Professional Documents
Culture Documents
For other uses, see Anglo-Saxon (disambiguation). tury and the mid-12th century. In scholarly use, it is more
commonly called Old English.[3]
The history of the Anglo-Saxons is the history of a cul-
tural identity. It developed from divergent groups in as-
sociation with the peoples adoption of Christianity, and
was integral to the establishment of various kingdoms.
Threatened by extended Danish invasions and occupa-
tion of eastern England, this identity was re-established;
it dominated until after the Norman Conquest.[4] The
visible Anglo-Saxon culture can be seen in the material
culture of buildings, dress styles, illuminated texts and
grave goods. Behind the symbolic nature of these cul-
tural emblems, there are strong elements of tribal and
lordship ties. The elite declared themselves as kings who
developed burhs, and identied their roles and peoples
in Biblical terms. Above all, as Helena Hamerow has
observed, local and extended kin groups remained...the
essential unit of production throughout the Anglo-Saxon
period.[5] The eects persist in the 21st century as, ac-
cording to a study published in March 2015, the ge-
netic make up of British populations today shows divi-
sions of the tribal political units of the early Anglo-Saxon
period.[6]
Use of the term Anglo-Saxon assumes that the words
Angles, Saxons or Anglo-Saxon have the same mean-
ing in all the sources. Assigning ethnic labels such as
Anglo-Saxon is fraught with diculties. This term
Page with Chi Rho monogram from the Gospel of Matthew in began to be used only in the 8th century to distinguish
the Lindisfarne Gospels c. 700, possibly created by Eadfrith of the Germanic groups in Britain from those on the
Lindisfarne in memory of Cuthbert continent.[7][lower-alpha 1] Catherine Hills summarised the
views of many modern scholars in her observation that
The Anglo-Saxons were a people who inhabited Great attitudes towards Anglo-Saxons, and hence the interpre-
Britain from the 5th century. They comprised people tation of their culture and history, have been more con-
from Germanic tribes who migrated to the island from tingent on contemporary political and religious theology
continental Europe, their descendants, and indigenous as on any kind of evidence.[8]
British groups who adopted some aspects of Anglo-Saxon
culture and language. The Anglo-Saxon period denotes
the period of British history between about 450 and 1066, 1 Ethnonym
after their initial settlement and up until the Norman con-
quest.[1] The Old English ethnonym Angul-Seaxan comes from
The Anglo-Saxon period includes the creation of an the Latin Angli-Saxones and became the name of the peo-
English nation, with many of the aspects that sur- ples Bede calls Anglorum[9] and Gildas calls Saxones.[10]
vive today, including regional government of shires and Anglo-Saxon is a term that was rarely used by Anglo-
hundreds. During this period, Christianity was re- Saxons themselves; it is not an autonym. It is likely
established and there was a owering of literature and they identied as ngli, Seaxe or, more probably, a
language. Charters and law were also established.[2] The local or tribal name such as Mierce, Cantie, Gewisse,
term Anglo-Saxon is popularly used for the language that Westseaxe, or Noranhymbre. Also, the use of Anglo-
was spoken and written by the Anglo-Saxons in England Saxon disguises the extent to which people identied
and eastern Scotland between at least the mid-5th cen- as Anglo-Scandinavian after the Viking age or the con-
1
2 2 EARLY ANGLO-SAXON HISTORY (410660)
quest of 1016, or as Anglo-Norman after the Norman Suebi, Frisii and Franks; they were later pushed west-
conquest.[11] wards by the Huns, Avars, Slavs, Bulgars and Alans.[22]
The earliest historical references using this term are from By the year 400, southern Britain that is Britain be-
outside Britain, referring to piratical Germanic raiders, low Hadrians Wall was a peripheral part of the west-
'Saxones who attacked the shores of Britain and Gaul in ern Roman Empire, occasionally lost to rebellion or inva-
the 3rd century AD. Procopius states that Britain was set- sion, but until then always eventually recovered. Around
tled by three races: the Angiloi, Frisones, and Britons.[12] 410, Britain slipped beyond direct imperial control into a
The term Angli Saxones seems to have rst been used in phase which has generally been termed sub-Roman.[23]
continental writing of the 8th century; Paul the Deacon
uses it to distinguish the English Saxons from the conti-
nental Saxons (Ealdseaxe, literally, 'old Saxons).[13] The 2.1 Migration (c.410-c.560)
name therefore seemed to mean English Saxons.
Main article: Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain
The Christian church seems to have used the word Angli; The traditional narrative of this period is one of decline
for example in the story of Pope Gregory I and his re-
mark, "Non Angli sed angeli" (not English but angels).[14]
the terms nglisc ('the language') and Angelcynn ('the
people') were also used by West Saxon King Alfred to
refer to the people; in doing so he was following estab-
lished practice.[15] The rst use of the term Anglo-Saxon
amongst the insular sources is in the titles for Athelstan:
Angelsaxonum Denorumque gloriosissimus rex (most glo-
rious king of the Anglo-Saxons and of the Danes) and rex
Angulsexna and Norhymbra imperator paganorum gu-
bernator Brittanorumque propugnator (king of the Anglo-
Saxons and emperor of the Northumbrians, governor of
the pagans, and defender of the Britons). At other times
he uses the term rex Anglorum (king of the English),
which presumably meant both Anglo-Saxons and Danes.
The term Engla cyningc (King of the English) is used by
thelred. King Cnut in 1021 was the rst to refer to the
land and not the people with this term: ealles Englalandes
cyningc (King of all England).[16] These titles express the
sense that the Anglo-Saxons were a Christian people with The migrations according to Bede, who wrote some 300 years
a king anointed by God.[17] after the event; there is archeological evidence that the settlers in
England came from many of these continental locations
The indigenous Common Brittonic speakers referred to
Anglo-Saxons as Saxones or possibly Saeson (the word and fall, invasion and migration; however, Heinrich Hrke
Saeson is the modern Welsh word for 'English people'); states:
the equivalent word in Scottish Gaelic is Sasannach and
in the Irish language, Sasanach.[18] Catherine Hills sug- It is now widely accepted that the Anglo-
gests that it is no accident, that the English call them- Saxons were not just transplanted Germanic
selves by the name sanctied by the Church, as that of invaders and settlers from the Continent,
a people chosen by God, whereas their enemies use the but the outcome of insular interactions and
name originally applied to piratical raiders.[19] changes.[24]
Gildas recounts how a war broke out between the Sax- As Bede later implied, language was a key
ons and the local population Higham calls it the War indicator of ethnicity in early England. In cir-
of the Saxon Federates which ended shortly after the cumstances where freedom at law, acceptance
siege at 'Mons Badonicus. The Saxons go back to their with the kindred, access to patronage, and the
eastern home. Gildas calls the peace a grievous divorce use and possession of weapons were all ex-
with the barbarians. The price of peace, Nick Higham clusive to those who could claim Germanic
argues,[26] is a better treaty for the Saxons, giving them descent, then speaking Old English without
the ability to receive tribute from people across the low- Latin or Brittonic inection had considerable
lands of Britain. The archaeological evidence agrees with value.[1]
this earlier timescale. In particular, the work of Cather-
ine Hills and Sam Lucy on the evidence of Spong Hill has
moved the chronology for the settlement earlier than 450,
with a signicant number of items now in phases before
Bedes date.[27]
This vision of the Anglo-Saxons exercising extensive po-
litical and military power at an early date remains con-
tested. The most developed vision of a continuation in
sub-Roman Britain, with control over its own political and
military destiny for well over a century, is that of Kenneth
Dark,[28] who suggests that the sub-Roman elite survived
in culture, politics and military power up to c. 570. How-
ever, Nick Higham seems to agree with Bede, who iden-
tied three phases of settlement: an exploration phase,
when mercenaries came to protect the resident popula-
tion; a migration phase, which was substantial as implied
by the statement that Anglus was deserted; and an estab-
lishment phase, in which Anglo-Saxons started to control
areas, implied in Bedes statement about the origins of the
tribes.[29]
Scholars have not reached consensus on the number of
migrants who entered Britain in this period. Heinrich
Hrke suggests that the gure is around 100,000,[30]
based on the molecular evidence. But, archaeologists
such as Christine Hills[31] and Richard Hodges[32] suggest
the number is nearer 20,000. By around 500 the Anglo-
Saxon migrants were established in southern and eastern
Britain.[33]
What happened to the indigenous Brittonic people is
also subject to question. Heinrich Hrke and Richard
Coates[34] point out that they are invisible archaeolog-
ically and linguistically. But based on a fairly high
Anglo-Saxon gure (200,000) and a low Brythonic one
(800,000), Brythonic people are likely to have outnum-
bered Anglo-Saxons by at least four to one. The in-
terpretation of such gures is that while culturally, the
later Anglo-Saxons and English did emerge as remark-
ably un-British, . . . their genetic, biological make-up
is none the less likely to have been substantially, indeed
predominantly, British.[35] The development of Anglo-
Saxon culture is described by two processes. One is sim-
ilar to culture changes observed in Russia, North Africa
and parts of the Islamic world, where a powerful minority
culture becomes, over a rather short period, adopted by a
settled majority.[36]
The second process is explained through incentives. Nick
Higham summarized in this way: The Tribal Hidage, from an edition of Henry Spelman's Glos-
sarium Archaiologicum
4 2 EARLY ANGLO-SAXON HISTORY (410660)
By the middle of the 6th century, some Brythonic peo- Saxons, Kent, the East Saxons, East Angles, Lindsey and
ple in the lowlands of Britain had moved across the sea (north of the Humber) Deira and Bernicia. Several of
to form Brittany, and some had moved west, but the ma- these kingdoms may have had as their initial focus a ter-
jority were abandoning their past language and culture ritory based on a former Roman civitas.[50]
and adopting the new culture of the Anglo-Saxons. As By the end of the sixth century, the leaders of these com-
they adopted this language and culture, the barriers be- munities were styling themselves kings, though it should
gan to dissolved between peoples, who had earlier lived not be assumed that all of them were Germanic in origin.
