Anglo-Saxon
The Angles and Saxons were the Germanic-speaking tribes that invaded Britain after the collapse of the Roman Empire. They were non-Celtic people who inhabited Britain from perhaps as early as the mid-5th century. Since their cultures and societies quickly merged together, they are known as the Anglo-Saxons (or just Saxons when compared to Normans). They are considered ancestral to the contemporary English, so in a sense they can be thought as still living in Britain.
When they began settling in England in the 5th Century, they pushed the original Britons to the west. The decendants of the original Britons became the Welsh and Black Irish.
The Anglo-Saxon language is commonly known as Old English and was the origin of the names of Wessex, Essex, Sussex and East Anglia (think West Saxon, East Saxon, South Saxon).
Your SCA Persona is Anglo-Saxon
- If you lived in England after the Norman conquest you were probably marginalised.
- You wore fairly simple t-tunic clothing, but the details of weaving and decoration might be elaborate if rich. (See these links on Anglo-Saxon clothing for more details.)
- Non-nobles might hope for an apprenticeship as a weaver or embroiderer (male or female) as they were were esteemed across Europe.
- If you were a non-noble woman, you might have with a distaff and drop spindle for your [household]] or to earn extra income.
