Anglo Saxon Research Paper

Anglo-Saxon Essay

The Anglo-Saxon period began in 449 and lasted for over 600 years. Born of warfare, Anglo-Saxon England remained forever a military society. Though like most great societies it met its end in battle. However the Anglo-Saxons help to lay a great foundation for English history.
In order for a society to exist and prosper, there must be those that create it, which include the Celts and the Romans, the early settlers of the Britain. Britain was inhabited by many Celtic tribes that were lead by kings. Within each tribe the society was stratified into classes, much like the castes system; the Druids or priests, considered the educated class, the Nobility or ruling families of the tribes, the Warriors, Artisans, manual workers,
and slaves. Since there was not much unity between the tribes, politically, the Celtic society was very vulnerable to attacks.
Around mid first century AD, the Romans invaded Britain subjugating the Celtic society. Under Roman rule the Celts were assimilated into their society, losing their individual culture. The conquest brought about a great change in the daily life of Britain; culturally, economically, and militarily. However, the main concern of the Roman society was to strengthen the power of the political order so as to help spread the Roman civilization. As for other areas like religion, Celtic deities were merged with their Roman counterparts. The Roman Empire ran strong for roughly 300 years, but by the 5th century the Empire began to collapse setting the stage for a new group to enter. The Anglo-Saxons, who occupied Britain after the Roman Empire fell, made great contributions to society in education and literature with their poetry and prose writings; one of the great contributors was Alfred the Great.
Alfred, born in southern England, became king of Wessex, the West Saxons, after the death of his brother Athelred in 871 AD. During this period of time Danish forces (Vikings) invaded Wessex. Although Alfred did not defeat the Danes at this point in time, in 878 AD the West Saxons defeated the Danes in the Battle of Edington. By 886 Alfred had united the English kingdoms and became King of England. Though he was a great military leader, Alfred was an avid benefactor of learning. He encouraged his followers to learn to read; he even learned Latin himself, translating works like Consolation of Philosophy by Boethius, Roman statesman and philosopher, and Pastoral Care by Pope Gregory I into English. Alfred is the only English king to be deemed "The
Great." The Anglo-Saxons brought with them a very unique poetic tradition that when accompanied by Anglo-Saxon language, or Old English, make up the basis for Modern English.
Often daring and strong, but also mournful and elegiac in spirit, their poetry emphasizes the sorrow and ultimate futility of life and the helplessness of humans before the power of fate. They also seem to characterize the heroism of warriors as found in epic or heroic poetry. Similarly, Christian themes can be found in some epic poems along with Germanic myths, history, and customs. These characteristics can be found in the poems Beowulf, more of the heroic/epic type, and Deor, The Wanderer, and The Seafarer, focusing more on the elegiac
theme. On the other side of the coin there is the pose writing found in Anglo-Saxon literature. Before the reign of Alfred, important prose documents were written in Latin as the monks who recorded the documents saw the language of the common people as a "vulgar tongue." Alfred translated or had others translate important Latin texts and encouraged vernacular writing. One of the most well known prose writing of the time, The Anglo-Saxon Chronicles, is a group of historical journals, written by monks, which depict the history of England from the beginning of the Christian era to the middle of the 12th century. However education and literature were not the only things that made up the Anglo-Saxon society; only by exploring their daily life, religion and how the society came to an end can one grasp the wholeness of their culture. Life in Anglo-Saxon England was much similar to that of England around the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries. The society was divided into many social classes; which class you belonged to usually depended on the riches you possessed or what family you were born into. Slavery was a big economic enterprise during the period because a lot of manual labor depended on the use of slaves, though it was not an everlasting sentence. The people basically lived off the land, growing crops, raising livestock, and hunting. There were no shops that citizens could go to and buy what they need; most of what was needed, such as clothes and tools, they usually made themselves or paid an artisan to do for them. For entertainment, there were dice rolling, board games like chess, horse racing, and hunting. When the Anglo-Saxons first came to Britain they were pagans. There were attempts by the Britons (Celtic Christians) to convert them to Christianity, but their efforts were unsuccessful. However due to the efforts of a representative of the Roman church, St. Augustine, Christian missions were established in Canterbury, Rochester, London, and York. Conversely the Britons did not agree with the ideas brought by Augustine. In the end though, the Roman Church was more powerful and Christianity spread throughout the English Kingdoms (Woods int). One would wonder how such a prospering society could come to an end. The answer is undoubtedly far from complicated; a society born of war, so did it end. In October of 1066 one of the most decisive battles in history was fought between Harold II, king of England and William I, Duke of Normandy. William claimed that the throne of England was promised to him by the previous king Edward the Confessor.