Anglo-Saxons

Anglo-Saxon is a term designating the Germanic peoples who invaded the south and east of Great Britain, from the beginning of the 5th century until the Norman conquest in the year 1066. The Anglo-Saxon era denotes the period of English history between about the year 550 and the Norman Conquest. In addition , the term is used to denote the language now called Old English , spoken and written by the Anglo-Saxons and their descendants in much of what is now England and the southeastern part of Scotland between the middle of the 5th century and the middle of the 12th century .

The Benedictine monk Bede wrote in the early 8th century identifying the English as descendants of three Germanic tribes :

• The Angles, who came from Anglia (in modern Germany); Bede wrote that his entire nation would have come to Britain, leaving their former lands empty. The name England (from Anglo-Saxon Engla land or Ængla land ) originates from the name of this tribe .
• The Saxons, who came from Lower Saxony (in modern Germany; in German, Niedersachsen ) and from the Netherlands.
• The Jutes, possibly from Jutland (in modern Denmark; in Danish, Jylland ).

Their language derives from the West Germanic dialect "Ingvaeonian" and evolved from the 11th century to Middle English. Anglo-Saxon is divided into four main dialects: West Saxon, Mercian, Northumbrian, and Kentic.

Etymology

The term "Anglo-Saxon" comes primarily from Anglo-Saxon English and this from some writings from the time of King Alfred the Great who apparently frequently used the title Rex Anglorum Saxonum or rex Angul-Saxonum (King of the English Saxons) . In addition, the term also had a political meaning that denoted the Saxon and Anglo peoples under the same leadership (that of Alfred) .

The Anglo-Saxon words ænglisc and Angelcynn ( Angle-kin , gens Anglorum ), when first identified, had already lost their original meaning of referring to the Angles, distinguishing them from the Saxons.

The native Britons, writing in both Latin and Welsh, referred to invaders and neighbors as Saxons or Saesons . The latter appellation ( Saeson ) is still used today in the Welsh word denoting the English people; the Scottish Gaelic word saesonach and in the Irish word Sasanach .

Thus , the term Angli Saxons appears to have been used earlier on the mainland than on the island, about a century before King Alfred's use, by Paul the Deacon, historian of the Lombards, probably in order to distinguish the English Saxons from the Continental Saxons ( Ealdseaxe , literally "Old Saxons") .

The Angles (from Anglo-Saxon Engle , Angle ) probably took their name from their former place of origin in, Angul (now Anglia), a hook-shaped region (compare Anglo-Saxon words angel , angul "hook" and anga "hook ") .

History

The history of Anglo-Saxon England covers medieval England from the end of Roman rule and the establishment of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms in the 5th century to the Norman conquest of England in 1066.

Origins (400-600 AD)

The migration of Germanic peoples to Britain from northern Germany, Holland and southern Scandinavia is recorded from the 5th century. Based on Bede's Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum , the invading population was composed of Angles, Saxons and Jutes . However, later evidence indicates the presence of Frisians and Franks. Additionally, other early records of such migrations can be seen in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle .

The Christianization of Britain

The Celtic Britons, as well as the Scots and Irish, remained faithful to Christianity. After the evangelization of Ireland, the Celtic church gave a great boost to Christianity by sending Saint Columba to Scotland, who converted the Picts in the year 563 and founded a monastery on the island of Iona.

In 597, Pope Gregory I the Great sends Augustine of Canterbury to Kent with forty Roman Benedictine monks with the larger goal of converting the Anglo-Saxons in an event known as the Gregorian Mission. King Ethelbert of Kent (560-616), married to a Frankish Christian queen, converts to Christianity: Saint Adalbert. Augustine founds a monastery at Canterbury, where he is crowned a bishop in 601, and given powers to appoint bishops. Since then Canterbury is the official seat of the Roman Church in Great Britain. Shortly after the construction of the cathedrals of Rochester and London (the Cathedral of San Pablo) begins.

In 633, the Christian king Saint Oswald unifies Northumbria and calls Saint Aidan and the monks of Dowe to undertake the conversion of the kingdom's subjects. Saint Aidan founds the monastery on the island of Lindisfarne.

