The Romans continued to push back their Celtic invaders in England from two sides (North and West) but then in 410 AD Emperor Constantine removed his Roman Army of England altogether to defend the Roman Empire on the border of the Rhine River from invasion. The different English cities thus had to defend themselves and Rome never returned.

The Romans continued to push back their Celtic invaders in England from two sides (North and West) but then in 410 AD Emperor Constantine removed his Roman Army of England altogether to defend the Roman Empire on the border of the Rhine River from invasion.

End of Roman rule in Britain

The different English cities thus had to defend themselves and Rome never returned.

During the following Thousand Years England re-descended into barbarism and feudalism with only a brief rest when William the Conqueror came to power there.

During the first 600 years after Rome, England was the battle site of many different attackers such as the Angles, Saxons, and Celts being pushed back into Wales and Scotland with continued Viking attacks.

After the Romans left in 410 AD, Vikings were used to get mercenaries from northern Germany and these mercenaries (Anglo Saxons) with their families were paid with stolen English Land where they could farm and set up permanent camps for self-defense.

Barbarian Invasions of the Roman Empire

Even to this very modern day their Viking Blood Line is very strong in certain parts of England.

Eventually the Anglo Saxons realized that they were stronger than their masters (Vikings) and thus they took control of most of England and the land that was not originally given to them.

They colonized the north and west of the British Isles and pushed the native Celts to the boundaries of England, in Cornwall, Wales and Scotland.

In 850 AD they finally formed three separate states – Mercia, Northumbria and Wessex.

These kingdoms not only had to fight each other, they had to protect themselves from the frequent Viking attacks.

In 865, a large Viking army landed in East Anglia and gained much of the territory here from the Anglo Saxons who now live.

In 878 AD the Vikings attacked fiercely and the Saxon King Alfred had to flee to Somerset to survive, from where he regrouped and then continued to attack the Vikings and finally with the help of his sons and grandsons they pushed the Vikings back into the sea.

In 955, Alfred’s Grandson Eadred ruled England in a good way and he created infrastructure too.

Then Britain was pushed into a series of battles and wars against various invaders.

One interesting thing that happened to England in this relatively late period was the arrival of Christianity, brought by Irish monks and Christians organizing the whole country into separate dioceses, each under the control of a bishop.

Then came another Viking raider, William the Conqueror who finally took all of England with relative ease by killing King Harold in the Battle of Hastings. When Edward the Confessor died in 1066, the Vikings saw an opportunity to regain control and land an army to start a war. In the 13 days they camped near Hastings, Norman killed English King Harold. William I was crowned in London on Christmas Day in 1066.

After he gained control of England he demonstrated his strength by building the Tower of London to control the irregular Londoners and to strengthen himself as the new ruler of England.

Previous landowners lost their land to these Young Viking Soldiers and they built many castles all over England, among them Warwick and Windsor which still stand today. When he died in 1087 about 100 main castles were in England.

Another good thing about William 1 is that he sent many of his surveyors all over England to ascertain the value of his existing and potential Kingdom, and when they reported back to him that information was put into the massive Domesday Book.

William 1 had descendants who extended the Norman Empire further into parts of Nortern France and they ruled the entire English Channel for hundreds of years.

One of his descendants is Henry II who is best known for ordering the assassination of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Beckett at Canterbury Cathedral.

After Henry II, King John was weakened and appointed as a figurehead King, more so than caretakers of the British government run by individual Barons.