1. THE BRITISH ISLES

2. GEOGRAPHY Rugged and rocky terrain, cold windy & rainy
South parts subdued by Rome but never conquered all of Britain

3. Anglo-Saxons
Local tribe invites the Germanic Saxons to come as mercenaries to help them deal with the incursions of the Picts
Angles + Saxons = Anglo-Saxons
England = Angle Land (latin)
The Anglo-Saxons like it there and invade Britain and begin to settle permanently in modern-day England
The local Britons flee the invaders to modern day Wales and Scotland

4. THESE POOR BRITONS ARE BEING PUSHED FROM THEIR HOME LANDS…WHO WILL STAND FOR THEM AND FIGHT?

5. KING ARTHUR

6. MYTH OR LEGEND?

7. KING ARTHUR No idea where he fits into history or who he was
Best guess – somewhere between 400 – 1000 AD
Narrowed it down to 1 of potentially 4 people.
BEST GUESS:
Ambrosius Aurelianus
Great military Commander of Britian
Second son of Constantine

8. SAXON BRITIAN Separated into 7 Kingdoms Northumbria East Anglia Mercia
Essex
Kent
Sussex
Wessex

9. ORGANIZATION
Each Kingdom had a King (obviously) and a group of military aristocrats as advisors
King of the Kings = was the king of the lead kingdom and was called the bretwalda
500s – Kings from Kent led
600s – Kings from Northumbria led (York)
700s – Kings from Mercia

10. CONVERSION
500s – Roman Catholic Church attempts conversion of the Anglo-Saxon Kings, it begins a trickle down effect
600s – Missionaries from Ireland & Wales joined to spread Christianity to the North

11. HOW DO WE KNOW ALL THIS? THE VENERABLE BEDE
Greatest scholar of his time
Monk at a monastery in Jarrow
Mastered math, astronomy, and music
Wrote a history on the conversion of the English to Christianity

12. ORGANIZATION Government was organized like so:
Lands divided into units called “Hundreds” or Burroughs”
Those were grouped into larger areas called “Shires”
Which were governed by Sheriffs.

13. TIMELINE THE VIKINGS INVADE
The Anglo-Saxon kings often went to war with each other to be the “bretwalda” or the Lead King
In 700AD that changed when….
THE VIKINGS INVADE