As the fifth century dawned, the Roman Empire was contracting and withdrawing its troops from the furthest ends of the Empire. In 407AD the last Roman troops left Britain, and three years later the Emperor wrote to the citizens of the island and said they must look after their own defence. With threats from the Picts in the north, the Welsh to the West, and Irish Raiders coming across the sea, the Romano-British began hiring mercenaries from the continent to help with defence. These mercenaries came from a number of Germanic tribes and collectively became known as the Anglo-Saxons. Over the next few hundred years, these mercenaries would continue to flood into Britain, pushing out the Roman British and taking over the area of Britain that would eventually be named after them, the area known as England.
For some five hundred years the Anglo-Saxons ruled England, fighting their Celtic neighbours and with one another. The Anglo-Saxons had a warrior culture that prized the martial arts, and the weapons of armour of the warrior were his most cherished possessions. The weaponry of these warriors changed little over that 500-year span, but it has only been through careful archaeological and historical study that modern man has been able to construct a coherent picture of what these warriors would have looked like.
Helmet – The early Anglo-Saxon warriors probably did not wear helmets as a general rule. What few examples survive are mostly very decorative and most likely belong to great chiefs or kings. The Sutton Hoo helmet is the best surviving example. Later warriors probably adopted some form of simple helmet similar to the Danish and Norman designs with a conical top and a nose, and possibly, eye guards. Many of the Anglo-Saxon warriors in the Bayeux tapestry are depicted in this helmet.
Spear – the spear was almost certainly the main weapon of the Anglo-Saxon for most of the period in question and could be used either as a missile weapon or in hand-to-hand combat.
Sword – the sword was not a common weapon among the Anglo-Saxons. It was incredibly expensive to produce and thus only the wealthiest of warriors would have one and these would be passed on from generation to generation. Often the leader of a war band would present a sword as a reward to his best warrior which he would carry until his death at which time it would be returned to be given to another warrior.
Seaxe – a single bladed knife carried by all Anglo-Saxon warriors, it would serve as both a tool and a weapon of last resort.
Shield – All warriors would have carried a round shield, constructed of wood banded in either leather or metal.
Axe – Despite the fame of the axe as the Anglo-Saxon weapon, this probably has more to do with the Viking invasions. There is little evidence of it being a common weapon of the early Anglo-Saxons. That said, by the time of Hastings, the broadaxe seems to have replaced the spear as the main weapon. This may have been in response to the increased use of armour, which required a heavier weapon to defeat.
Bow and Sling –Anglo-Saxons used both of these weapons, but both were rare. There are probably several reasons for this. First the culture of the Anglo-Saxons prized hand-to-hand combat, and there was little honour to killing a foe at range. Also, both weapons required a high degree of skill to use effectively and this was not a normal part of a warrior’s training.
Armour – The earliest Anglo-Saxons probably did not wear armour, or at most some form of leather jerkin. Again, metal armour would have been extremely expensive, well beyond the means of most warriors. That said, by the time of Hastings, most Anglo-Saxon warriors seem to have been equipped with a full metal hauberk – a shirt made of metal rings that reached from the neck down to the knees and sometimes covered the head as well.
