23 May 2016

Timeline of Roman & Post Roman Britain

This is taken from another timeline of mine, “Timeline of the Pretanic Isles, in context”.  In fact, that work began as the combination of an earlier version of this with my “Timeline of Irish Republicanism”.  Events here are stripped down to those actually in the Isles, with a few incidents which directly effect those in the Isles at the time or later.





ROMAN BRITAIN

58 BCE–51 BCE – The Gallic Wars of Imperator Gaius Iulius Caesar and Legatus Titus Atius Labienus, during which they not only conquer all of Gallia Comata, but also invade Britannia and Germania.  Caesar's initial motive is to get himself out of debt.

55 BCE – Caesar’s first invasion of Britannia. 

At this time, Eire is divided into five provinces, or coicids:  Midhe, Ulaidh, Ol-nEchtmachta, Laighin, and Mumhan.

54 BCE – Caesar’s second invasion of Britannia.  Uprising of the Belgae under Ambiorix of the Eburones.

53-52 BCE – The Galli rise up against Roman occupation under Vercingetorix, first and only King of the Galli.  The Battle of Lutetia on the plain of Garanella.   The Battle of Gergovia.  The Seige and Battle of Alesia.

1 CE – Conchobar mac Nessa reigns as high king of the Ulaidh at Emain Macha, Setanta Cu Chulain mac Sualtam is his champion, and Ailill and Medb of the Ol-nEchtmachta in Cruachain are his chief rivals.  The island of Ireland is at the time dominated by the Fir Domnann and the Osraige in the southeast, the Fir Mumhan in the southwest, the Fir Ol nEchmachta in the west, and the Ulaidh in the north.

36 CE - According to the Ecclesiastical Annals of Caesar Cardinal Baronius, Joseph of Arimathea lands this year at Glastonbury in southwestern Britannia, with passengers that include Mary the mother of Jesus, the apostles Philip and James bar Alphaeus, Lazarus, Mary, and Martha of Bethany, Marcella the handmaid, Mary wife of Clopas, Salome, Maximin, Eutropius, Cleon, Saturninus, Marial, Trophimus, and Sidonius.

42 CE - Imperator Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus establishes the Classis Britannica at Bononia Gesoriacum (Boulogne-sur-Mer) in preparation for the invasion of Britannia.

43 CE – Beginning of the Roman conquest of Britannia, under Claudius Augustus.  Though it takes decades to fully conquer the territory it later holds, the provincia of Britannia is founded this year.  Its capital is Londinium.

After all the territory south of the Solway and Tyne has been pacified, the native Britonici are organized into civitates based on the tribes: 

Atrebatum (Calleva/Silchester)
Belgarum (Venta/Winchester)
Brigantum (Isurium/Aldborough)
Cantiacorum (Durovernum/Canterbury)
Cornoviorum (Viroconium/Wroxeter)
Dobunnorum (Corinium/Circencester)
Dumnoniorum (Isca/Exeter)
Icenorum (Venta/Caistor)
Regnensium (Noviomagus/Chichester)
Silurum (Venta/Caerwent)
Catuvellaunum (Verulamium/St. Alban's)
Durotrigum (Durnovaria/Dorchester)
Parisorum (Petuaria/Brough)
Demetarum (Moridunum/Carmarthen)
Carvetiarum (Luguvalium/Carlisle)
Corieltavarum (Ratae/Leicester)
Ordovicarum (Segontium/Caernarfon)
Deceangliarum (Canovium/Caerhun)

In addition to the capitals of the civitates, four coloniae are established: Camulodunum (Colchester), Lindum (Lincoln), Glevum (Gloucester), and Eboracum (York).

60 CE – Legatus Gaius Suetonius Paulinus, consularis of Britannia, destroys the druidic school and sacred groves on Ynys Mon (Anglesey) in an attempt to eradicate their influence.

The Boudican revolt of the Britonici led by the Iceni queen Boudica begins.  Three Roman towns are entirely destroyed and 50,000 colonists killed, nearly convincing Imperator Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus to abandon Britain, but Boudica’s army is annihilated at the Battle of Watling Street the following year.

80 – Gnaeus Julius Agricola, consularis of Britannia, reaches the River Tay and begins building a legionary fortress at Inchtuthil, which he plans to be the largest in the Imperium Romanum, and other fortifications north of the River Forth and River Clyde.

83 – Battle of Mons Graupius between the Romans under Agricola and the Caledonii under Calgacus.  Agricola marches as far into the north as Cawdor, where his troops build a fort, then orders his praefetus classis to sail around the north end of the island.  Upon his return to Londinum, he names the new territories (north of the firths) Vespasiana.

Beginning of the uprising of the Aitheachtuatha in Ireland.  Battle of Tara; Agricola sends a unit of Auxiliae to Eire in support of the deposed Tuathal Techtmar. 

85 – The main base of the Classis Britannica is moved to Dubris (Dover). 

117 – The Legio IX Hispana marches into the Highlands and disappears. 

122-157 – Reign of Conn Cétchathach as Ard Ri Eireann.

122-128 – Hadrian's Wall is built from the mouth of the River Tyne to the Solway Firth, originally anchored in the east by Pons Aelius (Newcastle-upon-Tyne) and in the west by Luguvalium (Carlisle), until it is extended to the fort of Segedunum (Wallsend) in the east and the fort of Mais (Bowness-on-Solway) in the west.  A total of twenty-five forts in all support the Wall.

142-144 – The Antonine Wall is built between the Firth of Forth and the Firth of Clyde, with eleven forts along its length.

155 - After their fifth or sixth rebellion against the Imperium Romanum, the Brigantes find themselves bereft of their lands and with no monarch.

164 – The Romans abandon the Antonine Wall and fall back to Hadrian’s Wall.

175 - Imperator Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Augustus stations a unit of 5500 Sarmatian cavalry, the Cuneus Sarmatarum, in Britannia at Bremetennacum.  Veterans are noted in the area as late as the 5th century.  No connection to the Roman commander Lucius Artorius Castus, Praefectus Castrorum of Legio VI Victrix at Eboracum.

180 – The Caledonii (Coille Daon) cross over Hadrian’s Wall to attack the Romans.

196 – Clodius Albinus, consularis of Britannia, declares himself Imperator and invades Galliae in a revolt against Imperator Lucius Septimius Severus Augustus.

197 – Severus Augustus defeats Albinus at the Battle of Lugdunum.  He sends Virius Lupus as chief governor of Britannia, which he divides the single province of Britannia is divided into two:

Britannia Superior (Londinium)
Britannia Inferior (Eboracum)

Lupus arrives to find the Maeatae (Miathi) and the Caledonii have broken their treaties with Roma and begun raiding the south.  Lacking sufficient troops to halt them militarily, Lupus pays off the Maeatae, the southernmost of the two confederations, to cease.


Early 3rd century - The rise of the Connachta in the west of Ireland, displacing the Fir Ol nEchmachta and giving their name to the province.

208-211 – Severus invades the North with three legions, 9000 imperial guards with cavalry support, and numerous auxiliaries and defeats the Caledonii, who have begun another war but is eventually forced back behind Hadrian’s Wall after losing too many men to guerrilla tactics by the defeated comined with an uprising of the Maeatae.  He is preparing another invasion at Eboracum in 211 when he dies.

c. 220 - The Eóganachta dynasty is established in Mumhan.

226-266 – Reign of Cormac mac Airt as Ard Ri Eireann, which includes the activities of Fionn mac Cumhaill as head of the Fianna Eireann, among which is the repulsion of a Roman incursion at the Cath Finntraga.

259 – The Imperium Galliarum, including Galliae, Hispaniae, and Britanniae, is established when Marcus Cassianius Latinius Postumus rebels against Imperator Publius Licinius Egnatius Gallienus Augustus, son of Imperator Publius Licinius Valerianus Augustus who is a prisoner of the Sassanids.

270 – About this time, the system of forts later known as the Litus Saxonicum (Saxon Shore) start being built, based on the system of forts supporting the Classis Britannica (the coastal patrol), at first in defense against the Frisii, for whom the North Sea is at the time called Mare Frisicum.

274 – The Imperium Galliarum is reunited with the Imperium Romanum.

284-285 - First uprising of the Bagaudae, in Galliae and Hispaniae, against the imposition of feudalism and serfdom.

286 – Marcus Aurelius Mausaeus Valerius Carausius, commander of the Classis Britannica, sets himself up as emperor of Britanniae and northern Galliae.

294 – Carausius is murdered by his treasurer, Allectus, who takes his place.

297 - Allectus is defeated in battle and killed by the Roman army and his dominions are reunited with the Empire.  Caesar Marcus Flavius Valerius Constantius Herculius Chlorus divides Britannia Superior and Britannia Inferior into four new provinces, making it a diocese headed by a vicarius, under the Prefecture of Galliae:

Maxima Caesariensis (Londinium)
Britannia Prima (Corinium)
Britannia Secunda (Eboracum)
Flavia Caesariensis (Lindum)

The governor of the first is a consularis, those of the other three are praefecti.

First reference to the "Picti".

305About this time a group of Deisi establishes a colony among the Demetae; a group of Laighin is granted land in Lleyn peninsula; and the Eoganachta are given lands in the later Ceredigion (under Lethan), Dumnonia (under Corpre), and Circinn in the north (under Fidig).  The Ui Laithin have a colony in Dumnonia.  A group of Ui Bairrche settle in Scotland.

306 – Flavius Valerius Aurelius Constantinus, son of Constantius Chlorus Augustus, is proclaimed Imperator Augustus by his troops at Eboracum.

315 - Constantinus Augustus awards himself the title of Britannicus.

326 - Cairill mac Cairbre, aka Colla Uais, Ard Ri Eireann, is overthrown by Muiredach Tirech and expelled to Alba, along with his two brothers, Aed, aka Colla Menn, and Muiredach, aka Colla Co Frith, and three hundred warriors.

331 - The Three Collas return to Ireland, defeat the last Ulaidh high king of Ulster, destroy Emain Macha, and create the kingdom of Airgialla, with the Ulaidh now confined to the northeast of their former kingdom.

337 – At the death of Constantinus Augustus, the Imperium Romanum is divided into three praetorian prefectures:

Prefecture of Galliae (including Britanniae, Hispaniae, Germaniae, and Tingitana)

Prefecture of Italiae (plus the Balkans and Africa

Prefecture of the Orient (Thracia, Anatolia, Syria-Palestina, Aegyptus, Libya) 

The Praefecti of these units have authority only over civil administration.  In addition to these regions, Roma and Constantinopolis each have their own Praefectus. 

The Magister Militum per Galliae reports to the Magister Utriusquae Militiae, who answers to the western Augustus.  The military in the field is restructured too.  In the Diocese of Britanniae, there are three commands, who officially report to the Magister Militum per Galliae: 

Comes Maritimi Tractus per Britanniae (limitanei of the Litus Saxonicum, 3000 foot, 600 horse)
Dux Limitum Britanniarum (limitanei of the North, 14,000 foot, 900 horse)
Comes Militum Britanniarum (comitatenses, 2200 foot, 200 horse)

Across the Oceanus Britannica (English Channel), three commands fall under the overall authority of the Comes Maritimi Tractus:

Dux Belgicae Segundae (limitanei in coastal Belgica and Germania)

Dux Tractus Armoricani et Nervicani (limitanei in coastal Armorica and Nervica)

Praefectus Classis Britannica (based in Dubris and Bononia Gesoriacum)

347 - The vicarius of Britanniae sets up a laeti colony of Frisii that later becomes known as Caer Peris or Dun Fries.

350-353 – Revolt of Flavius Magnus Magnentius, who usurps Imperator Caesar Flavius Julius Constans Augustus, actively supported by Britanniae, Galliae, and Hispaniae.

357 – Maine Mor establishes in Ol-nEchtmachta the kingdom later known as Ui Maine.

360 - The Scoti and Picti raid the diocese of Britanniae.

364 – Raiding of the diocese of Britanniae by the Picti, Saxonici, Scoti, and Attacotti.

366Second uprising of the Bagaudae in Galliae, against feudalism and serfdom, in conjunction with an invasion of the Alemanni.

