The Anglo-Saxons

In the third part of my British history series I’m looking at the significant legacy of the Anglo-Saxons in Britain, the forefathers of the unified kingdom of England.

If you missed last month’s blog post on the Roman Empire’s reach into Britain then you can read that here.

This series aims to give you a brief snapshot of different periods of British history, from the earliest period of human presence to the present day. We hope it will give you a small insight into the history of the country as well as some ideas for places to visit and things to see during your year in the UK. If you’d like to explore Anglo-Saxon remains in Britain near where you’re studying, take a look at this interactive map.

So far a theme of invasion and foreign settlement has been running through my history series and we’ve looked at the influx of Celts and Romans and their impact on British history.  The Anglo-Saxon period also saw invasion from Germanic settlers along with Norse and Danish Vikings. We will be looking at their legacy on Britain today.

When the Roman armies left Britain at the beginning of the fifth century they left a power vacuum and the remaining inhabitants, Celts and Romanised Britons, had to fend for themselves (these people are often interchangeably referred to as Britons, British or Welsh). Tribes fought between themselves and also had to fend off invasion from the Picts, and so turned to Germanic mercenary warriors to help their cause. One account describes how a particularly powerful British warlord called Vortigern invited two Jutish warriors called Hengist and Horsa in CE 449 to fight for his claims. They eventually turned on Vortigen, killing his court and taking his land and wealth.

Following this, a period of Anglo-Saxon migration occurred in the 5th and 6th centuries, some coming invited as traders and settlers and others as raiders and invaders. It was during this time that the legend of King Arthur was born. The legend is that Arthur was a noble British king who led his armies against the invading hordes of Saxon warriors and at a particular battle called Badon Hill he supposedly killed all 960 of his enemies single-handedly. There is very little evidence that Arthur existed but the legend is still as popular today as it’s ever been and has been recreated in film, theatre, and books.

Over the course of the 6th, 7th and 8th centuries, Britons were forced westward to Wales and Cornwall. Anglo-Saxon society began to take over with several Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of various sizes appearing in what is modern-day England. These kingdoms often fought with each other to gain dominance, take each other’s land, and make other neighbouring kingdoms subservient to them.  Some historians have acknowledged that there were occasions when the king of the most dominant kingdom held some sort of unofficial imperium over the other kings. A title known as Bretwalda was later used to describe this rule.

One such king who is said to have held this authority was Offa, King of the Mercians from CE 757-769.  Offa is famous for building a huge dyke along the border of Wales to keep out marauding Welsh raiders. He was said to have had diplomatic relations with Charlemagne, who regarded Offa as a brother and the true ruler of the Anglo-Saxon people.

The original Anglo-Saxon invaders of the 4th and 5th centuries were pagans with their own gods and beliefs (another reason for the Christianised British to come into conflict with the invaders) but by the 7th century the settled kingdoms increasingly converted to Christianity.  Christianity played a pivotal role in latter Anglo-Saxon culture and continental politics. Many churches, cathedrals, and abbeys were built, though few – such as Brixworth Church – remain intact today.  However, burial sites (such as the famous Sutton Hoo site) are argued to show that, for the Anglo-Saxons, Christianity was interwoven with elements of their Germanic pagan roots.

Important abbeys were built in isolated locations such as Iona and Lindisfarne. Many of the early monks from the era were regarded as saints, such as Saint Cuthbert and Saint Bede. These two saints are both interred in Durham Cathedral where you can visit their tombs. Bede is famous for his scriptures and particularly for his work Ecclesiastical History of the English People. In this book, Bede first introduces the concept of England as a nation based on a shared heritage, culture, and language. The name ‘England’ is a derivative of old English, meaning Land of the Angles.

From the late 8th Century the British Isles were subject to a number of raids by Vikings who initially came to rob, pillage, and raid Britain. They looted monasteries, towns, and farms, before sailing home with their treasure.  By 865 Viking invaders started coming to Britain and instead of returning with their bounty stayed in England.  Over the next few years, Danish Vikings invaded various parts of north and east England, settling at various towns. The most notable of these was York, where the excellent Jorvik Centre offers a great insight into what life was liking in Viking York.

The Vikings consolidated their territory in the north and east of England and looked to expand their hegemony over the whole of Britain (south of modern-day Scotland). This was a significant development in the history of Britain, and England specifically. King Alfred of the Kingdom of Wessex (later known as Alfred the Great) led the resistance to the Viking invasion. In doing so he was able to unite under his kingship the other Anglo-Saxon kingdoms that were not subject to Danish law. He thus established a united English kingdom (although it was probably called the kingdom of the Anglo-Saxons or something similar). The English nation was developing and English was the common language, promoted by Alfred’s education reforms.

King Alfred defeated the Danes in the battle of Edington in CE 878 and a pact was then drawn up between him and Guthrum, the leader of the Danish invaders. Guthrum converted to Christianity and England was split between the Danes in the north (the Danelaw) and the Anglo-Saxons in the south.

In the following decades the Anglo-Saxon kingdom reclaimed much of the Danelaw and under Alfred’s grandson, Athelstan, the English kingdom looked very similar to the England of today.  Athelstan was a very powerful leader and defeated a coalition of the Scottish, Irish and Cumbrian kings at the battle of Brunanburh in 937. He is considered by some historians to be the first king of all England.

The English kingdom survived under one crown being ruled by kings with lineage from Alfred the Great and the Kingdom of Wessex up until 1066 (with the exception of two periods when the country was ruled by Danish Kings). In that year England was once more subject to a foreign invasion from the Normans led by William the Conqueror at the Battle of Hastings.

Though 1066 brought an end to Anglo-Saxon rule in England, their legacy on the country today is significant. The question of when ‘England’ was created is open to debate, but there is no question that the Anglo-Saxons are the forefathers of the unified kingdom of England. They gave us the beginnings of our language, culture, and geography.  Anglo-Saxon history may not seem so popular today but the legends of Alfred the Great, Athelstan, King Arthur, and Beowulf all find a place in modern film, media, and memory.

Images
Sutton Hoo helmet licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license
Anglo-Saxon migration image licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license