Everything has its beginning

of the English Nation

as Britain and the people who lived there were the

Britons. There were no big towns on the British Isles at that time. People lived in small villages along the rivers or near the sea. The Britons caught fish, grew wheat and had many pigs, cows and sheep. Later they learned to make things of wool and metal and sold them to the people who came across the sea.

The Britons

long time. The Germanic tribes from Western Europe-the Angles, Saxons

and Jutes—attacked the coasts of Вritain and after long wars with the Britons settled on the British Isles. They took houses, fields and cattle from the Britons. The Britons went to the mountains in the west of the Isles and settled there. This part of Britain is called Wales now.

The Celts
The Celts originally lived in Austria (700 BC). The

first Celts occupied the western island (now Ireland) and the northern area of the main island (now Scotland) in about 500 BC. They were from Gaul which is now France. Another group of Celts invaded and settled on the main island. They were called the Bretons (or Brythons). Later, this group of islands was called the ‘British Isles.

language, religion, and culture. They were warriors, living for battles.

They brought iron working to the British Isles.

Angles came either from Angeln (now Schleswig-Holstein), or from Denmark.

The Angles occupied the central part of southern Britain and the northern and eastern coasts. The Angles got most of the land and became the strongest tribe. They founded the kingdoms of Mercia, Northumbria and East Anglia. These territories were called Engla land, or Angle land, from which the name England came.

Saxons participated in the Germanic settlement of Britain during and

after the 5th century. The Saxons came from Germany. They settled along the south coast and on both banks on the Thames. They were warlike people. The word 'Saxon' derives from the word 'Sax', meaning a variety of one-edged sword.

went on the two peoples - the Angles and the

Saxons - grew into one and were called Anglo-Saxons. They called their speech English, and their country England - that is, the Land of the English. The Anglo-Saxons formed many kingdoms-Kent, Essex, Wessex, which now are counties of Great Britain.

were at war with one another. The stronger kings took

the land from the smaller kingdoms .

The Jutes
The Jutes were a Germanic tribe who originated from

Denmark and South Jutland. The Jutes sailed across the North Sea and settled in the south of England in about 450. They also conquered the Isle of Wight and the opposite coast of Hampshire in the early 6th century. Large numbers of Jutes lived in the New Forest in Hampshire and until the 11th century it was known as Ytene (of the Jutes).

Normans came to England from the area called Normandy in

1066. The Normans were by origin a Scandinavian tribe. A few centuries before the Norman Conquest of England, these people (as then Vikings) lived in the northern coast of Europe. They brought the French language and French culture to the British Isles.

origin from the Celts, the Angles, the Britons, the Saxons,

the Jutes and the Normans. Their settlement of Britain is the beginning of the history of the English Nation.