1. The Anglo-Saxon Period
Yep, it’s the moment you’ve all been waiting for…
The Anglo-Saxon Period

2. The time leading up to the Anglo-Saxon Period
Great Britain was invaded and settled many times.
First by ancient people called the Iberians.
Then by the Celts (also called Brythons or Britons).
Then by the Angles and Saxons.
Next came the Vikings and then the Normans.

3. The Celts
Amoung the Celts that lived in what is now known as Great Britain, there lived a group of Celts known as Brythons (Britons).
Their religion seems to have been a form of animism. This comes from the Latin word for “spirit”.
The Celts saw spirits everywhere: in rivers, trees, stones, ponds, fire, and thunder.
These spirits or gods controlled all aspects of existence and had to be constantly satisfied.

4. The Celts
Priests called Druids acted as intermediaries between the gods and the people.
Sometimes there were ritual dances and sometimes there were even human sacrifices.
Some believe that the Druids may have used Stonehenge (built somewhere between 1800 and 1400 B.C.) for religious rites having to do with the lunar and solar cycles.

5. The Celts
The mythology of Celts has influenced English and Irish writers to this day.
The ever-popular Arthur figures prominently in Celtic legends.
Celtic legends are full of strong women.
Celtic legends were full of fantastic animals, passionate love affairs and fabulous adventures.

6. The Roman Influence Julius Caesar led an invasion in 55 B.C.
After another invasion organized by the emperor Claudius about 100 years later, the Britons were finally conquered by the legions of Rome.
The Romans provided the armies and organization that prevented further serious invasions of Britain for several hundred years.
While in Britain, the Romans build a network of roads (still used today) and a great defensive wall 73 miles long.

7. The Roman Influence
Hadrian’s Wall – This was one of three great walls built during Roman occupation. This particular wall was built after a visit by Roman Emperor Hadrian in A.D. 122 in order to keep the “rebellious” Scottish tribes out of Britain.

8. The Roman Influence
During Roman rule, Christianity gradually took hold under the leadership of European missionaries.
The old Celtic religion began to vanish.
By 409 A.D. the Romans had evacuated their troops from Britain, leaving roads, walls, villas and great public baths…but no central government.

9. The Anglo-Saxon Period
449 A.D. to 1066 A.D
Rome had been a definite presence in Britain (over 300 years) up until the early fifth century.
When they left, Germanic tribes of Angles, Saxons and Jutes(from Denmark) took advantage of the fact that Rome’s presence had diminished and began invading the borders.
Their goal was to conquer the native people(Britons, an Anglo-Saxon word meaning “slaves”) and colonize their lands.

10. Map of the Anglo-Saxon Invasion Points

11. The Anglo-Saxon Period
The Britons alone did not have enough troops and were too scattered to fight off the majority of the attacks – thus, the Anglo-Saxons took control.
Whole villages were destroyed and the natives suffered starvation, plague and death.
As the Anglo-Saxons conquered the land, the Briton language, culture and traditions were lost.
The language of the Anglo-Saxons became the dominant language.
The land took on a new name Engla land or England from the Angles.

12. The Anglo-Saxon Period
The Celts put up a strong resistance before they finally retreated into Wales in the far west of the country.
In Wales, traces of the Celtic culture, especially their language, can still be found.
Arthur was a Welsh cheiftain and was a heroic Celtic leader – he was made a legend as Britain’s “once and future king.”
Statue of
King Arthur

13. The Anglo-Saxon Period
At first, Anglo-Saxon England was no more unified than Celtic Britain had been. The country was divided into several independent principalities, each with its own “king”.

