During the last days of Roman Empire, raiders from northern Germany began to attack easter Britain.
More and more of them landed in the 400s and 500s. They belonged to various peoples known as Angles, Saxons, Juts and Frisians. We call them all Anglo-Saxons. Their speech became the English language, mixed with Celtic and Latin.
The Anglo-Saxon slowly conquered the southern and eastern lands of British Celts. Armed warriors may have carried long knife called a sax.
It took many years for the Anglo-Saxons to conquer much of the area known as England. They divided it into many separate kingdoms.
The invaders carried swords, axes and long knives.
They burned down Celtic villages and old Roman towns and set up many small kingdoms. They built small villages of rectangular thatched houses and lived by farming and fishing.
The first Christians in Britain were Romans and Britons.
The Anglo-Saxons still worshipped their own German gods such as Woden, god of war and wisdom. Then in 597 a monk called St Augustine set off from Rome to peach about Christ. He built a cathedral at Canterbury, in Kent.
Canterbury became the center of the Christian Church in England. A beautiful cathedral still stands there today.
King Alfred ruled the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Wessex from 871 o 899.
His army fought against a wave of new invaders, the Danes. Alfred became known as ‘Alfred te Great’ – a wise king who built many new towns.
A statue of Alfred the Great stands in Winchester, Hampshire.
ANGLO-SAXON QUIZ
Which group of Anglo-Saxons gave their names to which modern counties or regions in england?
- East Saxons
- West Saxons
- South Saxons
- East Angles
A. East Anglia
B. Sussex
C. Wessex
D. Essex
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