Could You Survive as an Anglo-Saxon Warrior in England?
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 4 มิ.ย. 2024
- In this video, History Hit duo Louee Dessent and Luke Tomes join the Swords of Penda re-enactment group - volunteers who bring the 7th century to life through painstaking research and experimental archaeology - to test their early medieval mettle. Louee fills the shoes of a Saxon Thane - a lord who held his land directly from the king in return for military service in time of war, while Luke discovers what life would have been like for a Churl, the free peasant who formed the basis of society in Anglo-Saxon England.
They explore various aspects of life in Anglo-Saxon England. Covering topics such as society, diet, hygiene, crafts and jewellery-making, cultural changes, medicine and music. The video discusses how the Anglo-Saxon period in England spanned six centuries and marked the arrival of Germanic speaking tribes that formed warlike kingdoms and pushed the native Britons further west. The video explores the different classes of society, from the king and his ealdormen to the thralls who could be bought and sold as property. While wealthier people enjoyed a better standard of living and had better weapons and armour, the risks of disease and infection were a great leveller. The video also discusses remedies and cures used in Anglo-Saxon England for illnesses and injuries, and the importance of music in everyday life. Finally, the video discusses Saxon funeral practices and ritual gatherings called "symbel" where toasts were made drinking mead from a cow's horn.
The Anglo-Saxon period in England spanned six centuries, beginning with the Roman withdrawal from Britain in 410, and ending with William the Conqueror’s victory at the Battle of Hastings in 1066. It was an era that used to be known as the Dark Ages, due to the lack of written sources and remaining physical traces. But more evidence is slowly coming to light.
At first, Germanic-speaking tribes like the Angles, Saxons, Jutes and Frisians began to arrive from the continent in small groups, but they would eventually form warlike kingdoms like East Anglia, Kent, Wessex and Mercia, pushing the native Britons further west. This violent phase of history was also a time of competing religions and cultures; new languages and a new hierarchical system were introduced by the invaders.
Life in Anglo-Saxon England was tough for everyone - famine and disease, not to mention your neighbours, were an ever-present danger, even for the rich and powerful. And it was even harder for those at the very bottom of society - who scratched a living from the land and served at the beck and call of their local lord.
They explore how your place in society would determine how you lived…and how you died… finding out if this really was one of the harshest periods in history. How advanced was Anglo-Saxon medicine? Were Saxon blood feuds real?
The question is, could you survive, as an Anglo-Saxon warrior? Watch this video and comment below! 👇
Thumbnail photo credit: @jmephotoart
Swords of Penda - Children of Loki
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00:00 Introduction
03:56 Anglo-Saxon Food
07:31 Saxon Weapons and Armour
11:13 Blood Feuds
12:24 Combat Training
15:01 Anglo-Saxon Crafting and Jewellery
23:15 Saxon Medicine and Remedies
28:07 Saxon Instruments and Music
33:27 Medieval Battle
35:11 Anglo-Saxon Funeral
37:33 Saxon Feast and Ritual
Comment below what your Anglo-Saxon ritual boast be! 👇
You should do video of the differing ways of life in each of the kingdoms pre viking age.. I think your research may surprise you
I boast that I will spend a night of lustful passion with the very sexy Luke Tomes! 😋
Boast of future deeds? No need.
I slaughtered your ancestors. What is left of you is naught but by-blows of my blood-fuelled lust.
Dark ages is a lie. Stop perpetuating falsehoods. Some of the greatest art and massive scientific advancement happened during that time.
Life in saxon times was hard. Especially if you were a Dane and kept bumping into this Uthred chap
Best comment
Born a Saxon but raised a Dane. He tried help Danes many times.
I can’t see why not, my ancestors did and I’m here today 😊 I wonder how careful soldiers were not to be wounded, no medical for infection and no surgeries except for amputations.
