Britannia Early 700s AD

An account of the earliest peoples of England by Bede in 731 AD, Ecclesiastical History of the English People:

Book 1, Chapter 1: At first the only inhabitants of the island were the Britons, from whom it takes its name and who, according to tradition, crossed into Britain from Armorica and occupied the southern parts. They spread northwards and possessed the greater part of the island. It is said that some Picts from Scythia (Scandinavia) put to sea in a few longships and after being refused land in Ireland settled in North of the English isle. The Picts, having no women with them asked for women from Ireland which were given. Later, Britain received a third nation, the Irish, when by force and treaty with the Picts, they came to occupy lands west from the Picts.

Book 1, Chapter 15: During the seven year reign of Martian and Valentinian beginning in 449, the Angles or Saxons came to Britain at the request of King Vortigern (a 5th century Celtic warlord). Not satisfied with lands granted them by the Britons, more ships carrying the three most formidable races of Germany: the Saxons, Angles and Jutes arrived in Britain. From the Jutes are descended the people of Kent and the Isle of Wight. From the land now known as the land of the Old Saxons came the East, South and West Saxons. The East Angles and the Middle Angles are descended from the Angles who came to the island from the province between the Jutes and Saxons, and is said to be uninhabited to this day.

	Britannia Early 700's AD

		"Our goal is not an exhaustive history of Europe, Ireland and the UK, but some history is useful when interpreting where people came from, when they settled and how this might be useful for the interpretation of modern DNA studies of these people. - Jim Sims, 2006" East Angles - a people from the German peninsula part of Schleswig-Holstein; their Britannic kingdom consisted of the Norfolk and Suffolk area of the island East Saxons - a Saxon kingdom founded around 500 AD and occupied the current counties of Essex, Hertfordshire and Middlesex Grywas - the people living in the district where Peterborough town was situated Hwicaas - said to have been an offshoot of the West Saxons. The Online Anglo-Saxon Dictionary says Hwicaas were the people of a small state which extended over Gloucestershire, Worcestershire and part of Warwickshire Kent - a kingdom of the Jutes who displaced the earlier Celtic Cantiaci tribe whose home it was Mercians - from Old English meaning border people - an Anglo-Saxon kingdom centered on the River Trent in the Midlands of England bordering on Wales Northumbria - literally north of the Humber river - an Angle kingdom that emerged in the 7th century AD territory of the Kingdoms of Deira and Bernicia Picts - a confederation of tribes in central and northern Caledonia (modern-day Scotland) descended from the Caledonii tri bed named in Latin during the Roman conquest and occupation.

*An account of the earliest peoples of England by Bede in 731 AD, Ecclesiastical History of the English People:* Book 1, Chapter 1: At first the only inhabitants of the island were the Britons, from whom it takes its name and who, according to tradition, crossed into Britain from Armorica and occupied the southern parts. They spread northwards and possessed the greater part of the island. It is said that some Picts from Scythia (Scandinavia) put to sea in a few longships and after being refused land in Ireland settled in North of the English isle. The Picts, having no women with them asked for women from Ireland which were given. Later, Britain received a third nation, the Irish, when by force and treaty with the Picts, they came to occupy lands west from the Picts. Book 1, Chapter 15: During the seven year reign of Martian and Valentinian beginning in 449, the Angles or Saxons came to Britain at the request of King Vortigern (a 5th century Celtic warlord). Not satisfied with lands granted them by the Britons, more ships carrying the three most formidable races of Germany: the Saxons, Angles and Jutes arrived in Britain. From the Jutes are descended the people of Kent and the Isle of Wight. From the land now known as the land of the Old Saxons came the East, South and West Saxons. The East Angles and the Middle Angles are descended from the Angles who came to the island from the province between the Jutes and Saxons, and is said to be uninhabited to this day.

References: Armorica in Wikipedia East Anglia in Wikipedia Ecclesiastical History of the English People by Bede, completed 731 AD, translated by Leo Sherley-Price 1955, revised by R.E. Latham 1965, Penguin Books, 1990. Jutes in Wikipedia King Vortigern in Wikipedia Kingdom of East Saxons in Wikipedia Kingdom of Kent in Wikipedia Mercia in Wikipedia Northumbria in Wikipedia Online Anglo-Saxon Dictionary (home page): Grywas, p.496; Hwiccas p.575; Picts in Wikipedia This page was last updated by Jim Sims on Wed, August 2, 2006 15:53