Come on @GerardBattenMEP, there's a strong case for the Romans & Normans invading, but there's way, way too much evidence to suggest that Saxon & Viking settlement in England was gradual and not always a case of violent displacement. 
If you look at the historical record & talk to archaeologists, @GerardBattenMEP, you might begin to see evidence of gradual Saxon arrival - production of multiple styles of pottery within sites, graves of 'Britons' alongside 'Saxons' (distinguished by grave goods).
'Islands' of place names with Saxon & Viking derivations help indicate that there was no great single surge.
The distribution of names you sometimes see - Celt for natural features, Saxon (and Viking) for manors & trading places show us populations weren't suddenly displaced.
The distribution of names you sometimes see - Celt for natural features, Saxon (and Viking) for manors & trading places show us populations weren't suddenly displaced.
Yeah, we've got this mental picture from Bede of Vikings storming ashore to raid & plunder, as they did in Lindisfarne in 793, @GerardBattenMEP, but smash & grab raids do not an invasion make - and mass graves show the Saxons often dealt with them harshly.
'Ah', you say, '...but what about the Great Heathen Army'? Yeah - kinda ~invadey~.
It's not as simple as that though. Temporary alliances with Saxons, motives for the attack, multiple targets...
Don't know whether they'd consider it invasion, or reprisal.
It's not as simple as that though. Temporary alliances with Saxons, motives for the attack, multiple targets...
Don't know whether they'd consider it invasion, or reprisal.
Again, Viking settlement, even across the Danelaw as a consequence of the Great Heathen Army, was patchy. In many areas, Saxons & Vikings lived side by side.
You can see it looking at the map. I used to live in Great Yarmouth, in the middle of a cluster of Viking place names.
You can see it looking at the map. I used to live in Great Yarmouth, in the middle of a cluster of Viking place names.
What I'm trying to say is that your picture of English history, outside of maybe the Romans & Normans, is damn skewed, either by ignorance or design.
For every warband that burned down a burh & fled with some gold, other settlers migrated, settled and became part of our story.
For every warband that burned down a burh & fled with some gold, other settlers migrated, settled and became part of our story.
Please don't talk down the work our education system does, @GerardBattenMEP. You can talk bollocks about 'cultural marxism' to crowds of red-faced white blokes all day, but teaching history properly demands we observe the nuances in the evidence.
I'm not even trying to do my 'hugs & naan' routine here, @GerardBattenMEP, I just expect more from elected officials and politicians when it comes to responsibly talking about the past.
PS. Here's a Nithing Pole. A token of my esteem.