367-369 – War against the confederation of the Picti, Attacotti, and Scoti attacking Britanniae and the Saxonici and Franci attacking northern Galliae.  At this time, Roman sources report the Picti have consolidated into two known confederations, the Verturiones and the Dicalydones, though a third likely exists in the far north dominated by the Catti.  

It begins after the Roman garrisons along Hadrian’s Wall rebel in conjunction with native frontier troops known as areani; northern and western Britanniae are overwhelmed.  In the midst of the chaos, Valentinus and other exiles begin planning a revolt.   In the fighting both Nectadarius, Comes Maritimi Tractus is killed, and Fullofades, Dux Britanniarum, captured.  The “Great Conspiracy” is finally defeated by a force under Flavius Theodosius, Comes Britanniarum.  Afterwards, Theodosius disbands the areani and organizes a new civil administration.

369 – An additional province, Valentia, is added in the north, probably in southern Scotland between the Walls, with its seat at Luguvalium.  Its governor is a consularis.

376-1022 - The Ui Neill rule as Ard Ri Eireann/Ri hEireann Uile, with the exception of the two decades of Brian Borumha.

376 – Death of Crimthann mac Fidaig, first of the great raiding Ard Ri Eireann who prey on the Pictii, Britanniae, Armoricae, and Galliae; succession of Niall Noígíallach, son of previous Ard Ri Eochaid Mugmedón and Cairenn Chasdubh, daughter of the Pictish king of Fortrenn, or Uerturio, at Inverness.  His half-brothers Brion, Ailill, and Fiachrae found dynasties in Ol-nEchtmachta, which takes their family name, Connachta.

382 – Fourth wave of raiding by Scoti, Picti, and Saxonici.  Aed Brosc of the Deisi is brought over to help repel the raids. 

After their defeat, Flavius Magnus Maximus, Magister Militum per Galliae, assigns praefecti gentium to commands in the north:  

Quintilius son of Clemens at Alt Clut (Dinas y Brython/Dunbarton)
Paternus son of Tacitus at Din Paladur (Traprain Law)
Catellius Decianus at Din Gefron (Yeavering Bell)
Antonius Donatus Gregorius (son of Magnus Maximus) in Novant; he later transfers to Demetia in Wales. 

Ruling dynasties later trace their descent back to these praefecti.

383-388 – Revolt of Maximiamus, who becomes Imperator Casesar Augustus at Meliandum.  First wave of Britonici colonists to Armorica.

397 - Death of St. Martin of Tours, who becomes one of the most important saints in Celtic Christianity.

400-800 – The Golden Age of Eire.  Learning, art, literature, culture, international influence reach its peak.

Early 5th century - Niall of the Nine Hostages, progenitor of the Ui Neill, establishes himself at Tara as the first true High King of Ireland along with Meath as a province.

402 – Flavius Stilcho, Magister Utriusquae Militiae, withdraws some legions from Britanniae to face the Gothi in Italiae.  Meanwhile, Imperator Caesar Flavius Honorius Augustus moves his seat from Meliandum to Ravenna for defensive purposes.

405 – Fourth wave of raiding by Scotti, Pictii, and Saxonici.  The Dal Riata, pressured by the Ulaidh who are retreating before the northern Ui Neill, begin to colonize Earr a’ Gaidheal. 

Death of Niall Noígíallach, Ard Ri Eireann, ancestor of the Ui Neill dynasty and second of the great raiding High Kings; succession of Feradach Dathi mac Fiachrae, his nephew.

406 – In response to the invasion of Galliae by the Suebi, Alani, Vandali, and Burgundi, the legions of Britain revolt and nominate a usurper named Marcus as emperor.

407 – Marcus is killed by his troops and replaced with Gratian.  Gratian is killed by the troops because he would not order them to cross over to Galliae to stop the “barbarians”.  The troops in Britanniae then nominate Flavius Claudius Constantinus, who moves to Galliae with the remaining legions.

409-417 - Third uprising of the Bagaudae, in the lower Loire Valley, against feudalism and serfdom.

409 – The Vandali, Buri, Suevi, and Alani ravage the Diocese of Galliae until driven into Iberia by the Visigothi.  The tribes establish kingdoms that are Arian rather than Catholic.

The Saxonici begin raiding the shores of Britanniae and Armorica in large numbers.  Cut off by the chaos, the people of Britanniae and of Armorica appeal to the central government for assistance.  Imperator Caesar Flavius Honorius Augustus tells them to attend their own affairs; therefore, they expel their imperial officials and declare independence.

HEROIC AGE OF THE BRITONS

410-600  - Sub-Roman Britain’s Heroic Age.

410 - Coelistius, aka Coel Hen, assumes control of the North, the area known to the Cymry as Hen Ogledd, its people as the Gwyr y Gogledd.  

There are Irish incursions into Venedotia, Cornovia, Siluria, Demetia, and the Gower Peninsula.

411 - Capture at Arles of Capture at Arles of Imperator Caesar Flavius Claudius Constantinus Augustus, last emperor from Britanniae, who is executed at Ravenna soon afterward.

411-429 – Raiding of Britanniae by Pictii, Scotti, and Saxonici.

413 – Pelagian heresy said to begin.

417 – The revolts in Armorica and Britanniae are suppressed, followed by the return of some level of imperial presence in both regions.

418Descendants of Antonius Donatus establish a Sub-Roman kingdom in Wyr Enouant (Novant), the area that eventually becomes Galloway.

Pelagian “heresy” outlawed in Roma after it is condemned at the Council of Carthage and the decision affirmed by Pope Zozimus, but in Britanniae and Hibernia, along with Gaul, enjoys much support from “pro-Celtic” faction.  Traditionalists support Roma.

420 - Death of Coel Hen.  The lands of his office are divided between his descendants, becoming Ebrauc, Bryneich (Din Guardi/Bamburgh), Deifr, Rheged, Argoed, Peak, Elmet, and Calchfynydd. 

Other Brythonic kingdoms in the North, probably his clients, include Manaw, Eidyn, Gododdin, Alt Clud, Wyr Enouant, and Gwenydd.   Other non-Brythonic domains include Dal Riata, Ystrad Aeron, Circinn, Fortrenn, and the later Anglish lands of Beornicia and Deira.

Eógan mac Néill establishes the kingdom of Aileach (aka Tir Eogain) while his brother Conall Gulban mac Neill establishes the kingdom of Tir Conaill, both in territory carved out of Ulster.

421 - Death of Gradlon Mawr of Armorica, which is now coming to be called Brittania Minor; division of Armorica into Kernev (Cornouaille) and Domnonea (Domnonée).

423 - Birth of St. Patrick in Banna Venta Burniae (near Birdoswald).

425-450 – Marcus Conor Mor flourishes in Dumnonia.

425 – Flavius Aetius, the “last of the Romans”, becomes Comes and Magister Militum per Galliae.

Vortigern comes to power, possibly as head of the Council of Britain, but almost certainly as the supreme political figure.

427 – The Council of Britanniae appeals to Comes Aetius for help, but gets no support.

428 – The Council of Britanniae invites a number of Germanic foederati and laeti to aid in repelling the Scotti and the Pictii, settling them in the Dorchester-upon-Thames area. 

Death of Feradach Dathi, Ard Ri Eireann, last of the great raiding High Kings, reportedly in battle among the Alps.

429 - At the request of Palladius, a British deacon, Pope Celestine I dispatches Bishops Germanus of Auxerre and Lupus of Troyes to Britanniae to combat the Pelagian heresy.  While in Britanniae, Germanus leads the Britonici to victory near the Welsh border.

430 – The kingdom of Gwerthifyrwig evolves out of Ewyas, the territory of Siluria, eventually becoming Gwent.

431 – St. Palladius is sent as missionary bishop to Eire, making his seat in Mumha.

432 - Death of St. Ninian, Bishop of Whithorn.

Comes Aetius becomes Magister Utriusque Militiae.

434 – The later St. Patrick is captured by pirates and taken to Eire as a slave.

435 - Tibatto leads Armorican movement for independence from Galliae. 

War breaks out between the Irish settlers in Garth Madrun and Powys.  Anlach of Garth Madrun is defeated and forced to send his son, Brychan, as a hostage to the Powysian Court.

Aetius is raised to the rank of Patricius.

437 – Aurelius Ursicinus appears as leader of the pro-Roman faction in Britain.  Vitalinus fights against him  at the Battle of Wallop. 

Triffyn Farfog of the Deisi takes Demetia by marrying Gweldyr, daughter of Clotri, and the kingdom takes it name from his tribe as Dyfed. 

Glywissing is founded in southern Wales.

438 – Ard Ri na Eireann Loaghaire appoints a commission to study, revise, and codify Irish law which promulgates its code of the Laws of the Fenechas three years later as the Senchus Mor (criminal code) and the Lebhar Acaill (civil code).

440-450 - Civil War and famine in Britanniae, caused by Pictish incursions and tensions between Pelagian/Roman factions.  Migration of pro-Roman citizens toward west. 

440 - St. Patrick escapes from his captors and returns to Britanniae, probably to Alt Clut. 

Caer Gwinntguic is founded.

Glywys flourishes in Glywysing.

441 – German foederati in Britanniae rise in revolt

443 - Death of Constantine Corneu of Dumnonia.  His realm is divided between his two sons as Dumnonia (Dyfneint, later Dewnans) and Cornubia (Kernow).

446 – The Britonici appeal to Patricius Aetius for military assistance against the Pictii and the Scotti, but he has his hands full with Attila the Hun.  Vortigern Vorteneu authorizes the use of German foederati for the defence of the northern parts against barbarian attack and to guard against further Irish incursions.  The Angli are given a little land in the later that later becomes the kingdom of Lindsey (Linnuis).

447 – The second visit of Germanus to Britannia, this time accompanied by Bishop Severus of Trier.  He expels the Scotti  from mountain territory of the Cornovii and establishes Paganes (Powys), with Catellius, son of Categirn (Cadell Ddernllwg) as Tribune, who is later succeeded by Bruttius, grandson of Vortigern.  The Britonici, aroused to heroic effort, defeat their enemies, the Pictii and the Scotti, decisively and are left in peace for a brief time.

St. Patrick founds the church at Ard Macha.

448 - Civil war and plague ravage Britain.

450 - In the first year of Imperator Caesar Flavius Marcianus Augustus at Constantinopolis, Hengest and Horsa arrive on shores of Britain with "3 keels" of warriors.

Rheged is formed out of Northern Britain.  The new domain reaches from the southern border of Alt Clud to the northern border of Gwynedd.

451 – The armies of Patricius Aetius and of the Visigoth king Theodoric I turn back the army of Attila the Hun in the Battle of the Catalaunian Plains.

452 - Increasing Saxonici settlement in Britanniae.  Vortigern marries Hengist's daughter, Rowena.  Hengist invites his son, Octha, from Germania with 16 keels of warriors. 

Cunedda Wledig ap Aeternus and his retinue are transferred from Manaw to Gwynedd, called Venedotia in Latin (from Feni, the Irish); Germanius ap Coelistius is transferred from Gododdin to Manaw; Ochta and Ebissa are sent to replace Germanius.

453 - Raids on British towns and cities becoming more frequent.  Increasing Saxon unrest. 

454 – Patricius Aetius is assassinated in Roma by Imperator Caesar Flavius Placidius Valentinianus Augustus.

455 - Vortimer rebels against his father, Vortigern, and fights Hengest at the Battle of Crayford.  Hengest is victorious and the British army flees back to Londinium.

The troops of Geiseric, king of the Vandali and Alani, invade Italiae and sack Roma.

456 - Battle of Aylesford (in Kent) between Hengest's Iutae and the Britonici under Vortimer in which Catigern ap Vortigern and Horsa of Kent are killed. 

Aegidius, one of Patricius Aetius' generals is made Comes et Magister Militum per Galliae.

St. Patrick leaves Britain once more to evangelise Ireland.

458-460 – Full-scale migration of British aristocrats and city-dwellers across the Oceanus Britannicus to Armorica (the “second migration”), led by Riothamus.