parallel lives.[37] The archaeological evidence shows con- The Bretwalda concept is taken as evidence of a number
siderable continuity in the system of landscape and local
of early Anglo-Saxon elite families. What Bede seems to
governance,[38] which was inherited from the indigenous imply in his Bretwalda is the ability of leaders to extract
community. There is evidence for a fusion of culture in
tribute, overawe and/or protect the small regions, which
this early period.[39] Brythonic names appear in the lists may well have been relatively short-lived in any one in-
of Anglo-Saxon elite. The Wessex royal line was tradi-
stance. Ostensibly Anglo-Saxon dynasties variously re-
tionally founded by a man named Cerdic, an undoubtedly placed one another in this role in a discontinuous but in-
Celtic name ultimately derived from Caratacus. This may uential and potent roll call of warrior elites.[51] Impor-
indicate that Cerdic was a native Briton, and that his dy- tantly, whatever their origin or whenever they ourished,
nasty became anglicised over time.[40][41] A number of these dynasties established their claim to lordship through
Cerdics alleged descendants also possessed Celtic names, their links to extended kin ties. As Helen Peake jokingly
including the 'Bretwalda' Ceawlin.[42] The last man in this points out, they all just happened to be related back to
dynasty to have a Brythonic name was King Caedwalla, Woden.[52]
who died as late as 689.[43]
The process from warrior to cyning Old English for king
is described in Beowulf:
2.2 Development of an Anglo-Saxon soci-
ety (560610) 2.3 Conversion to Christianity (590660)
the monastery of Iona would grow into what Peter Brown 3 Middle Anglo-Saxon history
has described as an unusually extensive spiritual em-
pire, which stretched from western Scotland deep to the
(660899)
southwest into the heart of Ireland and, to the southeast,
it reached down throughout northern Britain, through the By 660 the political map of Lowland Britain had devel-
inuence of its sister monastery Lindisfarne.[54] oped with smaller territories coalescing into kingdoms,
from this time larger kingdoms started dominating the
In June 597 Columba died. At this time, Augustine smaller kingdoms. The development of kingdoms, with
landed on the Isle of Thanet and proceeded to King a particular king being recognised as an overlord, devel-
thelberht's main town of Canterbury. He had been the oped out of an early loose structure that, Higham be-
prior of a monastery in Rome when Pope Gregory the lieves, is linked back to the original feodus.[59] The tra-
Great chose him in 595 to lead the Gregorian mission to ditional name for this period is the Heptarchy, which has
Britain to Christianise the Kingdom of Kent from their not been used by scholars since the early 20th century[47]
native Anglo-Saxon paganism. Kent was probably cho- as it gives the impression of a single political structure and
sen because thelberht had married a Christian princess, does not aord the opportunity to treat the history of
Bertha, daughter of Charibert I the King of Paris, who any one kingdom as a whole.[60] Simon Keynes suggests
was expected to exert some inuence over her husband. that the 8th and 9th century was period of economic and
thelberht was converted to Christianity, churches were social ourishing which created stability both below the
established, and wider-scale conversion to Christianity Thames and above the Humber. Many areas ourished
began in the kingdom. thelberhts law for Kent, the ear- and their inuence was felt across the continent, however
liest written code in any Germanic language, instituted in between the Humber and Thames, one political entity
a complex system of nes. Kent was rich, with strong grew in inuence and power and to the East these devel-
trade ties to the continent, and thelberht may have in- opments in Britain attracted attention.[60]
stituted royal control over trade. For the rst time follow-
ing the Anglo-Saxon invasion, coins began circulating in
Kent during his reign. 3.1 Mercian supremacy (626821)
In 635 Aidan, an Irish monk from Iona chose the Isle of
Lindisfarne to establish a monastery and close to King Main article: Mercian Supremacy
Oswald's main fortress of Bamburgh. He had been at the Middle-lowland Britain was known as the place of the
monastery in Iona when Oswald asked to be sent a mis-
sion to Christianise the Kingdom of Northumbria from
their native Anglo-Saxon paganism. Oswald had proba-
bly chosen Iona because after his father had been killed
he had ed into south-west Scotland and had encoun-
tered Christianity, and had returned determined to make
Northumbria Christian. Aidan achieved great success in
spreading the Christian faith, and since Aidan could not
speak English and Oswald had learned Irish during his
exile, Oswald acted as Aidans interpreter when the latter
was preaching.[55] Later, Northumberland's patron saint,
Saint Cuthbert, was an abbot of the monastery, and then
Bishop of Lindisfarne. An anonymous life of Cuthbert
written at Lindisfarne is the oldest extant piece of En-
glish historical writing. [lower-alpha 5] and in his memory
a gospel (known as the St Cuthbert Gospel) was placed
in his con. The decorated leather bookbinding is the
oldest intact European binding.[57]
In 664, the Synod of Whitby was convened and estab-
lished Roman practice (in style of tonsure and dates of
Easter) as the norm in Northumbria, and thus brought
the Northumbrian church into the mainstream of Ro-
man culture.[58] The episcopal seat of Northumbria was
transferred from Lindisfarne to York. Wilfrid, chief ad- A political map of Britain c650 (the names are in modern En-
vocate for the Roman position, later became Bishop of glish)
Northumbria, while Colmn and the Ionan supporters,
who did not change their practices, withdrew to Iona. Mierce, the border or frontier folk, in Latin Mercia. Mer-
cia was a diverse area of tribal groups, as shown by the
Tribal Hidage; the peoples were a mixture of Brythonic
6 3 MIDDLE ANGLO-SAXON HISTORY (660899)
speaking peoples and Anglo-Saxon pioneers and their who survived to his own day were as uent in Greek and
early leaders had Brythonic names, such as Penda.[61] Al- Latin as in their native language. Bede does not men-
though Penda does not appear in Bedes list of great over- tion Aldhelm in this connection; but we know from a let-
lords it would appear from what Bede says elsewhere that ter addressed by Aldhelm to Hadrian that he too must be
he was dominant over the southern kingdoms. At the time numbered among their students.[69]
of the battle of the river Winwd, thirty duces regii (royal Aldhelm wrote in elaborate and grandiloquent and very
generals) fought on his behalf. Although there are many dicult Latin, which became the dominant style for cen-
gaps in the evidence, it is clear that the seventh-century turies. Michael Drout states Aldhelm wrote Latin hex-
Mercian kings were formidable rulers who were able to
ameters better than anyone before in England (and possi-
exercise a wide-ranging overlordship from their Midland bly better than anyone since, or at least up until Milton).
base.
