| 406 |
A man is elected emperor of
the
Praefectura Gallica by the unpaid legions in Britain. He adopts the
name Constantine III,
which announces a program similar to Constantine the Great. He
reinforces the local tax administration, raises the ratios and departs
with most British troops to the Continent to impose his authority. |
| 408 |
The tax administration in
Britain is
deposed. Local lords are fed up paying for futile continental ambitions
while they are left without a proper protection at home. Apart from
that, Constantine is not a member of the 'proper' class. They feel that
their social
position is endangered. So, they rebel openly. They begin to form their
own 'home guards',
allegedly against raiders.These guards are called housecarls.
|
| 409-420 |
The eastern lords discover
the
advantages of having their personal guardsmen led and trained by loyal
Anglo-Saxons. Although the move is illegal, they invite more and more
such north-German professionals as housecarls because they are skilled,
serious, principled, popular, extremely loyal and ... cheap. |
| 410 |
It's now clear that
Constantine III is a
failure. So western emperor Honorius
is polled by the Britons about the restoration of
imperial power in Britain. But there is one condition: the return of
imperial legions to Britain. Honorius refuses, as he faces the Goths,
declares that Britain has now to defend itself, while it has to
continue to pay taxes to him. |
| 411 |
Constantine III is
beheaded. Britain remains excluded of imperial protection. Nothing
happens. Only raids from time to time.
|
| 411-423 |
Honorius continues to rule
as a powerless
emperor. Britain awaits a new emperor who can revoke Honorius'
decision of excluding Britain of imperial protection. Most Britons have
no doubt: the Empire will come back to Britain, as it has done before.
Besides, imperial soldiers are much cheaper than the local personal
guards, as they are mainly paid by the emperor. |
| 423-424 |
Honorius dies. A tilting
point for
Britain. A letter for help (legions) is sent to a certain Agitius. It
is thought
that this person is Aetius. Valentianus III is the new but very young
emperor. Young Aetius is commander in chief of the army, clearly more
powerful than the emperor, but refuses. Aetius might have been seen by
some as the new emperor. |
| 425 |
Vortigern (=Old Welsh for chairman)
with his real name: Vitalinus (Latin) or
mr. White (Old English), is elected as chairman of the
London senate. He is smart, charming and trilingual: Latin, English and
Welsh. Waiting time is almost over.
|
| 426 |
The east-British lords fear
the return of
the empire. They can be punished for having a personal bodyguard. The
emperor always was the commander of all troops within the Empire. Most
lords decide to await new events in Ravenna, capital of the Empire.
|
| 427 |
A compromise is agreed in
the senate: a
local law will legalize the 'guard-system' but those guards will now officially fall
under the authority of the London senate. It is an
intermediate solution about who commands British troops. No problem:
most lords with guards also have a seat in the Senate. A committee will
be appointed to scrutinize the new Anglo-Saxons candidates, and lead
them to their final destination. This will form the core for the new
army which later can be handed over to the emperor. |
| 428 |
Adventus Saxonum.
Hengest
is officially
welcomed by Vortigern. He is appointed as leading person within the
selection committee. He has to work and live in Thanet (modern
Margate). The
Anglo-Saxons are instructed to remain within the proto-English
(eastern)
part of England. |
| 428-442 |
The housecarl system is
further developed. It's a period of relative peace. But the opposition
grows. A
new generation of British born Anglo-Saxons gradually takes over
their father's tasks. Many of their fathers have married local English
girls, who sometimes were of the highest ranks. Opposition against the 'Saxon system' grows in the
southwest: they want a 'proper' (read: Roman) army and the restoration
of the (commercial) links with the Empire. |
| 442-444 ? |
After three consecutive
harvest failures,
the country is in a dire state. Famine lurks, it is the Great
Rebellion. A situation of total chaos breaks out, aggravated by
raids.
The Anglo-Saxon housecarls are overwhelmed. Hengest takes the lead: he
gathers an army of housecarls and crushes the rebellion in Kent. After
the Great rebellion Britain becomes officially split :
the London Council versus the southwest
Alliance. |
| 445 |
A new gathering of the
senate. Decided is
to reorganize the national defence system in military provinces,
redrawn according to the old tribal territories. Loyal
Hengest is appointed Military Governor of Kent. Soon after, Vortigern
marries his daughter. What happens in the other provinces is unclear,
but probable is that powerful informal leaders are confirmed as
'governors'. Most of them are native proto-English lords. They begin to
name themselves 'Angle' or 'Saxon' meaning: "We shall defend our
ancestral status as if we were Angles/Saxons." There is growing
decentralisation all over Britain. It is now clear that the Empire will
not come back.
|
| 447 |
Vortigern quits the Senate
and retires to an ancestral estate in
Wales. He is later besieged by the southwest Alliance and dies. |
| 467 |
His successor tries to
restore the
authority of the senate in southwest England by force. He is stopped at
Wallop. In the east, civil power and military power are increasingly
linked. It is the birth of real aristocracy.
|
| 500 |
A unnamed lord of Bath
rallies the southwest
Alliance. His city is quickly occupied, probably by Wessex forces. The
southwest Alliance gather its troops and the housecarls of Wessex
experience a crushing defeat, as mentioned by Gildas. |
| 500-577 |
Period of peace. The
expansion of Wessex
to the west is halted. This ends with the battle of Dyrham (near Bath),
won by
Wessex. |
