55 BC- 55 AD The Roman invasion of Britain. The Roman Empire rules Britain until 407 AD
449 AD The Angles, Saxons, and Jutes, fierce, sea-faring warriors from Northern Europe (Germany and Denmark) invade Britain and push the Celtic Britons into Cornwall in the South-west, Wales in the West, and Scotland (via Ireland where they joined a group of Celtic Gaels) to the North.
The Germanic-based languages of these groups, after a period of mixing and intermarriage among these tribes, who set up there own small kingdoms in “Angles’ land,” comes to be known as “Angle-ish,” or English. This first version of English is called “Old English.” (in 1066 the language began to change dramatically as a result of the influence of French, which was spoken by William of Normandy and his nobles, who conquered the Saxons in that year and took possession of the English throne. The language would now be referred to as “Middle English”)
Anglo-Saxon tribal societies are ruled by a king (chosen by a council of elders called a “witan”) and composed of four distinct classes:
1. earls- a hereditary class of nobles who rule on behalf of the king.
2. freemen- a land-owning class which also engaged in commerce. Some freemen became “thanes,” or early low-level nobles who gained their titles through military service.
3. churls- a peasant class of servants who farmed land owned by others. In return for their labor, they were given military protection.
4. thralls- slaves; usually prisoners taken in battle.
The Anglo-Saxons did not believe in the concept of free-will. Rather, they believed that fate ruled the lives of everyone. They worshiped several ancient German gods including:
Tiu, god of war and sky, Woden, chief of the gods, and his wife Fria, godess of the home.
Our modern names for the days of the week (Thursday, Wednesday, Friday) come from the names of their holy days.