influential work of the whole Anglo-Saxon period. According to Bede, the Britons, ‘ignorant of the practice of warfare’, were reduced to such a wretched state by Pictish and Scottish attacks that they held a council, in which they decided to employ foreigners to fight on their behalf. At the invitation of their king, Vortigern, a force of Saxon warriors came to Britain in three ships and was granted a place to settle in the eastern part of the island.
