6th century in England
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 6th century in England: |
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| 5th century 5th century in England Events from the 5th century in England.-Events:* 401** Stilicho withdraws troops from Britain, and abandons forts on the Yorkshire coast.* 402** Last issue of Roman coinage in Britain.* 405... | 6th century | 7th century 7th century in England Events from the 7th century in England.-Events:* 601** The Bishopric of Canterbury is raised to an Archbishopric.* 604** The first Bishop of London and Bishop of Rochester are consecrated; King Ethelbert of Kent founds Saint Paul's Cathedral.... |
Events from the 6th century
6th century
The 6th century is the period from 501 to 600 in accordance with the Julian calendar in the Christian/Common Era. In the West this century marks the end of Classical Antiquity and the beginning of the Middle Ages.- Overview :...
in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
.
Events
- around 500
- AnglesAnglesThe Angles is a modern English term for a Germanic people who took their name from the ancestral cultural region of Angeln, a district located in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany...
colonise the North SeaNorth SeaIn the southwest, beyond the Straits of Dover, the North Sea becomes the English Channel connecting to the Atlantic Ocean. In the east, it connects to the Baltic Sea via the Skagerrak and Kattegat, narrow straits that separate Denmark from Norway and Sweden respectively...
and HumberHumberThe Humber is a large tidal estuary on the east coast of Northern England. It is formed at Trent Falls, Faxfleet, by the confluence of the tidal River Ouse and the tidal River Trent. From here to the North Sea, it forms part of the boundary between the East Riding of Yorkshire on the north bank...
coastal areas, particularly around HoldernessHoldernessHolderness is an area of the East Riding of Yorkshire, on the east coast of England. An area of rich agricultural land, Holderness was marshland until it was drained in the Middle Ages. Topographically, Holderness has more in common with the Netherlands than other parts of Yorkshire...
.
- Angles
- 501
- Port and his sons, Bieda and Mægla, arrive at what is now PortsmouthPortsmouthPortsmouth is the second largest city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire on the south coast of England. Portsmouth is notable for being the United Kingdom's only island city; it is located mainly on Portsea Island...
.
- Port and his sons, Bieda and Mægla, arrive at what is now Portsmouth
- 519
- CerdicCerdic of WessexCerdic was probably the first King of Anglo-Saxon Wessex from 519 to 534, cited by the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle as the founder of the kingdom of Wessex and ancestor of all its subsequent kings...
founds the Kingdom of WessexWessexThe Kingdom of Wessex or Kingdom of the West Saxons was an Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the West Saxons, in South West England, from the 6th century, until the emergence of a united English state in the 10th century, under the Wessex dynasty. It was to be an earldom after Canute the Great's conquest...
.
- Cerdic
- 527
- Foundation of the Kingdom of EssexKingdom of EssexThe Kingdom of Essex or Kingdom of the East Saxons was one of the seven traditional kingdoms of the so-called Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy. It was founded in the 6th century and covered the territory later occupied by the counties of Essex, Hertfordshire, Middlesex and Kent. Kings of Essex were...
.
- Foundation of the Kingdom of Essex
- 536
- The climate changes of 535–536Climate changes of 535–536The extreme weather events of 535–536 were the most severe and protracted short-term episodes of cooling in the Northern Hemisphere in the last 2,000 years. The event is thought to have been caused by an extensive atmospheric dust veil, possibly resulting from a large volcanic eruption in the...
likely caused a great famine and decline in population.
- The climate changes of 535–536
- 547
- Angles under IdaIda of BerniciaIda is the first known king of the Anglian kingdom of Bernicia, which he ruled from around 547 until his death in 559. Little is known of his life or reign, but he was regarded as the founder of a line from which later Anglo-Saxon kings in this part of northern England and southern Scotland...
conquer a Celtic area called Bryneich, founding the Kingdom of BerniciaBerniciaBernicia was an Anglo-Saxon kingdom established by Anglian settlers of the 6th century in what is now southeastern Scotland and North East England....
.
- Angles under Ida
- 549
- A great plague causes much population loss.
- 550
- GildasGildasGildas was a 6th-century British cleric. He is one of the best-documented figures of the Christian church in the British Isles during this period. His renowned learning and literary style earned him the designation Gildas Sapiens...
completes his post-Roman history On the Destruction of Britain.