His work showed that scholars in England, at the very
Mercian military success was the basis of their power; it edge of Europe, could be as learned and sophisticated as
succeeded not only 106 kings and kingdoms by winning any writers in Europe.[70] During this period, the wealth
set-piece battles,[62] but by ruthlessly ravaging any area and power of the monasteries increased as elite families,
foolish enough to withhold tribute. There are a number of possibly out of power, turned to monastic life.[71]
casual references scattered throughout the Bede's history Anglo-Saxon monasticism developed the unusual institu-
to this aspect of Mercian military policy. Penda is found tion of the double monastery, a house of monks and
ravaging Northumbria as far north as Bamburgh and only a house of nuns, living next to each other, sharing a
a miraculous intervention from Aidan prevents the com- church but never mixing, and living separate lives of
plete destruction of the settlement.[63] In 676 thelred celibacy. These double monasteries were presided over
conducted a similar ravaging in Kent and caused such by abbesses, some of the most powerful and inuential
damage in the Rochester diocese that two successive bish- women in Europe. Double monasteries which were built
ops gave up their position because of lack of funds.[61] on strategic sites near rivers and coasts, accumulated im-
In these accounts there is a rare glimpse of the realities mense wealth and power over multiple generations (their
of early Anglo-Saxon overlordship and how a widespread inheritances were not divided) and became centers of art
overlordship could be established in a relatively short pe- and learning.[72]
riod. By the middle of the 8th century, other kingdoms
of southern Britain were also aected by Mercian expan- While Aldhelm was doing his work in Malmesbury, far
sionism. The East Saxons seem to have lost control of from him, up in the North of England, Bede was writing
London, Middlesex and Hertfordshire to thelbald, al- a large quantity of books, gaining a reputation in Europe
though the East Saxon homelands do not seem to have and showing that the English could write history and the-
been aected, and the East Saxon dynasty continued into ology, and do astronomical computation (for the dates of
the ninth century.[64] The Mercian inuence and reputa- Easter, among other things).
tion reached its peak when, in the late 8th century, the
most powerful European ruler of the age, the Frankish
king Charlemagne, recognised the Mercian King Oa's 3.3 West Saxon hegemony and the Anglo-
power and accordingly treated him with respect, even if Scandinavian Wars (793878)
this could have been just attery.[65]
Main articles: Viking Age and Danelaw
The 9th century saw the rise of Wessex, from the foun-
3.2 Learning and monasticism (660793) dations laid by King Egbert in the rst quarter of the cen-
tury to the achievements of King Alfred the Great in its
Michael Drout calls this period the Golden Age, when closing decades. The outlines of the story are told in
learning ourishes with a renaissance in classical knowl- the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, though the annals represent
edge. The growth and popularity of monasticism was not a West Saxon point of view.[73] On the day of Egberts
an entirely internal development, with inuence from the succession to the kingdom of Wessex, in 802, a Mercian
continent shaping Anglo-Saxon monastic life.[66] In 669 ealdorman from the province of the Hwicce had crossed
Theodore, a Greek-speaking monk originally from Tar- the border at Kempsford, with the intention of mount-
sus in Asia Minor, arrived in Britain to become the eighth ing a raid into northern Wiltshire; the Mercian force was
Archbishop of Canterbury. He was joined the following met by the local ealdorman, and the people of Wiltshire
year by his colleague Hadrian, a Latin-speaking African had the victory.[74] In 829 Egbert went on, the chron-
by origin and former abbot of a monastery in Campania icler reports, to conquer the kingdom of the Mercians
(near Naples).[67] One of their rst tasks at Canterbury and everything south of the Humber.[75] It was at this
was the establishment of a school; and according to Bede point that the chronicler chose to attach Egberts name
(writing some sixty years later), they soon attracted a to Bedes list of seven overlords, adding that he was the
crowd of students into whose minds they daily poured eighth king who was Bretwalda.[76] Simon Keynes sug-
the streams of wholesome learning.[68] As evidence of gests Egberts foundation of a 'bipartite' kingdom is cru-
their teaching, Bede reports that some of their students, cial as it stretched across southern England, and it cre-
3.3 West Saxon hegemony and the Anglo-Scandinavian Wars (793878) 7
posed by a local army. After four years, the Scandina- was Gregory the Greats Cura Pastoralis (Pastoral Care).
vians therefore split up, some to settle in Northumbria This is a priests guide on how to care for people. Alfred
and East Anglia, the remainder to try their luck again on took this book as his own guide on how to be a good king
the Continent.[75] to his people; hence, a good king to Alfred increases lit-
eracy. Alfred translated this book himself and explains
in the preface:
3.4 King Alfred and the rebuilding (878
899) ...When I had learned it I translated it into
English, just as I had understood it, and as I
could most meaningfully render it. And I will
send one to each bishopric in my kingdom, and
in each will be an stel worth fty mancuses.
And I command in Gods name that no man
may take the stel from the book nor the book
from the church. It is unknown how long there
may be such learned bishops as, thanks to God,
are nearly everywhere.(Preface: Gregory the
Greats Pastoral Care)[81]
However charters, law-codes and coins supply detailed in- who Simon Keynes calls the towering gure in the land-
formation on various aspects of royal government, and the scape of the tenth century.[87] His victory over a coali-
surviving works of Anglo-Latin and vernacular literature, tion of his enemies Constantine, King of the Scots,
as well as the numerous manuscripts written in the 10th Egan of Strathclyde, and Olaf Guthfrithson, King of
century, testify in their dierent ways to the vitality of Dublin at the battle of Brunanburh, celebrated by a fa-
ecclesiastical culture. Yet as Simon Keynes suggests it mous poem in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, opened the
does not follow that the 10th century is better understood way for him to be hailed as the rst king of England.[88]
than more sparsely documented periods.[84] thelstans legislation shows how the king drove his of-
cials to do their respective duties. He was uncompro-
mising in his insistence on respect for the law. How-
4.1 Reform and formation of England ever this legislation also reveals the persistent diculties
(899978) which confronted the king and his councillors in bring-
ing a troublesome people under some form of control.
His claim to be king of the English was by no means
widely recognised.[89] The situation was complex: the
Hiberno-Norse rulers of Dublin still coveted their inter-
ests in the Danish kingdom of York; terms had to be
made with the Scots, who had the capacity not merely
to interfere in Northumbrian aairs, but also to block a
line of communication between Dublin and York; and the
inhabitants of northern Northumbria were considered a
law unto themselves. It was only after twenty years of
crucial developments following thelstans death in 939
that a unied kingdom of England began to assume its
familiar shape. However, the major political problem
for Edmund and Eadred, who succeeded thelstan, re-
mained the diculty of subjugating the north.[90] In 959
Edgar is said to have succeeded to the kingdom both in
Wessex and in Mercia and in Northumbria, and he was
then 16 years old (ASC, version 'B', 'C'), and is called
the Peacemaker.[90] By the early 970s, after a decade of
Edgars 'peace', it may have seemed that the kingdom of
Silver brooch imitating a coin of Edward the Elder, c. 920, found England was indeed made whole. In his formal address
in Rome, Italy. British Museum. to the gathering at Winchester the king urged his bish-
ops, abbots and abbesses to be of one mind as regards
During the course of the 10th century, the West Saxon monastic usage . . . lest diering ways of observing the
kings extended their power rst over Mercia, then into the customs of one Rule and one country should bring their
southern Danelaw, and nally over Northumbria, thereby holy conversation into disrepute.[91]
imposing a semblance of political unity on peoples, who Athelstans court had been an intellectual incubator. In
nonetheless would remain conscious of their respective that court were two young men named Dunstan and
customs and their separate pasts. The prestige, and in- thelwold who were made priests, supposedly at the in-
deed the pretensions, of the monarchy increased, the sistence of Athelstan, right at the end of his reign in
institutions of government strengthened, and kings and 939.[92] Between 970 and 973 a council was held, under
their agents sought in various ways to establish social the aegis of Edgar, where a set of rules were devised that
order.[85] This process started with Edward the Elder would be applicable throughout England. This put all the
who with his sister, theld, Lady of the Mercians, monks and nuns in England under one set of detailed cus-
initially, charters reveal, encouraged people to purchase toms for the rst time. In 973, Edgar received a special
estates from the Danes, thereby to reassert some degree second, 'imperial coronation' at Bath, and from this point
of English inuence in territory which had fallen under England was ruled by Edgar under the strong inuence of
Danish control. David Dumville suggests that Edward Dunstan, Athelwold, and Oswald, the Bishop of Worces-
may have extended this policy by rewarding his support- ter.
ers with grants of land in the territories newly conquered
from the Danes, and that any charters issued in respect of
such grants have not survived.[86] When Atheld died, 4.2 Athelred and the return of the Scandi-
Mercia was absorbed by Wessex. From that point on navians (9781016)
there was no contest for the throne, so the house of Wes-
sex became the ruling house of England.[85] The reign of King thelred the Unready witnessed the
Edward the Elder was succeeded by his son thelstan, resumption of Viking raids on England, putting the coun-
10 4 LATE ANGLO-SAXON HISTORY (8991066)
try and its leadership under strains as severe as they were women practiced at beer parties.[98]
long sustained. Raids began on a relatively small scale In April 1016 thelred died of illness, leaving his son
in the 980s, but became far more serious in the 990s, and successor Edmund Ironside to defend the country.
