England
Before the Kingdom of England was established as a united entity, there were various kingdoms in the area—of which the main seven were known as the heptarchy. These were Wessex, Mercia, Northumbria (also extended into present-day Scotland), East Anglia, Sussex, Kent, and Essex.
Read more about this topic: Petty Kingdom
Famous quotes containing the word england:
“Upon Saint Crispin’s day
Fought was this noble fray,
Which fame did not delay
To England to carry.
On when shall Englishmen
With such acts fill a pen,
Or England breed again
Such a King Harry?”
—Michael Drayton (1563–1631)
“Our king went forth to Normandy,
With grace and might of chivalry,
The God for him wrought marvellously,
Wherefore England may call and cry
Deo gratias, Deo gratias Anglia
Redde pro victoria.”
—Unknown. The Agincourt Carol (l. 1–6)
“The English were very backward to explore and settle the continent which they had stumbled upon. The French preceded them both in their attempts to colonize the continent of North America ... and in their first permanent settlement ... And the right of possession, naturally enough, was the one which England mainly respected and recognized in the case of Spain, of Portugal, and also of France, from the time of Henry VII.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)