The AngloSaxons impose their culture and their authority on the northern reaches of Europe, we discover that the first Englishmen were, in fact, Germans And yet there never was a people called AngloSaxon. In truth, these people came from Northern Holland, from the lower Elbe, from the Jutland peninsula and from the Schleswig. And yet these northern people enjoyed a golden age unaffected by a Rome. Evidence from the priceless hoard of Tureholm, and from richly furnished cemeteries in Sweden, reveal a rich and powerful people; ambitious, too, for just 30 years after the Romans relinquished Britain, the "Anglo Saxons" made their move By 455, they had swept in through England's East Coast, drawing mythical but petty resistance the legend of King Arthur almost certainly dates from this time. Although the real knights of the Round Table were feeble, helplessly calling the Romans back for help, as the Saxons swept forward pushing the Celts into Scotland, Wales, and Cornwall.

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This film was first broadcast: 15 Jul 2002

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