and brought the people to their knees in 100912, when The nal struggles were complicated by internal dissen-
a large part of the country was devastated by the army sion, and especially by the treacherous acts of Ealdorman
of Thorkell the Tall. It remained for Swein Forkbeard, Eadric of Mercia, who opportunistically changed sides to
king of Denmark, to conquer the kingdom of England in Cnuts party. After the defeat of the English in the battle
101314, and (after thelreds restoration) for his son of Assandun in October 1016, Edmund and Cnut agreed
Cnut to achieve the same in 101516. The tale of these
to divide the kingdom so that Edmund would rule Wessex
years incorporated in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle must be and Cnut Mercia, but Edmund died soon after his defeat
read in its own right,[93] and set beside other material
in November 1016, making it possible for Cnut to seize
which reects in one way or another on the conduct of power over all England.[99]
government and warfare during thelreds reign.[94] It
is this evidence which is the basis for Simon Keyness
view that the king lacked the strength, judgement and
resolve to give adequate leadership to his people in a
4.3 Conquest England: Danes and Nor-
time of grave national crisis; who soon found out that mans (10161066)
he could rely on little but the treachery of his military
commanders; and who, throughout his reign, tasted noth- In the 11th century, there were two conquests and some
ing but the ignominy of defeat. The raids exposed ten- Anglo-Saxon people would live through both: one in the
sions and weaknesses which went deep into the fabric of aftermath of the conquest of Cnut in 1016; the second
the late Anglo-Saxon state and it is apparent that events after that of William of Normandy in 1066. The con-
proceeded against a background more complex than the sequences of each conquest can only be assessed with
chronicler probably knew. It seems, for example, that the hindsight. In 1016, no-one was to know that whatever
death of Bishop thelwold in 984 had precipitated fur- cultural ramications were felt then, they would be sub-
ther reaction against certain ecclesiastical interests; that sumed half a century later; and in 1066 there was nothing
by 993 the king had come to regret the error of his ways, to predict that the eects of Williams conquest would be
leading to a period when the internal aairs of the king- any greater or more lasting than those of Cnuts.
dom appear to have prospered.[95] In this period and beyond the Ango-Saxon culture is
changing. Politically and chronologically, the texts of this
period are not 'Anglo-Saxon'; linguistically, those written
in English (as opposed to Latin or French, the other of-
cial written languages of the period) are moving away
from the late West Saxon standard that is called 'Old En-
glish'. Yet neither are they 'Middle English'; moreover,
as Treharne explains, for around three quarters of this
period, there is barely any 'original' writing in English at
all. These factors have led to a gap in scholarship imply-
ing a discontinuity either side of the Norman Conquest,
however this assumption is being challenged.[100]
Cnuts 'Quatrefoil' type penny with the legend CNUT REX AN- At rst sight, there would seem little to debate. Cnut
GLORU[M]" (Cnut, King of the English), struck in London by appears to have adopted wholeheartedly the traditional
the moneyer Edwin. role of Anglo-Saxon kingship.[101] However an examina-
tion of the laws, homilies, wills, and charters dating from
The increasingly dicult times brought on by the Viking this period suggests that as a result of widespread aristo-
attacks are reected in both lfric's and Wulfstan's cratic death and the fact that Cnut did not systematically
works, but most notably in Wulfstans erce rhetoric in introduce a new landholding class, major and perma-
the Sermo Lupi ad Anglos, dated to 1014.[96] Malcolm nent alterations occurred in the Saxon social and political
Godden suggests that ordinary people saw the return of structures.[102] Eric John has remarked that for Cnut the
the Vikings, as the imminent expectation of the apoca- simple diculty of exercising so wide and so unstable an
lypse, and this was given voice in lfric and Wulfstan empire made it necessary to practice a delegation of au-
writings,[97] which is similar to that of Gildas and Bede. thority against every tradition of English kingship.[103]
Raids were signs of God punishing his people, lfric The disappearance of the aristocratic families which had
refers to people adopting the customs of the Danish and traditionally played an active role in the governance of
exhorts people not to abandon the native customs on be- the realm, coupled with Cnuts choice of thegnly advisors,
half of the Danish ones, and then requests a 'brother Ed- put an end to the balanced relationship between monar-
ward', to try to put an end to a 'shameful habit' of drinking chy and aristocracy so carefully forged by the West Saxon
and eating in the outhouse, which some of the country- Kings.
11
Edward became king in 1042, and given his upbringing wear micel wl geslgen on gre healfe.
might have been considered a Norman by those who lived r wear ofslgen Harold kyng, Leofwine
across the English Channel. Following Cnuts reforms, eorl his broor, Gyr eorl his broor, fela go-
excessive power was concentrated in the hands of the ri- dra manna, a Frencyscan ahton wlstowe
val houses of Leofric of Mercia and Godwine of Wes- geweald.
sex. Problems also came for Edward from the resentment
caused by the kings introduction of Norman friends. A Then came William, the Earl of Nor-
crisis arose in 1051 when Godwine deed the kings or- mandy, into Pevensey on the evening of
der to punish the men of Dover, who had resisted an at- St.Michaels mass, and soon as his men
tempt by Eustace of Boulogne to quarter his men on them were ready, they built a fortress at Hastings
by force.[104] The support of Earl Leofric and Earl Si- port.This was told to King Harold, and he
ward enabled Edward to secure the outlawry of Godwine gathered then a great army and come towards
and his sons; and William of Normandy paid Edward a them at the Hoary Apple Tree, and William
visit during which Edward may have promised William came upon him unawares before his folk were
succession to the English throne, although this Norman ready. But the king nevertheless withstood him
claim may have been mere propaganda. Godwine and his very strongly with ghting with those men who
sons came back the following year with a strong force, would follow him, and there was a great slaugh-
and the magnates were not prepared to engage them in ter on either side. Then Harald the King was
civil war but forced the king to make terms. Some un- slain, and Leofwine the Earl, his brother, and
popular Normans were driven out, including Archbishop Gyrth, and many good men, and the French-
Robert, whose archbishopric was given to Stigand; this men held the place of slaughter.[105]
act supplied an excuse for the Papal support of Williams
cause.[104]
5 After the Norman Conquest
Following the conquest, the Anglo-Saxon nobility were
either exiled or joined the ranks of the peasantry.[106]
It has been estimated that only about 8 per cent of
the land was under Anglo-Saxon control by 1087.[107]
Many Anglo-Saxon nobles ed to Scotland, Ireland, and
Scandinavia.[108][109] The Byzantine Empire became a
popular destination for many Anglo-Saxon soldiers, as
the Byzantines were in need of mercenaries.[110] The
Anglo-Saxons became the predominant element in the
elite Varangian Guard, hitherto a largely North Germanic
unit, from which the emperors bodyguard was drawn
and continued to serve the empire until the early 15th
century.[111] However, the population of England at home
Depiction of the Battle of Hastings (1066) on the Bayeux
remained largely Anglo-Saxon; for them, little changed
Tapestry
immediately except that their Anglo-Saxon lord was re-
placed by a Norman lord.[112]
The fall of England and the Norman Conquest is a multi-
generational, multi-family succession problem caused in The chronicler Orderic Vitalis (1075 c. 1142), himself
great part by Athelreds incompetence. By the time the product of an Anglo-Norman marriage, wrote: And
William from Normandy, sensing an opportunity, landed so the English groaned aloud for their lost liberty and plot-
his invading force in 1066, the elite of Anglo-Saxon Eng- ted ceaselessly to nd some way of shaking o a yoke that
[113]
land had changed, although much of the culture and so- was so intolerable and unaccustomed. The inhabi-
ciety had stayed the same. tants of the North and Scotland never warmed to the Nor-
mans following the Harrying of the North (10691070),
a com Wyllelm eorl of Normandige into where William, according to the Anglo Saxon Chronicle
Pefnesea on Sancte Michles mssefen, sona utterly ravaged and laid waste that shire.[114]
s hi fere wron, worhton castel t Hstin- Many Anglo-Saxon people needed to learn Norman
gaport. is wear a Harolde cynge gecydd, he French to communicate with their rulers, but it is clear
gaderade a mycelne here, com him togenes t that among themselves they kept speaking Old English,
re haran apuldran, Wyllelm him com ongean which meant that England was in an interesting tri-lingual
on unwr, r is folc gefylced wre. Ac se situation: Anglo-Saxon for the common people, Latin for
kyng eah him swie heardlice wi feaht mid the Church, and Norman French for the administrators,
am mannum e him gelstan woldon, r the nobility, and the law courts. In this time, and due to
12 6 LIFE AND SOCIETY
sons suspected of disaection. and so would probably have agreed that there is a limit
By 800 only ve Anglo-Saxon kingdoms are denitely to the extent one can understand why one kingdom failed
known to have been still in existence, and a number of while another succeeded.[130] They also believed in 'des-
British kingdoms in the west of the country had disap- tiny' and interpreted the fate of the kingdom of England
peared as well. The major kingdoms had grown through with Biblical and Carolingian ideology, with parallels, be-
absorbing smaller principalities and the means through tween the Israelites, the great European empires and the
which they did it and the character their kingdoms ac- Anglo-Saxons. Danish and Norman conquests were just
quired as a result are one of the major themes of the the manner in which God punished his sinful people and
the fate of great empires.[85]
Middle Saxon period. Beowulf, for all its heroic content,
clearly makes the point that economic and military suc-
cess were intimately linked. A 'good' king was a generous
king who through his wealth won the support which would
6.2 Religion and the church
[125]
ensure his supremacy over other kingdoms. King Al-
freds digressions in his translation of Boethius Consola-
tion of Philosophy, provided these observations about the
resources which every king needed:
the Danes made a surprise attack on Alfred at Chippen- tles frequently. If this is not solely due to the deciencies
ham after Twelfth Night. Alfred retreated to Athelney of the sources, it would make England a special case. Bat-
'after Easter' and then seven weeks after Easter mustered tle was risky and best avoided unless all the factors were
