OVERVIEW
The Anglo-Saxon period dates from 449 AD to 1066 AD; beginning with the invasion of what is now Great Britain by the Angles, Saxons, and the Jutes. The term "Anglo-Saxons", dates from the sixteenth century and is now used more loosely to denote any people of the British Isles (a/soverview.html.com). This is a short period in terms of Literature to be studied. Little writing remains to be studied because England was still developing their written language during many of these years, and storytelling was generally in the oral tradition. Only about 30,000 lines or so survived to this time, and "Beowulf" makes up a large portion of that (a soverview.html.com). The priests developing the system of writing used at the time. Gleemen or minstrels traveled reciting famous poems and tales (a soverview.html.com).
The Angles were a Germanic tribe that occupied the region still called Angein in what is now the state of Scleswig-Holstein, Germany. They formed foundations for the later kingdoms of East Angila, Mercia, and Northhumbria (Concise Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia). Together with the Saxons and Jutes, they invaded Britain during the 5th century AD, Britain, once called Albion, is an island in the ocean that lies in the north-west, being opposite Germany, Gaul, and Spain, which form the greater part of Europe, but it is still at a considerable distance from them (Concise Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia). With their fellow ethnic groups, they formed the people who came to be known as the English. The name England is derived from them (Concise Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia). With their fellow ethnic groups, they formed the people who came to be known as the English. The name England is derived from them (Concise Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia).
The Saxons were a Germanic people who in the beginning of the Christian era first appeared. Ptolemy, the Alexandrian mathematician and geographer in second century AD, first mentioned the Saxons at the time that they lived in the south Jutland Peninsula in the north of what is now Germany. They attacked and raided areas in the North Sea, and in the third and forth centuries they pressed southward towards Weser River. Having reached Weser River they encountered the Chauci and the Angrivaril, which were Germanic tribes that they easily and smoothly destroyed. In the year 449, our Lord Marcian became the emperor with Valentinian and ruled for seven years (Concise Columbia Encyclopedia). At that time the race of the Angles or Saxons, came to Britain in three long ships, nd by command of the king Vortigern, received a place of settlement in the eastern part of the island, apparently to fight on behalf of the country, though their real intention was to conquer it (Concise Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia). The Saxons invaded Roman domains in the later part of the fourth century, and by the end of the sixth century all of North-west Germany, as far east as the Elbe River, had become Saxon territory (Concise Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia). The Angles and the Jutes joined the Saxons in the invasion of Britain in the fifth and sixth centuries. British resistance to the 'Anglo Saxon' invaders in the second half of the fifth century concluded with their victory at the battle of Mount Badon, and came to be personified by King Arthur. At the beginning of the seventh century, the Anglo-Saxon invasion of Britain was nearly at an end (Concise Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia). In the eighth century, the Frankish king Pepin the Short attacked the Saxons who remained in Germany. The kings son, Charlemagne, restrained them after a series of gruesome wars lasting from 772 until 804 and forced them to accept Christianity (Concise Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia). During the ninth century, a great Saxon duchy came into existence under Frankish sovereignty, and its rulers establishled a dynasty of German kings in the tenth century. The name of Saxony was later passed over to an entirely different region because of the dissolving of the old duchy of Saxony toward the end of the twelfth century (Concise Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia).
Historically this was a time of great chaos, of quarrel and war between many different peoples trying to control the fertile and valuable land. Many people may refer to this period as a bunch of invasions and battles, one group did not merely melt into another, most were organized clans (Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia). It was a constant painstaking battle for valuable territory among several groups. The Celts were one of the peoples involved in this dreadful and seemingly endless battles. They were primarily farmers and hunters who settled in the British Isles around 500 BC (Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia).
Julius Caesar ruled the Romans in 55 BC (Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia). Althought Caesar claimed the conquest of Britian, true colonization by the Romans did not happen until the emperor Cladius ruled (Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia). Roman rule lasted until AD 407, leaving behind the permanent heritage of roads and other aspects of urban Roman culture (Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia).
The Anglo-Saxons were the next invaders of this study. They were a seagoing people who won land and wealth through piracy. They set up an early feudal system of government consisting of four classes: earls, a class of warlords who inherited their positions; freeman, or tradesman, including thanes; churls or serfs, bonded servants who worked in exchanged for military protection; and thrails or slaves (a/soverview.html.com).
The religious rules of Druids gave way to the belief in Fate and Paganism, then to Christianity (a/soverview.html.com). Warfare and minimal health care led the people to believe that Fate has power over human life (a/soverview.html.com). This was one of the great difficulties of this time because it was minimizing the life span of many people. The people believed that the gods had already chosen a path for them and they had no control over their life (a/soverview.html.com).
Christanity was a large part of Roman culture by the fourth century, and the Romans introduced their faith to Britons (a/soverview.html.com). Yet, warfare separated Celtic Christians from the main church in Rome until 597, when St. Augustine arrived and converted King Ethelbert of Kent to set up a monastery at Canterbury. Christianity brought education and written literature to the softened Britons. Illuminated manuscripts were hand copied texts done by monks in beautiful script with tasteful illustrations (a/soverview.html.com).
The Old English word fyrd is used by many modern writers to describe the Anglo-Saxon army, and this is one of its meanings (Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia). In its oldest form the word fyrd meant "a journey or expedition" (Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia). However, the exact meaning of the word, like the nature of the armies it is used to describe, changed a lot between the times the first Germanic settlers left their homelands and the time of King Alfred. The Anglo-Saxon period was very violent. Warfare dominated its history and formed the nature of its governance (Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia). War was the natural state in the Germanic homelands and the mix of tribal kingdoms that made up pre-Viking England.
Chieftains engaged in a seemingly endless struggle against foreign enemies and rival kinsmen for authority, power and honor (Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia). Even after Christianity had supplied them with a philosophy of kingship that did not depend on success in battle, these little wars continued until they were ended by the Viking invasions. From 793 until the last years of William the Conqueror's rule, England was under constant threat, and often attacked, from the Northmen (Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia).
This was not the end of military conflict in this merciless era (Concise Columbia Encyclopedia). The Viking raids from Scandinavia were brought about in the eighth to twelfth century, and Alfred the Great took the throne in 871. He made peace between these contrasting parties and encouraged further education (Concise Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia). Edward the Confessor become king in 1042, he brought with him the Norman influence of his childhood which has forever changed the language and customs of his people. William the Conquerer became King of England in 1066, the date which ended this period, when the Norman's finally completely defeated the Saxons (Concise Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia). The remaining resistance was very small and weak and was disposed of quickly (Concise Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia).
I.) Columbus Database Subject Matter: Stonehenge
