How to Relay the History of the Conflict Between the Britons and the Saxons

The Saxons invasion of Britain helped to shape English history.

When the Romans began to leave Britain in 400 A.D., neighboring tribes that had previously been driven back by the Roman army began immigrating to the British Isles en masse. The Germanic people of Northern Europe, known as Saxons, were some of the fiercest tribes fighting to secure lands in southern Britain. Termed invaders by some and settlers by others, the Saxons migration to Britain helped shape the country's future. Through a combined use of primary sources and historical texts, teaching about the conflict between the Britons and the Saxons can be an engaging lesson for the classroom.

Instructions

1. Create a lesson plans that outlines the learning objectives you want to teach your students. While some Saxons were determined to conquer most of Britain, others were small families looking to start a new life in lands more fertile than their native soil. Be sure to represent both sides of the Saxon migration to Britain when teaching the subject to your students.

2. Select two or three primary sources that compliment your lesson plan and learning objectives. Primary sources can be drawings, tapestries or written accounts that originated from that period of history. The Venerable Bede, who became known as the "Father of English History," wrote about the Saxon invasion of Britain in his eight-century work "The Ecclesiastical History of the English People," and would be a good choice from which to pull a primary source.

3. Ask your students to draw on their prior knowledge about the subject when interpreting each primary source. Ask them to determine who created the primary source, when it was created and what biases may have influenced the creator of the source. Determining the historical context of a primary source allows your students to gain further perspective as to how a source should be interpreted.

4. Compare the primary sources with the information contained in secondary sources such as text books. Determine if your students see any differences in perspective when comparing the sources. Ask your students if their perspective of events changed after comparing the two sources, and if so, why?

5. Ask your students to form their own opinions about whether they see the Saxons as invaders or unwelcome settlers forced to defend their territory. Once your students have drawn their conclusions, ask if they see any parallels to how English settlers may have been viewed by the indigenous tribes of North America. Use this as an opportunity to discuss how important perspective can be when interpreting history.

Tips & Warnings

• The Princeton Library's website offers links to historical websites containing primary sources that can be used in the classroom.

References

• Library of Congress: Using Primary Sources
• BBC Schools; Primary History: Anglo-Saxons Invasion and Settlement
• Vortigern Studies: Questing for the Historical Arthur, King of Britons

Resources

• Princeton: History Web Sites