What happened to Britain when the Roman Empire when fell?

Answer 1

Roman authority collapsed in Britain before it did on the continent. The dates and events of this time are only very poorly recorded, and we really do not have a good timeline, but the date for the end of Roman Britain is often given as 410, by historians who give the date for the fall of the West Roman Empire at 476.

Roman legions are recorded to have been withdrawn from Britain in a series of rather desperate moves either to usurp control of the empire, or to defend Gaul from invaders. This began in about the year 383, but continued until at least 407, when a man named Constantine took British troops to the continent to try to usurp the imperial crown there; his attempt failed, and his army never returned to Britain as an army. In 410, Emperor Honorius, replied to a request from British cities for help against invaders with a letter telling the British they would have to defend themselves, because he could not help them.

The history of Britain in the period following the end of Roman authority there is even more poorly recorded. Clearly, there were invasions of various peoples from what are now Germany, Scandinavia, and Ireland. We have some records of these, written long after the events by people who are thought to be as likely to record folklore as historic facts. Much of what they wrote was probably true, but the details are often questionable.

The invaders set up kingdoms, and there may have been as many as twenty of these. The people of Wales, Cornwall, and northern Britain similarly set up several kingdoms of their own. Eventually, the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms were combined into what was called the Heptarchy, of seven kingdoms, and these were combined into England.

The historic record of Britain did not improve much until after the Anglo-Saxons began to be converted to Christianity, following the establishment of a Catholic mission in Canterbury. The Celtic Christians may have had records of these times, but if they did the records were lost.

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