ARMIES OF ANGLO-SAXON ENGLAND 410-1066: History, Organization and Equipment

1-235480

Provides an overview of Anglo-Saxon military history, narrating the great campaigns, such as those of Alfred the Great of Wessex and Harold Godwinson. Discusses the composition of Anglo-Saxon forces, their tactics, weapons, and equipment, detailing developments across the period. Includes 100 color illustrations.

In the early 5th century, Germanic Angles, Saxons, and Jutes crossed the North Sea in increasing numbers and began settling among the ruins of the former Roman province of Britannia. This led to centuries of warfare as these Anglo-Saxons carved new, independent kingdoms at the point of the sword, fighting the native Britons and each other. From the late eighth century they also had to face the threat of the Vikings, at first as opportunistic raiders but increasingly bent on conquest. The last Viking invasion was defeated by Harold Godwinson at Stamford Bridge but he was defeated in turn by the Normans in that same fatal year of 1066, ending the Anglo-Saxon Age.