Pre-Norman England: Foundations to the Conquest

A collection of vocabulary terms exploring the history of Pre-Norman England, from the end of Roman Britain through the Viking era to the Battle of Hastings.

Emperor Honorius

The Roman Emperor who in 410 AD sent a letter telling the Britons to "look to their own defenses," marking the end of Roman rule.

Hadrian’s Wall

A massive stone wall built in the 2nd century as the northernmost frontier of the Roman Empire to keep out tribes from modern-day Scotland.

Angles, Saxons, and Jutes

The three Germanic tribes that arrived in Britain after the Romans left, bringing the language that became the basis for English.

The Heptarchy

The "Seven Kingdoms" (Northumbria, Mercia, East Anglia, Essex, Kent, Sussex, and Wessex) that dominated England before unification.

Sutton Hoo

A spectacular ship burial discovered in 1939, believed to be the final resting place of Raedwald, King of the East Angles.

St. Augustine

The individual sent by the Pope to Canterbury in 597 AD to begin the conversion of Anglo-Saxon settlers from Paganism to Christianity.

The Venerable Bede

A monk from Jarrow known as the "Father of English History" who wrote the Ecclesiastical History of the English People in 731 AD.

Angeln

The region in Germany that was the original homeland of the Angles and gave the country the name Englaland.

The Witan

Short for Witenagemot, this was a council of high-ranking nobles and clergy who advised the king and had the power to elect new monarchs.

Lindisfarne

The "Holy Island" monastery where a brutal raid in 793 AD marked the official start of the Viking Age in England.

The Great Heathen Army

A massive coalition of Viking warriors that landed in 865 AD with the intent of total conquest rather than small raids.

Danegeld

A specialized tax meaning "Danish gold" raised by English kings to pay off Viking invaders to leave the land in peace.

Battle of Edington

The 878 AD turning point where Alfred the Great defeated the Viking leader Guthrum, forcing his conversion to Christianity.

The Danelaw

The northern and eastern parts of England where Viking laws and customs were officially recognized by treaty.

Jorvik

The Viking name for York, which served as a thriving center of international trade under Scandinavian rule.

The Burhs

A system of fortified towns created by Alfred the Great; no person in Wessex was more than 20 miles away from one.

Athelstan

The grandson of Alfred who conquered Viking-held York in 927 AD and became the first recognized King of all England.

Old Norse

The language of the Vikings which contributed words such as "sky," "window," and "egg" to the English language.

Beowulf

The oldest surviving epic poem in Old English, featuring a hero who slays the monster Grendel and a dragon.

Wergild

Known as "Man-Price," a legal system where every person had a specific value to be paid in case of injury or death.

Thanes

The aristocratic warrior class in Anglo-Saxon society who held land directly from the king.

Ceorls

Free peasants who farmed the land in the Anglo-Saxon social hierarchy.

Runes

The angular alphabet used by Anglo-Saxons for inscriptions on stone and wood before the arrival of the Latin alphabet.

The Mead Hall

The social heart of the community where the Lord and his warriors ate, drank, and listened to poets.

The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle

A year-by-year record of events and the most important primary source for English history between the 9th and 12th centuries.

Interlace Art

An Anglo-Saxon artistic style characterized by complex "animal style" and knot-work patterns of twisting snakes and birds.

King Canute (Cnut)

A Danish prince who became King of England in 1016 and managed a "North Sea Empire" including Denmark and Norway.

Edward the Confessor

A deeply religious king who died in January 1066 without an heir, leading to a major succession crisis.

Harold Godwinson

The Earl of Wessex and the last crowned Anglo-Saxon king who died defending his kingdom in 1066.

William of Normandy

The cousin of Edward the Confessor who claimed the English throne by right of blood link.

Stamford Bridge

The September 1066 battle where Harold Godwinson destroyed the last great Viking invasion led by Harald Hardrada.

The Fyrd

The national militia composed of free farmers called to fight during times of war.

Housecarls

The professional bodyguards who fought alongside the national militia (the Fyrd).

Bayeux Tapestry

A 70-meter long embroidery that visually depicts the story of the Norman Conquest from 1064 to 1066.

The Shield Wall

A primary defensive tactic where soldiers stood shoulder-to-shoulder with overlapping shields.

October 14, 1066

The date of the Battle of Hastings, where the Norman-French army defeated the English.

Julius Caesar

The Roman leader who conducted the first military expeditions to Britain in 55 and 54 BC.

Boudica

The Queen of the Iceni tribe who led a massive uprising against Roman rule in 60 AD.

Dark Ages

A term for the early Anglo-Saxon period referring to the relative lack of written records compared to the Roman era.

The Shire

An administrative division of the kingdom overseen by a Shire-Reeve (Sheriff).

Offa’s Dyke

A 176-mile earthwork built by King Offa of Mercia to mark the boundary and keep out the Welsh.

The Penny

A silver coin introduced by King Offa that remained the basic unit of English currency for over a thousand years.

Ruthwell Cross

An 18-foot stone cross in Scotland featuring runic inscriptions of the poem "The Dream of the Rood."