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Copyright 2009 Steven Tillhttp://steventill.com

The Angles and Saxons arrived in England sometime during the 5th century, not longafter Rome had fled the island and left the Britons to fight against theirnorthern aggressors, the Picts. According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, in A.D.449:

"In their days Hengest and Horsa, invited by Wurtgern, king of the Britons to hisassistance, landed in Britain in a place that is called Ipwinesfleet; first of allto support the Britons, but they afterwards fought against them. The king directedthem to fight against the Picts; and they did so; and obtained the victorywheresoever they came. They then sent to the Angles, and desired them to send moreassistance. They described the worthlessness of the Britons, and the richness ofthe land. They then sent them greater support. Then came the men from three powersof Germany; the Old Saxons, the Angles, and the Jutes. From the Jutes aredescended the men of Kent, the Wightwarians (that is, the tribe that now dwellethin the Isle of Wight), and that kindred in Wessex that men yet call the kindred ofthe Jutes. From the Old Saxons came the people of Essex and Sussex and Wessex.From Anglia, which has ever since remained waste between the Jutes and the Saxons,came the East Angles, the Middle Angles, the Mercians, and all of those north of

the Humber."

The Britons had sent for help to these German tribes, and the Angles and Saxonsobliged, but after having defeated the Picts, they did not return across thechannel but stayed in southern England. They eventually turned on the Britons anddrove them into western England, in what is today Wales. The name Wales is in factAnglo-Saxon in origin, coming from the word Walha, which means foreigner orstranger.

The early Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, sometimes as many as seven and sometimes with morethan one ruler, subjected their populations to fiscal and military obligations.The more powerful kings succeeded in establishing stronger and larger states, suchas in Mercia, or in Wessex under King Alfred the Great (the only English king ever

to be given the title of Great). These kingdoms lived in a somewhat peacefulstate until the Viking invasions began in the 8th century. Viking aggressionlasted until the 11th century, and during this time, England was in a constantstate of warfare. The Danes conquered nearly all of Anglo-Saxon England, capturingthe kingdoms of Northumbria, Mercia, and East Anglia. Only Wessex held out againstthe invaders, due in large part to the leadership of King Alfred.

Between 924 and 939, King Aethelstan of Wessex achieved some sort of unificationin England, as did King Edgar from 959 to 975. From 1016 to 1035, the ScandinavianCanute sat the English throne, followed a few years later by the Anglo-SaxonEdward the Confessor. Harold Godwinson succeeded Edward after Edwards death, butDuke William of Normandy challenged his succession and defeated Harold at theBattle of Hastings in 1066. Harold was the last Anglo-Saxon king to sit the

English throne.

Despite the political turmoil and centuries of warfare that accompanied medievalAnglo-Saxon England, the Anglo-Saxons did make many cultural and economiccontributions to the rest of Europe. They created substantial wealth through theirvarious skills of craftsmanship, seen in their detailed metalwork, embroidery,stone and wood sculptures, and architecture. They also possessed great artistictalent in manuscript decoration and wall paintings, and they produced some 30,000lines of poetry (much of it written in the common vernacular), including the mostfamous epic poem of Beowulf. Some of the most famous artistic works from theAnglo-Saxon medieval period include: jewelry from the Sutton Hoo excavation, the

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Franks Casket, the Ruthwell Cross, the Book of Durrow, the Lindisfarne Gospels,the Codex Amiatinus, the Vespasian Psalter, and certain churches such as Jarrow,Brixworth, and Bradord-on-Avon. Bede and Alcuin are probably the most well-knownauthors from that period.

Sources:

Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. Trans. James Ingram. London: 1847. Ancient and Medieval

History Online. Facts On File, Inc.http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE49&iPin=amdoc001&SingleRecord=True(accessed November 24, 2008).

English, Edward D. Anglo-Saxons. Encyclopedia of the Medieval World, vol. 1. NewYork: Facts On File, Inc., 2005. Ancient and Medieval History Online. Facts OnFile, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE49&iPin=EMW0080&SingleRecord=True (accessed November 24, 2008).

Additional Reading:

F. M. Stenton, Anglo-Saxon England, 3d ed. (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1971); JamesCampbell, ed., The Anglo-Saxons (Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 1982);

Stephen Bassett, ed., The Origins of Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms (Leicester: LeicesterUniversity Press, 1989); H. M. Taylor and J. Taylor, Anglo-Saxon Architecture, 3vols. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 19651978); John Beckwith, IvoryCarvings in Early Medieval England (London: Harvey, Miller and Medcalf, 1972); J.J. G. Alexander, Insular Manuscripts 6th to the Ninth Century (London: H. Miller,1978).

Copyright 2009 Steven Tillhttp://steventill.com