\[ **BT: [[society#Europe]]** ]
---
# the Anglo-Saxons
## prior to the Norman conquest
### religious belief
#### Anglo-Saxon paganism
[[Female supernatural beings who mark or select the dead may have played an important role in Anglo-Saxon religious belief.]][^1]
### women
[[Women were closer in equality to their husbands and brothers in Anglo-Saxon society than at any other period in history prior to the modern era.]][^2]
## after the Norman conquest
### women
[[The Norman Conquest dramatically decreased the status of Anglo-Saxon women. Teachings of the contemporary Church likewise emphasized the 'natural' status of women's subjugation.]][^3]
## ↬ external resources
- [Chrestomathy of Gothic and Anglo-Saxon Written Records](https://germanic.ge/en/ang/)
- [Ða Engliscan Gesiðas (The English Companions)](https://www.tha-engliscan-gesithas.org.uk/)
[^1]: Noel Williams, quoted in Max Dashu, *[[Dashu, Witches and Pagans, 2016|Witches and Pagans: Women in European Folk Religion, 700–1100]]* (Veleda Press, 2016), p. 12.
[^2]: Doris Strenton, quoted in Christine Fell, *[[Fell, Women in Anglo-Saxon England and the Impact of 1066, 1984|Women in Anglo-Saxon England and the Impact of 1066]]* (Colonnade, 1984), p. 13. Internet Archive, https://archive.org/embed/womeninanglosaxo0000fell.
[^3]: Strenton, quoted in Fell, *[[Fell, Women in Anglo-Saxon England and the Impact of 1066, 1984|Women in Anglo-Saxon England and the Impact of 1066]]*, p. 13.