I
Egbert the Saxon lived at the same time as did Harun-al-Rashid
and Charlemagne. He was the first king who ruled all England as
one kingdom. Long before his birth the people who are known to
us as Britons lived there, and they gave to the island the name
Britain.
But Britain was invaded by the Romans under Julius Cæsar and his
successors, and all that part of it which we now call England was
added to the Empire of Rome. The Britons were driven into Wales
and Cornwall, the western sections of the island.
The Romans kept possession of the island for nearly four hundred
years. They did not leave it until 410, the year that Alaric sacked
the city of Rome. At this time the Roman legions were withdrawn
from Britain.
Some years before this the Saxons, Angles and Jutes, German tribes,
had settled near the shores of the North Sea. They learned much
about Britain; for trading vessels, even at that early day, crossed
the Channel. Among other things, the men from the north learned
that Britain was crossed with good Roman roads, and dotted with
houses of brick and stone; that walled cities had taken the place
of tented camps, and that the country for miles round each city
was green every spring with waving wheat, or white with orchard
blossoms.
[Illustration: HENGIST AND HORSA LANDING IN ENGLAND]
After the Roman legions had left Britain, the Jutes, led, it is
said, by two great captains named Hengist and Horsa, landed upon
the southeastern coast and made a settlement.
Britain proved a pleasant place to live in, and soon the Angles
and Saxons also left the North Sea shores and invaded the beautiful
island.
The new invaders met with brave resistance. The Britons were headed
by King Arthur, about whom many marvelous stories are told. His
court was held at Caerleon (_cär'le-on_), in North Wales, where
his hundred and fifty knights banqueted at their famous "Round
Table."
The British king and his knights fought with desperate heroism.
But they could not drive back the Saxons and their companions and
were obliged to seek refuge in the western mountainous parts of
the island, just as their forefathers had done when the Romans
invaded Britain. Thus nearly all England came into the possession
of the three invading tribes.