Jutes
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JUTES, the
third of the Teutonic nations which invaded Britain in the 5th century,
called by Bede Iutae or luli (see BRITAIN, ANGLO-SAXON). They settled in
Kent and the Isle of Wight together with the adjacent parts of
Hampshire. In the latter case the national name is said to have survived
until Bedes own time, in the New Forest indeed apparently very much
later. In Kent, however, it seems to have soon passed out of use, though
there is good reason for believing that the inhabitants of that kingdom
were of a different nationality from their neighbors (see KENT, KINGDOM
OF). With regard to the origin of the Jutes, Bede only says that Angulus
(Angel) lay between the territories of the Saxons and the Iutaea
statement which points to their identity with the Iuti or Jyder of later
times, i.e. the inhabitants of Jutland. Some recent writers have
preferred to identify the Jutes with a tribe called Eucii mentioned in a
letter from Theodberht to Justinian (Mon. Germ. lust., Epist. ui., p.
132 seq.) and settled apparently in the neighborhood of the Franks. But
these people may themselves have come from Jutland. source
Jutes\
(j[=u]ts),
n. pl.
sing. {Jute}.
(Ethnol.)
Jutlanders;
one of
the Low
German tribes,
a portion
of which
settled in
Kent, England,
in the
5th century.
The
Jutes were a Germanic tribe who invaded Britain in the 5th century AD.
According to Bede
the Jutes occupied Hampshire, Kent and the Isle of Wight. Large numbers
of Jutes lived in the New Forest in Hampshire and until the 11th century
it was known as Ytene (of the Jutes).
The Jutes were Germanic originating in
Jutland but later settled in Frankish territory. The Jutes were originally
used as mercenaries by the controlling British forces and then settled in
Kent in southest England in about 450, according to tradition under
Hengist and Horsa. They also conquered the Isle of Wight and the opposite
coast of Hampshire in the early 6th century.
source
English in Great Britain
When the Roman legions left Britain, the native Britons
were left to defend themselves.At this time, the Britons were less warlike
than they had been prior to the Roman occupation.The Britons were exposed
to the threat of attack from the Picts of caledonia to the north. The
Roman patrolling of Hadrian's Wall had ceased. The southern and eastern
coasts were also exposed since no Roman fleet patrolled the Channel and
the North Sea. The Picts and Scots of Caledonia attacked the northern
border. The Britons requested help from the Jutes, a Germanic tribe, to
push the Picts and the Scots back.In return for their help, the Jutes were
given the Isle of Thanet off the north-east coast of Kent.
The English Conquest
In 449 A.D., the Jutes, led by two brothers, Hengist and Horsa, landed at
Ebbsfleet, off the coast of Kent. Not content with
the Isle of Thanet, the Jutes spread all over Kent. The
Britons defended the territory fiercely. The Jutish
leader, Horsa, was killed at the Battle of Aylesford, but the Britons were
eventually forced to draw back. Other Germanic tribes, the Saxons and the
Angles, followed the Jutes. Over the next 150 years, a large part of Great
Britain was conquered and occupied bit by bit. At first, small groups of
Germanic tribespeople crossed the North Sea to Britain with their
families, settling on the east coast. With time, the Britons were
displaced westwards. By the end of the 6th. century, most of Britain was
occupied by the invaders. The Jutes settled in Kent and on the Isle of
Wight. The Saxons set up kingdoms in the rest of the south-east in Essex,
Middlesex, Surrey, Sussex and Wessex. The Angles settled in the midlands,
north and north-east of Britain, with kingdoms in East Anglia, Mercia,
Deira and Bernicia. The Jutes, Angles and Saxons were similar in terms of
life-style, language and religion. The English nation, though not united,
had been formed.
What happened to the Britons?
During the defence of Britain, many had been killed, others had been taken
prisoner and forced into slavery, and many Briton women were forced into
marriage with the Germanic occupiers.The remaining Britons took refuge in
the extreme western areas of Great Britain, namely, Cornwall, Wales and
Cumberland, now Cumbria. Some Britons fled to north-west France and
settled in the territory known as Brittany today. For the English, i.e.
the Jutes, the Saxons and the Angles, these remaining Britons were called
the "Welsh". The Britons in Cornwall were called the "West
Welsh", those in present-day Wales the "North Welsh" and
those in Cumberland the "Cumbrian Welsh". The Welsh were
gradually brought under the control of the English by means of conquest.
