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The wealth of Britain by the fourth century, the result of its mild climate and centuries of peace, was a temptation to the greedy. At first the Germanic tribes only raided Britain, but after AD 430 they began to settle.
The invaders came from three powerful Germanic tribes: the Saxons, Angles, and Jutes. The Jutes settled mainly in Kent and along the south coast, and were soon considered no different from the Angles and Saxons. The Angles settled in the east, and also in the north Midlands, while the Saxons settled between the Jutes and the Angles. The Anglo-Saxon migrations gave the larger part of Britain its new name, England, "the land of the Angles".
The strength of Anglo-Saxon culture is obvious even today. Days of the week were named after Germanic gods: Tig (Tuesday), Wodin (Wednesday), Thor (Thursday), and Frei (Friday). New place names appeared on the map. The ending - ham means farm, -ton means settlement. Birmingham, Nottingham and Southampton, for example, are Saxon place names. The Anglo-Saxons established a number of kingdoms, some of which still exist in county or regional names to this day: Essex (East Saxons), Sussex (South Saxons), Wessex (West Saxons).
The Saxons created institutions which made the English state strong for the next 500 years. One of these institutions was the King’s Council, called the witan, or witenagemot (wise men meeting). By the tenth century the witan was a formal body, issuing laws and charters. It was not at all democratic, and the king could decide to ignore the witan’s advice. But he knew that it might be dangerous to do so. For the witan’s authority was based on its right to choose kings, and to agree the use of the king’s laws. Without its support the king’s own authority was in danger. The witan established system which remained an important part of the king’s method of government. Even today, the king or queen has a Privy Council, a group of advisers on the affairs of state.
The Saxons divided the land into new administrative areas, based on shires, or counties. A shire reeve, the king’s local administrator, was appointed over each shire. In time his name became shortened to sheriff.
Anglo-Saxon technology changed the shape of English agriculture. The Celts had kept small, square fields which were well suited to the light plough they used, drawn either by an animal or two people. The Anglo-Saxons introduced a far heavier plough. This heavier plough led to changes in land ownership and organisation. In order to make the best use of village land, it was divided into two or three very large fields. These were then divided again into long thin strips. Each family had a number of strips in each of these fields.
One of these fields would be used for planting spring crops, and another for autumn crops. The third area would be left to rest for a year, and with the other areas after harvest, would be used as common land for animals to feed on. This Anglo-Saxon pattern, which became more and more common, was the basis of English agriculture for a thousand years, until the eighteenth century.
The duty of the village head, or lord, was to protect the farm and its produce. The word lord means ‘bread-keeper’, while lady means ‘bread maker’, a reminder that the basis of Saxon society was farming.
At first the lords, or aldermen, were simply local officials. But by the beginning of the eleventh century they were warlords, and were often called by a new Danish name, earl. Both the words, alderman and earl, remain with us today: aldermen are elected officers in local government, and earls are high-ranking nobles. It was the beginning of a class system, made up of king, lords, soldiers and workers on the land.
The Anglo-Saxons were pagan when they came to Britain. Christianity first reached Britain well before it was accepted by the Roman Emperor Constantine in the early fourth century AD. In 597 Pope Gregory the Great sent a monk, Augustine, to re-establish Christianity in England. Augustine founded a monastery at Canterbury and became its first archbishop in 601. Up to this day Canterbury has remained the English religious centre and the seat of the Archbishop of Canterbury. Augustine and his group of monks were very successful at spreading Christianity among ruling families in England. But it was the Celtic Church which brought Christianity to the ordinary people of Britain. The Celtic bishops went out from their monasteries of Wales, Ireland and Scotland, walking from village to village teaching Christianity. There were many differences between the Roman and Celtic rites, such as the date of Easter, and finally the Synod of Whitby in 663 determined that the English Church as a whole should follow the Roman rite, although Celtic rite persisted in Ireland, Scotland and Wales.
The Church established monasteries, which were places of learning and education. The monastery of Monkwearmouth was the home of the reputed scholar the Venerable Bede, who completed his major work, The Ecclesiastical History of the English People, in 731. Bede gives an outline of the early English history from a Saxon perspective.
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