an army at Egberts stone.[140] It is not dicult to imag- on your side. But if you were in a position so advanta-
ine that Alfred sent out word to the ealdormen of Som- geous that you were willing to take the chance, it is likely
erset, Wiltshire and Hampshire, and to the reeves, to call that your enemy would be in such a weak position that
his men to arms. This may explain the delay, and it is he would avoid battle and pay tribute. Unless, of course,
probably no more than coincidence that the army mus- he was Bedes Oswald and trusted in God. Anyway, bat-
tered at the beginning of May, a time when there would tle put the princes lives at risk, as is demonstrated by the
have been sucient grass for the horses. There is also Northumbrian and Mercian overlordships brought to an
information about the mustering of eets in the eleventh end by a defeat in the eld. Gillingham has shown how
Century. From 992 to 1066 eets were assembled at Lon- few pitched battles successful Charlemagne and Richard
don, or returned to the city at the end of their service, on I chose to ght.[145]
several occasions. Where they took up Station depended A defensive strategy becomes more apparent in the later
on the quarter from which a threat was expected: Sand-
part of Alfreds reign. It was built around the possession
wich if invasion was expected from the north, or the Isle of fortied places and the close pursuit of the Danes to ha-
of Wight if it was from Normandy.[141] rass them and impede their preferred occupation of plun-
Once they left home these armies and eets had to be dering. Alfred and his lieutenants were able to ght the
supplied, not only with food and clothing for the men but Danes to a standstill by their repeated ability to pursue
also forage for the horses which gave them mobility and and closely besiege them in fortied camps at Notting-
were tting to their Station. Yet if armies of the seventh ham, Wareham, Exeter, Chippenham, Rochester, Mil-
and eighth centuries were accompanied by servants and ton, Appledore, Thorney, Buttington, Chester and Hert-
a supply train of lesser free men, Alfred found these ar- ford. It was only in the later part of Edward the Elders
rangements insucient to defeat the Vikings. One of his reign that we see a type of war which a twelfth Century
reforms, if he was responsible for them, was to divide soldier would have recognised. In this phase of the war
his military resources into three. One part manned the the West Saxons conquered land by building and hold-
burhs and found the permanent garrisons which would ing burhs from which to threaten and dominate Danish
make it impossible for the Danes to overrun Wessex, al- territory. The fortication of sites at Witham, Bucking-
though they would also take to the eld when extra sol- ham, Towcester and Colchester persuaded the Danes of
diers were needed. The remaining two would take it in the surrounding regions to submit.[146] The key to this
turns to serve. They were allocated a xed term of Service warfare was sieges and the control of fortied places. It is
and brought the necessary provisions with them. This clear that the new fortresses had permanent garrisons, and
arrangement did not always function perfectly. On one that they were supported by the inhabitants of the existing
occasion a division on Service went home in the middle burhs when danger threatened. This is brought out most
of blockading a Danish army on Thorney Island, its pro- clearly in the description of the campaigns of 917 in the
visions consumed and its term expired, before the king Chronicle, but throughout the conquest of the Danelaw
came to relieve them.[142] This method of division and ro- by Edward and theld it is clear that a sophisticated
tation remained in force right up to 1066. In 917, when and coordinated strategy was being applied.[147]
armies from Wessex and Mercia were in the eld from There was another means of dealing with military issues.
early April until November, one division went home and In 973 a single currency was introduced into England in
another took over. Again, in 1052 when Edwards eet order to bring about political unication, but by concen-
was waiting at Sandwich to intercept Godwines return, trating bullion production at many coastal mints, the new
the ships returned to London to take on new earls and rulers of England created a honey-pot which attracted
crews.[141] The importance of supply, vital to military a new wave of Viking invasions, which came close to
success, was appreciated even if it was taken for granted breaking up the kingdom of the English. From 980 on-
and features only incidentally in the sources.[143] wards the Anglo -Saxon Chronicle records renewed raid-
Military training and strategy are two important matters ing against England . At rst the raids were probing ven-
on which the sources are more than usually silent. There tures by small numbers of ships crews, but soon grew
are no references in literature or laws to men training, and in size and eect, until the only way of dealing with the
so it is necessary to fall back on inference. For the noble Vikings appeared to be to pay protection money to buy
warrior, his childhood was of rst importance in learning them o: And in that year [991] it was determined that
both individual military skills and the teamwork essen- tribute should rst be paid to the Danish men because of
tial for success in battle. Perhaps the games the youthful the great terror they were causing along the coast. The
Cuthbert played ('wrestling, jumping, running, and every rst payment was 10,000 pounds.[148] The payment of
other exercise') had some military signicance.[144] Turn- Danegeld had to be underwritten by a huge balance of
ing to strategy, of the period before Alfred the evidence payments surplus; this could only be achieved by stim-
gives the Impression that Anglo-Saxon armies fought bat- ulating exports and cutting imports, itself accomplished
16 6 LIFE AND SOCIETY
through currency devaluation. This aected everyone in denition of the principal estate whose structures Hope-
the Kingdom. Taylor excavated.[150] One characteristic that the kings
tun shared with some other groups of places is that it was
a point of public assembly. People came together not
6.4 Settlements and working life only to give the king and his entourage board and lodging;
they 'attended upon the king' in order to have disputes set-
tled, cases appealed, lands granted, gifts given, appoint-
ments made, laws promulgated, policy debated, and am-
bassadors heard and replied to. People also assembled for
other reasons, such as to hold fairs and to trade.[151]
The rst creations of towns are linked to a system of spe-
cialism at individual settlements, which is evidenced in
studying place-names. Sutterton, 'shoe-makers tun' (in
the area of the Danelaw such places are Sutterby) was so-
named because local circumstances allowed the growth of
a craft recognised by the people of surrounding places.
Similarly with Sapperton, the 'soap-makers tun. While
Boultham, the 'meadow with burdock plants, may well
Panorama of the reconstructed 7th century village have developed a specialism in the production of burrs for
wool-carding, since meadows with burdock merely grow-
The third aspect of Alfreds society is the working man. ing in them must have been relatively numerous. From
Helena Hamerow suggest the prevailing model of work- places named for their services or location within a sin-
ing life and settlement, particularly for the early period, as gle district, a category of which the most obvious per-
one of shifting settlement and building tribal kinship. The haps are the Eastons and Westons, it is possible to move
mid-Saxon period saw diversication, the development of outwards to glimpse component settlements within larger
enclosures, the beginning of the toft system, closer man- economic units. Names betray some role within a system
agement of livestock, the gradual spread of the mould- of seasonal pasture, Winderton in Warwickshire is the
board plough, 'informally regular plots and a greater per- winter tun and various Somertons are self-explanatory.
manence, with further settlement consolidation thereafter Hardwicks are dairy farms and Swinhopes the valleys
foreshadowing post-Conquest villages. The later periods where pigs were pastured.[152]
saw a proliferation of 'service features including barns,
mills and latrines, most markedly on high-status sites. Settlement patterns as well as village plans in England
Throughout the Anglo-Saxon period as Helena Hamerow fall into two great categories: scattered farms and home-
suggests: local and extended kin groups remained...the steads in upland and woodland Britain, nucleated villages
essential unit of production. This is very noticeable in across a swathe of central England.[153] The chronology
the early period. However, by the tenth and eleventh cen- of nucleated villages is much debated and not yet clear.
turies, the rise of the manor and its signicance in terms Yet there is strong evidence to support the view that nu-
of both settlement and the management of land, which cleation occurred in the tenth century or perhaps the
becomes very evident in the Domesday Book.[149] ninth, and was a development parallel to the growth of
towns.[154]
The collection of buildings discovered at Yeavering,
formed part of an Anglo-Saxon royal vill or kings tun.
These 'tun' consisted of a series of buildings designed to 6.5 Women, children and slaves
provide short-term accommodation for the king and his
household. It is thought that the king would have trav- Alfreds view of his society overlooks certain classes of
elled throughout his land dispensing justice and authority people. The main division in Anglo-Saxon society was
and collecting rents from his various estates. Such vis- between slave and free. Both groups were hierarchi-
its would be periodic and it is likely that he would visit cally structured, with several classes of freemen and many
each royal villa only once or twice a year. The Latin term types of slaves. These varied at dierent times and in dif-
villa regia which Bede used of the site suggests an es- ferent areas, but the most prominent ranks within free so-
tate centre as the functional heart of a territory held in ciety were the king, the nobleman or thegn, and the ordi-
the Kings demesne. The territory is the land whose sur- nary freeman or ceorl. They were dierentiated primar-
plus production is taken into the centre as food-render to ily by the value of their wergild or 'man price', which was
support the king and his retinue on their periodic visits not only the amount payable in compensation for homi-
as part of a progress around the kingdom. This territorial cide (see above, section 2), but was also used as the basis
model, known as a multiple estate or shire has been devel- for other legal formulations such as the value of the oath
oped in a range of studies and Colm O'Brien, in applying that they could swear in a court of law. Slaves had no
this to Yeavering has proposed a geographical denition wergild, as oences against them were taken to be of-
of the wider shire of Yeavering and also a geographical fences against their owners, but the earliest laws set out a
17
essentially conservative.