- Gildas
- 560
- Angles conquer eastern YorkshireYorkshireYorkshire is a historic county of northern England and the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its great size in comparison to other English counties, functions have been increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have also been subject to periodic reform...
and the British kingdom of Ebrauc, and establish the Kingdom of Deira.
- Angles conquer eastern Yorkshire
- 571
- Foundation of the Kingdom of East Anglia.
- Battle of Bedcanford: CuthwulfCuthwulfCuthwulf was a medieval Bishop of Hereford. He was consecrated between 836 and 839 and died between 857 and 866.-External links:* . Includes photos of the remaining fragments of the charter....
captures LimburyLimburyLimbury, or using the full name Limbury-cum-Biscot, was a civil parish in Bedfordshire before becoming part of Luton and has a long history dating back before the Norman conquest of England....
, AylesburyAylesburyAylesbury is the county town of Buckinghamshire in South East England. However the town also falls into a geographical region known as the South Midlands an area that ecompasses the north of the South East, and the southern extremities of the East Midlands...
, Benson, and EynshamEynshamEynsham is a village and civil parish about east of Witney in Oxfordshire, England.-History:Eynsham grew up near the historically important ford of Swinford on the River Thames flood plain...
.
- 577
- Battle of DeorhamBattle of DeorhamThe Battle of Deorham or Dyrham was fought in 577 between the West Saxons under Ceawlin and Cuthwine and the Britons of the West Country. The location, Deorham, is usually taken to refer to Dyrham in South Gloucestershire. The battle was a major victory for the West Saxons, who took three important...
: Ceawlin of WessexCeawlin of WessexCeawlin was a King of Wessex. He may have been the son of Cynric of Wessex and the grandson of Cerdic of Wessex, whom the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle represents as the leader of the first group of Saxons to come to the land which later became Wessex...
captures GloucesterGloucesterGloucester is a city, district and county town of Gloucestershire in the South West region of England. Gloucester lies close to the Welsh border, and on the River Severn, approximately north-east of Bristol, and south-southwest of Birmingham....
, CirencesterCirencesterCirencester is a market town in east Gloucestershire, England, 93 miles west northwest of London. Cirencester lies on the River Churn, a tributary of the River Thames, and is the largest town in the Cotswold District. It is the home of the Royal Agricultural College, the oldest agricultural...
, and Bath, expanding his kingdom to the west.
- Battle of Deorham
- 581
- Ælla enlarges the Kingdom of Deira.
- 584
- Battle of Fethanleag: Ceawlin and Cutha fight against the Britons.
- 585
- Foundation of the Kingdom of MerciaMerciaMercia was one of the kingdoms of the Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy. It was centred on the valley of the River Trent and its tributaries in the region now known as the English Midlands...
.
- Foundation of the Kingdom of Mercia
- 590
- Elmet joins an alliance of Celtic kingdoms against the expanding AngleAngleIn geometry, an angle is the figure formed by two rays sharing a common endpoint, called the vertex of the angle.Angles are usually presumed to be in a Euclidean plane with the circle taken for standard with regard to direction. In fact, an angle is frequently viewed as a measure of an circular arc...
s of BerniciaBerniciaBernicia was an Anglo-Saxon kingdom established by Anglian settlers of the 6th century in what is now southeastern Scotland and North East England....
. - Urien of Rheged murdered.
- Elmet joins an alliance of Celtic kingdoms against the expanding Angle
- 597
- Saint AugustineAugustine of CanterburyAugustine of Canterbury was a Benedictine monk who became the first Archbishop of Canterbury in the year 597...
leads a papal mission to Britain, converts Kent to ChristianityChristianityChristianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
, and becomes the first Bishop of Canterbury.
- Saint Augustine
- 600
- Battle of CatterickBattle of CatterickThe Battle of Catraeth was fought around AD 600 between a force raised by the Gododdin, a Brythonic people of the Hen Ogledd or "Old North" of Britain, and the Angles of Bernicia and Deira. It was evidently an assault by the Gododdin party on the Angle stronghold of Catraeth, perhaps Catterick,...
: Northumbria defeats an invasion by a combined force from WalesWalesWales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
and LothianLothianLothian forms a traditional region of Scotland, lying between the southern shore of the Firth of Forth and the Lammermuir Hills....
.
- Battle of Catterick