- published: 15 Jun 2011
- views: 59827
- author: popperslist
Vimeo results:
Youtube results:
MORE VIDEOS
Loading...
..." width="225" height="168" class="playvideo1 gotop" onClick="activateTab('playlist1'); return false" style="display: block;" />
Open Collage in a new Window
Email the Collage
- Loading...
Loading suggestions ...
- Abbey of Fulda
- Abbey of Verden
- Abodrites
- Aeghyna
- Aelle of Sussex
- Aetheling
- Aethelwalh of Sussex
- Agrippina (opera)
- Airan
- Alamanni
- Albert Dauzat
- Alboin
- Alcuin of York
- Alfred the Great
- Alliterative verse
- Ancient Rome
- Angers
- Angles
- Anglo-Saxon paganism
- Anglo-Saxon warfare
- Anglo-Saxons
- Angria
- Archbishop of York
- Arianism
- Astronomus
- Augustine of Hippo
- Australia
- Austrasia
- Avignon
- Aviones
- Baltic peoples
- Baptism
- Basques
- Bayeux
- Bede
- Bernard Bachrach
- Bessin
- Birinus
- Bishop of Selsey
- Bishopric of Utrecht
- Book of Genesis
- Bracteate
- Brazil
- Breton language
- Bretons
- Bretwalda
- Britannia
- British Isles
- Britons (historical)
- Burgundians
- Butter
- Bénouville, Calvados
- Caen
- Canehan
- Carolingian dynasty
- Cedd
- Celtic languages
- Charlemagne
- Charles Rostaing
- Charles the Bald
- Chatti
- Chernyakhov culture
- Childeric I
- Chlothar I
- Chlothar II
- Christianisation
- Christianity
- Clovis I
- Cologne-Deutz
- Colton
- Confederation
- Cornish language
- Cottun
- County
- Cynegils
- Dagobert I
- Dalmatia
- Diocese of London
- Duchy of Saxony
- Duchy of Vasconia
- Duke of Gascony
- Dutch language
- Dutch Low Saxon
- Eadwacer
- Ealdormen
- Early Germanic law
- East Germanic tribes
- Eastphalia
- Egbert of Wessex
- Einhard
- Embrun, Hautes-Alpes
- England
- English Channel
- English language
- Ernest Nègre
- Ernest N�gre
- Essex
- Estonians
- Estoublon
- Ewald (martyr)
- Feudalism
- Fibula (brooch)
- Finnic peoples
- Finns
- Foederati
- Francia
- Frank Stenton
- Frankish kingdom
- Frankish mythology
- Franks
- Fredegar
- Fredegund
- Frigg
- Frisians
- Frisii
- Gaels
- Gallo-Frankish
- Gallo-Roman
- Gaul
- Geats
- Genesis (Saxon)
- Geographia
- Germania
- Germania (book)
- Germanic calendar
- Germanic Iron Age
- Germanic kingship
- Germanic languages
- Germanic name
- Germanic paganism
- Germanic peoples
- Germanic philology
- Germanic warfare
- Germanic Wars
- Germans
- Germany
- Gewisse
- Gildas
- Giverville
- Gods
- Gooi
- Gothic Christianity
- Gothic War (376–382)
- Goths
- Gotlander
- Graignes
- Granville, Manche
- Grave field
- Great Britain
- Guelders
- Guernsey
- Guntram
- Gàidhealtachd
- Hamaland
- Hanseatic League
- Heliand
- Hengist
- Henry the Fowler
- Henry the Lion
- Herford
- Hewald the Black
- Hewald the White
- High Middle Ages
- Hispania
- Historia Brittonum
- Holstein
- Homily
- Horsa
- House of Ascania
- Hretha
- Huppain
- Hérouvillette
- Ingaevones
- Ingenui
- Ingvaeonic languages
- Irish language
- Irminones
- Irminsul
- Isle of Thanet
- Istvaeones
- Jastorf culture
- Julian the Apostate
- Julius Nepos
- Jutes
- King of Mercia
- Kingdom of Essex
- Kingdom of Kent
- Kingdom of Sussex
- Kingdom of Wessex
- Kreis Herford
- Laeti
- Latin language
- Latinised
- Lawspeaker
- Lecesne
- Lex Saxonum
- Lingua franca
- Lombards
- Lombardy
- Lothair I
- Louis the German
- Louis the Pious
- Low German language
- Low Saxony
- Lower Saxony
- Magnentius
- Mainz
- Mannus
- March of Meissen
- Marcomanni
- Marklo
- Mead hall
- Meissen
- Mellitus
- Merchant
- Merovingian
- Middle ages
- Middle Ages
- Middlesex
- Migration Period
- Migration Period art
- Monasticism
- Mummolus
- National service
- Neustria
- Nice
- Nithard
- Nordic Bronze Age
- Nordic paganism
- Nordrhein-Westfalen
- Nordwestblock
- Normandy
- Norse funeral
- Norse paganism
- North America
- North German plain
- Northern Albingia
- Northern Germany
- Northumbria
- Northwest Germanic
- Notitia Dignitatum
- Odoacer
- Oksywie culture
- Old English
- Old English language
- Old Norse
- Old Saxon
- Old Saxon language
- Old Saxony
- Onomastics
- Ostrogoths
- Otto I, the Great
- Ouistreham
- Pagus
- Picardy
- Picts
- Poeta Saxo
- Polabian Slavs
- Pre-Roman Iron Age
- Provence
- Przeworsk culture
- Ptolemy
- Rabanus Maurus
- Relics
- Religious conversion
- Rhine
- Rhodesia
- Rhône River
- River Elbe
- River Saale
- Roman Emperor
- Roman Empire
- Roman Iron Age
- Rome
- Runic alphabet
- Runic calendar
- Saebert of Essex
- Saint Lebuin
- Salian dynasty
- Salian Franks
- Saskia
- Satrap
- Saxon Shore
- Saxon shore
- Saxon Shore Forts
- Saxon Wars
- Saxons
- Saxony
- Scots language
- Scottish English
- Scottish Gaelic
- Scottish Lowlands
- Seax
- Semipelagianism
- Ship burial
- Sippe
- Slavic paganism
- Solidi
- Sorbs
- South Africa
- South Germanic
- Soviet Union
- Speculum (journal)
- Spong Hill
- Stellinga
- Sub-Roman Britain
- Suebi
- Suebian knot
- Surrain
- Sutton Hoo
- Syagrius
- Tacitus
- Teutonic Knights
- Theudebald
- Thing (assembly)
- Thunor
- Thuringians
- Timothy Reuter
- Tours
- Transylvania
- Transylvanian Saxons
- Tuisto
- Tumulus
- Týr
- Upper Saxony
- Vagoth
- Vandal tribe
- Varangians
- Veleda
- Venice
- Vierville-sur-Mer
- Viking
- Vikings
- Visigoths
- Vita Lebuini antiqua
- Vortigern
- Vron
- Waroch
- Welsh language
- Wends
- Wergild
- Wessex
- West Slavs
- Westphalia
- Widukind
- Wielbark culture
- Wilfrid
- Woden
- World language
- Wulfhere of Mercia
- Wōdanaz
- Yule
- Étréham
- Ēostre
-
Abbey of Fulda
The monastery of Fulda was a Benedictine abbey in Fulda, in the present-day German state of Hesse. It was founded in 12 March, 744 by Saint Sturm, a disciple of Saint Boniface, and became an eminent center of learning with a renowned scriptorium, and the predecessor of the Fulda diocese.
Sturm took solemn possession of the land, and raised the cross. The wilderness was soon cleared, and the erection of the monastery and church, the latter dedicated to the Most Holy Redeemer, began under the personal direction of Saint Boniface. He appointed Sturm as first abbot of the new foundation, which he intended to surpass in greatness all existing monasteries of Germany, and to be a nursery for priests. The rule was modelled on that of the Abbey of Monte Cassino, as Sturm himself had gone to Italy (748) for the express purpose of becoming familiar with it. To secure absolute autonomy for the new abbey, Boniface obtained from Pope Zachary a privilege, dated 4 November, 751, placing it immediately under the Holy See, and removing it from all episcopal jurisdiction. Grants of lands extended Fulda's domains to Thuringia and Saxony. On the other hand, Fulda was from 765 an imperial abbey, fulfilling complementary demands of public education and imperial service.
wn.com/Abbey_of_Fulda -
Alcuin of York
Alcuin of York (Latin: Alcuinus) or Ealhwine, nicknamed Albinus or Flaccus (730s or 740s – 19 May 804) was an English scholar, ecclesiastic, poet and teacher from York, Northumbria. He was born around 735 and became the student of Archbishop Ecgbert at York. At the invitation of Charlemagne, he became a leading scholar and teacher at the Carolingian court, where he remained a figure in the 780s and 790s. He wrote many theological and dogmatic treatises, as well as a few grammatical works and a number of poems. He was made Abbot of Saint Martin's at Tours in 796, where he remained until his death. "The most learned man anywhere to be found" according to Einhard's Life of Charlemagne, he is considered among the most important architects of the Carolingian Renaissance. Among his pupils were many of the dominant intellectuals of the Carolingian era.
Alcuin of York had a long career as a teacher and scholar, first at the school at York founded in AD 627 (now known as St Peter's School, York) and later as Charlemagne's leading advisor on ecclesiastical and educational matters. From 796 until his death he was Abbot of the great monastery of St. Martin of Tours.
wn.com/Alcuin_of_York -
Angria
Angria or Angaria (German: Engern) is a historical region in the present-day German states of Lower Saxony and North Rhine-Westphalia. The chronicler Widukind of Corvey in his Res gestae saxonicae sive annalium libri tres denoted it as the central region of the mediæval Duchy of Saxony lying along the middle reaches of the Weser river between Westphalia and Eastphalia. Its name was derived from the Germanic Angrivarii tribe which had joined the Saxon tribal confederation, and it was centered on the town of Minden, see of a bishopric since 803.
The Angrivarii lands were conquered by Charlemagne during the Saxon Wars; according to the Royal Frankish Annals the Angrian commanders concluded a separate peace agreement with the Carolingian Empire near Bückeburg in 775. In the course of the deposition of the Saxon duke Henry the Lion by Emperor Frederick Barbarossa in 1180, most parts of Angria was attached to the Duchy of Westphalia held by the Archbishops of Cologne, while the Ascanian count Bernhard of Anhalt received the Saxon ducal title. The name Angria thereafter became obsolete. In the 13th century the central area on the Weser became the nucleus of the County of Hoya, which in 1582 was inherited by the House of Brunswick-Lüneburg.
wn.com/Angria -
Australia
Australia (
/əˈstreɪljə/), officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent as well as the island of Tasmania and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area. Neighbouring countries include Indonesia, East Timor and Papua New Guinea to the north; the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and New Caledonia to the north-east; and New Zealand to the south-east.
For at least 40,000 years before European settlement in the late 18th century, Australia was inhabited by indigenous Australians, who belonged to one or more of roughly 250 language groups. After discovery by Dutch explorers in 1606, Australia's eastern half was claimed by Great Britain in 1770 and settled through penal transportation to the colony of New South Wales from 26 January 1788. The population grew steadily in subsequent decades; the continent was explored and an additional five self-governing Crown Colonies were established.
wn.com/Australia -
Bessin
The Bessin is an area in Normandy, France, corresponding to the territory of the Bajocasse tribe of Gaul who also gave their name to the city of Bayeux, central town of the Bessin.
The territory was annexed by the Duchy of Normandy in 924.
The Bessin corresponds to the former diocese of Bayeux which was incorporated into the Calvados département following the French Revolution.
Part of the Bessin is now administered as a national park for its importance as marshland.
Coordinates: 49°20′00″N 0°37′00″W / 49.3333°N 0.616667°W / 49.3333; -0.616667
wn.com/Bessin -
Brazil
Brazil
i/brəˈzɪl/ (Portuguese: Brasil, IPA: [bɾaˈziw]), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: República Federativa do Brasil, listen (help·info)), is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people. It is the only Portuguese-speaking country in the Americas and the largest lusophone country in the world.
Bounded by the Atlantic Ocean on the east, Brazil has a coastline of 7,491 km (4,655 mi). It is bordered on the north by Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname and the French overseas region of French Guiana; on the northwest by Colombia; on the west by Bolivia and Peru; on the southwest by Argentina and Paraguay and on the south by Uruguay. Numerous archipelagos form part of Brazilian territory, such as Fernando de Noronha, Rocas Atoll, Saint Peter and Paul Rocks, and Trindade and Martim Vaz. It borders all other South American countries except Ecuador and Chile.
Brazil was a colony of Portugal from the landing of Pedro Álvares Cabral in 1500 until 1815, when it was elevated to the rank of kingdom and the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves was formed. The colonial bond was in fact broken in 1808, when the capital of the Portuguese colonial empire was transferred from Lisbon to Rio de Janeiro, after Napoleon invaded Portugal.Independence was achieved in 1822 with the formation of the Empire of Brazil, a unitary state governed under a constitutional monarchy and a parliamentary system. The country became a presidential republic in 1889, when a military coup d'état proclaimed the Republic, although the bicameral legislature, now called Congress, dates back to the ratification of the first constitution in 1824. Its current Constitution, formulated in 1988, defines Brazil as a Federal Republic. The Federation is formed by the union of the Federal District, the 26 States, and the 5,564 Municipalities.
wn.com/Brazil -
Dalmatia
Dalmatia (Croatian: Dalmacija, Croatian pronunciation: [dǎlmaːt͡sija]; see names in other languages) is a historical region on the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea, in Croatia. It stretches from the island of Rab in the northwest to the Bay of Kotor in the southeast. The hinterland, the Dalmatian Zagora, ranges from fifty kilometers in width in the north to just a few kilometers in the south. The Dalmatian dog received its name from Dalmatia, as does the dalmatic, a Roman Catholic liturgical vestment worn by deacons and bishops.
The name Dalmatia derives from the name of the tribe of the Dalmatae, which is connected with the Illyrian word delme, dele in modern Albanian, meaning "sheep" in English.
In antiquity the Roman province of Dalmatia was much larger than the present-day Dalmatia County of Croatia, stretching from Istria in the north to historical Albania in the south. Dalmatia signified not only a geographical unit, but was an entity based on common culture and settlement types, a common narrow eastern Adriatic coastal belt, Mediterranean climate, sclerophyllous vegetation of the Illyrian province, Adriatic carbonate platform, and karst geomorphology.
wn.com/Dalmatia -
Diocese of London
The Anglican Diocese of London forms part of the Province of Canterbury in England.
Historically the diocese covered a large area north of the Thames and bordered the dioceses of Norwich and Lincoln to the north and west. The present diocese covers 177 square miles (460 km2) and 17 London boroughs, covering most of Greater London north of the River Thames and west of the River Lea. This area covers nearly all of the historic county of Middlesex. It includes the City of London in which lies its cathedral, St Paul's, and also encompasses Spelthorne which was formerly in Middlesex but is now part of Surrey.
Essex formed part of the diocese until 1846 when it became part of the Diocese of Rochester, later moving to the Diocese of St Albans and thence to the Diocese of Chelmsford.
The diocese is divided into five episcopal areas, each of which is the particular responsibility of one of the diocese's suffragan bishops. It is further divided into archdeaconries and deaneries, as shown below.
There is a fifth suffragan bishop, the Bishop of Fulham, who, until November 2010, played a diocesan-wide role similar to that of a provincial episcopal visitor. Said role is now the additional responsibility of the Bishop of Edmonton. The next Bishop of Fulham will be the suffragan for the Two Cities (London and Westminster).
wn.com/Diocese_of_London -
England
Englandi/ˈɪŋɡlənd/ is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, while the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separate it from continental Europe. Most of England comprises the central and southern part of the island of Great Britain in the North Atlantic. The country also includes over 100 smaller islands such as the Isles of Scilly and the Isle of Wight.
The area now called England was first inhabited by modern humans during the Upper Palaeolithic period, but it takes its name from the Angles, one of the Germanic tribes who settled during the 5th and 6th centuries. England became a unified state in AD 927, and since the Age of Discovery, which began during the 15th century, has had a significant cultural and legal impact on the wider world. The English language, the Anglican Church, and English law—the basis for the common law legal systems of many other countries around the world—developed in England, and the country's parliamentary system of government has been widely adopted by other nations. The Industrial Revolution began in 18th-century England, transforming its society into the world's first industrialised nation. England's Royal Society laid the foundations of modern experimental science.
wn.com/England -
English Channel
The English Channel (French: la Manche, Breton: Mor Breizh, Cornish: Mor Bretannek), often referred to simply as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates southern England from northern France, and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. It is about 560 km (350 mi) long and varies in width from 240 km (150 mi) at its widest to 34 km (21 mi) in the Strait of Dover. It is the smallest of the shallow seas around the continental shelf of Europe, covering an area of some 75,000 km2 (29,000 sq mi).
The International Hydrographic Organization defines the limits of the English Channel as follows:
On the West. A line joining Isle Vierge (48°38′23″N 4°34′13″W / 48.63972°N 4.57028°W / 48.63972; -4.57028) to Lands End (50°04′N 5°43′W / 50.067°N 5.717°W / 50.067; -5.717).
On the East. The Southwestern limit of the North Sea.
The IHO defines the southwestern limit of the North Sea as "a line joining the Walde Lighthouse (France, 1°55'E) and Leathercoat Point (England, 51°10'N)". The Walde Lighthouse is 6 km east of Calais (50°59′06″N 1°55′00″E / 50.985°N 1.9166667°E / 50.985; 1.9166667), and Leathercoat Point is at the north end of St Margaret's Bay, Kent (51°10′00″N 1°24′00″E / 51.1666667°N 1.4°E / 51.1666667; 1.4).
wn.com/English_Channel -
Germany
Germany (i/ˈdʒɜrməni/), officially the Federal Republic of Germany (German: Bundesrepublik Deutschland, pronounced [ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant] (
listen)), is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate. With 81.8 million inhabitants, it is the most populous member state and the largest economy in the European Union. It is one of the major political powers of the European continent and a technological leader in many fields.
A region named Germania, inhabited by several Germanic peoples, was documented before AD 100. During the Migration Period, the Germanic tribes expanded southward, and established successor kingdoms throughout much of Europe. Beginning in the 10th century, German territories formed a central part of the Holy Roman Empire. During the 16th century, northern German regions became the centre of the Protestant Reformation while southern and western parts remained dominated by Roman Catholic denominations, with the two factions clashing in the Thirty Years' War, marking the beginning of the Catholic–Protestant divide that has characterized German society ever since. Occupied during the Napoleonic Wars, the rise of Pan-Germanism inside the German Confederation resulted in the unification of most of the German states into the German Empire in 1871 which was Prussian dominated. After the German Revolution of 1918–1919 and the subsequent military surrender in World War I, the Empire was replaced by the Weimar Republic in 1918, and partitioned in the Treaty of Versailles. Amidst the Great Depression, the Third Reich was proclaimed in 1933. The latter period was marked by Fascism and World War II. After 1945, Germany was divided by allied occupation, and evolved into two states, East Germany and West Germany. In 1990 Germany was reunified.
wn.com/Germany -
Gooi
Het Gooi is the area around Hilversum in the centre of the Netherlands. It is a slightly hilly area characterised by its green landscape, its historical charm, the wealth of its inhabitants, and its villas. Het Gooi is known in the Netherlands as the home of the rich and famous.
The name "Gooi" is related to "gouw", the Dutch word for "gau", being an old name for a "region". Het Gooi is conventionally referred to in Dutch as "het Gooi" or "'t Gooi", literally meaning "the Gooi". It is also sometimes referred to as "Gooiland". In English, the area is generally referred to as "Het Gooi" (capital "H") or "the Gooi area". People from Het Gooi are called "Gooiers".
"Gooi" (xo:i) rhymes roughly with the English name "Roy". The "g" is pronounced as a voiceless velar fricative, like the "ch" in "loch".
Het Gooi is the area around Hilversum in the southeastern corner of the province of North Holland. It is located north of Utrecht, between Amersfoort and Amsterdam. The boundaries are not clearly demarcated. It is generally the area between a dry ditch called the Gooyergracht, dug in 1356 to demarcate the border with the province of Utrecht, and the river Vecht. Het Gooi refers traditionally to the part of this area that lies in the province of North Holland. Often the term is used to refer just to the higher, sandy, forested part of this area. The towns in the area include (in descending order of size):
wn.com/Gooi -
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain (Welsh: Prydain Fawr, Scottish Gaelic: Breatainn Mhòr, Cornish: Breten Veur) is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, the largest European island, and the largest of the British Isles. With a population of about 60.0 million people in mid-2009, it is the third most populous island in the world, after Java and Honshū. Great Britain is surrounded by over 1,000 smaller islands and islets. The island of Ireland lies to its west. Politically, Great Britain may also refer to the island itself together with a number of surrounding islands which comprise the territory of England, Scotland and Wales.
All of the island is territory of the sovereign state of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and most of the United Kingdom's territory is in Great Britain. Most of England, Scotland, and Wales are on the island of Great Britain, as are their respective capital cities: London, Edinburgh, and Cardiff.
wn.com/Great_Britain -
Guernsey
Guernsey, officially the Bailiwick of Guernsey ( /ˈɡɜrnzi/ GURN-zee; French: Bailliage de Guernesey, IPA: [bajaʒ də ɡɛʁnəzɛ]), is a British Crown dependency in the English Channel off the coast of Normandy.
The Bailiwick of Guernsey embraces not only all 10 parishes on the Island of Guernsey, but also the islands of Herm, Jethou, and Lihou. Furthermore, the Bailiwick includes Alderney and Sark, which each has its own parliament.
Although its defence is the responsibility of the United Kingdom, the Bailiwick of Guernsey is not part of the UK; and while it participates in the Common Travel Area, it is not part of the European Union.
The Bailiwick of Guernsey is included (along with the Bailiwick of Jersey) in the grouping known as the Channel Islands.
The name of Guernsey, as well as that of neighbouring Jersey, is of Old Norse origin. The second element of Guernsey (-ey) is the Old Norse for "island". Guern similar to Spanish "Cuerno", French "Coi(r)n", Dutch "Hoorn", Frisian "Hoarn", Swedish "Hörn", Swiss "Gorn" means "Corner". - Corner Island.
wn.com/Guernsey -
Low Saxony
Lower Saxony (German: Niedersachsen [ˈniːdɐzaksən], Low German: Neddersassen) is a German state situated in northwestern Germany and is second in area and fourth in population among the sixteen states of Germany. In rural areas Northern Low Saxon, a dialect of Low German, is still spoken, but the number of speakers is declining.
Lower Saxony borders on (from north and clockwise) the North Sea, the states of Schleswig-Holstein, Hamburg, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Brandenburg, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia, Hesse and North Rhine-Westphalia, and the Kingdom of the Netherlands. In fact, Lower Saxony borders more neighbours than any other single federal state. The state of Bremen forms two enclaves within Lower Saxony, one being the city of Bremen, the other, its seaport city of Bremerhaven. The state's principal cities include Hanover, Brunswick, Lüneburg, Osnabrück, Oldenburg, and Göttingen.
The northwestern area of Lower Saxony, which lies on the coast of the North Sea, is called East Frisia and the seven East Frisian Islands offshore are popular with tourists. In the extreme west of Lower Saxony is the Emsland, a traditionally poor and sparsely populated area, once dominated by inaccessible swamps. The northern half of Lower Saxony, also known as the North German Plains, is almost invariably flat except for the gentle hills around the Bremen geestland. Towards the south and southwest lie the northern parts of the German Central Uplands: the Weser Uplands and the Harz mountains. Between these two lie the Lower Saxon Hills, a range of low ridges.
wn.com/Low_Saxony -
Lower Saxony
Lower Saxony (German: Niedersachsen [ˈniːdɐzaksən], Low German: Neddersassen) is a German state situated in northwestern Germany and is second in area and fourth in population among the sixteen states of Germany. In rural areas Northern Low Saxon, a dialect of Low German, is still spoken, but the number of speakers is declining.
Lower Saxony borders on (from north and clockwise) the North Sea, the states of Schleswig-Holstein, Hamburg, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Brandenburg, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia, Hesse and North Rhine-Westphalia, and the Kingdom of the Netherlands. In fact, Lower Saxony borders more neighbours than any other single federal state. The state of Bremen forms two enclaves within Lower Saxony, one being the city of Bremen, the other, its seaport city of Bremerhaven. The state's principal cities include Hanover, Brunswick, Lüneburg, Osnabrück, Oldenburg, and Göttingen.
The northwestern area of Lower Saxony, which lies on the coast of the North Sea, is called East Frisia and the seven East Frisian Islands offshore are popular with tourists. In the extreme west of Lower Saxony is the Emsland, a traditionally poor and sparsely populated area, once dominated by inaccessible swamps. The northern half of Lower Saxony, also known as the North German Plains, is almost invariably flat except for the gentle hills around the Bremen geestland. Towards the south and southwest lie the northern parts of the German Central Uplands: the Weser Uplands and the Harz mountains. Between these two lie the Lower Saxon Hills, a range of low ridges.
wn.com/Lower_Saxony -
Middlesex
Middlesex ( /ˈmɪdəlsɛks/; abbreviated Middx) is one of the 39 historic counties of England and the second smallest by area. The low-lying county contained the wealthy and politically independent City of London on its southern boundary and was dominated by it from a very early time. The county was significantly affected by the expansion of the metropolitan area of London in both the 18th and 19th centuries, such that from 1855 the south-east was administered as part of the metropolis. When county councils were initially introduced in England in 1889 about 20% of the area of Middlesex, along with a third of its population, was transferred to the County of London, and the remainder formed a smaller county, in the north-west, under the control of Middlesex County Council.
In the interwar years urban London had further expanded, with increasing suburbanisation, improvement and expansion of public transport, and the setting up of new industries outside the inner London area. After the Second World War, the population of the County of London and inner Middlesex was in steady decline, with new population growth only experienced in the outer suburbs. After a Royal Commission on Local Government in Greater London, almost all of the original area was incorporated into an enlarged Greater London in 1965, with small parts transferred to neighbouring Hertfordshire and Surrey. Despite the disappearance of the county council, Middlesex is still used as an area name and was retained as a postal county; which is now an optional component of postal addresses.
wn.com/Middlesex -
Nordrhein-Westfalen
North Rhine-Westphalia (German: Nordrhein-Westfalen [ˈnɔɐ̯tʁaɪn vɛstˈfaːlən] ( listen)) is the most populous state of Germany, with four of the country's ten largest cities. The state was formed in 1946 as a merger of the northern Rhineland and Westphalia, both formerly part of Prussia. Its capital is Düsseldorf. The state is currently run by a coalition of the Social Democrats and Greens.
Around 1 A.D. there were numerous incursions through Westphalia and perhaps even some permanent Roman or Romanized settlements. The Battle of Teutoburg Forest took place near Osnabrück (as mentioned, it is disputed whether this is in Westphalia) and some of the tribes who fought at this battle came from the area of Westphalia. Charlemagne is thought to have spent considerable time in Paderborn and nearby parts. His Saxon Wars also partly took place in what is thought of as Westphalia today. Popular legends link his adversary Widukind to places near Detmold, Bielefeld, Lemgo, Osnabrück and other places in Westphalia. Widukind was buried in Enger, which is also a subject of a legend.
wn.com/Nordrhein-Westfalen -
Northumbria
Northumbria (Old English: Norþanhymbra / Norþhymbre) was a mediæval kingdom of the Angles, in what is now Northern England and South-East Scotland, becoming subsequently an earldom in a united Anglo-Saxon kingdom of England. The name reflects the approximate southern limit to the kingdom's territory, the Humber Estuary.
Northumbria was formed by Æthelfrith in central Great Britain in Anglo-Saxon times. At the beginning of the 7th century the two kingdoms of Bernicia and Deira were unified. (In the 12th century writings of Henry of Huntingdon the kingdom was defined as one of the Heptarchy of Anglo-Saxon kingdoms.) At its greatest the kingdom extended at least from just south of the Humber, to the River Mersey and to the Forth (roughly, Sheffield to Runcorn to Edinburgh) – and there is some evidence that it may have been much greater (see map).
The later (and smaller) earldom came about when the southern part of Northumbria (ex-Deira) was lost to the Danelaw. The northern part (ex-Bernicia) at first retained its status as a kingdom but when it become subordinate to the Danish kingdom it had its powers curtailed to that of an earldom, and retained that status when England was reunited by the Wessex-led reconquest of the Danelaw. The earldom was bounded by the River Tees in the south and the River Tweed in the north (broadly similar to the modern North East England).
wn.com/Northumbria -
Picardy
Picardy (French: Picardie, French pronunciation: [pikaʁdi]) is one of the 27 regions of France. It is located in the northern part of France.
The historical province of Picardy stretched from north of Noyon to Calais, via the whole of the Somme department and the north of the Aisne department. The province of Artois (Arras area) separated Picardy from French Flanders.
In the 5th century the area was occupied by the Franks, and in the feudal period it encompassed the six countships of Boulogne, Montreuil, Ponthieu, Amiénois, Vermandois, and Laonnois.
The name "Picardy" (which may have referred to a Frankish tribe of picards or pike-bearers) was not used until the 12th or 13th century. During this time, the name applied to all lands where the Picard language was spoken, which included all the territories from Paris to the Netherlands. In the Latin Quarter of Paris, people identified a "Picard Nation" (Nation Picarde) of students at Sorbonne University, most of whom actually came from Flanders.
wn.com/Picardy -
Rome
Rome (/ˈroʊm/; Italian: Roma pronounced [ˈroːma] ( listen); Latin: Rōma) is a city and special comune ("Roma Capitale") in Italy. Rome is the capital of Italy and the capital of Lazio (Latin: Latium). With 2.8 million residents in 1,285.3 km2 (496.3 sq mi), it is also the country's largest and most populated comune and fourth-most populous city in the European Union by population within city limits. Between 3.2 and 3.7 million people live in the Rome metropolitan area. The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.
Rome's history spans two and a half thousand years. It was the capital city of the Roman Kingdom, the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire, which was the dominant power in Western Europe and the lands bordering the Mediterranean for over seven hundred years from the 1st century BC until the 7th century AD and the city is regarded as one of the birthplaces of western civilization. Since the 1st century AD Rome has been the seat of the Papacy and, after the end of Byzantine domination, in the 8th century it became the capital of the Papal States, which lasted until 1870. In 1871 Rome became the capital of the Kingdom of Italy, and in 1946 that of the Italian Republic.
wn.com/Rome -
Saxony
The Free State of Saxony (German: Freistaat Sachsen [ˈfʁaɪʃtaːt ˈzaksən]; Upper Sorbian: Swobodny stat Sakska) is a landlocked state of Germany, bordering Brandenburg, Saxony Anhalt, Thuringia, Bavaria, the Czech Republic and Poland. It is the tenth-largest German state in area, with (18,413 square kilometres (7,109 sq mi), and the sixth most-populous (4.3 million) of Germany's sixteen states.
