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Y301: The Early Anglo-Saxons c.400–800

The development of Kingship and kingdoms in Britain and Ireland: the first Saxons, early kingdoms and overkingship

  • 3 things to know
  • Unit group 3

Overview

Recall questions on the traditions of the Saxon arrival, reasons for migration, Mons Badonicus, the growth of early kingdoms, imperium, Bede’s list of overkings and the origins of the title Bretwalda.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

Your recallNot started
Key term

Name the British ruler traditionally said to have invited Germanic mercenaries into Britain in the mid-fifth century, and explain why.

Key term

Name the two brothers tradition identifies as the leaders of the first Saxon settlers in Kent around 450.

Key term

Name the seven kings listed by Bede as holding imperium over the southern English.

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

  1. 1

    Name the British ruler traditionally said to have invited Germanic mercenaries into Britain in the mid-fifth century, and explain why.

    Model answer

    Vortigern, described in the British tradition as a proud tyrant who hired Saxon federates to hold off Pictish and Irish attacks.

  2. 2

    Name the two brothers tradition identifies as the leaders of the first Saxon settlers in Kent around 450.

    Model answer

    Hengist and Horsa, with Horsa said to have been killed fighting the Britons soon afterwards.

  3. 3

    Give two reasons Germanic peoples crossed to Britain in the fifth century.

    Model answer

    They were recruited and paid as federate soldiers by British rulers, and the collapse of Roman authority opened up land and plunder at a time when rising sea levels were spoiling coastal settlement in their North Sea homelands.

  4. 4

    What was Mons Badonicus and why did it matter?

    Model answer

    It was a British victory over the Saxons around the year 500 that appears to have halted Saxon expansion westwards for roughly a generation.

  5. 5

    Why were some kingdoms able to grow at their neighbours' expense before c.600?

    Model answer

    Success in war brought tribute, slaves and treasure with which a king could reward followers, and that reputation drew more warriors to him, so small folk groups were absorbed by whichever dynasty could keep winning.

  6. 6

    What did overkingship, or imperium, mean in practice for the greatest kings of the period?

    Model answer

    It meant lordship over other kings rather than direct rule: the overking took tribute, expected military service and arbitrated between his under-kings, but left their kingdoms and dynasties intact.

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