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A modern recreation of a 7th-century Anglo-Saxon warrior. The period of Anglo-Saxon warfare spans the 5th century AD to the 11th in Anglo-Saxon England.Its technology and tactics resemble those of other European cultural areas of the Early Medieval Period, although the Anglo-Saxons, unlike the Continental Germanic tribes such as the Franks and the Goths, do not appear to have regularly fought ...
Scholarly knowledge of warfare itself relies mostly on literary evidence, which was produced in the Christian context of the late Anglo-Saxon period, [6] from the eighth to the eleventh century. [4] These literary sources are almost entirely authored by Christian clergy, and thus they do not specifically describe weapons or their use in warfare.
The Germanic rulers in early medieval Britain relied upon the infantry supplied by a regional levy, or fyrd [1] and it was upon this system that the military power of the several kingdoms of early Anglo-Saxon England depended. [1] In Anglo-Saxon documents military service might be expressed as fyrd-faru, fyrd-færeld, fyrd-socn, or simply fyrd ...
[2] [3] [4] The raiding continued on and off until the 860s, when instead of raiding the Viking changed their tactics and sent a great army to invade England. This army was described by the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle as a "Great Heathen Army". [5] [6] Alfred defeated the Great Heathen Army at the Battle of Edington in 878.
Anglo-Saxon shield wall against Norman cavalry at the Battle of Hastings (scene from the Bayeux Tapestry).. A shield wall (scieldweall or bordweall in Old English, skjaldborg in Old Norse) is a military formation that was common in ancient and medieval warfare.
The Vikings had taken control of most of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms like Wessex and others by the 870s, which was after the time of the Great Heathen Army that swept the Anglo-Saxon rulers away from power in 865. This army focused not on raiding, but on conquering and settling in Anglo-Saxon Britain, being composed of small bands that were ...
This category includes historical battles in which Anglo-Saxons (5th century–11th century) participated. Please see the category guidelines for more information.
The tactics of the Vikings were to take defensible sites such as royal estates, improve upon the defences, and raid the surrounding land from this base, avoiding confrontations with superior forces. These tactics would work well against the Anglo-Saxons who were unused to the siege warfare required to take these fortified sites, and whose ...