From, the monastic revival of the second half of the
tenth century only a few documented buildings sur-
vive or have been excavated, for example: the abbeys
of Glastonbury; Old Minster, Winchester; Romsey;
Cholsey; and Peterborough Cathedral. The majority of
churches that have been described as Anglo-Saxon fall
into the period between the late 10th century and the early
12th. During this period many settlements were rst pro-
vided with stone churches, but timber also continued to
be used; the best wooden survival is Greensted Church in
Essex, no earlier than the 9th century, and no doubt typ-
ical of many parish churches. On the Continent during Shoulder clasp (closed) from the Sutton Hoo ship-burial 1, Eng-
the eleventh century was developed a group of interre- land. British Museum.
lated Romanesque styles, associated with the rebuilding
of many churches on a grand scale, made possible by a
general advance in architectural technology and mason- rials, above all gold and garnets, reecting the growing
craft.[167] prosperity of a more organised society which had greater
The rst fully Romanesque church in England was Ed- access to imported precious materials, as seen in the
ward the Confessors rebuilding of Westminster Abbey buckle from the Taplow burial and the jewellery from that
(c.1050s and following), while the main development of at Sutton Hoo,[171] c.600 and c.625 respectively. The pos-
the style only followed the Norman Conquest. However, sible symbolism of the decorative elements like interlace
at Stow Minster the crossing piers of the early 1050s are and beast forms that were used in these early works re-
clearly 'proto-Romanesque'. A more decorative interpre- mains unclear, it is clear. These objects were the prod-
tation of Romanesque in lesser churches can be dated ucts of a society that invested its modest surpluses in per-
only somewhere between the mid and late 11th century, sonal display, who fostered craftsmen and jewellers of a
e.g. Hadstock (Essex), Clayton and Sompting (Sussex); high standard, and a society where the possession of a
this style continued towards the end of the century as ne brooch or buckle was a valuable status symbol and
at Milborne Port (Somerset). At St Augustines Abbey possible tribal emblem in death as much as in life.[172]
in Canterbury c.104861 Abbot Wulfric aimed to retain The Staordshire Hoard is the largest hoard of Anglo-
the earlier churches while linking them with an octag- Saxon gold and silver metalwork yet found. Discovered in
onal rotunda: but the concept was still essentially Pre- a eld near the village of Hammerwich, near Licheld, in
Romanesque. Anglo-Saxon churches of all periods would Staordshire, England, it consists of over 3,500 items[173]
have been embellished with a range of arts,[169] including that are nearly all martial in character and contains no ob-
wall-paintings, some stained glass, metalwork and stat- jects specic to female uses.[174][175] It demonstrates that
ues. considerable quantities of high-grade goldsmiths work
were in circulation among the elite during the 7th cen-
tury. It also shows that, superb though individual pieces
7.2 Art may be in terms of craftsmanship, the value of such items
as currency and their potential roles as tribute or the spoils
Main article: Anglo-Saxon art
of war could, in a warrior society, outweigh appreciation
of their integrity and artistry.[151]
Early Anglo-Saxon art, as it survives, is seen mostly in The coming of Christianity revolutionised the visual arts,
decorated jewellery, like brooches, buckles, beads and as well as other aspects of society. Art had to full new
wrist-clasps, some of outstanding quality. Characteris- functions, and whereas pagan art was abstract, Christian-
tic of the 5th century is the quoit brooch with motifs ity required images clearly representing subjects. The
based on crouching animals, as seen on the silver quoit transition between the Christian and pagan traditions
brooch from Sarre, Kent. While the origins of this style is occasionally apparent in 7th century works; exam-
are disputed, it is either an oshoot of provincial Romanples include the Crundale buckle[171] and the Canterbury
art, Frank, or Jute art. One style ourished from the late
pendant.[176] In addition to fostering metalworking skills,
5th century, and continued throughout the 6th, and is on Christianity stimulated stone sculpture and manuscript il-
many square-headed brooches, it is characterised by chip-lumination. In these Germanic motifs, such as interlace
carved patterns based on animals and masks. A dierent and animal ornament along with Celtic spiral patterns, are
style, which gradually superseded it is dominated by ser-juxtaposed with Christian imagery and Mediterranean
pentine beasts with interlacing bodies.[170] decoration, notably vine-scroll. The Ruthwell Cross,
By the later 6th century the best works from the south- Bewcastle Cross and Easby Cross are leading Northum-
east are distinguished by greater use of expensive mate- brian examples of the Anglo-Saxon version of the Celtic
20 7 CULTURE
tres of manuscript art in the second half of the 10th cen- occurred in the rst and second persons only and referred
tury: they developed colourful paintings with lavish foli- to groups of two.
ate borders, and coloured line drawings. Some of the characteristics of the language were: adjec-
By the early 11th century, these two traditions had fused tives, pronouns and (sometimes) participles that agreed
and had spread to other centres. Though manuscripts with their antecedent nouns in case, number and gen-
dominate the corpus, sucient architectural sculpture, der; nite verbs that agreed with their subject in per-
ivory carving and metalwork survives to show that the son and number; and nouns that came in numerous
same styles were current in secular art, and became declensions (with deep parallels in Latin, Ancient Greek
widespread in the south at parochial level. The wealth of and Sanskrit). Verbs came in nine main conjugations
England in the later tenth and eleventh century is clearly (seven strong and two weak), each with numerous sub-
reected in the lavish use of gold in manuscript art as types, as well as a few additional smaller conjugations and
well as for vessels, textiles and statues (now known only a handful of irregular verbs. The main dierence from
from descriptions). Widely admired, southern English art other ancient Indo-European languages, such as Latin, is
was highly inuential in Normandy, France and Flanders that verbs can be conjugated in only two tenses (vs. the six
from c.1000.[187] Indeed, keen to possess it, or recover tenses really tense/aspect combinations of Latin),
its materials, the Normans appropriated it in large quan- and have no synthetic passive voice (although it did still
tities in the wake of the Conquest. The Bayeux Tapestry, exist in Gothic). Gender in nouns was grammatical, as
probably designed by a Canterbury artist for Bishop Odo opposed to the natural gender that prevails in modern En-
of Bayeux, is arguably the swansong of Anglo-Saxon art. glish.
Surveying nearly 600 years of continuous change, three Many linguists believe that Old English received lit-
common strands stand out: lavish colour and rich materi- tle inuence from the local insular languages especially
als; an interplay between abstract ornament and represen- Common Brittonic (the language that may have been the
tational subject matter; and a fusion of art styles reects majority language in Lowland Britain). Linguists such
England was linked in the 11th century.[188] as Richard Coates have suggested there could not have
been meaningful contact between the languages, which is
7.3 Language reasonable argued from the small amount of loanwords.
Recently a number of linguists have argued that many of
Main article: Old English the grammar changes observed in English were due to a
Old English (nglisc, Anglisc, Englisc) or Anglo-Saxon Brythonic inuence. John McWhorter suggests that the
language changes seen later in English were always there
in vernacular speech and this was not written, especially
since those who did the writing were educated individu-
als that most likely spoke a standard form of Old English.