Located in the middle of an erstwhile German-speaking part of Europe, the history of the state of Saxony spans more than a millennium. It has been a medieval duchy, an electorate of the Holy Roman Empire, a kingdom, a republic from 1918 to 1952 and then again from 1990.
The area of the modern state of Saxony should not be confused with Old Saxony, the area inhabited by Saxons. Old Saxony corresponds approximately to the modern German states of Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and the Westphalian part of North Rhine-Westphalia.
Sachsen is divided into three Direktionsbezirke — Chemnitz, Dresden, Leipzig — which are subdivided into 10 districts:
wn.com/Saxony -
South Africa
Coordinates: 30°S 25°E / 30°S 25°E / -30; 25
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa, is a country located at the southern tip of Africa. It is divided into nine provinces and has 2,798 kilometres (1,739 mi) of coastline. To the north of the country lie the neighbouring territories of Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe; to the east are Mozambique and Swaziland; while Lesotho is an enclave surrounded by South African territory.
South Africa is multi-ethnic and has diverse cultures and languages. Eleven official languages are recognised in the constitution. Two of these languages are of European origin: South African English and Afrikaans, a language which originated mainly from Dutch that is spoken by the majority of white and Coloured South Africans. Though English is commonly used in public and commercial life, it is only the fifth most-spoken home language. All ethnic and language groups have political representation in the country's constitutional democracy comprising a parliamentary republic; unlike most parliamentary republics, the positions of head of state and head of government are merged in a parliament-dependent President.
wn.com/South_Africa -
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union (Russian: Советский Союз, tr. Sovetsky Soyuz), officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR; Russian: Сою́з Сове́тских Социалисти́ческих Респу́блик, tr. Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik; IPA: [sɐˈjus sɐˈvʲetskʲɪx sətsɨəlʲɪˈstʲitɕɪskʲɪx rʲɪsˈpublʲɪk] ( listen); abbreviated СССР, SSSR), was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991.
The Soviet Union was a single-party state ruled by the Communist Party from its foundation until 1990. A union of 15 subnational Soviet republics, the Soviet state was structured under a highly centralized government and economy.
The Russian Revolution of 1917 caused the downfall of the Russian Empire. Following the Russian Revolution, there was a struggle for power between the Bolshevik party, led by Vladimir Lenin, and the anti-communist White movement. In December 1922, the Bolsheviks won the civil war, and the Soviet Union was formed with the merger of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, the Transcaucasian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic, the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic and the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic.
wn.com/Soviet_Union -
Spong Hill
Spong Hill is an Anglo-Saxon cemetery site located at North Elmham in Norfolk, England. The largest Early Anglo-Saxon burial site ever excavated, it contains within it 2259 cremations and 57 inhumations. The site at Spong Hill consisted of two cemeteries, a large cremation cemetery and a smaller, 6th century cemetery of 57 inhumations. Several of the graves were covered by small barrows and others were marked by the use of coffins.
Extensive excavations of the Early Saxon cemetery and part of the associated settlement revealed evidence of Early Prehistoric occupation on the hill top, dating from the Mesolithic to the Early Bronze Age. Excavation of the Anglo-Saxon cemetery also revealed extensive occupation evidence: late Iron Age and Roman enclosures and field boundaries, an early Roman kiln, and a small settlement of 'sunken huts' and post-hole buildings possibly contemporary with the cemetery.
"Spong Man" is a pottery lid of a cremation urn in the shape of a seated figure. It was excavated in 1979, and is unique in Early Saxon archaeology, being the earliest Anglo-Saxon three-dimensional human figure that has ever been found. An image of the pottery lid can be seen here: [1].
wn.com/Spong_Hill -
Sutton Hoo
Sutton Hoo, near Woodbridge, in the English county of Suffolk, is the site of two 6th- and early 7th-century cemeteries. One contained an undisturbed ship burial including a wealth of Anglo-Saxon artifacts of outstanding art-historical and archaeological significance, now held in the British Museum in London.
Sutton Hoo is of a primary importance to early medieval historians because it sheds light on a period of English history that is on the margin between myth, legend and historical documentation. Use of the site culminated at a time when Rædwald, the ruler of the East Angles, held senior power among the English people and played a dynamic if ambiguous part in the establishment of Christian rulership in England; it is generally thought most likely that he is the person buried in the ship. The site has been vital in understanding the Anglo-Saxon Kingdom of East Anglia and the whole early Anglo-Saxon period.
wn.com/Sutton_Hoo -
Venice
Venice (Italian: Venezia [veˈnɛttsja] (
listen), Venetian: Venexia [veˈnɛsja]; (Latin: Venetia) is a city in northeast Italy sited on a group of 118 small islands separated by canals and linked by bridges. It is located in the marshy Venetian Lagoon which stretches along the shoreline between the mouths of the Po and the Piave Rivers. Venice is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. The city in its entirety is listed as World Heritage Site, along with its lagoon.
Venice is the capital of the Veneto region. In 2009, there were 270,098 people residing in Venice's comune (the population estimate of 272,000 inhabitants includes the population of the whole Comune of Venezia; around 60,000 in the historic city of Venice (Centro storico); 176,000 in Terraferma (the Mainland), mostly in the large frazioni of Mestre and Marghera; 31,000 live on other islands in the lagoon). Together with Padua and Treviso, the city is included in the Padua-Treviso-Venice Metropolitan Area (PATREVE) (population 1,600,000).
wn.com/Venice -
Wessex
The Kingdom of Wessex ( /ˈwɛsɨks/) or Kingdom of the West Saxons (Old English: Westseaxna rīce) was an Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the West Saxons in South West England, from the 6th century until the emergence of a united English state under the Wessex dynasty in the 10th century. It was to be an earldom after Canute the Great's conquest of 1016, from 1020 to 1066. After the Norman Conquest there was a dissolution of the English earldoms and Wessex was split among the followers of William the Conqueror.
wn.com/Wessex -
Wielbark culture
The Wielbark culture (German: Wielbark-Willenberg-Kultur, Polish: Kultura wielbarska, Ukrainian: Вельбарська культура (Vel’bars’ka kul’tura)) or East Pomeranian-Mazovian was a culture that appeared during the first half of the 1st century CE. It replaced the Oksywie culture, in the area of modern-day Eastern Pomerania around the lower Vistula river, which was related to the Przeworsk culture.
The Wielbark culture has been associated with Jordanes' account of the Goths leaving Scandza (Scandinavia) and their settlement in Gothiscandza.[citation needed]
The Wielbark culture was named after a village where a burial place with over 3000 tombs, attributed to the Goths, and Gepids was discovered back in 1873.[by whom?] Many of the cemetery stones were moved, and many graves were damaged by the early German discoverers. The report of the original excavation, lost during World War II was rediscovered only in 2004 and is about to be[when?] analysed in a cooperation of Polish scientists from Gdańsk, Warszawa, Kraków, and Lublin.
wn.com/Wielbark_culture
-
Aeghyna
Aighyna, Aeghyna, Aegyna, Aigino, or Aichina, probably a Saxon, was the duke of Gascony (Vasconia) from 626 or 627 to his death in 638. He succeeded Genial. The chief source for his reign is Fredegar.
He probably hailed from the Bessin, which contained many Saxon colonies at the time. He was mentioned as a Saxon dux in 626. He repressed the intrigues of the bishops Palladius and Sidocus of Eauze, exiling them for inciting Basque revolts, and even ordered the assassination of one of Charibert II's councillors in the palace at Clichy.
In 635, he took part in the great Frankish expedition against the Basques, which involved ten Burgundian duces and ten columns. Aeghyna was reinstated after this. He was certainly the duke of the Basques (Vascones) in 636, when he is recorded as conducting the Basque chiefs (seniores) who submitted to Dagobert I at Clichy. Though he is certainly not of Basque stock, whether he acted as a tribal leader with only tenuous ties to the Frankish monarchy or as the Frankish client duke of a vassal people is unknown.
wn.com/Aeghyna -
Aelle of Sussex
Ælle ( /ˈælə/; also Aelle or Ella) is recorded in early sources as the first king of the South Saxons, reigning in what is now called Sussex, England, from 477 to perhaps as late as 514.
According to the Anglo Saxon Chronicle, Ælle and three of his sons are said to have landed at a place called Cymensora and fought against the local Britons. The chronicle goes on to report a victory in 491, at present day Pevensey, where the battle ended with the Saxons slaughtering their opponents to the last man.
Ælle was the first king recorded by the 8th century chronicler Bede to have held "imperium", or overlordship, over other Anglo-Saxon kingdoms. In the late 9th-century Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (around four hundred years after his time) Ælle is recorded as being the first bretwalda, or "Britain-ruler", though there is no evidence that this was a contemporary title. Ælle's death is not recorded and although he may have been the founder of a South Saxon dynasty, there is no firm evidence linking him with later South Saxon rulers. The 12th century chronicler Henry of Huntingdon produced an enhanced version of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle that included 514 as the date of Ælle's death, but this is not secure.
wn.com/Aelle_of_Sussex -
Aethelwalh of Sussex
Æthelwealh (fl. c. 660–685) (also written Aedilualch, Aethelwalch, Aþelwold, Æðelwold, Æþelwald, or Ethelwalch) was the first historical king of Sussex. Æthelwealh became the first Christian king of Sussex and was king when Sussex was converted to Christianity in 681. In 661, Æthelwealh received the territories of the Meon Valley in modern-day Hampshire, and the Isle of Wight from his godfather, Wulfhere, king of Mercia. Æthelwealh was killed in around 685 by Cædwalla, at the time a prince of the Gewisse tribe of modern-day Oxfordshire, who had been operating as bandit in Sussex.
All known information about him comes from brief mentions in Eddius's The Life of Bishop Wilfrid, Bede's Ecclesiastical History of England, and The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. Æthelwealh was the third recorded ruler of the South Saxons in Sussex. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicles record Aelle as both the first Bretwalda and king of the South Saxons, although Slaughter refers to Bede on ancestral Saxon aldermen and argues that Aelle was probably the South Saxon Warlord (Rulers of the South Saxons before 825). The second ruler of the South Saxons in Sussex is recorded by Roger of Wendover as King Cissa. So Æthelwealh was the third recorded ruler of the South Saxons in Sussex.
wn.com/Aethelwalh_of_Sussex -
Alamanni
The Alemanni (also Alamanni, Alamani) were a confederation of Suebian Germanic tribes located on the upper Rhine river. First mentioned by the Romans in 213, the Alamanni captured the Agri Decumates in 260, and later expanded into present-day Alsace, and northern Switzerland, establishing the German language in those regions. In 496, the Alamanni were conquered by Frankish leader Clovis and incorporated into his dominions. The legacy of the Alamanni survives in the names of Germany in several languages.
According to Asinius Quadratus (quoted in the mid-6th century by Byzantine historian Agathias) their name means "all men". It indicates that they were a conglomeration drawn from various Germanic tribes. This was the derivation of Alemanni used by Edward Gibbon, in his Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire and by the anonymous contributor of notes assembled from the papers of Nicolas Fréret, published in 1753, who noted that it was the name used by outsiders for those who called themselves the Suevi. This etymology has remained the standard derivation of the term.
wn.com/Alamanni -
Alboin
Alboin (530s – June 28, 572) was king of the Lombards from about 560 until 572. During his reign the Lombards ended their migrations by settling in Italy, the northern part of which Alboin conquered between 569 and 572. He had a lasting effect on Italy and the Pannonian Basin; in the former his invasion marked the beginning of centuries of Lombard rule, and in the latter his defeat of the Gepids and his departure from Pannonia ended the dominance there of the Germanic peoples.
The period of Alboin's reign as king in Pannonia following the death of his father, Audoin, was one of confrontation and conflict between the Lombards and their main neighbors, the Gepids. The Gepids initially gained the upper hand, but in 567, thanks to his alliance with the Avars, Alboin inflicted a decisive defeat on his enemies, whose lands the Avars subsequently occupied. The increasing power of his new neighbours caused Alboin some unease however, and he therefore decided to leave Pannonia for Italy, hoping to take advantage of the Byzantine Empire's reduced ability to defend its territory in the wake of the Gothic War.
wn.com/Alboin -
Alcuin of York
Alcuin of York (Latin: Alcuinus) or Ealhwine, nicknamed Albinus or Flaccus (730s or 740s – 19 May 804) was an English scholar, ecclesiastic, poet and teacher from York, Northumbria. He was born around 735 and became the student of Archbishop Ecgbert at York. At the invitation of Charlemagne, he became a leading scholar and teacher at the Carolingian court, where he remained a figure in the 780s and 790s. He wrote many theological and dogmatic treatises, as well as a few grammatical works and a number of poems. He was made Abbot of Saint Martin's at Tours in 796, where he remained until his death. "The most learned man anywhere to be found" according to Einhard's Life of Charlemagne, he is considered among the most important architects of the Carolingian Renaissance. Among his pupils were many of the dominant intellectuals of the Carolingian era.
Alcuin of York had a long career as a teacher and scholar, first at the school at York founded in AD 627 (now known as St Peter's School, York) and later as Charlemagne's leading advisor on ecclesiastical and educational matters. From 796 until his death he was Abbot of the great monastery of St. Martin of Tours.
wn.com/Alcuin_of_York -
Alfred the Great
Alfred the Great (Old English: Ælfrēd, Ælfrǣd, "elf counsel"; 849 – 26 October 899) was King of Wessex from 871 to 899.
Alfred successfully defended his kingdom against the Viking attempt at conquest, and by his death had become the dominant ruler in England. He is the only English monarch to be accorded the epithet "the Great". Alfred was the first King of the West Saxons to style himself "King of the Anglo-Saxons". Details of his life are described in a work by the 10th century Welsh scholar and bishop Asser. Alfred was a learned and merciful man who encouraged education and improved his kingdom's legal system and military structure.
Alfred was born in the village of Wanating, now Wantage, Oxfordshire. He was the youngest son of King Æthelwulf of Wessex, by his first wife, Osburh.
In 853, at the age of four, Alfred is said to have been sent to Rome where, according to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, he was confirmed by Pope Leo IV who "anointed him as king". Victorian writers interpreted this as an anticipatory coronation in preparation for his ultimate succession to the throne of Wessex. However, his succession could not have been foreseen at the time, as Alfred had three living elder brothers. A letter of Leo IV shows that Alfred was made a "consul"; a misinterpretation of this investiture, deliberate or accidental, could explain later confusion. It may also be based on Alfred's later having accompanied his father on a pilgrimage to Rome where he spent some time at the court of Charles the Bald, King of the Franks, around 854–855.
wn.com/Alfred_the_Great -
Angles
The Angles is a modern English term for a Germanic people who took their name from the ancestral cultural region of Angeln, a district located in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. The Angles were one of the main groups that settled in Britain in the post-Roman period, founding several of the kingdoms of Anglo-Saxon England, and their name is the root of the name "England".
The name of the Angles is first recorded in Latinized form, as Anglii, in the Germania of Tacitus. The name is usually derived from a toponym, Angeln, from a Germanic word *anguz meaning "narrow" (of an estuary) or "angular" (of the shape of the Jutland peninsula).
Gregory the Great in an epistle simplified the Latinized name Anglii to Angli, the latter form developing into the preferred form of the word. The country remained Anglia in Latin. King Alfred's (Alfred the Great) translation of Orosius' history of the world uses Angelcynn (-kin) to describe England and the English people; Bede used Angelfolc (-folk); there are also such forms as Engel, Englan (the people), Englaland, and Englisc, all showing i-mutation.
wn.com/Angles -
Anglo-Saxons
The term Anglo-Saxon is used by some historians to designate the Germanic tribes who invaded and settled the south and east of Britain beginning in the early 5th century and the period from their creation of the English nation up to the Norman conquest. The Anglo-Saxon era denotes the period of English history between about 550 and 1066. The term is also used for the language, now known as Old English, that was spoken and written by the Anglo-Saxons and their descendants in England (and part of southeastern Scotland) between at least the mid-5th century and the mid-12th century.
The Benedictine monk Bede, writing in the early 8th century, identified the English as the descendants of three Germanic tribes:
Their language, Old English, which derived from Ingvaeonic West Germanic dialects, transformed into Middle English from the 11th century. Old English was divided into four main dialects: West Saxon, Mercian, Northumbrian and Kentish.
The term Anglo-Saxon can be found in documents produced in the time of Alfred the Great, who seems to have frequently used the titles rex Anglorum Saxonum and rex Angul-Saxonum (king of the English Saxons). The Old English terms ænglisc ('Angle-kin') and Angelcynn ('gens Anglorum') had already lost their original sense of referring to the Angles, as distinct from the Saxons, when they are first attested. In their earliest sense they referred to the nation of Germanic peoples who settled eastern Britain from the 5th century.[citation needed] The indigenous Britons, who wrote in both Latin and Welsh, referred to these invaders as 'Saxones' or 'Saeson' – the word Saeson is the modern Welsh word for 'English people'; the equivalent word in Scottish Gaelic is Sasannach and in the Irish language, Sasanach.
wn.com/Anglo-Saxons -
Archbishop of York
The Archbishop of York is a high-ranking cleric in the Church of England, second only to the Archbishop of Canterbury. He is the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of York and metropolitan of the Province of York, which covers the northern portion of England (north of the Trent) as well as the Isle of Man. The archbishop is a member ex officio of the House of Lords, and is styled Primate of England. (The Archbishop of Canterbury is "Primate of All England".)
His throne is in York Minster in central York and his official residence is Bishopthorpe Palace in the village of Bishopthorpe, outside York. The incumbent, since 5 October 2005, is John Sentamu. He signs +Sentamu Ebor: (since both John and Sentamu are his forenames).
There was a bishop in York from very early Christian times. Bishops of York were present at the Councils of Arles and Nicaea. However, this early Christian community was later destroyed by the pagan Saxons and there is no direct succession from these bishops to the post-Augustinian ones.
wn.com/Archbishop_of_York -
Astronomus
Vita Hludovici or Vita Hludovici Imperatoris (The Life of Louis or the Life of the Emperor Louis) is an anonymous biography of Louis the Pious, Holy Roman Emperor and King of the Franks from AD 814 to 840.
The work was written in Latin in or soon after AD 840 by an anonymous author who is conventionally called Astronomus , the Astronomer or sometimes the Limousin Astronomer. This is due to his many detailed comments on astronomical matters in the work upon which he describes himself as "one credited with having knowledge of this subject." He held office at the court of Louis the Pious, and his cultural and religious references suggest that he was not a churchman. It has been conjectured, based on evidence within the text, that the author was born around AD 800 and that his nationality was not Gothic or Frankish.
The author's attitude to his subject is clearly subordinate and one of admiration, yet he does not idealise Louis in the same way as, for example, Einhard does in his Life of Charlemagne. It has been suggested that the author exhibits a degree of disapproval towards clerics and the workings of the Frankish Church, lending weight to the view that he was not formally connected to the Church. Nevertheless, the most popular recent ideas (see below) do identify him as a cleric.
wn.com/Astronomus -
Augustine of Hippo
Augustine of Hippo ( /ɒˈɡʌstɨn/ or /ˈɔːɡəstɪn/;Latin: Aurelius Augustinus Hipponensis; November 13, 354 – August 28, 430), also known as Augustine, St. Augustine, St. Austin,St. Augoustinos, Blessed Augustine, or St. Augustine the Blessed, was Bishop of Hippo Regius (present-day Annaba, Algeria). He was a Latin philosopher and theologian from Roman Africa. His writings were very influential in the development of Western Christianity.
According to his contemporary, Jerome, Augustine "established anew the ancient Faith." In his early years he was heavily influenced by Manichaeism and afterward by the Neo-Platonism of Plotinus. After his conversion to Christianity and baptism in AD 387, Augustine developed his own approach to philosophy and theology, accommodating a variety of methods and different perspectives. He believed that the grace of Christ was indispensable to human freedom, and he framed the concepts of original sin and just war.
When the Western Roman Empire was starting to disintegrate, Augustine developed the concept of the Catholic Church as a spiritual City of God (in a book of the same name), distinct from the material Earthly City. His thoughts profoundly influenced the medieval worldview. Augustine's City of God was closely identified with the Church, the community that worshipped God.
wn.com/Augustine_of_Hippo -
Baltic peoples
The Balts or Baltic peoples (People who live by the Baltic Sea), defined as speakers of one of the Baltic languages, a branch of the Indo-European language family, are descended from a group of Indo-European tribes who settled area between the Jutland peninsula in the west and Moscow, Oka and Volga rivers basins in the east. One of the features of Baltic languages is the number of conservative or archaic features retained. Among the Baltic peoples are modern Lithuanians, Latvians (including Latgalians) — all Eastern Balts — as well as the Prussians, Yotvingians and Galindians — the Western Balts — whose languages and cultures are now extinct.
Adam of Bremen was the first writer to use the term Baltic in its modern sense to mean the sea of that name. Although he must have been familiar with the ancient name, Balcia, meaning a supposed island in the Baltic Sea, and although he may have been aware of the Baltic words containing the stem balt-, "white", as "swamp", he reports that he followed the local use of balticus from baelt ("belt") because the sea stretches to the east "in modum baltei" ("in the manner of a belt"). This is the first reference to "the Baltic or Barbarian Sea, a day's journey from Hamburg."
wn.com/Baltic_peoples -
Basques
The Basques (Basque: euskaldunak, Spanish: vascos, French: basques) as an ethnic group, primarily inhabit an area traditionally known as the Basque Country (Basque: Euskal Herria), a region that is located around the western end of the Pyrenees on the coast of the Bay of Biscay and straddles parts of north-central Spain and south-western France.
The Basques are known in the local languages as:
The English word Basque comes from French Basque (pronounced /bask/), which itself comes from Gascon Basco (pronounced /ˈbasku/) and Spanish Vasco[citation needed] (pronounced /ˈbasko/). These, in turn, come from Latin Vasco (pronounced /wasko/), plural Vascones (see History section below). The Latin labial-velar approximant /w/ generally evolved into the bilabials /b/ and /β̞/ in Gascon and Spanish, probably under the influence of Basque and Aquitanian, a language related to old Basque and spoken in Gascony in Antiquity (similarly the Latin /w/ evolved into /v/ in French, Italian and other languages).
wn.com/Basques -
Bede
Bede ( /ˈbiːd/ BEED; Old English: Bǣda or Bēda; 672/673 – 26 May 735), also referred to as Saint Bede or the Venerable Bede (Latin: Bēda Venerābilis), was an English monk at the Northumbrian monastery of Saint Peter at Monkwearmouth and of its companion monastery, Saint Paul's, in modern Jarrow (see Monkwearmouth-Jarrow), both in the Kingdom of Northumbria. Bede's monastery had access to a superb library which included works by Eusebius and Orosius among many others.
He is well known as an author and scholar, and his most famous work, Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum (The Ecclesiastical History of the English People) gained him the title "The Father of English History". In 1899, Bede was made a Doctor of the Church by Leo XIII, a position of theological significance; he is the only native of Great Britain to achieve this designation (Anselm of Canterbury, also a Doctor of the Church, was originally from Italy). Bede was moreover a skilled linguist and translator, and his work with the Latin and Greek writings of the early Church Fathers contributed significantly to English Christianity, making the writings much more accessible to his fellow Anglo-Saxons.
wn.com/Bede -
Bernard Bachrach
Bernard S. Bachrach (born 1939) is an American historian and a professor of history at the University of Minnesota. He specializes in the Early Middle Ages, mainly on the topics of Medieval warfare, Medieval Jewry, and early Angevin history (he has written a biography of Fulk Nerra). He received the CEE Distinguished Teaching Award from the University of Minnesota in 1993 and entered the College of Liberal Arts Scholars of the College at Minnesota in 2000. He has also been the recipient of a McKnight Research Award. He has translated the Liber historiae Francorum into English.
wn.com/Bernard_Bachrach -
Birinus
Birinus (c. 600–649), venerated as a saint, was the first Bishop of Dorchester, and the "Apostle to the West Saxons".
After Augustine of Canterbury performed initial conversions in England, Birinus, a Frank, came to the kingdoms of Wessex in 634, landing at the port of "Hamwic", now in the St. Mary's area of Southampton. During Birinus's brief time at Hamwic, St. Mary's Church was founded.
Birinus had been made bishop by Asterius in Genoa, and Pope Honorius I created the commission to convert the West Saxons. In 635, he persuaded the West Saxon king Cynegils to allow him to preach. Cynegils was trying to create an alliance with Oswald of Northumbria, with whom he intended to fight the Mercians. At the final talks between kings, the sticking point was that Oswald, being a Christian, would not ally himself with a heathen. Cynegils then converted and was baptized, and he gave Birinus Dorchester-on-Thames for his episcopal see. Birinus's original commission entailed preaching to parts of Britain where no missionary efforts had reached, and may have included instructions to reach the Mercians. But he ultimately remained in the kingdom of West Saxon kingdom, or Wessex as it became known.
wn.com/Birinus -
Bishop of Selsey
The Bishop of Chichester is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Chichester in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese covers the counties of East and West Sussex. The see is in the City of Chichester where the seat is located at the Cathedral Church of the Holy Trinity. Currently, the Rt Revd Mark Sowerby, Bishop of Horsham, is Acting Bishop of Chichester. On 3 May 2012, the appointment was announced of the Rt Revd Martin Warner, the Bishop of Whitby, as the next Bishop of Chichester. It is expected that he will be enthroned later in 2012.
The bishop's residence is The Palace, Chichester.
The following is a list of the bishops of the Diocese of Chichester, England and its precursor office the Bishops of Selsey.
(Dates in italics indicate de facto continuation of office) The dates of the early bishops are uncertain.
The following details are simplified from Kelly (1998), and differs slightly from the above:
wn.com/Bishop_of_Selsey -
Bretons
The Bretons are an ethnic group located in the region of Brittany in France. They trace much of their heritage to groups of Brythonic speakers who emigrated from southwestern Great Britain in waves from the 3rd to 6th century into the Armorican peninsula, subsequently named Brittany after them.[citation needed]
The main traditional language of Brittany is Breton (Brezhoneg) and is spoken in Western Brittany. Today Breton is spoken by approximately 365,000 people, of whom about 240,000 speak it fluently. Another linguistic minority is present in Brittany, namely speakers of the Gallo language; Gallo is only spoken in Eastern Brittany, where Breton has virtually never been. Breton is closely related to the Brythonic languages Cornish (closely) and Welsh (more distantly) while the Gallo language is a Romance language of the langue d'oil family. Bretons' native language is mainly French nowadays.
Brittany and its people are included as one of the six Celtic nations. Ethnically, along with the Cornish and Welsh, the Bretons are the last vestiges of the ancient British. The actual number of ethnic Bretons in Brittany and France as a whole is difficult to assess as the French government does not make such statistics. The present day population of Brittany based on a January 2007 estimate is 4,365,500.
wn.com/Bretons -
Burgundians
The Burgundians (Latin: Burgundiōnes; Old Norse: Burgundar; Old English: Burgendas; Greek: Βούργουνδοι) were an East Germanic tribe which may have emigrated from mainland Scandinavia to the island of Bornholm, whose old form in Old Norse still was Burgundarholmr (the Island of the Burgundians), and from there to mainland Europe.
The name of the Burgundians has since remained connected to the area of modern France that still bears their name: see the later history of Burgundy. Between the 6th and 20th centuries, however, the boundaries and political connections of this area have changed frequently; none of those changes have had anything to do with the original Burgundians. The name Burgundians used here and generally used by English writers to refer to the Burgundiones is a later formation and more precisely refers to the inhabitants of the territory of Burgundy which was named from the people called Burgundiones. The descendants of the Burgundians today are found primarily among the west Swiss and neighbouring regions of France.
wn.com/Burgundians -
Carolingian dynasty
The Carolingian dynasty (known variously as the Carlovingians, Carolings, or Karlings) was a Frankish noble family with origins in the Arnulfing and Pippinid clans of the 7th century AD. The name "Carolingian", Medieval Latin karolingi, an altered form of an unattested Old High German *karling, kerling (meaning "descendant of Charles", cf. MHG kerlinc), derives from the Latinised name of Charles Martel: Carolus. The family consolidated its power in the late 7th century, eventually making the offices of mayor of the palace and dux et princeps Francorum hereditary and becoming the de facto rulers of the Franks as the real powers behind the throne. By 751, the Merovingian dynasty which until then had ruled the Franks by right was deprived of this right with the consent of the Papacy and the aristocracy and a Carolingian, Pepin the Short, was crowned King of the Franks.
Traditional historiography has seen the Carolingian assumption of kingship as the product of a long rise to power, punctuated even by a premature attempt to seize the throne through Childebert the Adopted. This picture, however, is not commonly accepted today. Rather, the coronation of 751 is seen typically as a product of the aspirations of one man, Pepin, and of the Church, which was always looking for powerful secular protectors and for the extension of its spiritual and temporal influence.
wn.com/Carolingian_dynasty -
Cedd
Cedd (c. 620 – 26 October 664) was an Anglo-Saxon monk and bishop from Northumbria. He was an evangelist of the Middle Angles and East Saxons in England and a significant participant in the Synod of Whitby, a meeting which resolved important differences within the Church in England. He is venerated by Anglican, Roman Catholic and Orthodox Christians.
The little that is known about Cedd comes to us mainly from the writing of Bede in his Ecclesiastical History Of The English People. The following account is based entirely on Book 3 of Bede's History.
Cedd was born in the kingdom of Northumbria and brought up on the island of Lindisfarne by Aidan. He was one of four brothers: Chad (transcribed into Bede's Latin text as Ceadda), Cynibil and Caelin being his siblings. The first datable reference to Cedd by Bede makes clear that he was a priest by the year 653. This probably pushes his birth date back to the early 620s. It is likely that Cedd was oldest of the brothers and was acknowledged the head of the family. While he was alive, he seems to have taken the lead, while Chad was his chosen successor.
wn.com/Cedd -
Charlemagne
Charlemagne ( /ˈʃɑrlɨmeɪn/ or /ˈʃɑrləmeɪn/; French pronunciation: [ʃaʁ.lə.maɲ]; c. 742 – 28 January 814), also known as Charles the Great (Latin: Carolus Magnus or Karolus Magnus), was King of the Franks from 768 and Emperor of the Romans (Imperator Romanorum) from 800 to his death in 814. He expanded the Frankish kingdom into an empire that incorporated much of Western and Central Europe. During his reign, he conquered Italy and was crowned Imperator Augustus by Pope Leo III on 25 December 800 in Rome.
