Famous Men of the Middle Ages · Ch. XI · Unit 4: The age of Charlemagne
17. Egbert the Saxon
Goal: Your child can tell how the Angles, Saxons and Jutes came to Britain, the story of Gregory and the Angles, and how England got its name.
You'll need
- The book, open to this chapter
- A map of Europe and the Mediterranean (a free online map or a globe)
- Paper and colored pencils
- Your timeline strip (see the tips at the top)
What's in the book
Chapter XI (802-837 A.D.): the Romans leave Britain in 410. Jutes, Angles and Saxons invade; the Britons, led by King Arthur in the old stories, are pushed west. St. Patrick converts the Irish. The monk Gregory sees Angle slaves in Rome and later, as Pope, sends Augustine to teach them. Seven small kingdoms fight for two hundred years. Egbert flees to Charlemagne, sees him crowned in 800, then comes home to rule and unite the land, which he names Angleland, England.
The lesson, step by step
Set the scene
Find Great Britain and Ireland. Point to Wales and Cornwall in the west, then across the North Sea to the lands the Angles, Saxons and Jutes came from (Germany and Denmark today).
Read the chapter
Read Chapter XI aloud. It begins:
Egbert the Saxon lived at the same time as did Harun-al-Rashid and Charlemagne.
Tell it back
Prompts:
- Who were the Britons, and where were they pushed?
- What did the monk Gregory say when he saw the Angle captives?
- Where did Egbert go when he had to flee?
- Why did Egbert call the country England and not Saxonland?
Legend or history?
SayThe book says the Britons were led by King Arthur and his knights of the Round Table. Arthur is a famous legend. Historians are not sure whether a real Arthur ever lived.
The story of Gregory and the Angles is an old one too, told for over a thousand years.
Remember it
Read Gregory's words:
they would be angels instead of Angles if they were only Christians; for they certainly have the faces of angels.
SayEngland means the land of the Angles.
Talk it over
Ask: Egbert was a Saxon, but he named the country after the Angles to please them. Why might that help keep a kingdom together?
A note for you: historians today give Egbert less credit than the book; England was not lastingly one kingdom until about a hundred years later.
Extra (optional)
Add "410 Romans leave Britain" and "Egbert, 802-837" to the timeline.
Afterwards
Ask: Where does the name England come from? and Who sent Augustine to England?
Tip
Notice the link: Egbert stood in the church in Rome on Christmas Day 800. Chapters in this book often touch each other like this; point it out each time.
Answers to the book's problems
The Britons were the people living in Britain before the Romans; they were driven into Wales and Cornwall and the western mountains. Gregory said they would be angels instead of Angles if they were Christians. He went to the court of Charlemagne. He named it after the Angles to please them and make the different tribes feel like one people.
Worked out for this site from the scan. If a number in your copy differs, trust the book.