Subsequently, Oswy, the new king of Northumbria (641-670), defeated the Mercians in 655 and imposed Christianity on them. By this time the Celtic Britons, who evangelized the lower classes, had severed their relationship with Rome. King Oswy convenes the Synod of Whitby and unifies the Church under the primacy of the Greek-speaking Theodore of Tarsus, Archbishop of Canterbury. Theodore founds monasteries and creates a diocesan structure that will remain until the Middle Ages.

The achieved ecclesiastical unity unites the different English peoples, with a common language, and urban life resurfaces around the main churches. In addition, written culture is introduced, of which the epic poem in Old English Beowulf has come down to us as the only testimony of the eighth century.

Heptarchy (600–800)

The evangelization of the Anglo-Saxons began in the year 597 and was theoretically completed by the year 686. Through the 7th and 8th centuries, power passed between the larger kingdoms. Bede records Æthelbert of Kent as the most dominant towards the end of the 6th century, but then power seems to have moved north to the Kingdom of Mercia and the Kingdom of Northumbria.

Ethelberto like other kings was recognized by neighboring kings as Bretwalda (British leader). The so-called 'Mercian Supremacy' dominated during the 8th century although it was not very constant. Æthelbald and Offa, the two most powerful kings, achieved high prestige. Offa, king of Mercia (757-796), comes to dominate all kingdoms except Northumbria, Wessex, and the lands north of the Humber. Offa is the first to call himself King of the English. He surrounded the British in Wales with Offa's Wall, a 150-mile-long defensive barrier. This period is described as the "heptarchy", although that term is now falling out of use in academia.

The word arises because the seven kingdoms of Northumbria, Mercia, Kent, East Anglia, Essex, Sussex and Wessex were the most important governments in southern Britannia. Recent studies have shown that the 'heptarchy' theories are not really based on reliable evidence and it is more likely that power has oscillated between many more 'kingdoms'. Other politically important 'kingdoms' during this period included: Hwicce, Magonsaete, Lindsey and the Middle Angles.

The Viking Age and the Norman Conquest (800-1066)

It will be Egbert, King of Wessex (802-839), who defeats the Mercians. He invades Kent and manages to dominate England. It is the year 827.

The first raids of the Danish Vikings happen in 789. Their purpose was pillage. But between 830 and 860, fleets of hundreds of ships entered the Thames Estuary and seized territory. In 865, a large Danish Viking army lands in East Anglia and takes York in 867. In 869, they seize Northumbria and East Anglia and in 870 they decide to invade Wessex, but now meet strong resistance from King Æthelred I.

Alfred the Great, brother of Æthelred I and his successor (871-899), negotiates with the Vikings and makes them respect his kingdom while they conquer Mercia. But in 878 Wessex is attacked again, and Alfred seeks refuge in the Somerset Marshes, where he raises an army that will win at Edington. By the treaty of Wedmore (878), Alfredo accepts that the Danish Vikings occupy great part of England. Viking King Guthrum is baptized and crowned the Danelaw Monarch.

Alfredo's strategy was to buy time to lay the foundations for a unified nation and build an effective army and navy. From the pulse of King Alfred, English feudalism was born. In 866 he takes London, builds thirty fortified cities, for defensive and commercial purposes, and conquers part of Mercia. Alfred the Great's victory at Edington, Wiltshire in 878 brought some peace to the kingdoms. In this way he manages that from 890 the Danes barely harass his kingdom. But by holding Jorvik, the Danes had an important strategic foothold in England.

An important event during the 9th century was the rise of the Kingdom of Wessex, at the end of the reign of Alfred the Great, who was recognized as supreme chief by other southern kingdoms. Later, his grandson Athelstan, is considered the first de facto king over what we now consider England.

Towards the end of the 10th century, renewed Scandinavian interest in England began to emerge, with the conquests of Svend I and his son Canute the Great. By 1066 there were three lords claiming the English throne, leading to two invasions and the Battles of Stamford Bridge and the Battle of Hastings. The latter heralded the start of the Norman Conquest, which would end with the overthrow of Anglo-Saxon polity and polity and its replacement with Norman law.

