The anglo saxons context 2009 - 2010

The four Germanic tribes which make upthe Anglo-Saxons were:

Angles Saxons Jutes Frisians

The Anglo-Saxons were fierce, pagan warriors who invaded Britain and took over Celtic Land

Between 800 and 600 B.C., two groups of Celts invaded the British isles.

One group called Brythons settled on the larges island, Britain.

Te other, Gaels, settled on the second largest island, Ireland.

At the start of the fifth century, England was under Roman rule. In 410, the Romans began leaving England for Rome to defend it. This left an opportunity for new groups of people to invade the land. Beginning in 449, a wave of people came to the British Isles seeking new lands. The three main groups were the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes.

The Angles came from southern Denmark, and settled in the eastern half of England.

The Saxons came from northern Germany and settled in the southern part of England. This part of England is now the counties of Essex, Sussex, and Wessex.

The Jutes probably came from northern Denmark and northern Germany, near the mouth of the Rhine River. They settled in an area just south of London, in what is now called Kent. Many natives of these lands, the Celtic Britons, were forced to move west and north. Eventually many of them settled in Wales.

In 55. B.C. Julius Caesar made Hasty invasions in Britain

Nearly 100 years later, Roman invasions and rule spread over the isle and lasted more than 300 years.

The Romans legions departed in A.D. 407 The Norse of Norway and the Dane of

Denmark were pressured by their own rising populations and too to the seas.

The Viking invaders sacked and plundered monasteries, destroyed manuscripts, and stole religious objects.

“Old English” is the term we use to describe the language spoken by the Anglo-Saxon people. English is a Germanic language, so Old English sounds more “German” than “English” to our ears.

The Anglo-Saxon admired the men of courage, wherever tribe came from.

Loyalty to the leader and the tribe and fierce personal valor were considered necessary for the survival of all.

Ancestral Tribes of Clans

Chieftain

Thane Thane Thane

Peasant Peasant PeasantPeasantPeasant

Serfs SerfsSerfs Serfs

Thane

A reconstructed Anglo-Saxon home located in West Stow in Sussex, England

Mead Hall

• center of life

• sleeping quarters

• dining area

• meeting place

• Located in Woodbridge, Suffolk, England

• Discovered in 1939

• Burial ship of an Anglo-Saxon king

• Burial site contained 41 items of solid gold and 37 gold coins

Earth Embankment No fancy stonework No garrisoned posts 12 foot wide ditch

on Welsh side Height ranges from

10 to 60 feet

Location: St. Peter Advincula Church, Glebe Street, Stoke

Re-erected on its modern base in 1935, the fragment of 10th Century Anglo-Saxon stone cross shaft had been used as a door lintel in the church until its discovery by a gravedigger in 1876.

The square sectioned top of the cylindrical shaft has a different decorative motif on each face. However part of the side key pattern has been cut away, probably to allow its use as the church's door lintel.

7th century helmetReconstructed from

hundreds of corroded iron fragments

Anglo-Saxon pendant probably made in the 7th century AD

found in garden soil at Sacriston, County Durham.

made of solid gold with a goldwire or filigree decoration.

However, when Christianity was introduced to the Anglo-Saxons by the Romans, it softened them over time. By the fourth century, the Romans accepted and introduced Christianity to Britain. Even after the fall of Rome in 476, the Celtic Christian Church continued to thrive.

The Anglo-Saxons were polytheistic and believed that their fate was controlled by the gods.

The gradual emergence of Christianity among the Anglo-Saxons was also due to the work of Irish and Continental missionaries. The most important was probably St. Augustine.

Converted King Ethelbert of Kent A.D. 597.

Founded Canterbury.

Became the first archbishop of Canterbury.

Anglo- Saxon poetry was an oral art. Poems were sung. The professional poet, or scop, had very

important function in this society. He was the memory and historian of the tribe.

The two most important traditions of Anglo-Saxon poetry were the heroic tradition and the elegiac tradition, which mourns the passing of earlier, better times.

The most important single poem is Beowulf.

The riddle was an intellectual exercise. Alfred the Great, promoted use of

written English and was the responsible fort he initiation of the Anglo-Saxon chronicle, the first historical record to be kept in English.

The Anglo-Saxon

Chronicles is an

important historical

document of the

Anglo-Saxon

people.

King Alfred of Wessex (also known as King Alfred the Great) ordered the Chronicles written in 890 A.D

Scribes completed their work on the document in the 12th Century.

King Alfred earned this title because he was the only ruler in England’s history to resist Danish encroachment. Under a truce in 886, England was formally divided: The Saxons ruled the south and the Danes ruled in the east and north.

Alfred was successful on the battlefield, and he encouraged a rebirth of learning and education

After Edward died in 1066, the Saxon council of elders chose Harold II to be king. William of Normandy, however, claimed that Edward had promised him the throne. He crossed the English Channel to asset his claim by force. At the Battle of Hasting, Harold was killed, and William emerged victorious. Thus, ended the reign of the Anglo-Saxons.