458 - Saxon uprising is in full-swing.  Hengest finally conquers Ceint.

Imperial forces under Comes Nepotianus, Magister Utrusque Militiae, and Comes Aegidius invade southern Galliae and reconquer all of it except for Aquitania, which is reduced from independence to foederati status.  Their armies also defeat the Bagaudae and recover the city of Lugdunum.

459 -  The armies of Comes Nepotianus and Comes Sunieric, Rei Militaris, force the Visigothi to surrender Hispaniae except for Gallaecia.

460 – Aurelius Ambrosius, whom Gildas calls the “last of the Romans”, takes full control of Britanniae and leads the Britonici in years of back-and-forth fighting with Saxonici.  British strategy seems to be to allow Saxon landings and to then contain them there.

Nepotianus and Sunieric reconquer Gallaecia from the Suebi.

461 - Cut off from the Imperium Romanum by the Visigothi and Burgundi and refusing to recognize Ricimer's puppet imperator, Comes Aegidius establishes an exclave of the empire in northern Galliae called the Kingdom of Soissons, with its seat at Noviodunum.  It remains in regular contact with pro-Roman elements in the Diocese of Britanniae.  The territory is the same as that of the Suessiones of Diviciacus in the 1st century BCE and of the later Frankish kingdom of Neustria.  

462 – The Visigothi reacquire Septimania (Gallia Narbonensis), leaving them in control of the entire south of the Diocese of Galliae.

464 - Aegidius dies in the Battle of Orleans against the Visigothi as ally of Childeric I of the Salian Francii to his immediate east, and is succeeded by his second-in-command, Paulus, Comes of Adecavus (Angers).

465 - Battle of Wippedsfleet (Richborough), in which the Britonici defeat the Saxonici, but with great slaughter on both sides.  The latter are confined to the Thanet and there is a respite from fighting.

466-473 - Period of minimal Saxonici activity.  Re-fortification of ancient hillforts and possibly construction of the Wansdyke.

468 – St. Brigid founds Kildare Abbey.

469 – Imperator Caesar Procopius Anthemius Augustus appeals to the Britonici in Armorica for help against the Visigothi.  A 12,000 man force under Riothamus responds.   The bulk of the force is wiped out in battle against Euric, the Visigothic king.

Comes Paulus of Soissons, formerly of Adecavus, dies in battle against the Visigoths and is succeeded by Dux Syagrius, son of Aegidius.

470 – Establishment of the kingdom of Peak in the southern Pennines.

471-475 - Ecdicius Avitus rules the short-lived Ducatas Arvernorum as an autonomous part of the Imperium Romanum.  After 474, he becomes Magister Militum Praesentalis, but is deposed the next year.

471 - Ceretic of Alt Clut raids the Irish Coast and carries off some of St. Patrick's new flock and sells them into slavery, receiving a written reprimand from the Irish evangelist.

472 - Attempted rebellion against Anthemius Augustus by Arvandus, Praetorian Praefectus Galliae, averted by Riothamus.

Successful rebellion against Anthemius Augustus by Flavius Ricimer, Magister Utriusquae Militiae, whose troops sack Roma once again.

475 – The Anglii begin arriving in the territory of Caer Went.  About the same time, the Middlesex and Suthrig begin to infiltrate the lower Thames River region.

Arvernia falls to the Visigothi when Imperator Caesar Iulius Nepos Augustus trades it in exchange for Septimania.

477 – The Saxon chieftain Aelle lands on southern coast with his sons and founds the kingdom of Sussex.  The Britonici engage him upon landing, but his superior force besieges them at Pevensey and drives them into the Weald.   Over next nine years, Saxon coastal holdings are gradually expanded in Sussex.

The Visigothi destroy the last remnants of the Prefecture of Galliae, except for the Ducatas Noviodunum in the north.

480 – St. Erbin, king of Dumnonia, abdicates in favour of his son, Geraint Llygesoc. 

Death of Glywys of Glywysing; his kingdom is divided into Gwynllwg, Penychen, Gorfynedd, Edeligion and others.

485 – Arthurus Miles (Arthur the Soldier) becomes “dux bellorum” in Britanniae.

486 - Aelle and his sons overreach their normal territory and are engaged by the Britonici at the Battle of Mercredesburne.  The battle is bloody but indecisive, and ends with both sides pledging friendship.  

The Kingdom of Soissons is conquered by Clovis I, king of the Francii, leaving him in control of all Galliae north of the River Loire.  Dux Syagrius flees to the protection of the Visigothi to the south, only to be executed by Alaric II.

488 - Hengest dies.  His son, Oesc, takes over and rules for 34 years, founding the Oescingas dynasty. 

Death of Einion Yrth of Gwynedd.  His kingdom is divided into Gwynedd and Rhos.

493 – Death of St. Patrick. 

495 – Ealdorman Cerdic, son of Elesa, his son, Cynric, and 3 keels of the Gewissae land somewhere on the south coast, near the Hampshire-Dorset border, establishing the beginnings of Wessex. 

Gwynllyw of Gwynllwg carries off Princess Gwladys of Brycheiniog; war between the two kingdoms is narrowly avoided by the intercession of Arthur. 

The Angli of Caerwent divide into the Norfolk and the Suffolk.

St. Finnian establishes the abbey at Molville.

496 - Siege and Battle of Mons Badonicus.  The Britonici under Arthur defeat the Angli under Esla of Bernicia and the Saxonici under Cerdic of the Gewissae.

496-550 - Following the victory at Mt. Badon, the Saxon advance is halted with the invaders returning to their own enclaves.  A generation of peace ensues. 

497 - Death of Erbin of Dumnonia.

Late 5th century - The Fir Domnann in southeast Ireland are displaced by the Laighin, the former moving into the west, the latter giving its modern name to the province.


The Eoghanachta displace the Fir Mumhan, becoming rulers of what is now Munster.

500-517 – Cadwallon Lawhir expels the Irish from Anglesey.

500 – With help from Theodoric (Tewdrig), commander of the Classis Britannica, and Marcellus (Maeliaw) of Britannia Minor (Kernov), the Romano-British commander Agricola defeats the forces of the Deisi at the Battle of Porthmawr and reconquers Dyfed to become its governor as Tribune.  Theodoric makes his base in Gwent.

Theodoric defeats in invasion force under Irish king Fingar and his British ally Guiner.

501 – Death of Fergus Mor mac Eirc, who transferred the seat of the kings of the Dal Riata to Earr a’ Gaidheal.

504 – Muircheartach mac Erc, brother of Fergus Mor, becomes Ard Ri Eireann.

507 – Death of Domangart Reti mac Fergus of Ceann Tir; succession of Comgall mac Domangairt, ancestor of Cenel Comgaill. 

Campaign of Theodoric, commander of the Classis Britannica, and Marcellus of Britannia Minor in Armorica and both sides of the Oceanus Britannica.

508 - Cerdic of the Gewissae begins to move inland and defeats British king, Nudd-Lludd, at the Battle of Netley.

510 - Battle of Llongborth, where Geraint Llyngesoc of Dumnonia is killed. 

Rivod of Britannia Minor (Kernov) murders his brother, Marcellus, and usurps the throne.  Many of the royal family flee to Britannia Major, including Maeliaw's sons Maxentius and Budic, seeking refuge at the court of Agricola in Dyfed.  Maxentius expels Budic, who returns to Dyfed.  Agricola dispatches Theodoric to expel Maxentius and return Budic.  Upon his return to Britannia Major, Theodoric defeats a combined invasion force under Fingar mac Clito of Eire and Guiner, cousin of Maxentius.

511 - After the death of Clovis I of the Franks, his realm is divided among his four sons, and the territory of the former Kingdom of Soissons/province of Gallia Lugdunensis becomes the Kingdom of Neustria.

515 - Death of Aelle of Sussex.  The kingdom passes to his son, Cissa and his descendents, but over time, diminishes into insignificance.  Eventually much of their coastal territory is taken over by the Jutish Meonwara.

517 - Battle of Camlann, where “Arthur and Medraut fell”. 

King and Saint Constantine ruling in Dumnonia/Dewnans.

Death of Cadwallon Lawhir ap Einion of Gwynedd; his son Maelgwn takes the throne after murdering his uncle, probably Owain Ddantgwyn of Rhos, and re-unites the two kingdoms.

519 - Cerdic becomes King of the Gewissae, beginning the dynasty of the Cerdicingas which rules until 1066 CE.

520 - Pabo Post Prydain of Peak abdicates his throne and retires, as a hermit, to Ynys Mon.  

Death of Riwal Mawr Marchou of Domnonea.  Budic II of Brittania Minor returns to Kernev to claim the Breton throne. 

The Middle Angles first branch out from East Anglia.

523 - Death of Gwynllyw of Gwynllwg. Gwnllywg and Penychen are united under his son, St. Cadoc.

525 - St. Samson founds the Monastery of Dol-de-Bretagne. 

Duonting, or Dent, is established in the Pennines. 

Gabran mac Domangairt of Dal Riata, marries Lleian, daughter of Brychan (Briocan) of Manaw and niece of Cedric of Alt Clut, and settles with his men and their families in the region now known as Gowrie, from Gabhranaig.

527 – Aescwine founds the kingdom of Essex.

528 - King St. Cadoc of Glywysing abdicates in favour of Meurig ap Tewdrig of Gwent, who is joined in marriage to Cadoc's aunt. 

Banishment of Princess Thaney of Gododdin; birth of her son, St. Kentigern.

530 – The Britons of the Isle of Wight are defeated by Cerdic of the Gewissae at the Battle of Carisbrooke.

St. Brendan the Navigator leads 14-60 companions across the Atlantic Ocean to the Isle of the Blessed and back, reportedly travelling by curragh, a feat proven possible in 1976.

535 - Sawyl Penuchel of Peak is expelled from his kingdom by Bernicia and flees to Powys. 

Death of Meirchion Gul of Rheged; the southern part of the kingdom breaks away as Argoed. 

Death of St. Illtud, abbot of Llanilltud Fawr and reported cousin of Arthur the Soldier.

536 – The revived Prefecture of Galliae falls to the Francii.

538 - Cynlas Goch of Rhos abandons his wife in favour of his sister-in-law, a nun who he drags from her convent.  Civil war between Cynlas and his cousin, Maelgwn Wledig.  Maelgwn enters a monastery, but soon returns to secular life and murders his nephew in order to marry his widow. 

Civil war also in Powys due to the tyranny of Cyngen Glodrydd. 

Gabran mac Domangairt returns to Dal Riata.

540 - Jonas of Domnonea is murdered by Conomor of Kernow and Poher.  Conomor marries Jonas' widow and rules Domnonea. 

Death of Comgall mac Domangairt of Dal Riata; succession of Gabran mac Domangart, ancestor of the Cenel Gabrain.

Caradoc Vreichfras of Gwent moves the royal court to Portskewett.

Probable date of St. Gildas' De Excidio Britanniae; in it he condemns Constantine of Dumnonia, Aurelius Caninus (Cynan Wledig) of Gwent (and/or Powys), Vortiporius ap Agricola (Aircol) of Dyfed, Cuneglas ap Owen Danwyn of Rhos (“charioteer to the Bear”), and Maglocunus ap Cadawallan (Maelgwn Wledig) of Gwynedd.

541-797 - The Plague of Justinian, Yersinia pestis, ravages Europe in periodic waves.

543 – St. Colmcille establishes the abbey of Durrow.

545 - Deaths of the joint-kings Budic II and his son Hoel I Mawr of Britannia Minor.  Tewdwr Mawr succeeds to the throne, but is quickly ousted from Kernevby Macliau of Gwened (Vannetais).  Tewdwr flees to Kernow and sets himself up as king of the Penwith region. 

The Synod of Brefi is held at Llandewi Brefi to condemn the Pelagian heresy. 

St. David becomes archbishop of South Wales. 

Prince Judwal of Domnonea flees from his murderous step-father to the court of Childebert I of the Franks.

St. Ciaran founds the abbey and school of Clonmacnoise.

546 - St. Gildas returns to Breizh/Bertaeyn with St. Cadoc.

St. Ita founds her abbey at Kileedy.

