AD 410-1066 Early medieval

The first 200 or so years of this period are sometimes called the ‘Dark Ages’, because few contemporary written records exist. Much of what we know is due to archaeology and therefore many events of the period are only partially understood. However we do know that Britain underwent several dramatic cultural changes as a result of a succession of invaders.

The Roman legions left Britain in around AD 410, leaving the island vulnerable to attack. The British tribal kingdoms were not strong enough to prevent the incoming migration of Germanic tribes from across the North Sea. These people, known as the Anglo-Saxons, first settled throughout southern and eastern England, 'absorbing' the local inhabitants. Rule by native British leaders became confined to the west. In Scotland, the Picts fought a series of wars against the Scotti, inhabitants of the west coast who were linked with Ireland.

In the 9th and 10th centuries, the kingdoms of Scotland and England developed as a result of the union of a number of small independent kingdoms. The Anglo-Saxons had united to fight the threat of Viking invasion, but attacks eventually led to a division of rule between them and the Danes which continued until 1042. In 1066 the Norman invasion brought an end to Anglo-Saxon rule in England.