Anglo-Saxons

 449 to 1066  Why so long? ◦ Everyone was an idiot… Not really.  The Romans took off and no one knew how to do what they had done. ◦ Roads ◦ Aqueducts ◦ Plumbing ◦ Houses

Angles, Saxons, and Jutes (from other parts of the world) invaded Briton.  First called Saxons, the German invaders were later referred to as Angles.  As time passed, the differences between the Germanic tribal cultures gradually unified until eventually they ceased referring to themselves by their individual origins and became either Anglo-Saxon or English.

During the sixth and seventh centuries these Germanic invaders started to carve out kingdoms, fighting both the native Britons and each other for land. What are people fighting over today?

 By the year 550 A.D, the native Britons had been converted to Christianity and the religion became firmly established within their culture.

 The 8th century and the beginning of the Viking raids  Words acquired during this period pertained to the sea and the Scandinavian administrative system. Some examples of these borrowings are law, take, cut, anger, wrong, freckle, both, ill, ugly, and the verb form 'are'.

 Anglo-Saxons distinguished between two people with the same name by adding either the place they came from or the job they did to their first name. Modern surnames such as Baxter, Baker, Weaver, Fisher, Fowler, Hunter, and Farmer are Anglo-Saxon in origin.  What would your name be for your chosen future profession?

 Vikings had a different way of distinguishing between people of the same name. They added the name of the person's father or mother to the child's name. As an example, Harold, the son of Erik would be known as Harold Erik's son, or as we would say it today, Harold Erikson.  Again, what would your name be?

 The Anglo-Saxon territory was divided into seven separate kingdoms commonly referred to as the heptarchy.  Each kingdom was ruled by a king, the king's sons who were called aethlings and the ruling nobility known as the eoldermen.

 The early Anglo-Saxon society was organized around clans or tribes and was centered around a system of reciprocity called comitatus.  The eoldorman expected martial service and loyalty from his thanes, and the thanes expected protection and rewards from the lord.  So what is a Thane? ◦ A man who held land granted by the king or by a military nobleman, ranking between an ordinary freeman and a hereditary noble  What system is similar today?

 By the middle of the ninth century the royal family of Wessex was universally recognized as the English royal family and held a hereditary right to rule.  Succession to the throne was not guaranteed as the witan, or council of leaders, had the right to choose the best successor from the members of the royal house.  How is this different from today?

 Stay tuned for the reason that the dark ages ended (and it isn’t because you actually cleaned your room and shocked your parents to death).