547 - The king of Bryneich is expelled from his fortress of Din Guardi (Bamburgh) by the Angles and Frisians, whose leader, Ida, becomes king of Bernicia. 

Death of the joint-king Hoel II Fychan of Breizh/Bertaeyn.  

The Plague of Justinian hits Britain, having travelled from Constantinopolis.

St. Brendan founds the abbey of Clonfert.

548 - Conomor of Kernow, Poher, and Domnonea marries Princess Triphine of Bro Waroch (Broërec).

549 - Yellow fever hits British territories, causing many deaths, including Maelgwn of Gwynedd.  Eire is also affected.  Saxons, for some reason, are unaffected.

550 - Judwal of Domnonea retakes his throne.   Conomore of Kernev, Poher, and Domnonea flees to Kernow. 

Pompeius Regalis (aka Pabo Riwal) leads a third wave of emigration from Britain to Armorica. 

Some Britons in Armorica migrate further to Gallaecia in the northwest of Hispaniae, where they establish Britonia. 

War between Alt Clut and Gwynedd.

552 - Cynric of the Gewissae lays siege to the British at Old Sarum and puts them to flight. 

Caer Gwinntguic falls to the Gewissae.

St. Comgall founds the abbey of Bangor.

555 - Death of Erb of Gwent; kingdom is divided into Gwent and Ergyng.

556 - Cynric of the Gewissae lays siege to the British at Barbury Castle and is victorious.

558 – Bro Waroch (Broërec) is attacked by Childebert of the Franks.  Canao II leads resistance.

559 – Deifr falls to the Angles and Frisians under Aelle of the Angeln dynasty Icelingas, who renames it Deira.

560 – Last recorded Royal Feast at the Hill of Tara.

Elidyr of Alt Clut invades Gwynedd in right of his wife, trying to expel brother-in-law, Rhun Hir ap Maelgwn, but dies at the Battle of the Cadnant. 

Death of Gabran mac Domangairt of the Dal Riata; Conall mac Comgaill of the Cenel Comgaill succeeds him.

561 – Battle of Cul Dreimhe (Cooldrevny) between the Clann Cholmain and other southern Ui Neill under Diarmait mac Cerbhaill, Ard Ri na Eireann, and the Cenel Eoghan and Cenel Connaill led by Domhnall Ilchealgach, king of Aileach, over the killing of Cunan, son of Aed mac Echach, king of Connachta, who was under the protection of St. Colmcille (Crimthann mac Felimid) of the Cenel Conaill, abbot of Doire.  Cunan sought out Colmcille’s protection after accidentally killing the son of Diarmait’s steward in a hurley match.  The northern Ui Neill of Aileach were victorious.

A later church legend ascribed the cause of the battle to an unauthorized copy of a psalter belonging to St. Finnian of Clann Cholmain, abbot of Moville, scribed secretly by Columba.

562 – St. Moluag founds the abbey of Lismore.

563 – St. Colmcille establishes an abbey on the Hebridean island of Iona, then travels to Inverness to meet with Bridei mac Maelchon (Maelgwn Wledig), king of Fortrenn, to gain his permission to stay there.

565 – Death of Diarmait mac Cerbaill, last pagan High King of Ireland and the last to reign from the Hill of Tara.

Riderch Hael of Alt Clut mounts a revenge attack on Rhun Hir of Gwynedd.  Rhun marches on Alt Clu and reinforces the armies of his half-brother, Bridei, in Pictland. 

Death of St. Samson.

567 – The British settlements in Britonia in Gallaecia are recognized at the Council of Lugo.

568 – The Cenel Loairn and the Cenel nOengusa rise against Conall of Cenel Gabrain, but he defeats them with the aid of Coman Bec of Midhe.

569 - St. David holds the Synod of Victoria to denounce the Pelagian heresy.  

Áedán mac Gabráin of the Dal Riata establishes himself as king of Manaw by right through his mother; he is married to Demlech, daughter of Maelgwn Wledig of Gwynedd.

570 - Death of St. Gildas. 

The kingdom of Elmet founded.

The kingdom of Pengwern is founded. 

Aodh Caomh of the Dal gCais carves a kingdom out of the southernmost part of Connacht that in the 7th century becomes Deisceart Mumhan and later Tuadh Mumhan.

570-575 - The Northern British Alliance is forged between kingdoms of Rheged, Alt Clut, Bryneich, and Elmet.  They fight the Northumbrians at the Battles of Gwen Ystrad and the Cells of Berwyn.

571 - Cuthwulf of the Gewissae invades the Midlands and defeats the Britons, probably under the king of Calchfynedd, at the Battle of Bedford.

573 - Peredur and Gwrgi of Ebrauc ally themselves with Dunod Fawr of Dent and Riderch Hael of Alt Clut.  They march north to claim the fort at Caerlaverock from Gwendoleu of Caer-Gwendoleu.  The latter is killed in the Battle of Arthuret and his bard, Myrddin Wyllt, flees into the Coed Celyddon, where he goes mad and becomes a prophet.

St. Mungo founds an abbey at Govan that later becomes Glasgow.

574 – Death of Conall of the Dal Riata; succession of Aedan mac Gabrain of Cenel Gabrain, who is reportedly enthroned by St. Colmcille and perhaps is the greatest king of the Dal Riata, the first to truly unite under one rule its disparate small kingdoms, leading expeditions to the Isle of Mann, mainland Scotia (Eire), the Orkneys, and the east coast.  He is also the son of Luan, daughter of Brychan, and is married to Demlech, daughter of Maelgwn Wledig.  Reportedly, he leaves Manaw in the capable hands of his son, Artuir.

Colman Mor founds the kingdom of Osraige.

575 - Owein of Rheged kills Theodoric of Bernicia at the Battle of Leeming Lane. 

The North Folk and the South Folk of Caer Went combine to become the kingdom of East Anglia. 

The Council of Druim Ceatt, hosted by St. Colmcille between Aedan mac Gabrain of the Dal Riata in Alba, Colman mac Comgellan of the Dal Riata in Ulster, and Aedan mac Ainmuir of the northern Ui Neill; they form an alliance against Báetán mac Cairill of the Dál Fiatach, high king of Ulster, and agree that the Dal Riata in Alba have no obligation to the High Kings.

577 – The Gewissae invade the lower Severn Valley.  Ffernfael of Caer-Baddan, Cyndyddam of Caer-Ceri and Cynfael of Caer-Gloui are killed at the Battle of Dyrham, and their kingdoms fall to the Gewissae.  The Gewissae overrun the Cirencester area. 

Tewdwr Mawr of Breizh/Bertaeyn returns to Kernev, reclaims his throne and kills Macliau of Gwened in battle.  

Baetan of Ulster invades Ellan Vannin, completing his conquest the next year.

580 - The army of Peredur and Gwrgi of Ebrauc marches north to fight Bernicia.  Both are killed by Adda's forces at Caer Greu. 

The Deirans rise up under Aelle, and move on the city of Ebrauc.  Peredur's son Gwrgant Gwron is forced to flee; Ebrauc falls, with Catraeth going to Rheged.

Death of Galam (Cennalath), king of the Picts. 

Aedan of Dal Riata leads an expedition against the Picts of Orkney.

583 – Aedan of the Dal Riata attacks the Ulstermen who have recently conquered Ellan Vannin, allegedly ending their occupation of the island.

584 – The Britons are victorious over Ceawlin of the Gewissae at the Battle of Fethanleigh and kill his brother, Cuthwine. Ceawlin ravages the surrounding countryside in revenge. 

Death of Bridei of the Picts; accession of Garnait mac Dornelch (or mac Aedan).

588 - Edwin of Deira is ousted from his kingdom by the Bernicians and seeks refuge at the court of Iago ap Beli of Gwynedd.

Aedan mac Gabhrain wins the Battle of Leithri.

589 - Death of St. Constantine, king of Dumnonia. 

Death of St. David, archbishop of St. David’s.

590 - Siege of Lindisfarne. The Northern British Alliance (Rheged, Alt Clut, Bryneich, Elmet) lays siege to Hussa of Bernicia and almost exterminates the Northumbrians.  Urien Rheged is assassinated at the behest of his jealous ally Morcant Bulc of Bryneich.  Northumbrians recover while internal squabbles tear the British Alliance apart. 

Peak falls to Bernicia. 

591 - Dunod Mawr of Dent mounts an invasion of Rheged, but is repulsed by its king, Owein, and his brother, Pasgen.  Elffin of Rheged is simultaneously attacked by Gwallawc Marchawc Trin of Elmet.

St. Columbanus emigrates to the Continent.

593 - Morcant Bulc of Bryneich invades Rheged and kills Owein in battle.  Pasgen of Rheged flees to the Gower Peninsula.  A greatly diminished Rheged probably continues under the rule of their brother, Rhun.

594 - Battle of Manaw, or Miathi, between Aedan of the Dal Riata and Aodhan, with the former victorious, but with the loss of his sons Bran, Domangart, Eochaid Finn, and Artur.

595 - The aging Donud Mawr of Dent dies fighting off a Bernician invasion.  His kingdom is overrun and his family flees to join his grandson in Gwynedd.

597 – Death of St. Columcille.  Succession of St. Blaithen as abbot.

598 - Mynyddog Mwynfawr of Din Eidyn and Cynan of Gododdin ride south to fight Bernicia against enormous odds at the Battle of Catterick, seat of Rheged.  The British are victorious, though Geraint of Dumnonia is killed in the fighting.

599 - Death of Taliesin, poet for Urien map Cynfarch of Rheged, great-great-great-grandson of Coel Hen, and for Owain map Urien.  His works are collected in the Llyfr Taliesin.

7th century - A branch of the Eoghanachta Ninussa conquers Deisceart Aidne, the area of modern Co. Clare, from the branch of the Connachta known as the Ui Fiachrach Aidne and establishes a kingdom of Tuadh Mumhan, or Thomond, there and in the Aran Isles.  Two centuries later, it is conquered by the Deisi Tuiasceart, who become the Dal gCais.

600 - Aneirin of Dent writes the poem Y Gododdin recording the events of the Battle of Catterick.

Essex subjugates Middlessex and Suthrig.

EARLY MIDDLE AGES

601 - Synod of Chester.

602 - St. Augustine of Canterbury meets with the Welsh bishops at Aust near Chepstow, accuses them of acting contrary to Church teachings, failing to keep Easter at the prescribed Roman time and not administering baptism according to the Roman rite, and he insists that they help in the conversion of the Saxons and look to Canterbury as their spiritual centre.  They decline.

603 - Battle of Degastan between Aethelfrith of Bernicia and Aedan of the Dal Riata, with support from Máel Umai mac Báetáin of the Cenél nEógain (son of Báetán mac Muirchertaig) and Fiachnae mac Báetáin of the Dal nAraidi, king of Ulster, resulting in a devasting defeat for the Scotti in which Artuir mac Aedan dies, along with Aethelfrith’s brothers Theodbald and Eanfirth.

604 - Welsh bishops meet for a second time with St. Augustine of Canterbury.  He neglects to rise to greet them, lectures them again, and insists they submit.  The Welsh kick him out.

606 – The Middle Angles form the kingdom of Mercia.

607 - Death of Judhael of Domnonea.  His son, Haelioc, takes the throne and attempts to exterminate his brothers.

608 - Death of Aedan mac Gabhrain of the Dal Riata. 

610 – Caer Celimon falls to the Gewissae.

612 - Death of St. Mungo, bishop of Glasgow.

613 - Aethelfrith of Bernicia invades Gwynedd in order to root out Edwin of Deira.  A united British force (Gwynedd, Powys, Pengwern and Dewnans) clashes with his army at the Battle of Chester.  Iago of Gwynedd, Selyf Sarffgadau of Powys, and Cadwal Cryshalog of Rhos are all killed but the victor is unclear.  The Battle of Bangor-is-Coed follows in quick succession.  Bledric of Dewnans is killed in the fighting. 

Argoed falls to Mercia.

614 - Cynegils of the Gewissae invades Dewnans and defeats the local army at the Battle of Bindon.  The Tarvin-Macefen boundary between Powys and Mercia is delineated.

