InfoBritain

 

Hengest and Horsa

Following an occupation lasting over three hundred and fifty years, the Romans left Britain early in the fifth century leaving a vacuum of power. Historical sources for the chaotic time following the Romans' departure are poor, and the first history of the period wasn't written until three hundred years later by the historian known as the Venerable Bede. The story that follows, therefore, hovers somewhere between the possible and the probable.

It is fairly clear that the last Roman commander was a soldier who the Welsh call Coel Hen, and he has survived in the English nursery rhyme Old King Cole. He may have founded some kind of local dynasty. Then it seems a warlord called Vitalinus came to dominate at least part of Britain, and he was known as the "Vortigren", which means "supreme leader". Without Roman troops the Pictish tribes in what is now Scotland were making increasingly bold raids into the province of Britannia. To try and control these attacks, the Vortigren is supposed to have contacted Hengest, a fearsome mercenary from Friesia, an area in northern Germany. Hengest was hired, and he arrived on what was then the east Kent island of Thanet - pictured above - possibly with his brother Horsa, and a band of men. This arrival is described in one of the oldest examples of English literature. Beowulf

 

Then came three keels driven into exile from

Germany. In them were the brothers Horsa

and Hengest...Vortigren welcomed them,

and handed over to them the island that in

their language is called Thanet, in British

Ruoihm

 

Hengest was successful in his battles with the Picts, and he has left his legacy in the name of the city of Dumfries, which means "the fort of the Friesian". At this point his job was done, but instead of returning to Friesia, Hengest started bringing in uninvited "reinforcements" who could not be paid. The lack of payment led to rebellion. In an attempt to control the situation Hengest was invited to attend a conference with three hundred members of the British council. Hengest and a group of his men came to the conference with weapons hidden in their clothing, and proceeded to kill all of the elders, except for the Vortigren, whose power was broken. From his headquarters on Thanet Hengest quickly subdued Kent, with the result that the old names used in the area changed to Germanic names: Ruoihm became Thanet; Cantii, became Kent, Ripuarium became Richborough, and Dubris became Dover. Celtic speech was swamped by Germanic dialect. The Germanic bridgehead in Kent was then joined by other Germanic tribes, the Angles in the east of the country, and the Saxons on the south coast. What is popularly known as the Saxon invasions had begun, an invasion which was originally an invitation. Perhaps invasion isn't the right word to describe the chaotic influx of people, where Germanic tribes and Celtic natives fought amongst themselves, even as they fought each other.