Where can I find out about Anglo-Saxon English culture?

Question

I have to write a report about the lifestyles of English people before the Norman conquest in 1066. Aspects like customs, religion and political organizations such as towns and stuff are things I need to know about.

Answer 1

The challenge to answering your question is understanding the depth and the type of information you are seeking. Most of the information easily available on the net is rather superficial and significant data is available but usually in written form or for a fee through the net. For example, the Annual Bulletin of Historical Literature, is an excellent ‘on-line’ source but there is a subscription fee to access these research papers.

If you could lay your hands on a copy of the works (specifically, ‘Feudalism: Its Frankish Birth and English Development) of William Stubbs I’m sure that it would provide much of what you are seeking.

Other sources could be:
• P.H. Saywer, Anglo-Saxon Charters: an Annotated List and Bibliography, (London, 1968)
• N. Brooks, 'Anglo-Saxon Charters: the Work of the Last Twenty Years', Anglo-Saxon England, 3, (1974)
• S.E. Kelly, 'Anglo-Saxon Lay Society and the Written Word', The Uses of Literacy in Early Mediaeval Europe. ed. R. McKitterick, (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990)
• Simon Keynes, 'Charters and Writs' in The Blackwell Encyclopaedia of Anglo-Saxon England, (Oxford: Blackwell, 1999)
• Simon Keynes, secretary, Anglo-Saxon Charters series (British Academy) British Academy Review, 1998
• Joint Committee on Anglo-Saxon Charters website

Although it has multiple links to actual sources, a net site that may help is:
• Anglo-Saxons.net Charters Searchable database of Anglo-Saxon Charters

In particular (when using this link) take the link ‘what’s elsewhere’. That will open several optional links and one of those (under, ‘Other links of interest’) is ‘Online Reference Book for Medieval Studies’ which will open many links from which your searches will likely pull-up much of what you seek.
It is important to keep in mind that the cultures of that time (even though there were varying social systems due to time and places) were based in ownership of land as the basis of authority. You can (in general) chart this from the time of Clovis, the Frankish King, who died in 511 CE but major evolution began to occur with the advent of Charles Martel and his son Pepin the Short (dying in 768) and the building of the kingdom from which Charlemagne built his empire. What I’m suggesting is that you report within the concept of land ownership as the foundation structure of all society of those times.

In any case, do not expect to find all you want in a single site and finding all that you want through the net will be difficult. For example, there is not a single type of English village from those times. The forests were large and the common people didn’t travel far from their home village due to multiple dangers. Each village was somewhat unique due to the existing capabilities within the village. Very often going from one village to another in England would result in differing versions of the language. So too was Celtic and Saxon Village laws (somewhat different from village to village) but these were the foundations of what in later years would become the foundation of Old English Common Law. These laws were within the culture of the people as is provable by the fact that the Norman control (beginning in 1066 CE) came to naught as these Common Laws began to reassert themselves with the first great charter (1215 CE).

Answer 2

No, it's an entirely untrue stereotype. It's true that the English *language* is an Anglo-Saxon one: however, much of the population of England, particularly towards the west, is of pre-Saxon Celtic origin. Similarly, the Scots are by no means all Celtic, because the Anglo-Saxons also settled extensively in southern and eastern Scotland - the Scots tongue is an Anglo-Saxon language too. Plus, all coastal areas of Britain were heavily settled by Vikings from Scandinavia, and both Scotland and England in the Middle Ages had a large Norman ruling class, and extensive immigration from Flanders. Basically, there isn't a lot to choose between the Scots and the English as far as genetic origin is concerned.

Answer 3

Well you go onto google
you type in "Anglo-Saxon English Culture"
and i guarentee you will be content with the number of links popping up all over the place for you..

Good luck with your report

Answer 4

wikipedia it, and heres a fun fact. The name 'england' was originally 'anglo land', then it changed to 'angland', then to 'england'.