616 – Rheged falls to Mercia. 

Aethelfrith of Bernicia is killed by Edwin of Deira at the Battle of the River Idle, and his children escape north, his heir, Eanfrith to Fortrenn while the rest go to Eochaid Buide of the Dal Riata.

617 - Edwin of Deira conquers Elmet.  Ceretic of Elmet is killed in the fighting.

620 - Tewdrig Fendigaid of Glywysing and Gwent abdicates in favour of son Meurig.

Llywarch Hen is expelled from Argoed, probably by Edwin of Deira, and flees to Powys to become a famous bard.

622 – Domnall Brecc, son of Eochaid Buide of the Dal Riata, and Conall Guthbinn mac Suibhne of Clann Cholmáin defeat a rival branch of the Ui Neill in the Battle of Cenn Delgthan.

623 - Edwin of Deira is baptised by Rhun of Rheged.

625 - Cadfan ap Iago of Gwynedd dies and is buried at Llangadwaladr where his memorial stone can still be seen.  His son, Cadwallon, succeeds to the throne. 

Aodh Fionn mac Fergna establishes the kingdom of Breifne in Connacht.

626 - The rivalry between Cadwallon of Gwynedd and Edwin of Deira reaches a climax.  Edwin invades the Isle of Man and then Anglesey.  Cadwallon is defeated in battle and is besieged on Puffin Island.  He eventually flees to Breizh/Bertaeyn.

627 – The churches of Mumha and Laighin in Ireland accept Continental practice at the Synod of Mag Lene

629 – Battle of Fid Eoin in Ireland in which Connad Cerr of the Dal Riata and his brother Failbe mac Eochaid Buide along with Rigullan mac Conaig and Osric, formerly of Bernicia, fall to Máel Caích, brother of Congal Cáech of the Dal nAraidi, king of Ulster, while fighting for Dicuil mac Eochaid.

630 – The Gewissae invade Gwent.  Meurig defeats them, with the help of his aging father, at the Battle of Pont-y-Saeson. 

Calchwynedd falls to the Middle Angles and the Chiltern Saxons. 

Penda of Mercia besieges Exeter.  Cadwallon of Gwynedd lands nearby from his Deiran imposed exile in Breizh/Bertaeyn.  He negotiates an alliance with Penda, and a united British and Saxon force moves north to re-take Gwynedd.  The Deirans are defeated at the Battle of the Long Mountain and Cadwallon chases them back to Northumbria.   The British ransack Northumbria and bring the kingdom to its knees.

632 - Idris of Meirionydd is killed fighting the Gewissae on the River Severn.

633 - The British under Cadwallon of Gwynedd meet the Northumbrians in the Battle of Hatfield Chase.  Edwin of Deira is killed in the fighting and Cadwallon is victorious.  Cadwallon is later besieged at Ebrauc by Edwin's cousin and successor, Osric, and is again victorious.

The Celtic rite of Britonia is abandoned in favor of the Mozarabic rite.

634 - Cadwallon ap Cadfan has both Eanfrith of Bernicia and Osric of Deira assassinated rather than negotiate peace with them.  Eanfrith's half-brother, Oswald, succeeds to a united Northumbria.  He gathers a force, with support from Domnall Brecc of the Dal Riata which includes monks from Iona, and clashes with Cadwallon at the Battle of Heavenfield.  Cadwallon is killed and Oswald victorius. 

Cadafael Cadomedd ap Cynfeddw ousts Cadwaladr and usurps the Gwynedd throne.  Civil War ensues in the kingdom. 

Death of the great bard, Llywarch Hen of Argoed, supposedly aged one hundred.  His works include Canu Hedledd and Geraint son of Erbin.

635 – St. Judicael of Domnonea submits to the overlordship of Dagobert I of the Franks.  An alliance is drawn up and the borders of the Breton kingdom agreed. 

St. Aidan is sent out from Iona to the Angles of Northhumbria, where he founds a monastery on the island of Medcaut (Lindisfarena). 

Meurig of Glywysing and Gwent invades Ergyng and re-unites the two kingdoms in the right of his wife.

636 - Judicael of Domnonea abdicates in order to enter a monastery.

637 - Defeat of Domnall Brecc of the Dal Riata and Congal Caech of Ulaidh and Dal nAraidi, supported by Oswald of Northumbria, by Domnall mac Aedo, Ard Ri Eireann and king of Cenel Connaill along with the Sil nAedo Slaine at the Battle of Mag Rath (Moira).  Domnall Brecc’s force includes Scots, Picts, Angles, and Brythons.  That same day the Ard Ri’s fleet defeats a combined fleet of the Dal Riata and the Cenel nEogain at the Battle of Ceann Tir (Kintyre).  The outcome is domination of the north by the Ui Neill for the next thousand years along with their subjugation of western Dal Riata, while eastern Dal Riata becomes a client of Northumbria, then of Fortrenn.

638 – Din Eidyn is taken by Northumbria and Gododdin/Lothian ceases to exist, its aristocracy escaping to Alt Clut. 

Rhianfelt, heiress of Rheged, marries Oswiu of Northumbria.  Northumbria embraces Rheged in a peaceful takeover, and also becomes overlord of Circinn.

642 - Penda of Mercia commands a united force including Cadafael Cadomedd of Gwynedd, Eluan of Powys, and Cynddylan of Pengwern against Oswald of Northumbria.  Oswald is killed, and possibly Eluan also.  The Mercians become dominant in Midlands. 

Owen ap Beli of Alt Clut kills Domnall Brecc at the Battle of Strathcarron.

645 - Gwynedd and much of Cymru in the grasp of famine.  Would-be king Cadwaladr Fendigaid of Gwynedd flees to Breizh/Bertaeyn; civil war continues in his kingdom.

650 - Cloten of Dyfed marries Princess Ceindrech of Brycheiniog and unites the two kingdoms. 

Eanhere and Eanfrith establish the sub-kingdom of the Hwicce in the former territory of the Dobunni.

Mid 7th century – Vikings from Norway begin to colonize both Shetland and Orkney, in the later of which they find two tribes, the Peti and the Papae.

653 – Talorgan ap Eanfrith becomes king of Fortrenn.

654 – Death of Dunchad Bec of the Dal Riata in battle against Talorgan I of Fortrenn at Strath Ethairt. 

655 - Cadafael ap Cynfeddw of Gwynedd and his army join Penda of Mercia, Athelhere of East Anglia, and Aethelwald of Deira to march on the Bernicians, but he and Aethelwald both withdraw before the battle begins.  Penda and Athelhere clash with Oswiu at the Battle of the Winwaed, but Oswiu defeats them and they are both killed; Oswiu then unites his kingdom with Deira to become Northumbria. 

Morfael of Pengwern retakes the Wall.

656 - Oswiu of Northumbria invades Pengwern and kills Cynddylan in battle.  His brother, Morfael, and the remains of the family flee to Glastenning.  The Mercians take control of Pengwern and may have invaded Powys at this time.

658 - Cenwalh and the Gewissae make a push against Dewnans.   They are victorious at Battle of Penselwood and Dewnans-Gewissae border is set at the River Parrett. Glastenning ceases to exist and the Gewissae occupy its territory.

661 - Cenwalh of the Gewissae invades Dewnans and is victorious at the Battle of Posbury. 

Saxon settlers found Somerset, Dorset, and Wiltset in eastern Dewnans. 

Wulfere of Mercia gives the territory of the Meonwara to the Sussex.

663 – Oswiu of Northumbria invades the southern Picts and establishes overlordship over Fibh, Circinn, and Strath Eireann.

664-666 – The Yellow Plague known in Ireland as the Plague of Connaill devastates Ireland, hitting the Church particularly hard.  Among its notable victims is St. Fechin of Cong/Fore.

664 - Plague devastates Gwynedd.  Probable death of Cadafael Cadomedd.  Cadwaladr Fendigaid of Gwynedd reasserts himself in his kingdom by sending his son, Ifwr, from Breizh/Bertaeyn to be regent. 

The Synod of Whitby at the conhospitae of St. Hilda at Streonshal determines that the northern kingdom of Northumbria and its client kingdom Mercia should comply with the doctrines and practices of Rome, at which St. Colman resigns his see and returns to Iona.

665 – Second Battle of Mount Badon.

670 – Ceannfaeld mac Blathmac conquers Cymru and he and his family rule it, at least as overlords, for 59 years.

671 – Northumbria establishes the sub-kingdom of Din Baer in the former territory of the Gododdin, also called Lleuddiniawn (Lothian).

672 – Drest of Circinn is desposed and replaced by Bridei, son of Beli I of Alt Clut.

673 – Domangart mac Domnaill of the Dal Riata submits to Northumbria as overlord upon his accession.

674 – Ecgfrith of Northumbria repels Wulfhere of Mercia and seizes control of Lindsey.

679 – St. Adomnan becomes abbot of Iona.

Ecgfrith of Northumbria is defeated by the Mercians, now under Wulfhere's brother Aethelfred, at the Battle of Trent, and forced to return Lindsey.

680 – Bridei of Fortrenn attacks Dunnottar.

682  Bridei destroys Orkney as an independent kingdom.

683 – After a successful seige of Dunadd, Bridei brings the Dal Riata under his hegemony.

The kingdom of Wyr Enouant ruled by the line of Antonius Donatus falls to invasion from Beornicia.

684 – Ecgfrith of Northumbria sends raiders to plunder coastal Brega.

685 - St. Cuthbert of Lindisfarne visits Carlisle. 

Ecgfrith of Northumbria marches his army north to engage the Picts at the Battle of Nechtansmere.  The Dal Riata and Alt Clut Britons join the Picts in a thorough defeat of the Anglish forces.  The latter lose much land south of the Forth to Dumnagual II of Alt Clut in the process.

The Gewissae take Suthrig from Essex.

686 – Sussex becomes subject to the Gewissae. 

Lindsey is absorbed by Mercia.

688 - Cadwaladr Fendigaid of Gwynedd dies on a pilgrimage to Rome.

Caedwalla of the Gewissae likewise dies on a pilgrimage to Rome and is succeeded by Ine, under whom the Gewissae become known as the West Seax, or Wessex.

696 – Death of Taran of Fortrenn; succession of Bridei, son of Dargart mac Finguine of Cenel Comgaill and of Der-Ilei, daughter of a Pictish king.  Bridei is the first of the Dal Riata to rule in Inverness, but he does not rule the Gaels of Argyll.  He changes the patron saint of the Picts from St. Columcille to St. Peter.

697 – Council of Birr, a gathering of Irish and Pictish notables led by St. Adamnan, abbot of Iona, enacts the Cáin Adomnáin (Lex Innocentium, or Law of Innocents), forbidding the killing and making captive of women and children, exempting women and clerics from compulsory military service, and setting forth harsh penalties for rape during wartime, among other provisions.  Also at this council, the churches of Ulaidh, Midhe, and Connacht, along with that of the Dal Riata in Earr a’ Gaidheal, adopt the practices of the Continental church.

The sub-kingdom of Deisi Mumhain is founded by the Deisi; the other non-Eoghanachta kingdom in Munster is Ernaibh Mumhan, of the Ernai.

700 - Geraint of Dewnans receives a letter from St. Aldhelm of Malmesbury during a synod in Wessex insisting that the church of Dewnans comply with the doctrines of Rome, as agreed previously at the Synod of Whitby.

The Eoganachta begin to rule Mumhan.

704 – Death of St. Adomnan, abbot of Iona.

705 - Geraint of Dewnans grants land at Maker to Sherbourne Abbey in an attempt to strengthen his position in the disputed regions of Dorset

The churches of East Dewnans and Somersaete, under the kings of Wessex, accept Continental practice as decreed at Whitby.

706 – Death of Bridei mac Dargart of Fortrenn; Nechtan mac Dargart of the Cenel Comgaill ascends the throne.

710 - Geraint of Dewnans clashes with Ine of Wessex who manages to establish a fortress at Taunton. 

Seisyll of Ceredigion invades Dyfed and conquers Ystrad Tywi to create the greater kingdom of Seisyllwg.  A reduced Dyfed and Brycheiniog both appear to have taken on the name of Rhainwg.  Rhain's kingdom is now sliced in two.