Uthred is a fictional character, but their cousins, the danes (and norse, in general) was very real for the anglo-saxons and probably the greatest cause of their hard times in the (later)* anglo-saxon period where they had forsaken macho Odin and Thor for that queer Jesus character😉
Just for anyone in doubt. I don't believe in any of these "deities" . I believe them to be totally bullshit (Agnostic here). If I should choose one, it would definitely be Jesus because he was the worlds first Socialist, as I am. But in the end, it is all a moot discussion anyway. It's all up to Toby (aka Rowan Atkinson)
* Added by me probably after Mark Morris read and answered my post.
@siggimund Uhtred was real and calling Jesus queer is some weak athiest beta shit🏴
The Anglo-Saxon period, and the Sub-Roman period in the British isles as a whole, is incredibly fascinating to me. The fact that so much happened but so little was written down, adds so much mystery. Seeing how tough it was makes me proud of my Anglo Saxon and Celtic ancestors for surviving through it all.
Love to our anglo-saxon brothers! Greets from a frisian/saxon guy from northern Germany. 🤝💯
I am a native Saxon from Westphalia northwest Germany and I've been many times in England.... Indeed we are very much connected with our common ancestors..... old english which was spoken in England till 1066 (when Sadly the Norman's conquered England) was very similar to our old Saxon language here in the west of Germany.... People from here founded Westsachsen/Kingdom of Wessex.....
This is why it is so easy for English speakers and German speakers to make a good start learning each other's languages. But then the English encounter German grammar 😂👍
I am naively saxophonist from West Philadelphia, Northumbra van Gerwen. And I havent been many times in England eventhough I'm their stoned clogwalkimg liquorice munching neighbour.
@@N3mdrazhave you tried trumpets?
Old English continued to be spoken after 1066, but it simply became the language of the peasant. Norman French was now the language of the elite aristocracy.
Interestingly, even today, almost all of rich elite in England have Norman surnames as opposed to names of Anglo-Saxon origin.
@ConradAinger it's the gendered nouns that catch me off guard. French did the same thing to me 😂
Saxon life was hard, but with such beautiful apothetrixes it was worth getting injured.
The Ivory was in fact traded from the northerners from Walrus tusk. This would've been much more common than Ethiopia within this period.
Love this series. These guys are the best. Keep producing amazing content. The channel will keep growing 😊
These kind of comments make it all worth it. Much appreciated. We're not stopping!
Another cracking educational, enlightening and entertaining video of what life could have been like during the dark ages. Well done everyone. The continuation of the trade lines following the Roman withdrawal was interesting along with the 'locals' shunning the Roman constructions. Many thanks for sharing.
Not so easy to survive, in northern Germany and in Denmark you can try it in stone age, iron age, viking centers.
The way alone from now Germany and Denmark to to English coast isn' t a Sunday sailing trip.
Greets from Anglia/ Angeln in Germany!
I would love to have a go at surviving a weekend in Viking centre.
Have you been, yourself?
Greetings from Australia ! Descended from East anglia now other side of the world
@@redwolf7929 theres a chance we're related or have relatives from the same places! Loads of people here in East Anglia left for the American colonies or were sent to Australia
Greetings from East Anglia in England
Hi from another East Anglian!
Spears only suited for a "high status warrior?" No, spears were common among lower classes for their ease of use and the ease of creating them.
Yeah but u wldnt give them to a slave, that was the point, spears are literally the oldest weapon in the world for a reason u give one to a slave ur gonna need spearmen to kill him if he gets violent bc if u j have a sword or a seax ur kinda fucked
@@vladtheimpaler6 that wasn’t his point at all…
I would go back to saxon life in a heartbeat!
Thanks for so much information packed in and presented in an entertaining way. Hail to the Swords of Penda for keeping the period alive!
Unfortunately 90% of what that group presented was unfounded bollocks. The shield sigils in particular are just fantasy.
I adore the little comedy skits you guys have in these sometimes. The zoom in on Louee's face, "THE WAR HORN...." hahaha brilliant.
I have always been an avid fan of history, predominantly European and Mediterranean from classic Greek times through the Victorian age. I appreciate the work put into this series and if this is how you make a living, where do I sign up?!
