From around AD 50 until the mid-4th century, Britain was part of the Roman Empire. When the Visigoths sacked Rome in the late 4th century, the actual presence in Britain and most vestiges of Roman culture and civilization were almost insignificant. So what happened to Britain and its people after the Romans left?
When discussing British history, the period from the 5th century to the beginning of the 8th century is often referred to as the Dark Ages. Scholars now refer to it as the Early Middle Ages and the beginning of the Anglo-Saxon period in Britain. This is an age shrouded in darkness, and this three-hour odyssey offers an in-depth exploration of this particular era.
Although they left behind a network of walled forts across the country connected by a major highway, the sociopolitical climate was haphazard and chaotic. After the departure of the Roman legions, Germanic Anglo-Saxon tribes arrived and slowly invaded the islands, with little resistance from the local Roman-British citizens. Anglo-Saxons settled and formed their small kingdoms throughout the country. Yet they are at war with each other almost all the time in a never-ending cycle of power grabs and domination.
At the same time, as the bard tradition grew in importance as bards invented (dubious) heroic tales in these new kingdoms, only a handful of historians (such as Gildas and Venerable Bede ) is supported by written information. However, archaeological finds show that the 5th to 7th centuries were anything but glorious. Britain has turned into a post-apocalyptic scene where life is difficult and dangerous.
In 535 AD, the infamous “Year Without Sun” began. Over the next 20 to 30 years, sudden and massive climate change wreaked havoc across the planet. Temperatures rose and fell; drought, famine, and thick volcanic ash blotted out the sun, and it began to rain. Crops failed and many people died in what was a veritable “Dark Age”. The phenomenon, which has been felt in many countries around the world, is now attributed to a massive volcanic eruption. Just as the situation was improving, a new deadly disease struck and even killed the King of England. The first ever global pandemic and outbreak of bubonic plague hits British shores.
During the 600’s and 700’s, England became Christianized and made some progress in art and architecture. The British and the Anglo-Saxons began to merge and coexist. Seven major Anglo-Saxon kingdoms emerged (Northumbria, Mercia, Kent, East Anglia, Essex, Sussex and Wessex) and important non-Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms, such as Rheged. Power struggles also continued, mainly between the larger kingdoms, with King Ethelbert of Kent and King Edwin of Northumbria eventually becoming two of the earliest rulers of most of the islands.
In the 8th century, a new and powerful enemy appeared on the horizon. The threat of a Viking invasion became the catalyst for the emergence of a single unified kingdom of England.