The churches in Fortrenn and Circinn accept Continental practice.

711 – Northumbria invades Circinn and is defeated in Manaw.

717 – Nechtan mac Dargart of Fortrenn expels the Ionan clergy from his kingdom.  Later that year, the church of Iona decides to follow Continental practice

720 - Contact between the Welsh church and Yvi of Breizh/Bertaeyn is the last known link between the two Celtic countries.

721 – The church of Alt Clut agrees to follow Continental practice.

722 - Ine of Wessex attempts a takeover of Dewnans.  His armies are crushed and have to withdraw. 

Death of Beli of Alt Clut; Teudebur ap Beli succeeds to the throne.

724 – Nechtan mac Dargart of Fortrenn retires to a monastery in favor of his nephew Drostan mac Talorcan.

725 – The Ui Bruin supercede the Ui Fiachrae in Connacht.

726 – Drostan imprisons Nechtan and is deposed by Alpin.

Kent falls under the sway of Mercia.

729 – Oengus mac Fergus of the Eoghanachta Mag Geirginn defeats Alpin in battle and restores Nechtan to the throne of Fortrenn.

St. Fillan founds the abbey of Glen Dochardt.

730 - Civil War between Tewdr of Brycheiniog and a rival claimant to his throne, his cousin Awst; the latter is slain and Tewdr is persuaded to live in peace with Awst's son, Elwystl. 

Mercia takes Middlesex.

731 – Elisedd ap Gwylog of Powys expels the Mercians from his kingdom.

732 – Oengus mac Fergusa, married to an heiress of the Cenel Loairn, becomes king of Fortrenn upon the death of Nechtan; the throne in Inverness remains in his family until the disaster of 839.

733 – With the death of Eochaid mac Echdach of the Cenél nGabráin, last overking of the Dal Riata, comes the final separation of the western Dal Riata from those in Argyll.  Indrechtach of the Dal nAraide becomes overlord over the western branch; his descendants are the O'Lynch clan.  The ancestor of the O’Quinns is direct king over the western Dal Riata in the Glens of Antrim.

A fleet from the eastern Dál Riata in Argyll fights for Flaithbertach mac Loingsig, chief of the Cenél Conaill (overlords of the eastern Dal Riata), in his war with Áed Allán of the Cenél nEógan, and suffers heavy losses. Dúngal mac Selbaig of the Cenel Loairn is deposed and replaced with Muiredach mac Ainbcellaig.

734 – The Cenel Connaill abdicate the overlordship of the northern Ui Neill, and the Cenel nEogan step into their place.

736-839 - The Eoghanachta Mag Geirginn/Cenel Loairn rule the North.

736 – Second campaign of Oengus of Fortrenn against Dal Riata, defeating both Dungal and Muiredach, ending the kingdom’s independence, making him the first king of both Picts and Scots.

739 – Talorgan ap Drostan, king of Ath Fodhla, is executed by drowning; first mention of Ath Fodhla.

740 - Death of Rhain of Dyfed and Brycheiniog.  His kingdoms are divided between his two sons.

741 – Oengus of Fortrenn replaces the cult of St. Peter with that of St. Andrew, establishing a cathedral in his name at the royal site of Cenrigmonaid.

743 - Aethelbald of Mercia and Ceolred of Wessex join forces to attack Gwent and Powys.

The Clann Cholmain supercede the Sil nAeda Slaine as overlords of the southern Ui Neill.

744 - Construction of Wat's Dyke on the border between Mercia and Powys.

750 – The Alt Clut Britons under Teudebur defeat Talorcan mac Oengusa at the Battle of Mugdock. Decline of the power of Oengus I of Fortrenn. 

Elidyr ap Sandde moves the exiled royal house of Argoed from Powys to the Isle of Man. 

Tewdr of Brycheiniog breaks the peace with his cousin, Elwystl, and murders him.

752 - Death of Teudebur of Alt Clut. His son, Dumnagual, succeeds to the throne and promptly loses Kyle to Eadberht of Northumbria.

754 - Death of Rhodri Molwynog ap Idwal of Gwynedd.  Caradog ap Meirion succeeds him.

756 - Oengus I of Fortrenn and Eadberht of Northumbria successfully attack Dumnagual of Alt Clut at Dinas y Brython; however, Alt Clut subsequently wipes out Eadberht's entire force at the Battle of Newburgh-on-Tyne. 

760 - Battle of Hereford is fought between Mercia and Brycheiniog under Nowy Hen.

761 – Death of Oengus mac Fergusa of Fortrenn.

766  - A branch of the Ui Bruin founds the kingdom of Breifne.

768 - Archbishop Elfoddw of Gwynedd persuades the Church of North Cymru to accept the Continental dating of Easter as agreed by the Northumbrian Church at the Synod of Whitby.

771 – Mercia takes Sussex from Wessex.

774-821 - The Icelingas of Mercia rule all England.

774 - Offa of Mercia unites all England for the first time.

777 – The churches of South Cymru adopts Continental practice

780 – The last king of the Hwicce dies, and the kingdom is absorbed by Mercia.

784 - Construction of Offa's Dyke, the artificial bank and ditch boundary between England and Cymru, is begun at the command of Offa of Mercia.

AGE OF THE VIKINGS

787-1030 – The Viking Age in Europe and the Mediterranean Sea.

789 – Accession to the throne of Fortrenn by Caustantin mac Fergusa, nephew of Alpin ap Feredach, who is credited with founding the church at Dun Chaillean.

793-1066 – The Viking Age in Northern Europe

793 - Lindisfarne is destroyed by the Norse.

795 - Quarrels between Cynan Dindaethwy ap Rhodri Molwynog and his brother Hywel leave the way open for Caradog ap Meirion (of the House of Rhos) to usurp the throne of Gwynedd.

797 - Cymric forces clash with Mercia at Battle of Rhuddlan, when Coenwulf of Mercia tries to re-assert his domination of northeast Cymru.  Maredydd of Dyfed is killed in the fighting.  Mercians push on westward.

798 - Caradog of Gwynedd is killed fighting Mercians of Coenwulf in Snowdonia. Cynan Dindaethwy succeeds to the throne.

800 – Buelt is absorbed by Seissylwg and ceases to exist.

Vikings found Wexford in Eire.

805 - Egbert of Wessex formally establishes kingship over the people of Dewnans after a gradual integration over many years.

806 – Vikings massace 68 monks at Martyrs’ Bay on Iona.

807 - Death of of Arthwyr of Ceredigion.

810 - St. David’s is burnt.

812 - Degannwy, capital of Gwynedd, is struck by lightning and burnt to the ground.

Vikings found Limerick.

813 - Hywel and Cynan Dindaethwy of Gwynedd quarrel again and meet in battle.  Hywel is victorious.

814 - Gryffydd of Powys is slain through the treachery of his brother Elisedd. 

Cynan Dindaethwy of Gwynedd invades Anglesey and attacks his brother, Hywel.  Hywel is victorious and Cynan is driven from his shores.

815 - Kernow is raided by Egbert of Wessex and his Saxon armies.

816 - Hywel of Gwynedd is again attacked by his brother Cynan, on Anglesey.  Cynan is killed.

The English successfully invade Rhufoniog and also ravage the Snowdonia Mountains.

818 - Coenwulf of Mercia raids Dyfed.

820-834 – Vicious attacks by the Vikings against the north of Scotland.

820 – Death of Caustantin of Fortrenn; succession of Oengus II mac Fergus. 

Feidlimid mac Cremthanin of the Eóganacht Chaisil, a Celi De who is abbot of Cork and Clonfert, becomes king of Mumha; he is the first in centuries not of the Ui Neill to be called Ard Ri Eireann.

821 - Coenwulf of Mercia dies in Basingwerk while preparing for another assault on Powys.

823 - The Mercians invade Powys, but are beaten back by Cyngen.  They also destroy the Gwynedd capital, Degannwy.

824 – St. Blathmac leads a group of Columban monks back to Iona.  The next year, there is another raid in which they are all massacred and the abbey burned.

825 - Death of Rhodri of Gwynedd.  The kingdom is seized by his grand-nephew, Prince Merfyn Frych of Mann and Argoed. 

The men of Kernow make a push into Saxon Devon and the two armies clash at the Battle of Galford.  The Cornish are victorious. 

Wessex defeats Mercia and takes from it Kent, Essex, Sussex, and Suthrig.

829-1014 - The Cerdicingas of Wessex rule all England.

829 - Egbert of Wessex invades Mercia and drives Wiglaf, its king, into exile, becoming Bretwalda, or King of all England.

830 – Nynniaw, abbot of Bangor Fawr, compiles the Historia Britonum.

Britonia in Gallaecia is attacked by Vikings.

834 – Death of Oengus II of Fortrenn.

836 – Gofraid mac Fergusa of Clann Cholmain in Midhe marries the heiress of Cenel Comgaill to become ruler of Ceann Tir and whose descendants later found the Kingdom of Mann and the Isles; probable ancestor of the Ui Imhair.

838 - The Britons of Kernow join forces with the Vikings and attack Wessex.  Egbert defeats them at the Battle of Hingston Down.

839 – Deaths of Eóganan mac Óengusa of Fortrenn and Áed mac Boanta of Dal Riata in battle against the Vikings along with a large portion of their leading warriors; succession of Feradach mac Bargoit in Fortrenn.

Thorgest founds the Norse kingdom of Dublin.

844-878 – Reign of Rhodri Mawr ap Merfyn over Gwynedd.

844Rise of the kingdom of Deheubarth, which includes Dyfed, Ceredigion, Brycheiniog, and, at times, Gwynedd.  Rhodri Mawr succeeds to the throne of Gwynedd.

845 – First unified kingdom of Breizh/Bertaeyn is declared by Nominoe after the defeat of Charles the Bald, King of the Franks, in the Battle of Ballon.

846 – Death of Niall Caille mac Áeda of the Cenel nEogain, who defeated Feidlimid mac Cremthanin of Mumhan; succession of Máel Sechnaill mac Máele Ruanaid to the throne of Tara.  The annals of Mael Sechnaill’s reign refer to him as Ri h’Eireann Uile, his warriors as Fir Eireann (men of Ireland) rather than either Fir Midhe (men of Meath) or Clann Cholmain, and the terms Goidel and Gall-Gaidheal first come into use.

848-1034 - The Cenel nGabhrain rule Alba.

848 - The armies of Brycheiniog and Gwent clash at the Battle of Ffinnant.  Ithel of Gwent is killed in the fighting.

Cináed mac Ailpín of Cenel Gabrain becomes Ri Cruithintuath, largely with the help of his Finn Gall and Gall-Gaidheal allies in the Hebrides; he moves the seminary from Dull in Glen Lyon to Dun Chaillean (from which it is later moved to Cenrighmonad, later St. Andrew’s).

850 – “Eliseg's Pillar” is erected in Llantysilio-yn-Ial by Cyngen ap Cadel of Powys as a memorial to his great grandfather Elisedd ap Gwylog and the power of the Powysian dynasty. 

Bishop Censteg of Dingerein (in Kernow) accepts the authority of Archbishop Ceolnoth of Canterbury.

853 - Mercia and Wessex attack Powys. 

Conquest by Breizh/Bertaeyn of the territory of Naoned/Naunnt (Nantes), which becomes Britannia Nova.

Vikings found Waterford.

854 - Cyngen of Powys dies on a pilgrimage to Rome.  His throne is seized by his nephew, Rhodri Mawr of Gwynedd, and his sons expelled.

855 – Ynys Mons (Anglesey) is ravaged by Dublin Vikings.

856 - Rhodri Mawr of Gwynedd and Powys repels a major Viking invasion of Cymru and kills their king, Gorm.

858 – Death of Cinaed at the palace of Cinnbelachoir (Forteviot).  His oldest daughter, Maelmuire, first marries Aed Finnliath of Cenel nEogain, to whom she bore Niall Glundubh, ancestor of the O’Neills, and second Flann Sinna of Clann Cholmain.  His youngest daughter marries Rhun of Alt Clud.