The Angles and Saxons shunned Roman buildings because the Romans had built for a much warmer climate, called the Roman Climatic Optimum (250BC to AD 400.)
When climatic temperatures took a downturn, the Romans didn't like living in their Britannic buildings either. They left for warmer regions by AD 410. The Roman empire relied on the agricultural production of a warmer climate, and when warmer climate ended, the empire collapsed. It would not warm up again until AD 750. Its likely that the drop in temperatures after AD 400 caused migrations from northern europe to Britain, and also put pressure on Roman imperial borders on the Continent.
It’s not surprising, rural life was all the Angles and Saxons knew. Rural areas were more resource-rich and better fortified. Plus all the old Roman buildings simply fell into disrepair since there was no longer Roman government and economy to maintain them.
you do realise the roman empire covered some of the most temprate and warm countries right? If you are not able to produce in one province you can import from another province. The empire fell because it couldn't compete with the ever growing germanic tribes, there was very little protections afforded if raiders or armies get past the border guards and legion. Also rome was corrupt to the core before it's fall.
The 'never ending stew' was known as a pot au feu in France, an inn in Perpignan had a pot au feu that had been started in the 1500s and wasn't ended until WW2!
Enjoyed this so much. Thank you! ♥
Gent in the Blue at the beginning is epic.
Who? The guy in the intro battle?
I have an Saxon ancestor, his name was Aella of Northumbria, England.
Life in Saxon times was hard, especially for that bloke trying to chop that log in half on soggy grass.
🤣🤣
I was thinking there'd have been a place at camp for that purpose. But That wasn't it. 🪵🪓
Thank you guys for helping all of us historical fiction authors out! You guys are lifesavers! Eternally grateful.
Absolutely amazing. Massively inspiring and entertaining! I'll never want to stop learning
Very well done and fascinating content. I enjoyed it tremendously.
One of my relatives did, as our family surname (Saxon in origin) literally means mighty/brave spearman.
Same here, from several related families in my tree. Makes you wonder, doesn't it? Those who couldn't cut it often died before being able to reproduce. So if we're here today and these are our ancestors, what does that say about our likelihood of survival, if every single generation before us was successful where their neighbors failed?
Yay! Another awesome Luke and Louee video! (Loukee?) Anyway, thanks so much for another 40 minutes of 'awesomeness'.
Had a good time and learned a lot. Thanks lads.
I love these vids!! So entertaining and educational.
Glad you enjoy it!
This is my favorite history period, thank you
Im from Turkey. I learned so much informations about anglo-saxons. Thanks for it.
Will you guys be at the Battle Of Hastings reenactment this year? I went for the first time last year and it was an amazing event. Lots of living history of both Saxon and Norman as well as the final, narrated clash on the actual battlefield!
When is this on?
@@sorrysirmygunisoneba In October every year as close to the weekend of the anniversary of the battle. This year to reenactment will be o nthe 14th & 15th October if all goes to plan.
The actual battlefield......... Uh huh 😂
Great video guys!🇬🇧
The power ballads were much improved with the inclusion of a lyre solo between the stanzas of minstrel singing.
I absolutely adore this series. Keep them coming! Love 🎉
Really appreciate this Scott. A great new video coming soon!
@@HistoryHit bring it on! God bless 🙏
This was very interesting. Is it possible to do an overview like this about the Bretons or the Irish in that timespan? Keep up the good work. 🤝🏻
Thanks!
Of course it's not possible. They're only interested in what was happening in England throughout history.
66
Interesting video, liked it a lot 👍🏾😃
Another great video Luke and Louis. Keep 'em coming!!
This channel is amazing!
I love the larping in the beginning of the video!
Well done fellas, very enjoyable!
Thank you Nancy! Glad you enjoyed
Good stuff H H ! Thank you.
Loved the Last Kingdom, but was always annoyed by the fact they gave Saxons square shields instead of round ones (presumably to differentiate them from the Vikings).