His rule is also associated with the Carolingian Renaissance, a revival of art, religion, and culture through the medium of the Catholic Church. Through his foreign conquests and internal reforms, Charlemagne helped define both Western Europe and the European Middle Ages. He is numbered as Charles I in the regnal lists of Germany, the Holy Roman Empire, and France.
The son of King Pepin the Short and Bertrada of Laon, a Frankish queen, he succeeded his father in 768 and was initially co-ruler with his brother Carloman I. It has often been suggested that the relationship between Charlemagne and Carloman was not good, but it has also been argued that tensions were exaggerated by Carolingian chroniclers.
wn.com/Charlemagne -
Charles the Bald
Charles the Bald (13 June 823 – 6 October 877), Holy Roman Emperor (875–877, as Charles II) and King of West Francia (840–877, as Charles II, with the borders of his land defined by the Treaty of Verdun, 843), was the youngest son of the Emperor Louis the Pious by his second wife Judith.
He was born on 13 June 823 in Frankfurt, when his elder brothers were already adults and had been assigned their own regna, or subkingdoms, by their father. The attempts made by Louis the Pious to assign Charles a subkingdom, first Alemannia and then the country between the Meuse and the Pyrenees (in 832, after the rising of Pepin I of Aquitaine) were unsuccessful. The numerous reconciliations with the rebellious Lothair and Pepin, as well as their brother Louis the German, King of Bavaria, made Charles's share in Aquitaine and Italy only temporary, but his father did not give up and made Charles the heir of the entire land which was once Gaul and would eventually be France. At a diet near Crémieux in 837, Louis the Pious bade the nobles do homage to Charles as his heir. This led to the final rising of his sons against him and Pepin of Aquitaine died in 838, whereupon Charles received that kingdom, finally once and for all. Pepin's son Pepin II would be a perpetual thorn in his side.
wn.com/Charles_the_Bald -
Chatti
The Chatti (also Chatthi or Catti) were an ancient Germanic tribe whose homeland was near the upper Weser. They settled in central and northern Hesse and southern Lower Saxony, along the upper reaches of the Weser River and in the valleys and mountains of the Eder, Fulda and Weser River regions, a district approximately corresponding to Hesse-Kassel, though probably somewhat more extensive. According to Tacitus, among them were the Batavians, until an internal quarrel drove them out, to take up new lands at the mouth of the Rhine.
wn.com/Chatti -
Childeric I
Childeric I (c. 440 – 481/82) was a Merovingian king of the Salian Franks and the father of Clovis.
He succeeded his father Merovech as king, traditionally in 457 or 458 (?). With his Frankish warband he was established with his capital at Tournai, on lands which he had received as a foederatus of the Romans, and for some time he kept the peace with his allies.
In 463 in Orléans, in conjunction with the Roman General Aegidius, who was based in Soissons, he defeated the Visigoths, who hoped to extend their dominion along the banks of the Loire River. After the death of Aegidius, he first assisted Comes ("count") Paul of Angers, together with a mixed band of Gallo-Romans and Franks, in defeating the Goths and taking booty. Saxon raiders under the command of a certain Adovacrius (perhaps, but not surely Odoacer) reached Angers but Childeric arrived the next day and a battle ensued. Count Paul was killed and Childeric took the city. Childeric, having delivered Angers, followed a Saxon warband to the islands on the Atlantic mouth of the Loire, and massacred them there. In a change of alliances, he also joined forces with Odoacer, according to Gregory of Tours, to stop a band of the Alamanni who wished to invade Italy.
wn.com/Childeric_I -
Chlothar I
Chlothar I (c. 497 – 29 November 561), called the Old (le Vieux), King of the Franks, was one of the four sons of Clovis. He was born circa 497, in Soissons (now in Aisne département, Picardie, France).
On the death of his father in 511, he received, as his share of the kingdom, the town of Soissons, which he made his capital; the cities of Laon, Noyon, Cambrai, and Maastricht; and the lower course of the Meuse River. But he was very ambitious, and sought to extend his domain.
He was the chief instigator of the murder of his brother Chlodomer's children in 524, and his share of the spoils consisted of the cities of Tours and Poitiers. He took part in various expeditions against Burgundy and, after the destruction of that kingdom in 534, obtained Grenoble, Die, and some of the neighbouring cities.
When the Ostrogoths ceded Provence to the Franks, he received the cities of Orange, Carpentras, and Gap. In 531, he marched against the Thuringii with his nephew Theudebert I and in 542, with his brother Childebert I against the Visigoths of Spain. On the death of his great-nephew Theodebald in 555, Chlothar annexed his territories. On Childebert's death in 558 he became sole king of the Franks.
wn.com/Chlothar_I -
Chlothar II
Chlothar II (or Chlotar, Clothar, Clotaire, Chlotochar, or Hlothar, giving rise to Lothair; 584–629), called the Great (le Grand) or the Young (le Jeune), King of Neustria, and, from 613 to 629, King of all the Franks, was not yet born when his father, King Chilperic I died in 584. His mother, Fredegund, was regent until her death in 597, at which time the thirteen-year-old Chlothar began to rule for himself. As king, he continued his mother's feud with Brunhilda, queen of Austrasia, with equal viciousness and bloodshed.
In 599, he made war with his nephews, Theuderic II of Burgundy and Theudebert II of Austrasia, who defeated him at Dormelles (near Montereau). At this point, however, the two brothers took up arms against each other. In 605, he invaded Theuderic's kingdom, but did not subdue it. He remained often at war with Theuderic until the latter died in Metz in late 613 while preparing a campaign against him. At that time, Warnachar, mayor of the palace of Austrasia, and Rado, mayor of the palace of Burgundy, abandoned the cause of Brunhilda and her great-grandson, Sigebert II, and the entire realm was delivered into Chlothar's hands. Brunhilda and Sigebert met Chlothar's army on the Aisne, but the Patrician Aletheus, Duke Rocco, and Duke Sigvald deserted the host and the grand old woman and her king had to flee. They got as far as the Orbe, but Chlothar's minions caught up with them by the lake Neuchâtel. Both of them and Sigebert's younger brother Corbo were executed by Chlothar's orders.
wn.com/Chlothar_II -
Clovis I
Clovis (c. 466 – 511) or Chlodowech (Latin Chlodovechus) was the first King of the Franks to unite all the Frankish tribes under one ruler, changing the leadership from a group of royal chieftains, to rule by kings, ensuring that the kingship was held by his heirs. He was also the first Catholic King to rule over Gaul, known today as France. He was the son of Childeric I and Basina. In 481, when he was fifteen, he succeeded his father. Clovis was not only a Frankish king, he was also a Roman official. The Salian Franks were one of two Frankish tribes who were then occupying the area west of the lower Rhine, with their center in an area known as Toxandria, between the Meuse and Scheldt (in what is now the Netherlands and Belgium). Clovis's power base was to the southwest of this, around Tournai and Cambrai along the modern frontier between France and Belgium. Clovis conquered the neighboring Salian Frankish kingdoms and established himself as sole king of the Salian Franks before his death. The small church in which he was baptized stood in the vicinity of the subsequent abbey of Saint-Remi in Reims, and a statue of him being baptized by Saint Remigius can be seen there. Clovis and his wife Clotilde were buried in the St. Genevieve church (St. Pierre) in Paris, the original name of the Church was the Church of the Holy Apostles. An important part of Clovis' legacy is that he locally succeeded to the power of the Romans in 486 by beating the Gallo-Roman ruler Syagrius in the battle of Soissons.
wn.com/Clovis_I -
Cynegils
Cynegils [kɪneɣɪls] was King of Wessex from c. 611 to c. 643.
Cynegils is traditionally considered to have been King of Wessex, but the familiar kingdoms of the so-called Heptarchy had not yet formed from the patchwork of smaller kingdoms in his lifetime. The later kingdom of Wessex was centred on the counties of Hampshire, Dorset, Somerset, and Wiltshire, but the evidence of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle is that the kingdom of Cynegils was located on the upper River Thames, extending into northern Wiltshire and Somerset, southern Gloucestershire and Oxfordshire, and western Berkshire, with Dorchester-on-Thames as one the major royal sites. This region, probably connected to the early tribal grouping known as the Gewisse, a term used by Bede for the West Saxons, lay on the frontier between the later kingdoms of Wessex and Mercia.
It appears that Cynegils became king on the death of King Ceolwulf c. 611. His relationship to Ceolwulf is uncertain. Cynegils is variously described in West Saxon sources as being a son of Ceolwulf, a son of Ceol brother of Ceolwulf, a son of Ceola son of Cutha, a son of Cuthwine son of Ceawlin, and a son of Cuthwulf son of Cuthwine. Several of the sources give Cynegils a brother named Ceolwald, described as the grandfather of King Ine. Although the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle and Wessex king lists portray the West Saxons as ruled by a single king, it is likely that the kingship was shared between two or more kings.
wn.com/Cynegils -
Dagobert I
Dagobert I (c. 603 – 19 January 639) was the king of Austrasia (623–634), king of all the Franks (629–634), and king of Neustria and Burgundy (629–639). He was the last Merovingian dynast to wield any real royal power. Dagobert was the first of the Frankish kings to be buried in the royal tombs at Saint Denis Basilica.
Dagobert was the eldest son of Chlothar II and Haldetrude (575–604). Chlothar II had reigned alone over all the Franks since 613. In 623, Chlothar was forced to make Dagobert king of Austrasia by the nobility of that region, who wanted a king of their own.
When Chlothar II granted Austrasia to Dagobert, he initially excluded Alsace, the Vosges, and the Ardennes, but shortly thereafter the Austrasian nobility forced him to concede these regions to Dagobert. The rule of a Frank from the Austrasian heartland tied Alsace more closely to the Austrasian court. Dagobert created a new duchy (the later Duchy of Alsace) in southwest Austrasia to guard the region from Burgundian or Alemannic encroachments and ambitions. The duchy comprised the Vosges, the Burgundian Gate, and the Transjura. Dagobert made his courtier Gundoin the first duke of this new polity that was to last until the end of the Merovingian dynasty.
wn.com/Dagobert_I -
Early Germanic law
Several Latin law codes of the Germanic peoples written in the Early Middle Ages (also known as leges barbarorum "laws of the barbarians") survive, dating to between the 5th and 9th centuries. They are influenced by Roman law, ecclesiastical law, and earlier tribal customs.
Germanic law was codified in writing under the influence of Roman law; previously it was held in the memory of designated individuals who acted as judges in confrontations and meted out justice according to customary rote, based on careful memorization of precedent. Among the Franks they were called rachimburgs. "Living libraries, they were law incarnate, unpredictable and terrifying." When justice is oral, the judicial act is personal and subjective. Power, whose origins were at once magical, divine and military, as Michel Rouche has pointed out, was exercised jointly by the "throne-worthy" elected king and his free warrior companions. Oral law sufficed as long as the warband was not settled in one place. Germanic law made no provisions for the public welfare, the res publica of Romans
wn.com/Early_Germanic_law -
Egbert of Wessex
Egbert (also spelled Ecgberht, Ecgbert or Ecgbriht; 769 or 771 – 839) was King of Wessex from 802 until his death in 839. His father was Ealhmund of Kent. In the 780s Egbert was forced into exile by Offa of Mercia and Beorhtric of Wessex, but on Beorhtric's death in 802 Egbert returned and took the throne.
Little is known of the first 20 years of Egbert's reign, but it is thought that he was able to maintain Wessex's independence against the kingdom of Mercia, which at that time dominated the other southern English kingdoms. In 825 Egbert defeated Beornwulf of Mercia and ended Mercia's supremacy at the Battle of Ellandun, and proceeded to take control of the Mercian dependencies in southeastern England. In 829 Egbert defeated Wiglaf of Mercia and drove him out of his kingdom, temporarily ruling Mercia directly. Later that year Egbert received the submission of the Northumbrian king at Dore. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle subsequently described Egbert as a bretwalda, or "Ruler of Britain".
Egbert was unable to maintain this dominant position, and within a year Wiglaf regained the throne of Mercia. However, Wessex did retain control of Kent, Sussex and Surrey; these territories were given to Egbert's son Æthelwulf to rule as a subking under Egbert. When Egbert died in 839, Æthelwulf succeeded him; the southeastern kingdoms were finally absorbed into the kingdom of Wessex after Æthelwulf's death in 858.
wn.com/Egbert_of_Wessex -
Einhard
Einhard (also Eginhard or Einhart; c. 775 – March 14, 840) was a Frankish scholar and courtier. Einhard was a dedicated servant of Charlemagne and his son Louis the Pious; his main work is a biography of Charlemagne, the Vita Karoli Magni, "one of the most precious literary bequests of the early Middle Ages."
Einhard was from the eastern German-speaking part of the Frank Kingdom. Born into a family of relatively low status, his parents sent him to be educated by the monks of Fulda - one of the most impressive centres of learning in the Frank lands - perhaps due to his small stature (Einhard referred to himself as a "tiny manlet") which restricted his riding and sword-fighting ability, Einhard concentrated his energies towards scholarship and especially to the mastering of Latin. Despite such humble origins, he was accepted into the hugely wealthy court of Charlemagne around 791 or 792. Charlemagne actively sought to amass scholarly men around him and established a royal school led by the Northumbrian scholar Alcuin. Einhard evidently was a talented builder and construction manager, because Charlemagne put him in charge of the completion of several palace complexes including Aachen and Ingelheim. Despite the fact that Einhard was on intimate terms with Charlemagne, he never achieved office in his reign. In 814, on Charlemagne's death his son Louis the Pious made Einhard his private secretary. Einhard retired from court during the time of the disputes between Louis and his sons in the spring of 830.
wn.com/Einhard -
Estonians
Estonians (Estonian: eestlased) are a Finnic people closely related to the Finns and inhabiting, primarily, the country of Estonia. They speak a Finnic language known as Estonian. Although Estonia is traditionally grouped as one of the Baltic countries, Estonians are linguistically unrelated to the Baltic peoples of Latvia and Lithuania.
Estonia was first inhabited about 10,000 years ago, just after the Baltic ice lake had retreated from Estonia. While it is not certain what languages were spoken by the first settlers, it is often maintained that speakers of early Uralic languages related to modern Estonian had arrived in what is now Estonia by about 5000 years ago. Living in the same area for more than 5000 years would put the ancestors of Estonians among the oldest permanent inhabitants in Europe. On the other hand, some recent linguistic estimations suggest that Fenno-Ugrian language arrived around the Baltic Sea considerably later, perhaps during the Early Bronze Age (ca. 1800 BCE).
The name "Eesti", or Estonia, is thought to be derived from the word Aestii, the name given by the ancient Germanic people to the Baltic people living northeast of the Vistula River. The Roman historian Tacitus in 98 A.D. was the first to mention the "Aestii" people, and early Scandinavians called the land south of the Gulf of Finland "Eistland" ("Eistland" is also the current word in Icelandic for Estonia), and the people "eistr". Proto-Estonians (as well as other speakers of the Finnish language group) were also called Chuds (чудь) in Old East Slavic chronicles.
wn.com/Estonians -
Ewald (martyr)
The Two Ewalds (or Two Hewalds) were Saint Ewald the Black and Saint Ewald the Fair, martyrs in Old Saxony about 692. Both bore the same name, but were distinguished by the difference in the colour of their hair and complexions. They are now honored as saints in Westphalia.
The two priests were companions, both natives of Northumbria, England. According to the example of many at that time, they spent several years as students in the schools of Ireland. Ewald the Black was the more learned of the two, but both were equally renowned for holiness of life. They were apparently acquainted with St. Willibrord, the Apostle of Friesland, and were animated with his zeal for the conversion of the Germans. Some sources number them among the eleven companions of that saint. More probably, however, they set out from England after St. Willibrord's departure, in an attempt to convert their own cousins in Old Saxony.
They entered upon their mission about 690. The scene of their labours was the country of the ancient Saxons, now part of Westphalia, and covered by the dioceses of Münster, Osnabrück, and Paderborn. At first the Ewalds took up their abode in the house of the steward of a certain Saxon earl or ealdorman (satrapa). Bede remarks that "the old Saxons have no king, but they are governed by several ealdormen [satrapas] who during war cast lots for leadership, but who in time of peace are equal in power" Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum, V, 10). The steward entertained his two guests for several days, and promised to conduct them to the chieftain. They intended to convert him and so affirmed they had a message of considerable importance to deliver to him.
wn.com/Ewald_(martyr) -
Finnic peoples
The Finnic or Fennic peoples (also referred to as Finnic tribes , and Russian: Chuds) were historic ethnic groups who spoke various languages traditionally classified as Finno-Permic. The number and identity of these groups varies according to the linguistic classification of the day, but generally number four or five: the Baltic Finns at the shores of Baltic sea, the Volga Finns (alternately the Mordvins and Mari), who lived near the Volga River, the Lapps at the Northern Fennoscandia, and the Permians, who live in north-central Russia.
The Permians including Komis and Udmurts are sometimes thought to belong with the Volga Finns because according to some theories their ancient homeland lies in the northern part of the Volga River basin.
The major modern representatives of the Baltic Finns who have maintained their languages are the Finns and Estonians.
The modern representatives of the Volga Finns are the Mari or Cheremis who live in Mari El Republic and the Mordvins (including the Moksha and the Erzya) from the Republic of Mordovia in the Russian Federation. Other Volga Finnic groups of which there are records, such as the Muromians, Merya and Meshchera, have long since disappeared.
wn.com/Finnic_peoples -
Foederati
Foederatus ([pronunciation?]) (pl. foederati) is a Latin term whose definition and usage drifted in the time between the early Roman Republic and the end of the Western Roman Empire. Early in the history of the Roman Republic, a foederatus identified one of the tribes bound by treaty (foedus), who were neither Roman colonies nor had they been granted Roman citizenship (civitas) but were expected to provide a contingent of fighting men when trouble arose, thus were allies. The Latini tribe were considered blood allies, but the rest were federates or socii.
During the Roman republic, the friction between these treaty obligations without the corresponding benefits of Romanity led to the Social War between Romans, with a few close allies, and the disaffected Socii. A law of 90 BC (Lex Julia) offered Roman citizenship to the federate states that accepted the terms. Not all cities were prepared to be absorbed into the Roman res publica (e.g. Heraclea and Naples). Other foederati lay beyond Italy: Gades in Spain, and Massilia (Marseilles).[clarification needed]
wn.com/Foederati -
Francia
Francia or Frankia, also called the Kingdom of the Franks or Frankish Kingdom (Latin: regnum Francorum), Frankish Realm or occasionally Frankland, was the territory inhabited and ruled by the Franks from the 3rd to the 10th century. Under the nearly continuous campaigns of Charles Martel, Pepin the Short, and Charlemagne—father, son, grandson—the greatest expansion of the Frankish empire was secured by the early 9th century.
The tradition of dividing patrimonies among brothers meant that the Frankish realm was ruled, nominally, as one polity subdivided into several regna (kingdoms or subkingdoms). The geography and number of subkingdoms varied over time, but the particular term Francia came generally to refer to just one regnum, that of Austrasia, centred on the Rhine and Meuse rivers in northern Europe; even so, sometimes the term was used as well to encompass Neustria north of the Loire and west of the Seine. Eventually, the singular use of the name Francia shifted towards Paris, and settled on the region of the Seine basin surrounding Paris, which still today bears the name Île-de-France, and which region gave its name to the entire Kingdom of France.
wn.com/Francia -
Frankish kingdom
Francia or Frankia, also called the Kingdom of the Franks or Frankish Kingdom (Latin: regnum Francorum), Frankish Realm or occasionally Frankland, was the territory inhabited and ruled by the Franks from the 3rd to the 10th century. Under the nearly continuous campaigns of Charles Martel, Pepin the Short, and Charlemagne—father, son, grandson—the greatest expansion of the Frankish empire was secured by the early 9th century.
The tradition of dividing patrimonies among brothers meant that the Frankish realm was ruled, nominally, as one polity subdivided into several regna (kingdoms or subkingdoms). The geography and number of subkingdoms varied over time, but the particular term Francia came generally to refer to just one regnum, that of Austrasia, centred on the Rhine and Meuse rivers in northern Europe; even so, sometimes the term was used as well to encompass Neustria north of the Loire and west of the Seine. Eventually, the singular use of the name Francia shifted towards Paris, and settled on the region of the Seine basin surrounding Paris, which still today bears the name Île-de-France, and which region gave its name to the entire Kingdom of France.
wn.com/Frankish_kingdom -
Franks
The Franks (Latin: Franci or gens Francorum) were a confederation of Germanic tribes first attested in the third century AD as populating a broad strip of land on the right bank of the Lower and Middle Rhine River. From the third to fifth centuries some Franks raided Roman territory while other Franks joined the Roman troops in Gaul. Only the Salian Franks formed a kingdom on Roman-held soil that was acknowledged by the Romans after 357. In the climate of the collapse of imperial authority in the West, the Frankish tribes were united under the Merovingians and conquered all of Gaul except Septimania in the 6th century. The Salian political elite was one of the most active forces in spreading Christianity over western Europe. The Franks had created one of the most strong and stable barbaric kingdoms.
The Merovingian dynasty, descended from the Salians, founded one of the Germanic monarchies which replaced the Western Roman Empire from the fifth century. The Frankish state consolidated its hold over large parts of western Europe by the end of the eighth century, developing into the Carolingian Empire which dominated most of Western Europe. This empire would gradually evolve into France and the Holy Roman Empire.
wn.com/Franks -
Fredegar
The Chronicle of Fredegar is a chronicle that is a primary source of events in Frankish Gaul from 584 to around 641. Later authors continued the history to the coronation of Charlemagne and his brother Carloman on 9 October 768.
John Michael Wallace-Hadrill notes that this work "occupies a vital position in the history of Frankish Gaul ... first, because of the intrinsic importance of the information it contains; and secondly, because it is the only source of any significance for much of the period it covers. Together with the Decem Libri Historiarum of Gregory of Tours and the Neustrian chronicle known as the Liber Historiae Francorum, it constitutes a nearly continuous history of Gaul from the end of Roman rule to the establishment of the Carolingians, a period of three centuries."
The question of who wrote this work has been much debated, although Wallace-Hadrill admits that "Fredegar" is a genuine, if unusual, Frankish name. The Vulgar Latin of this work confirms that the Chronicle was written in Gaul; beyond this, little is certain about the origin of this work. As a result, there are several theories about the authorship of this work:
wn.com/Fredegar -
Fredegund
Fredegund (or Fredegunda) (Latin: Fredegundis; French: Frédégonde) (died 597) was the Queen consort of Chilperic I, the Merovingian Frankish king of Soissons.
All her wealth and power came to her through her association with Chilperic. Originally a servant of Chilperic's first wife Audovera, Fredegund won Chilperic's affection and persuaded him to put Audovera in a convent and divorce her. But Chilperic then put Fredegund aside and married Galswintha. Galswintha died the same year, probably strangled by Fredegund (c. 568), who succeeded Galswintha as queen. But Galswintha's sister, Brunhilda, in revenge against Chilperic, began a feud which lasted more than 40 years.
Fredegund is said to have ordered the assassination of Sigebert I of Austrasia in 575 and also to have made attempts on the lives of Sigebert's son Childebert II, her brother-in-law Guntram, king of Burgundy, and Brunhilda.
After the mysterious assassination of Chilperic (584), Fredegund seized his riches and took refuge in the cathedral at Paris. Both she and her surviving son, Clothar II, were protected by Guntram until he died in 592.
wn.com/Fredegund -
Frisians
The Frisians are a Germanic ethnic group native to the coastal parts of the Netherlands and Germany. They are concentrated in the Dutch provinces of Friesland and Groningen and, in Germany, East Frisia and North Frisia, that was a part of Denmark until 1864. They inhabit an area known as Frisia. The Frisian languages are still used by 500,000 speakers; dialects of Frisian are recognized as official languages in both the Netherlands and Germany.
The ancient Frisii enter recorded history in the Roman account of Drusus' 12 BC war against the Rhine Germans and the Chauci. They occasionally appear in the accounts of Roman wars against the Germanic tribes of the region, up to and including the Revolt of the Batavi around 70 AD. They are not mentioned again until c. 296, when they were deported into Roman territory as laeti (i.e., Roman-era serfs). The discovery of a type of earthenware unique to 4th century Frisia, called terp Tritzum, shows that an unknown number of them were resettled in Flanders and Kent, probably as laeti under Roman coercion.
wn.com/Frisians -
Frisii
The Frisii were an ancient Germanic tribe living in the low-lying region between the Zuiderzee and the River Ems. In the Germanic pre-Migration Period (i.e., before c. 300 AD) the Frisii and the related Chauci, Saxons, and Angles inhabited the Continental European coast from the Zuyder Zee to south Jutland. All of these peoples shared a common material culture, and so cannot be defined archaeologically.
The Frisii were bordered on the south by Germans who would later coalesce into the Frankish confederation in the 3rd century. On the east they were bordered by the Ampsivarii who lived at the mouth of the Ems until AD 58, at which time the Chauci expelled them and gained a border with the Frisii.
The Chauci and other tribes to the east would merge to form the Saxons in the 3rd century. Some or all of the Frisii may have joined in either or both of these confederations, but they would retain a separate identity in Roman eyes until at least 296, when they were forcibly resettled as laeti (i.e., Roman-era serfs) and thereafter disappear from recorded history. Their tentative existence in the 4th century is confirmed by archaeological discovery of a type of earthenware unique to 4th-century Frisia, called terp Tritzum, showing that an unknown number of Frisii were resettled in Flanders and Kent, likely as laeti under the aforementioned Roman coercion.
wn.com/Frisii -
Germania
Germania (Greek: Γερμανία) was the Greek and Roman geographic term for the geographical regions inhabited mainly by peoples considered to be Germani. It was most often used to refer especially to the east of the Rhine and north of the Danube. The areas west of the Rhine were mainly Celtic (specifically Gaulish) and had become part of the Roman Empire.
Some Germani, perhaps the original people to have been referred to by this name, had lived on the west side of the Rhine. At least as early as the 2nd century BC. This area was considered to be in "Gaul", and became part of the Roman empire. These were the so-called germani cisrhenani, who in modern terms lived in the region of modern eastern Belgium, the southeastern Netherlands, and stretching into Germany towards the Rhine. During the period of the Roman empire, more tribes were settled in areas of the empire near the Rhine, in territories controlled by the Roman Empire. Eventually these areas came to be known as Lesser Germania, while Greater Germania (Magna Germania) was the larger territory east of the Rhine.
wn.com/Germania -
Germanic kingship
Germanic kingship refers to the customs and practices surrounding kings among the pagan Germanic tribes of the Migration period (circa AD 300-700) and the kingdoms of the Early Middle Ages (circa AD 700-1000). The title of king (Proto-Germanic:*kuningaz) is in origin that of the leader elected as sacral and military leader from out of a noble family, usually considered of divine ancestry, in the pagan period.
The Germanic monarchies were originally pagan, but their contact, during the Völkerwanderung or Migration Period, with the Roman Empire and the Christian Church greatly altered their structure and developed into the feudal monarchy of the High Middle Ages.
The term "barbarian monarchy" is sometimes used in the context of those Germanic rulers that after AD 476 and during the 6th century ruled territories formerly part of the Western Roman Empire, especially the Barbarian kings of Italy. In the same context, Germanic law is also termed leges barbarorum "barbarian law" etc.
The English term king is derived from the Anglo-Saxon cyning, which in turn is derived from the Common Germanic *kuningaz. The Common Germanic term was borrowed into Finnish and Estonian at an early time, surviving in these languages as kuningas.
wn.com/Germanic_kingship -
Germanic languages
The Germanic languages constitute a sub-branch of the Indo-European (IE) language family. The common ancestor of all of the languages in this branch is called Proto-Germanic (also known as Common Germanic), which was spoken in approximately the mid-1st millennium BC in Iron Age northern Europe. Proto-Germanic, along with all of its descendants, is characterized by a number of unique linguistic features, most famously the consonant change known as Grimm's law. Early varieties of Germanic enter history with the Germanic peoples moving south from northern Europe in the 2nd century BC, to settle in north-central Europe.
The most widely spoken Germanic languages are English and German, with approximately 300–400 million and over 100 million native speakers respectively. They belong to the West Germanic family. The West Germanic group also includes other major languages, such as Dutch with 23 million and Afrikaans with over 6 million native speakers;. The North Germanic languages include Norwegian, Danish, Swedish, Icelandic, and Faroese, which have a combined total of about 20 million speakers. The SIL Ethnologue lists 53 different Germanic languages.
wn.com/Germanic_languages -
Germanic peoples
The Germanic peoples (also called Teutonic or Gothic in older literature) are an Indo-European ethno-linguistic group of Northern European origin, identified by their use of the Germanic languages which diversified out of Proto-Germanic during the Pre-Roman Iron Age.
wn.com/Germanic_peoples -
Germanic Wars
The Germanic Wars is a name given to a series of wars between the Romans and various Germanic tribes between 113 BCE and 596 CE. The nature of these wars varied through time between Roman conquest, Germanic uprisings and later Germanic invasions in the Roman Empire that started in the late 2nd century. The series of conflicts which began in the 5th century, under the Western Roman Emperor Honorius, led (along with internal strife) to the ultimate downfall of the Western Roman Empire.
wn.com/Germanic_Wars -
Germans
The Germans (Deutsche) are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages. Legally, Germans are citizens of the Federal Republic of Germany.
Of approximately 100 million native speakers of German in the world, about 66–75 million consider themselves Germans. There are an additional 80 million people of German ancestry mainly in the United States, Brazil, Canada, Argentina, France, Russia, Chile, Poland, Australia and Romania who most likely are not native speakers of German. Thus, the total number of Germans worldwide lies between 66 and 160 million, depending on the criteria applied (native speakers, single-ancestry ethnic Germans, partial German ancestry, etc.).
Today, peoples from countries with a German-speaking majority or significant German-speaking population groups other than Germany, such as Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Luxembourg, have developed their own national identity and usually do not refer to themselves as "Germans" in a modern context.
wn.com/Germans -
Gewisse
The Gewisse (Old English Geuissæ) was a tribe or clan of Anglo-Saxon England, based in the upper Thames region around Dorchester-on-Thames.