860 – Kent is completely absorbed into Wessex, losing its separate identity.

866 - Devastation of Fortrenn by the Norse.

867 – Northumbria is conquered by the Great Heathen Army; Deira is ruled directly while Beornicia is given an English earl.

870 – The Great Heathen Army conquers East Anglia.

Bishop Kentec of Cornwall accepts the authority of the Archbishop of Canterbury, thereby bringing that church into line with the decisions of Whitby.

871 – Dinas y Brython, seat of Alt Clut and its king, Artgal, is destroyed by Olaf of the Norse kingdom of Dublin and his Viking warriors.  The capital of Alt Clut is moved to Govan and the kingdom becomes referred to as Ystrad Clud, or Strathclyde.

Alfred the Great becomes king of Wessex, later expanding his realm to include all of that held by the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes and pushing back, though not driving out, the Danish invaders, and begins using the titles “King of the Angles and Saxons” and “King of the Anglo-Saxons”.

872 - Death of Gwrgon of Seisyllwg by drowning. Throne of Seisyllwg taken by his son-in-law, Rhodri Mawr (Raudri Mor) of Gwynedd and Powys. 

Artgal of Ystrad Clud is slain through the connivance of Causantin mac Cinaeda, Ri Cruithintuath, and his Viking allies.  Artgal's son, Rhun, succeeds to the throne.

873 - Death of Imar, according to the Annals of Ulster, “king of the Northmen of all Britain and Ireland” and founder of the Ui Imair dynasty which became the most powerful political entity in the Isles. 

874 - The Great Heathen Army, joined by the Great Summer Army, conquers Mercia.

875 – Haralde Harfagre of Norway annexes Orkney and Shetland to his kingdom because Vikings based there have been raiding not only the Pretanic Isles and Normandy but also Norway.  Turf-Einar, son of Ragnvald Eysteinsson, Jarl of More in Norway, becomes Jarl of Orkney, a territory including Shetland.

876 - Death of Donyarth, the last king of Kernow, drowned during a hunting accident and buried at St. Cleer.

877 - The Vikings invade Cymru once more, and Rhodri Mawr of Gwynedd, Powys and Seisyllwg is forced to flee to Ireland.

878The Annals of the Four Masters, Annals of Ulster, and Chronicum Scotorum mark this as the year in which the relics of St. Colmcille were removed from the abbey of Iona and divided between the abbey of Kells in Ireland and the abbey of Dunkeld in Alba, along with the primacy of the Columban family of churches, though the Coarb of St. Colmcille in Ireland and Scotland remains as abbot of Iona.

Death of Aed, Ri Cruithintuath; succession of Giric (Cyric) MacRath mac Dúngail of the Cineal Loairn, ancestor of Clann Grioghar and of Siol Alpin, as king of Fortrenn.

Death of Rhun of Ystrad Clud; succession of his son, Eochaid, who also rules Circinn by right of descent from his mother, a daughter of Kenneth I MacAlpin.

Rhodri Mawr of Gwynedd, Powys, and Seisyllwg returns to his kingdoms, but is killed fighting the army of Ceolwulf II of Mercia; his kingdoms are divided amongst his three sons, Gwynedd going to Anarawd, Powys to Merfyn and Seisyllwg to Cadell. 

The Vikings winter in Dyfed.

879 – The Danes in the Danelaw form the kingdoms of Jorvik (York), of (Danish) East Anglia, and of the Five Burghs (of Mercia).

880 - Anarawd of Gwynedd initiates a revenge attack on the Mercian armies and defeats them on the River Conwy.

881 - Anarawd of Gwynedd and his brothers begin extensive military campaigns to quell resistance in Powys and Seisyllwg.

885 - Asser, a relative of Nobis, bishop of St. Davids, is summoned to the court of King Alfred of England. He agrees to spend six months of the year in the King's service. Asser helps to enhance the literary status of the English Court and to negotiate the recognition of Alfred as overlord of the southern Welsh kings Hyfaidd of Dyfed, Elisedd of Brycheiniog, and Hywel of Glywysing who are harassed by the armies of Anarawd of Gwynedd and seek his protection.  Anarawd seeks an alliance with the Norse kings of York.

889 - Eochaid and Giric Mac Rath of the Picts and Ystrad Clud are deposed by Viking invaders.  Domnall mac Caustantin becomes Ri Cruithintuath, the last to be so called.

890 - Domnall Ri Cruithintuath expels the Briton aristocracy of Ystrad Clud.  They flee south to North Cymru (Gwenydd).

Ketil Flatnose Bjornsson establishes the Kingdom of the Isles.

894 - Anarawd of Gwynedd's shaky alliance with the Vikings collapses.  His kingdom is ravaged by the Norsemen.  Anarawd is forced to ask for help from Alfred of England and submits to his overlordship. Alfred imposes oppressive terms and forces Anarawd to confirmation in the Catholic Church with Alfred as godfather. 

Bishop Asser of Sherborne writes his Life of King Alfred.

895 - Anarawd of Gwynedd is supplied with English troops to assist in reconquest of Seisyllwg. He is successful and his brother, Cadell, is finally able to take his rightful place on the Seisyllwg throne.

896 - Brycheiniog and Gwent are ravaged by Hastein and his Viking pirate army.

900 - Tewdr of Brycheiniog establishes his court on a crannóg in the middle of Llangorse Lake. 

Death of Domnall, Ri Cruithintuath; succession of Caustantin mac Aeda, the first to use the title King of Alba.

Fortrenn, now also called Moireabh, begins refusing to acknowledge the king of Alba at Scuin, and its rulers are referred to as either Ri Fortrenn or Ri Moireabh in the Irish Annals.

902 - The Norse are expelled from Dublin. They attempt to settle in Seisyllwg, but are driven off by Clydog. They move on and settle in the Wirral.

903 - The Vikings raid Anglesey.

904 - Marriage of Hywel Dda of Seisyllwg to Elen, daughter of Llywarch ap Hyfaidd, of Dyfed.  Death of her father. Llywarch's brother, Rhodri, tries to claim the throne, but is forced to flee.

905 - Rhodri, nominally King of Dyfed, is caught and executed, at Arwystli, probably by his niece's husband, Hywel Dda, who claims the throne of Dyfed.

909 – The church of Cornwall becomes the last in the Isles to accept Continental practice

910 - Death of Cadell of Seisyllwg; his son, Hywel Dda, succeeds him.

911Rollo, descendant of Ragnald of More, becomes Count of Rouen and ancestor of the later Dukes of Normandy, with the northern province of Neustria, contiguous with the old Ducatas Noviodunum, as his territory.

914 - Vikings harry the Welsh coast and move up the Severn, but are driven out by Saxon levies from Hereford and Gloucester.

915 – Defeat of Alba and the Bernician exiles from Lothian by the Vikings of Dublin in the First Battle of Corbridge.

916 - Death of Anarawd of Gwynedd.

English raiders attack the court of Tewdr of Brycheiniog at Llangorse and make off with the queen and 33 of her courtiers. 

Death of Flann Sinna, first King of all Ireland; succession of Niall Glúndub mac Áedo of Cenel nEogain, ancestor of the O’Neills, as Ard Ri.

917 - Brycheiniog is ravaged by the armies of Aethelflaed, Lady of the Mercians, in revenge for the killing of one Abbot Ecgberht.

918 - Idwal Foel of Gwynedd and Hywel Dda of Seisyllwg submit to Edward the Elder of England.

The Vikings raid Anglesey.

The Second Battle of Corbridge, this time between Alba against the Danes and the English, is indecisive.

Vikings found Cork.

920 - Hywel Dda merges Seisyllwg with Dyfed to create the kingdom of Deheubarth.

924 – Berengar I, King of Italy and last successor of the imperial line of Charle le Magne, dies with no successor appointed or crowned.

927 - Hywel Dda of Deheubarth and Owain of Glywysing and Gwent submit to Athelstan of England  at Hereford. 

The border between England and Cymru is set at the River Wye. 

Kernow falls to Athelstan and is given the same status as Wessex, Mercia, Northumbria, and East Anglia as an earldom. 

Athelstan also subdues the Danelaw.

928 - Hywel Dda of Deheubarth, Gwynedd and Powys begins the codification of Welsh law.

931 - Morgan Hen of Glywysing and Gwent submits to Athelstan of England and attends his court with Hywel Dda of Deheubarth and Idwal Foel of Gwynedd.

934 - Tewdr of Brycheiniog attends the court of Athelstan of England and signs English land charters.   

Hywel Dda of Deheubarth, Idwal Foel of Gwynedd, and Morgan Mwynfawr of Morgannwg  are compelled to accompany Athelstan on his campaign against Constantine II of the Alba.

937 - Athelstan of England defeats a combined Northern Army under Olaf of Dublin, Constantine II of Scots, and Owen I of Strathclyde at the Battle of Brunanburh.

Idwal Foel of Gwynedd distances himself from his English overlord. 

The Britons in Cymru begin to use the term “Cymry” to speak of themselves.

950 – Morgan Hen Fawr unites Gwent and Glywssing as Glamorgan.

951 – The Dal gCais displace the Eoganachta as kings of Mumhan.

954 – Eadred becomes first recognized king of all England when the Danish kingdom of Jorvik falls to his armies.

Maolcuim I invades Moireabh to put down a revolt led by its Mormaer.  After killing Cellach, he is himself killed by the Moravians.  This is the first known outbreak of hostilities since central political power shifted to the east.

960 – Alba captures Edinburgh/Dunedin, the former Din Eidyn.

967-1014 - The War of the Irish with the Foreigners, led on the Irish side by Brian Borumha, king of Mumha and later Ard Ri Eireann.

973 – Maccus mac Arailt of the Isles, Kenneth III of Alba, and Malcolm of Strathclyde form a defensive alliance.

Edgar I, the Peaceful, of the English, grants Laudian (Lothian) to Kenneth III of Alba as a fief.

1002 - Brian Bórumha mac Cennétig, king of Mumha, is recognized as Ri hEireann Uile or “Imperator Scottorum”.

1014 – Battle of Clontarf between the forces of Brian the Ard Ri, including Irish warriors of Connacht and Munster, Manx mercenaries, gallowglasses from the Hebrides, and military forces sent by Brian’s son-in-law, Maolchaluim II of Alba, versus the forces of Máel Mórda mac Murchada of Leinster, Sigtrygg Silkbeard of Dublin, Brodir of the Isle of Mann, and Jarl Sigurd Lodvesson of Orkney. 

Brian’s forces are victorious, but he is killed in the fighting and the high kingship falls to Máel Sechnaill mac Domnaill of Midhe, whom he had deposed.  Domnall mac Malcolm and two of Alba’s Mormaers also die at Clontarf; their heads form part of the guard of honor on Brian’s bier on the way to Armagh, where they are buried with him.

DANES, NORMANS, AND ANGEVINS (OH MY!)

1015 - Cnut the Great of Denmark invades England with 200 longships and 10,000 Viking warriors.

1016-1042 – The Danish House of Harthacanute rules in England.

1018 – Máel Coluim mac Cináeda brings Bernicia north of the Tweed, the area later known as Dunbar, under his control.

1020 – The Jarl of Orkney makes the Mormaerdom of Caithness a fiefdom.

c.1025 - Suibne mac Cinaeda becomes the first king of the Gallgaidheal in Galloway.

1031 – Maolcuilm II of Alba, Macbethad mac Findlaech of Moireabh, and Echmercach mac Ragnaill of Mann and the Isles submit to Cnut the Great at the River Tay.

1034-1040 - The Cenel Connaill rule Alba.

1034 – The Cenel Conaill take the throne of Alba when Donnchad mac Crínáin becomes king at Scuin; his father Crinan, abbot of Dun Chaillean, Mormaer of Athfodhla, Abthane of Dull, Kirkmichael, and Madderty, Seneschal of the Isles, and head of the Cenel Conaill in Scotland, is the son-in-law of Maolchaluim II.

