In the 6th century Somerset was the debatable borderland be tween the Welsh and Saxons, the latter of whom pushed their way slowly westward. Their frontier was gradually advanced from the Axe to the Parrett, and from the Parrett to the Tamar. By 658 Somerset had been conquered by the West Saxons as far as the Parrett, and there followed a struggle between the kingdoms of Wessex and Mercia, which led to the organization of the lands east of the Parrett as part of the kingdom of Wessex. About this time the monastery of Glastonbury was restored by Ine. The next 150 years were the period of Danish invasions. In the 7th century Somerset, as part of the kingdom of Wessex was included in the diocese of Winchester. The new bishopric of Sherborne, founded in 704, contained Somerset until 910 when the see was divided into the dioceses of Salisbury, Exeter and Wells, the latter including the whole county of Somerset. The diocese was divided into three archdeaconries. King Alfred's victory in 878, followed by the Peace of Wedmore, ended the incursions of the Danes for a time, but ma years later they were again a great danger, and made frequent raids on the west coast of Somerset. At some time before the Conquest, England was divided into shires, one of which was Somerset.
At the Conquest Somerset was divided into about 700 fiefs, held almost entirely by the Normans. The king's lands in Somer set were of great extent and importance; the bishop of Winchester owned a vast property of which Taunton was the centre.
The chief families of the county in the middle ages were those of De Mohun, Malet, Revel, De Courcy, Montacute, Beauchamp and Beaufort, which bore the titles of earls or dukes of Somerset from 1396 to 1472. Edward Seymour was made duke of Somerset in and in 166o the title was restored to the Seymour family, by whom it is still held. The marquess of Bath is the representa tive of the Thynne family, which has long been settled in the county. About this time or a little later many Norman castles were built, some of which have survived.
Somerset was too distant and isolated to take much share in the early baronial rebellions or the Wars of the Roses, and was really without political history until the end of the middle ages. The attempt of Perkin Warbeck in 1497 received some support in the county, and in 1547 and 1549 there were rebellions against enclosures. Disputes between the chapters of Bath and Wells as to the election of the bishop led to a compromise in 1245, the election being by the chapters jointly, and the see being known as the bishopric of Bath and Wells. In ecclesiastical architecture the two great churches of Wells and Glastonbury supply a great study of the development of the Early English style out of the Norman. But the individual architectural interest of the county
lies in its great parish churches, chiefly in the Perpendicular style, which are especially noted for their magnificent towers. The churches at Bath, Taunton, Glastonbury, Bridgwater, Cheddar, Crewkerne, Dunster, Ilminster, Kingsbury, Leigh-on-Mendip, Martock and Yeovil may be specially indicated.
Somerset took a considerable part in the Civil War, and with the exception of Taunton, was royalist, the strongholds being garrisoned and held for the king, but they all fell in 1645, and the county was subdued by the parliamentary forces. Somerset was the theatre of Monmouth's rebellion, and he was proclaimed king at Taunton in 1685. The battle of Sedgmoor on July 4 was fol lowed in the autumn by the Bloody Assize held by Judge Jeffreys.
The county was represented in the parliament of 129o, and in 1295 it was represented by two knights, and twelve boroughs returned two burgesses each. The county continued to return two members until 1832, when it was divided into Somerset East and Somerset West, each of which divisions returned two members.
Two additional members were returned after 1867 for a third— the Mid-Somerset—division of the county, until by the act of 1885 the whole county was divided into seven divisions.
Somerset has always been an agricultural county. Grain was grown and exported from the 11th to the end of the i8th century. Cider-making has been carried on for centuries. Among other early industries, salmon and herring fisheries on the west coast were very profitable. Stone quarrying at Hamdon Hill and Bath began very early in the history of the county; and the lead mines at Wellington and the slate quarries at Wiveliscombe and Tre borough have been worked for more than a century. Coal has been mined at Radstock from a very remote date, but it did not become of great importance commercially until the county was opened up by canals and railways in the 19th century. Sheep farming was largely carried on after the period of enclosures, and the woollen trade flourished in Frome, Bath, Bridgwater, Taunton and many other towns from the 14th to the 19th centuries. Glove making was centred at Stoke and Yeovil in the i8th century. Cheese is made in various parts, notably Cheddar Cheese, which is made on the farms lying south of the Mendips. Sheep-farming is practised both in the lowlands and on hill pastures, Leicesters and Southdowns being the favourite breeds.