Waldemar Januszczak TV - Daniel Defoe - Diarmaid MacCulloch TV - Bettany Hughes - Michael Wood TV - Time Team TV - Sam Newton - BBC News TV - Peter & Dan Snow TV - Francis Pryor TV - Janina Ramirez TV - Julian Richards TV - The British TV - Siege of the Saxons 1963 - Lost Gold of the Dark Ages TV - Neil Faulkner - David Starkey TV - Mysteries of the Bayeau Tapestry TV -
The Sutton Hoo treasure – this is the finest hoard of Anglo-Saxon gold ever dug up in Britain. Waldemar Januszczak, The Dark Ages: An Age of Light IV: The Men of the North, BBC 2012
A treasure made of granite and limestone … the Anglo-Saxon funeral cross. ibid.
Your Roman-Saxon-Danish-Norman English. Daniel Defoe, 1660-1731, The True-Born Englishman, 1701
One of the most persistent ideas about the English is that they descend from northern Europeans ... the Anglo-Saxons. It’s a potent idea ... But how true is it? Professor Diarmaid MacCulloch, How God Made the English III: A White and Christian People? BBC 2012
According to genetic science the roots of the English are not Anglo Saxon but Spanish. ibid.
It was only a matter of time before the Saxons were back on English soil ... The Anglo-Saxons were pagan. Bettany Hughes, Seven Ages of Britain 410 A.D. – 1066 A.D. Channel 4 2003
By the end of the 6th century A.D. what we now call England had been transformed by a wave of Anglo-Saxon immigrants. ibid.
Her name was Hilda and she was the niece of an Anglo-Saxon king ... She championed learning for ordinary people. Professor Bettany Hughes, Divine Women III: War of the Word, BBC 2012
They were the Anglo-Saxons ... These were the ancestors of the English. Michael Wood, The Great British Story: A People’s History 1/8: Britannia, BBC 2012
But from around the year 600 the Anglo-Saxon tribes began to be converted to Christianity by missionaries from Rome and saints from Ireland and the west. ibid.
So Britain in the 8th century was divided between the British peoples and the Anglo-Saxons ... Many tribes and small kingdoms. Michael Wood, The Great British Nation 2/8: A People’s History
England was divided. North of Watling Street – Danelaw; but to the south – Alfred the Great’s Kingdom of the Anglo-Saxons. ibid.
The Anglo-Saxons lived under a kind of apartheid. Michael Wood, The Great British Story: A People’s History 3/8: The Norman Yoke
Somerset: In the winter of 877 the fate of England rested on the shoulders of one man: Alfred. Michael Wood, King Alfred and the Anglo Saxons I: Alfred of Wessex, BBC 2013
Much of the evidence has been destroyed by time and war. ibid.
Alfred: In 853, when Alfred was about five, his father King AEthelwolf of Wessex sent him to Rome. ibid.
The Viking army attacked them on Ashdown – January 871. The site of the Battle of Ashdown has never been found. ibid.
Then Alfred his brother became King of the West Saxons. ibid.
Edington, Wiltshire May 878: at first light he attacked them ... Brutal stuff: toe to toe eyeball to eyeball stabbing and slashing. ibid.
He hoped to rebuild English culture. Or as he would say – restore wisdom. ibid.
AEthelflaed: The Lady of the Mercians … A power of power and high education and intelligence. Michael Wood, King Alfred and the Anglo-Saxons II: The Lady of the Mercians
A history of women as a whole has been erased everywhere. ibid.
The key to her warfare was fortress building. ibid.
AEthelstan: There was peace everywhere and abundance of all things. He was a mighty king worthy of high honour. Michael Wood, King Alfred and the Anglo Saxons III: Aethelstan: The First King of England, BBC 2013
AEthelstan will turn the dream of Alfred the Great into a reality: a kingdom of all the English. ibid.
A kingdom of the Anglo-Saxons … Winchester 899: the last days of Alfred’s life. ibid.