14. The Anglo-Saxon Period
It wasn’t until King Alfred of Wessex, also known as Alfred the Great, led the Anglo-Saxons against the invading Danes that England became in any true sense a nation.
The Danes were one of the fierce Viking peoples (pirates) who crossed the cold North Sea in their dragon-prowed boats in the eighth and ninth centuries.
Plundering and destroying everything in their path, the Danes eventually took over and settled in parts of northeast and central England.
Statue of
King Alfred of Wessex

15. The Anglo-Saxon Period
Along with Alfred the Great, the other great unifying force for Britain was the gradual reemergence of Christianity in Britain.
Irish and Continental missionaries converted the Anglo-Saxon kings, whose subjects converted also.
Christianity provided a common faith and common system of morality and right conduct.
Christianity also linked England to Europe.
A Saxon Cross

16. The Anglo-Saxon Period
Under Christianity and Alfred, Anglo-Saxons fought to protect their people, their culture, and their church from the ravages of the Danes.
Alfred’s reign began the shaky dominance of Wessex kings in southern England.
Alfred’s descendants carried on his battle against the Danes.
The battle continued until both the Anglo-Saxons and the Danes were defeated in 1066 by William, Duke of Normandy and his invading force of Normans from northwestern France. (aka William the Conqueror and the Norman Conquest)

17. The role of the Anglo-Saxon Woman
Women inherited and held property – and retained control over their property even after marriage.
Prospective husbands had to offer the woman a substantial gift (called the morgengifu, the “morning gift” of money and land.
The woman (not her family or husband) had personal control over this gift; she could give it away, sell it, or bequeath it as she chose.
Women joined religious communities and some became abbesses – a woman who is the superior over a convent of nuns.

18. Anglo-Saxons – Everyday Life
The Anglo-Saxons were not barbarians (even though they are often depicted as such)
Warfare was a way of life for them – they didn’t have great luxuries nor were they afforded the time for learning or the arts.
Law and order was the responsibility of the leader in any given group, whether family, clan, tribe, or kingdom.

19. Anglo-Saxons – Everyday Life
Fame, success and often survival were gained only through loyalty to the leader, especially during war, and success was measured in gifts from the leader.
This pattern of loyal dependency was basic to Anglo-Saxon life.
Loyalty also grew out of a need to protect the group from the terrors of an enemy-infested wilderness.

20. Anglo-Saxons – Everyday Life
In most of England, the Anglo-Saxons tended to live close to their animals in single-family homesteads, wooden buildings that surrounded a communal court or a warm, fire-lit chieftain’s hall.
This cluster of buildings was protected by a wooden stockade fence.
What an Anglo-Saxon village
may have looked like.

21. Anglo-Saxons – Everyday Life
Anglo-Saxon homes were built of wood with thatched roofs.
The houses had only one room with a hearth for cooking, heat and light.

22. Anglo-Saxons – Everyday Life
Anglo-Saxons would have feasts that were held in the lord's hall.
During the winter months everyone who was loyal to the lord would gather around the fire for a feast.
At a feast people would eat roast meats, bread and fruit and drink beer or mead, a drink made from honey.
Anglo-Saxon
drinking horns.

23. Anglo-Saxons – Everyday Life
As they ate and drank, the Anglo-Saxons listened to songs and stories about brave warriors and their adventures.
Storytellers (known as scops) could not read or write so they had to recount long poems from memory.
One of the Anglo-Saxons' favorite stories was about Beowulf, a heroic prince who killed several monsters. Beowulf was first written down in the 8th to 9th centuries, many years after it was first told.

24. Anglo-Saxons – Everyday Life
Music was played to accompany the songs and poems.
The most popular instrument was the lyre.
The Anglo-Saxons liked to play with words and amused themselves by telling riddles.        

25. Anglo-Saxons – Everyday Life
Early Anglo-Saxons wrote using letters called runes. They believed runes had magical powers.

26. Sutton Hoo
In 1939, an amazing discovery was made at Sutton Hoo in Suffolk. When a large earth mound was dug up archeologists found traces of an Anglo-Saxon ship and many precious objects.
Archaeologists think this may have been the grave of King Redwald, who died around 625.

27. Sutton Hoo Excavation Site
Sutton Hoo is a group of Anglo-Saxon burial mounds overlooking the river Deben in south-east Suffolk, England.
Sutton Hoo Excavation Site