The Arrival of In Britain of Hengist And Horsa

 

In 449, the Angles Saxons and Jutes were invited to Britain by King Vortigern who wanted help against the Picts, a vicious Northern tribe. Help had been sought elsewhere on the continent by the Britons but they found help was in short supply. A contributing factor in that was the increasingly menacing threat of Attila and the Huns. And so Vortigern turned to the Germanic tribes for assistance and, led by two brothers Hengist and Horsa, they heeded the call

In return for fighting the Picts, Vortigern offered his "guests" territories in which to settle. If he thought that would bring peace, he was badly mistaken. The Germanic tribes initially did as they were asked, attacking the Picts and defeating them in battle. But soon after, Hengist and Horsa turned on the Britons, rather predictably, and attacked them viciously. However, the Britons did fight back and Horsa was killed at the Battle of Aegelsthrep in 455.

After a period of relative calm in the mid to late 5th century, the Britons turned on each other in a series of civil wars and in the 470s, Hengist forced the Britons to surrender Kent before he turned his attentions Westward where he advanced ruthlessly. He was eventually defeated in battle and executed in the aftermath.