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The Anglo-Saxons: glossary
archaeologist - A person who finds out about the past by looking at old
objects or buildings that are buried under the ground.
conquer - To beat an enemy and control them using force.
cremate - To burn a dead body to ashes.
defeat - To win a victory over.
descended - If you are descended from someone you are, or are related to, one of their children. For example, you are descended from your grandparents.
freeman - A person who owns land and slaves.
historian - A person who studies the past.
influence - The effect of a person or things on another.
loyal - To be faithful to someone or something. E.g. Loyal to your brother, family or country.
lyre - A lyre is a small harp played at Anglo-Saxon feasts.
massacre - To kill many people.
monastery - The building where monks live.
monk - A member of a religious group that lives apart from society.
pagan - A person who worships many gods.
reconstruct - To rebuild.
riddles - A puzzle based on a play with words.
runes - The letters of the Anglo-Saxons alphabet.
settlement - A place where people live.
slaves - A person owned and controlled by another.
thatch - A roof covered in straw.
tribe - A group of people with who share a common background.
victim - A person who suffers harm or death.
warrior - A person who fights in battle.
wergild - Money paid to a dead person's family by the murderer.
The Anglo-Saxons: history
The Angle, Saxon, and Jute tribes who invaded Britain in the 5th and 6th centuries are known as the Anglo-Saxons. They left their homelands in northern Germany, Denmark and northern Holland and rowed across the North Sea in wooden boats.
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When the Romans left in AD 410, Britain no longer had a strong army to defend itself.
Historians are not sure why the Anglo-Saxons came to Britain. It may have been because their land often flooded and it was difficult to grow crops, so they were looking for new places to settle down and farm. Some sources say that Saxon warriors were invited to come to England.
The Anglo-Saxons took control of most of Britain, although they never conquered Scotland, Wales and Cornwall. They divided the country into kingdoms, each with its own royal family. The stronger kingdoms often took control of the weaker kingdoms.
By around AD 600 the five main Anglo-Saxon kingdoms were Northumbria, Mercia, Wessex, Kent and Anglia
Anglo-Saxon life
When the Anglo-Saxons arrived in Britain in the 5th and 6th centuries, they found that most of the towns built by the Romans had fallen into ruins. The early Anglo-Saxons lived in small settlements *consisting of just two or three families and a few buildings. Later, settlements grew into villages and small towns.
Anglo-Saxon houses were built of wood and had thatched roofs. At West Stow in Suffolk archaeologists found the remains of an early Anglo-Saxon village and reconstructed it using Anglo-Saxon methods. They found that the village was made up of small groups of houses built around a larger hall. The houses had only one room and a hearth for cooking, heating and light.
Citazione: | Anglo-Saxon families were large. Everyone from young babies to the elderly lived under one roof |
*A settlement included workshops, living accommodation and store-houses. |
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