The Staffordshire hoard’s intricate and beautiful artefacts display the skills of Anglo-Saxon goldsmiths at their very best. Time Team: Secrets of the Anglo-Saxon Gold, Channel 4 2012
The Treasury Valuation Committee later priced the hoard at over £3,000,000. ibid.
Sutton Hoo: an undisturbed magnificent royal ship burial and a whole series of spectacular artefacts. ibid.
Garnets weren’t mined in England so where on earth did the Anglo-Saxons get their gem stones? ibid.
A super-school of art, specialising in metal work, particularly gold ... This was truly a golden age. Dr Sam Newton, Anglo Saxon historian
The biggest hoard of Anglo-Saxon gold every discovered has been found in a field in Staffordshire. BBC News, September 2009
A thousands years ago on this patch of land in England two great armies clashed. Over 15,000 soldiers from England and France fought a bloody struggle over one of the greatest prizes in Europe: the throne of England. The battle lasted only one day, but it was to change the face of Britain for ever … A fight to the death between Harold the Saxon and William the Norman, and it led to a cultural revolution in Britain. Peter and Dan Snow, Battlefield Britain: Hastings, BBC 2004
Together with his brothers, Harold ran most of the country. He wasn’t just a politician, he was also a warrior … Harold thought he was the obvious successor to the Throne of England. ibid.
William was outraged: he saw Harold’s coronation as a declaration of war. He decided to invade. ibid.
Horses were at the heart of the Norman battle plan ... William’s 2,000 mounted knights gave him an awesome fighting machine. ibid.
In July 2009 one lucky find lifted the lid on a long lost world: an astonishing treasure-trove of gold and silver hidden in a field in Staffordshire in the Midlands. Dan Snow, Saxon Hoard: A Golden Discovery, BBC 2012
This is the story of the greatest find in generations. ibid.
7th century England, about the time when the Staffordshire Hoard was hidden ... An Anglo-Saxon settlement of the 7th century. A thriving community with more than sixty buildings. ibid.
When the Anglo-Saxons built they used wood ... They didn’t leave too many clues behind them. ibid.
The find of a lifetime ... The true extent of the Hoard soon became clear. ibid.
Late afternoon, Saturday 14th October, the year is 1066 and this is the Battle of Hastings. A vast Norman battleforce is bent on the destruction of Anglo Saxon England. But 1066 was about far more than just one battle. This is the story of three kings, three battles and three invasions. Dan Snow, 1066: A Year to Conquer England I, BBC 2017
Three warriors all lusting for Edward’s Crown and the English throne. ibid.
Harold was well placed and had support … He had no direct blood link with the Crown. ibid.
April 1066: 12 weeks since Harold Godwinson was crowned king of England. Already two powerful warlords are planning to rip the crown from his head. Dan Snow, 1066: A Year to Conquer England II
Tostig is too angry to wait for his new allies; he decides to go it alone. Two weeks later and England is under attack: Friday 5th May 1066 … Landing unopposed, Tostig ran riot on the Isle of Wight. ibid.
York: the ancient Viking capital of England. For Hardrada his first target and a base from which he could conquer the whole country. ibid.
Harold had killed his rival brother – the exiled earl Tostig, ending a bitter family feud. The Viking Harald Hardrada had died a warrior’s death in his bid for immortal glory. Dan Snow, 1066: A Year to Conquer England III
Now, William’s cavalry has the freedom to wreak terror. While on the ground vicious weapons are inflicting terrible carnage on both sides. ibid.
William’s coronation was far from the end of of his fight for control of England. ibid.
A strong society with a unique and lasting culture. The Roman colonisation was supposed to have erased the ancient Britons ... But I don’t believe our ancient culture was overwhelmed as easy as that. Dr Francis Pryor, Britain A.D.: King Arthur’s Britain I, Channel 4 2004
Far from a dark age this was a time of huge creativity and development. ibid.
Arthur is the ultimate commodity, a ready-made hero who has been hijacked by history. ibid.