The Effects of the English Conquest
The civilised Britons had been conquered by "barbarians". The
Christianised Britons had been replaced by the heathen English. The
English conquest of Britain was a setback for Christianity. However, the
Christian religion had been driven out of Britain entirely. The Welsh were
Christian and so were the Irish who had been converted to Christianity in
the 5th. century by St. Patrick. The Welsh and the Irish sent missionaries
to convert the Picts and Scots of Caledonia. A great monastery was founded
on the island of Iona, off the coast of Scotland. But the Irish, Welsh and
Scottish Christians were separated from the rest of Europe and Rome, the
centre of European Christianity, by the heathen English. This situation
gave rise to the foundation of the Celtic Church. The Celtic Church
differed from the Roman Christian Church in that it was nut under the rule
of the Pope. The Celtic Church also developed a distinct iconography and
set of religious symbols. The English were the only barbarians not to be
converted to Christianity soon after occupying a part of the Western Roman
Empire. For this reason, there was pressing need on the part of the rest
of the Western Roman Empire to convert the English to Christianity. In 590
A.D., Pope Gregory the Great sent Augustine and forty monks to convert the
English peoples. In 597 A.D., Christian missionaries landed at Ebbsfleet
on the coast of Kent, where the Jutes had first landed 150 years
previously. At the time, the King of Kent was a man called Ethelbert.
Ethelbert was not a Christian. However, he was married to Bertha, a
Frankish princess, who was a Christian. Berta has refused to give up her
religion when she married Ethelbert of Kent. Ethelbert had repaired an old
ruined Roman Christian church at a place called Canterbury for Bertha to
worship in. When Augustine arrived at the coast of kent, he asked to be
permitted to meet Ethelbert. The meeting between Ethelbert and Augustine
took place in the open air; Ethelbert was wary of any magical tricks
Augustine might play on him! Following their meeting, Ethelbert gave
Augustine permission to enter Canterbury to preach to the people of Kent.
Ethelbert remained heathen for some time, but then converted to
Christianity. The Jutes of Kent followed their king's example and 10,000
Jutes were baptised in one day. Christianity became the religion of the
Kingdom of Kent and the religion soon spread to the neighbouring Saxon
kingdoms of Essex, Middlesex, Surrey and Sussex. In this way, the
territories in the south-east of Great Britain (today referred to as the
"Home Counties") became Christian. For his part, Augustine was
named the first Archbishop of Canterbury. Bishops were subsequently
appointed in Rochester and London. By 627 A.D., Christianity was spreading
northwards. Edwin of Northumbria, after whom Edinburgh (Edwin's Town) is
named, was king of Bernicia and Deira at the time. Edwin wants to marry
Ethelburga, daughter of Ethelbert and Bertha of Kent. Bertha agrees to the
marriage on condition that Edwin allows Ethelburga to remain a Christian.
Edwin agrees to this condition. On her marriage to Edwin, Ethelberga moves
to the north of Great Britain, taking Paulinua, her priest, with her.
Paulinus converts Edwin to Christianity.
The people of Northumbria follow their king's example. The process of
conversion in the rest of England, however, is more gradual. At this time,
the Council of Whitby is held at which the Roman Christian Church and the
Celtic Christian Church are brought face to face. The Roman Christian
Church emerges the dominant Christian Church in Great Britain. In 668
A.D., the Pope sends Theodore of Tarsus, a Greek, to be Archbishop of
Canterbury. Theodore of Tarsus is Archbishop of Canterbury for twenty-two
years. Theordore appoints bishops all over England and a great number of
churches and cathedrals are built throughout the land. On his death in 690
A.D., Theodore leaves behind a well-organised Christian Church in almost
the whole of Britain. It had taken nearly a hundred years to convert the
English to Christianity and to organise the Church. Although most English
people were members of one Church by this time, England was far from being
united. The Church of England is older than the unified English nation.
The fact that English people were united by a single religion smoothed the
way towards their political and social unification. This long period
stretching from the time the Romans left Britain in 410 A.D. up to the end
of the 9th. century A.D., some six hundred years, is called the
Anglo-Saxon period. The period has also been labelled "The Dark
Ages". The period may have been "dark" in the sense that
Christianity was undergoing a gradual process of assimilation for most of
the time. However, the period was characterised by relative peace and a
flowering of artistic creativity. Oral literature of the period has come
down to the present day in the form of ancient manuscripts written in
Anglo-Saxon. The most famous examples of such texts are Beowulf, The
Wayfarers and the Icelandic Sagas. source
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