The Anglo-Saxons

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Sutton Hoo

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Anglo-SaxonShip-Burial Site

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Burial site findings?

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uInhumation graves containing a man andhorse together, signifying an equestrian role, are known from England andGermanic Europe uMound 7 was the remains of a grandcremation, in which horse, cattle, red deer, sheep and pig had been burnt withthe deceased uAlthough the material evidences reveal that rituals were not identical in all of the sites, the association of these objects andthe ship in the grave shows animmediate connection between them

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Anglo-Saxon Culture

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uFishermen, farmersand marauders. Sought and won land so as to escape the nature of theirs.uHighly organised tribal systemuEach tribe ruled bya king. Four classes: Earls, freemen, serfs and slaves.uReintroduced paganism to Britain.Worshipped ancient German Gods such as Woden and Thunor.uAntagonistic towardBritish culture. Christian vs.pagan and coloniser vs. colonised. Offa's Dyke a sign of this

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A Anglo-Saxon Nation is Born?

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uReestablishment ofChristianity - Pope Gregory "Angels not Angles" - St Columba, St Augustine and St. Patrick. By 650, Augustinehad succeeded in converting most of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms to Christianity. uWhy did they agreeto be converted? Christianity, perhaps owing in part to its association withthe power of Rome, seemed more attractive than paganism. Literacy was alsoassociated with Rome and therefore was more desirable.uChristianity hadmany influences on the Anglo-Saxons. It softened the ferocity of the warriorpeople. It ‘improved’ their behaviour. Taking revenge on those who you believedhad wronged you became less important, whereas calling upon a higher law (thatof God) became more important. Society became more peaceful.uCeltic versus RomanChristianity.u664 Synod of Whitby.uChristian messageinterpreted in a Saxon way.uKing Offa (757-796), King of Mercia brutally acquired Sussex,Kent and East Anglia, while Wessex and Northumberland became passiveneighbours.uRecognised byCharlemagne as the ruler of all England, he built churches, encouragedliteracy, introduced widely accepted English currency. Constructed `Offa`s Dyke` protected his back. With peace existingbetween the various Saxon kingdoms and with Christianity bringing a return toliteracy, England seem to be finally emerging from the dark ages.u789, however, sawsome strange visitors turning up on the coast of Dorset, the Vikings.

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By 650, Augustine had succeeded in what?

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converting most of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms to Christianity.

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Why did the Anglo-saxons agree to be converted?

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Christianity, perhaps owing in part to its association with the power of Rome, seemed more attractive than paganism. Literacy was also associated with Rome and therefore was more desirable.

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British Culture with the anglo-saxons

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uAnglo-Saxonsadvanced – British culture in declineuBritish sufferedmilitary losses and retreated to Cornwall and Wales – the peripheries.uSome Britons wentto Ireland where they formed a distinctive groupnamed the Scots (after the Latin, Scotia, the name given by the Romans to Ireland). This group migratedback to Britain, eventually settling in what is now Scotland.uA culture inretreat often seeks compensation in the story of a warrior who will throw offthe yoke of the oppressor. For many Britons this was King Arthur (although the myth was not popularised until the 12th century by Geoffrey of Monmouth)