The speech of an illiterate ceorl, on the other hand, can
not be reconstructed.[189] The progressive nature of this
language acquisition, and the 'retrospective reworking' of
kinship ties to the dominant group led, ultimately, to the
myths which tied the entire society to immigration as an
explanation of their origins in Britain.[190]
What survives through writing represents primarily the
register of Anglo-Saxon, and this is most often in the
The rst lines of the poem, the Wanderer West Saxon dialect. Little is known about the everyday
spoken language of people living in the migration period.
is the early form of the English language that was spo- Old English is a contact language and it is hard to recon-
ken and written by the Anglo-Saxons and their descen- struct the pidgin used in this period from the written lan-
dants in parts of what are now England and southern guage found in the West Saxon literature of some 400
and eastern Scotland between at least the mid-5th cen- years later. Two general theories are proposed regard-
tury and the mid-12th century. Old English is a West ing why people changed their language to Old English
Germanic language closely related to Old Frisian and (or an early form of such): either, a person or household
Old Saxon. It had a grammar similar in many ways to changed so as to serve an elite; or, a person or house-
Classical Latin. In most respects, including its gram- hold changed through choice as it provided some advan-
mar, it was much closer to modern German and Icelandic tage economically or legally.[191] Over time, Old English
than to modern English. It was fully inected with developed into four major dialects: Northumbrian, spo-
ve grammatical cases (nominative, accusative, genitive, ken north of the river Humber; Mercian, spoken in the
dative, and instrumental), three grammatical numbers Midlands; Kentish, spoken in Kent in the far southeast-
(singular, plural, and dual) and three grammatical gen- ern part of the island; and West Saxon, spoken in the
ders (masculine, feminine, and neuter). The dual forms southwest. All of these dialects have direct descendants
22 7 CULTURE
in modern England, and American regional dialects also macy did not survive his death.[196] Kings could not, ex-
have their roots in the dialects of Old English. Standard cept in exceptional circumstances, make new laws. Their
Modern English (if there is such a thing), or at least mod- role instead was to uphold and clarify previous custom
ern English spelling, owes most to the Mercian dialect, and to assure his subjects that he would uphold their an-
since that was the dialect of London.[192] cient privileges, laws, and customs. Although the person
Near the end of the Old English period the English lan- of the king as a leader could be exalted, the oce of king-
guage underwent a third foreign inuence, namely the ship was not in any sense as powerful or as invested with
Scandinavian inuence of Old Norse. In addition to a authority as it was to become. One of the tools kings used
was to tie themselves closely to the new Christian church;
great many place names, these consist mainly of items
of basic vocabulary, and words concerned with partic- through the practice of having a church leader anoint and
crown the king; God and king were joined in peoples
ular administrative aspects of the Danelaw (that is, the
area of land under Viking control, which included exten- minds.[197]
sive holdings all along the eastern coast of England and The ties of kinship meant that the relatives of a mur-
Scotland). The Scandinavians spoke Old Norse, a lan- dered person were obliged to exact vengeance for his or
guage related to Old English in that both derived from her death. This led to bloody and extensive feuds. As a
the same ancestral Proto-Germanic language. It is very way out of this deadly and futile custom the system of
common for the intermixing of speakers of dierent di- 'wergilds was instituted. The 'wergild' set a monetary
alects, such as those that occur during times of political value on each persons life according to their wealth and
unrest, to result in a mixed language, and one theory holdssocial status. This value could also be used to set the ne
that exactly such a mixture of Old Norse and Old English payable if a person was injured or oended against. Rob-
is thought to have accelerated the decline of case endings bing a thane called for a higher penalty than robbing a
in Old English.[193] The inuence of Old Norse on the ceorl. On the other hand, a thane who thieved could pay
lexicon of the English language has been profound: re- a higher ne than a ceorl who did likewise. Men were
sponsible for such basic vocabulary items as sky, leg, the willing to die for the lord and to support their 'comitatus;
pronoun they, the verb form are, and hundreds of other their warrior band. Evidence of this behavior (though it
words.[194] may be more a literary ideal than an actual social prac-
Nick Highham has provided a summary of the impor- tice), can be observed in the story, made famous in the
tance of language to the Anglo-Saxon culture: Anglo-Saxon Chronicle entry for 755, of Cynewulf and
Cyneheard, in which the followers of a defeated king de-
cided to ght to the death rather than be reconciled after
As Bede later implied, language was a key the death of their lord.[198]
indicator of ethnicity in early England. In cir-
cumstances where freedom at law, acceptance This emphasis on social standing aected all parts of the
with the kindred, access to patronage, and the Anglo-Saxon world. The courts, for example did not at-
use of possession of weapons were all exclusive tempt to discover the facts in a case; instead, in any dis-
to those who could claim Germanic descent, pute it was up to each party to get as many people as
then speaking Old English without Latin or possible to swear to the rightness of their case; oath-
Brittonic inection had considerable value. [1] swearing. The word of a thane counted for that of six
ceorls.[199] It was assumed that any person of good char-
acter would be able to nd enough people to swear to his
7.4 Kinship innocence that his case would prosper. Anglo-Saxon so-
ciety was also decidedly patriarchal, but women were in
Helena Hamerow has made an observation that in some ways better o than they would be in later times.
Anglo-Saxon society local and extended kin groups re- A woman could own property in her own right. She
mained...the essential unit of production throughout the could and did rule a kingdom if her husband died. She
Anglo-Saxon period. Local and extended kin groups could not be married without her consent and any per-
was a key aspect of Anglo-Saxon culture. Kinship fueled sonal goods, including lands, that she brought into a mar-
societal advantages, freedom and the relationships to an riage remained her own property. If she were injured or
elite, that allowed the Anglo-Saxons culture and language abused in her marriage
[200]
her relatives were expected to look
to ourish. [195] after her interests.
7.6 Literature and cut into sheets, which were sewn into books. Then
inks had to be made from oak galls and other ingredi-
Main article: Anglo-Saxon literature ents, and the books had to be hand written by monks
Old English literary works include genres such as epic using quill pens. Every manuscript is slightly dierent
poetry, hagiography, sermons, Bible translations, legal from every other one, even if they are copies of each
works, chronicles, mainly the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, other, because every scribe had dierent handwriting and
riddles and others. In all there are about 400 surviving made dierent errors. We can sometimes identify in-
manuscripts from the period, a signicant corpus of both dividual scribes from their handwriting, and we can of-
popular interest and specialist research. The manuscripts ten guess where manuscripts were written because dier-
use a modied Roman alphabet, but Anglo-Saxon runes ent scriptoria (centres of manuscript production) wrote in
or futhorc are used in under 200 inscriptions on objects, dierent styles of hand.[212]
sometimes mixed with Roman letters. There are four great poetic codices of Old English po-
This literature is remarkable for being in the vernacu- etry (a codex is a book in modern format, as opposed
lar (Old English) in the early medieval period: almost to a scroll): the Junius Manuscript, the Vercelli Book,
all other written literature was in Latin at this time, but the Exeter Book, and the Nowell Codex or Beowulf
due to Alfreds programme of vernacular literacy, the oral Manuscript; most of the well known lyric poems such
traditions of Anglo-Saxon England ended up being con- as The Wanderer, The Seafarer, Deor and The Ruin are
verted into writing and preserved. We owe much of this found in the Exeter Book, while the Vercelli Book has the
preservation to the monks of the tenth century, who made Dream of the Rood,[213] some of which is also carved on
at the very least the copies of most of the literary the Ruthwell Cross. The Franks Casket also has carved
manuscripts that still exist. Manuscripts were not com- riddles, a popular form with the Anglo-Saxons. Old En-
mon items. They were expensive and hard to make.[211] glish secular poetry is mostly characterized by a some-
First, cows or sheep had to be slaughtered and their skins what gloomy and introspective cast of mind, and the grim
tanned. Then people had to decide to use this leather for determination found in The Battle of Maldon, recounting
manuscripts rather than for any of the other things leather an action against the Vikings in 991. This is from a book
can be used for. The leather was then scraped, stretched, that was lost in the Cotton Library re of 1731, but it had
7.7 Symbolism 25
available for Anglo-Saxon beads including; amber, rock Throughout the history of the Anglo-Saxons studies pro-
crystal, amethyst, bone, shells, coral and even metal.[223] ducing a dispassionate narrative of the people has been
These beads are usually considered to have a social or dicult. In the early Middle Ages the views of Geof-
ritual function. Anglo-Saxon glass beads show a wide frey of Monmouth produced a personally inspired his-
variety of bead manufacturing techniques, sizes, shapes, tory that wasn't challenged for ve hundred years. In
colours and decorations. Various studies have been car- the reformation, churchman looking for signs of an En-
ried out investigating the distribution and chronological glish church reinterpreted Anglo-Saxon Christianity. In
change of bead types.[224][225] The crystal beads which the 19th century the term Anglo-Saxon was broadly used
appear on bead strings in the pagan Anglo-Saxon period in philology, and is sometimes so used at present. In Vic-
seems to have gone through various changes in meaning torian Britain, some writers such as Robert Knox, James
in the Christian period, which Gale Owen-Crocker sug- Anthony Froude, Charles Kingsley[230] and Edward A.
