Who were the Anglo Saxons?
The Angles were a Germanic tribe that occupied the region which is now Scleswig-Holstein, Germany. With their fellow ethnic groups, they formed the people who came to be known as the English. The Saxons were a Germanic people who first appeared in the beginning of the Christian era. The Saxons were said to have lived in the south Jutland Peninsula in the north of what is now Germany, but the fact has not been proven. Dates for some famous names: 450-550: Legendary foundation of the English kingdoms (Hengest, Cerdic, and others) 597-627: Conversion to Christianity (from Augustine in Kent to the sparrow in Northumbria) 757-796: King Offa of Mercia (overlord of most of the southern English kingdoms) 871-899: King Alfred the Great (only English king left after the Viking attacks) 937: Battle of Brunanburh 978-1016: King Æthelred the Unready (now the only English king; defeated by the Vikings) 1066: Battle of Hastings (end of the line for the Anglo-Saxons) The common weapon in war was the s
