ANGLOSAXON ENGLAND AngloSaxons Sweep Ashore Unifying Forces Alfred

ANGLO-SAXON ENGLAND

Ø Anglo-Saxons Sweep Ashore Ø Unifying Forces: Alfred the Great and Christianity

THINGS TO THINK ABOUT… Ø What three groups invaded? Ø What group of people did they drive out? Ø What two factors helped unify the Anglo. Saxons?

ANGLO-SAXONS SWEEP ASHORE • Three groups of invaders: • Angles and Saxons from Germany • Jutes from Denmark • They all crossed the North Sea to reach Britain.

ANGLO-SAXONS SWEEP ASHORE • In the middle of the 5 th century the three groups of invaders drove out the Celts, also known as the Britons. • The Celts retreated west to Wales • The Angles, Saxons, and Jutes settled the greater part of Britain.

ANGLO-SAXON ENGLAND • The language of the Anglo-Saxons eventually became the dominant language. • English • Land became known as Engla land or England, from the Angles.

ANGLO-SAXON ENGLAND • Anglo-Saxon England was not politically unified at first: • The country was divided into several independent territories and they all had their own rulers.

UNIFYING FORCES: ALFRED THE GREAT • King Alfred of Wessex, also known as Alfred the Great led a resistance against the Danes from 871 - 899 and unified the Anglo-Saxons into a nation. • The Danes were one of the Viking peoples who crossed the North Sea and destroyed everything in their path. • Battles with the Danes continued in the 8 th and 9 th centuries • They eventually settled some parts of northeast and central England.

UNIFYING FORCES: CHRISTIANITY • Christianity was also a big part in unifying the Anglo-Saxon England. • Continental and Irish missionaries converted kings • Kings converted subjects • Converting to Christianity allowed the people to have a common faith and system of morality. • It also provided a link between England Europe.

• Under Christianity and King Alfred the Anglo. Saxon people worked together to protect their people, their church, and their culture from the plunders of the Danes. • The battle between the Danes and the Anglo. Saxons continued until they were both defeated in 1066 by an invading force of Normans from northwestern France.

Ø What three groups invaded? Ø What group did they drive out? Ø What two factors helped unify the Anglo. Saxons?

Ø What three groups invaded? Jutes, Angles, and Saxons Ø What group did they drive out? Celts, also known as Britons Ø What two factors helped unify the Anglo-Saxons? Christianity and Alfred the Great