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The Saxon Invaders
The Saxon Invaders; Part 5

The Saxon Invaders; Part 5

Tacitus tells us that the Germans had no kings; but even if some bands of Saxons were without kings when they settled in England, it is certain that kings very soon became general. The title King (Cyning), which is probably connected with " kin ", shows us that the man stood as the head of his race or kindred. His chief duty was at first to lead the people in war, and accordingly no child could make an efficient king. Hence the office was not strictly hereditary. When a king died, if his eldest son was of sufficient age and a suitable man he would be made king to succeed his father; but if not, some capable man who was "kin" to the late ruler would be chosen. A brother was often made king instead of a son. For example, Alfred himself was not the direct heir. His elder brother Ethelred left sons, but Alfred was put on the throne in preference.

Kings, once made, rapidly acquired great power. One cause lay in the union of the smaller kingdoms, till at last all England came under the sway of one house, the Kings of Wessex. Another source of strength, however, came from the " Gesiths". When there was need the whole mass of the people turned out to fight; a general levy of this kind was called the "Fyrd". But besides the "fyrd" there was a special set of men, the "gesiths", who bound themselves by an oath to fight for the chief. They were his war band, his bodyguard; he was their lord, their bread-giver; they dwelt in his hall, shared his booty, and lived on food of his giving. To the "fyrd" war was an occasional necessity, to the "gesith" it was the business of life. As the chiefs became kings, the "gesiths" also grew more powerful. They were called by a new name - "thegns"; they formed a sort of nobility, not of birth, but of service; and speedily became more important than the athelings (descendants of the royal blood) and eorls (men of noble birth). They held places in the Witan; they were the king's councillors; they held grants of king's land; and just as the king, by growing in power, had raised their position, so they in their turn helped to exalt the position of the king.

Summing up these matters in more technical terms: the Saxons were a people with strong ideas of liberty and a dislike of absolute government; they had kings, but the power of these was limited partly by custom, partly by an Assembly which took a great share in the government; succession to the throne was not strictly hereditary; justice was "popular", and the sphere of local government was large. How much modern England has developed along Saxon lines may be judged by reading in the preceding sentence the words "the English are" instead of "the Saxons were". The description applies to our time as to theirs.

It is convenient to give this account of the chief Saxon institutions here at the outset, since an understanding of them will be valuable in what comes later. But it should not be thought that all of them as described here were in use among the Saxons on their arrival. The kings amassed their powers gradually; shires could not exist till the smaller kingdoms were joined into larger ones; the Witan developed as the king needed its counsels, when his kingdom became large and the distance too great for all the warriors to assemble. Political institutions are generally of slow growth and slow decay, and we must picture some growing and others decaying during the course of events which we have next to follow.

The Saxon Invaders; Part 5

Chronology