After the Norman conquest

After the conquest, the Anglo-Saxon nobility had either gone into exile or joined the ranks of the peasantry. It has been estimated that only about 8 percent of the land was under Anglo-Saxon rule by 1087. Many Anglo-Saxon nobles fled to Scotland, Ireland and Scandinavia. The Byzantine Empire became a usual destination for Anglo-Saxon soldiers since the Byzantines needed mercenaries. They became an important part of the Varangian Guard, until then, mainly composed of Scandinavians. However, the population of England remained largely of Anglo-Saxon descent; for them, the immediate change was small, they had only changed one lord Anglo-Saxon by a Norman .

End of Danish rule

In the year 991 a new Danish invasion takes place, which wins at the Battle of Maldon. Faced with the new attack, King Ethelred II (968-1016) married the daughter of the Duke of Normandy in 1001 to ensure his support. But the Viking attacks intensified and the Danish king Svend Forkbeard invaded England in 1013 with a spirit of conquest, seizing Oxford and London. Ethelred flees to Normandy.

Soon after, in 1014, Svend dies, and the Danes of England accept his son Knut –Canute the Great- as king, who in 1016 defeats Edmund Ironside, son of Ethelred. Canute marries Edmund's widow, converts to Christianity, and is proclaimed King of England (1016-1035). Canute summons a great assembly in 1018 and achieves the conciliation of the English and Danes, swearing to respect Anglo-Saxon laws and traditions.

In Denmark, King Harald II of Denmark, brother of Canute, dies, with which he assumes the Danish crown and gradually disregards England. He conquers Norway and receives homage from the King of Scotland. The Danish line of succession in England was definitively extinguished in 1042.

When the Danes disappeared from the British Isles, the Wessex dynasty was restored in a son of Ethelred, Edward the Confessor (1042-1066), who definitively introduced feudalism in England. Thus, the Witan -made up of nobles, bishops and influential men- chooses the king and advises him. The territory is articulated in counties, whose administration corresponds to a court and sheriff, in representation of the king. The cadastre is also implemented as an effective tax and tribute collection system.

Despite the fact that Eduardo had taken a vow of chastity, he married the daughter of Godwin, Earl of Wessex and Kent. He moves the Court to London and surrounds himself with Norman advisers - Edward had been educated in Normandy - appointing one of them, Robert de Jumieges, as Archbishop of Canterbury. Eduardo is dispensed by the Pope from his vow to pilgrimage to Rome in exchange for the construction of Westminster Abbey, in the vicinity of the palace.

King Edward enjoyed great popularity among his people, who made his memory the symbol of independent England.

Eduardo dies without descendants. From 1050, Godwin and his sons Sveynd, Harold and Tostig, King Magnus I of Norway and his son Harald Haardrade, as well as William, the bastard son of Duke Robert I of Normandy, fought for power. It will be precisely the last one, William, who, after winning the Battle of Hastings on October 14, 1066, is crowned in Westminster Abbey as the new king on Christmas Day of that same year.

Cultural

Architecture

The first structures found in Britain were mostly simple, masonry was not predominant, except for the foundations, and wood with thatched roofs was used. They preferred not to settle in the ancient Roman cities but rather built small towns near their agricultural centers, at river fords or located in such a way that they served as ports.

Only a few remnants of Anglo-Saxon architecture remain. At least fifty churches are of Anglo-Saxon origin. Although in most cases Anglo-Saxon architecture occupies only a portion of the structures or they are very altered. All the churches that remain, except for one of wood, were built with stones or bricks and in some cases show reuse of Roman materials and works.

The architectural characteristics of Anglo-Saxon religious constructions range from Celtic influences in the first constructions; basilicas influenced by Romanesque architecture; to the late Anglo-Saxon period with architecture characterized by capitalless pilasters, blind arcades, baluster shapes and triangular openings.

Art

Anglo-Saxon art before the time of Alfred the Great (871-899) is mostly in the Hiberno-Saxon or Insular style, a mixture of Anglo-Saxon and Celtic techniques and motifs. The Sutton Hoo hoard is an example of metalwork and jewelery from the early days of Anglo-Saxon culture. The period from the reign of Alfred the Great to the Norman Conquest, with the revival of the English economy and its culture after the end of the Viking raids, leads to a different style in Anglo-Saxon art as there is contact with the tendencies of the continent. .

