Lecture Four: Anglo- saxons
The end of Roman Britain
The Roman legions began to withdraw from Britain at the end of the fourth century to protect other areas of the empire from invading forces. Then, in AD 410, a letter from the Emperor Honorius told the towns of Britain to organize their own defences from that time on.Germanic people in Britain
During the Roman period, Germanic auxiliary troops had formed part of the army and their presence in Roman Britain would have facilitated any migration of peoples from the Germanic areas of mainland Europe. Graves and settlements suggest that the British population was not killed or displaced, but instead came to adopt Anglo-Saxon culture. The extent of Anglo-Saxon migration seems to have differed considerably across England. Gradually, the different Germanic peoples formed unified cultural and political groups and a number of Anglo-Saxon kingdoms developed, finally unifying into the kingdom of England in the 10th century.
Anglo-Saxon religion : Early Anglo-Saxon religion was a pagan belief system based on Germanic mythology. Remnants of these gods remain in the English names for the days of the week: Tuesday - Tiw (god of war), Wednesday - Woden (god of the dead), Thursday – Thor (god of thunder) and Friday - Fréo (goddess of love). In AD 597, St. Augustine was sent to England by Pope Gregory (the head of the Roman Christian church) to convert the Saxons to Christianity. Augustine landed in Kent and converted King Aethelbert of Kent and his court to Christianity and founded a monastery at Canterbury. Christianity gradually spread across England replacing the Anglo-Saxon pagan religion.
Anglo-Saxon language :Old English was the language spoken until the Norman Conquest of AD 1066 when,influenced by the Anglo-Norman language spoken by the ruling class, it gradually changed into Middle English. Before literacy in Old English or Latin became widespread, Runes were used for inscriptions. Anglo-Saxon literature included epic poetry, sermons, Bible translations, legal works, chronicles and riddles. Famous works include the poem Beowulf and The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle – a collection of writing important for early English history.
The Vikings :The term Viking covers the pagan peoples of Scandinavia who spoke Old Norse, a Germanic language spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and their overseas settlements until about AD 1300. The Vikings were mainly farmers, fishers, hunters and skilled craft workers. Many Vikings traded with Europe, Russia and Asia, exchanging furs, walrus ivory, amber and slaves for silver, gold and luxury goods including wine, fine textiles, pottery and glassware. In AD 793 Vikings raid the monastery on Lindisfarne. This marked the beginning of a period of raids on the British Isles. Later, restricted by a lack of natural resources and land, some Vikings migrated overseas to Britain in search of better land to farm.
Vikings in Britain : During the ninth century, Danish Vikings settled in eastern England. From AD 870 they moved west and invaded Wessex in AD 878. King Alfred of Wessex defeated them in battle and established a frontier dividing England in two. The north and east came under Danish control (Danelaw) while Alfred controlled West Mercia, Kent and Wessex.
The end of Anglo-Saxon England :When King Edward died in January 1066, he was succeeded by the last Anglo-Saxon king, Harold II. William, Duke of Normandy, (a distant cousin of Harold) said that Edward had promised him the throne and crossed the Channel with an army to claim it. William’s army defeated Harold at the Battle of Senlac (near Hastings) on 14 October 1066 and was rowned king in Westminster Abbey on Christmas Day. To help rule his new kingdom he built over 80 stone castles, redistributed land among his Norman supporters and in AD 1085 ordered a survey of land ownership which was recorded in the Domesday Book