Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley door pickup 10am - 7pm 3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
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  • Open Daily: 10am - 10pm
    Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm

    3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
    612-822-4611

Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm
3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611
The Coming of the Saxons: Adventus Saxonum

The Coming of the Saxons: Adventus Saxonum

Sullivan, Tony

Hardcover

Medieval & Renaissance HistoryAncient RomeGeneral Military History

Publisher Price: $34.95

ISBN10: 1036103099
ISBN13: 9781036103095
Publisher: Pen and Sword History
Published: Nov 30 2025
Pages: 208
Weight: 1.15
Height: 0.95 Width: 6.07 Depth: 9.30
Language: English
Examines the pivotal fifth-century arrival of Saxon mercenaries and its impact on Britain's transition from Roman rule.

Around the mid-fifth century three Saxon keels cut through the waves towards the southern coast of Britain. They were not the first Germanic warriors or migrants to arrive since direct Roman authority had ended in the early fifth century and would not be the last. Yet the arrival of these particular warriors would prove to be a turning point in the history of these islands.

The literary sources that survive point to the arrival of these mercenaries and their subsequent revolt as the pivotal event rather any invasion or mass migration. There have been many books on the Anglo-Saxons. Those that touch on the first arrivals deal only briefly with the fifth and sixth centuries due to the lack of historical records.

This book is unique in focusing on the events mentioned by the sources such as Gildas and Bede. It will show that the former Roman Diocese limped on outside direct Roman rule for a generation, beset by constant raiding from Picts and Scots in the north and Saxons and other Germanic pirates in the south.

It will look at Roman practices of hiring and settling mercenaries and Germanic groups across the empire. A comparison with these will provide important clues, as well as understanding how and why the diocese and provincial structure fell apart, allowing petty kingdoms to emerge in the sixth century.

The subsequent centuries have been termed the Anglo-Saxon period. This book goes back to the very beginning, the adventus Saxonum: The Coming of the Saxons.

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