The Dark Age and Saxon Invasions

400 - 600 CE

Overview

• Developments outside of Britain• Early migrations• The dark age• Consequences

Developments outside of Britain

• Cost of maintaining imperial borders• Increasing population of barbarians• Relations with barbarians (see next slide)

– Arianism of the Vandals and Goths– Paganism of the Saxons

• The Huns push westward: 375-450

Imperial Policy Toward Barbarians

• Assimilation - by 300 many “Roman” troops were heavily populated with barbarian “auxiliaries”, whose loyalty became increasingly suspect in the 400s

• Alliance - Known as foederati, some tribes, such as the Franks, received payments to protect imperial borders

• Giving in to blackmail - The eastern Emperors were particularly adept at paying barbarian leaders not to invade

• Granting of titles in the West - in order to placate barbarian chieftains, the eastern emperors granted them titles to offices in the West even though the eastern emperors exercised no real authority in the West; in essence eastern emperors sold off the west in order to preserve their position in the East

Who were the Barbarians?

• Term applied derisively by Romans to a variety of peoples living outside of imperial borders

• Non-Romans deprived of the Pax Romana• Often Arian Christian by 300 due to the

missionary work of bishop Arius• Vandals• Huns• Franks• Goths

– Visigoths– Ostrogoths

• Saxons

Huns

• An Altaic people who were nomadic hunter-gatherers and who invaded eastern Europe c. 370

• inspired unparalleled fear• great horsemen and archers• obtained large subsidies from Byzantine Emperors

not to invade; after 375 they move south and west• Attila emerges as leader in 430s and almost takes

Paris c. 450; he dies 453 after invading N. Italy• His sons quarrel and divide up his empire

The Franks

• Germanic people who invaded western Empire in early 400s

• their leader, Clovis adopted Roman Catholicism c. 500 and establishes the dynasty of Merovingian Franks

• ultimately the most enduring influence of the barbarian tribes

• the Franks eventually formed a strange relationship with the papacy around the time of Charlemagne c. 800 and lasting well into the late Middle Ages

Saxons

• Earliest appearance in historical records as pirates who lived along northern coast of modern Germany

• Initially practiced Germanic paganism• Migration/invasion of Britain begins c. 350 and accelerates

after 410; had most profound influence of the post Roman invaders; virtually synonymous with Angles from whom we derive the name England or Angleland

• Southern England is essentially Saxon by 500• Mainland Saxons retained their paganism much longer

and were the object of a “crusade” by Charlemagne in the late 8th century; English Saxons were converted mostly by 650

Barbarian Cultures

• Rural or agrarian; transition from hunter gatherer sparks increase in population and need to find more land

• Illiterate with exceptions• Weak kingship - rule of the strongest; rarely

hereditary; usually more of a military leader• Strong kinship – in absence of a strong government• Social bonding

– guilds of mutual assistance– comitatus - a band of mutual support gathered around a

chieftain• Violent and militaristic• Hero worship• although Christian, they commonly believed in

magic and superstition; they often practiced divination

Significant events during the Invasions

• The first sack of Rome– 410 CE by Visigoths; British left to defend themselves– stuns the Roman elite, many of whom are impoverished– challenges the notion of divine protection– leads to debates about why it happened

• Christians blame pagans (St. Augustine)• pagans blame Christians• Gibbon weighs in in the 18th century

• The defeat of Orestes by Odoacer– 476 deposition of Romulus Augustulus– generally considered the end of the western Empire– Odoacer is traditionally considered the first barbarian

ruler of Italy

The Empire During the Pax Romana

Discuss Roman Empire

• What made the Roman military so formidable?

http://itsa.ucsf.edu/~snlrc/encyclopaedia_romana/britannia/ruins/britanniamap.html

Roman Administration

and British Tribes

Centurion

Legatus

Auxiliary

&

Legionary

Roman Villas

Roman Britain

c. 200 CE

50,000 troops in Britain

Usurpers: Constantine the

Great

c. 306

Usurpers: Magnus Maximus (Maximianus) c. 380

Usurpers: Constantine III c. 408

Barbarian Migrations 350-500

The Saxon ShoreFortsc. 400

Areas with large

populations of Britons by

Celts c. 500

Cornwall

Discuss Geoffrey of Monmouth

Vortigern with Merlin c. 430

Discuss Geoffrey of Monmouth

• How did Geoffrey depict Britain after the Romans?

• Who were the heroes and enemies of post Roman Britain?