The name of the tribe may be derived from an Old English word for "reliable" or "sure", (cf. German gewiss = "certain, sure"). The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle presents an eponymous ancestor figure, named Giwis.Eilert Ekwall proposed that the similarity in toponymy between the kingdoms of the Gewisse and Hwicce suggests a common origin.[page needed]
The Gewisse captured Searobyrig in 552 and Beranbyrig from the Britons in 556.Birinus converted the Gewisse to Christianity in 636 by baptising their king Cynegils and establishing the Diocese of Dorchester. The Gewisse killed the three sons of Sæbert of Essex in about 620, defeated the Britons at the Battle of Peonnum in 660 and by 676 had sufficient control over what is now Hampshire to establish a see at Winchester.
The conquests by the royal house of Gewisse in the 7th and 8th centuries led to the establishment of the Kingdom of Wessex, and Bede treated the two names as interchangeable. It was only during the reign of Cædwalla (685/6 – 688) that the title "king of the Saxons" began to replace "king of the Gewisse". Barbara Yorke has suggested that it was Cædwalla's conquest of the Jutish province and the South Saxons that led to the need for a new title to distinguish the expanded realm from its predecessor. However, as there are no surviving documents to indicate how these people described themselves, the most that can be said is that by the time Bede was writing (early 8th century), the phrase "West Saxons" had come into use by scholars.
wn.com/Gewisse -
Gildas
Gildas (c. 500 – 570) was a 6th-century British cleric. He is one of the best-documented figures of the Christian church in the British Isles during this period. His renowned learning and literary style earned him the designation Gildas Sapiens (Gildas the Wise). His work De Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae, which contains narratives of the post-Roman history of Britain, is the only substantial source for history of this period written by a near-contemporary. He was ordained in the Church and, in his works, favours the monastic ideal. Fragments of letters he wrote reveal that he composed a Rule for monastic life that was somewhat less austere than the Rule written by his contemporary, Saint David, and set suitable penances for its breach.
There are two Lives of Gildas: the earlier written by a monk of Rhuys in Brittany, possibly in the 9th century, the second written by Caradoc of Llancarfan, a friend and contemporary of Geoffrey of Monmouth, composed in the middle of the 12th century. Caradoc, presumably writing at Llancarfan in Wales, does not mention any connection with Brittany, and some scholars[who?] think that Gildas of Britain and Gildas of Rhuys were distinct personages. In other details, however, the two Lives complement each other.
wn.com/Gildas -
Gothic Christianity
Gothic Christianity refers to the Christian religion of the Goths and sometimes the Gepids, Vandals, and Burgundians, who may have used Wulfila's translation of the Bible into Gothic and shared common doctrines and practices. Gothic Christianity is the earliest instance of the Christianization of a Germanic people, completed more than a century before the baptism of Frankish king Clovis I.
While one might suppose that the "Gothic Churches" of Europe were built by the Goths, this is not the case. Few structures dating to the Gothic era still exist in Europe, and those don't conform to the style of Gothic architecture, which dates to the Twelfth century. The term "Gothic architecture" was originally a derogatory term meaning something like "crude and barbaric" that did not really relate to the historical Goths.
The Gothic tribes were predominantly Christian for more than a century before they sacked Rome in the Fifth century.
The Gothic Christians were followers of a doctrine (Homoianism) associated by their opponents with the priest Arius. The theological differences between this and mainstream Trinitarian Christianity are discussed under Arianism.
wn.com/Gothic_Christianity -
Goths
The Goths (Gothic: *Gut-þiuda, *Gutans; Old Norse: Gutar/Gotar; German: Goten; Latin: Gothi; Greek: Γότθοι, Gótthoi) were an East Germanic tribe of Scandinavian origin whose two branches, the Visigoths and the Ostrogoths, played an important role in the fall of the Roman Empire and the emergence of Medieval Europe.
The most important source is Jordanes' 6th-century, semi-fictional Getica which describes a migration from southern Scandza (Scandinavia), to Gothiscandza, believed to be the lower Vistula region in modern Pomerania, and from there to the coast of the Black Sea. The Pomeranian Wielbark culture and the Chernyakhov culture northeast of the lower Danube are archaeological traces of this migration. In the 3rd century, either through crossing the lower Danube, or travelling by sea, the Goths ravaged the Balkan Peninsula and Anatolia as far as Cyprus, sacking Athens, Byzantium, Sparta. By the fourth century, the Goths conquered Dacia, and were divided into at least two distinct groups separated by the Dniester River, the Thervingi, led by the Balti dynasty, and the Greuthungi, led by the Amali dynasty. Centered around their capital at the Dnieper, the Goths ruled a vast area which at its peak under the Kings Ermanaric and Athanaric stretched from the Danube to the Volga river, and from the Black to the Baltic Sea.
wn.com/Goths -
Gotlander
The Gutes or the Gotlanders (in Swedish gutar) are the population of the island of Gotland. The ethnonym is identical to Goths (Gutans), and both names were originally Proto-Germanic *Gutaniz. Their language is called Gutnish (gutniska).
The oldest history of the Gutes is retold in the Gutasaga. According to legend they descended from a man named Þjelvar who was the first to discover Gotland. Þjelvar had a son named Hafþi who wedded a fair maiden named Hvitastjerna. These two were the first to settle on Gotland. Hafþi and Hvitastjerna later had three children, Guti, Graipr and Gunfjaun. After the death of their parents, the brothers divided Gotland into three parts and each took one, but Guti remained the highest chieftain and gave his name to the land and its people.
In Modern Swedish language, there are two words for the inhabitants on Gotland: gotlänning (Gotlander) and gute. All inhabitants of Gotland, regardless of their ethnicity, are gotlänning (pl. gotlänningar -Gotlandians) but one is called gute (pl. gutar - Gutes) if one is of native descent.
wn.com/Gotlander -
Guntram
Saint Guntram (c. 532, Soissons – 28 January 592) (also called Gontram, Gontran, Gunthram, or Gunthchramn) was the king of Burgundy from 561 to 592. He was a son (third eldest, second eldest surviving) of Chlothar I and Ingunda. On his father's death (561), he became king of a fourth of the kingdom of the Franks, and made his capital at Orléans.
He had something of that fraternal love which his brothers lacked and the preeminent chronicler of the period, Gregory of Tours, often calls him good king Guntram, as noted here, where Gregory discusses the fate of Guntram's three marriages:
The good king Guntram first took a concubine Veneranda, a slave belonging to one of his people, by whom he had a son Gundobad. Later he married Marcatrude, daughter of Magnar, and sent his son Gundobad to Orléans. But after she had a son Marcatrude was jealous, and proceeded to bring about Gundobad's death. She sent poison, they say, and poisoned his drink. And upon his death, by God's judgment she lost the son she had and incurred the hate of the king, was dismissed by him, and died not long after. After her he took Austerchild, also named Bobilla. He had by her two sons, of whom the older was called Clothar and the younger Chlodomer.
wn.com/Guntram -
Heliand
The Heliand ( /ˈhɛliənd/; historically [ˈheːljand]) is an epic poem in Old Saxon, written in the first half of the 9th century. The title means saviour in Old Saxon (cf. German and Dutch Heiland meaning "saviour"), and the poem is a Biblical paraphrase that recounts the life of Jesus in the alliterative verse style of a Germanic saga. Heliand is the largest known work of written Old Saxon.
The poem must have been relatively popular and widespread because it exists in two manuscript versions and four fragmentary versions. It takes up about 6,000 lines. A praefatio exists, which could have been commissioned by either Louis the Pious (king from 814–840) or Louis the German (806-876). This praefatio was first printed by Matthias Flacius in 1562, and while it has no authority in the manuscripts it is generally deemed to be authentic. The first mention of the poem itself in modern times occurred when Franciscus Junius (the younger) found a fragment in 1587. It was not printed until 1705, by George Hickes. The first modern edition of the poem was published in 1830 by Johann Andreas Schmeller.
wn.com/Heliand -
Henry the Fowler
Henry I the Fowler (German: Heinrich der Finkler or Heinrich der Vogler; Latin: Henricius Auceps) (876 – 2 July 936) was the Duke of Saxony from 912 and German king from 919 until his death. First of the Ottonian Dynasty of German kings and emperors, he is generally considered to be the founder and first king of the medieval German state, known until then as East Francia. An avid hunter, he obtained the epithet "the Fowler" because he was allegedly fixing his birding nets when messengers arrived to inform him that he was to be king.
Born in Memleben, in what is now Saxony-Anhalt, Henry was the son of Otto the Illustrious, Duke of Saxony, and his wife Hedwiga, daughter of Henry of Franconia and Ingeltrude and a great-great-granddaughter of Charlemagne. In 906 he married Hatheburg, daughter of the Saxon count Erwin, but divorced her in 909, after she had given birth to his son Thankmar. Later that year he married St Matilda of Ringelheim, daughter of Dietrich, Count of Westphalia. Matilda bore him three sons, one called Otto, and two daughters, Hedwig and Gerberga and founded many religious institutions, including the abbey of Quedlinburg where Henry is buried, and was later canonized.
wn.com/Henry_the_Fowler -
Henry the Lion
Henry the Lion (German: Heinrich der Löwe; 1129 – 6 August 1195) was a member of the Welf dynasty and Duke of Saxony, as Henry III, from 1142, and Duke of Bavaria, as Henry XII, from 1156, which duchies he held until 1180.
He was one of the most powerful German princes of his time, until the rival Hohenstaufen dynasty succeeded in isolating him and eventually deprived him of his duchies of Bavaria and Saxony during the reign of his cousin Frederick I Barbarossa and of Frederick's son and successor Henry VI.
At the height of his reign, Henry ruled over a vast territory stretching from the coast of the North and Baltic Seas to the Alps, and from Westphalia to Pomerania. Henry achieved this great power in part by his political and military acumen and in part through the legacies of his four grandparents.
The Henry The Lion Bible is stored, a book preserved in near mint condition from the year 1170. Located in Wolfenbüttel, a town in Lower Saxony, Germany, located on the Oker river about 13 kilometres south of Brunswick.
wn.com/Henry_the_Lion -
Hewald the Black
The Two Ewalds (or Two Hewalds) were Saint Ewald the Black and Saint Ewald the Fair, martyrs in Old Saxony about 692. Both bore the same name, but were distinguished by the difference in the colour of their hair and complexions. They are now honored as saints in Westphalia.
The two priests were companions, both natives of Northumbria, England. According to the example of many at that time, they spent several years as students in the schools of Ireland. Ewald the Black was the more learned of the two, but both were equally renowned for holiness of life. They were apparently acquainted with St. Willibrord, the Apostle of Friesland, and were animated with his zeal for the conversion of the Germans. Some sources number them among the eleven companions of that saint. More probably, however, they set out from England after St. Willibrord's departure, in an attempt to convert their own cousins in Old Saxony.
They entered upon their mission about 690. The scene of their labours was the country of the ancient Saxons, now part of Westphalia, and covered by the dioceses of Münster, Osnabrück, and Paderborn. At first the Ewalds took up their abode in the house of the steward of a certain Saxon earl or ealdorman (satrapa). Bede remarks that "the old Saxons have no king, but they are governed by several ealdormen [satrapas] who during war cast lots for leadership, but who in time of peace are equal in power" Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum, V, 10). The steward entertained his two guests for several days, and promised to conduct them to the chieftain. They intended to convert him and so affirmed they had a message of considerable importance to deliver to him.
wn.com/Hewald_the_Black -
Hewald the White
The Two Ewalds (or Two Hewalds) were Saint Ewald the Black and Saint Ewald the Fair, martyrs in Old Saxony about 692. Both bore the same name, but were distinguished by the difference in the colour of their hair and complexions. They are now honored as saints in Westphalia.
The two priests were companions, both natives of Northumbria, England. According to the example of many at that time, they spent several years as students in the schools of Ireland. Ewald the Black was the more learned of the two, but both were equally renowned for holiness of life. They were apparently acquainted with St. Willibrord, the Apostle of Friesland, and were animated with his zeal for the conversion of the Germans. Some sources number them among the eleven companions of that saint. More probably, however, they set out from England after St. Willibrord's departure, in an attempt to convert their own cousins in Old Saxony.
They entered upon their mission about 690. The scene of their labours was the country of the ancient Saxons, now part of Westphalia, and covered by the dioceses of Münster, Osnabrück, and Paderborn. At first the Ewalds took up their abode in the house of the steward of a certain Saxon earl or ealdorman (satrapa). Bede remarks that "the old Saxons have no king, but they are governed by several ealdormen [satrapas] who during war cast lots for leadership, but who in time of peace are equal in power" Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum, V, 10). The steward entertained his two guests for several days, and promised to conduct them to the chieftain. They intended to convert him and so affirmed they had a message of considerable importance to deliver to him.
wn.com/Hewald_the_White -
Irminones
The Irminones, also referred to as Herminones or Hermiones, were a group of early Germanic tribes settling in the Elbe watershed and by the 1st century AD expanding into Bavaria, Swabia and Bohemia. Irminonic or Elbe Germanic is a conventional term grouping early West Germanic dialects ancestral to High German.
The name Irminones comes from Tacitus’s Germania (98 AD) who categorized them as one of the tribes of Mannus. Other West Germanic proto-tribes were the Ingvaeones and Istvaeones, all of them living in the "Central region" of Germania, as well as the Suebi, which include the Semnones, the Quadi and the Marcomanni.
Pomponius Mela writes in his Description of the World (III.3.31) in reference to the Kattegat and the waters surrounding the Danish isles (see the Codanus sinus):
Mela then begins to speak of the Scythians.
Pliny's Natural History (4.100) claims that the Irminones include the Suebi, Hermunduri, Chatti, and Cherusci.
In Nennius the name Mannus (see Mannaz) and his three sons appear in corrupted form, the ancestor of the Irminones appearing as Armenon. His sons here are Gothus, Valagothus/Balagothus, Cibidus, Burgundus, and Longobardus, whence come the Goths (and Ostrogoths, Visigoths, Crimean Goths), Valagoths/Balagoths, Cibidi, Burgundians and Lombards (Langobards).
wn.com/Irminones -
Julian the Apostate
Julian (Latin: Flavius Claudius Julianus Augustus, Greek: Φλάβιος Κλαύδιος Ἰουλιανός Αὔγουστος; 331/332 – 26 June 363), commonly known as Julian the Apostate, or also Julian the Philosopher, was Roman Emperor from 361 to 363 and a noted philosopher and Greek writer.
A member of the Constantinian dynasty, he was made Caesar over the western provinces, by Constantius II in 355, where he campaigned successfully against the Alamanni and Franks. Most notable was his crushing victory over the Alamanni in 357 at the Battle of Argentoratum - despite being outnumbered. In 360 he was acclaimed Augustus by his soldiers, sparking a civil war between Julian and Constantius. However, Constantius died before the two could face each other in battle, naming Julian as his rightful successor. In 363, Julian embarked on an ambitious campaign against the Sassanid Empire. Though initially successful, Julian was mortally wounded in battle and died shortly after.
Julian was a man of unusually complex character: he was "the military commander, the theosophist, the social reformer, and the man of letters". He was the last non-Christian ruler of the Roman Empire and it was his desire to bring the Empire back to its ancient Roman values in order to save it from dissolution. He purged the top-heavy state bureaucracy and attempted to revive traditional Roman religious practices at the cost of Christianity. His rejection of Christianity in favour of Neoplatonic paganism caused him to be called Julian the Apostate (Ἀποστάτης or Παραβάτης "Transgressor") by the church. He was the last emperor of the Constantinian dynasty, the empire's first Christian dynasty.
wn.com/Julian_the_Apostate -
Julius Nepos
Julius Nepos (c. 430 – 480) was Western Roman Emperor de facto from 474 to 475 and de jure until 480. Some historians consider him to be the last Western Roman Emperor, while others consider the western line to have ended with Romulus Augustulus in 476.
In contrast, the Eastern Roman Empire, and its line of Emperors, survived this historical period relatively intact.
Nepos, already the ruler of Roman Dalmatia, was nominated by the Eastern Roman Emperor Leo I in early 474, to replace the Western Emperor Glycerius, who was regarded as a usurper. It was probably Nepos' marriage to the emperor Leo's wife's niece which earned him the agnomen of "Nepos" (nephew).
Glycerius surrendered in June 474, shortly after Nepos' arrival in Italy. Nepos spared Glycerius' life, and appointed him bishop of Salona. After this Nepos ruled, briefly, over the whole of the remaining Western Roman Empire; still centered on Italy, the Empire's heartland, and including his native Dalmatia, and the remaining parts of Roman Gaul. Nepos' rule in Italy ended in 475, when he was deposed by his magister militum, Orestes. After fleeing from Italy and Orestes without opposition, Nepos returned to Dalmatia, over which he retained control.
wn.com/Julius_Nepos -
Jutes
The Jutes, Iuti, or Iutæ (pronounced /dʒuːts/) were a Germanic people who, according to Bede, were one of the three most powerful Germanic peoples of their time, the other two being the Saxons and the Angles. They are believed to have originated from Jutland peninsula (called Iutum in Latin) in modern Denmark,Southern Schleswig (Southern Jutland) and part of the East Frisian coast in northern Germany.
Bede places the homeland of the Jutes on the other side of the Angles relative to the Saxons, which would mean the northern part of the Jutland Peninsula. Tacitus portrays a people called the Eudoses living in the north of Jutland and these may have been the later Iutae. The Jutes have also been identified with the Eotenas (ēotenas) involved in the Frisian conflict with the Danes as described in the Finnesburg episode in the poem Beowulf (lines 1068–1159). Others have interpreted the ēotenas as jotuns ("ettins" in English), meaning giants, or as a kenning for "enemies."
Disagreeing with Bede, some historians identify the Jutes with people called the Eucii (or Saxones Eucii) who were evidently associated with the Saxons and dependents of the Franks in 536. The Eucii may have been identical with an obscure tribe called the Euthiones and probably associated with the Saxons. The Euthiones are mentioned in a poem by Venantius Fortunatus (583) as being under the suzerainty of Chilperic I of the Franks. This identification would agree well with the later location of the Jutes in Kent, since the area just opposite of Kent on the European mainland (present-day Flanders) was part of Francia. Even if Jutes were present to the south of the Saxons in the Rhineland or near the Frisians, this does not contradict the possibility that they were migrants from Jutland.
wn.com/Jutes -
Kingdom of Essex
The Kingdom of Essex or Kingdom of the East Saxons (Old English: Ēast Seaxna rīce) was one of the seven traditional kingdoms of the so-called Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy. It was founded in the 6th century and covered the territory later occupied by the counties of Essex, Hertfordshire, Middlesex and (for a short while) Kent. Kings of Essex were frequently subservient to foreign overlords. The last king of Essex was Sigered and in 825, he ceded the kingdom to Egbert of Wessex.
The kingdom was bounded to the north by the River Stour and the Kingdom of East Anglia, to the south by the River Thames and Kent, to the east lay the North Sea and to the west Mercia. The territory included the remains of two provincial Roman capitals Colchester and London. The early kingdom included the land of the Middle Saxons, later Middlesex, most if not all of Hertfordshire and may at times have included Surrey. For a brief period in the 8th century, the Kingdom of Essex controlled what is now Kent.
The modern English county of Essex maintains the historic northern and the southern borders, but only covers the territory east of the River Lea, the other parts being lost to neighbouring Mercia during the 8th Century.
wn.com/Kingdom_of_Essex -
Lombards
The Lombards or Langobards (Latin: Langobardī), were a Germanic tribe who from 568 to 774 ruled a Kingdom in Italy.
The Lombard historian Paul the Deacon wrote in the Historia Langobardorum that the Lombards descended from a small tribe called the Winnili, dwelling in southern Scandinavia (Scadanan), who had migrated southward to seek new lands. In the 1st century AD they formed part of the Suebi, in northwestern Germany. By the end of the 5th century they had moved into the area roughly coinciding with modern Austria north of the Danube river, where they subdued the Heruls and later fought frequent wars with the Gepids. The Lombard king Audoin defeated the Gepid leader Thurisind in 551 or 552; his successor Alboin eventually destroyed the Gepids at the Battle of Asfeld in 567.
Following this victory, Alboin decided to lead his people to Italy, which had become severely depopulated after the long Gothic War (535–554) between the Byzantine Empire and the Ostrogothic Kingdom there. The Lombards were joined by numerous Saxons, Heruls, Gepids, Bulgars, Thuringians, and Ostrogoths, and their invasion of Italy was almost unopposed. By late 569 they had conquered all the principal cities north of the Po River except Pavia, which fell in 572. At the same time, they occupied areas in central Italy and southern Italy. They established a Lombard Kingdom in Italy, later named Regnum Italicum ("Kingdom of Italy"), which reached its zenith under the eighth-century ruler Liutprand. In 774, the Kingdom was conquered by the Frankish King Charlemagne, and integrated into his Empire. However, Lombard nobles continued to rule parts of the Italian peninsula well into the 11th century, when they were conquered by the Normans, and added to their Kingdom of Sicily. Their legacy is apparent in the regional appellation, Lombardy.
wn.com/Lombards -
Louis the German
Louis (also Ludwig or Lewis) the German (806 – 28 August 876), also known as Louis II or Louis the Bavarian, was a grandson of Charlemagne and the third son of the succeeding Frankish Emperor Louis the Pious and his first wife, Ermengarde of Hesbaye.
He received the appellation 'Germanicus' shortly after his death in recognition of the fact that the bulk of his territory had been in the former Germania.
Louis II was made the King of Bavaria from 817 following the Emperor Charlemagne's practice of bestowing a local kingdom on a family member who then served as one of his lieutenants and the local governor. When his father, Louis I (called the pious), partitioned the empire toward the end of his reign in 843, he was made King of East Francia, a region that spanned the Elbe drainage basin from Jutland southeasterly through the Thuringerwald into modern Bavaria from the Treaty of Verdun in 843 until his death.
His early years were partly spent at the court of his grandfather, Charlemagne, whose special affection he is said to have won. When the emperor Louis divided his dominions between his sons in 817, Louis received Bavaria and the neighbouring lands but did not undertake the governing of such until 825, when he became involved in wars with the Wends and Sorbs on his eastern frontier. In 827, he married Emma of Altdorf, sister of his stepmother Judith of Bavaria, and daughter of Welf, whose possessions ranged from Alsace to Bavaria. Louis soon began to interfere in the quarrels arising from Judith's efforts to secure a kingdom for her own son Charles (later known as Charles the Bald) and the consequent struggles of his brothers with their father.
wn.com/Louis_the_German -
Louis the Pious
Louis the Pious (778 – 20 June 840), also called the Fair, and the Debonaire, was the King of Aquitaine from 781. He was also King of the Franks and co-Emperor (as Louis I) with his father, Charlemagne, from 813. As the only surviving adult son of Charlemagne and Hildegard, he became the sole ruler of the Franks after his father's death in 814, a position which he held until his death, save for the period 833–34, during which he was deposed.
During his reign in Aquitaine, Louis was charged with the defence of the Empire's southwestern frontier. He conquered Barcelona from the Muslims in 801 and asserted Frankish authority over Pamplona and the Basques south of the Pyrenees in 812. As emperor he included his adult sons, Lothair, Pepin, and Louis, in the government and sought to establish a suitable division of the realm among them. The first decade of his reign was characterised by several tragedies and embarrassments, notably the brutal treatment of his nephew Bernard of Italy, for which Louis atoned in a public act of self-debasement. In the 830s his empire was torn by civil war between his sons, only exacerbated by Louis's attempts to include his son Charles by his second wife in the succession plans. Though his reign ended on a high note, with order largely restored to his empire, it was followed by three years of civil war. Louis is generally compared unfavourably to his father, though the problems he faced were of a distinctly different sort.
wn.com/Louis_the_Pious -
Magnentius
Flavius Magnus Magnentius (303 – August 11, 353) was a usurper of the Roman Empire (January 18, 350 – August 11, 353).
Born in Samarobriva (Amiens), Gaul, Magnentius was the commander of the Herculians and Iovians, the Imperial guard units. When the army grew dissatisfied with the behavior of Roman Emperor Constans, it elevated Magnentius at Autun on January 18, 350. Constans was abandoned by all except a handful of retainers, and he was slain shortly afterwards by a troop of light cavalry near the Pyrenees.
Magnentius quickly attracted the loyalty of the provinces in Britannia, Gaul, and Hispania, in part because he proved to be far more tolerant towards both Christians and Pagans. His control on Italia and Africa was applied through the election of his men to the most important offices. However, the short-lived revolt of Nepotianus, a member of the Constantinian dynasty, showed Magnentius that his status of Emperor was to be consolidated against the members of that dynasty.
The self-proclaimed emperor tried to strengthen his grasp on the territories previously controlled by Constans, moving towards the Danube. Vetranio, commander of the Pannonian army, had been elected Augustus by his troops in Mursa on 1 March. This revolt had a loyalist mark, since Vetranio was supported by Constantina, and Constantius II himself recognized Vetranio, sending him the imperial diadem.
wn.com/Magnentius -
Marcomanni
The Marcomanni were a Germanic tribe, probably related to the Buri, Suebi or Suevi.
Scholars believe their name derives possibly from Proto-Germanic forms of "march" ("frontier, border") and "men".
The Marcomanni settled in the Main River valley soon after 100 BC. To escape Roman aggression in 9 BC they migrated east to Bohemia, where their king Maroboduus established a powerful kingdom that Augustus perceived as a threat to Rome. Before he could act, however, the war in Illyria intervened. Eventually Maroboduus was deposed and exiled by Catualda (AD 19).
Tacitus, in the late 1st century mentions (Germania I.42) the Marcommani as being under kings appointed by Rome. [1]
In the 2nd century AD, the Marcomanni entered into a confederation with other peoples including the Quadi, Vandals, and Sarmatians, against the Roman Empire. This was probably driven by movements of larger tribes, like the Goths. According to the historian Eutropius, the forces of the Emperor Marcus Aurelius battled against the Marcomannic confederation for three years at the fortress of Carnuntum in Pannonia. Eutropius compared the war, and Marcus Aurelius' success against the Marcomanni and their allies, to the Punic Wars. The comparison was apt in that this war marked a turning point and had significant Roman defeats; it caused the death of two Praetorian Guard commanders. The war began in 166, when the Marcomanni overwhelmed the defences between Vindobona and Carnuntum, penetrated along the border between the provinces of Pannonia and Noricum, laid waste to Flavia Solva, and could be stopped only shortly before reaching Aquileia on the Adriatic sea. The war lasted until Marcus Aurelius' death in 180. It would prove to be only a limited success for Rome; the Danube river remained as the frontier of the Empire until the final fall of the West.
wn.com/Marcomanni -
Mead hall
In ancient Scandinavia and Germanic Europe a mead hall or feasting hall was initially simply a large building with a single room. From the fifth century to early medieval times such a building was the residence of a lord and his retainers. The mead hall was generally the great hall of the king. As such, it was likely to be the safest place in the kingdom.
The old name of such halls may have been sal/salr and thus be present in old place names such as "Uppsala". The meaning has been preserved in German Saal, Dutch zaal and Swedish sal (all meaning "hall" or "large room"). In Old English, sele and sæl were used.
The remains of a Viking hall complex were uncovered southwest of Lejre, Denmark, in 1986–88 by Tom Christensen of the Roskilde Museum. Wood from the foundation was radiocarbon-dated to about AD 880. It was later found that this hall was built over an older hall which was itself dated to 680. In 2004–05, Christensen excavated a third hall located just north of the other two. This hall was built in the mid-6th century, exactly the time period of Beowulf. All three halls were about 50 meters long.
wn.com/Mead_hall -
Mellitus
Mellitus (died 24 April 624) was the first Bishop of London in the Saxon period, the third Archbishop of Canterbury, and a member of the Gregorian mission sent to England to convert the Anglo-Saxons from their native paganism to Christianity. He arrived in 601 AD with a group of clergymen sent to augment the mission, and was consecrated as Bishop of London in 604. Mellitus was the recipient of a famous letter from Pope Gregory I known as the Epistola ad Mellitum, preserved in a later work by the medieval chronicler Bede, which suggested the conversion of the Anglo-Saxons be undertaken gradually, integrating pagan rituals and customs. In 610, Mellitus returned to Italy to attend a council of bishops, and returned to England bearing papal letters to some of the missionaries.
Mellitus was exiled from London by the pagan successors to his patron, King Sæberht of Essex, following the latter's death around 616. King Æthelberht of Kent, Mellitus' other patron, died at about the same time, forcing him to take refuge in Gaul. Mellitus returned to England the following year, after Æthelberht's successor had been converted to Christianity, but he was unable to return to London, whose inhabitants remained pagan. Mellitus was appointed Archbishop of Canterbury in 619. During his tenure, he was alleged to have miraculously saved the cathedral, and much of the town of Canterbury, from a fire. After his death in 624, Mellitus was revered as a saint.
wn.com/Mellitus -
Merovingian
The Merovingians were a Salian Frankish dynasty that came to rule the Franks in a region known as Francia in Latin, largely corresponding to ancient Gaul, for 300 years from the middle of the 5th century.
The Merovingian dynasty was founded by Childeric I (c.457 – 481) the son of Merovech, leader of the Salian Franks, but it was his famous son Clovis I (481 – 511) who united all of Gaul under Merovingian rule.
After the death of Clovis there were frequent clashes between different branches of the family, but when threatened by its neighbours the Merovingians presented a strong united front.
During the final century of the Merovingian rule, the dynasty was increasingly pushed into a ceremonial role. The Merovingian rule ended in March 752 when Pope Zachary formally deposed Childeric III. Zachary's successor, Pope Stephen II, confirmed and annointed Pepin the Short, in 754 beginning the Carolingian monarchy.
The Merovingian ruling family were sometimes referred to as the "long-haired kings" (Latin reges criniti) by contemporaries, as their long hair distinguished them among the Franks, who commonly cut their hair short. The term "Merovingian" comes from medieval Latin Merovingi or Merohingi ("sons of Merovech"), an alteration of an unattested Old West Low Franconian form, akin to their dynasty's Old English name Merewīowing, with the final -ing being a typical patronymic suffix.
wn.com/Merovingian -
Migration Period
The Migration Period, also known as the Barbarian Invasions (German: Völkerwanderung "migration of peoples"), was a period of intensified human migration in Europe from about 400 to 800 AD. This period marked the transition from Late Antiquity to the Early Middle Ages. Migrations were catalyzed by profound changes within the Roman Empire and on its "barbarian frontier". The migrants who came first were Germanic tribes such as the Goths, Vandals, Lombards, Suebi, Frisii and Franks; they were later pushed westwards by the Huns, Avars, Slavs, Bulgars and Alans. Later migrations (such as the Arab conquest and Viking, Magyar, Moorish, Turkic, and Mongol invasions) also had significant effects (especially in North Africa, the Iberian peninsula, Anatolia and Central and Eastern Europe); however, they are outside the scope of the Migration Period.
