History glossary
Angles
Germanic-speaking migrants and settlers whose name helped give England its name.
- Category
- Historical group
- Region
- North Sea world and Britain
- Date range
- Early medieval period
What it means
The Angles were one of the Germanic-speaking groups associated with settlement in eastern and northern Britain after Roman rule. Their name lies behind words such as England and English.
Stories using this term
The Anglo-Saxons
The Anglo-Saxons were the peoples and kingdoms that shaped Anglo-Saxon England after the end of Roman rule in Britain. From migration and settlement in Anglo-Saxon Britain to Christian conversion, Viking attacks, Alfred the Great, and the road to 1066, Anglo-Saxon history explains how early medieval England took form. Their language, laws, kingdoms, monasteries, and political traditions left a lasting mark on English identity before the Norman Conquest transformed the realm.
The Indus Valley
From farming villages to great planned cities, the Indus Valley civilisation rose across South Asia and left an enduring legacy despite its many mysteries.
The Rise of the Medieval Church
From the fall of the Western Roman Empire to the Avignon papacy, this story traces how the Christian Church built its authority through bishops, monasteries, missions, reform, and direct confrontation with Europe's rulers.
