Anglo-saxons (History- Night Shift)

Anglo-Saxons – Government and Society

THE WITAN
• During the 8th century, the Saxons created some institutions. One of these was the king’s council called THE WITAN. The Witan probably grew out of informal groups of senior warriors or churchman to whom the kings asked for advice or support on difficult matters.
• By the 10th century, the Witan was already a formal body issuing laws and charters (estatutos) but was not democratic at all since the king could decide to ignore the Witan´s advice. However, he knew that without the support of the Witan his authority was in danger because the Witan had the right to choose kings and to agree the use of the king’s laws.
• The system of the Witan remained as part of the system of government till these days, since at present the queen or king has a Privy Council, a group of advisers on the affairs of state.

THE SHIRES
• By the end of the 10th century the Saxons divide the land and established the SHIRES (Saxon word for the Norman word county). These shires were administrative areas over each of which a Shire Reeve, a king´s administrator, was appointed. Later it would be called the sheriff.

THE ORIGINS OF THE MANORIAL SYSTEM

• At the end of the 10th century, a technological change in the Saxon’s agriculture system altered the land ownership and organization.
• The Saxons introduce a PLOUGH far heavier than that of the Celts. It was particularly useful for cultivating heavier soils, but it required a team of 6 or 8 oxen to pull it and it was difficult to turn as well.
• In order to make best use of village land this was divided into 2 o 3 very large fields, and these were divided again into LONG THIN TRIPS. Each family had a “holding” of almost 20 acres. Ploughing these long straight strips was easier because avoided the problem of turning, and since few families could afford a whole team of oxen, they had to cooperate with each other.

• Each field was used for different purposes at each time: one of them for planting spring crops, another for autumn crops, a third field would be left to rest for a year and the rest of the areas, after harvest, would be used as common areas for animals to feed on.
This system was the origin of CROP ROTATION or CROP SEQUENCING, one of the main methods in use in agriculture nowadays which has several advantages:
o Avoids a decrease in soil fertility as growing the same crop repeatedly in the same place eventually depletes the soil of various nutrients.
o Farmers can keep their fields under continuous production
o Reduces the need for artificial fertilizers since rotating crops adds nutrients to the soil.
o Is also used to control pests and diseases since plants within the same taxonomic family tend to have similar pests and pathogens.

• In each district it was a MANOR OR LARGE HOUSE, a building were villagers went to pay taxes, were justice was administered and where men met to join the Anglo-Saxon army, the fyrd.
o This fyrd was called out and led by the sheriff and was integrated by every able-bodied free male. There were fines for neglecting the fyrd which varied according to the status of the individual: landholders received the heaviest fines and common laborers the lightest. So, we can see they were not very democratic but they had a well sense of social justice.

• The lord of the manor had to organize all this and make sure village land was properly shared. This was the beginning of the manorial system which reached its fullest development under the Normans.
• The class system was made up of KING – LORDS- SOLDIERS- WORKERS OF THE LAND and later, the MAN OF LEARNING who came from the Christian Church.




Christianity:
• The Anglo Saxons belonged to an older Germanic religion.
• In 597 Pope GREGORY THE GREAT sent the monk AUGUSTINE, to re-establish Christianity in England
• According to the “Ecclesiastical History of the English People" written by the monk and historian BEDE, THE VENERABLE, Augustine and his companions landed on the Isle of Thanet, at the east of KENT.
o At the beginning, ETHELBERT, the king of Kent ordered them to stay in that island until he decided what to do with them; apparently he was afraid that these men practiced some kind of magical art.
o Some days later, the king went to the island and he listened to Augustine´s prayers about the Lord and the eternal salvation. After hearing all this, Ethelbert, whose queen was already a Christian herself, said to Augustine that his words were fair enough but that they were new and uncertain for him and that he could not approve them and forsake all in he had believed till then.
o However, Ethelbert said that he would allow them to stay in Canterbury, the metropolis of his dominions; that he would supply them with the necessary sustenance; and that he would not prevent them from preaching their religion.
o Agustin was very successful and within a year almost 10.000 of the king’s subjects, and the king himself, underwent baptism.
o Ethelbert became the first Anglo-Saxon king to convert to Christianity.
• But the problem of Augustine arose with ordinary people since they were reluctant to the rules of the new faith.
o Here is where Celtic Church comes into action. Celtic bishops started to walk from village to village teaching Christianity and they were immediately accepted by Anglo-Saxons despite their differences.
o The reason was that CELTIC CHURCH was more interested in the hearts of ordinary people while ROMAN CHURCH was interested in authority and organization.
• The competition between the Celtic and Roman Churches reached a crisis because they disagreed over the date of Easter.
• Bede wrote about this disagreement as well: apparently, after years of controversy it was agreed that a synod (a meeting) should be held where the difficulty might be settled.
• In 663 at the SYNOD (MEETING) OF WHITBY the king OSWIU OF NORTHUMBRIA decided to support Roman rather than Celtic practices.
• Since that moment Rome extended its authority over all Christians, even in the Celtic areas.
• Saxon kings helped the church to grow but the church also increased the power of the kings by giving them its support which made it harder for royal power to be questioned since kings had “GOD`S APPROVAL”. This was very important especially in terms of royal succession. For example, when KING OFFA arranged for his son to be crowned as his successor he made sure that this was done at a Christian ceremony led by a bishop, which suggested that his son was chosen not only by people but also by God.
• A lot of MONASTERIES, or minsters, where established. These were places for education in which men were trained to read and write so they had the necessary skills for the growth of royal and church authority.
• ALFRED, the king who ruled Wessex from 871-99 was the one who made most use of these literate men of church to help establish a system of law, to educate the people and to write down important matters. He started the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, a collection of early English history which together with the work of Bede was the most important written records regarding British history of that time.
• Those who could READ AND WRITE became more powerful and this increased the DIVISION OF CLASSES.
o Landlords who had been given land by the king were empowered because their names were written down.
o On the other hand, peasants who could neither read nor write could lose their traditional rights on their land only because there was not written register.
• Villages and towns grew around the monasteries, and local trade was enlarged. Many bishops and monks from France and Germany were invited by English rulers who whished to benefit from economic contact with Europe since these bishops used Latin, the written language of Rome.
• Anglo-Saxon England became well known in Europe for its EXPORTS of woollen goods, cheese, hunting dogs, pottery, and metal goods. And imported wine, fish, pepper, jewellery and wheel made pottery.