Anglo-Saxon Period
Páginas: 4 (881 palabras)
Publicado: 22 de mayo de 2012
Anglo-Saxon period
The Saxons, Angles and Jutes, drawn by Britain’s prosperity, began to attack the island during the decay of the Roman Empire, and by the 5th century AD they started to settle.The Jutes settled in Kent, the Saxons mainly in Essex and Sussex, while the Angles settled along the east coast.
Over a period of two centuries, waves of these Germanic tribes continued to arrive,thus pushing the Britons further north and west of the island, what became Scotland and Wales.
The territory was organized under a number of different kingdoms, seven of which are referredaltogether as The Heptarchy, namely Essex, Sussex, Wessex, Middlesex, East Anglia, Northumbria and Mercia. By mid 750s, King Offa of Mercia, the most powerful kingdom of that time, claimed the “kingship of theEnglish”. However, the power of Mercia did not outlive Offa’s death because Saxon people still believed loyalty to kin was more important than loyalty to the king. But things were undergoing change,and they would continue to do so until the situation was completely the opposite.
Government and Society
Among the institutions the Saxons created to strengthen the English state, was theWitan, a group of important warriors and clergymen from which the king got advice. Around the 900s, The Witan had evolved into a formal body which passed laws and whose support to the king was of vitalimportance for the latter to remain in power.
The land was divided into shires, a new form of division administered by a shire reeve. These areas remained the same for thousands of years.
TheAnglo-Saxons introduced a co-operative way of ploughing. It consisted in the division of the village into big fields, which were divided into long narrow strips. Each family was entitled to a number ofthose strips. What families shared was the team of oxen that dragged the bigger ploughs, more convenient for heavy soils.
Every district had a manor house where local people paid their taxes,...
The Saxons, Angles and Jutes, drawn by Britain’s prosperity, began to attack the island during the decay of the Roman Empire, and by the 5th century AD they started to settle.The Jutes settled in Kent, the Saxons mainly in Essex and Sussex, while the Angles settled along the east coast.
Over a period of two centuries, waves of these Germanic tribes continued to arrive,thus pushing the Britons further north and west of the island, what became Scotland and Wales.
The territory was organized under a number of different kingdoms, seven of which are referredaltogether as The Heptarchy, namely Essex, Sussex, Wessex, Middlesex, East Anglia, Northumbria and Mercia. By mid 750s, King Offa of Mercia, the most powerful kingdom of that time, claimed the “kingship of theEnglish”. However, the power of Mercia did not outlive Offa’s death because Saxon people still believed loyalty to kin was more important than loyalty to the king. But things were undergoing change,and they would continue to do so until the situation was completely the opposite.
Government and Society
Among the institutions the Saxons created to strengthen the English state, was theWitan, a group of important warriors and clergymen from which the king got advice. Around the 900s, The Witan had evolved into a formal body which passed laws and whose support to the king was of vitalimportance for the latter to remain in power.
The land was divided into shires, a new form of division administered by a shire reeve. These areas remained the same for thousands of years.
TheAnglo-Saxons introduced a co-operative way of ploughing. It consisted in the division of the village into big fields, which were divided into long narrow strips. Each family was entitled to a number ofthose strips. What families shared was the team of oxen that dragged the bigger ploughs, more convenient for heavy soils.
Every district had a manor house where local people paid their taxes,...
Leer documento completo
Regístrate para leer el documento completo.