Germanic peoples moved out of southern Scandinavia, Denmark and adjacent lands between the Elbe and Oder rivers after 1000 BC. The first wave moved westward and southward (pushing the resident Celts west to the Rhine River by about 200 BC) and moving into southern Germany up to the Roman province of Gaul by 100 BC, where they were stopped by Gaius Marius and Julius Caesar. It is this western group who was described by the Roman historian Tacitus (56 – 117 AD) and Julius Caesar (100 - 44 BC). A later wave of German tribes migrated eastward and southward from Scandinavia between 600 and 300 BC to the opposite coast of the Baltic Sea, moving up the Vistula near the Carpathians. During Tacitus' era they included lesser-known tribes such as the Tencteri, Cherusci, Hermunduri and Chatti; however, a period of federation and intermarriage resulted in the familiar groups known as the Alamanni, Franks, Saxons, Frisians and Thuringians.
wn.com/Migration_Period -
Nithard
Nithard ca. (795 - 844), a Frankish historian, was the grandson of Charlemagne, by Bertha, a daughter of the emperor. His father was Angilbert.
Nithard was born sometime before Charlemagne was crowned Imperator Augustus in December 800. He was probably raised either at the imperial palace, where his mother continued to live until the death of the emperor, or at the monastery of St. Riquier, where his father was lay abbot. He would have been educated most likely at the imperial schola, which offered the kind of high-quality instruction in both military and literary training he is known to have received.
Nithard himself later became lay abbot of St Riquier in commendam. He served his cousin Charles the Bald in both war and peace, carrying out two missions to Lothar during the Carolingian Civil War and fighting at Fontenoy in June 841. It is probable that he died as the result of wounds received whilst fighting for him against the Northmen near Angoulême. The date of his death is disputed among scholars, but consensus is now for June 14, 844. In the 11th century his body, with the fatal wound still visible, was found in the grave of his father, Angilbert.
wn.com/Nithard -
Nordic Bronze Age
The Nordic Bronze Age (also Northern Bronze Age) is the name given by Oscar Montelius to a period and a Bronze Age culture in Scandinavian pre-history, c. 1700-500 BC, with sites that reached as far east as Estonia. Succeeding the Late Neolithic culture, its ethnic and linguistic affinities are unknown in the absence of written sources. It is followed by the Pre-Roman Iron Age.
Even though Scandinavians joined the European Bronze Age cultures fairly late through trade, Scandinavian sites present rich and well-preserved objects made of wool, wood and imported Central European bronze and gold.
Many rock carvings depict ships, and the large stone burial monuments known as stone ships suggest that shipping played an important role. Thousands of rock carvings depict ships, most probably representing sewn plank built canoes for warfare, fishing and trade. These may have a history as far back as the neolithic period and continue in to the Pre-Roman Iron Age, as shown by the Hjortspring boat.
There are many mounds and rock carving sites from the period. Numerous artifacts of bronze and gold are found. No written language existed in the Nordic countries during the Bronze Age. The rock carvings have been dated through comparison with depicted artifacts, for example bronze axes and swords. (There are also numerous Nordic Stone Age rock carvings in the north of Scandinavia, mostly portraying elk.)
wn.com/Nordic_Bronze_Age -
Odoacer
Flavius Odoacer (433–493), also known as Flavius Odovacer, was a barbarian soldier, who after 476 became the first barbarian King of Italy. His reign is commonly seen as marking the end of the Western Roman Empire. Though the real power in Italy was in his hands, he represented himself as the client of Julius Nepos and, after Nepos' death in 480, of the Emperor in Constantinople. Odoacer generally used the Roman honorific patrician, granted by the Emperor Zeno, but is referred to as a king (Latin rex) in many documents and he himself used it at least once and on another occasion it was used by the consul Basilius. Odoacer introduced few important changes into the administrative system of Italy. He had the support of the Senate at Rome and was able to distribute land to his followers without much opposition. Unrest among his warriors led to violence in 477–478, but no such disturbances occurred during the later period of his reign. Although Odoacer was an Arian Christian, he rarely intervened in the affairs of the Orthodox Church.[citation needed]
wn.com/Odoacer -
Oksywie culture
The Oksywie Culture was an archaeological culture which existed in the area of modern day Eastern Pomerania around the lower Vistula river from the 2nd century BC to the early 1st century AD.
The Oksywie culture is named after the village Oksywie, now part of the city of Gdynia in northern Poland, where the first archaeological finds typical of this culture were discovered.
Archaeological research of last decades near Pomerania in Poland suggests the transition of the local comonent of the Pomeranian culture into the Oksywie culture in the 2nd century BC. Its timing coincides with the mass migration of a new population from northern Germany - perhaps from the neighbouring Jastorf culture and not a culture in Scandinavia - into the Pomeranian culture areas. It appears likely that the new population which appeared on the southern coast of the Baltic in the early 1st century AD - probably from the east (i.e. the east Baltic cultures and/or the eastern components of the Przeworsk culture) - catalyzed the transformation of the Oksywie culture into the Wielbark culture. The Wielbark culture may have developed a close relationship with not only the local eastern components of the Przeworsk culture, which may have been assimilated into the Wielbark culture, but also, by trade, groups of people in Scandinavia although the Goths as a tribe cannot be identified with a Nordic origin whatsoever.
wn.com/Oksywie_culture -
Ostrogoths
The Ostrogoths (Latin: Ostrogothi or Austrogothi) were a branch of the Goths (the other branch being the Visigoths), a Germanic tribe who developed a vast empire north of the Black Sea in the 3rd century AD and, in the late 5th century, under Theodoric the Great, established a Kingdom in Italy.
Invading southward from the Baltic Sea, the Ostrogoths, at the time known as the Greuthungi, built up a huge empire stretching from the Dniester to the Volga river and from the Black Sea to the Baltic shores. The Ostrogoths were probably literate in the 3rd century, and their trade with the Romans was highly developed. Their Danubian kingdom reached its zenith under King Ermanaric, who is said to have committed suicide at an old age when the Huns attacked his people and subjugated them about 370.
After their subjugation by the Huns, little is heard of the Ostrogoths for about 80 years, after which they reappear in Pannonia on the middle Danube River as federates of the Romans. However, a pocket remained behind in the Crimea when the bulk of them moved to central Europe, and these Crimean Ostrogoths existed until at least the 16th century. After the collapse of the Hun empire after the Battle of Nedao (453), the Ostrogoths under Theodoric the Great first moved to Moesia (c. 475–488) and later conquered the Italian Kingdom of the German warrior Odoacer. Theodoric became King of the Ostrogothic Kingdom in 493 and died in 526. A period of instability then ensued, tempting the Eastern Roman Emperor Justinian to declare war on the Ostrogoths in 535 in an effort to restore the former western provinces of the Roman Empire. Initially, the Byzantines were successful, but under the leadership of Totila, the Goths reconquered most of the lost territory until Totila's death at the Battle of Taginae. The war lasted for almost 20 years and caused enormous damage and depopulation of Italy. The remaining Ostrogoths were absorbed into the Lombards who established a Kingdom in Italy in 567 AD.
wn.com/Ostrogoths -
Picts
The Picts were a group of Late Iron Age and Early Mediaeval Celtic people living in ancient eastern and northern Scotland. There is an association with the geographical distribution of brochs, Brythonic place name elements, and Pictish stones. Picts are recorded from before the Roman conquest of Britain until the 10th century, when they merged with the Gaels. They lived to the north of the rivers Forth and Clyde, and spoke the extinct Pictish language, thought to have been related to the Brythonic languages spoken by the Britons to the south. They are assumed to have been the descendants of the Caledonii and other tribes named by Roman historians or found on the world map of Ptolemy. Pictland, also known as Pictavia, gradually merged with the Gaelic kingdom of Dál Riata to form the Kingdom of Alba (Scotland). Alba expanded, absorbing the Brythonic kingdom of Strathclyde and Bernician Lothian, and by the 11th century the Pictish identity had been subsumed into the "Scots" amalgamation of peoples.
wn.com/Picts -
Polabian Slavs
Polabian Slavs (Lower Sorbian: Połobske Słowjany, Polish: Słowianie połabscy, Czech: Polabští Slované) - is a collective term applied to a number of Lechites tribes who lived along the Elbe river, between the Baltic Sea to the north, the Saale and the Limes Saxoniae to the west, the Ore Mountains and the Western Sudetes to the south, and Poland to the east. They have also been known as Elbe Slavs (German: Elbslawen) or Wends. Their name derives from the Slavic po, meaning "by/next to/along", and the Slavic name for the Elbe (Labe in Czech and Łaba in Polish).
The Polabian Slavs started settling in the territory of modern Germany in the second half of the first millennium. They were largely conquered by Saxons and Danes during the 12th century and subsequently included within the Holy Roman Empire. The tribes were gradually Germanized and assimilated in the following centuries; the Sorbs are the only descendants of the Polabian Slavs to have retained their identity and culture.
The Polabian language is now extinct. However, both Sorbian languages are spoken by approximately 60,000 inhabitants of the region and the languages are regarded by the government of Germany as official languages of the region.
wn.com/Polabian_Slavs -
Pre-Roman Iron Age
The Pre-Roman Iron Age of Northern Europe (5th/4th - 1st century BC) designates the earliest part of the Iron Age in Scandinavia, northern Germany, and the Netherlands north of the Rhine River. These regions feature many extensive archaeological excavation sites, which have yielded a wealth of artifacts. Objects discovered at the sites suggest that the Pre-Roman Iron Age cultures evolved without a major break out of the Nordic Bronze Age, but that there were strong influences from the Celtic Iron-Age Hallstatt culture in Central Europe. During the 1st century BC, Roman influence began to be felt even in Denmark.
Archaeologists first made the decision to divide the Iron Age into distinct pre-Roman and Roman Iron Ages after Emil Vedel unearthed a number of Iron Age artifacts in 1866 on the island of Bornholm. They did not exhibit the same permeating Roman influence seen in most other artifacts from the early centuries AD, indicating that parts of northern Europe had not yet come into contact with the Romans at the beginning of the Iron Age.
wn.com/Pre-Roman_Iron_Age -
Przeworsk culture
The Przeworsk culture is part of an Iron Age archaeological complex that dates from the 2nd century BC to the 5th century AD. It was located in what is now central and southern Poland, later spreading to parts of eastern Slovakia and Carpathian Ruthenia ranging between the Oder and the middle and upper Vistula Rivers into the headwaters of the Dniester and Tisza Rivers. It takes its name from the village near the town Przeworsk where the first artefacts were found.
Scholars view the Przeworsk culture as an amalgam of a series of localized cultures. Continuity with the preceding Pomeranian culture is observed, albeit modified by significant influences from the La Tene and Jastorf cultures.
The Przeworsk culture is sometimes associated with the Vandals named by ancient geographers, as well as other "eastern" peoples. To the east, in what is now northern Ukraine and southern Belarus, was the Zarubintsy culture, to which it is linked as a larger archaeological complex. Much of this area was subsequently absorbed by the Wielbark culture.
wn.com/Przeworsk_culture -
Ptolemy
Claudius Ptolemy ( /ˈtɒləmi/; Greek: Κλαύδιος Πτολεμαῖος, Klaudios Ptolemaios; Latin: Claudius Ptolemaeus; c. AD 90 – c. AD 168), was a Greek-Roman citizen of Egypt who wrote in Greek. He was a mathematician, astronomer, geographer, astrologer, and poet of a single epigram in the Greek Anthology. He lived in Egypt under Roman rule, and is believed to have been born in the town of Ptolemais Hermiou in the Thebaid. This theory, proposed by Theodore Meliteniotes, could be correct, but it is late (ca. 1360) and unsupported. There is no reason to suppose that he ever lived anywhere else than Alexandria, where he died around AD 168.
Ptolemy was the author of several scientific treatises, at least three of which were of continuing importance to later Islamic and European science. The first is the astronomical treatise now known as the Almagest (in Greek, Ἡ Μεγάλη Σύνταξις, "The Great Treatise", originally Μαθηματικὴ Σύνταξις, "Mathematical Treatise"). The second is the Geography, which is a thorough discussion of the geographic knowledge of the Greco-Roman world. The third is the astrological treatise known sometimes in Greek as the Apotelesmatika (Ἀποτελεσματικά), more commonly in Greek as the Tetrabiblos (Τετράβιβλος "Four books"), and in Latin as the Quadripartitum (or four books) in which he attempted to adapt horoscopic astrology to the Aristotelian natural philosophy of his day.
wn.com/Ptolemy -
Rabanus Maurus
Rabanus Maurus Magnentius (c. 780 – 4 February 856), also known as Hrabanus or Rhabanus, was a Frankish Benedictine monk, the archbishop of Mainz in Germany and a theologian. He was the author of the encyclopaedia De rerum naturis (On the Nature of Things). He also wrote treatises on education and grammar and commentaries on the Bible. He was one of the most prominent teachers and writers of the Carolingian age, and was called "Praeceptor Germaniae," or "the teacher of Germany." On the Roman calendar (Martyrologium Romanum, 2001, pp. 126f.), he is celebrated on 4 February and listed as 'sanctus,' though the online version of the Catholic Encyclopedia of nearly a century earlier lists him as 'beatus.'
Rabanus was born of noble parents in Mainz. The date of his birth is uncertain, but in 801 he received a deacon's order at Fulda in Hesse, where he had been sent to school. In the following year, at the insistence of Ratgar, his abbot, he went together with Haimon (later of Halberstadt) to complete his studies at Tours. He studied there under Alcuin, who in recognition of his diligence and purity gave him the surname of Maurus, after the favourite disciple of Benedict, Saint Maurus. Returning to Fulda two years later, he was entrusted with the principal charge of the school, which under his direction became one of the most preeminent centers of scholarship and book production in Europe, and sent forth such pupils as Walafrid Strabo, Servatus Lupus of Ferrières, and Otfrid of Weissenburg. At this period he probably compiled his excerpt from the grammar of Priscian, a popular text book during the Middle Ages.
wn.com/Rabanus_Maurus -
Roman Emperor
The Roman emperor was the ruler of the Roman State during the imperial period (starting at about 27 BC). The Romans had no single term for the office although at any given time, a given title was associated with the emperor. If a man was "proclaimed emperor" this normally meant he was proclaimed augustus, or (for generals) imperator (from which English emperor ultimately derives). Several other titles and offices were regularly accumulated by emperors, such as caesar, princeps senatus, consul and Pontifex Maximus. The power of emperors was generally based on the accumulation of powers from republican offices and the support of the army.
Roman emperors refused to be considered "kings", instead claiming to be leaders of a republic, however nominal. The first emperor, Augustus, resolutely refused recognition as a monarch. Although Augustus could claim that his power was authentically Republican, his successor, Tiberius, could not convincingly make the same claim. Nonetheless, the Republican institutional framework (senate, consuls, magistracies etc.) was preserved until the very end of the Western Empire.
wn.com/Roman_Emperor -
Roman Iron Age
The Roman Iron Age (1-400) is the name that Swedish archaeologist Oscar Montelius gave to a part of the Iron Age in Scandinavia, Northern Germany and the Netherlands.
The name comes from the hold that the Roman Empire had begun to exert on the Germanic tribes of Northern Europe. Therefore, the preceding part of the Iron Age is called the Pre-Roman Iron Age, which had grown out of the Nordic Bronze Age. The age that followed the Roman Iron Age is called the Germanic Iron Age or the Age of Migrations.
In Scandinavia, there was a great import of goods, such as coins (more than 7,000), vessels, bronze images, glass beakers, enameled buckles, weapons, etc. Moreover, the style of metal objects and clay vessels was markedly Roman. Objects such as shears and pawns appear for the first time. In the 3rd century and 4th century, some elements are imported from Germanic tribes that had settled north of the Black Sea, such as the runes.
There are also many bog bodies from this time in Denmark, Schleswig and southern Sweden. Together with the bodies, there are weapons, household wares and clothes of wool. Great ships made for rowing have been found from the 4th century in Nydam Mose in southern Denmark.
wn.com/Roman_Iron_Age -
Runic alphabet
Runes are the letters in a set of related alphabets known as runic alphabets which were used to write various Germanic languages before the adoption of the Latin alphabet and for specialized purposes thereafter. The Scandinavian variants are also known as futhark or fuþark (derived from their first six letters of the alphabet: F, U, Þ, A, R, and K); the Anglo-Saxon variant is futhorc or fuþorc (due to sound changes undergone in Old English by the same six letters). Runology is the study of the runic alphabets, runic inscriptions, runestones, and their history. Runology forms a specialized branch of Germanic linguistics.
The earliest runic inscriptions date from around AD 150. The characters were generally replaced by the Latin alphabet as the cultures that had used runes underwent Christianization by around AD 700 in central Europe and by around AD 1100 in Northern Europe. However, the use of runes persisted for specialized purposes in Northern Europe. Until the early 20th century runes were used in rural Sweden for decoration purposes in Dalarna and on Runic calendars.
wn.com/Runic_alphabet -
Saebert of Essex
Sæberht, Saberht or Sæbert (d. c. 616) was a King of Essex (r. c. 604 – c. 616), in succession of his father King Sledd. He is known as the first East Saxon king to have been converted to Christianity.
The principal source for his reign is the early 8th-century Historia Ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum by Bede (d. 735), who claims to have derived his information about the missionary work of Mellitus among the East Saxons from Abbot Albinus of Canterbury through the London priest Nothhelm, later Archbishop of Canterbury (d. 739). Other sources include the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, an imperfectly preserved genealogy possibly of the late 9th century (London, BL MS Add. 23211) and a handful of genealogies and regnal lists written down by Anglo-Norman historians.
The genealogies and regnal lists are unanimous in describing Sæberht as the son of Sledd, who may have been regarded as the founder of the East Saxon dynasty. According to Bede, Sæberht's mother was Ricula, a sister of King Æthelberht of Kent.
wn.com/Saebert_of_Essex -
Saint Lebuin
Lebuinus (also known as Lebuin, Lebwin or Liafwin(e)), Apostle of the Frisians and patron of Deventer (born in England of Anglo-Saxon parents, date unknown; died at Deventer c. 775).
Lebuinus was a monk in Wilfrid's monastery at Ripon. Inspired by the example of Saint Boniface, Saint Willibrord and other great English missionaries, he resolved to devote his life to the conversion of the Germans.
After his ordination he proceeded in 754 to Utrecht, and was welcomed by Saint Gregory, acting bishop of that place, who entrusted him with the mission of Overijssel on the borders of Westphalia, and gave him as a companion Marchelm (or Marcellinus), a disciple of Saint Willibrord.
He preached the Gospel among the tribes of the district, and erected a little chapel at Wilp (see: Voorst) (Wilpa) on the west bank of the IJssel. His venerable personality and deep learning quickly won many to Christianity, even among the nobles, and it soon became necessary to build at Deventer on the east bank of the river a larger church.
wn.com/Saint_Lebuin -
Salian dynasty
The Salian dynasty was a dynasty in the High Middle Ages of four German Kings (1024-1125), also known as the Frankish dynasty after the family's origin and role as dukes of Franconia. All of these kings were also crowned Holy Roman Emperor (1027-1125): the term 'Salic dynasty' also applies to the Holy Roman Empire as a separate term.
After the death of the last Saxon of the Ottonian Dynasty in 1024, first the elected German King and then three years later the elected position of Holy Roman Emperor both passed to the first monarch of the Salian dynasty in the person of Conrad II, the only son of Count Henry of Speyer and Adelheid of Alsace (both territories in the Franconia of the day). He was elected German King in 1024 and crowned emperor of the Holy Roman Empire on 26 March 1027.
The four Salian kings of the dynasty — Conrad II, Henry III, Henry IV, and Henry V — ruled the Holy Roman Empire from 1027 to 1125, and firmly established their monarchy as a major European power. They achieved the development of a permanent administrative system based on a class of public officials answerable to the crown.
wn.com/Salian_dynasty -
Salian Franks
The Salian Franks or Salii were a subgroup of the early Franks who originally had been living north of the limes in the area above the Rhine. The Merovingian kings responsible for the conquest of Gaul were Salians. From the 3rd century on, the Salian Franks appear in the historical records as warlike Germanic people and pirates, and as Laeti (allies of the Romans). They were the first Germanic tribe from beyond the limes who settled permanently on Roman land. In 358, they came to some form of agreement with the Romans that allowed them to settle in Toxandria (roughly the area of the current Dutch and Belgian provinces of Noord-Brabant, Antwerpen and Vlaams-Brabant).
The Salians fully adopted the Frankish identity and gradually ceased to appear by their original name from the 7th century onward, when they evolved into the Franks par excellence. The Lex Ripuaria originated about 630 around Cologne and has been described as a later development of the Frankish laws known from Lex Salica.
From the early 6th century on, the name Salian Franks (or Salii in Latin) is used to contrast with the Ripuarian Franks. Salii may have derived from the name of the medieval lakeland Sall zee area, or to the IJssel river, formerly called Hisloa or Hisla, and in ancient times, Sala, signalling this as the Salians' original residence. Today this area is called Salland.
wn.com/Salian_Franks -
Saxons
The Saxons (Latin: Saxones, Old English: Seaxe, Old Saxon: Sahson, Low German: Sassen) were a confederation of Germanic tribes on the North German plain, who during the Middle Ages migrated to the British Isles and formed part of the Anglo-Saxons.
The Saxons were originally Ingvaeonic tribes, whose earliest known area of settlement is Northern Albingia, an area approximately that of modern Holstein. This area overlapped the area of the Angles, a tribe with which they were frequently closely linked. Saxons participated in the Germanic settlement of Britain during and after the fifth century. It is unknown how many migrated from the continent to Britain, though estimates for the total number of Anglo-Saxon settlers are around two hundred thousand. During the Middle ages, because of international Hanseatic trading routes and contingent migration during the Middle Ages, Saxons mixed with and had strong influences upon the languages and cultures of the North Germanic and Baltic and Finnic peoples, and also upon the Polabian Slavs and Pomeranian West Slavic people.
wn.com/Saxons -
Sippe
Sippe is German for "clan, kindred, extended family". It continues a Proto-Germanic term *sibbja, which referred to a band or confederation bound by a treaty or oath, not primarily restricted to blood relations. The original character of sibb as a peace treaty is visible in Old English, e.g. in Beowulf (v. 1858):
The Sippe came to be a cognatic, extended family unit, exactly analogous to the Scottish/Irish sept.
Most of the information left about the nature and role of the Sippe is found in records left by the Lombards, Alamanni, and Bavarians. One of the functions of the Sippe was regulating use of forests. The average Sippe likely contained no more than 50 families. The Sippe seems to have been absorbed into the monogamous family later on; P.D. King asserts that this was already the case among the Visigoths during the time of the Visigothic Kingdom.
wn.com/Sippe -
Sorbs
Sorbs (Upper Sorbian: Serbja; Lower Sorbian: Serby also known as Wends, Lusatian Sorbs or Lusatian Serbs) are a Western Slavic people of Central Europe living predominantly in Lusatia, a region on the territory of Germany and Poland. In Germany they live in the states of Brandenburg and Saxony. They speak the Sorbian languages (Wendish, Lusatian) - closely related to Polish and Czech - officially recognized and protected as a minority language of Germany. They are predominantly Roman Catholics and Lutheran Protestants.
Sorbs are divided into two geographical groups:
The dialects spoken vary in intelligibility in different areas.
Lusatian tribes are noted in the work of the Bavarian Geographer. The document contains a list of the tribes in Central-Eastern Europe east of the Elbe and north of the Danube to the Volga rivers to the Black and Caspian Sea most of them of Slavic origin. Having settled by the Elbe, Spree and Neisse in the 6th century, Sorbian tribes divided into two main groups, which have taken their names from the characteristics of the area where they had settled. Sorbs living on the swampy broads of the Lower Spree have taken their name from the word marsh. The Milceni (ancestors of Upper Sorbs) settled on fertile soil around Upper Spree, the name derives from the word měl’ (loess soil). Both groups were separated from each other by a wide and uninhabited forest range. The rest of the tribes settled themselves between the Elbe and Saale. Among many Slavic tribes Bavarian Geographer noted also few lusatian tribes:
wn.com/Sorbs -
Suebi
The Suebi or Suevi (from Proto-Germanic *swēbaz based on the Proto-Germanic root *swē- meaning "one's own" people, from an Indo-European root *swe-, the third person reflexive pronoun) were a group of Germanic peoples who were first mentioned by Julius Caesar in connection with Ariovistus' campaign, c. 58 BC;
Some Suebi remained a periodic threat against the Romans on the Rhine, until, toward the end of the empire, the Alamanni, including elements of Suebi, brushed aside Roman defenses and occupied Alsace, and from there Bavaria and Switzerland. A pocket remained in Swabia (an area in southwest Germany whose modern name derives from the ancient name), whereas migrants to Gallaecia (modern Galicia, in Spain, and Northern Portugal) established a kingdom there which lasted for 170 years until its integration into the Visigothic Kingdom.
In the classical sources, the ethnonym Suebi is used with two different meanings: the specific tribe of Caesar's campaign, "dwelling on the Main", and "broadly, to cover a large number of tribes in central Germany." The broad view is expressed in Tacitus's Germania, a basic written source for the Suebic peoples that states:
wn.com/Suebi -
Tacitus
Publius (or Gaius) Cornelius Tacitus (AD 56 – AD 117) was a senator and a historian of the Roman Empire. The surviving portions of his two major works—the Annals and the Histories—examine the reigns of the Roman Emperors Tiberius, Claudius, Nero and those who reigned in the Year of the Four Emperors. These two works span the history of the Roman Empire from the death of Augustus in AD 14 to (presumably) the death of emperor Domitian in AD 96. There are substantial lacunae in the surviving texts, including one four books long in the Annals.
Other writings by him discuss oratory (in dialogue format, see Dialogus de oratoribus), Germania (in De origine et situ Germanorum), and the life of his father-in-law Agricola, mainly focusing on his campaign in Britannia (see De vita et moribus Iulii Agricolae).
Tacitus is considered to be one of the greatest Roman historians. He lived in what has been called the Silver Age of Latin literature, and as well as the brevity and compactness of his Latin prose, he is known for his penetrating insights into the psychology of power politics.
wn.com/Tacitus -
Thuringians
The Thuringii or Toringi were a Germanic tribe which appeared late during the Völkerwanderung in the Harz Mountains of central Germania around 280, in a region which still bears their name to this day — Thuringia. They evidently filled a void left when the previous inhabitants — the Alamanni — migrated south to the region named after them, Alemannia. They may have been remnants of the Alemannic confederation, or simply another lesser tribe. Some have suggested that they were the remnants of the Hermanduri, that last part of whose name (-duri) was corrupted (-thuri) and afterwards suffixed with -ing, meaning "descendants of (the [Herman]duri)".
The Thuringii established an empire in the late 5th century. It reached its territorial peak in the first half of the 6th before it was conquered by the Franks in 531–532. Examination of Thuringian gravesites reveal cranial features which suggest the strong presence of Hunnic women or slaves, perhaps indicating that many Thuringians took Hunnic wives or Hunnic slaves following the collapse of the Hunnic Empire. There is also evidence from jewellery found in graves that the Thuringians sought marriages with Ostrogothic and Lombard women.
wn.com/Thuringians -
Timothy Reuter
Timothy Alan Reuter (25 January 1947 – 14 October 2002), grandson of the former mayor of Berlin Ernst Reuter, was a German-British historian who specialized in the study of medieval Germany, particularly the social, military and ecclesiastical institutions of the Ottonian and Salian periods (10th-12th centuries).
Reuter received his D.phil from Oxford in medieval history under the supervision of Karl Leyser (d. 1992), another leading Anglophone scholar of German history. After a brief stint lecturing at the University of Exeter, Reuter spent more than a decade as a Mitarbeiter (academic staff member) at the Monumenta Germaniae Historica in Munich, where he worked on editing the letters of the twelfth-century abbot Wibald of Corvey and (with Dr. Gabriel Silagi) produced an important electronic database that served as the basis for a concordance to the work of the medieval canonist Gratian.
In 1994, Reuter was appointed to a professorship at the University of Southampton, where he remained until his death in 2002. At Southampton, he spearheaded a number of educational and research initiatives that promoted medieval history and scholarship.
wn.com/Timothy_Reuter -
Vagoth
The Vagoths were a Germanic tribe mentioned by Jordanes. He located them in Scandza. Speculations about their exact identity have identified them with the Geats of Vikbolandet and with the Gotlanders.
According to Lithuanian linguist Kazimieras Būga, the name of Germans, Germany in Lithuanian and Latvian languages (“Germany”: Lith. Vokia, Vokietija, Latv. Vācija, “German (person)”: Lith. vokietis, Latv. vācietis ) is derived from the name of Vagoths (*Vāk(ia)-goth). From Baltic languages originate Finnish roots Vuoja, Vuojo and Estonian Oju, Oja in their name for Gotland: Vuojola, Vuojonmaa, Vuojanmaa, Ojumaa, Ojamaa (“maa” - land).
The Valagoths were a tribe mentioned by Nennius.
wn.com/Vagoth -
Vandal tribe
The Vandals were an East Germanic tribe who in 429 under king Genseric entered Africa and by 439 established a kingdom which included the Roman Africa province, besides the islands of Sicily, Corsica, Sardinia, Malta and the Balearics. In 455, they sacked the city of Rome. Their kingdom collapsed in the Vandalic War of 533–4, in which Justinian I managed to reconquer the Africa province for the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire.
Renaissance and Early Modern writers characterized the Vandals as barbarians, "sacking and looting" Rome. This led to the use of the term "vandalism", to describe any senseless destruction, particularly the "barbarian" defacing of artworks. However, modern historians tend to regard the Vandals during the transitional period (from Late Antiquity to the Early Middle Ages) as perpetuators, not destroyers, of Roman culture.
