The story of English literature begins with the Germanic tradition of the Anglo Saxon settlers . The Romans withdrew from Britain early in the fifth century because they were needed back home to defend the crumbling centre of the Roman Empire . Britain was considered a far flung outpost of little value or significance to the Romans .
The term Anglo Saxon refers to settlers from the German regions who made their way over to Britain after the fall of the Roman Empire around AD 410 . The three tribes , Angles , Saxons and Jutes left their homelands in northern Germany , Denmark and the Netherlands and rowed across the North Sea in wooden boats to Britain . The early settlers kept to small tribal groups , forming kingdoms and sub kingdoms .
By the ninth century , the country was divided into four Kingdoms , Northumbria , Merica , East Anglia and Wessex . The Anglo Saxon settlers were effectively their own masters in a new land and they did little to keep the legacy of the glorious Roman Empire alive . They replaced the Roman stone buildings with their own wooden ones , and spoke their own distinctive dialects , which evolved over time and together became known as Old English , which gave rise to the English spoken today .
Although most of their culture remained , sadly their unique religions didn’t . With the arrival of Saint Augustine in 597 , most of the country converted to Christianity .
The Anglo Saxon period lasted for over 600 years from 410 to 1066 , when the Battle of Hastings saw the Norman ruler William the conqueror win the English throne . This was the starting point of years of rapid changes in the political , cultural and religious landscape of Britain .
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