Anglo-Saxon Wars/Military

1. Anglo-Saxon Wars/Military Joseph, John, Jai, Weldon

2. General Timeline Joseph/John

3. Pre-History • For over 300 years Britain was under the control and protection of Rome. • Britain gained independence from Rome 410 AD. • Britain was vulnerable to attack from invaders. • 449/450 AD an event calledAdventusSaxonum which meant “Coming of the Saxons” occurred.

4. “Coming of the Saxons” • Controversial on exactly what happened • Either a mass migration or just a small elite army came into Britain. • Britain could not sufficiently protect themselves from invaders.

5. Numerous Battles between barbarians and Britain's • There were small individual towns fighting to survive.

6. Vikings • Later in the 790s Vikings from Denmark invaded territories all over, but were eventually defeated by Alfred the Great. • Southern and Eastern coasts were primary targets • The Vikings laid siege on all parts of the world from 439 A.D. to 1070 pillaging villages and declaring land as they went

7. Danes • Danes launched an offensive against England • Eventually Danes gained control of over half of the country. • Alfred the Great successfully defended Anglo Saxon territory from the Vikings. • London was captured from the Danes in 886 AD, by Alfred the Great.

8. The Norman Conquest • In 1042, Edward the Confessor took the throne; childless, he declared his French cousin, William, duke of Normandy, his heir but a council of nobles and church officials chose an English earl, Harold • William led a successful invasion of Britain, known as the Norman Conquest. Harold was killed in Battle and in 1066, and William the Conqueror was crowned king of England • The Battle of Hastings: Invading Normans defeat Saxons: 1066 AD. • Medieval Era begins:

9. Medieval Britain • King Edward defeats Wales: 1282 AD. • King Edward invades Scotland: 1296 AD. • The Battle of Stirling Bridge (1297): Scots under William Wallace defeat the English • The Battle of Falkirk (1298): King Edward defeats Wallace • The battle of Bannockburn (1314): Scots led by Robert the Bruce defeat the English • Hundred Year’s War with France (1337-1453)

10. Heroes John

11. What made a hero at this time period? • In Anglo Saxon culture and literature, to be a hero was to be a warrior. • Some of the heroes’ attributes would have to be strength, intelligence, and courage. • A common theme with all heroes was that their glory would come in death, which led them to confront any danger. • Heroes were also known as "retainers," or "thanes," and a group being called a "comitatus"

12. Literary Heroes of this period. • An example of the quintessential hero in Anglo Saxon literature would be Beowulf. He had all of the characteristics of a hero, along with humility, which set him apart from other characters in the story. • The epic Beowulf is about a legendary hero from northern Europe who is sent for to kill monsters and dragons. • Another prominent hero of this time period was a Celtic chieftain named Arthur, who is said to be the legendary King Arthur. • Arthur fought a number of battles against invading tribes during A.D. 449. After the battles were won, Briton was settled by the Anglo-Saxons who renamed the country Angle-land (England).

13. Men considered heroes of Norman Conquest. • After the Norman Conquest William the Conqueror’s great-grandson takes the throne as Henry II who developed English common law. Henry’s son, Richard I, known as Richard the Lion-Hearted, spent his ten year reign fighting in wars from the Middle East to parts of Europe.

14. Weapons/Equipment Jai

15. Armies • Anglo-Saxon armies were usually small, with only a few hundred men. The soldiers had spears, axes, swords and bows and arrows. They wore helmets on their heads and carried wooden shields. Everyone fought on foot during a battle. • Most soldiers had farms, and after a battle went home as soon as they could, to look after their animals and crops.

16. Weapons • Only a freeman was allowed a spear. A slave found with a spear was beaten with the wooden shaft until it snapped. • Saxon spears were over 2m long (taller than most men), and usually made of ash tree wood. • The Saxons used long swords, but they also had a short sword or knife called a seax or scramaseax - from which the name 'Saxon' comes. • Some axes were shaped like hammers, and were thrown at the enemy. • In war the common weapon was the spear made with a seven foot long ash shaft and an iron head. • Only the nobility used swords, which were about thirty inches long, made of iron with steel edges.

