Hello Class 5!
This week’s homework is focused on History!
We have been learning lots about the Anglo-Saxons in class and don’t forget you can always watch our class assembly on the website to remind yourself of some important facts!
We now know that the Anglo-Saxons came to England for a number of different reasons. Some of them decided to stay and settle here. By 600, Britain had been split into small Saxon kingdoms. Saxon settlements had become small kingdoms. Each group of Anglo-Saxon settlers had a leader or war-chief. A strong leader became ‘cyning’ – Anglo-Saxon for ‘king’. Each king ruled a kingdom and led a small army.
What issues could there be with this? Write your thoughts on the blog.
Your task…
Research information about the Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms and how Britain was ruled. You might want to find some information about Anglo-Saxon Kings, the different laws and how different classes were treated. You can choose how to present your work or you can write your work on the blog under different subheadings.
I can’t wait to see what you find out!
From Miss Lee 🙂
The issues there are with the tribes is that different tribes might combine and fight each other. That then will lead to war and the Kings of these tribes will be fighting and one of them will takeover the land.
Good ideas Holly! I think you are right, it could lead to different Kingdoms fighting!
Hi Miss Lee, 👩
I don’t understand the question you wanted us to do. ❓ What is the issue with WHAT?
Please reply soon,
💕ELISA
Hello Elisa,
The question means what would be the issue of the different Kingdoms being ruled by different Kings.
I hope that helps you, if not I can give you some ideas/examples.
By around AD600, after much fighting, there were five important Anglo-Saxon kingdoms. They were Northumbria, Mercia, Wessex, Kent and East Anglia. Sometimes they got along, sometimes they went to war. Anglo-Saxons were not all equal.
Anglo-Saxon Britain wasn’t ruled by one person and the Anglo-Saxons were not united. They invaded as many different tribes and each took over different parts of Britain.
Each group of Anglo-Saxon settlers had a leader or war-chief. A strong and successful leader became ‘cyning’, the Anglo-Saxon word for ‘king’. Each king ruled a kingdom and led a small army.
Some great information Elisa! You have found out a lot about how Britain was ruled when the Anglo-Saxons were around!
449: Angles and Saxons first arrive in Britain.
590s-700: Anglo-Saxons convert to Christianity.
787: Viking invasions begin.
878: Establishment of the Danelaw.
937: Battle of Brunanburh
957-975: England united under King Edgar
1016: Cnut becomes king of England
1016-1042: England ruled by Danish kings
1066: The Norman Conquest
Well done for finding some key dates Alfred!
A strong and successful leader became ‘cyning’, the Anglo-Saxon word for ‘king’.Each king ruled a kingdom and led a small army. From time to time, the strongest king would claim to be ‘bretwalda’, which meant ruler of all Britain.This could lead to a lot of people dying.The seven kingdoms were Northumbria, Mercia, East Anglia, Essex, Kent, Sussex, and Wessex.
By the way the entire time i have been doing this the rabbit has been staring at me -_-.
Great facts Rafael! Well done for remembering the seven kingdoms too!
The fact about your rabbit made me laugh… Maybe they are after more Kit-Kats?!
The separation of England into different Anglo-Saxon settlements led to many fights between Northumbria, Mercia, Kent, Wessex and East Anglia. Even though they were all living in the same area, they were all against each other. The fact that every group had their own army and king (‘cyning’) made fights even more frequent because of the ongoing fight for power.
Hi Martin, well done for finding some interesting facts! I am glad I didn’t live in those times with all that fighting!
The term Anglo-Saxon is a relatively modern one. It refers to settlers from the German regions of Angeln and Saxony, who made their way over to Britain after the fall of the Roman Empire around AD 410.
The Roman armies withdrew from Britain early in the fifth century because they were needed back home to defend the crumbling centre of the Empire.
Great information Raimundo! Can you find out about any Anglo-Saxon laws?
A down of the 5 kingdoms being ruled by 5 kings is that the kings would want to rule the entire country, resulting in a large amount of fighting.
Very true Vincent! Each of the King’s would have wanted to be seen as the most powerful and the strongest!
Anglo-Saxon England was divided in four main kingdoms often at war: East Anglia, Mercia, Northumbria and Wessex.
King Offa of Mercia (died 796 AD) is considered as the most important and famous Anglo-Saxon king together with Alfred the Great of Wessex (died 899 AD).
Hello Paolo, you are right England was divided into Kingdoms but it was actually seven different kingdoms! Can you remember the names of the kingdoms you have missed?
Anglo saxons law
The Anglo Saxons didn’t have any prison.If people were found guilty there were either executed or punished with fines and if they ran away they were known as outlaws and Anyone could hunt them down , except if they was hiding in a church .
Anglo Saxons kings
The most famous Anglo Saxon king was king Alfred he was the only king in british history to be called “great”.
Anglo Saxon classes
There was mostly three sets of classes the kings,Ealdormanand And thanes There were classed as the upper class then there was the commoners there were called Ceorls there were the group of farmers and craftsman then there was the slaves they were called thralls and they had miserable and hard lives .
These are all interesting facts Albert! Which Anglo-Saxon class would you like to belong to and why?
Anglo-Saxon Britain wasn’t ruled by one person ad the anglo saxon were not united. They invaded as a variety of tribes and each took over different parts of England.
Each group of Anglo Saxon settlers had a leader or a war chief. A strong and successful person became ‘cyning’ also known as ‘king’ in the Anglo-Saxon language. They each led a small army.
From time to time a courageous warrior would show up, asking to be the new ‘bretwalda’, which meant ruler of Britain.
from Stella 🙂
Great facts Stella! Would you want to be a cyning if you lived in Anglo-Saxon Britain?
Sometimes the strongest king would call himself ‘Bretwalda’ which means Ruler of all Britain. The Problem with this is that everyone wants to be the Bretwalda, so they will start attacking that kingdom. So it was not a peaceful place.
The King and Thanes were very unfair to the Ceorls (common people or peasants) and also to the slaves. The problem with this is that eventually the Ceorls and the Slaves will start attacking, because there are more of them than Kings and Thanes. They were fighting for freedom. Women also did not have many rights.
The Anglo-Saxons did not have prisons, so anyone who robbed or stole were either executed or punished with fines. Their hands could also be chopped off for stealing. If you were an outlaw anyone can kill you and not get a fine. The problem is that this was not a comfortable society.
I agree William, it definitely does not sound like a peaceful place!
Why do you think the King and Thanes treated other Anglo-Saxons unfairly?
Hello miss Lee,
Here is what I found out about how the Anglo-Saxon lived.
By around AD600, after much fighting, there were five important Anglo-Saxon kingdoms. They were Northumbria, Mercia, Wessex, Kent and East Anglia. Sometimes they got along, sometimes they went to war.
Anglo-Saxon Britain wasn’t ruled by one person and the Anglo-Saxons were not united. They invaded as many different tribes and each took over different parts of Britain.
Each group of Anglo-Saxon settlers had a leader or war-chief. A strong and successful leader became ‘cyning’, the Anglo-Saxon word for ‘king’. Each king ruled a kingdom and led a small army.
From time to time, the strongest king would claim to be ‘bretwalda’, which meant ruler of all Britain.
Thanks Tijne,
P.S. I found all of this information on the BBC Biteside so if anyone would like to find out more I would look there.
Hello Tijne! You have found out SO much information! Well done!
Thank you for sharing the tip about where you found all of these facts! I am sure others in the class will enjoy reading more information about the Anglo-Saxons!