ANGLO-SAXON CULTURE TUESDAY JANUARY

 

What is Anglo-Saxon culture?

Old English or Anglo-Saxon (Englisċ in its own name) is an early form of the English language spoken in much of what is now England and in southern Scotland between about 425 and 1125.

It is also called Anglo-Saxon to the Germanic peoples who invaded English territory in the fifth century. The language spoken by those who were part of these cultures is also called Anglo-Saxon.

The ancient Anglo-Saxons, thus, were the Germanic communities that advanced through eastern and southern Britain between the beginning of the fifth century and 1066, when the Norman Conquest took place. Their language, known as Anglo-Saxon or Old English, was imposed in England and regions of Scotland in that period.

These communities began their migration to Britain between 400 and 600, and did so from Holland, southern Scandinavia and northern Germany. According to the work Ecclesiastical History of the English People, written in Latin by the Benedictine monk Nortumbrio known as Bede the Venerable, among the invaders were Jutes, Saxons and Angles. On the other hand, there are documents that also include the Franks and the Frisians.

It should be noted that there is another work in which the migration of these peoples is discussed, the so-called Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, a collection written in Old English dating from the ninth century and is estimated to have been created in the Kingdom of Wessex.

By the way, it is necessary to talk about the name Britain, since in this way it was referred to Great Britain before the German invasions. The origin of this denomination is in the time of the Roman Empire, since at that time the island was known as Britannia. In turn, we can say that it was the Greeks who baptized it in the first place, with two terms that can be translated as "island" and "tattoo", probably because of the impressive tattoos that its inhabitants wore.

In 597 the process of evangelization of the Anglo-

Saxons began, which took approximately a century, since it is estimated that its end date was the year 686. Throughout 600 and 700, the larger kingdoms were transferred power. Bede the Venerable mentions in his work

Æthelberht, the king of Kent, a kingdom located in the southeast of the island, as the most predominant monarch in the second half of the sixth century; however, all indications are that later power was disputed in the north, between the kingdoms of Northumbria and Mercia.

Once the conquest was over, it is believed that many of the members of the Anglo-Saxon nobility were exiled, and others descended to the lower social class. It is believed that by the end of the eleventh century, only 8 percent of the territory belonged to them. The destinations of most of the nobles were Scandinavia, Ireland and Scotland.

It is interesting to note, therefore, that the idea of AngloSaxon can refer both to a language that is no longer spoken and to English today. Depending on the context, the term may refer to one or the other.

The epic poem "Beowulf", for example, is a famous literary work written in Anglo-Saxon (Old English). It has more than

3000 verses and narrates the epic of a hero who defeats terrible monsters and becomes king of the Geats.