[Not loaded yet]
Idk when that happened. 1066 is engraved on my heart.
167 years after the Declaration of Independence, the US was about to enter WW2 on the side of the Allies. Would you say the US was not a country on that date?
Post a rather nasty civil war. That had decided the question and "The United States are" became "The United States is" (someone said). Lets hope that holds.
1066 was the start of replacing the Scandinavian diaspora. There's a decent case that a true England people would recognise today only emerged c12 under Henry II and he used invading Ireland - in part - to define "English" in opposition to the "primitive" Irish (and Welsh).
Feb 5, 2026 00:53If you consult profs of Anglo Saxon literature, they will tell you that the English had a sense of themselves as a nation (they called themselves the Englisc) before even the reign of Alfred the Great. Edward the Elder is just a convenient first king because he managed to get the allegiance of all
Weren’t the Normans part of the Scandinavian diaspora?
There were a lot of Bretons and nobility from the French speaking areas of the low countries in there too. I don't think the idea of them as Scandinavian really holds, especially since, in comparison to Harold, Töstig and Harald Hardrada, they were useless sailors.
