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Anglo-Saxon Period

Anglo-Saxon Period. 449 - 1066. Invasion of Britian on Celts AD 449. Anglo-Saxon Invasion of Britian. Angles, Saxons, Jutes, and other Germanic tribes Seafaring warriors. Vengeance and Bloodshed. Anglo-Saxon Settlement of Britian. The Spread of Christianity. Around A.D. 400.

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Anglo-Saxon Period

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  1. Anglo-Saxon Period 449 - 1066

  2. Invasion of Britian on Celts AD 449

  3. Anglo-Saxon Invasion of Britian • Angles, Saxons, Jutes, and other Germanic tribes • Seafaring warriors

  4. Vengeance and Bloodshed

  5. Anglo-Saxon Settlement of Britian

  6. The Spread of Christianity Around A.D. 400 • Christian monks settle in Britain • Christianity and Anglo-Saxon culture co-exist By A.D. 699 • British pagan religions replaced by Christianity

  7. The Danish Invasion • Due to rising population and limited farmland, many Scandinavians (the Norse and the Danes) took to the seas—the Vikings. • In 800, Danish raiders attacked Britain. • The Norse settled in Northumbria, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland. • The Danes targeted eastern and southern England.

  8. Viking Raids • Sacked and plundered monasteries • Stole sacred religious objects • Burned entire communities • Murdered villagers • Halted the growth of learning By the middle of the ninth century, most of England had fallen. The Vikings called their territory Danelaw.

  9. Restored Viking Vessels

  10. King Alfred the Great unifies Anglo-Saxons against the Danes. A.D. 878

  11. The Norman Invasion 1066 • William of Normandy crosses the English Channel • William defeats Anglo-Saxon army • French replaces English as the language of the ruling class The Norman Invasion, Bayeux Tapestry

  12. Living Quarters—Mead Halls A reconstructed Anglo-Saxon home located in West Stow in Sussex, England • Mead Hall • center of life • sleeping quarters • dining area • meeting place

  13. The Scops • The communal hall offered shelter and a place for council meetings. • The communal hall was also a place for storytellers or bards (scops) who shared (orally) the stories of the Anglo-Saxons and their gods and heroes. • The Anglo-Saxons valued storytelling as equal to fighting, hunting, and farming. • A line of Anglo-Saxon or Old English poetry is characterized by four main stresses and is divided in half by a pause (caesura [si-zhoor-uh]).

  14. Sutton Hoo • Cemetery 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

  15. 7th century helmet • Reconstructed from hundreds of corroded iron fragments

  16. Characteristics of the Anglo-Saxons • Hard fighters and bold sea warriors • Admired physical strength, bravery, loyalty, fairness, and honesty • Great love of personal freedom • Boastful, reckless, cruel, and bloodthirsty • Enjoyed conflict, swimming matches, horse races, banqueting, drinking mead, singing songs, and storytelling • Also flyting, a conflict of wits between two warriors where each praises his own deeds and belittles the other’s

  17. Anglo-Saxon Beliefs • Pagan, polytheistic • Very pessimistic view of life (due to the ever-present dangers of death by accident or warfare) • Human life in the hands of fate (wyrd) • Did not believe in an afterlife • Immortality only earned through heroic actions • Sharp contrast to the Christian belief in an individual’s free will

  18. Anglo-Saxon Beliefs (con’t) • The early Anglo-Saxons worshipped ancient Germanic or Norse gods: • Odin/Woden: chief of the gods, god of death, poetry, and magic • Fria: Woden’s wife and goddess of the home • Tiu: the god of war and the sky • Thunor/Thor: god of thunder and lightening • Frijz/Frigga: queen of the heavens • The names of these gods survive today in our words Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday • The dragon: personification of evil and death and the protector of treasure (the grave mound); also associated with the Vikings

  19. Anglo-Saxon Manuscript

  20. Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms Map from C. Warren Hollister, The Making of England, p. 64

  21. Video: English~A Living Language & Anglo-Saxon Riddles

  22. The Beowulf Legend • Beowulf is an epic, a long, heroic poem, about a great pagan warrior renowned for his courage, strength, and dignity. • Story isn’t about the English—it’s about the Danes and the Geats. So what’s it doing in England? • Beowulf is the national epic of England, because it is was the first such work composed in the English language. • The poem presents the values of a warrior society, dignity, bravery, and prowess in battle.

  23. Characteristics of Invaders Ancestral Tribes of Clans

  24. Anglo-Saxon Brooch • 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.

  25. Additional Anglo-Saxon Artifacts

  26. King Offa’s Dyke • approximately 170 miles long running north and south • continuous wall except for river crossings • built in the late 8th century

  27. Construction • Earth Embankment • No fancy stonework • No garrisoned posts • 12 foot wide ditch on Welsh side • Height ranges from 10 to 60 feet

  28. Monument to Power • Perhaps this dyke was a defense against raiders from Wales. • Perhaps it served as a permanent boundary between Mercia and Wales. • Perhaps it was a boundary monument to remind the Welsh of King Offa’s power and control.

  29. Anglo-Saxon Cross Shaft • 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.S

  30. Acknowledgements • Anglo-Saxon England. 27 June 2004 <http://www.gettysburg.edu/academics/english/britain/anglo-saxon/anglo_home.html>. • Regia-Angloplum. “Arms and Armour-Part 8-Shields.” 27 June 2004 http://regia.org/shields.html. • Map of Gradual Takeover of England by Anglo-Saxons. 27 June 2004 http://www.cla.calpoly.edu/~jrubba/395/HELUnit2web/OE%20images/asconquer.jpg. • Durnham County Council. 27 June 2004. http://www.durham.gov.uk/durhamcc/usp.nsf/pws/archaeology2001+-+archaeology+Time+Line+Mediaeval+Period. • The British Museum: Education Department. 27 June 2004. http://www.thebritishmuseum.ac.uk/education/anglosaxons/weblinks.html • King Arthur and the Anglo-Saxon Wars. 27 June 2004. http://www.murphsplace.com/owen/arthur/wars.html. • The Arador Library. 28 June 2004. http://www.arador.com/gallery/et.html. • The Potteries Museum: Art Gallery. 27 June 2004 http://www2002.stoke.gov.uk/museums/pmag/Nof_website1/local_history_static_exhibitions/sites_to_visit/pages/st_peters.htm. • Pfordresher, John, Gladys V. Veidemanis, and Helen McDonnell, eds. England in Literature. Glenview: Scott, Foresman, 1989.

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