🗡 The Anglo-Saxons

The Roman army left Britain in AD 410 to defend other parts of the empire and never came back. Tribes from Northern Europe—the Jutes, Angles, and Saxons—then invaded Britain. Their languages are the basis of modern English. There were battles against these invaders, but by AD 600, Anglo-Saxon kingdoms were established in Britain, mostly in what is now England. One king was buried at Sutton Hoo in Suffolk with treasure and armor in a ship covered by a mound of earth. Parts of western Britain, like Wales and Scotland, stayed free from Anglo-Saxon rule.

The Anglo-Saxons were not Christians when they first came to Britain. During this time, missionaries came to Britain to teach about Christianity. Missionaries from Ireland spread the religion in the north. The most famous were St. Patrick, who became the patron saint of Ireland, and St. Columba, who started a monastery on the island of Iona near Scotland. St. Augustine led missionaries from Rome and spread Christianity in the south. He became the first Archbishop of Canterbury.