My mother in the 50s/60s would put onions about when we were ill, She said the onion would absorb the germs.
Well done Louie. You'll make a fine LV1 soldier yet.
I would like to see a Venn diagram showing the crossover between the Swords of Penda re-enactment group and CAMRA membership.
Most enjoyable! I'm always struck by how much Norse culture remains. I myself would be a useless warrior, but I might've got by as a rebec hero/poet/craftsbloke..Nice one guys! 🌟👍
We desperately hang on to the coat tails of central europe and the reality is that we share so much history with the nordic countries. I dont feel particularly close to the spanish to be honest but I do the danes. Might be because I scored highly in nordic dna! I know we are germanic but I do think our Scandinavian roots are too often overlooked.
@@dannygallaghermisc7593 Well that's right. And look at all the words we have.. 'Thrall'.. Norse. 'Thing', as in 'entity' and 'parliament', just 2 out of countless. Shipbuilding methods. (clinker or 'clench nailing').. So much of our history and culture has Scandinavian roots.
@@williamrobinson7435 very true. Im pretty sure slaughter is another and theres a link to the days of the week being named after the god such as Thursday being thor's day but I might be wrong. We both live on islands too! Overall I think they're great, a proud component of our history amongst many others that make us the hybrid Brits we are today 👍
@@dannygallaghermisc7593 It's very easy to tell you're not from the Nordic countries by the simple fact that you want to be a Dane. Not even the Danes want to be Danes.
@@TzunSu get a grip. I never said I was the next ragnar lothbrook. Neither are you irrespective of your dna. All i said was i scored highly in it. Im more Norwegian than danish and as im adopted it matters to me. But what matters most is my British identity. Thats made up of many facets.
Im not trying to be anything its what I am and your comments just look pathetic and infantile. You dont have the monopoly on who is who and what gives people identity get a grip.
If you are danish and dont want to be danish then thats incredibly odd and I dont understand it.
Destiny is all
Great video.
This is great you guys get better and better 😊😊😊
I really enjoyed this omg
This is our history and should be part of the curriculum
Yes, get rid of the Norman (aristocratic) history - the history of the land-thieves - and focus on the history of the true folk of England: the Anglo-Saxons, our forebears.
@@leod-sigefast except Old English is almost foreign, most of the historical records of the Saxon period are dubious at best - absent more commonly, and very few of us have Scandanavian DNA whilst less of us have the "Anglo Saxon" DNA anticipated.
Your comment would go down well with the Victorians however... Where the rest of this ideology belongs.
The truth is evidently in our modern society - a blend of all of them that influenced the others. Without the centralisation efforts of Athelstan or Cnut, William wouldn't have been able to harry the north and without inter-welsh conflict, Edward II wouldn't have been our first "Prince of Wales".
TLDR: our nationality is nothing less than a mongrel mix of many, many other cultures. Brexit was a scam....half our modern language derrives from French.
No more so than Celts, Romans, Danes and Normans. The Angles, Saxons, Jutes and Frissians just arrived in larger numbers and left a greater genetic legacy.
@@leod-sigefast, The "Anglo-Saxon's" were basically Germans.
Well done fellas. Gidday from Australia
Of course I would be able to survive. I probably would have killed 100 people at least and the truth is that I would've probably killed 100,000 if I felt like it. There is no chance anyone would've beat me because I am blessed with such fast movements and elite strength. I can lift two 10 lb dumbbells. I can do it 10 times. It's incredible when you think about how strong I am and then you combine that with my movements. I do a lot of tiktok dances so I am incredibly good at movements. The thing I would've pitied is that I would've probably conquered the world and things would be very different now. It's crazy to think about how much would've changed if I had the opportunity to battle it out.
Love your work 👍
Thanks mate!
Love the Utred reference lol
Couldn't imagine when winter finally struck in those countries in ancient times. Not having insulation like we do now like if you accidentally left your door open you could die in the night fairly quickly. I find that a frightening idea.
Housing made of wood, wattle and daub. was lot better insulator than cold stone buildings.
