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What became of Britain after Roman influence receded in the early 5th century?

And how did this create the conditions for England and Englishness to emerge?

In this episode of the History Extra podcast, Emeritus Professor Nicholas Hyam

examines the twisting and turning tale of England's origins,

a story of clashing cultures, religion and migration.

Today I'm joined by Professor Nick Hymn, who is the author of numerous books that investigate

the histories of early England, including his new work, how England began. Nick, I thought this was a rather

simple question. I thought that Athelstan followed in the footsteps of his grandfather,

Alfred the Great, and brought the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms together under his authority so that they

could unite and defeat the Vikings. And in doing so, he created the concept of a unified England, and that that was how England began.

Is that wrong?

That's not wrong. It's the kingdom that begins with Athelston.

That's the beginning of the kingdom of England, and that's when you see that as a political entity really emerging

in the 10th century. Right, okay. The English as a nation begins earlier, but what I'm trying

to do is dig beneath that and look at the idea of an English people and the idea of

Englishness and what holds that community together

and how it is differentiated from its neighbours. If you go back only as far as Bede, who is the

founder of English history, if you like, although he is really a theologian.

...