Anglo-Saxon is the term usually used to describe the peoples living in the south and east of Great Britain from the early 5th century AD to the Norman conquest of 1066.[1] Benedictine monk Bede identified them as the descendants of three Germanic tribes: the Angles, the Saxons, and the Jutes, from the Jutland peninsula and Lower Saxony (German: Niedersachsen, Germany). The Angles may have come from Angeln, and Bede wrote their nation came to Britain, leaving their land empty. [2] They spoke closely related Germanic dialects. The Anglo-Saxons knew themselves as the "Englisc," from which the word "English" derives.
Place names seem to show that smaller numbers of some other German peoples came over: Frisians at Fresham, Freston, and Friston; Flemings at Flempton and Flimby; Swabians at Swaffham; perhaps Franks at Frankton and Frankley.
The subject of the unity of England is a hotly debated topic in the study of Anglo-Saxon history. It is debated whether efforts at unity lay with the earlier kings such as Offa of Mercia (reigned 757-796) and Alfred the Great (reigned 871–899) or with the later kings such as Ethelred the Unready (reigned 978-1016). The current paradigm of historical thought places particular importance on the reign of king Athelstan (reigned 924-937) whose reign is noted by his successes in expanding and maintaining the political and territorial unity created by his grandfather, Alfred the Great, receiving the submissions of the various sub-kings of Britain, and the reclaiming of northern Britain from the Scandinavians. However, it has been pointed out that the last Norweigan king, Eric Bloodaxe, was not expelled from York until 954 by king Edred (reigned 946-955). The debate continues.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglo-Saxon_architecture
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglo-Saxon_dress
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglo-Saxon_Military
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglo-Saxons
Kalra
