Four Medieval Maps of England, you may have never seen before.

Scottish domination of the North 1140s

The Map above is of Scotland and Northern England in the 1140s. During the succession crisis after the death of Henry I, known as the Anarchy, King David I of Scotland invaded northern England several times, taking many key fortresses and holding them. These expansions were agreed to by King Stephen of England at two Treaties of Durham in the 1130s, as Stephen had to focus on the war against Matilda in the South.

Of course, these were English lands, so whoever ruled them owed homage to the English King. Hence, to avoid doing homage, David named his son Prince Henry as Lord of these lands as the Earl of Northumbria, Henry did homage to King Stephen.

However, in 1141, King Stephen was captured by Matilda, and Henry withdrew his homage. Hence for a brief period, large parts of Northern England were ruled by a Scottish Prince independent of any English authority. Henry II gained control of the north in 1157.

Tripartite Indenture 1405

This was an agreement between Henry Percy, Edmund Mortimer and Prince Owain Glyndŵr of Wales, as they plotted a combined rebellion against Henry IV. The trio also had the support of the French.

The agreement failed: Percy was defeated and killed in 1408 by royal forces. Mortimer died in 1409 while under siege from Prince Henry. Owain lived longer but faced defeats from further English invasions, while the loss of his allies left him isolated, while Prince Henry issued royal pardons for all of Owain’s supporters. Owain continued his rebellion and raids but to little effect, dying in 1415.

The Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy

The seven separate Kingdoms of the Anglo-Saxons. The map generalises the polities in ‘England’ from the 6th century to the 9th century. Often the smaller kingdoms of the South-East were conquered or were vassals of larger kingdoms. The ultimate change came with the Viking invasion of 865, which divided the country between the Danish and the English, which helped centralise English power under one king.

Oswiu’s Domination of Britain 650s

Oswiu was a great King of Northumbria in the 7th century and is listed as one of the seven original Bretwaldas who held Imperium by Bede. After defeating the last Anglo-Saxon Pagan King, Penda. The gates of the south opened up to him, allowing him to take Northern Mercia and gain overlordship over or appoint his choice of kings to most of the southern kingdoms as well as Pictland. Unfortunately, this map only lasted from 655–658, but no one king’s authority would spread this widely again for almost another 300 years.