Chris Trottieratomicpoet@atomicpoet.org
Apr 23, 2026, 12:43 AMWhen actually studying the history of the Britain, it is easy to cast all blame on the Anglo-Saxons as the singular villains.
But is that actually fair? The truth is… it’s complicated.
At times, the Anglo-Saxons were undoubtedly the aggressors and did all the bad things that befits their reputation. Other times, they were the victims of other groups.
And because Anglo-Saxons were never one singular people, but instead a collection of Germanic tribes—one which only had political unity for 139 years—they often brutalized each other.
What I find interesting is that, for nearly 1,000 years, the English monarchy hasn’t actually been Anglo-Saxon. The last true Anglo-Saxon king was Harold Godwinson.
Afterwards, English monarchs were a whole lot of other people: Normans, Angevins, Welsh, Scots, Dutch, Germans. Never Anglo-Saxons.
But is that actually fair? The truth is… it’s complicated.
At times, the Anglo-Saxons were undoubtedly the aggressors and did all the bad things that befits their reputation. Other times, they were the victims of other groups.
And because Anglo-Saxons were never one singular people, but instead a collection of Germanic tribes—one which only had political unity for 139 years—they often brutalized each other.
What I find interesting is that, for nearly 1,000 years, the English monarchy hasn’t actually been Anglo-Saxon. The last true Anglo-Saxon king was Harold Godwinson.
Afterwards, English monarchs were a whole lot of other people: Normans, Angevins, Welsh, Scots, Dutch, Germans. Never Anglo-Saxons.
