Wesath ge hal!

Well, in order to determine when the nation of England was born, I would say that one would have to look at a few factors first. Namely, the definition of the word "nation," the point at which the Anglo-Saxon peoples began to identify themselves as one people, and the point at which they were unified enough to be regarded as having one, somewhat centralised government. The American Heritage Dictionary defines "nation" as "1a. A relatively large group of people organized under a single, usually independent government; a country. b. The territory occupied by such a group of people: All across the nation, people are voting their representatives out. 2. The government of a sovereign state. 3. A people who share common customs, origins, history, and frequently language; a nationality: “Historically the Ukrainians are an ancient nation which has persisted and survived through terrible calamity” (Robert Conquest). 4a. A federation or tribe, especially one composed of Native Americans. b. The territory occupied by such a federation or tribe." Using the first sense of this defintion of "nation," I would say that England as a nation would have probably been born with the reign of Alfred. At this point the dynasty of Wessex ruled the other, former kingdoms of the Heptarchy, so that we can say there was a large group of peole orgnised under a single, independent government. Indeed, it is around this time (actually shortly before...) that the various Anglo-Saxon peoples of the Heptarchy began to regard themselves as Englisc, our modern word English, and that we have the word Englaland appearing with increasing frequency. It is then at this point that we can speak of the English as a people. And since Alfred ruled all of the Anglo-Saxon peoples, we can speak of the English as a people united under one government. With Alfred, then, we can argue that England was born as a nation.

Of course, if one goes with sense three of this definition of "nation," we could speak of England as a nation much earlier. After all, the Anglo-Saxon peoples had common customs, a common history, and a common, Germanic language. Going with sense three, we could speak of England not that long after the Anglo-Saxon peoples invaded Britain.

As to whether this discussion is appropriate to Angelcynn or Germania, I personally do not see why not. After all, England would not exist if the Angles, the Saxons, the Jutes, and various other Germanic peoples HAD NOT invaded Britain. And while I don't wish to discount the influence of the Welsh on the evolution of England, the point remains that England as we know it speaks a Germanic language and shares forms of government and several customs in common with the Germanic peoples. I think it is then fitting to speak of the birth of England here at Angelcynn in Germania. Where else would we do it? Athens? Machu Pichu? Even Celtia does not have the claim to England that Germania does. After all, I am writing this in English, a Germanic language, and not Welsh or Scots Gaelic....
Theodric