Anglo Saxons - Who Are They?

The Anglo-Saxons were Germanic tribes from northern Germany, Denmark and the Netherlands. When they originally came to the Island’s shores to invade in the 4th century the Romans and when they began to leave at the beginning of the 5th century they had not trained the British to defend themselves, so the next time the Saxons returned to invade they succeeded.

King Ecbert of Wessex

They sailed across the North Sea in their long ships, which had one sail and many oars. They made a series of attacks on different parts of the country over a period of years and under a number of leaders.

The Jutes or 'the Kentings' settled in Kent to the south-east. The Angles settled in East Anglia. The Saxons settled in the Kingdoms of Essex (East Saxons), Sussex (South Saxons), Middlesex (Middle Saxons), and Wessex (West Saxons) which each had its own royal family. The five main Anglo-Saxon kingdoms were Northumbria, Mercia, Wessex, Kent and Anglia.

Why did they want to settle in Britain? That question has been asked by many historians in the past but they believe that the Saxon warriors were invited to come to help keep out invaders from Scotland and Ireland. Another reason for coming may have been because their land often flooded and it was difficult to grow crops, so they were looking for new places to settle down and farm.

The Saxons were Pagans when they invaded and settled but, as time passed, they gradually converted to Christianity. Many of the customs we have in today come from pagan festivals.

Saxon gods like the celtic ones were responsible for a certain thing or people; Eostre was the Goddess of Birth while Hel was the Goddess of Death.

A Christian Saxon Monk

Why did they convert from Pagans to Christianity? The Pope in Rome sent a missionary, a monk called Augustine, to England to persuade them to become Christians. Augustine landed in the south and converted King Ethelbert of Kent, and then his people.

The Pope made Augustine a Bishop and Ethelbert allowed him to build a church in Canterbury. Christianity then spread to other parts of Britain and the pope gave orders that pagan temples should be converted into Christian ones and that pagan celebrations should also be made into Christian ones. Churches, usually built of wood, were built in Saxon villages all over Britain.

Soon Vikings discovered the West and began to pillage and plunder towns over Britain. Wessex was the only one of these kingdoms to survive the Vikings. Eric Bloodaxe, the Viking ruler of York, was killed by the Wessex army in 954 and England was united under one king - Edred.