617. =Bernicia and Deira formed into one kingdom under Edwin, and called Northumbria.= 627. Edwin of Northumbria adopted the Christian faith. 633. Battle of HEATHFIELD, between Edwin and Penda, king of Mercia: Edwin defeated and slain. 655. Battle of WINWIDFIELD, between Oswy, king of Northumbria, and Penda: Penda defeated and slain. 709. About this time _Ina, king of Wessex, promulgated an important code of laws_. 787. THE DANES, OR NORTHMEN, BEGAN THEIR RAVAGES IN ENGLAND. 800. =Egbert became king of Wessex.= 823. Battle of WILTON: Kent and Essex annexed to Wessex. 827. Egbert conquered Mercia. =Supremacy of Wessex established.= Some writers incorrectly state that Egbert was the first king of England. 835. Egbert defeated the Cornish Britons and Danes at HENGSTON HILL. 836. Death of Egbert. Accession of his son Ethelwulf. 851. Ethelwulf defeated the Danes at OCKLEY, in Surrey. 856. Death of Ethelwulf. Accession of his son Ethelbald. 860. Death of Ethelbald. Accession of his brother Ethelbert. 866. Death of Ethelbert. Accession of his brother Ethelred. 870. Edmund, king of East Anglia, put to death by the Danes, for refusing to renounce Christianity. 871. Battles fought with the Danes at READING, ASHDOWN, BASING, and MERTON; death of Ethelred. =ACCESSION OF HIS BROTHER ALFRED.= The Danes defeated Alfred at WILTON. 875. Alfred equipped a small fleet: =First English navy=. 878. The Danes took Chippenham. Alfred, unable to cope with the enemy, retired to the Isle of Athelney, in Somersetshire. He suddenly re-appeared, and defeated them at Ethandune. ~Treaty of Wedmore~, between Alfred and Gothrun, the Danish leader. Alfred ceded to him East Anglia and portions of Essex and Mercia. 893. Hastings, a Danish leader, invaded England. 894. Alfred defeated the Danes at FARNHAM, in Surrey. 897. Hastings, unable to establish himself in England, retired to France. 901. Death of Alfred. Accession of his son Edward the Elder. 920. Death of Edward's sister, Ethelfleda, who for several years had governed Mercia. 924. Death of Edward. Accession of his son Athelstan. 926. =Athelstan annexed Northumbria=, on the death of Sihtric, who, the year before, had married his sister. 937. Anlaf, son of Sihtric, and Constantine, king of the Scots, invaded England. They were defeated, with immense loss, by Athelstan, at BRUNANBURH. "To Athelstan belongs the glory of having established what has ever since been called the kingdom of England." 941. Death of Athelstan. Accession of his brother Edmund. The Northumbrians chose Anlaf as their king. 944. Anlaf died, and Northumbria was re-annexed. 946. Death of Edmund. Accession of his brother Edred. 948. The Northumbrians chose Eric, a Dane, for their king. 954. The Northumbrians submitted to Edred; and _their territory became an earldom_. 955. Death of Edred. Accession of his nephew Edwin, son of Edmund. 956. Dunstan, abbot of Glastonbury, banished.