The Anglo-Saxons were the population in Britain partly descended from the Germanic tribes who migrated from

continental Europe and settled the south and east of the island beginning in the early 5th century. The Anglo-Saxon period denotes the period of English history after their initial settlement through their creation of the English nation, up to the Norman conquest; that is, between about 550 and 1066. The term AngloSaxon is also used for the language, today more correctly called Old English, that was spoken and written by the Anglo-Saxons in England (and parts of south-eastern Scotland) between at least the mid-5th century and the mid-12th century, after which it is known as Middle English. When the Romans conquered the known world, they also ruled a territory where present day Britain is found. Their rule officially began in AD 43 and ended in 410. Some historians have estimated the population of Britain at this time to have been between one million and one hundred thousand; although others have challenged these numbers and raise the estimates to be three to four million. This area was apparently advantageous to the Romans, for about one hundred walled palaces have been found in the area. In fact, it has been said of Britain: "It was highly valued, badly threatened, and strongly defended." (Campbell p.98). Roman forces in the area of Britain were numbered at fifty thousand during the fourth century. Later medieval kings in England could only maintain an army of one tenth the size of the Roman Army. Unfortunately, in the end, Rome was in no shape to keep defending this portion of the empire. During the third and fourth centuries, Germanic tribes, pushed westward by the Huns in the east, began settling on the boundaries of the Roman empire. Due to the fact that the tribes were led by superior warrior kings, and the fact that the Roman Army was too busy to ward off these trespassers, the tribes managed to permeate the borders. This infringement on the land of the Roman Empire brought about an even bigger problem. Saxons began attacking the coast off of Sussex, under the leadership of Aella. According to Sidonius Apollinaris, the fifth century landowner, poet and bishop, the raids on the coast of Aquitoine were particularly brutal. The Saxons were at home on the sea and led unexpected attacks. The Saxons were not without problems, however, for the Caledonians began to attack them. Britons requested that the roman government provide military aid, but it never arrived. Faced with no other options, the Britons turned to the Anglos and Saxons of Germany and the Jutes of Denmark for assistance. After the defeat of the Caledonians, the Jutes were given the Isle of Thanet. Jutes began spreading into Kent, and as a result, were defeated by the Britons who lost Kent once again to the Jutes around AD 488. Old English (nglisc, Anglisc, Englisc) or Anglo-Saxon[1] is an early form of the English language that was spoken and written by the Anglo-Saxons and their descendants in

parts of what are now England and southern and eastern Scotland between at least the mid-5th century and the mid-12th century. What survives through writing represents primarily the literary register of Anglo-Saxon. It is a West Germanic language closely related to Old Frisian and Old Saxon. Old English had a grammar similar in many ways to Classical Latin. In most respects, including its grammar, it was much closer to modern German and Icelandic than to modern English. It was fully inflected with five grammatical cases (nominative, accusative, genitive, dative, and instrumental), three grammatical numbers (singular, plural, and dual) and three grammatical genders (masculine, feminine, and neuter). The dual forms occurred in the first and second persons only and referred to groups of two. From the 9th century, Old English experienced heavy influence from Old Norse, a member of the related North Germanic group of languages. The history of Old English can be subdivided into: Prehistoric Old English (c. 450 to 650); for this period, Old English is mostly a reconstructed language as no literary witnesses survive (with the exception of limited epigraphic evidence). This language, or bloc of languages, spoken by the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes, and pre-dating documented Old English or Anglo-Saxon, has also been called Primitive Old English.[2] Early Old English (c. 650 to 900), the period of the oldest manuscript traditions, with authors such as Cdmon, Bede, Cynewulf and Aldhelm. Late Old English (c. 900 to 1066), the final stage of the language leading up to the Norman conquest of England and the subsequent transition to Early Middle English. A large percentage of the educated and literate population of the time were competent in Latin, which was the scholarly and diplomatic lingua franca of Europe. The second major source of loanwords to Old English were the Scandinavian words introduced during the Viking invasions of the 9th and 10th centuries. Traditionally, and following the Anglo-Saxon preference prevalent in the 19th century, many maintain that the influence of Brythonic Celtic on English has been small, citing the small number of Celtic loanwords taken into the language. "Old English literature" (sometimes referred to as "Anglo-Saxon literature") encompasses literature written in Old English (also called Anglo-Saxon) in Anglo-Saxon England from the 7th century to the decades after the Norman Conquest of 1066. "Cdmon's Hymn", composed in the 7th century according to Bede, is often considered the oldest extant poem in English, whereas the later poem, The Grave is one of the final

poems written in Old English, and presents a transitional text between Old and Middle English. Likewise, the Parker Chronicle continues until the 12th century. The poem Beowulf, which often begins the traditional canon of English literature, is the most famous work of Old English literature. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle has also proven significant for historical study, preserving a chronology of early English history. In descending order of quantity, Old English literature consists of: sermons and saints' lives, biblical translations; translated Latin works of the early Church Fathers; AngloSaxon chronicles and narrative history works; laws, wills and other legal works; practical works on grammar, medicine, geography; and poetry. In all there are over 400 surviving manuscripts from the period, of which about 189 are considered "major". Alongside, Old English literature, Anglo-Saxons wrote a number of Anglo-Latin works.