OLD ENGLISH

Anglo Saxon England

Before the Germanic invasions

Celts - Prior to the Germanic invasions Britain was inhabited by various Celtic tribes who were united by common speech, customs, and religion. Each tribe was headed by a king and was divided by class into Druids (priests), warrior nobles, and commoners. The lack of political unity made them vulnerable to their enemies. During the first century, Britain was conquered and subjugated by Rome.

Migration of the Germanic speaking people

When Britain gained "independence" from Rome in the year 410ad, the Roman legions withdrew leaving the country vulnerable to invaders. Soon after the withdrawal of Roman troops, inhabitants from the north began attacking the Britons. In response to these attacks, individual towns sought help from the Foedarati, who were Roman mercenaries of German origin, for the defence of the northern parts of England. As the legend has been told, a man named Hengest arrived on the shores of Britain with "3 keels" of warriors in 450ad. This event is known in Latin as the "adventus Saxonum," or the coming of the Saxons. At this time, the Foedarati stopped defending Britain and began conquering the territories on the southern and eastern shores of the country. These invaders drove the Britons to the north and west. The Saxons called the native Britons, 'wealas', which meant foreigner or slave, and from this term came the modern word Welsh. Eight to ten years later many British aristocrats (Celts) and city dwellers began migrating to Brittany, an event known as the second migration.

Although there were many different Germanic tribes migrating to England, several stood out from among the others, such as the Angles, Saxons, Jutes, Frisians, and Franks.The Angles migrated from Denmark and the Saxons from northern Germany. There is some debate as to the exact origin of the Jutes, since linguistic evidence suggests that they came from the Jutland peninsula, while archaeological evidence suggests an origin from one of the northern Frankish realms near the mouth of the Rhine river. The Frisians and Franks migrated mainly from the low countries and north-western Germany.

During the sixth and seventh centuries these Germanic invaders started to carve out kingdoms, fighting both the native Britons and each other for land. First called Saxons, the German invaders were later referred to as Angles, and in the year 601ce the pope referred to Aethelbert of Kent as Rex Anglorum ("king of the Angles"). As time passed, the differences between the Germanic tribal cultures gradually unified until eventually they ceased referring to themselves by their individual origins and became either Anglo-Saxon or English. (map of England 650-750)

As Old English began to evolve, four major dialects emerged which were Kentish, spoken by the Jutes, West Saxon, the Saxon dialect, and Northumbrian and Mercian, subdivisions of the dialect spoken by the Angles. By the 9th century, partly through the influence of King Alfred, the West Saxon dialect became prevalent in literature which aided the dialect's dominance among scholars.

Soon after the Germanic invasions, the inhabitants gave their settlements new names. The most common Saxon place

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