• Who were the enemies and allies of the Britons?

• Under what conditions did Arthur emerge?

Geoffrey’s Arthur was conceived by the union of his mother and…

A. King Uther disguised as Gorlois, Duke of Cornwall

B. An incubus in the shape of a dragon

C. The war god, Mars

D. A wolf

Which king did Geoffrey’s Merlin not advise?

A. Vortigern

B. Aurelius Ambrosius

C. Arthur

D. Constantine

DatingMedieval Arthur

Approximately475 to 540

Tintagel Castle

Cornwall

Tintagel

Alleged Place of Arthur’s

Conception

Merlin advising Arthur

from a 14th century

manuscript

• 447    ‡ Days as dark as night.‡ • 453 Easter altered on the Lord's Day by Pope Leo, Bishop of Rome. • 454 St. Brigid is born. • 457 St. Patrick goes to the Lord. • 458 St. David is born in the thirtieth year after Patrick left Menevia. • 468 The death of Bishop Benignus. • 501 Bishop Ebur rests in Christ, he was 350 years old. • 516 The Battle of Badon, in which Arthur carried the Cross of our

Lord Jesus Christ for three days and three nights on his shoulders and the Britons were the victors.

• 521 St. Columba is born. The death of St. Brigid. • 537 The battle of Camlann, in which Arthur and Medraut fell: and

there was plague in Britain and Ireland. • 544 The sleep [death] of Ciaran. • 547 The great death [plague] in which Maelgwn, king of Gwynedd died.

‡Thus they say 'The long sleep of Maelgwn in the court of Rhos'. Then was the yellow plague.‡

• 573 The battle of Arfderydd ‡between the sons of Eliffer and Gwenddolau son of Ceidio; in which battle Gwenddolau fell; Merlin went mad.‡

Which portion of Europe did Geoffrey’s Arthur not conquer?

A. Norway

B. Iceland

C. Ireland

D. Spain

http://www.powys-lannion.net/Powys/Weymouth/10.htm

Badbury Rings, Dorsett

Mons Badonicus?

C. 486-516

Maiden Castle

• Iron age hill fort

• Reinhabitted during Dark Age

• 47 acres• located just

south of Dorchester

Somerset

Camelot? - Cadbury Hill Fort

Annales Cambriae

late 900s

Anglo-Saxon

Settlementslate 500s

Ethelbert of Kent

• Married Christian Bertha of the Franks

• Converted to Christianity after arrival of Augustine in 597

• Bretwalda• Produced first

vernacular legal code in England

Bertha of Kent

• Frankish princess who brought Christian faith with her when she married Ethelbert

• Inspired Augustine mission

• Established St Martins Canterbury

Sutton Hoo Burial Mounds

Sutton Hoo Burial Mask

The Heptarchy

c. 700

Early migrations: 350-410

• Initially the Romans induced Saxons to defend central Britain against invasions from the Picts and Scots in the North

• The Saxons had no central political authority; instead they had tribal chieftains– Initially they were military commanders and only gained

judicial authority over several centuries– The Saxon chieftain was expected to distribute booty to

his followers in return for military service; he was frequently referred to as the “bracelet giver” or “ring giver”

– Many Saxon tribes fought against one another until gradually an overlord or king of kings emerged

The Dark Age: 400 - 600

• The term Dark Age usually refers to the paucity or absence of written sources; our main sources for this period are Patrick and Gildas

• The Dark Age occurred somewhat earlier in Britain than the rest of the Empire

• a defining feature of the dark age was that authority was held by force and custom; there were no written laws

• Authority during this period was extremely localized; it gradually expanded in geographical scope over the next 500 years so that by the Norman invasion England was unified politically

The Dark Age: 400 - 600

• Another meaning of dark age is that it represented a decline in Christian influence; the Saxons were pagans; prior to their invasion Christianity was spreading throughout Britain but their arrival reversed that process

Summary

• The Saxon invasions of England in the 5th century signified the end of Roman rule in Britain; this collapse of Roman influence was part of a western European phenomenon

• The history of England – as opposed to Britain – arguably begins with the Saxon invasions

• The Saxons migrated into Britain as far as the Romans had – to the borders with Wales and Scotland

Summary

• Although England would endure invasions by Vikings in the 9th century, the Saxon invasion of the 5th century would have an enduring influence on English culture, most notably in language

• Saxon kings would constitute the dominant group of English rulers until the arrival of the Normans in 1066