Barbarians: The Roman Empire From France To Italy And On To England

Between your GoT and sipping your cold brew from a GoT styled horn, you’ve read about the Barbarian’s trek from The Roman Empire to France then Italy.  Today, we follow them into England where they would go forth and conquer.

An Invasion Turns to A Conquest

During the 3^rd century, the Saxons would began raiding England as the collapse of the Roman Empire came, they turned to conquest. The 5th century would see the division of the Romano-Celts into separate kingdoms. Although they were separate kingdoms, they shared a leader and the Superbus tyrannus would emerge.

The Germanic people were being hired at that time, even earlier, as mercenaries. Tradition would led us to believe that Jutes was brought by the Superbus tyrannus brought to protect his realm from Scots and the Picts (from Northern Ireland and Scotland). He would go on to install the Hengist, a Jutish leader, as king of Kent and in exchange the Jutes were expected to provide protection of Britain.

A Fall Out And A Battle

Yet the Jutes and the Romano-Celts had a falling out and a battle was fought with the Jutes as the decisive winner. With the victory theirs, the Celts were not able to extricate the Jutes. The in 477, the Saxons would land in Sussex and while the Celts battled them for 15 years, the Saxons would conquer all of Sussex.

Meanwhile the Jutes moved on to eastern Hampshire and the Isle of Wight while the Saxons moved on to western Hampshire and founded the kingdom of Wessex. Late in the 5^th century, the Celts would see the rise of Arthur, a great leader. Arthur would win the battle of Mount Badon, crushing the Saxons around 500 AD, halting their further advancement for decades.

The Saxons Kept on Going

During the 6^th century, in the meantime, the western Hampshire West Saxons annexed the Jutes of eastern Hampshire and continued on to take over the Isle of Wight as well. The West Saxon’s would have a great victory come 552 in nearby modern Salisbury where they captured Wiltshire. They would go on to capture Bath, Cirencester and Glouchester in 577 as well.

Other Saxons would invade Essex in the mid-6th century, also known as the kingdom of the East Saxons. There were the Angles people landed and gave East Anglia the name England, meaning Angle land. The Angles and Saxons would have full control of eastern England by the late 6^th century and the Saxons would capture the west Midlands in 656.

Dorset would be captured by the Saxons in 664 and by the early 8th century, Devon and Somerset both were completely occupied by the Saxons. Pope Gregory the Great was ardent for the Anglo-Saxons to convert to Christianity and in 596 he sent Augustine and 40 men to Kent. By 597, Kent was converted.

In the 7th Century England was divided into different kingdoms but Christianity gradually spread across them and by the end of the 7th century all of England was at least nominally Christian.