In 978, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dunstan, was being battered in a stormy meeting when he — along with England’s rich monastic heritage — had a miraculous escape.

After the death of King Edgar, powerful court factions struggled for power by hiding behind his two sons, twelve-year-old Edward and his younger step-brother Ethelred.

Following a very grand coronation at Bath in 973, King Edgar travelled to Chester and showed his people that he had become a mighty lord indeed.

Edgar, King of England from 959 to 975, was surnamed ‘The Peaceful’ by a grateful public because of the care he took to defend person and property.

Kenneth II, tenth-century King of Scots, once cracked a joke about Edgar, King of England, being on the short side. He very soon wished he hadn’t.

Out of a restless alliance between two 6th century kingdoms came a civilisation that defined Englishness.