The name of the Vandals has often been connected to that of Vendel,[citation needed] the name of a province in Uppland, Sweden, which is also eponymous of the Vendel period of Swedish prehistory, corresponding to the late Germanic Iron Age leading up to the Viking Age. The connection would be that Vendel is the original homeland of the Vandals prior to the Migration Period, and retains their tribal name as a toponym.
wn.com/Vandal_tribe -
Visigoths
The Visigoths (Latin: Visigothi, Wisigothi, Vesi, Visi, Wesi, or Wisi) were one of two main branches of the later Goths, the Ostrogoths being the other. These tribes were among the Germanic peoples who spread through the late Roman Empire during Late Antiquity or the Migration Period. The Visigoths emerged out of the Gothic groups who entered the Roman Empire in and after 376 and defeated the Romans at the Battle of Adrianople in 378. The Visigoths invaded Italy under Alaric I and famously sacked Rome in 410 AD, eventually settling in Spain and Portugal, where they founded a powerful Kingdom.
After numerous years of migration, which led the Visigoths to compare themselves to the Biblical Hebrew people wandering for 40 years in the Sinai Desert, the Visigoths settled in southern Gaul as foederati of the Romans in 418. For unknown reasons, they soon fell out with their hosts and established their own kingdom with its capital at Toulouse. Extending their authority into Hispania at the expense of the Vandals, their rule in Gaul was ended by the Franks under Clovis I at the Battle of Vouillé in 507. Thereafter the only territory north of the Pyrenees that the Visigoths held was Septimania, such that their kingdom became limited to Hispania. The province came to be dominated by the Visigothic small governing elite at the expense of the Byzantine province of Spania and the Suebic Kingdom of Galicia.
wn.com/Visigoths -
Wends
Wends (Old English: Winedas, Old Norse: Vindr, German: Wenden, Winden, Danish: Vendere, Swedish: Vender, Polish: Wendowie) is a historic name for West Slavs living near Germanic settlement areas. It does not refer to a homogeneous people, but to various peoples, tribes or groups depending on where and when it is used. Today, it is used either in historical contexts or as a catch-all term for Lusatian Sorbs, and their descendants, like the Texas Wends.
In the Middle Ages the term "Wends" often referred to Western Slavs living within the Holy Roman Empire, though not always. Mieszko I, the first historical legitimate ruler of Poland, also appeared as "Dagome, King of the Wends" (Old Norse: Vindakonungr) - which was an apparent misinterpretation as during those times emerging Polish state had no true control over Sorbian territories (which were gained for a short period of time by Bolesław I Chrobry after Mieszko's death). The name has also survived in Finnic languages (Finnish: Venäjä, Estonian: Vene, Karelian: Veneä) denoting Russia.
wn.com/Wends -
Wessex
The Kingdom of Wessex ( /ˈwɛsɨks/) or Kingdom of the West Saxons (Old English: Westseaxna rīce) was an Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the West Saxons in South West England, from the 6th century until the emergence of a united English state under the Wessex dynasty in the 10th century. It was to be an earldom after Canute the Great's conquest of 1016, from 1020 to 1066. After the Norman Conquest there was a dissolution of the English earldoms and Wessex was split among the followers of William the Conqueror.
wn.com/Wessex -
Widukind
Widukind (8th/9th centuries; modernized name Wittekind) was a pagan Saxon leader and the chief opponent of Charlemagne during the Saxon Wars. Widukind was the leader of the Saxons against the Frankish king Charlemagne (later emperor of the West). In 782, when Charlemagne organized Saxony as a Frankish province and ordered forced conversion of the pagan Saxons of Widukind, the Saxons resumed warfare against the Franks. In later times, Widukind became a symbol of Saxon independence and a figure of legend.
Very little is known about Widukind's life. All sources about him stem from his enemies, the Franks, who painted a negative picture of Widukind, calling him an "insurgent" and a "traitor". He was mentioned first in 777, when he was the only one of the Saxon nobles not to appear at Charlemagne's court in Paderborn. Instead, he stayed with the Danish king Siegfried (possibly Sigurd Ring).
In 778, Widukind led battles against the Franks, while Charlemagne was busy in Spain. From 782 through 784, annual battles between Saxons and Franks occurred. While Widukind was considered the leader of the Saxon resistance by the Franks, his exact role in the military campaigns is unknown. Even though Widukind allied himself with the Frisians, Charlemagne's winter attacks of 784/785 were successful, and Widukind and his allies were pushed back beyond the River Elbe.
wn.com/Widukind -
Wielbark culture
The Wielbark culture (German: Wielbark-Willenberg-Kultur, Polish: Kultura wielbarska, Ukrainian: Вельбарська культура (Vel’bars’ka kul’tura)) or East Pomeranian-Mazovian was a culture that appeared during the first half of the 1st century CE. It replaced the Oksywie culture, in the area of modern-day Eastern Pomerania around the lower Vistula river, which was related to the Przeworsk culture.
The Wielbark culture has been associated with Jordanes' account of the Goths leaving Scandza (Scandinavia) and their settlement in Gothiscandza.[citation needed]
The Wielbark culture was named after a village where a burial place with over 3000 tombs, attributed to the Goths, and Gepids was discovered back in 1873.[by whom?] Many of the cemetery stones were moved, and many graves were damaged by the early German discoverers. The report of the original excavation, lost during World War II was rediscovered only in 2004 and is about to be[when?] analysed in a cooperation of Polish scientists from Gdańsk, Warszawa, Kraków, and Lublin.
wn.com/Wielbark_culture -
Wilfrid
Wilfrid (originally spelled Wilfrith;c. 633 – c. 709) was an English bishop and saint. Born a Northumbrian noble, he entered religious life as a teenager and studied at Lindisfarne, at Canterbury, in Gaul, and at Rome; he returned to Northumbria in about 660, and became the abbot of a newly founded monastery at Ripon. In 664 Wilfrid acted as spokesman for the Roman "party" at the Council of Whitby, and became famous for his speech advocating that the Roman method for calculating the date of Easter should be adopted. His success prompted the king's son, Alhfrith, to appoint him Bishop of Northumbria. Wilfrid chose to be consecrated in Gaul because of the lack of what he considered to be validly consecrated bishops in England at that time. During Wilfrid's absence Alhfrith seems to have led an unsuccessful revolt against his father, Oswiu, leaving a question mark over Wilfrid's appointment as bishop. Before Wilfrid's return Oswiu had appointed Ceadda in his place, resulting in Wilfrid's retirement to Ripon for a few years following his arrival back in Northumbria.
wn.com/Wilfrid -
Wulfhere of Mercia
Wulfhere (died 675) was King of Mercia from the end of the 650s until 675. He was the first Christian king of all of Mercia, though it is not known when or how he converted from Anglo-Saxon paganism. His accession marked the end of Oswiu of Northumbria's overlordship of southern England, and Wulfhere extended his influence over much of that region. His campaigns against the West Saxons led to Mercian control of much of the Thames valley. He conquered the Isle of Wight and the Meon valley and gave them to King Æthelwealh of the South Saxons. He also had influence in Surrey, Essex, and Kent. He married Eormenhild, the daughter of King Eorcenberht of Kent.
Wulfhere's father, Penda, was killed in 655 at the Battle of Winwaed, fighting against Oswiu of Northumbria. Penda's son Peada became king under Oswiu's overlordship but was murdered a year later. Wulfhere came to the throne when Mercian nobles organized a revolt against Northumbrian rule in 658 and drove out Oswiu's governors.
By 670, when Oswiu died, Wulfhere was the most powerful king in southern Britain. He was effectively the overlord of Britain south of the Humber from the early 660s, although not overlord of Northumbria as his father had been. In 674, he challenged Oswiu's son Ecgfrith of Northumbria, but was defeated. He died, probably of disease, in 675. Wulfhere was succeeded as King of Mercia by his brother, Æthelred. Stephen of Ripon's Life of Wilfrid describes Wulfhere as "a man of proud mind, and insatiable will".
wn.com/Wulfhere_of_Mercia
Send this Playlist by SMS
Email this Page
Barbarians - The Saxons
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 44:59
- Updated: 08 Dec 2012
For More Great Documentaries please visit www.DocumentaryList.NET and support the site They were the dreaded forces on the fringes of civilization, the bloodthirsty warriors who defied the Roman legions and terrorized the people of Europe. They were the Barbarians, and their names still evoke images of cruelty and chaos. But what do we really know of these legendary warriors? From the frigid North Sea to the Russian steppes, this ambitious series tells the fascinating stories of four of the most fabled groups of fighters in history, tracing 1000 years of conquest and adventure through inspired scholarship and some of the most extensive reenactments ever filmed.
http://wn.com/Barbarians_The_Saxons
For More Great Documentaries please visit www.DocumentaryList.NET and support the site They were the dreaded forces on the fringes of civilization, the bloodthirsty warriors who defied the Roman legions and terrorized the people of Europe. They were the Barbarians, and their names still evoke images of cruelty and chaos. But what do we really know of these legendary warriors? From the frigid North Sea to the Russian steppes, this ambitious series tells the fascinating stories of four of the most fabled groups of fighters in history, tracing 1000 years of conquest and adventure through inspired scholarship and some of the most extensive reenactments ever filmed.
The Saxons
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 44:59
- Updated: 09 Dec 2012
In the darkest days of the Roman Empire, a barbarian horde rises up to claim a land of its own. Hungry for power, fiercely pagan, they come as raiders, but their name endures, etched on the land itself. The thunder of their conquest echoes across a continent. They are the Saxons, the warrior kings, who live for glory and gold. Their strongholds stretch along the North Sea, pirating on both sides of the Channel. This History Channel documentary series, Barbarians 2, tells the fascinating stories of four of the most fabled groups of fighters in history, the Saxons, the Lombards, the Franks, the Vandals, tracing 1000 years of conquest and adventure through inspired scholarship and some of the most extensive reenactments ever filmed.
http://wn.com/The_Saxons
In the darkest days of the Roman Empire, a barbarian horde rises up to claim a land of its own. Hungry for power, fiercely pagan, they come as raiders, but their name endures, etched on the land itself. The thunder of their conquest echoes across a continent. They are the Saxons, the warrior kings, who live for glory and gold. Their strongholds stretch along the North Sea, pirating on both sides of the Channel. This History Channel documentary series, Barbarians 2, tells the fascinating stories of four of the most fabled groups of fighters in history, the Saxons, the Lombards, the Franks, the Vandals, tracing 1000 years of conquest and adventure through inspired scholarship and some of the most extensive reenactments ever filmed.
- published: 30 Jun 2011
- views: 67482
- author: georgeweatherby
Horrible Histories The Saxon Report
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 3:54
- Updated: 09 Dec 2012
Horrible Histories The Saxon Report
http://wn.com/Horrible_Histories_The_Saxon_Report
Horrible Histories The Saxon Report
- published: 13 Jul 2011
- views: 17483
- author: itsmattymattymatty
The Anglo-Saxons in Britain
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 4:50
- Updated: 08 Dec 2012
For over 600 years the Anglo-Saxons were settled in Britain replacing many of the Roman stone buildings with new buildings of their own. At the same time they brought Christianity to the country. The reign of the Anglo-Saxons came to an end in 1066 but they will be remembered not only for the vast political change they brought with them but for the amazing craftmanship and ornate artifacts and Jewellery that they left behind. They certainly earned their place in history !!
http://wn.com/The_Anglo-Saxons_in_Britain
For over 600 years the Anglo-Saxons were settled in Britain replacing many of the Roman stone buildings with new buildings of their own. At the same time they brought Christianity to the country. The reign of the Anglo-Saxons came to an end in 1066 but they will be remembered not only for the vast political change they brought with them but for the amazing craftmanship and ornate artifacts and Jewellery that they left behind. They certainly earned their place in history !!
- published: 29 Dec 2010
- views: 28906
- author: Tvpresenter4history
Treasures of the Anglo-Saxons -©BBC
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 58:48
- Updated: 09 Dec 2012
Art historian Dr. Janina Ramirez reveals the codes and messages hidden in Anglo-Saxon art. From the beautiful jewellery that adorned the first violent pagan invaders through to the stunning Christian manuscripts they would become famous for, she explores the beliefs and ideas that shaped Anglo-Saxon art
http://wn.com/Treasures_of_the_Anglo-Saxons_-©BBC
Art historian Dr. Janina Ramirez reveals the codes and messages hidden in Anglo-Saxon art. From the beautiful jewellery that adorned the first violent pagan invaders through to the stunning Christian manuscripts they would become famous for, she explores the beliefs and ideas that shaped Anglo-Saxon art
- published: 05 Jan 2012
- views: 37456
- author: klidstone1970
Horrible Histories (Smashing Saxons)
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 2:51
- Updated: 18 Nov 2012
Talk about horrible histories at: cbbcchannel.proboards.com
http://wn.com/Horrible_Histories_Smashing_Saxons
Talk about horrible histories at: cbbcchannel.proboards.com
- published: 13 May 2009
- views: 97266
- author: cbbcstuff
Beowulf & the Anglo-Saxons (Part 1)
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 7:54
- Updated: 03 Dec 2012
Miraculously preserved over the centuries, its artistic importance was unrecognized until an essay by JRR Tolkien (The Lord of the Rings) revealed its unity and multi-dimensional structure. Beowulf is now regarded as the most important manuscript the Anglo-Saxons have handed down to us, of immense linguistic as well as poetic value. This program sets out to trace the origins of the tribes that brought this epic into being, the war-like Northmen from Sweden, Denmark and Germany who were to conquer and settle regions of a more clement and fertile island that would become known as England, named after the tribe of the Angles. Using 3-D animation, location footage, archive materials and interviews, the Beowulf epic is examined in the light of the civilization that created it. It investigates their religious beliefs as well as their everyday life, and suggests that, old as the poem is, it may have roots in an even more ancient fertility cult.
http://wn.com/Beowulf_the_Anglo-Saxons_Part_1
Miraculously preserved over the centuries, its artistic importance was unrecognized until an essay by JRR Tolkien (The Lord of the Rings) revealed its unity and multi-dimensional structure. Beowulf is now regarded as the most important manuscript the Anglo-Saxons have handed down to us, of immense linguistic as well as poetic value. This program sets out to trace the origins of the tribes that brought this epic into being, the war-like Northmen from Sweden, Denmark and Germany who were to conquer and settle regions of a more clement and fertile island that would become known as England, named after the tribe of the Angles. Using 3-D animation, location footage, archive materials and interviews, the Beowulf epic is examined in the light of the civilization that created it. It investigates their religious beliefs as well as their everyday life, and suggests that, old as the poem is, it may have roots in an even more ancient fertility cult.
- published: 21 Jul 2007
- views: 253661
- author: Angelfolc
Speaking Anglo-Saxon - Seven Ages of Britain - Series 1 Episode 1 Preview - BBC One
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 1:12
- Updated: 08 Dec 2012
More about this episode: www.bbc.co.uk David travels throughout Britain in search of the greatest works of art from the time: the mosaics of Bignor Roman Villa, the burial treasure of Sutton Hoo, Anglo-Saxon poetry, and Alfred the Great's Jewel. He also goes abroad, throughout Europe, to find objects either made in Britain, or which tell us something about our past.
http://wn.com/Speaking_Anglo-Saxon_Seven_Ages_of_Britain_Series_1_Episode_1_Preview_BBC_One
More about this episode: www.bbc.co.uk David travels throughout Britain in search of the greatest works of art from the time: the mosaics of Bignor Roman Villa, the burial treasure of Sutton Hoo, Anglo-Saxon poetry, and Alfred the Great's Jewel. He also goes abroad, throughout Europe, to find objects either made in Britain, or which tell us something about our past.
- published: 04 Feb 2010
- views: 33350
- author: BBC
Horrible Histories Saxon Invasion Invasion Invasion
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 3:06
- Updated: 03 Dec 2012
let's look for some land in this very clever take on location location location
http://wn.com/Horrible_Histories_Saxon_Invasion_Invasion_Invasion
let's look for some land in this very clever take on location location location
- published: 01 Jun 2011
- views: 60162
- author: gazza6359
HORRIBLE HISTORIES - Anglo Saxon Ordeals
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 3:50
- Updated: 09 Dec 2012
GREAT NEWS! A brand new series of Horrible Histories starts on CBBC on 31st May 2010!! In the meantime... HORRIBLE HISTORIES strikes again: If you think too much homework is unfair, you should see what ordeals the Anglo Saxons faced!
http://wn.com/HORRIBLE_HISTORIES_Anglo_Saxon_Ordeals
GREAT NEWS! A brand new series of Horrible Histories starts on CBBC on 31st May 2010!! In the meantime... HORRIBLE HISTORIES strikes again: If you think too much homework is unfair, you should see what ordeals the Anglo Saxons faced!
- published: 18 May 2009
- views: 139360
- author: horriblehistoriesBBC
SAXON - 747 (Strangers in the Night) HD
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 4:59
- Updated: 09 Dec 2012
Since You tube took off one of the better versions , I've decided to post my own.
http://wn.com/SAXON_747_Strangers_in_the_Night_HD
Since You tube took off one of the better versions , I've decided to post my own.
- published: 24 Nov 2009
- views: 159854
- author: Gotobecrazy
The Anglo-Saxon Mission, explained by Bill Ryan : a Project Avalon video
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 56:37
- Updated: 09 Dec 2012
In January 2010, Project Camelot received 11 pages of information from an insider who was physically present at a meeting of Senior Masons in the City of London in 2005. What was discussed is chilling to the bone. What our source reports is this: * There is a planned Third World War, which will be nuclear and biological. Our source believes that this is on track to be initiated within the next 18-24 months. * It is planned to begin with a strike by Israel on Iran. Either Iran or China will be provoked into a nuclear response. After a brief nuclear exchange, there will be a ceasefire. The world will be thrown into fear and chaos - all carefully engineered. * The extreme state of tension will be used to justify heavy social and military controls in all western first world nations. Plans are already in place for that. * During the nuclear ceasefire, there is planned to be a covert release of biological weapons. These will initially be targeted against the Chinese. As our source chillingly told us, "China will catch a cold". Biological warfare will spread further, to the west. Infrastructure will be critically weakened. * This is intended to be just the beginning. After this, a full nuclear exchange would be triggered: the "real" war, with widespread destruction and loss of life. Our source tells us that the planned population reduction through these combined means is 50%. He heard this figure stated in the meeting. This horrific scenario has been planned for generations. The ...
http://wn.com/The_Anglo-Saxon_Mission,_explained_by_Bill_Ryan_a_Project_Avalon_video
In January 2010, Project Camelot received 11 pages of information from an insider who was physically present at a meeting of Senior Masons in the City of London in 2005. What was discussed is chilling to the bone. What our source reports is this: * There is a planned Third World War, which will be nuclear and biological. Our source believes that this is on track to be initiated within the next 18-24 months. * It is planned to begin with a strike by Israel on Iran. Either Iran or China will be provoked into a nuclear response. After a brief nuclear exchange, there will be a ceasefire. The world will be thrown into fear and chaos - all carefully engineered. * The extreme state of tension will be used to justify heavy social and military controls in all western first world nations. Plans are already in place for that. * During the nuclear ceasefire, there is planned to be a covert release of biological weapons. These will initially be targeted against the Chinese. As our source chillingly told us, "China will catch a cold". Biological warfare will spread further, to the west. Infrastructure will be critically weakened. * This is intended to be just the beginning. After this, a full nuclear exchange would be triggered: the "real" war, with widespread destruction and loss of life. Our source tells us that the planned population reduction through these combined means is 50%. He heard this figure stated in the meeting. This horrific scenario has been planned for generations. The ...
- published: 05 May 2010
- views: 213584
- author: AlphaZebra
Barbarians - The Saxons 1/3
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 15:00
- Updated: 30 Nov 2012
Barbarians - The Saxons
http://wn.com/Barbarians_The_Saxons_1_3
Barbarians - The Saxons
- published: 17 Dec 2010
- views: 3281
- author: AllHistoria
Anglo-Saxon - The History of English (1/10)
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 1:18
- Updated: 09 Dec 2012
Free learning from The Open University www.open.ac.uk --- A look at what words the Anglo-Saxons and Vikings bought to the English language. (Part 1 of 10) Playlist link - www.youtube.com --- Study 'English Language' at the Open University: www3.open.ac.uk Explore qualifications in Languages with the OU www3.open.ac.uk Explore qualifications in Arts and Humanities with the OU www3.open.ac.uk Study 'Worlds of English' with the OU www3.open.ac.uk ---
http://wn.com/Anglo-Saxon_The_History_of_English_1_10
Free learning from The Open University www.open.ac.uk --- A look at what words the Anglo-Saxons and Vikings bought to the English language. (Part 1 of 10) Playlist link - www.youtube.com --- Study 'English Language' at the Open University: www3.open.ac.uk Explore qualifications in Languages with the OU www3.open.ac.uk Explore qualifications in Arts and Humanities with the OU www3.open.ac.uk Study 'Worlds of English' with the OU www3.open.ac.uk ---
- published: 24 Jun 2011
- views: 419260
- author: OUlearn
Anglo Saxon Lyre
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 0:30
- Updated: 08 Dec 2012
This is a copy of the Sutton Hoo Lyre I made earlier this year, in this video example I am plucking the strings with my fingertips. do check out my other Lyre video with a strumming sample.
http://wn.com/Anglo_Saxon_Lyre
This is a copy of the Sutton Hoo Lyre I made earlier this year, in this video example I am plucking the strings with my fingertips. do check out my other Lyre video with a strumming sample.
- published: 04 Oct 2006
- views: 119165
- author: michaeljking
The Last Saxon
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 15:45
- Updated: 17 Sep 2012
STOP! WATCH IN HIGH QUALITY: www.youtube.com England 1067 AD William the Conqueror and his Norman knights have defeated Harold, the last Saxon King of England at the battle of Hastings. The remaining Saxon nobility is now in exile, hunted by their new Norman overlords. Filmed on a budget of around £350. Producer -- Chris Wright Director -- Sam Miles Assistant Director -- Kieran Edwards Director of Photography -- Luke Blazejewski 2nd Unit Camera -- Martyn Kilvert Editor & Soundtrack -- Martyn Kilvert Athelstan -- Simon Marriott Hildred -- Jo Marriott The Baron of Caen -- Nick Kendrick Uthor -- Pat O'Connell Aberle -- Adrian Smith Osmund -- Malcolm Beeston Warriors & Villagers Adrian Sanderson Lyndon Sanderson Julian Sanderson Keyleigh Simcox Ehoryl Briggs Steve Wibberley Alex Clark Steve Locket Phil Coxon Kev Sutton Keith Sherriff Emma Sherriff
http://wn.com/The_Last_Saxon
STOP! WATCH IN HIGH QUALITY: www.youtube.com England 1067 AD William the Conqueror and his Norman knights have defeated Harold, the last Saxon King of England at the battle of Hastings. The remaining Saxon nobility is now in exile, hunted by their new Norman overlords. Filmed on a budget of around £350. Producer -- Chris Wright Director -- Sam Miles Assistant Director -- Kieran Edwards Director of Photography -- Luke Blazejewski 2nd Unit Camera -- Martyn Kilvert Editor & Soundtrack -- Martyn Kilvert Athelstan -- Simon Marriott Hildred -- Jo Marriott The Baron of Caen -- Nick Kendrick Uthor -- Pat O'Connell Aberle -- Adrian Smith Osmund -- Malcolm Beeston Warriors & Villagers Adrian Sanderson Lyndon Sanderson Julian Sanderson Keyleigh Simcox Ehoryl Briggs Steve Wibberley Alex Clark Steve Locket Phil Coxon Kev Sutton Keith Sherriff Emma Sherriff
- published: 01 Sep 2008
- views: 20414
- author: kilvertm
The Lord's Prayer (Fæder ure) in Anglo Saxon (Old English)
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 0:28
- Updated: 09 Dec 2012
The Lord's Prayer in Anglo Saxon (Old English). Fæder ure, þu þe eart on heofonum, si þin nama gehalod; to becume þin rice; gewurþe þin willa on eorðan swa swa on heofonum; urne gedæghwamlican hlaf syle us todæg, and forgyf us ure gyltas, swa swa we forgyfað urum gyltendum, and ne gelæd þu us on costnunge, ac alys us of yfele. Soþlice.
http://wn.com/The_Lord's_Prayer_Fæder_ure_in_Anglo_Saxon_Old_English
The Lord's Prayer in Anglo Saxon (Old English). Fæder ure, þu þe eart on heofonum, si þin nama gehalod; to becume þin rice; gewurþe þin willa on eorðan swa swa on heofonum; urne gedæghwamlican hlaf syle us todæg, and forgyf us ure gyltas, swa swa we forgyfað urum gyltendum, and ne gelæd þu us on costnunge, ac alys us of yfele. Soþlice.
- published: 23 Mar 2010
- views: 43818
- author: Daniel Foucachon
Welding a Saxon Sword
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 2:55
- Updated: 02 Dec 2012
Expedition Week: Secrets of the Lost Gold : MON NOV 7 9p et/pt : channel.nationalgeographic.com A bladesmith reveals just how intricately beautiful and difficult a Saxon sword was to weld.
http://wn.com/Welding_a_Saxon_Sword
Expedition Week: Secrets of the Lost Gold : MON NOV 7 9p et/pt : channel.nationalgeographic.com A bladesmith reveals just how intricately beautiful and difficult a Saxon sword was to weld.
- published: 02 Nov 2011
- views: 14278
- author: NationalGeographic
Anglo Saxon treaure hoard found in Staffordshire field
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 1:31
- Updated: 01 Dec 2012
The UK's largest ever hoard of Anglo Saxon treasure has been found in a field in Staffordshire and displayed at Birmingham Museum. Follow us on twitter at twitter.com
http://wn.com/Anglo_Saxon_treaure_hoard_found_in_Staffordshire_field
The UK's largest ever hoard of Anglo Saxon treasure has been found in a field in Staffordshire and displayed at Birmingham Museum. Follow us on twitter at twitter.com
- published: 24 Sep 2009
- views: 23705
- author: itnnews
Saxon Hoard - Saxon Hoard A Golden Discovery
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 58:57
- Updated: 08 Dec 2012
Extract from: BBC News Marion Blockley, an archaeologist, wonders if there is a clue in a lament written in around the 9th Century that describes a 7th Century battle and raid in the Midlands. Did warriors ransack a settlement and leave with captured treasure? "It's possible as they fled that they may have taken the hoard with them and buried it, hoping to come back but sadly they were killed," Ms Blockley said. "I'm not saying it's true, but you know, it may well be." 'Significant items' The Staffordshire Hoard is made up of thousands of items, including pieces of weaponry and dozens of ornate sword pommels, so could they have been part of a king's collection that had somehow fallen into the wrong hands? Ms Blockley said nearby Tamworth had been a royal treasury. She said kings used to receive gifts of "significant items of weaponry" which they would then redistribute to their favourite warriors. Some say a key part of solving the mystery of the hoard could lie in where it was found near what was an important route between the Midlands and London, Watling Street.
http://wn.com/Saxon_Hoard_Saxon_Hoard_A_Golden_Discovery
Extract from: BBC News Marion Blockley, an archaeologist, wonders if there is a clue in a lament written in around the 9th Century that describes a 7th Century battle and raid in the Midlands. Did warriors ransack a settlement and leave with captured treasure? "It's possible as they fled that they may have taken the hoard with them and buried it, hoping to come back but sadly they were killed," Ms Blockley said. "I'm not saying it's true, but you know, it may well be." 'Significant items' The Staffordshire Hoard is made up of thousands of items, including pieces of weaponry and dozens of ornate sword pommels, so could they have been part of a king's collection that had somehow fallen into the wrong hands? Ms Blockley said nearby Tamworth had been a royal treasury. She said kings used to receive gifts of "significant items of weaponry" which they would then redistribute to their favourite warriors. Some say a key part of solving the mystery of the hoard could lie in where it was found near what was an important route between the Midlands and London, Watling Street.
- published: 31 Jan 2012
- views: 8248
- author: marionblockley
Saxon - Crusader (Video)
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 6:34
- Updated: 09 Dec 2012
Saxon - Crusader music video created with clips from movie King Arthur, pls rate the video :D
http://wn.com/Saxon_Crusader_Video
Saxon - Crusader music video created with clips from movie King Arthur, pls rate the video :D
- published: 13 Dec 2008
- views: 1575514
- author: majstor123
Beowulf & the Anglo-Saxons (Part 2)
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 7:52
- Updated: 23 Nov 2012
Miraculously preserved over the centuries, its artistic importance was unrecognized until an essay by JRR Tolkien (The Lord of the Rings) revealed its unity and multi-dimensional structure. Beowulf is now regarded as the most important manuscript the Anglo-Saxons have handed down to us, of immense linguistic as well as poetic value. This program sets out to trace the origins of the tribes that brought this epic into being, the war-like Northmen from Sweden, Denmark and Germany who were to conquer and settle regions of a more clement and fertile island that would become known as England, named after the tribe of the Angles. Using 3-D animation, location footage, archive materials and interviews, the Beowulf epic is examined in the light of the civilization that created it. It investigates their religious beliefs as well as their everyday life, and suggests that, old as the poem is, it may have roots in an even more ancient fertility cult.
http://wn.com/Beowulf_the_Anglo-Saxons_Part_2
Miraculously preserved over the centuries, its artistic importance was unrecognized until an essay by JRR Tolkien (The Lord of the Rings) revealed its unity and multi-dimensional structure. Beowulf is now regarded as the most important manuscript the Anglo-Saxons have handed down to us, of immense linguistic as well as poetic value. This program sets out to trace the origins of the tribes that brought this epic into being, the war-like Northmen from Sweden, Denmark and Germany who were to conquer and settle regions of a more clement and fertile island that would become known as England, named after the tribe of the Angles. Using 3-D animation, location footage, archive materials and interviews, the Beowulf epic is examined in the light of the civilization that created it. It investigates their religious beliefs as well as their everyday life, and suggests that, old as the poem is, it may have roots in an even more ancient fertility cult.
