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East Anglia
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Anglo-Saxon England's Realm of...
East Anglia
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 The Abbey ruins, Bury St Edmunds 
Much of the area is characterised by its flatness, partly consisting of fenland, bog and reclaimed marshland, and some gently rolling hills. The land is fertile however, and farming and horticulture have been very successful. The main towns include Norwich, Ipswich, Ely, Peterborough, Huntingdon and Cambridge. Bury St Edmunds is named for East Anglian King Edmund. 
The Norfolk and Suffolk Broads
History: For a brief period East Anglia was the most powerful of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms following a victory over the rival kingdom of Northumbria in the year 616AD, and its king Raedwald was Bretwalda, overlord of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms 616-624AD. However, over the next forty years East Anglia was defeated by the Mercian’s twice. In 794AD, Offa of Mercia had its king Æthelberht killed and took control of the kingdom himself, and the independence of the East Anglians wasn’t restored until a successful rebellion against Mercia in 825–827AD. Two Mercian kings were killed attempting to crush it.
On 20 November 870AD the Danes killed King Edmund and took the kingdom, which they named East Anglia. The Saxons retook the area in 920AD, only to lose it again in 1015–1017, when it was conquered by Canute the Great and given as a fiefdom to Thorkell the Tall, who was made Jarl of East Anglia in 1017.
Ely Cathedral Ipswich: Under the Roman Empire, the area around Ipswich formed an important route inland to rural towns and settlements via the Orwell and Gipping. A large Roman fort, part of the coast defences of Britain, stood at Felixstowe and the largest villa in Suffolk stood at Castle Hill, in north-west Ipswich. In Anglo-Saxon times Ipswich was the main centre between York and London for North Sea trade to Scandinavia and the Rhine. It served the Kingdom of East Anglia, and began developing in the time of King Rædwald. The famous ship-burial and treasure at nearby Sutton Hoo could possibly be his grave. The seventh-century town which was called 'Gippeswick' was centred near the quay. Frisian potters from the Netherlands area settled in Ipswich in approximately 700 AD and set up the first large-scale potteries in England since Roman times. This industry was unique to Ipswich for 200 years and their wares were traded right across England. Ipswich grew prosperous and in about 720 AD a new part of the town was laid out in the Buttermarket area. Parts of the ancient road plan still survive in its modern streets.
Ipswich operated a Mint under royal licence from King Edgar in the 970s, which continued through the Norman era until the time of King John about 1215. It was he who granted the town its first charter in 1200.
The weaving and silk industries prospered for centuries during the Late Middle Ages and Sudbury prospered too. Many great houses and churches were built and The Woolsack in the House of Lords was originally stuffed with wool from the Sudbury area, a sign of both the importance of the wool industry and of the wealth of the donors.
Map of East Anglia Sources: East Anglia - Towns and Villages, East Anglia maps, East Anglia tourism, Wikipedia, images Wikipedia commons. Other Resources - Medieval East Anglia, edited by Christopher Harper-Bill East Anglia information by:
The Articles of East Anglia:
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