Anglo-Saxons; Great Britain -- History -- Anglo-Saxon period, 449-1066
From the moment of their landing in Britain the savage corsairs of the
Sleswick flats seem wholly to have laid aside their seafaring habits.
They built no more ships, apparently; for many years after Bishop
Wilfrith had to teach the South Saxons how to catch sea-fish; while
during the early Danish incursions we hear distinctly that the English
had no vessels; nor is there much incidental mention of shipping between
the age of the settlement and that of Ælfred. The new-comers took up
their abode at once on the richest parts of Roman Britain, and came into
full enjoyment of orchards which they had not planted and fields which
they had not sown. The state of cultivation in which they found the vale
of York and the Kentish glens must have been widely different from that
to which they were accustomed in their old heath-clad home. Accordingly,
they settled down at once into farmers and landowners on a far larger
scale than of yore; and they were not anxious to move away from the rich
lands which they had so easily acquired. From being sailors and graziers
they took to be agriculturists and landmen. In the towns, indeed, they
did not settle; and most of these continued to bear their old Roman or
Celtic titles. A few may have been destroyed, especially in the first
onset, like Anderida, and, at a later date, Chester; but the greater
number seem to have been still scantily inhabited, under English
protection, by a mixed urban population, mainly Celtic in blood, and
known by the name of Loegrians. It was in the country, however, that the
English conquerers took up their abode. They were tillers of the soil,
not merchants or skippers, and it was long before they acquired a taste
for urban life. The whole eastern half of England is filled with
villages bearing the characteristic English clan names, and marking each
the home of a distinct family of early settlers. As soon as the
new-comers had burnt the villa of the old Roman proprietor, and killed,
driven out, or enslaved his abandoned serfs, they took the land to
themselves and divided it out on their national system. Hence the whole
government and social organisation of England is purely Teutonic, and
the country even lost its old name of Britain for its new one of
England.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account