‘Could You Survive as an Anglo-Saxon Warrior?’
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.
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, whilst 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 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
source
Comment below what your Anglo-Saxon ritual boast be! 👇
Apart from some different helmets they look pretty much like the scandinavians who invaded them later.
Saxon life was hard, but with such beautiful apothetrixes it was worth getting injured.
Could I survive as an Anglo-Saxon warrior?
No.
But, based on people’s life expectancies then, I probably would have died of the bloody flux decades ago, so I’d be out of the fight, anyway.
Very few people in the Dark and Middle Ages were as fat as most people are now. I suppose weight control is the hardest part of historical re-enacting.
I absolutely adore this series. Keep them coming! Love 🎉
Those gloves at 8:04, did saxons play hockey?
NO
a fun watch indeed
I would survive but as a celtic warrior
We still have blood feuds in England.
Try living on a council estate for a few generations
Well am still here so the answer to the vids question is yes?😂.
Well I am sure I had one Angle ancestor amongst the rest😉(they should let me join the renacters as his name was Titta from Mercia).
"these people", we still exist today lol?
Unbelievable warriors Anglo Saxons, jutes
Love this series. These guys are the best. Keep producing amazing content. The channel will keep growing 😊
Well yes I do think i would survive. At least for a good while. Ive survived being thrown from a moving car, being shot, stabbed, slashed & more. I train HEMA, Karate, Judo as well as a few lesser known arts. I can also bushcraft, hunt fish & i grew on a farm. I can ride horses, i can forge plus i have modern medical knowledge & i can speak languages they would understand. Puts me in a far better position than most modern people would be in if by some crazy circumstance that we wound up in the Anglo saxon period.
Any time the medieval period is represented people seem to think they walked around in armour all day. If they weren't going to battle they would be in comfy clothing not sat around in heavy mail and padded gambisons and so on.
The helmets are amazing, did they make them themselves?
🫡
My mother in the 50s/60s would put onions about when we were ill, She said the onion would absorb the germs.
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.
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.
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.
Anglo saxons vs the great Lambakarna dynasty of Anuradhapura kingdom(sri lanka) who would win in a war, saxons would probably have to face a army with thousands of armored war elephants and war chariots, so how that would go for saxon army
Idk. 5'11, over 300lbs. Can deadlift 600lbs. Naturally aggressive and "intense" without my depression meds. Former chef who can cook/eat anything. I think I'd be ok.
Not dead yet so, I guess I can
As soon as he hit that goat skin drum I thought I was in the mines of moria
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?
If one barely was able to survive as a Saxon churl or a thrall what makes you believe a warrior could survive?
Another great video Luke and Louis. Keep 'em coming!!
Wow!.. You guys really take your channel seriously when one of you sacrifices yourselves for an excellent video!!👍
no
Great informative video as usual. Could we a get a sort of inverse with this with Normans?
37.19 Wasn't that believed to be a burial of a woman with a cow? Possibly she was a milk maid?
You would have to be well armed with metal swords and armor.
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. 🤝🏻
In that era, except for people with relatively high status, other people had to share a table knife with several people, and we know that the table fork was brought to Italy by the Byzantines and then spread in Europe,So Europeans basically ate with their hands at that time.
To the gentle Eastern Romans or Greeks they were indeed barbarians.
5:47 As if he implied they were morale vegetarians 😂 Well answered by the lady 😂