@@dnstone1127 living in a castle must've sucked
Wall rugs, hot stones for you to keep under your blanket w you etc. There's always a way
Ich mag den "Angelsächsischen Humor"
My ancestors must have survived - I’m here, aren’t I?
I would do this kind of stuff but I live in the US, the closest I could get is revolutionary war reenactments, I am halfway considering getting a continental army or even continental navy replica uniform, I already have a caplock shotgun, yes caplock would be closer to the war of 1812 than the American revolution but they are still pretty similar and much more reliable than a wheellock or a matchlock...
Them talking about saxon weaponry really tells you how terrifying it must have been to have gone up against Byzantine Cataphracts in that period. Only the richest able to afford weaponry that the Eastern Romans could produce as standard. For the average Ceorl it must have been like going up against an Abrams with an AK
Dam that meat and stew looks great
It was!!!
The never ending pot of stew is actually common across many civilisation and cultures.
After a few decades the taste would be impeccable and very rich.
Thank you,
Very good
If your english Scottish Welsh and Irish would it be safe to assume that you are a descendant of ~anglo Saxon Norman Celtic danish? Would that be basically what we are descended from?
Most of wales Ireland and Scotland are of Celtic and slight English decent while the English are about 60/40 Celtic and anglo Saxon with a small amount of Scandinavian ancestry
9:29 That's a nice early medieval period Casio there... 😂
Even the BBC has errors like Richard III with a modern safety pin holding his costume together.
I love to see that you achieved your boast!
I think the trainer was taking it far to seriously against a novice
Nah, he’s showing off the techniques. They already did drills, they need to do some thing more exciting.
a fun watch indeed
They had a sense of community that we have sadly lost. Everyone had a role in society. Life was short and you had no choice but to live in the moment. Tale me back.
Ah, I see someone wants to volunteer to serve his master in the afterlife.
You desire a role in a society? Very well, you shall be my thrall. Fetch me a glass of mead.
@@SirThopas3 As you wish my liege.
The glass was left over from Rome, there was no glass making in the UK untill after the Norman invasion and the building of Canterbury cathedral. We even know the name of the first glassmaker post Roman, he was Lawrence the Glass. A lot of these groups fantasise their history.
They said that in the video. That glass was re-forged a lot. Hence why it was sometimes murky, and clear glass was only affordable for the very wealth y.
@@onii-chandaisuki5710 they couldn't re- forge it. There were no/zero glass melting furnaces in northern Europe after the Romans left until the 11th century. The glassware they showed was medieval not dark ages. This is my subject, it does annoy when supposed history channels promote utter codwallop as history.
Re - forging?????¿ You do not know what you are talking about, do not try to sound knowledgeable when you do not understand.
The Saxons did not blow glass full stop.
@@adders45 I never said I was knowledgeable on Anglo-Saxon glass; all I said is what they said in the video.
Do you have a degree in this field of topic, is such the case?
@@onii-chandaisuki5710 I work with glass melting over forty years, I restored earliest medieval glass and even Roman glass. I lecture upon this subject regularly and have travelled the world doing my research. I am also an avid armature historian and archer.
I have studied glass ware from Saxon burial sites and every piece was of Roman origin, some pieces were nearly 400 years old when they were added to burials. Which is something I highlight in my lectures.
I also have spent time with living history groups, who sadly are very limited with their historical knowledge and tend towards fantasy quite often.
I apologise but this really irks me regarding the glass element as without truth history is invalid.
Myth is one thing and may be based in historical context, but it is not truth.
Anglo Saxon s did import glass beads from the middle east and there even may possibly have been some vessels imported, but nothing has been found to my knowledge to date. The style of middle eastern glass was also totally different from the medieval Germanic glassware these people were displaying on your video. It was far closer to later Venetian glassware from the Renaissance periods.
4:14 you can see peasants using a flail to beat grains which is where the spiked flail orignates from
En-THRALL-ing!
