What is the name for the 7 kingdoms into which England was supposedly divided in the early Middle Ages?
England in the Middle Ages rulers, including those of Wessex, East Anglia, Essex, and Kent, had begun to term themselves kings, living in "villae regales", royal centres, and collecting tribute from the surrounding "regiones"; these kingdoms are often referred to as the Heptarchy. In the 7th century, the kingdom of Mercia rose to prominence under the leadership of King Penda. Mercia invaded neighbouring lands until it loosely controlled around 50 "regiones" covering much of England. Mercia and the remaining kingdoms, led by their warrior elites, continued to compete for territory throughout the 8th century. Massive earthworks, such as the defensive dyke built by Offa of
Scotland in the Early Middle Ages Creator", attributed to St Columba) (c. 597). In Old English there is "The Dream of the Rood", from which lines are found on the Ruthwell Cross, making it the only surviving fragment of Northumbrian Old English from early Medieval Scotland. Scotland in the Early Middle Ages Scotland was divided into a series of kingdoms in the early Middle Ages, i.e. between the end of Roman authority in southern and central Britain from around 400 CE and the rise of the kingdom of Alba in 900 CE. Of these, the four most important to emerge were the Picts, the Scots of