Anglo-Saxon settlements

thumb|350px|A map of burhs named in the 10th-century Burghal Hidage. A burh () or burg was an Anglo-Saxon fortification or fortified settlement. In the 9th century, raids and invasions by Vikings prompted Alfred the Great to develop a network of burhs and roads to use against such attackers. Some were new constructions; others were situated at the site of Iron Age hillforts or Roman forts and employed materials from the original fortifications. As at Lundenburh (medieval London), many were also situated on rivers: this facilitated internal lines of supply while aiming to restrict access to the

Five main towns of the Danelaw

The Gewisse ( ; ) were a tribe or ruling clan of the Anglo-Saxons. Their first location, mentioned in early medieval sources, was the upper Thames region, around Dorchester on Thames. However, some scholars suggest that the Gewisse had origins among the ancient Britons at Cair-Caratauc (Old Sarum) in Wiltshire. According to Saxon folklore, the Gewisse were the founders of the kingdom of Wessex.

London after the Roman Empire withdrew in the 400s until the Norman Conquest of 1066