gests was linked to symbolism of the Virgin Mary, and Freeman[231] used the term Anglo-Saxon to justify racism
hence to intercession.[226] John Hines has suggested that and imperialism, claiming that the Anglo-Saxon an-
the over 2000 dierent types of beads found at Laken- cestry of the English made them racially superior to the
heath show that the beads symbolise identity, roles, status colonised peoples. Similar racist ideas were advocated in
and micro cultures within the tribal landscape of the early the 19th-century United States by Samuel George Morton
Anglo-Saxon world.[227] and George Fitzhugh.[232] These views have inuenced
Symbolism continued to have a hold on the minds of how versions of early English history are embedded in
Anglo-Saxon people into the Christian eras. The interiors the sub-conscious of people re-emerging in school text-
of churches would have glowed with colour, and the walls books and television programmes and still very congenial
of the halls were painted with decorative scenes from the to some strands of political thinking.[233]
imagination telling stories of monsters and heroes like The term Anglo-Saxon is sometimes used to refer to
those in the poem Beowulf. Although nothing much is peoples descended or associated in some way with the
left of the wall paintings, evidence of their pictorial art is English ethnic group, but there is no universal deni-
found in Bibles and Psalters, in illuminated manuscripts. tion for the term. In contemporary Anglophone cul-
The poem, 'The Dream of the Rood', is an example how tures outside Britain, Anglo-Saxon may be contrasted
symbolism of trees was fused into Christian symbolism. with Celtic as a socioeconomic identier, invoking
Richard North suggests that the sacrice of the tree was in or reinforcing historical prejudices against non-English
accordance with pagan virtues and the image of Christs British immigrants. "White Anglo-Saxon Protestant", i.e.
death was constructed in this poem with reference to an WASP, is a term especially popular in the United States
Anglian ideology of the world tree.[228] North suggests that refers chiey to old wealthy families with mostly En-
that the author of The Dream of the Rood uses the lan- glish ancestors. As such, WASP is not a historical la-
guage of the myth of Ingui in order to present the Pas- bel or a precise ethnological term, but rather a reference
sion to his newly Christianized countrymen as a story to contemporary family-based political, nancial and cul-
from their native tradition.[228] Furthermore, the trees tural power e.g., The Boston Brahmin. The French of-
triumph over death is celebrated by adorning the cross ten use Anglo-Saxon to refer to the combined power of
with gold and jewels. Britain and the US today.[234]
The most distinctive feature of coinage of the rst half Outside Anglophone countries, both in Europe and in
of the 8th century is its portrayal of animals, to an extent
the rest of the world, the term Anglo-Saxon and its di-
found in no other European coinage of the Early Middle rect translations are used to refer to the Anglophone
Ages. Some animals, such as lions or peacocks, would peoples and societies of Britain, the United States, and
have been known in England only through descriptions other countries such as Australia, Canada and New
in texts or through images in manuscripts or on portable Zealand areas which are sometimes referred to as the
objects. The animals were not merely illustrated out of Anglosphere. The term Anglo-Saxon can be used in a va-
an interest in the natural world. Each was imbued with riety of contexts, often to identify the English-speaking
meanings and acted as a symbol which would have been worlds distinctive language, culture, technology, wealth,
understood at the time.[229] markets, economy, and legal systems. Variations in-
clude the German Angelsachsen, French Anglo-
Saxon, Spanish anglosajn, Portuguese Anglo-
8 Contemporary meanings saxo, Russian "", Polish anglosaksoski,
Italian anglosassone, Catalan anglosax" and Japanese
Angurosakuson. As with the English-language use of
Anglo-Saxon in linguistics is still used as a term for the term, what constitutes the Anglo-Saxon varies from
the original West Germanic component of the modern speaker to speaker.
English language, which was later expanded and devel-
oped through the inuence of Old Norse and Norman
French, though linguists now more often refer to it as Old
English.
27
9 See also [3] Richard M. Hogg, ed. The Cambridge History of the En-
glish Language: Vol 1: the Beginnings to 1066 (1992)
Anglo-Frisian [4] Higham, Nicholas J., and Martin J. Ryan. The Anglo-
Saxon World. Yale University Press, 2013. pp. 7-19
Anglo-Saxon dress
[5] Hamerow, Helena. Rural Settlements and Society in Anglo-
Anglo-Saxon military organization
Saxon England. Oxford University Press, 2012. p166
Frisia [6] Sarah Knapton (18 March 2015). Britons still live in
Anglo-Saxon tribal kingdoms, Oxford University nds.
States in Medieval Britain
Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 19 March 2015.
Timeline of Anglo-Saxon settlement in Britain
[7] Higham & Ryan 2013:7"The Anglo-Saxon World
Staordshire Hoard [8] Hills, Catherine. Origins of the English. Duckworth Pub,
2003. p21
Modern concepts:
[9] Richter, Michael. Bedes Angli: Angles or English?.
Peritia 3.1 (1984): 99114.
English people
[10] SIMSWILLIAMS, Patrick. Gildas and the Anglo-
Anglo-Saxon economy Saxons. Cambridge Medieval Celtic Studies 6 (1983): 1
30.
[1] Throughout this article Anglo-Saxon is used for Saxon, [12] Procopius, History of the Wars, III.2.38
Angles, Jute, or Frisian unless it is specic to a point being
made; Anglo-Saxon is used when specically the culture [13] McKitterick, Rosamond. Paul the Deacon and the
is meant rather than any ethnicity. But, all these terms are Franks. Early Medieval Europe 8.3 (1999): 319339.
interchangeably used by scholars [14] Hills, Catherine. Origins of the English. Duckworth Pub,
[2] The delimiting dates vary; often cited are 410, date of 2003: 14
the Sack of Rome by Alaric I; and 751, the accession of
[15] Timofeeva, Olga. Of ledenum bocum to engliscum gere-
Pippin the Short and the establishment of the Carolingian
orde. Communities of Practice in the History of English
dynasty.
235 (2013): 201.
[3] There is much evidence for loosely managed and shift-
[16] Gates, Jay Paul. Ealles Englalandes Cyningc: Cnuts Ter-
ing cultivation and no evidence of top down structured
ritorial Kingship and Wulfstans Paronomastic Play.
landscape planning.
[17] Sawyer, Peter H. 1978. From Roman Britain to Norman
[4] Conrmation of this interpretation may come from Bedes
England. New York: St. Martins Press: 167
account of the battle of the river Winwd of 655, where
it is said that Penda of Mercia, overlord of all the southern [18] Ellis, Steven G. A View of the Irish Language: Language
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[19] Hills, Catherine. Origins of the English. Duckworth Pub,
[5] From its reference to Aldfrith, who now reigns peace- 2003: 15
fully it must date to between 685 and 704.[56]
[20] Denition of Vlkerwanderung - Collins English Dic-
[6] Oswiu of Northumbria (64270) only won authority over tionary.
the southern kingdoms after he defeated Penda at the bat-
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Brown, Michelle, The Lindisfarne Gospels and the Karkov, Catherine E., The Art of Anglo-Saxon Eng-
Early Medieval World (2010) land, 2011, Boydell Press, ISBN 1-84383-628-9,
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and Ireland, c. 200800, New York: St. Martins
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and Saxons, London: Council for British Archaeol-
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Giles, John Allen, ed. (1843a), Ecclesiastical His- opment in Early England, c. 400950 A.D., Green-
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of Venerable Bede II, London: Whittaker and Co.
Snyder, Christopher A. (1998), An Age of Tyrants:
(published 1843)
Britain and the Britons A.D. 400600, University
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Snyder, Christopher A. (2003), The Britons,
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898281-43-2 Wickham, Chris (2009), Kings Without States:
Britain and Ireland, 400800, The Inheritance of
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35
13 External links
Photos of over 600 items found in the Anglo-Saxon
Hoard in Staordshire Sept. 2009
Anglo-Saxon gold hoard September 2009: largest
ever hoard ocially declared treasure
Huge Anglo-Saxon gold hoard found, BBC News,
with photos.
Fides Angliarum Regum: the faith of the English
kings
Anglo-Saxon Origins: The Reality of the Myth by
Malcolm Todd
An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary
bowzom, George Ponderevo, Dainomite, Arminden, Nenniu, Minsbot, Jarps01, Smasongarrison, ChrisGualtieri, Alexm1991, Dexbot,
Hmainsbot1, Mogism, Thatcherfreund1, Newsailormon, Krakkos, Mark viking, Tango303, Iloilo Wanderer, Eagle3399, Atotalstranger,
JoshNEWK1998, Anarchistdy, Green daemon, BrightonC, Jayakumar RG, Bluma.Gelley, Biblioworm, Gamerprof, Yeowe, Loraof, Ap-
pleganza, KasparBot, WhisperedSong, EttuBruta and Anonymous: 816
14.2 Images
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reprinted 2007, pp. 317, 318), Haywoods Dark Age Naval Power (ISBN 1-898281-43-2, 1999, cemeteries on pp. 8486, 121, region of
Romanisation on p. 151), Lebecqs The Northern Seas (fth to eighth centuries) (in The New Cambridge Medieval History, Vol I c.500
c.700, ISBN 13-978-0-521-36291-7, 2005, p. 643), and Woods The Channel from the 4th to the 7th centuries AD in Carvers Maritime
Celts, Frisians and Saxons (ISBN 978-0906780930, pp 9397). The suggestion that settlements in Britain were made from the Bessin is
from Haywood (Vron, for example, was abandoned c. 450). Original artist: my work
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cense: CC BY-SA 3.0 Contributors: Own work Original artist: Hchc2009
38 14 TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES