9th century CE timeline of British History

9th century 800-899 CE

Winston Churchill said of Alfred the Great;

'We discern across the centuries a commanding and versatile intelligence wielding with equal force the sword of war and the sword of justice'

The 9th century gave England one of her greatest leaders, King Alfred the Great, who ascended to the throne of the Kingdom of Wessex in 871. He came from a line of powerful rulers whose rule in the Kingdom of Wessex was shadowed by the Viking raiders from the north. It was the century when the Vikings raided Ireland, sacked London and captured York.

The Vikings were not only expanding their territories, they continued to expand their art and culture and this became a unifying aspect of this period.

Islamic science and mathematical and literary advancements were immense. Without it, many great works would have been lost to the world including Ptolemy's work on cosmology.

The 9th century was a century of literature

The Islamic House of Wisdom with it's 400,000 books, the development of the Cyrillic script, translating the Bible into Slavic (later Cyrillic) and the oldest surviving printed book from China, the Diamond Sutra.

The Diamond Sutra

In Britain the Anglo Saxon Chronicle was begun that today still gives us the best and sometimes only insight into the history of this dark period of British history. King Alfred encouraged scholars to read and translate great works. In his reign the scriptorium at Winchester is thought to have been established.

Viking Chess Pieces

Search the global timeline for events from the C9th. Type 9th into the search bar to find out some intriguing events from the century.

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Year	EVENT TITLE	NARRATIVE	PERIODS	CENTURY
10	Catuvellauni tribe tribe arrive in Southern England	The Celtic tribe of the Catuvellauni emerged in the late first century BC to become one of the most powerful tribes in southern Britain. Their leader or king, was Cunobelinius. The main territory of the Catuvellauni lay on the northern bank of the Thames. The tribe's early capital was at Wheathampstead. Under Cassivellaunus they expanded outwards to dominate Cambridgeshire, Northamptonshire, Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire east of the Cherwell, Middlesex and north-east Surrey.	roman	1st
43	Romans invade from Gallia to Cantiaci East coast to English Midlands and Home Counties and South West England	They were one of the most prominent Celtic tribes of their time, and also one of the richest.	Roman	1st
47	Romans occupy Wales	Romans expand and occupy Wales	Roman	1st
60	Iceni Pagan Revolt - Boudica burns Roman Temple in Essex	Iceni attack Londinium (London) (Verulamium (St Albans) and Camulodunum (Colchester) is burnt some 80k killed by Iceni.Eventually revenged as revolt is surpressed	Roman	1st
70	Romans absorbed Atrebates tribe Hampshire	Hampshire absorbed by Romans as Atrebates between Roman named Noviomagus on East, Hengistbury on west and Calleva on Northern boundary	Roman	1st
79	Roman legions occupy and control Scotland	The Romans march north to conquer Scotland but they are met with fierce opposition and their presence here would be short lived as they were forced to pull southwards.	Roman	1st
79	Vesuvius eruption	Marker of state of Roman Empire	roman	1st
122	Hadrians Wall built	The wall was named following visit of Emperor Hadrian.	Roman	2nd
139	British Roman frontier moves north to Antoinine Wall	The Antoinine wal runs from the Firth of Forth to the Clyde	Roman	2nd
166	First Christian Church in Britain	First evidence of Christianity in Roman Britain occurs around this time.	roman	2nd

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Intriguing History

9th century 800-899 CE

Winston Churchill said of Alfred the Great;

The Vikings were not only expanding their territories, they continued to expand their art and culture and this became a unifying aspect of this period.

Islamic science and mathematical and literary advancements were immense. Without it, many great works would have been lost to the world including Ptolemy's work on cosmology.

The 9th century was a century of literature

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