ANGLO-SAXON ENGLAND
 Anglo-Saxons Sweep Ashore
 Unifying Forces:
Alfred the Great and Christianity
THINGS TO THINK ABOUT…
 What three groups invaded?
 What group of people did they drive out?
 What two factors helped unify the Anglo-Saxons?
ANGLO-SAXONS SWEEP ASHORE
• Three groups of invaders:
• Angles and Saxons from Germany
• Jutes from Denmark
• They all crossed the North Sea to reach Britain.
ANGLO-SAXONS SWEEP ASHORE
• In the middle of the 5th century the three groups
of invaders drove out the Celts, also known as
the Britons.
• The Celts retreated west to Wales
• The Angles, Saxons, and Jutes settled the
greater part of Britain.
ANGLO-SAXON ENGLAND
• The language of the Anglo-Saxons eventually
became the dominant language.
• English
• Land became known as Engla land or England,
from the Angles.
ANGLO-SAXON ENGLAND
• Anglo-Saxon England was not politically unified
at first:
• The country was divided into several independent
territories and they all had their own rulers.
UNIFYING FORCES: ALFRED THE GREAT
• King Alfred of Wessex, also known as Alfred the Great
led a resistance against the Danes from 871- 899 and
unified the Anglo-Saxons into a nation.
• The Danes were one of the Viking peoples who crossed the
North Sea and destroyed everything in their path.
• Battles with the Danes continued in the 8th and 9th centuries
• They eventually settled some parts of northeast and central
England.
UNIFYING FORCES: CHRISTIANITY
• Christianity was also a big part in unifying the AngloSaxon England.
• Continental and Irish missionaries converted kings
• Kings converted subjects
• Converting to Christianity allowed the people to have a
common faith and system of morality.
• It also provided a link between England and Europe.
• Under Christianity and King Alfred the Anglo-Saxon
people worked together to protect their people, their
church, and their culture from the plunders of the
Danes.
• The battle between the Danes and the Anglo-Saxons
continued until they were both defeated in 1066 by an
invading force of Normans from northwestern France.
 What three groups invaded?
 What group did they drive out?
 What two factors helped unify the Anglo-Saxons?
 What three groups invaded?
Jutes, Angles, and Saxons
 What group did they drive out?
Celts, also known as Britons
 What two factors helped unify the Anglo-Saxons?
Christianity and Alfred the Great