ANGLO-SAXON PERIOD

ANGLO-SAXON PERIOD

About the year 449 AD,an event occured that profoundly affected the Britiush history.

In that year Britain was invaded by certain Germanic tribe particularly the Anglo-Saxons.They conquered Britain and transformed it in to England,the land of Anglo-saxons.Even the language of the land is Angles and their kindred.The traditional accounts of the germanic invations goes back to Ango Saxon chronicles and  Venerable Bede. Venerable Bede ,the first english Historian,tells us that the germanic tribe that conquered Britain were Jutes,Saxons and the Angles.They were originally the inhabitants of sleswick and the sarrounding areas between Germany and Denmark.They all talked the english language.Thus common language(english)and common blood(teutons)made them a single people.They knew nothing about civilization and had little for the civilized.Finding pleasure in destruction they completely wiped out the Romans British civilization and made British their permanant home.

The striking features of english social life have developed from the social habits and customes of Anglo-saxons.They are the originatorsof present village.The society was divided in to four classes like Eorls (noble man),Ceorls (free man owned land),Leats (free man having no land)and Theowas (slaves).The freedom of a man and his social status according to the Anglo saxon conception depended on the holding of the land.The main occupation of the Anglo saxon was the agriclture as they mainly lived in rural areas.The whole village was divided in to three section which were used to cultivate bread crope(wheat),drink crop(barley) and the remaining section left fallow .In additions to agriculture ,they practiced carpentary,smithery and cottage industries.

The Anglo saxon had brought with them certain important social and military institutioan ,a governmental system and an agricultural system.They established a complete system of administration in the form of village and shires(groupe of villages).Each village was under a sheriff appointed by the King.Every town had a town council called townmoot.The highest assembly of the Anglo saxon period was The WITAN (assembly of wise man).The anglo saxon followed a severe judicial system.The punishment were awarded on the basis of the social status of the individual.There was no centralized judicial law.If large number of men saw  that a man was innocnet ,he was left free.The popular method of trial were Trial by comburgation and trial by ordeal.Anglo saxon had numerous Gods and Godesses and celebrated many festivals in honour of them.They were also fond of jewellery  and had appropriate songs and ballads for marriage,harvest and funerals.

The Anglo saxon chonicle is a venerated monument of old english prose.The chonicles was written by many hands.It deals with the history of england up to the 9^th century Ad.King Alfred the Great Was a part of the chonicles.The portion deaking with the danish invation is a master piece of historical narrative.Widsith,Genesis,Exodus ,Christ and satan,etc are the  imporatnt anglo saxons poems .Venerable Bede ,the first english historian,was a prominant prose writer of the Anglo saxon period.He wrote ,ainy in latin.His favourite pursuits were history ,astronomy,lives of the martyres and saints.he is the author of famous work”Ecclesiastical history of  the english people”.Though writing in latin,Bede set to english the model of  a simple,lucid and unsophisticated style.