Saxon Seaxe Anglo Saxon History
saxonhistory.co.uk
Map Position
This map shows the position of locations of type 'Town, Village, Roman City, Roman Town, Roman Villa, Roman Major Fort, Roman Watch Tower, Roman Port, Saxon Landing' containing 'ypwinesfleot, dubris, durovernum, portus lemanis, regulbium, rutupiae' centered on Ebbsfleet in Kent.
Map Logic
This map shows the location of places mentioned in the Anglo Saxon Chronicles.

The locations shown on the map show major Roman settlements.

Roman roads are shown in black plotted from Ivan D Margary 'Roman Roads in Britain' published in 1955.

The red roads are taken from Ivan D Margary 'Roman ways in the Weald' published in 1948.

The Blue lines show the extent of the tidal rivers with the blue shaded areas showing tidal salt marshes as it would have been in Saxon times.

 
Icon Key:
Roman Town
Roman Major Fort
Saxon Landing

Anglo Saxon Chronicles 449AD - Places - Ebbsfleet isle of Thanet - Kent

 



Anglo Saxon Chronicles Places(449AD) - Ebbsfleet isle of Thanet - Kent
Original :- Her Mauricius ⁊ Ualentines onfengon rice ⁊ ricsodon .vii. winter. ⁊ On hiera dagum Hengest ⁊ Horsa from Wyrtgeorne geleaþade Bretta kyninge gesohton Bretene on þam staþe þe is genemned Ypwinesfleot, ærest Brettum to fultume, ac hie eft on hie fuhton. Se cing het hi feohtan agien Pihtas, ⁊ hi swa dydan ⁊ sige hæfdan swa hwar swa hi comon. Hi ða sende to Angle ⁊ heton heom sendan mare fultum ⁊ heom seggan Brytwalana nahtnesse ⁊ ðæs landes cysta. Hy ða sendan heom mare fultum. þa comon þa menn of þrim mægþum Germanie, of Ealdseaxum, of Anglum, of Iotum. Of Iotum comon Cantware ⁊ Wihtware, þæt ys seo mæið ðe nu eardað on Wiht, ⁊ ðæt cynn on Westsexum þe man gyt hæt Iutna cyn. Of Ealdseaxon comon Eastsexa ⁊ Suðsexa ⁊ WestSexan. Of Angle comon, se a siððan stod westi betwyx Iutum ⁊ Seaxum, Eastengla, Midelangla, Mearca ⁊ ealle Norðhymbra..

A.D. 449. This year Marcian and Valentinian assumed the empire, and reigned seven winters. In their days Hengest and Horsa, invited by Wurtgern, king of the Britons to his assistance, landed in Britain in a place that is called Ebbsfleet; first of all to support the Britons, but they afterwards fought against them. The king directed them to fight against the Picts; and they did so; and obtained the victory wheresoever they came. They then sent to the Angles, and desired them to send more assistance. They described the worthlessness of the Britons, and the richness of the land. They then sent them greater support. Then came the men from three powers of Germany; the Old Saxons, the Angles, and the Jutes. From the Jutes are descended the men of Kent, the Wightwarians (that is, the tribe that now dwelleth in the Isle of Wight), and that kindred in Wessex that men yet call the kindred of the Jutes. From the Old Saxons came the people of Essex and Sussex and Wessex. From Anglia, which has ever since remained waste between the Jutes and the Saxons, came the East Angles, the Middle Angles, the Mercians, and all of those north of the Humber. Their leaders were two brothers, Hengest and Horsa; who were the sons of Wihtgils; Wihtgils was the son of Witta, Witta of Wecta, Wecta of Woden. From this Woden arose all our royal kindred, and that of the Southumbrians also.


Hengest and Horsa landed on the Isle of Thanet which is derived from þegn æg - þegn - thane - a servant, one who does service for another (a mercenary) amd æg - an island
As Hengest and Horsa were invited to fight for Vortigern, this translation would seem logical for the island.

The question is now - why Thanet ? Could it be that Vortigern had been pushed back to Thanet from his original capital of Canterbury, which is why they landed on Thanet. The most logical place to have landed if he was still on the mainland would have been around the Richborough area, so we have to assume Vortigern had been pushed back onto the Isle of Thanet.

Places mentioned in the text and translations:-

Ypwinesfleot (Ipwinesfleet) (Yppe wines fleot) Thanet Kent
  yppe -a raised place, a lookout place
  wines - wine (possibly where the romans grew wine)
  fleot - a bay, estuary, river etc - a place where boats float
  (The observation post at the vineyard overlooking the estuary)

Thanet (þegn æg) Kent
  þegn - a thane(servant or mercenary)
  æg - an island
  (The Mercenary/Servant Island)



External References in no particular order :-
Anglo Saxon Chronicles
Online Anglo Saxon dictionary
Online Etymology dictionary
Open Domesday Book - The first free online copy of the Domesday Book
The Ermine Street Guard Roman re-enactment and research Society
The "Kent A" cadastre - page 5 - Peterson 2002
Archaeologia Cantiana Online
Romney Marsh Research Trust
Romney Marsh the Fifth Continent
VillageNet the reference guide to villages in Kent & Sussex
Global warming Flood Maps
The Anglo Saxon Chronicles
Google Maps - the core of the system
GeoPlaner - Useful site for plotting map data
Julius Caesar's Gallic Wars 55BC(Books 4 & 5)
Wikipedia - Caesar's invasions of Britain
Wikipedia - Portus Istus
The Geography of Claudius Ptolemy (Bill Thayers)
Roman Britain.org
Runetree Beowulf
Bayeux Tapestry Online
The Secrets of the Norman Invasion
Chronicles of John of Worcester
Battle Historic Society
Binsted village website(Mearcredesburnan Steðe)
The Spears of Andred
Find British Archaelogical Sites
Wealden Iron Research Group
Topographic Map of the UK

 

Copyright saxonhistory.co.uk 2013 - 2024
Contact me
Author: Simon M - Last Updated: 13/03/2024 13:12
All pages on our site (Sitemap)
Data is derived from a number or sources including the Ordnance Survey Gazetter data overlayed onto Google Maps