist monk admits monasteries have become too wealthy and worldly
ID: 5861
995
ID: 5870
Aethelred becomes generous monastic patron - grants extensive privileges to Abingdon Abbey, reverses anti-monastic stance
ID: 5870
997
ID: 5871
Aethelred's law codes protect monasteries - establishes penalties for violating monastic sanctuary and property
ID: 5871
1000
ID: 5873
November 1000
Death of Aelfthryth at Wherwell - dies at abbey she founded, remembered as both murderess and holy patron
ID: 5873
1001
ID: 5872
Aethelred promotes Edward's cult - officially recognizes murdered half-brother as martyr, encourages veneration
ID: 5872
1002
ID: 5806
Third Danegeld payment - 24,000 pounds of silver paid to Viking army
ID: 5806
1002
ID: 5876
April 1002
Aethelred marries Emma of Normandy - alliance to prevent Vikings using Norman ports, Emma becomes queen, takes English name Aelfgifu
ID: 5876
1005
ID: 5874
Monastic chroniclers remain critical - despite Aethelred's repentance, monks never forgive early anti-monastic stance
ID: 5874
1005
ID: 5877
Emma bears Aethelred sons Edward and Alfred - future Edward the Confessor born, creating succession complications
ID: 5877
1007
ID: 5807
Fourth Danegeld payment - 36,000 pounds paid, massive tax burden on England
ID: 5807
1009
ID: 5875
Aethelred links Viking raids to sins - royal charter suggests invasions are divine punishment for crimes against Church
ID: 5875
1012
ID: 5811
Aethelred establishes heregeld tax system - permanent annual tax to maintain standing army of Danish mercenaries
ID: 5811
1013
ID: 5863
Secular bishops dominate under late Aethelred - monastic reform effectively reversed, married clergy common again
ID: 5863
1017
ID: 5882
Emma-Cnut marriage agreement - any son by Emma to inherit throne over Cnut's existing sons, sidelining Aethelred's sons
ID: 5882
1018
ID: 2638
Cnut's law code issued - synthesis of Anglo-Saxon and Danish law, effective administration
ID: 2638
1018
ID: 5883
Emma bears Harthacnut to Cnut - creates rival line to her sons by Aethelred, complex succession situation
ID: 5883
1020
ID: 5884
Emma at height of power - queen of England, Denmark, and Norway through Cnut, wealthiest woman in Europe
ID: 5884
1035
ID: 5886
Cnut's death creates succession crisis - Emma backs son Harthacnut but Harold Harefoot seizes throne
ID: 5886
1036
ID: 5887
Emma holds Winchester treasury - controls royal treasure against Harold Harefoot, acts as regent for absent Harthacnut
ID: 5887
1043
ID: 5889
Edward the Confessor strips Emma of property - son punishes mother for preferring Danish children, confiscates her lands
ID: 5889
1053
ID: 2574
April 15, 1053
Death of Earl Godwin - dies of stroke at Easter feast with king, son Harold becomes Earl of Wessex
ID: 2574
1070
ID: 5816
William the Conqueror retains shire reeve system - Normans call them 'sheriffs' (shire-reeve), expand their powers as direct royal agents
ID: 5816
1072
ID: 5817
Sheriffs established as crown's counter to feudal lords - collect taxes directly for king even from lands granted to nobles, preventing alienation of royal revenues
ID: 5817
1085
ID: 2590
Domesday Book commissioned - comprehensive survey of English land ownership for taxation, completed 1086
ID: 2590
1086
ID: 5833
Domesday Book shows social change - most ceorls now recorded as villeins (unfree peasants), Norman conquest degrades Saxon freemen
ID: 5833
1086
ID: 5834
Domesday records land measurements - southern England uses hides, Danelaw uses carucates (ploughlands), both equal ~120 acres
ID: 5834
1087
ID: 5835
Thegns become knights - Norman feudalism transforms Anglo-Saxon thegns into knights, similar military obligations but different legal status
ID: 5835
1110
ID: 5819
Exchequer system formalized - sheriffs must account twice yearly for all royal revenues from their shires, including from granted lands
ID: 5819
1127
ID: 2602
Henry names daughter Matilda as heir - barons swear oath to accept first female ruler of England
ID: 2602
1154
ID: 5821
Henry II restores sheriff system - removes baronial sheriffs, appoints royal clerks, reasserts crown's right to revenues from all lands
ID: 5821