The History of England

Before the arrival of the Danish the Anglo-Saxons existed as a number of separate kingdoms. Now they all had a common enemy but all the kingdoms apart from Wessex had capitulated to the Danes. The House of Wessex saw their monarchs take control of Anglo-Saxon politics and therefore the United Kingdom of England was realised. Kings declared themselves as kings of the English people until King Edgar united the state into a recognisable nation-state called England in the middle of the 10th century. A bizarre set of circumstances resulted in a descendant of the Vikings actually becoming the King of England.