Anglo-Saxon art is mainly known today through illustrated manuscripts, such as "St Ethelwold's Benediction" (British Library) and "Leofric's Missal" ( Oxford Bodleian Library, MS Bodl, 579 ). Both reference pieces of the late " Winchester Style ", reminiscent of Hiberno-Saxon, Carolingian and Byzantine art in style and iconography combining the ornamental traditions of the North with the figurative traditions of the Mediterranean. For example, the Hartley Psalter was a copy of the Carolingian Utrecht Psalter — which was a major influence in creating the Anglo-Saxon style of pen drawing.

Manuscripts were not the only form of Anglo-Saxon art, however they are the ones that have survived in greater quantity compared to other objects. Those contemporaries in Europe regarded Anglo-Saxon goldsmithing and embroidery ( Opus anglicanum ) as of high quality. Perhaps the best known piece of Anglo-Saxon art is the "Bayeux Tapestry", which was commissioned by a Norman client from English artists working in the traditional Anglo-Saxon style. The most popular example of Anglo-Saxon art is found on coins, with thousands of extant examples. Anglo-Saxon artists also worked in fresco, ivory, stone sculpture, metal, and enamel; but only a few pieces of them managed to survive.

Tongue

The Anglo-Saxon, or Old English, language was that spoken in the time of Alfred the Great and continued to be the most common language in England (not in the Danelaw) until the Norman conquest of 1066, when under the influence of the Anglo-Norman language spoken by the ruling class Anglo-Saxon began to evolve into Middle English in a period spanning from 1150 to 1500.

Anglo-Saxon is a language much closer to the Germanic languages ​​than is Middle English. It is a much less Latinized language and retains many morphological features (such as nominal and verbal inflection) that were lost during the 12th to 14th centuries. The languages ​​that are closest to Anglo-Saxon today are Frisians, which are spoken by some inhabitants of northern Germany, Holland and other parts of Denmark.

Before Anglo-Saxon or Latin literacy spread, a runic alphabet, the Futhorc , was used in inscriptions . But when literacy became more widespread, the Anglo-Saxon Latin alphabet prevailed with a few futhorc -derived letters : 'Thorn' ‹þ› and 'wynn' ‹ƿ› (usually replaced with a <w> in modern renderings).

The fonts usually used and printed in the edited Anglo-Saxon texts are the following:

• a æ bcd ð efghilmnoprst þ uwxy

with only sporadic occurrences of j , k , q , v and z .

Literature

Anglo-Saxon literary works cultivated genres such as epics, hagiography, sermons, biblical translations, legal works, chronicles, riddles, and others. And in all those genres there are about 400 manuscripts that have survived to this day.

The most famous works include the poem " Beowulf "; the "Anglo-Saxon Chronicle" (a collection of Old English history) and the 7th century Cædmon's Hymn is the oldest known English literary text.

Religion

The beliefs of the pre-Christian natives were a form of Germanic paganism and therefore very close to Norse and other pre-Christian Germanic cultures.

Christianity gradually displaced the native religions of the English between the 7th and 8th centuries. Celtic Christianity was introduced to Northumbria and Mercia by monks from Ireland; but then the Synod of Whitby established the option for the Roman Rite. Because the new clerics were the chroniclers and historians, the old religion was partially lost before it was recorded. Today, the knowledge we have of it is based mainly on customs, folklore, texts, etymological links and archaeological finds.

One of the few recorded references is to a King of Kent who stated that he would only meet the missionary Augustine of Canterbury in the open, where he would be under the protection of the god of heaven, Wōden. Furthermore, the written Christian prohibitions on pagan acts are one of the main sources of information for historians about pre-Christian beliefs.

Despite such prohibitions, numerous elements of the pre-Christian culture of the Anglo-Saxons survived the Christianization process. For example, the English names of the days of the week.

• Tiw , is the Anglo-Saxon equivalent of Tyr: Tuesday (Tuesday)
• Wōden , the Anglo-Saxon equivalent of Odin: Wednesday (Wednesday)
• Þunor , equivalent of Thor: Thursday (Thursday)
• *Fríge , the Anglo-Saxon equivalent of Frigg: Friday (Friday)