1040 – MacBethad mac Findlaich of the Cenel Loairn, king of Moireabh/Fortrenn, becomes king of Alba, when his predecessor dies in battle after having invaded Moireabh.  In contrast to his portrayal by Shakespeare, he is widely  acknowledged as an excellent ruler, and is the first king in Scotland to import Norman knights and petty lords.

1042-1066 - The Cerdicingas rule England for the second time.

1042 – Edward the Confessor, last ruling king of the Cerdicingas, assumes the throne of England.  Edward utilizes numbers of Norman soldiers in his campaigns against the Danes.

1045Crinan of Dun Chaillean is killed in battle against MacBethad.

1048 – Aedh O’Connor, king of Connacth, defeats in battle, the O’Flahertys, kings of Iar Connacht reigning in Magh Seola, and sacks their seat at Inis Loch.  Two years later, Aedh moves his seat from the ancient capital of Cruachan to Tuam in Magh Seola, the great plain of Iar Connacht east of the River Galway.

1050-1250 – 12th Century Renaissance, which among other things spawned the genre of literature known as the Matter of Britain, or the Arthurian cycle.

1054 – Sigurd the Dane, Jarl of Northumbria, leads a large scale invasion of Scotland. 

1057 – MacBethad of Alba is killed in battle against the sons of Donnchad I, and is succeeded by his stepson Lulach, who rules only one year, after which the Cenel Conaill of Alba retake the throne in the person of Maolchaluim III Ceannmor mac Donnchad.

1058-1290 - The Cenel Connaill rule Alba.

1061 – Following their defeat at the Battle of Glen Patrick and the beheading of their chieftain, Ruadri, the O’Flahertys remove their seat west of the River Galway.

1062-1063 – Harold Godwinson, Earl of Wessex, conducts a series of campaigns against Gwynedd.

1064 – Harold of Wessex accompanies William, Duke of Normandy, on his campaign against Conan II, Duke of Breizh/Bertaeyn.

1065 – Harold of Wessex supports rebels in Northumbria against his own brother, Tostig, then Earl of Northumbria, whom he replaces with Morcar of Mercia.

1066-1154 - The House of Normandy rules England.

1066 – Edward the Confessor of England dies, leaving vacant a disputed throne; the Witengamot names Harold as his successor.  Harald III of Norway invades England with Harold’s brother Tostig as his ally, and Harold defeats them at the Battle of Stamford Bridge.  William of Normandy, accompanied by a sizable number of Normans, Flemings, and Bretons, invades England, defeating and killing Harold at the Battle of Hastings.

1068 – After joining a failed rebellion, Edgar the Aetheling, last remaining male member of the Cerdicingas, flees to the court of Maolchaluim III in Scotland.  The next year Maolchaluim marries Edgar's sister, the later St. Margaret, and joins an invasion of England along with Sweyn Estridson of Denmark under Edgar’s leadership to attempt to regain his throne.  The effort is unsuccessful.

1069-1070 – The Harrying of the North.  The forces of William the Conqueror devastate Northumbria by killing 100,000 outright and causing another 100,000 to die of exposure, starvation, and disease by destroying everything in sight.

1099 – Edgar Aetheling and many of his companions serve the Imperium Romanum in the Varangian Guard for a number of years.

1111 – The Synod of Fiadh-mic-Oenghusa aims to reduce the number of sees and begins to plan the organization of regular territorial dioceses.  Later in the year, the Synod of Usnagh divides Meath between the bishops of Meath and of Clonmacnoise.

1118 – The Synod of Rath Breasil attempts to establish territorial dioceses with secular clergy as the norm in Ireland, 24 dioceses divided between the metropolitan sees of Armagh and Cashel, both of which claim primacy.  Three  already existing territorial dioceses, Dublin, Wexford, and Waterford, are not part of the synod, already having joined themselves to Canterbury.

1124-1230The MacWilliams-MacHeth Wars in Scotland.  The former descend from William, son of Duncan II, while the latter descend from Alexander mac Crinan, Maolcuim Ceanmor’s elder brother.  Both William and Alexander married into the royal dynasty of Moireabh, and the wars, often fought with the two families as allies, are a continuation of the Fortrenn-Circinn/ Verturiones-Caledonii rivalry that goes back to the 2nd century CE.

1124 – David I mac Maolcoluim usurps the throne of his nephew Maolcoluim mac Alexander I and assumes the throne of Scone, uniting Alba with Strathclyde and Dunbar into the Kingdom of Scots and Brets.  The influx of Norman, Breton, and Flemish nobles increases exponentially.  David promulgates the Laws of the Brets and Scots, which last until 1305.

1126 – Edgar the Atheling, last of the Cerdicingas in the male line, dies in Scotland.

1130-1134 - Maolcoluim mac Alasdair rises against David I in Alba with the support of Oengus mac mheic Lulach, king of Moireabh.  After David's Mercian general, Edward Siwardson, defeats the Moravian forces, William fitz Duncan, son of Donnchad II and son-in-law of Oengus mac mheic Lulach, becomes ruler of Moireabh and progenitor of the MacWilliams.

1135-1154 – The Anarchy.  The Kingdom of England and the Duchy of Normandy are consumed by civil war between Matilda, daughter of Henry I, Empress of the Imperium Romanum Sacrum, and Countess of Anjou, and Stephen of Blois, who usurped the throne of England upon Henry I’s death.  The fighting ends with Stephen accepting Matilda’s son by Geoffrey of Anjou as his heir.

1140 – Somerled mac Gillebride, grandson of Gilledomnan of the Isles who was expelled to Ireland, becomes king of Kintyre by marrying Ragnailt, daughter of Olaf, king of Mann and the Isles.

Turlough O'Connor, king of Connacht, makes himself Ard Ri Eireann.

1152 – The Synod of Kells establishes 32 dioceses in Ireland, including those formerly subject to Canterbury (Dublin and Waterford), distributed among 4 provinces headed by Dublin, Cashel, Tuam, and Armagh, which is given the primacy of all Ireland.

1154-1485 - The House of Plantagenet rules England, in three branches, the House of Anjou, the House of Lancaster, and the House of York.

1154-1242 - The Angevin Empire in England, Anjou, Normandy, Ireland, Gascony, Aquitaine (Guyenne), Poitou, Maine, Touraine, Saintonge, Marche, Perigord, Limousin, Nantes, and Quercy.  Clients include Wales, Britanny, Cornwall, and Toulouse.

1154 – With the succession of Henry of Anjou as to the throne England as Henry II of England, the rule of the House of Plantagenet in England begins.
1155 – Pope Adrian IV, the first and only English Bishop of Rome, issues a Papal Bull granting Henry II of England lordship over Ireland.

Turlough O’Connor, High King of Ireland, king of Connacht, and king of Teora Connacht, assembles the most massive fleet in the history of Ireland to invade the kingdom of Ailech and bring it to heel.  The northerners defend themselves with a fleet hired from Godred Olafsson, of Mann and the Isles, Fergus of Galloway, and Somerled of Kintyre, led by Mac Skellig.  After plundering most of Tir Connaill then Inishowen, O’Connor’s fleet  meets  the Hebrideans off  the peninsula and begins a naval battle that lasts two days.  They defeat the mercenaries, but have so many causalites, including their commander, Rory Mor O’Dowd,  they have to return south.

1156 – After the major but indecisive Battle of the Epiphany against Godred, Somerled mac Gillebride, king of Kintyre, becomes king of the South Isles when Godred agrees to cede the islands south of Ardnamurchan: Islay, Jura, Mull, Tiree, Coll, Iona, Arran, and Bute.

Muirchertach Mac Lochlainn of Aileach becomes Ard Ri Eireann upon the death of his old nemesis, Turlough O’Connor.

1158 – Somerled drives Godred from his seat on the Isle of Mann to become king of Mann and all the Isles as well as lord of Kintyre.

1164 – Death of Somerled in Renfrew at the hands of the House of Stewart after he comes ashore under a flag of truce.  Godred regains his pre-1158 territories.

1166 – Muirchertach Mac Lochlainn dies, and Ruaidhri O Conchobhair, king of Connacht, becomes Ard Ri Eireann.  Ruaidhri and his allies, Tiernan O’Rourke of Breifne and the Vikings of Dublin, depose Muirchertach’s former ally Diarmud MacMurrough of Leinster, who seeks assistance among the Cambro-Normans in Cymru.

1169 – Armies of Cambro-Normans under Richard de Clare, 2nd Earl of Pembroke, also known as Strongbow, invade Ireland, taking Waterford, Wexford, and Dublin at the invitation of Diarmud, former king of Leinster, to help him regain his throne.  MacMurrough is reinstated as king of Leinster and Strongbow marries his daughter Aoife of Leinster.

1171 – Diarmuid dies and Strongbow becomes king of Leinster.

1172 - Henry II, worried about Strongbow’s growing power, invades Ireland in force and secures submission of all the Hiberno-Norman lords and many of the Gaelic ones as well.  Henry proclaims himself Lord of Ireland. 

The Synod of Cashel declares the Roman Church to be the only religion allowed in Ireland and that tithes, now compulsory, be sent to Rome, resulting in Ireland’s adoption of the feudal system in order to pay them.

1173-1174 – Revolt of Eleanor of Aquitaine against her husband Henry II of England, along with three of their sons and their supporters, including the kingdom of Breizh/Bertaeyn.  It ends with the rebels’ defeat and ultimate reconciliation with Henry.

1185 – John, younger brother of Richard the Lionheart, King of England, is made ruler of Ireland but stays only eight months, leaving under threat of a revolt.

1198 – Death of Ruaidri mac Tairrdelbach Ua Conchobair of Connacht, last of the old High Kings of Ireland.

1200-1240 – Reign of Llywelyn the Great over Gwynedd and Wales.

1202-1214 - Anglo-French War, between France and England, Normandy, and the Imperium Romanum Sacrum.  During the war, England loses Normandy to France and the Imperium Romanum Sacrum gives up its quest to reunite the Carolingian Empire by annexing the former Francia Occidentalis.

1213 - John I Plantagenet, king of England, submits to the universal rule of the See of Rome.

1214 - A joint invasion by Domnall Ban mac Domnaill of the MacWilliams, Cinaed of the MacHeths, and an Irish prince is defeated by Ferchar mac in t-Sagairt, Abbot of Applecross, who becomes Mormaer of the new territory of Ross.

The Battle of Bouvines ends the Anglo-French War.

1215 – With the support of Prince Louis of France and Alexander II, king of Scots, the twenty-five Barons of Runnymede seize London and force John I, king of England, to sign the Magna Carta; however, he breaks his word almost as soon as hostilities cease.

1215-1217 - First Barons' War.  The barons invite Prince Louis, son and heir of Philip Augustus of France to intervene and take over the throne, which he does, not only sending troops but coming himself.  Although Louis comes to control nearly all the country, save for two castles, the reason for the nobles support of him dies along with John in late 1216, and the war ends early the next year with the Treaty of Lambeth.

1223 - Fearchar mac an t-Sagairt, abbot of Applecross, delivers a final defeat to the MacHeths, sending them north, where they become the Mackays of Strathnaver.

1228 – First mention of Robin Hood of Barnsdale in Yorkshire.

1230 – After the defeat of Gillescop, last of the MacWilliam claimants, Alexander II of the King of Scots, orders that his surviving three-year old daughter be brought to the town of Forfar.  Following the king’s explicit instructions, William Comyn, Earl of Buchan and Justiciar of Scotland, takes the toddler into the town square in full view of the people, and read the king’s command for the little girl’s fate.   Finished, Comyn grabs the innocent girl’s ankles, and dashes her head against the town pillar, destroying the poor young girl in a smear of brains and blood and crushed bone, as per the royal instructions.






I have ended the timeline here because with the destruction of Moray, the former Fortrenn, the last vestige of imperial Rome’s imprint upon the Pretanic Isles—save, of course, for the towns and cities of England—disappeared.  The kingdoms of Alba, originally Coille Daon (Caledonii), and Moray, the earlier Fortrenn (Verturiones), arose from defensive confederacies formed in the face of Roman invasions north of  the Firths.  They continued well into the High Middle Ages as rival centers of power, and with the final conquest of the latter by the former, the last political dynamic resulting from Rome’s occupation vanished.

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