17. Specific Weapons • Axe – Despite the fame of the axe as the Anglo-Saxon weapon, this probably has more to do with the Viking invasions. • Bow and Sling –Anglo-Saxons used both of these weapons, but both were rare. • Armour – The earliest Anglo-Saxons probably did not wear armour, or at most some form of leather jerkin • metal armour would have been extremely expensive, well beyond the means of most warriors. • By the time of Hastings, most Anglo-Saxon warriors seem to have been equipped with a full metal hauberk – a shirt made of metal rings that reached from the neck down to the knees and sometimes covered the head as well.

18. Spears and Axes • Most soliders carried three spears. 2 for throwing. 1 for fighting. • Almost all warriors, from the highest to the lowest carried a single edged knife known as a scramseax. • Small hand axes tended to just be wood-axes which were used for combat. • The axe as a weapon is good in attack, but fairly poor as a tool to defend yourself with. It is a weapon that quickly induces fear, as it takes little imagination to guess what it could do. The user needs to be very confident of the outcome of a clash, as he will be fighting with a weapon that is quite heavy, resulting in easily over-committed blows.

19. Body Armor • The main type of body armour in Anglo-Saxon times was mail • Limb armour was far rarer than body or head armour. • Head armour of the period consisted of helmets sometimes including a mail coif • Traditionally shields were made of linden (Lime) wood although other timbers may also have been used such as Alder and Poplar • Round shields seem to have varied in size from around 45 - 120cm (18" - 48") in diameter but the smaller and more manageable 75 - 90cm (30" - 36") is by far the most common.

20. The best weapon • The most prized and lauded weapon, but not the most common one, was the sword. These were very valuable and were often handed down from generation to generation, or were received or given as gifts by great warriors and kings. • The blades were between 72 - 80cm (29" - 32") long and about 7.5cm (3") broad at their widest with a shallow but broad groove or fuller down the centre of both sides to lighten the blade without losing any strength.

21. Civilian Life Weldon

22. Class System

23. Normal Life • Life in the communities in the kingdoms in the Scandinavian Peninsulas was based around sustenance farming. • Farmers were called bondias. These were perhaps freemen or indentured farmers. I doubt they were aristocracy. • Much of the work was performed by slaves, I imagine… • Well, maybe that’s not true; Maybe slaves only helped higher class. • You bathed once a week.

24. Fyrd • During 10th Century military organization was now called the Fyrd. • Thanes (soldiers) were chosen from a conscription system based off land. • Had to serve 1 out of every 3 months (in rotation) • Served as police during peace time

25. Views on age • Age of adulthood: 12 years old • Long life: 40 years old

26. Freemen • Allowed to carry weapons by some law • Attended meetings of assembly • Could have been farmers or tradesmen • Very disappointed

27. Aristocracy • No info except they were 2 times better in some way to freemen • Helped run the kingdom

28. King • The final evolution of freeman • Does kingly things like representing the country (His kingdom). • Orders people to do things

29. Slaves • Captured on pillages or such • From foreign lands • Manual labor for manual jobs • Treated as valuable commodities

30. Indentured Farmers • Like freemen, but without freedom • Leased land from landowners • Farmed

31. Work Cited • Algoe, Sara. “Anglo-Saxon History.” Hubpages. 2011. Web. January 9, 2010. • Delahoyde, Michael. “Anglo-Saxon Culture.” January 6, 2011. Web. January 9, 2010. • Garcia, Christopher. “The Anglo Saxon Hero.” 2011. Web. January 9, 2010. • “History of Britain – timeline and facts”. Woodland Junior School. 2011. Web. January 9, 2010. • Woods, Kim. “Anglo-Saxon England.” Nicholas Shanks. 2011. Web. January 9, 2010.