- published: 21 Jul 2007
- views: 51715
- author: Angelfolc
Beowulf & the Anglo-Saxons (Part 3)
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 7:51
- Updated: 23 Nov 2012
Miraculously preserved over the centuries, its artistic importance was unrecognized until an essay by JRR Tolkien (The Lord of the Rings) revealed its unity and multi-dimensional structure. Beowulf is now regarded as the most important manuscript the Anglo-Saxons have handed down to us, of immense linguistic as well as poetic value. This program sets out to trace the origins of the tribes that brought this epic into being, the war-like Northmen from Sweden, Denmark and Germany who were to conquer and settle regions of a more clement and fertile island that would become known as England, named after the tribe of the Angles. Using 3-D animation, location footage, archive materials and interviews, the Beowulf epic is examined in the light of the civilization that created it. It investigates their religious beliefs as well as their everyday life, and suggests that, old as the poem is, it may have roots in an even more ancient fertility cult.
http://wn.com/Beowulf_the_Anglo-Saxons_Part_3
Miraculously preserved over the centuries, its artistic importance was unrecognized until an essay by JRR Tolkien (The Lord of the Rings) revealed its unity and multi-dimensional structure. Beowulf is now regarded as the most important manuscript the Anglo-Saxons have handed down to us, of immense linguistic as well as poetic value. This program sets out to trace the origins of the tribes that brought this epic into being, the war-like Northmen from Sweden, Denmark and Germany who were to conquer and settle regions of a more clement and fertile island that would become known as England, named after the tribe of the Angles. Using 3-D animation, location footage, archive materials and interviews, the Beowulf epic is examined in the light of the civilization that created it. It investigates their religious beliefs as well as their everyday life, and suggests that, old as the poem is, it may have roots in an even more ancient fertility cult.
- published: 21 Jul 2007
- views: 23936
- author: Angelfolc
photo: AP / Khalil Hamra
09 Dec 2012
Syria's rebel leaders have agreed to come under a united command in a bid to integrate diverse fighting groups and streamline the route for arms essential to their struggle against President Bashar al-Assad. The new body, expected to be announced officially on Sunday, hopes to form the basis of a united rebel front ... "It also aims to get the situation under control once the regime falls." ... 378 Source.. Agencies. Share ... News ... Egypt....(size: 18.6Kb)
photo: US Navy / Electronics Technician Seaman Sean Roozen
08 Dec 2012
WASHINGTON — The White House on Friday proposed $60 billion in spending to help the Northeast and mid-Atlantic states recover from Superstorm Sandy and shore up defenses against future disasters. Congress is expected to begin consideration of the relief measure as soon as next week, with lawmakers from states still reeling from the October storm eager for action by the end of the year ... New Jersey Gov ... Andrew M ... New York Reps ... Rep ... 0....(size: 32.2Kb)
photo: AP / Vahid Salemi
07 Dec 2012
Article by WN.com Correspondent Dallas Darling. The in- and out-fighting between present-day Saudi Arabia and Iran is a mirror image of what occurred to Prophet Muhammad's Islamic Movement right after his death ... Still, and due to prosperity and wealth, an influx of trade goods, religious toleration, an emphasis on learning, and increased food supplies, Islam was becoming a vast empire ... Recent U.S ... Dallas Darling (darling@wn.com)....(size: 7.5Kb)
The State
09 Dec 2012
Investigators say the fire that started Saturday night at the vacant Saxon Mill appears to be suspicious ... The Saxon Mill was built in 1906 ... ....(size: 0.9Kb)
Chicago Tribune
09 Dec 2012
Mattox, Virgil Allen and Thomas Ross average 6-foot-8 and their respective wingspans in Oak Park's 1-3-1 zone helped make the Saxons' offense look out of sync (14-for-37 from the floor). Oak Park outscoring Schaumburg 19-7 in the fourth quarter was necessary after Ryan Kase's 3-pointer gave the Saxons (4-4) their first lead (33-31) in the final ......(size: 2.1Kb)
ABC News
09 Dec 2012
Mexican officials have confirmed the disappearance of a private jet carrying regional Mexican music superstar Jenni Rivera that took off from the northern Mexican city of Monterrey at 3.15 a.m. local time on Sunday and fell off the radar 10 minutes or 62 miles after take-off. The Learjet 25 jet is believed to have been carrying 7 people – 5 passengers and 2 pilots ... Reed Saxon/AP File Photo ... View Full Size. Reed Saxon/AP File Photo ... ....(size: 2.8Kb)
ABC News
09 Dec 2012
UPDATED. Multiple reports, including one from Gerardo Ruiz Esparza, Mexico's Secretary of Communications and Transports, claim that the remains of the private jet carrying Jenni Rivera have been found, with no survivors. Rivera, 43, was one of 7 passengers. Rivera's parents are believed to be en route to Mexico ... Reed Saxon/AP File Photo. In this March 8, 2012, file photo,... View Full Size. Reed Saxon/AP File Photo ... See Also ... ....(size: 3.6Kb)
Stockhouse
09 Dec 2012
The Light Oil Division expects to achieve its year-end exit rate of 10,000 to 11,000 boe/d; The Light Oil Division drilled and completed its second horizontal Duvernay well located at Saxon (06-10-62-23W5M). The well is currently shut-in pending completion of the Saxon battery ... Athabasca continued with the construction of three batteries in its 100%-operated Kaybob West, Kayob East and Saxon areas....(size: 17.6Kb)
noodls
09 Dec 2012
(Source. Alfred University). ROCHESTER, NY - Alfred University junior Rebecca Graudons (Mayfield, NY/Mayfield) won the women's pole vault and the Saxon men's team took first in the 4X400-meter relays as the AU indoor track and field teams opened their 2012-13 season with solid performances at RIT Saturday. Graudons' winning height of 3.33 meters in the pole vault was ECAC-qualifying ... Other top performers for the Saxon women were ... (noodl....(size: 4.8Kb)
MSNBC
09 Dec 2012
A massive fire ignited Saturday night at the Old Saxon Mill in downtown Spartanburg ......(size: 0.9Kb)
MSNBC
09 Dec 2012
A massive fire ignited at about 10.30 Saturday night at the Old Saxon Mill in downtown Spartanburg ......(size: 0.9Kb)
ESPN
09 Dec 2012
More From ESPNLosAngeles.com ... deadline Sunday to come to terms with Ryu ... Information from ESPN.com's Jerry Crasnick and Jayson Stark and ESPNLosAngeles.com's Mark Saxon was used in this report. ....(size: 0.9Kb)
Japan Times
09 Dec 2012
Regarding the Dec. 2 Timeout article "Japan's whistle-blower supreme speaks out". Former Olympus Corp ... In trying to set things right, he imposed "his way" — familiar Anglo-Saxon confrontational management beliefs — onto a Japanese corporation and the Japanese public in place of a more effective, culturally appropriate set of actions ... He thus demonstrates the difficulties in analyzing the successes and failures of Japan Inc ... ....(size: 2.2Kb)
noodls
09 Dec 2012
Alfred held a 50-40 lead over Morrisville heading into halftime. Senior guard Sean Curran (Honesdale, PA/Honesdale) would pace the Saxons, scoring 17 points in the first half to finish with a game-best 24 points. Morrisville State then scored nine unanswered points to make the score 60-59, with 11 minutes remaining in the contest. ......(size: 2.4Kb)
STL Today
09 Dec 2012
One of the great debates to emerge from the financial crisis is whether the U.S ... It should, but not for the reasons usually cited ... Brown’s foreign bond holdings spanned the globe — Peruvian and Chilean bonds; bonds from the State of Rio Grande do Sul in Brazil; Vienna and Budapest bonds; the bonds of the Belgian National Railroad, Norwegian Hydro, German General Electric, and the Saxon Public Works; Greek, Italian, and Irish bonds ... ....(size: 5.6Kb)
Wall Street Journal
09 Dec 2012
By GABRIELE MARCOTTI. Enlarge Image. Close. Booing your own team or coach is supposed to be the last resort for the frustrated, angry fan. You break the metaphorical glass and employ the nuclear option when you've had enough. Too much bungling. Not enough effort. No heart ... Generally speaking, Latin cultures tend to be more trigger-happy, while Anglo-Saxons at least wait until the final whistle ... 21 ... It also fit a popular narrative ... But not all ... ....(size: 6.3Kb)
For other uses, see Saxon (disambiguation).
The Saxons (Latin: Saxones, Old English: Seaxe, Old Saxon: Sahson, Low German: Sassen) were a confederation of Germanic tribes on the North German plain, who during the Middle Ages migrated to the British Isles and formed part of the Anglo-Saxons.
The Saxons were originally Ingvaeonic tribes, whose earliest known area of settlement is Northern Albingia, an area approximately that of modern Holstein. This area overlapped the area of the Angles, a tribe with which they were frequently closely linked. Saxons participated in the Germanic settlement of Britain during and after the fifth century. It is unknown how many migrated from the continent to Britain, though estimates for the total number of Anglo-Saxon settlers are around two hundred thousand.[1] During the Middle ages, because of international Hanseatic trading routes and contingent migration during the Middle Ages, Saxons mixed with and had strong influences upon the languages and cultures of the North Germanic and Baltic and Finnic peoples, and also upon the Polabian Slavs and Pomeranian West Slavic people.
In the 18th century many modern Saxons have settled in regions around the world, especially in North America, Australia, South Africa, Rhodesia, Southern Brazil and in areas of the former Soviet Union, and their most prominent dialiect, English, became the leading language of international discourse and the lingua franca in many parts of the world.
Contents |
Etymology[link]
Following the downfall of Henry the Lion and the subsequent split of the Saxon tribal duchy into several territories, the name of the Saxon duchy was transferred to the lands of the Ascanian family. This led to the differentiation between Lower Saxony, lands settled by the Saxon tribe, and Upper Saxony, as the duchy (finally a kingdom). When the Upper was dropped from Upper Saxony, a different region had acquired the Saxon name, ultimately replacing the name's original meaning.
The Finns and Estonians have changed their usage of the term Saxony over the centuries to denote the whole country of Germany (Saksa and Saksanmaa respectively) and the Germans (saksalaiset and sakslased, respectively) now. In old Finnish the word saksa meant merchant, as in the words voisaksa (butter seller) and kauppasaksa (traveling salesman). In Estonian saks means a nobleman or, colloquially, a wealthy or powerful person.
The label "Saxons" (in Romanian 'Saşi') was also applied to German settlers who migrated during the 13th century to southeastern Transylvania.
In the Celtic languages, the word for the English nationality is derived from the word Saxon. The most prominent example, often used in English, is the Gàidhlig loanword Sassenach (Saxon), often used disparagingly in Scottish English/Scots. It derives from the Scottish Gaelic Sasunnach meaning, originally, "Saxon", from the Latin "Saxones"; it was also formerly applied by Highlanders to (non-Gaelic-speaking) Lowlanders.[2] As employed by Scots or Scottish English-speakers today it is usually used in jest, as a (friendly) term of abuse. The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) gives 1771 as the date of the earliest written use of the word in English.
Sasanach, the Irish-language word for an Englishman, has the same derivation, as do the words used in Welsh to describe the English people (Saeson, sing. Sais) and the language and things English in general: Saesneg and Seisnig. These words are normally, however, used only in the Irish and Welsh languages themselves.
Cornish also terms English Sawsnek from the same derivation. Some Cornish were known to use the expression 'Meea navidna cowza sawzneck!' to feign ignorance of the English language.[3]
England, in Gàidhlig, is Sasainn (Saxony). Other examples are the Welsh Saesneg (the English language), Irish Sasana (England), Breton saoz(on) (English, saozneg "the English language", Bro-saoz "England"), and Cornish Sowson (English people) and Sowsnek (English language), as in the famous My ny vynnav kows Sowsnek! (I will not speak English!).
During Georg Friederich Händel's visit to Italy, much was made of his being from Saxony; in particular, the Venetians greeted the 1709 performance of his opera Agrippina with the cry Viva il caro Sassone, "Long live the beloved Saxon!"[4]
The word also survives as the surnames Saß/Sass, Sachse and Sachs. The Dutch female first name "Saskia" originally meant "A Saxon woman" (alteration of "Saxia").
History[link]
Early history[link]
Ptolemy's Geographia, written in the 2nd century, is sometimes considered to contain the first mentioning of the Saxons. Some copies of this text mention a tribe called Saxones in the area to the north of the lower River Elbe, thought to derive from the word sax or stone knife.[5] However, other copies call the same tribe Axones, and it is considered likely that it is a misspelling of the tribe that Tacitus in his Germania called Aviones. It is considered likely that "Saxones" was an attempt by later scribes to correct a name that meant nothing to them.[6]
The first undisputed mention of the Saxon name in its modern form is from 356, when Julian, later the Roman Emperor, mentioned them in a speech as allies of Magnentius, a rival emperor in Gaul.[citation needed] All mentions of the Saxons during the 4th and early 5th centuries referred to pirates and warlords in Gaul and Britain, rather than to a specific tribe or inhabitants of a specific area. In order to defend against Saxon raiders, the Romans created a military district called the Litus Saxonicum ("Saxon Coast") on both sides of the English Channel. In 441–442, Saxons are mentioned for the first time as inhabitants of Britain, when an unknown Gaulish historian wrote: "Britain falls under the rule of the Saxons".[citation needed]
Saxons as inhabitants of present-day Northern Germany are first mentioned in 555, when Theudebald, the Frankish king, died and the Saxons used this opportunity for an uprising. The uprising was suppressed by Chlothar I, Theudebald's successor. Some of their Frankish successors fought against the Saxons, others were allied with them; Chlothar II won a decisive victory against the Saxons. The Thuringians frequently appeared as allies of the Saxons.
The Saxons may have derived their name from seax, a kind of knife for which they were known.[7] The seax has a lasting symbolic impact in the English counties of Essex and Middlesex, both of which featuring three seaxes in their ceremonial emblem.
Continental Saxons[link]
Saxony[link]
The Continental Saxons living in what was known as Old Saxony appear to have consolidated themselves by the end of the 8th century. After subjugation by the Emperor Charlemagne a political entity called the Duchy of Saxony appeared.
The Saxons long resisted both becoming Christians[8] and being incorporated into the orbit of the Frankish kingdom, but they were decisively conquered by Charlemagne in a long series of annual campaigns, the Saxon Wars (772 – 804). During Charlemagne's campaign in Hispania (778), the Saxons advanced to Deutz on the Rhine and plundered along the river. With defeat came enforced baptism and conversion as well as the union of the Saxons with the rest of the Germanic, Frankish empire. Their sacred tree or pillar, a symbol of Irminsul, was destroyed. Charlemagne also deported 10,000 of them to Neustria and gave their now vacant lands to the loyal king of the Abotrites. It is constructive now to quote Einhard, Charlemagne's biographer, on the closing of such a grand conflict:
"The war that had lasted so many years was at length ended by their acceding to the terms offered by the King; which were renunciation of their national religious customs and the worship of devils, acceptance of the sacraments of the Christian faith and religion, and union with the Franks to form one people."
Under Carolingian rule, the Saxons were reduced to tributary status. There is evidence that the Saxons, as well as Slavic tributaries such as the Abodrites and the Wends, often provided troops to their Carolingian overlords. The dukes of Saxony became kings (Henry I, the Fowler, 919) and later the first emperors (Henry's son, Otto I, the Great) of Germany during the 10th century, but they lost this position in 1024. The duchy was divided up in 1180 when Duke Henry the Lion, Emperor Otto's grandson, refused to follow his cousin, Emperor Frederick Barbarossa, into war in Lombardy.
During the High Middle Ages, under the Salian emperors and, later, under the Teutonic Knights, German settlers moved east of the River Saale into the area of a western Slavic tribe, the Sorbs. The Sorbs were gradually Germanised. This region subsequently acquired the name Saxony through political circumstances, though it was initially called the March of Meissen. The rulers of Meissen acquired control of the Duchy of Saxony in 1423 and eventually applied the name Saxony to the whole of their kingdom. Since then, this part of eastern Germany has been referred to as Saxony (German: Sachsen), a source of some misunderstanding about the original homeland of the Saxons, with a central part in the present-day German state of Lower Saxony (German: Niedersachsen).
Netherlands[link]
In the Netherlands, Saxons occupied the territory south of the Frisians and north of the Franks. In the west it reached as far as the Gooi region, in the south as far as the Lower Rhine. After the conquest of Charlemagne this formed the main part of the Bishopric of Utrecht. The Saxon duchy of Hamaland played an important role in the formation of the duchy of Guelders.
The local language, although strongly influenced by standard Dutch, is still officially recognized as Dutch Low Saxon.
Italy and Provence[link]
In 569, some Saxons accompanied the Lombards into Italy under the leadership of Alboin and settled there.[9] In 572, they raided southeastern Gaul as far as Stablo, now Estoublon. Divided, they were easily defeated by Gallo-Frankish General Mummolus. When the Saxons regrouped, a peace treaty was negotiated whereby the Italian Saxons were allowed to settle with their families in Austrasia.[10] Gathering their families and belongings in Italy, they returned to Provence in two groups in 573. One group proceeded by way of Nice and another via Embrun, joining up at Avignon, where they plundered the territory and were as a consequence stopped from crossing the Rhone by Mummolus. They were forced to pay compensation for what they had robbed before they could enter Austrasia. Nevertherless, they are known only by documents and it cannot be compared to the traces of Saxon settlements in northern and western Gaul.
Gaul[link]
See also: Saxon shore
A Saxon king named Eadwacer conquered Angers in 463 only to be dislodged by Childeric I and the Salian Franks, allies of the Roman Empire.[11] It is possible that Saxon settlement of Great Britain began only in response to expanding Frankish control of the Channel coast.[12]
Some Saxons already lived along the Saxon shore of Gaul. We can trace them in the documents, but in the archeology and in the toponymy too. The Notitia Dignitatum mentions the Tribunus cohortis primae novae Armoricanae, Grannona in litore Saxonico. The location of Grannona is uncertain and was identified by the historians and toponymists at different places, mainly with the town known today as Granville (nowadays in Normandy) or nearby. The Notitia Dignitatum does not explain where these "Roman" soldiers came from. Some toponymists proposed another location for Grannona / Grannonum, that is to say Graignes (Grania 1109 - 1113). It could be the same element *gran, that is recognized in Guernsey (Greneroi 11th c.).[13] This location is closer to Bayeux, where Gregory of Tours evokes otherwise the Saxones Bajocassini (Bessin Saxons), that were ineffective to defeat the Breton Waroch in 579.[14]
So thus, a Saxon unit of laeti would have been settled at Bayeux — the Saxones Baiocassenses — .[15] These Saxons became subjects of Clovis I late in the fifth century. The Saxons of Bayeux comprised a standing army and were often called upon to serve alongside the local levy of their region in Merovingian military campaigns. They were ineffective against Waroch in this capacity in 579.[16] In 589, the Saxons wore their hair in the Breton fashion at the orders of Fredegund and fought with them as allies against Guntram.[17] Beginning in 626, the Saxons of the Bessin were used by Dagobert I for his campaigns against the Basques. One of their own, Aeghyna, was even created a dux over the region of Vasconia.[18]
In 843 and 846 under king Charles the Bald, other official documents mention a pagus called Otlinga Saxonia in the Bessin region, but the meaning of Otlinga is unclear. Different Bessin toponyms were identified as typically Saxon, ex : Cottun (Coltun 1035 - 1037 ; Cola 's "town"). It is the only place-name in Normandy that can be interpreted as a -tun one (English -ton; cf. Colton).[19] However, we cannot compare this single fact in Normandy with the extension of the -thun villages in the north of France, in Boulonnais, ex : Alincthun, Verlincthun, Pelingthun, etc.[20] showing with other toponyms, an important Saxon or Anglo-Saxon settlement. If we compare the concentration of -ham / -hem (Anglo-Saxon hām > home) in the Bessin and in the Boulonnais, we obtain a better result.[21] In the area known today as Normandy, the -ham cases of Bessin are unique, they don't exist out of it. Other cases were considered, but there is no determining example, f.e. : Canehan (Kenehan 1030 / Canaan 1030 - 1035) could be the biblical name Canaan[22] or Airan (Heidram 9th c.), the Germanic masculine name Hairammus.[23]
On the contrary, the Bessin examples are quite sure. f. e. Ouistreham (Oistreham 1086), Étréham (Oesterham 1350 ?),[24] Huppain (*Hubbehain ; Hubba 's "home"), Surrain (Surrehain 11th c.), etc. Another significant example can be found in the Norman onomastics: the widespread surname Lecesne,[25] with variant spellings : Le Cesne, Lesène, Lecène and Cesne. It comes from Gallo-Romance *SAXINU "the Saxon" > saisne in Old French. These examples cannot be more recent Anglo-Scandinavian toponyms, because in that case they would have been numerous in the Norman regions (pays de Caux, Basse-Seine, North-Cotentin) concerned by these Nordic settlements. That is not the case, and Bessin does not belong to the pagii that were touched by an important Anglo-Scandinavian immigration.
Otherwise, archeological finds add evidence to the documents and the results of toponymic research. All around the city of Caen and in the Bessin (Vierville-sur-Mer, Bénouville, Giverville, Hérouvillette), excavations have shown numerous Anglo-Saxon jewelry, design elements, settings and weapons. All these things were discovered in cemeteries in a context of the 5th, 6th and 7th century AD.[26][27]
However, the oldest and most spectacular Saxon site found in France to date is Vron, in Picardy. There, archeologists excavated a large cemetery with tombs dating from the Roman Empire until the 6th century. Furniture and other gravegoods, as well as the human remains revealed a group of people buried in the 4th and 5th century AD. Physically different from the usual local inhabitants found before this period, they instead resembled the Germanic populations of the North. At the beginning (4th c.) 92% were buried, sometimes with typical Germanic weapons. Then, they were ranked to the east, when they were buried in the 5th and later to the beginning of the 6th c. We can notice a strong Anglo-Saxon influence in the middle of the period, that disappears later. Archeological material, neighbouring toponymy and texts tend toward to the same conclusions: settlement of Saxon foederati with their families. Further anthropological research by Joël Blondiaux shows they were from Low Saxony.[28]
Saxons in Britain[link]
Further information: Sub-Roman Britain and Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain
Saxons, along with Angles, Frisians and Jutes, invaded or migrated to the island of Great Britain (Britannia) around the time of the collapse of Roman authority in the west. Saxon raiders had been harassing the eastern and southern shores of Britannia for centuries before, prompting the construction of a string of coastal forts called the litora Saxonica or Saxon Shore, and many Saxons and other folk had been permitted to settle in these areas as farmers long before the end of Roman rule in Britannia.
According to tradition, the Saxons (and other tribes) first entered Britain en masse as part of a deal to protect the Britons from the incursions of the Picts, Gaels, and others. The story as reported in such sources as the Historia Brittonum and Gildas indicates that the British king Vortigern allowed the Germanic warlords Hengist and Horsa to settle their people on the Isle of Thanet in exchange for their service as mercenaries. Hengist manipulated Vortigern into granting more land and allowing for more settlers to come in, paving the way for the Germanic settlement of Britain.
Historians are divided about what followed: some argue that the takeover of southern Great Britain by the Anglo-Saxons was peaceful.[citation needed] There is, however, only one known account from a native Briton who lived at this time (Gildas), and his description is of a forced takeover:
For the fire...spread from sea to sea, fed by the hands of our foes in the east, and did not cease, until, destroying the neighbouring towns and lands, it reached the other side of the island, and dipped its red and savage tongue in the western ocean. In these assaults...all the columns were levelled with the ground by the frequent strokes of the battering-ram, all the husbandmen routed, together with their bishops, priests, and people, whilst the sword gleamed, and the flames crackled around them on every side. Lamentable to behold, in the midst of the streets lay the tops of lofty towers, tumbled to the ground, stones of high walls, holy altars, fragments of human bodies, covered with livid clots of coagulated blood, looking as if they had been squeezed together in a press; and with no chance of being buried, save in the ruins of the houses, or in the ravening bellies of wild beasts and birds; with reverence be it spoken for their blessed souls, if, indeed, there were many found who were carried, at that time, into the high heaven by the holy angels... Some, therefore, of the miserable remnant, being taken in the mountains, were murdered in great numbers; others, constrained by famine, came and yielded themselves to be slaves for ever to their foes, running the risk of being instantly slain, which truly was the greatest favour that could be offered them: some others passed beyond the seas with loud lamentations instead of the voice of exhortation...Others, committing the safeguard of their lives, which were in continual jeopardy, to the mountains, precipices, thickly wooded forests, and to the rocks of the seas (albeit with trembling hearts), remained still in their country.
Four separate Saxon realms emerged:
- East Saxons: created the Kingdom of Essex.
- Middle Saxons: created the province of Middlesex
- South Saxons: led by Aelle, created the Kingdom of Sussex
- West Saxons: created the Kingdom of Wessex
During the period of the reigns from Egbert to Alfred the Great, the kings of Wessex emerged as Bretwalda, unifying the country and eventually forging it into the kingdom of England in the face of Viking invasions.
Culture[link]
Social structure[link]
Bede, a Northumbrian, writing around the year 730, remarks that "the old (that is, the continental) Saxons have no king, but they are governed by several ealdormen (or satrapa) who, during war, cast lots for leadership but who, in time of peace, are equal in power." The regnum Saxonum was divided into three provinces — Westphalia, Eastphalia and Angria — which comprised about one hundred pagi or Gaue. Each Gau had its own satrap with enough military power to level whole villages that opposed him.[29]
In the mid-9th century, Nithard first described the social structure of the Saxons beneath their leaders. The caste structure was rigid; in the Saxon language the three castes, excluding slaves, were called the edhilingui (related to the term aetheling), frilingi, and lazzi. These terms were subsequently Latinised as nobiles or nobiliores; ingenui, ingenuiles, or liberi; and liberti, liti, or serviles.[30] According to very early traditions that it is presumed contain a good deal of historical truth, the edhilingui were the descendants of the Saxons who led the tribe out of Holstein and during the migrations of the sixth century.[30] They were a conquering, warrior elite. The frilingi represented the descendants of the amicii, auxiliarii, and manumissi of that caste, while the lazzi represented the descendants of the original inhabitants of the conquered territories, who were forced to make oaths of submission and pay tribute to the edhilingui.
The Lex Saxonum regulated the Saxons' unusual society. Intermarriage between the castes was forbidden by the Lex and wergilds were set based upon caste membership. The edhilingui were worth 1,440 solidi, or about 700 head of cattle, the highest wergild on the continent; the price of a bride was also very high. This was six times as much as that of the frilingi and eight times as much as the lazzi. The gulf between noble and ignoble was very large, but the difference between a freeman and an indentured labourer was small.[31]
According to the Vita Lebuini antiqua, an important source for early Saxon history, the Saxons held an annual council at Marklo where they "confirmed their laws, gave judgment on outstanding cases, and determined by common counsel whether they would go to war or be in peace that year."[29] All three castes participated in the general council; twelve representatives from each caste were sent from each Gau. In 782, Charlemagne abolished the system of Gaue and replaced it with the Grafschaftsverfassung, the system of counties typical of Francia.[32] Charlemagne outlawed the Marklo councils and thus pushed the frilingi and lazzi out of political power. The old Saxon system of Abgabengrundherrschaft, lordship based on dues and taxes, was replaced by a form of feudalism based on service and labour, personal relationships, and oaths.[33]
Religion[link]
Paganism[link]
Saxon religious practices were closely related to Saxon political practices. The annual councils of the entire tribe began with invocations of the gods, and the procedure by which dukes were elected in wartime, by drawing lots, it is presumed had religious significance, that is, giving trust to divine providence - it seems - to guide the random decision making.[34] There were also sacred rituals and objects, such as the pillars called Irminsul, which were believed to connect heaven and earth. Charlemagne had one such pillar chopped down in 772.
Something of early Saxon religious practices in Britain can be gleaned from place names. The Germanic gods Woden, Frigg, Tiw, and Thunor, who are attested to in every Germanic tradition, were worshipped in Wessex, Sussex, and Essex, and they are the only ones directly attested to, though the names of the third and fourth months (March and April) of the Old English calendar bear the names Hrethmonath and Eosturmonath, meaning "month of Hretha" and "month of Ēostre", it is presumed from the names of two goddesses who were worshipped around that season.[35] The Saxons offered cakes to their gods in February (Solmonath) and there was a religious festival associated with the harvest, Halegmonath ("holy month" or month of offerings", September).[36] The Saxon calendar began on 25 December, and the months of December and January were called Yule (or Giuli) and contained a Modra niht or "night of the mothers", another religious festival of unknown content.
The Saxon freemen and servile class remained faithful to their original beliefs long after their nominal conversion to Christianity. Nursing a hatred of the upper class, which, with Frankish assistance, had marginalised them from political power, the lower classes (the plebeium vulgus or cives) were still a problem for Christian authorities as late as 836, when the Translatio S. Liborii remarks on their obstinacy in pagan ritus et superstitio (usage and superstition).[37]
Conversion and resistance[link]
The conversion of the Saxons in England from their original Germanic religion to Christianity occurred in the early to late seventh century under the influence of the already converted Jutes of Kent. In the 630s, Birinus became the "apostle to the West Saxons" and converted Wessex, whose first Christian king was Cynegils. The West Saxons begin to emerge from obscurity only with their conversion to Christianity and the keeping of written records. The Gewisse, a West Saxon people, were especially resistant to Christianity; but Birinus merely exercised more efforts against them.[35] In Wessex, a bishopric was founded at Dorchester. The South Saxons were first evangelised extensively under Anglian influence; Aethelwalh of Sussex was converted by Wulfhere, King of Mercia, and allowed Wilfrid, Archbishop of York, to evangelise his people beginning in 681. The chief South Saxon bishopric was that of Selsey. The East Saxons were more pagan than the southern or western Saxons; their territory had a superabundance of pagan sites.[38] Their king, Saeberht, was converted early and a diocese was established at London, but its first bishop, Mellitus, was expelled by Saeberth's heirs. The conversion of the East Saxons was completed under Cedd only in the 650s and 660s.
