Find out who the Anglo-Saxons were and how they shaped early medieval England.
After the Romans left Britain in 410 CE, groups from northern Germany and Denmark began to settle the land. These people — the Angles, Saxons and Jutes — are collectively known as the Anglo-Saxons. They gradually pushed the native Celtic Britons to the western fringes of the island (Wales, Cornwall and parts of Scotland). The Anglo-Saxons divided England into several kingdoms, including Mercia, Northumbria, Wessex and East Anglia. They were farmers, craftspeople and warriors. Anglo-Saxon society had kings at the top, followed by thanes (nobles), ceorls (free farmers), and thralls (slaves). They brought Christianity to many parts of Britain and built fine monasteries. Monks produced illuminated manuscripts — beautiful, hand-decorated books. The name ‘England’ itself comes from ‘Angle-land’, and hundreds of everyday English words (like ‘earth’, ‘sun’, ‘house’ and ‘bread’) come from Old English, the Anglo-Saxon language.