Anglo-Saxons first came
to England in the 4th century AD when they began raiding the east
coast. The most important of the Anglo Saxon tribes were the Angles,
the Saxons and the Jutes.
In about 450 the Anglo Saxons began to settle in England. By the 6th
century the Jutes had occupied Kent and
Hampshire, the Saxons had established
the kingdoms of Sussex, Wessex, Middlesex and Essex, and the Angles
were in control of the northern and eastern areas of England.
In his book, Ecclesiastical History of the
English People, Bede argued that
by the 8th century most people living north of the Humber were descended
from the Angles. This included the East
Angles (East Anglia), Middle Angles (East Midlands) and the Mercians
(Midlands).
After Oswald of Northumbria defeated Cadwalader
at Hexham in 633, he claimed authority over all Anglo-Saxons. In the
8th century power moved to Mercia when King
Offa established overall control over most of the country. The
following century Alfred the Great of
Wessex was able to claim the overlordship of Anglo-Saxon England.
The renewal of Scandinavian raids led to a Dane, Canute,
becoming king of England in 1016. Edward the
Confessor, the eldest son of Ethelred
the Unready, restored the Anglo Saxons to power in 1042, although
some were unhappy with the number of Norman
advisers that he brought to England. Edward's successor, Harold
Godwinson, was killed at the Battle
of Hastings and was therefore the last Anglo-Saxon king of England.
Anglo Saxon England
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