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Kingdoms in what is now England during early Anglo-Saxon times

What is now England was settled by the Anglo-Saxon peoples from the 400s. 

The settlers, Anglians, Saxons and Jutes came over from northern Europe (what is now the Netherlands, Northern Germany and Denmark) and settled the east of the country, forming several kingdoms. 

The focus of this post is the Anglian kingdoms in the north of the country.

Along the north east side of the country, there were two Anglian kingdoms - Bernicia (what is now the North West) and Deira (what is now Yorkshire). These united to become Northumbria in about 604. 

To the west, until the mid-600s, the land was controlled by Britons - this was known as the Old North (Hen Ogledd). 

In what is now Cumbria was a kingdom called Rheged, which may have stretched as far south as what later became Lancashire and Cheshire. Rheged was united with Northumbria possibly as a result of the royal marriage between Oswiu of Northumbria and the Rhegedian princess Rieinmelth as early as 638.

The Brittonic kingdom of Elmet was situated in what became west Yorkshire. 

These two Brittonic kingdoms were absorbed into the kingdom of Northumbria, which stretched down from southern Scotland to the Humber estuary (as reflected by the name "North-(H)umbria") in the east and the Mersey in the south. 

The Welsh-Brittonic kingdom of Powys extended in the western Midlands, including the entirety of Shropshire and parts of Worcestershire and Herefordshire.  

Former Roman towns such as Worcester, Cirencester, Gloucester and Bath remained under Brittonic control until 577, when they became part of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Hwicce, later subsumed by Mercia (see below).

The Anglian kingdom of Mercia was founded in 527 and originally centred in Tamworth (in what is now Staffordshire). Over the next 300+ years, Mercia expanded significantly dominating the centre of what is now England from the Humber estuary in a southward direction, and pushing the border with Wales westwards. The kingdom embraced Christianity under king Peada in 653. Chad of Lindisfarne became the fifth bishop of Mercia, establishing the episcopal see at Lichfield. 

The border between Northumbria and Mercia ran approximately from the Humber estuary in the east to the Mersey in the west, although it varied over time. Places such as Bury and Manchester were in the border region. The Battle of Maserfield saw the victory of Northumbria over Mercia and may have led to places such as Manchester coming under Northumbrian control. Later, King Penda of Mercia (d. 655) challenged Northumbrian dominance and under his rule Manchester could well have come under Mercian control.  

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