ANGLO-SAXONS (pag.49)
In the end of the 4th century Rome was attacked by the barbarian tribes. So
they called back all the legions from Britain. Britain
remained defenceless and was attacked by the Picts from Caledonia a 555f53f nd the Scots
from Ireland.
It was attacked also by three peoples coming from Northern
Europe: the Angles, the Saxons and the Jutes. They destroyed every
form of Roman civilization and divided the country into seven kingdoms of which
the most important was the Wessex
where the king was. The king was elected by the witan composed by the most
important nobles or thanes from the seven kingdoms. They were organized in
villages. Every village was governed by the thane whose task was to make
everybody obey the law and to guide his man to battle. There were no prisons,
the criminals where mutilated, hanged or submitted to a trial by ordeal. The
family of the criminals could pay a sum of money called wergild for the crime
committed. The Anglo-Saxons were mostly warlike but they spent their free-time banqueting,
feasting with dancing and singing; a very important person was the Scop who was
a sort of reporter who accompanied his king in battle and wrote poems sang at
the banquets. In 597 the monk Augustine went to Britain and introduced Catholicism
there. Many churches and monasteries were built and the monks introduced
culture. The most important Christian writer was Venerable Bede.
