The History of England: The Anglo-Saxon Invasion of Britain

The Migration Period shook Europe and formed the basis of modern countries known to us today. In particular, it significantly affected the British Isles. Since the 5th century AD tribes — Saxons, Jutes, Angles, Frisians — arrived actively from the continent. On the islands, they were opposed by the native inhabitants, the Britons, who were not welcoming the conquerors. The confrontation, which went down in history as the Anglo-Saxon Invasion, began.

Over several centuries of wars, new kingdoms rose, becoming the fundamentals, over which modern England with its counties will one day emerge. The conquerors brought a new political system to the islands, along with a new religion — Christianity. It is from this period of the ancient history of England that the legends about King Arthur originate. Watch the video to get a grasp on the The Anglo-Saxon Invasion, also known as the Heptarchy.

[Chebab-Chebab]

Britons: You Saxons formed Sussex, Wessex, Essex, and Middlesex. Why didn't you go North?
Saxons: We didn't want to live in Nosex.

[aldosigmann]

Excellent vid.
Glad u mentioned us Frisians - we usually get short shrift which is mystifying when, as i understand, the Frisian language is considered the closest continental language there is to English...

[mark]

So the English are named after the Germans, the Welsh are named after the Britons and the Scots are named after the Irish? Got it.

[hanes_cymru_]

Finally, someone who got the history right! 👏👏👏 Well done! Another point to mention is the Brythonic language, which was the original language of what was then called Cymru (the UK) - brythonic was the root of old welsh, Breton, and Cornish languages. Yes, for some people, they may not even know that the Welsh language is much, much older than any form of English or old English language. And yes, I am a proud Welshman 😂❤🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿💪

[vbywrde]

Superior production! Thank you! I learned more in this one video than in several years as a history major who attended the University of Edinburgh. Well done!

[teslacoils]

Is there a bibliography or list of readings for this video? I’m very curious to read in detail about this period.

[michellebell]

I pride myself on my knowledge of English history, but I never actually appreciated how complicated the immediate post Roman period c450 ce to c 800 ce was . Wow,

[martinh]

This could only be written by an american who used wiki for evidence. Most of this is highly inaccurate. Firstly 'Rome' did not conquer the UK solely by force of arms, it used trade with its client kingdoms. Secondly areas of England were never under their control e.g.Cornwall, Devon, parts of Wales, all of Ireland and, as said, northern parts. Thirdly, what 'new political system' did 'conquerors bring? Rome, from Augustus onwards for several generations, was de facto a monarchy as were european groups. There's little difference between a tribal warlord and a king - just semantics. But really and lastly 'along with a new religion — Christianity' - no they didn't. Christianity spread through Rome in the 1st and 2nd century spreading everywhere in Europe. It had already been established in Britain well before european groups moved over and as Scandinavians attacked and then settled it spread to them.

'The confrontation, which went down in history as the Anglo-Saxon Invasion, began.' is just plain wrong. It was a gradual process over a thousand years and many, like the Irish, were only partly involved.

[SamDiMento]

This is a great summary of what can be a confusing time period.

[peterweeks]

This English history is so much more interesting and ‘English’ than what happened after 1066. Unfortunately it is very little taught in schools and most UK citizens have very little knowledge of these 600 years or so.
Some of the pronounciatons in this video are really bizarre though. ‘Murshia’ for Mercia for example. Or ceorls pronounced as it looks rather than the correct ‘churls’ ( as in the word churlish).

[ocxdrrh]

Wasn't the island named Pretanike by the greek explorer Pytheas in 4th century BCE? Celtic "pretani", "painted people" (picts), used to name the land "Pretanike", later transformed into "Bretanike" and later "Britain". The name was in use by greek and roman authors way before Brutus.

[Loremeister]

*Can you do a video on the horn of Africa*

*I'd like to see the Rise of cushites in east africa*

*This is a seriously underrated history which includes The Land of punt, the macrobian kingdom, Adulis and rise of Axum, the Ancient Barbaria city states, Zagwe dynasty, Adal, ifat and abyssinia*

If theirs a way to get in contact for this project I'm fuy capable of writing a script for this

Really respect the work that goes into making these videos

[urseliusurgel]

Point of accuracy, not all the area north of Hadrian's wall was inhabited by PIcts, in what is now Southern Scotland there were British, not Pictish, tribes, they included the Votadini in the Edinburgh area, the Selgovae, the Novantae and the Damnonii. These tribes were culturally and linguistically - they spoke Brittonic, not Pictish - the same as tribes further south, like the Brigantes, Catuvelauni or the Corieltauvi, who were conquered by Rome.

[clive]

@5:35 "Bamburg" ooh so close, its Bam-ber-ruh

[Fedupnow]

Loved the simplicity will definitely follow more

[cyclofeedubox]

Some inaccuracies here - the Britons never told themselves they were related to Brutus - that was a 9th century invention of the Anglo-Saxons (almost but not quite referring to themselves as English at that point). Romans left Britain 500yrs before this mention

[alfredpetrie]

The Majority of Scottish people are NOT descended from Scoti

[ThomasEhnert]

When will the British throw off the colonialism of and demand reparations from the inhabitants of Jutland, Schleswig, Holstein, and Saxony?

[OldPoppyHistoryChannel]

how long does it take you to make one video? Do you work alone or with a team?

[galaxyceiling]

Very educational.
I found history boring at school but this video I found very informative; good graphics; excellent commentary, and very descriptive £