The continental Saxons were evangelised largely by English missionaries in the late seventh and early eighth centuries. Around 695, two early English missionaries, Hewald the White and Hewald the Black, were martyred by the vicani, that is, villagers.[34] Throughout the century that followed, it was the villagers and other peasants who were to prove the greatest opponents of Christianisation, while missionaries often received the support of the edhilingui and other noblemen. Saint Lebuin, an Englishman who between 745 and 770 preached to the Saxons, mainly in the eastern Netherlands, built a church and made many friends among the nobility, some of whom compelled to save him from an angry mob at the annual council at Marklo. Social tensions arose between the Christianity-sympathetic noblemen and the pagan lower castes, staunchly faithful to their traditional religion.[39]
Under Charlemagne, the Saxon Wars had as their chief object the conversion and integration of the Saxons into the Frankish empire. Though much of the highest caste converted readily, forced baptisms and forced tithing made enemies of the lower orders. Even some contemporaries found the methods employed to win over the Saxons wanting, as this excerpt from a letter of Alcuin of York to his friend Meginfrid, written in 796, shows:
If the light yoke and sweet burden of Christ were to be preached to the most obstinate people of the Saxons with as much determination as the payment of tithes has been exacted, or as the force of the legal decree has been applied for fault of the most trifling sort imaginable, perhaps they would not be averse to their baptismal vows.[40]
Louis the Pious, Charlemagne's successor, it is reported treated the Saxons more as Alcuin would have wished, and as a consequence they were faithful subjects.[41] The lower classes, however, revolted against Frankish overlordship in favour of their old paganism as late as the 840s, when the Stellinga rose up against the Saxon leadership, who were allied with the Frankish emperor Lothair I. After the suppression of the Stellinga, in 851 Louis the German brought relics from Rome to Saxony to foster a devotion to the Roman Catholic Church.[42] The Poeta Saxo, in his verse Annales of Charlemagne's reign (written between 888 and 891), laid an emphasis on his conquest of Saxony and celebrated the Frankish monarch on par with the Roman emperors and as the bringer of Christian salvation to people.
Vernacular Christianity[link]
In the ninth century, the Saxon nobility became vigorous supporters of monasticism and formed a bulwark of Christianity against the existing Slavic paganism to the east and the Nordic paganism of the Vikings to the north. Much Christian literature was produced in the vernacular Old Saxon, the notable ones being a result of the literary output and wide influence of Saxon monasteries such as Fulda, Corvey, and Verden; and the theological controversy between the Augustinian Gottschalk and the semipelagian Rabanus Maurus.[43]
From an early date, Charlemagne and Louis the Pious supported Christian vernacular works in order to evangelise the Saxons more efficiently. The Heliand, a verse epic of the life of Christ in a Germanic setting, and Genesis, another epic retelling of the events of the first book of the Bible, were commissioned in the early ninth century by Louis to disseminate scriptural knowledge to the masses. A council of Tours in 813 and then a synod of Mainz in 848 both declared that homilies ought to be preached in the vernacular. The earliest preserved text in the Saxon language is a baptismal vow from the late eighth or early ninth century; the vernacular was used extensively in an effort to Christianise the lowest castes of Saxon society.[44]
See also[link]
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Notes[link]
- ^ Germans set up an apartheid-like society in Britain
- ^ The Concise Scots Dictionary, Aberdeen University Press, 1985
- ^ Richard Carew, Survey of Cornwall, 1602 N.B. in revived Cornish, this would be transcribed My ny vynnaf cows sowsnek. However the Cornish word Emit meaning "ant" (and perversely derived from OE) is more commonly used in Cornwall today as slang to designate non-Cornish Englishmen.
- ^ Barber, David W. (1996). Bach, Beethoven And the Boys: Music History as it Ought to be Taught. Sound and Vision, Toronto ISBN 0-920151-10-8
- ^
"Saxony". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. 1913. - ^ Green, D. H. & Siegmund, F.: The Continental Saxons from the Migration Period to the Tenth Century: An Ethnographic Perspective, Boydell Press, 2003 pages 14-15 ISBN 1-84383-026-4, ISBN 978-1-84383-026-9
- ^ Burton, Mark (2002). Milites deBec Equipment.Retrieved 27 September 2005.
- ^ "they are much given to devil worship," Einhard said, "and they are hostile to our religion," as when they martyred the Saints Ewald
- ^ Bachrach, p.39.
- ^ Bachrach, p.39
- ^ Gregory of Tours, History of the Franks, Penguin 1974.
- ^ Stenton, 12.
- ^ François de Beaurepaire, Les noms des communes et anciennes paroisses de la Manche, éditions Picard 1986. p. 125 - 126 - 127.
- ^ History of the Franks, volume II. Trans. O. M. Dalton, Clarendon Press 1967.
- ^ Bachrach, 10.
- ^ Bachrach, 52.
- ^ Bachrach, 63.
- ^ Fredegar, IV.54, p. 66.
- ^ fr:Albert Dauzat and fr:Charles Rostaing, Dictionnaire étymologique des noms de lieux en France, Librairie Guénégaud 1979. p. 215.
- ^ Dauzat and Rostaing, DENL
- ^ Louis Guinet, Les emprunts gallo-romans au germanique (du Ier à la fin du Vème siècle), éditions Klincksieck 1982.
- ^ François de Beaurepaire, Les noms des communes et anciennes paroisses de la Seine-Maritime, éditions Picard 1979. p. 56.
- ^ René Lepelley, Dictionnaire étymologique des noms de communes de Normandie, Charles Corlet / Presses universitaires de Caen. p. 46.
- ^ fr:Ernest Nègre, fr:Toponymie générale de la France, Volume II, Librairie Droz. p. 1008.
- ^ Location of the Lecesnes
- ^ Quelques témoignages de le présence Anglo-Saxonne dans le Calvados, Basse-Normandie (Christian Pilet), in Frühmittelalterliche Studien (1979), Berlin, New-York (Walter de Gruyter) 2009.
- ^ Des saxons en Basse-Normandie au VIe siècle ? A propos de quelques découvertes archéologiques faîtes récemment dans la basse vallée de l'Orne (C. Lorren) in Studien zur Sachsenforschung 2, 1980.
- ^ C. Seillier, La Présence germanique en Gaule du Nord au Bas-Empire, Revue du Nord, 1995, n° 77.
- ^ a b Goldberg, 473.
- ^ a b Goldberg, 471.
- ^ Goldberg, 472.
- ^ Goldberg, 476.
- ^ Goldberg, 479.
- ^ a b Goldberg, 474.
- ^ a b Stenton, 97–98.
- ^ Stenton
- ^ Goldberg, 480.
- ^ Stenton, 102.
- ^ Goldberg
- ^ Goldberg, 478.
- ^ Hummer, 141, based on Astronomus.
- ^ Hummer, 143.
- ^ Goldberg, 477.
- ^ Hummer, 138–139.
References[link]
- Thompson, James Westfall. Feudal Germany. 2 vol. New York: Frederick Ungar Publishing Co., 1928.
- Reuter, Timothy. Germany in the Early Middle Ages 800–1056. New York: Longman, 1991.
- Reuter, Timothy (trans.) The Annals of Fulda. (Manchester Medieval series, Ninth-Century Histories, Volume II.) Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1992.
- Wallace-Hadrill, J. M., translator. The Fourth Book of the Chronicle of Fredegar with its Continuations. Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 1960.
- Stenton, Sir Frank M. Anglo-Saxon England. 3rd ed. Oxford University Press, 1971.
- Bachrach, Bernard S. Merovingian Military Organization, 481–751. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1971.
- Goldberg, Eric J. "Popular Revolt, Dynastic Politics, and Aristocratic Factionalism in the Early Middle Ages: The Saxon Stellinga Reconsidered." Speculum, Vol. 70, No. 3. (Jul., 1995), pp 467–501.
- Hummer, Hans J. Politics and Power in Early Medieval Europe: Alsace and the Frankish Realm 600–1000. Cambridge University Press: 2005.
External links[link]
- James Grout: Saxon Advent, part of the Encyclopædia Romana
- Saxons and Britons
- Info Britain: Saxon Britain
- Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Saxons". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
http://wn.com/Saxons
Related pages:
http://it.wn.com/Sassoni
http://cs.wn.com/Sasové
http://es.wn.com/Pueblo sajón
http://ru.wn.com/Саксы
http://nl.wn.com/Saksen (volk)
http://pt.wn.com/Saxões
http://pl.wn.com/Sasi
http://fr.wn.com/Saxons
http://de.wn.com/Sachsen (Volk)
This page contains text from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saxons
This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, which means that you can copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license.
This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, which means that you can copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license.
For other uses, see Anglo-Saxon (disambiguation).
The term Anglo-Saxon is used by some historians to designate the Germanic tribes who invaded and settled the south and east of Britain beginning in the early 5th century and the period from their creation of the English nation up to the Norman conquest. The Anglo-Saxon era denotes the period of English history between about 550 and 1066.[1][2] The term is also used for the language, now known as Old English, that was spoken and written by the Anglo-Saxons and their descendants in England (and part of southeastern Scotland) between at least the mid-5th century and the mid-12th century.[3]
The Benedictine monk Bede, writing in the early 8th century, identified the English as the descendants of three Germanic tribes:[4]
- the Angles, who may have come from Angeln (in modern Germany): Bede wrote that their whole nation came to Britain,[5] leaving their former land empty. The name England (Old English: Engla land or Ængla land) originates from this tribe;[6]
- the Saxons, from Lower Saxony (in modern Germany; German: Niedersachsen) and the Low Countries;
- the Jutes, possibly from the Jutland peninsula (in modern Denmark; Danish: Jylland).
Their language, Old English, which derived from Ingvaeonic West Germanic dialects, transformed into Middle English from the 11th century. Old English was divided into four main dialects: West Saxon, Mercian, Northumbrian and Kentish.
Contents |
Etymology[link]
The term Anglo-Saxon can be found in documents produced in the time of Alfred the Great, who seems to have frequently used the titles rex Anglorum Saxonum and rex Angul-Saxonum (king of the English Saxons).[7] The Old English terms ænglisc ('Angle-kin') and Angelcynn ('gens Anglorum') had already lost their original sense of referring to the Angles, as distinct from the Saxons, when they are first attested. In their earliest sense they referred to the nation of Germanic peoples who settled eastern Britain from the 5th century.[citation needed] The indigenous Britons, who wrote in both Latin and Welsh, referred to these invaders as 'Saxones' or 'Saeson' – the word Saeson is the modern Welsh word for 'English people';[8] the equivalent word in Scottish Gaelic is Sasannach and in the Irish language, Sasanach.
The term Angli Saxones seems to have first been used in continental writing nearly a century before Alfred's time, by Paul the Deacon, historian of the Lombards, probably to distinguish the English Saxons from the continental Saxons (Ealdseaxe, literally, 'old Saxons').[citation needed]
The Angles (Old English: Engle, Angle), took their name from their ancestral home in Jutland, Angul (modern Angeln), which has an area in the shape of a hook (Old English: angel, angul "fishhook", anga "hook").
History[link]
.JPG)
Main article: History of Anglo-Saxon England
The history of Anglo-Saxon England broadly covers early medieval England, from the end of Roman rule and the establishment of numerous Anglo-Saxon kingdoms in the 5th century until the Norman conquest of England by the Normans in 1066.
Origins (400–600)[link]
Further information: Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain and Ingaevones
The migration of Germanic peoples to Britain from what is now northern Germany, the northern part of the Netherlands and southern Scandinavia is attested from the 5th century (e.g. Undley bracteate). Based on Bede's Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum, the intruding population is traditionally divided into Angles, Saxons and Jutes, but their composition was likely less clear-cut and may also have included peoples such as the Frisii and the Franks. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle may contain the first recorded indications of the movement of these Germanic tribes to Britain.
Heptarchy (600–800)[link]
Main article: Heptarchy
File:Anglo-Saxon England 2.svg
The main Anglo-Saxon peoples in about 600
Christianisation of the Anglo-Saxons began in 597 and was at least nominally completed in 686. Throughout the 7th and 8th centuries, power fluctuated between the larger kingdoms. Bede records Aethelbert of Kent as being dominant at the close of the 6th century, but power seems to have shifted northwards to the kingdoms of Mercia and Northumbria.
Aethelbert and some of the later kings of the other kingdoms were recognised by their fellow kings as Bretwalda (ruler of Britain). The so-called 'Mercian Supremacy' dominated the 8th century, though again it was not constant. Aethelbald and Offa, the two most powerful kings, achieved high status. This period has been described as the Heptarchy, though this term has now fallen out of academic use.
The word arose on the basis that the seven kingdoms of Northumbria, Mercia, Kent, East Anglia, Essex, Sussex and Wessex were the main polities of south Britain. More recent scholarship has shown that theories of the 'heptarchy' are not grounded in evidence, and it is far more likely that power fluctuated between many more 'kingdoms'. Other politically important 'kingdoms' across this period include: Hwicce, Magonsaete, Kingdom of Lindsey and Middle Anglia.
Viking Age and the Norman Conquest (800–1066)[link]
Main articles: Viking Age and Danelaw
In the 9th century, the Viking challenge grew to serious proportions. Alfred the Great's victory at Edington, Wiltshire, in 878 brought intermittent peace, but with their possession of Jorvik, the Danes gained a solid foothold in England.
Some of the earliest arrivals of invaders came in the form of small groups or companies of Danish heritage. It is widely believed they left their homelands for more religious freedom as they did not like Christianity being forced upon them. There was no prior indication for them being there before their arrival and thus little resistance if any at all from locals. They attacked various locations in England, and they were seemingly sporadic. For example these raiders attacked three different locations; Hampshire, Thanet, and Cheshire around 980, but no raids were recorded afterwards for another six years. The most notable event to come from these raids however was, that it was the first time that England came into contact with any form of diplomacy from Normandy.[9]
They became hostile towards one another by summer in the year 990. Their feud became so great that Pope John XV had to send an envoy with a treaty in order to settle their quarrel. It was a Christmas Day in the year 990 the commission was presented to King Etherlred, and soon the council drew up a set of terms which were sent to the Duke of Normandy. The doctrine stated that neither shall befriend the others enemies, and that they should accept a reparation from any damage which either could sustain from the other nation.[10]
An important development in the 9th century was the rise of the Kingdom of Wessex; by the end of his reign Alfred was recognised as overlord by several southern kingdoms. Æthelstan was the first king to achieve direct rule over what is considered "England".
Near the end of the 10th century, there was renewed Scandinavian interest in England, with the conquests of Sweyn of Denmark and his son Cnut the Great. By 1066 there were three lords with claims to the English throne, resulting in two invasions and the battles of Stamford Bridge and Hastings. The latter, which heralded the Norman conquest of England, resulted in the overthrow of the Anglo-Saxon polity and its replacement with Norman rule.
After the Norman Conquest[link]
Following the conquest, the Anglo-Saxon nobility were either exiled or joined the ranks of the peasantry.[11] It has been estimated that only about 8 per cent of the land was under Anglo-Saxon control by 1087.[12] Many Anglo-Saxon nobles fled to Scotland, Ireland, and Scandinavia.[13][14] The Byzantine Empire became a popular destination for many Anglo-Saxon soldiers, as the Byzantines were in need of mercenaries.[15] The Anglo-Saxons became the predominant element in the elite Varangian Guard, hitherto a largely Scandinavian unit, from which the emperor's bodyguard was drawn and continued to serve the empire until the early 15th century.[16] However, the population of England at home remained largely Anglo-Saxon; for them, little changed immediately except that their Anglo-Saxon lord was replaced by a Norman lord.[17]
Culture[link]
Architecture[link]
Main article: Anglo-Saxon architecture
Early Anglo-Saxon buildings in Britain were generally simple, not using masonry except in foundations but constructed mainly using timber with thatch for roofing. Generally preferring not to settle within the old Roman cities, the Anglo-Saxons built small towns near their centres of agriculture, at fords in rivers or sited to serve as ports. In each town, a main hall was in the centre, provided with a central hearth.[18]
There are few remains of Anglo-Saxon architecture, with but one secular work remaining above ground – a 10m. x 5m. houscarl's dwelling re-using local Roman materials.[where?] This is still completely standing as an undivided single room with a single central north-facing door, belonging to the Godwin estates, so can be dated 1018–1066. At least fifty churches are of Anglo-Saxon origin, with many more claimed to be, in part from their dedication to local Anglo-Saxon saints, although in some cases the Anglo-Saxon part is small and much-altered. All surviving churches, except one timber church, are built of stone or brick and in some cases show evidence of re-used Roman work.
The character of Anglo-Saxon ecclesiastical buildings ranges from Celtic influenced architecture in the early period; basilica influenced Romanesque architecture; to in the later Anglo-Saxon period, an architecture characterised by pilaster-strips, blank arcading, baluster shafts and triangular headed openings.
Art[link]
Main article: Anglo-Saxon art
Anglo-Saxon art before roughly the time of Alfred (ruled 871–899) mostly in varieties of the Hiberno-Saxon or Insular style, a fusion of Anglo-Saxon and Celtic techniques and motifs. The Sutton Hoo treasure is an exceptional survival of very early Anglo-Saxon metalwork and jewellery, from a royal grave of the early 7th century. The period between Alfred and the Norman Conquest, with the revival of the English economy and culture after the end of the Viking raids, saw a distinct Anglo-Saxon style in art, though one in touch with trends on the Continent.
Anglo-Saxon art is mainly known today through illuminated manuscripts, including the Benedictional of St. Æthelwold (British Library) and Leofric Missal (Oxford, Bodleian Library, MS Bodl, 579), masterpieces of the late "Winchester style", which drew on Hiberno-Saxon art, Carolingian art and Byzantine art for style and iconography, and combined both northern ornamental traditions with Mediterranean figural traditions. The Harley Psalter was a copy of the Carolingian Utrecht Psalter — which was a particular influence in creating an Anglo-Saxon style of very lively pen drawings.
Manuscripts were far from the only Anglo-Saxon art form, but they have survived in much greater numbers than other types of object. Contemporaries in Europe regarded Anglo-Saxon goldsmithing and embroidery (Opus Anglicanum) as especially fine. Perhaps the best known piece of Anglo-Saxon art is the Bayeux Tapestry which was commissioned by a Norman patron from English artists working in the traditional Anglo-Saxon style. The most common example of Anglo-Saxon art is coins, with thousands of examples extant. Anglo-Saxon artists also worked in fresco, ivory, stone carving, metalwork (see Fuller brooch for example) and enamel, but few of these pieces have survived.
Language[link]
Main article: Old English
Old English, sometimes called Anglo-Saxon, was the language spoken under Alfred the Great and continued to be the common language of England (non-Danelaw) until after the Norman Conquest of 1066 when, under the influence of the Anglo-Norman language spoken by the Norman ruling class, it changed into Middle English roughly between 1150–1500.
Old English is far closer to early Germanic than Middle English. It is less Latinised and retains many morphological features (nominal and verbal inflection) that were lost during the 12th to 14th centuries. The languages today which are closest to Old English are the Frisian languages, which are spoken by a few hundred thousand people in the northern part of Germany and the Netherlands.
Before literacy in the vernacular Old English or Latin became widespread, a runic alphabet, the futhorc, was used for inscriptions. When literacy became more prevalent, a form of Latin script was used with a couple of letters derived from the futhorc: 'thorn' ‹þ› and 'wynn' ‹ƿ› (generally replaced with ‹w› in modern reproductions).
The letters regularly used in printed and edited texts of Old English are the following:
with only rare occurrences of j, k, q, v, and z.
Law[link]
Main article: Anglo-Saxon laws
Very few law codes exist from the Anglo-Saxon period to provide an insight into legal culture beyond the influence of Roman law and how this legal culture developed over the course of time. The Saxons chopped off hands and noses for punishment (if the offender stole something or committed another crime). If someone killed a Saxon, he had to pay money called wergild, the amount varying according to the social rank of the victim.
Literature[link]
Main article: Anglo-Saxon literature
Old English literary works include genres such as epic poetry, hagiography, sermons, Bible translations, legal works, chronicles, riddles and others. In all there are about 400 surviving manuscripts from the period, a significant corpus of both popular interest and specialist research.
The most famous works from this period include the poem Beowulf, which has achieved national epic status in Britain. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle is a collection of important early English history. Cædmon's Hymn from the 7th century is the earliest attested literary text in English.
Religion[link]
See also: Anglo-Saxon paganism and Anglo-Saxon Christianity
The indigenous pre-Christian belief system of the Anglo-Saxons was a form of Germanic paganism and therefore closely related to the Old Norse religion, as well as other Germanic pre-Christian cultures.
Christianity gradually replaced the indigenous religion of the English around the 7th and 8th centuries. Celtic Christianity was introduced into Northumbria and Mercia by monks from Ireland, but the Synod of Whitby settled the choice for Roman Christianity. As the new clerics became the chroniclers, the old religion was partially lost before it was recorded, and today historians' knowledge of it is largely based on surviving customs and lore, texts, etymological links and archaeological finds.
One of the few recorded references is that a Kentish King would only meet the missionary St. Augustine in the open air, where he would be under the protection of the sky god, Woden. Written Christian prohibitions on acts of paganism are one of historians' main sources of information on pre-Christian beliefs.
Despite these prohibitions, numerous elements of the pre-Christian culture of the Anglo-Saxon people survived the Christianisation process. Examples include the English language names for days of the week:
- Tiw, the Anglo-Saxon equivalent of Tyr: Tuesday
- Woden, the Anglo-Saxon equivalent of Odin: Wednesday
- Þunor, the Anglo-Saxon equivalent of Thor: Thursday
- *Fríge, the Anglo-Saxon equivalent of Frigg: Friday
Contemporary meanings[link]
"Anglo-Saxon" in linguistics is still used as a term for the original West Germanic component of the modern English language, which was later expanded and developed through the influence of Old Norse and Norman French, though linguists now more often refer to it as Old English. In the 19th century the term "Anglo-Saxon" was broadly used in philology, and is sometimes so used at present. In Victorian Britain, some writers such as Robert Knox, James Anthony Froude, Charles Kingsley[19] and Edward A. Freeman[20] used the term "Anglo-Saxon" to justify racism and imperialism, claiming that the "Anglo-Saxon" ancestry of the English made them racially superior to the colonised peoples. Similar racist ideas were advocated in the 19th Century United States by Samuel George Morton and George Fitzhugh.[21]
The term "Anglo-Saxon" is sometimes used to refer to peoples descended or associated in some way with the English ethnic group. The definition has varied from time to time and varies from place to place. In contemporary Anglophone cultures outside the United Kingdom, the term is most commonly found in certain contexts, such as the term "White Anglo-Saxon Protestant" or "WASP". Such terms are often politicised, and bear little connection to the precise ethnological or historical definition of the term "Anglo-Saxon". It often encapsulates socio-economic identifiers more than ethnic ones.[citation needed]
Outside Anglophone countries, both in Europe and in the rest of the world, the term "Anglo-Saxon" and its direct translations are used to refer to the Anglophone peoples and societies of Britain, the United States, and other countries such as Australia, Canada and New Zealand – areas which are sometimes referred to as the Anglosphere. The term "Anglo-Saxon" can be used in a variety of contexts, often to identify the English-speaking world's distinctive language, culture, technology, wealth, markets, economy, and legal systems. Variations include the German "Angelsachsen", French "Anglo-Saxon", Spanish "anglosajón", Portuguese "anglo-saxão", Italian "anglosassone", Catalan "anglosaxó", Japanese "Angurosakuson" and Ukrainian "aнглосакси" (anhlosaksy). As with the English language use of the term, what constitutes the "Anglo-Saxon" varies from speaker to speaker.[citation needed]
See also[link]
- Angles
- Anglo-Frisian
- Anglo-Saxon architecture
- Anglo-Saxon dress
- Anglo-Saxon military organization
- Anglophile
- Britons
- Frisia
- Ingvaeones
- Jutes
- Saxons
- States in Medieval Britain
- Timeline of Anglo-Saxon settlement in Britain
- Staffordshire Hoard
Modern concepts:
Notes[link]
- ^ Frank M. Stenton, The Oxford history of England: Anglo-Saxon England: Volume 2: 550-1087 (3rd ed. 1971)
- ^ BBC - History - Anglo-Saxons
- ^ Richard M. Hogg, ed. The Cambridge History of the English Language: Vol 1: the Beginnings to 1066 (1992)
- ^ English and Welsh are races apart
- ^ Bede's Ecclesiastical History of England Chap XV
- ^ The Monarchy of England: Volume I – The Beginnings by David Starkey (extract at Channel 4 programme 'Monarchy')
- ^ The Life of King Alfred
- ^ The History of Wales, John Davies, Penguin Books, 1990. ISBN01.2570 1
- ^ Stenton, F.M. (1989). Anglo-Saxon England. Oxford Paperbacks. pp. 808. ISBN 0-19-282237-3.
- ^ Stenton, F. M. (1989). Anglo-Saxon England. Oxford Paperbacks. pp. 808. ISBN 0-19-282237-3.
- ^ Bartlett, Robert (2000). J.M.Roberts. ed. England Under the Norman and Angevin Kings 1075 -1225. London: OUP. ISBN 978-0-19-925101-8. , p.1
- ^ Wood, Michael (2005). In Search of the Dark Ages. London: BBC. ISBN 978-0-563-52276-8. p.248-249
- ^ From Norman Conquest to Magna Carta: England, 1066-1215, pp.13,14, Christopher Daniell, 2003, ISBN 0-415-22216-8
- ^ Slaves and warriors in medieval Britain and Ireland, 800-1200, p.385, David R. Wyatt, 2009, ISBN 978-90-04-17533-4
- ^ Western travellers to Constantinople: the West and Byzantium, 962-1204, pp. 140,141, Krijna Nelly Ciggaar, 1996, ISBN 90-04-10637-5
- ^ "Byzantine Armies AD 1118-1461", p.23, Ian Heath, Osprey Publishing, 1995, ISBN 978-1-85532-347-6
- ^ "The Norman conquest: England after William the Conqueror", p.98, Hugh M. Thomas, 2008, ISBN 978-0-7425-3840-5
- ^ York and London both offer examples of this trend.
- ^ Rule of Darkness: British Literature and Imperialism, 1830–1914 by Patrick Brantlinger. Cornell University Press, 1990
- ^ Race and Empire in British Politics by Paul B. Rich. CUP Archive, 1990
- ^ Race and Manifest Destiny: The Origins of American Racial Anglo-Saxonism by Reginald Horsman.Harvard University Press, 1981. (pgs. 126,273)
References[link]
- Oppenheimer, Stephen. The Origins of the British(2006). Constable and Robinson, London. ISBN 1-84529-158-1
Further reading[link]
- Clark, David, and Nicholas Perkins, eds. Anglo-Saxon Culture and the Modern Imagination (2010)
- F.M. Stenton, Anglo-Saxon England, 3rd edition, (Oxford: University Press, 1971)
- J. Campbell et al., The Anglo-Saxons, (London: Penguin, 1991)
- E. James, Britain in the First Millennium, (London: Arnold, 2001)
- M. Lapidge et al., The Blackwell Encyclopaedia of Anglo-Saxon England, (Oxford: Blackwell, 1999)
- Donald Henson, The Origins of the Anglo-Saxons, (Anglo-Saxon Books, 2006)
Primary sources[link]
- D. Whitelock, ed. English Historical Documents c.500–1042, (London: Eyre and Spottiswoode, 1955)
- Bede, Ecclesiastical History of the English People, trans. L. Sherly-Price, (London: Penguin, 1990)
External links[link]
- Photos of over 600 items found in the Anglo-Saxon Hoard in Staffordshire Sept. 2009
- Anglo-Saxon gold hoard September 2009: largest ever hoard officially declared treasure
- Huge Anglo-Saxon gold hoard found, BBC News, with photos.
- Fides Angliarum Regum: the faith of the English kings
- Anglo-Saxon Origins: The Reality of the Myth by Malcolm Todd
- An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary
- Simon Keynes' bibliography of Anglo-Saxon topics
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
http://wn.com/Anglo-Saxons
Related pages:
http://it.wn.com/Anglosassoni
http://cs.wn.com/Anglosasové
http://id.wn.com/Anglo-Saxon
http://es.wn.com/Anglosajones
http://ru.wn.com/Англосаксы
http://nl.wn.com/Angelsaksen
http://pl.wn.com/Anglosasi
http://fr.wn.com/Anglo-Saxons
http://de.wn.com/Angelsachsen
http://hi.wn.com/ऐंग्लो-सैक्सन
http://pt.wn.com/Anglo-saxões
This page contains text from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglo-Saxons
This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, which means that you can copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license.
This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, which means that you can copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license.
Anglo-Saxon missionaries were instrumental in the spread of Christianity in the Frankish Empire during the 8th century, continuing the work of Hiberno-Scottish missionaries which had been spreading Celtic Christianity across the Frankish Empire as well as in Scotland and Anglo-Saxon England itself during the 6th century (see Anglo-Saxon Christianity).[1]
The Anglo-Saxon mission began in the last decade of the 7th century in Frisia, whence, Benedict reminded the monks he urged to come to the continental missions, their forebears had come: "Take pity on them, for they themselves are now saying, 'We are of one blood and one bone with you.'" The missions, which drew down the energy and initiative of the English church, spread south and east from there. Almost immediately the Anglo-Saxon missionaries came in contact with the Pippinids, the new dominant family in Frankish territories. The earliest monastery founded by Anglo-Saxons on the continent is Willibrord's Abbey of Echternach (698), founded at a villa granted him by a daughter of Dagobert II. Pepin II, who wished to extend his influence in the Low Countries, granted free passage to Rome to Willibrord, to be consecrated Bishop of Frisia; Norman F. Cantor singles this out as the first joint project between Carolingians and the Papacy: "It set the pattern for their increasing association in the first half of the 8th century as a result of their joint support of the efforts of the Anglo-Saxon missionaries"[2]
Anglo-Saxon missionaries to the continent include Saints Wilfrid, Willibrord, Willehad, Lebuin, Liudger, Ewald and Suidbert.
Notable among these missionaries is Saint Boniface who was active in the area of Fulda (modern Hesse), establishing or re-establishing the bishoprics of Erfurt, Würzburg, Büraburg, as well as Eichstätt, Regensburg, Augsburg, Freising, Passau and Salzburg (739) further to the south-east.
Saint Walpurga and her brothers Saint Willibald and Saint Winibald assisted Boniface, Willibald founding the Heidenheim monastery.
Anglo-Saxon missionary activities continued into the 770s and the reign of Charlemagne, the Anglo-Saxon Alcuin playing a major part in the Carolingian Renaissance. By 800, the Carolingian Empire was essentially Christianized, and further missionary activity, such as the Christianization of Scandinavia and the Baltic was coordinated directly from the Holy Roman Empire rather than from England.
In the judgement of J. R. R. Tolkien[3] the Anglo-Saxon mission is "one of the chief glories of England", and "among our chief contributions to Europe, considering all our history".
See also[link]
References[link]
- ^ Catholic Encyclopedia:"The Anglo-Saxon Church"
- ^ Cantor, The Civilization of the Middle Ages, 1993:167.
- ^ Tolkien, Finn and Hengest, p. 14.
http://wn.com/Anglo-Saxon_mission
Related pages:
http://cs.wn.com/Anglosaská misie
http://es.wn.com/Misión anglosajona
This page contains text from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglo-Saxon_mission
This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, which means that you can copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license.
This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, which means that you can copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license.