I will never get used to my English ancestors being referred to as 'they' rather than 'we'. I remember that my mum's family used to have a huge pot of stew on the go all day over a fire; the heat of which was used warm the house.
Million subs, here we come!
Probably, since my ancestors were with William 1 in 1066.
soildid video
I’m not sure I would have fared so well. Being a descendant of the Gaelic Kingdom of Dal Riata and being half-Welsh as well as Norse DNA through being a MacLeod (MacLeòid - Son of Liótr). If I was any of my ancestors, we often found ourselves fighting the Saxons.
Apparently, vortigern (forgotten how to spell it) the Romano british administrator left to look after Britain invited the saxons, angles and jutes as mercenaries to fight off the pictish raids. Eventually he couldn't pay, so they took the land. The romano british fled to powys in wales. The anglo saxons called the romano british "Wealhas" which means foreigner, as the Romano british culture was different to germanic and nordic culture. This is how we have come to call it Wales, while the welsh call it Cymru. They call the welsh language Cymraeg and the people Cymry.
The welsh and cornish languages are what i call the 2 lasting original Brittonic languages, and isn't it beautiful.
by the way the presenter looking very much Anglo-Saxon..... as well people here in west Germany and north Germany and Holland...
The helmets are amazing, did they make them themselves?
Yes
In Beowulfr the term spear danes is used over and over
In Roman times the name Saxones (= Saxons) was used for the pirates of the North Sea and the English Channel.
Jim's helmet has strong similarities to a Viking helmet.
It's a fantasy piece, not historical. Theres a lot of that in this group.
The Casio G-Shock at 9:30… 😮😂
I've read a lot of myth and history. There a lot of talk about the lack of written records. I haven't read it, but what about the Anglo-Saxon chronicle? When was it compiled and what does it tell us?
Bede?
Bout as unbiased as the bbc. 😂
Read it and find out. Also try the Life of Alfred, Ecclesiastical History of the English People, and Beowulf.
Rick Bolt is a good dude, very knowledgeable.
P.S. by the way, when I was raiding the Frisian coast I went marauding with a bunch of Danes and in this life my weapon of choice is an axe 🪓 too ✨️ 😊
those early lyres looks pretty and they sound so relaxing , im a lyrist myself and yet, if ur gonna ask me if i'll be willing to swap my lyre to those early lyre, Hell yeah! 😂
Two thoughts:
-Nothing says reenactor like a prominent belly😂❤
-I just couldn't imagine life without potatoes or corn, ancient europeans missed out on the best vegetables there is.
Poor Louee, things whent down hill pretty quickly for Mr Dessent...OFF with his head.
To my knowledge, the title "the dark ages" referred more to the volcanic winter (presumingly a major eruption of Mt. Krakatoa) around 535 and 536, where sunlight was more like some candles in a big room for most of the time and plant life was reduced to the absolute minimum.
A stew made unedible food eatable, as cooking took out the bacteria and fungae, so you could eat even slightly "suspicious" meat... if you had meat...
An army, according to the Saxons was a minimum of 35 armed people. So basically in the fifth century, a single ship could bring an army of Angles, Jutes, Frisians, Swedes or Saxons.
The peasants weren’t allowed to eat meat like what they want to do to us now, history does truly repeat itself
Its only recently became normal to eat so much meat, and its absolutely destroying the planet
I think if I would be transferred to England in the middle ages and get a spider bite, I would not let it be treated. From what I know ni spider bite in the UK causes anything worse than acute pain, but from drinking sheep dung you can die because of an infection, even if it is mixed with ale.
Archeology suggests that shortly after the Anglo-Saxon the Romano-British population of Eastern and Southern Britain ( what the English called the Welsh) largely vanished... Historians still argue about this.
When it's stated 'average life expectancy was 40 and infant mortaility was particularly high', what does this mean? Does it mean the mean human age reached including all the infant deaths is 40, or the median age of death for adults was 40? Those would be two very different things
29:03 Lol thats a SCP Ref to "here be Dragons"
What was the Lifespan I imagine it was short ?