Daily quote by Anglo-Saxons

• Contrast the position in 1066. England was by then a nation-state. It is highly improbable that any European rulers enjoyed closely organised authority over so wide an area as did its kings. The dominions of the German King Henry IV were far more extensive, but the extent of his authority varied from area to area; his government was by no means uniformly integrated; and he did not rule a state in the sense that Edward the Confessor did. There is no question of there having been anything comparable to the English state in France, Spain or Italy. In four centuries a position had been completely reversed. The area of the former Western Roman Empire where authority had disintegrated furthest had become the largest area of integrated power.
  • James Campbell, 'The United Kingdom of England: The Anglo-Saxon Achievement', in Alexander Grant and Keith J. Stringer (eds.), The Making of British History (1995), p. 31