AN IMPACTFUL CIVILISATION

The events happening around 450 regarding the migration of the Anglo Saxons
in Britain are , in my opinion , a strategic and clever decision. It was a perfect
opportunity because of the fact that the Romans lost the Britain due to the
rebellions , or , more specifically , Britain became what is known as sub-Roman.

In the beginning , it was of course a disaster for the Germanic tribes who migrated
to the island from continental Europe. Later they adopted aspects of the Anglo-
Saxon culture, like all of the other conquered civilisations do . It is interesting to
me that many aspects of the Anglo-Saxon period survived today including regional
government of shires and hundreds. The visible Anglo-Saxon culture can be seen
in the material culture of buildings, dress styles, illuminated texts and grave
goods. Behind the symbolic nature of these cultural emblems, there are strong
elements of tribal and lordship ties. The elite declared themselves as kings who
developed burhs, and identified their roles and people in Biblical terms.
A burh (Old English pronunciation: [burx]) or burg was an Old English fortification
or fortified settlement.

Many men were ceorls (which , as a word , is the origin of Charles name) , which
means they were part of the lowest ranking freeman in early Anglo-Saxon society.
A ceorl should not be mistaken with a peasant , he was an arms-owning male with
the support of a kindred ( a family and other relations) , access to law and wergild
( the value of an entity , including a person ) . In circumstances where freedom at
law, acceptance with the kindred, access to patronage, and the use and
possession of weapons were all exclusive to those who could claim Germanic
descent, then speaking Old English without Latin or Brittonic inflection had
considerable value.[1]
Regarding religion, monks started to spread Christianity around 590-660 . They
were Irish people who were impressed of monasteries like the ones from
nowadays Scotland and who studied in monastic schools.
One of the most important aspect of Anglo-Saxon civilisation to me are the
settlements and the working life. The mid-Saxon period saw diversification, the
development of enclosures, the beginning of the toft (house on hills ) system,
closer management of livestock (farm animals, a collective asset ) , the gradual
spread of the mould-board plough, 'informally regular plots' and a greater
permanence, with further settlement consolidation thereafter foreshadowing
post-Conquest villages. The later periods saw a proliferation of 'service features'
including barns, mills and latrines, most markedly on high-status sites. Another
interesting aspect are the way they considered the slaves and the women .
Slaves had no wergild, as offences against them were taken to be offences against
their owners, but the earliest laws set out a detailed scale of penalties depending
both on the type of slave and the rank of owner. While other civilisations didnt
consider women as oath-worthy , anglo-saxons allowed them to be principals in
legal transactions, to have the same wergild as men of the same class and the
sexual and other offences against them were penalized heavily.
In the end I can say that it should amaze us how Anglo-Saxon culture can still be
reflected in the contemporan era in language, buildings and other aspects and
that they having an unique wergild system .