The king of Northumbria summons a synod at Whitby to hear the arguments of Roman and Celtic Christians, then opts for Rome

The Lindisfarne Gospels are written and illuminated by Celtic monks on the Scottish island of Lindisfarne

Many Anglo-Saxon kingdoms have by now amalgated, until there are just the seven of the Heptarchy

The Venerable Bede, in his monastery at Jarrow, completes his history of the English church and people

The Anglo-Saxons have a name for the Celts west of Offa's dyke - wealas or Welsh, meaning foreigners

Beowulf, the first great work of Germanic literature, mingles the legends of Scandinavia with the experience in England of Angles and Saxons

Kenneth king of the Scots is accepted also as king of the Picts, providing the traditional founding event of the kingdom of Scotland

Vikings are by now securely established in the Orkneys, Shetlands and Hebrides, and in much of the Scottish mainlaid down to Loch Ness

As a gesture of unity, Kenneth MacAlpin brings to Scone (a Pictish royal site) a sacred coronation stone associated with the Scots

A great army of Danes captures York - the first step in the establishment of Danelaw in eastern England

The young Alfred leads the English in their first significant victory over the Danes, at Ashdown

Alfred captures London from the Danes, pressing them back into the region of Danelaw where their rule is, for the moment, tolerated

The material of the Eddas, taking shape in Iceland, derives from earlier sources in Norway, Britain and Burgundy

New waves of Danes, raiding into the English territory of Danelaw, are bought off by Ethelred with Danegeld

Canute, joint king of Denmark, is accepted also as king of England after subduing the country and marrying Ethelred's widow

In a battle near Elgin Macbeth kills his cousin Duncan, a rival claimant to the Scottish throne

Edward the Confessor, the rightful heir in the Anglo-Saxon royal line, becomes king of England

Duncan's son, Malcolm, kills Macbeth in battle at Lumphanan - and in the following year is himself crowned at Scone

On his death bed in Westminster, Edward the Confessor designates Harold - foremost among England's barons - as his successor

Halley's comet, appearing in the Normans' annus mirabilis, is later depicted in the Bayeux tapestry

Harold defeats at Stamford Bridge the joint army of his brother Tostig and of the Norwegian king, Harald Hardraade

The Normans, as seen in the Bayeux tapestry, invade England in Viking longships with fortified platforms for archers

Harold, hurrying south to confront the Normans after his victory at Stamford Bridge, is defeated and killed at Hastings

William the Conqueror (William I) is crowned on Christmas Day at Westminster - giving the new abbey church two coronations and a royal funeral in its first year

Anselm includes in his Proslogion his famous 'ontological proof' of the existence of God