The Anglo-Saxon Period

1. The Anglo-Saxon Period A.D. 449-1066

2. Early Britain Great Britain has been invaded and settled several times throughout the course of history by the following groups: • the Iberians • the Celts • the Romans • the Angles and the Saxons • the Vikings • the Normans

3. The Celts(c. 800-600 B.C.) • The Celts were farmers and hunters who honored their priestly class: the Druids. • Belief in an “otherworld” or an “afterlife” • Polytheistic • Gods were deities of particular skills • Goddesses were deities of things pertaining to nature

4. Celts Continued • The Druids • Celtic priests • Teachers, sacrificers, judges, and lore-keepers • Rituals took place in forests • Did not record their learning in writing • Evidence of human sacrifice in Gaul, Ireland, and Britain • Much of what we know about the Celts has been muddied by the period of intermingling with Romans.

5. The Romans(c. 55 B.C.) • Julius Caesar invaded in 55 B.C and Claudius returned about 100 years later. • During the Roman rule, Christianity began to take hold and the old Celtic religion began to vanish. • Occupation by the Romans resulted in a central form of government and a military presence.

6. Roman Contributions • The Romans built a network of roads (some still used today) and a great defensive wall, known as Hadrian’s Wall, some seventy-three miles long. • Romans introduced cities, roads, and written scholarship

7. Trouble in Paradise • The Romans evacuated their troops from Britain by A.D. 409 • Left Britain with a system of roads, walls, villas, and great public baths • Britain is left without a centralized government and without a strong army to defend itself.

8. England without the Romans • Without Roman control, Britain was a country of separate clans. • The result was weakness • Island was ripe for invasions by non-Christian peoples from the Germanic regions of Continental Europe.

9. The Anglo-Saxons • Possible reasons why they came: • their land often flooded and it was difficult to grow crops, so they were looking for new places to settle down and farm. • Some sources say that Saxon warriors were invited to come to England.

10. Who They Were • Anglo Saxon means “war smith”. • “Invaded” Britain from the Scandinavian countries • The Anglo-Saxons took control of most of Britain • Divided the country into kingdoms, each with its own royal family. • As the Angles slowly interact with the Celts, their language, Angle-ish (English) begins to blend with the language of the Celts to form Old English.

11. The Land They Ruled • By around 600 A.D. there were five main Anglo-Saxon kingdoms: • Northumbria • Mercia • Wessex • Kent • Anglia

12. How They Lived • Anglo-Saxon settlements consisted of just two or three families and a few buildings • Life was highly organized in tribal fashion • Ruled by a king chosen by a counsel of elders known as “witon.” • Most people in Anglo-Saxon society were either freemen or slaves. • Richer freemen were known as 'thanes.'

13. How They Lived Mead Hall • center of life • sleeping quarters • dining area • meeting place

14. Structure of Society Comitatus: Thanes are loyal to Chieftains and fight wars for them; in return the Chieftains reward the Thanes and offer protection.

15. Punishment in Society • The Anglo-Saxons didn't have prisons. People were often punished with fines. • For minor crimes, a nose or a hand might be cut off. • If a person killed someone they had to pay money to the dead person's relatives, or even a life. • This was called a 'wergild.'

16. Old English • Old English was chiefly an oral language • Anglo-Saxon scribes, however, kept written records in scripts learned from Celtic missionaries. • Viking (Norse) words are used in everyday English (i.e. kick, law, sister, sky, window). • Words concerning religion and learning were borrowed from Latin (i.e. school, candle, altar, paper, circle)

17. The Most Famous Relic • 7th century helmet • Reconstructed from hundreds of corroded iron fragments • The bronze eyebrows are inlaid with silver wire and garnets. Each ends in a gilt-bronze boars head. • A gilded dragon-head lies nose to nose with a similar dragon-head placed at the end of the low crest that runs over the cap. The nose, eyebrows and dragon make up a great bird with outstretched wings that flies on the helmet.

18. The Hereafter • Until Christianity set in, the Anglo-Saxons felt there was nothing after death. Life is hard, and then you die. • When people died they were either cremated and put in a pottery urn or buried with their belongings.

19. Sutton Hoo • 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, as well everyday items • The ship had been sailed upriver, dragged overland, and then placed in a pit dug at the burial spot. The ship was then covered with a large mound of soil.

20. So Where Did They Go? • In the 8th and 9th centuries the Vikings began to come to Britain • Anglo-Saxon accounts describe terrible Viking raids • Massacres • churches destroyed, animals and precious objects stolen. • By the end of the 870s, the Vikings occupied most of eastern England.

21. The Struggle for Land • By 878 the Vikings had conquered all of England except Wessex. • Wessex remained Anglo-Saxon and was ruled by King Alfred of Wessex. • Gradually, the areas of England under Viking rule were re-conquered by Alfred's descendants.

22. The Beginning of the End • The Anglo-Saxon period came to an end in 1066 • Duke William of Normandy came to England and defeated Harold, the Earl of Wessex, in the Battle of Hastings. • This was the beginning of the Norman period in English history, after the Norman Conquest.