20 Growth of the Manor 



1 1 oo. Whole races or great portions of them had moved from 

 their old homes, and nothing was destined to stop them except 

 the impassable ocean, or other races who could fight them to 

 a standstill. 



Even after they had carried the conquest of Britain very far 

 the Anglo-Saxons had to settle the boundaries of the territory 

 within which they were to group themselves, and the only method 

 they had of settling this was by fighting. They attempted to set 

 up numerous little independent kingdoms, and each one had to 

 defend itself against its neighbours. Gradually these little 

 kingdoms were subdued and absorbed by the more powerful, 

 until near the end of the Anglo-Saxon period Wessex, Mercia, 

 and Northumbria were the only considerable kingdoms left. 



We can imagine what a disturbed time the men who were 

 trying to farm had in their little townships. If the Danes were 

 not ravaging and burning their crops and carrying off their 

 cattle, their neighbours were doing it. Agriculture made little 

 progress. It was an easy thing for the British who settled in 

 North America, New Zealand, and Australia to become good and 

 prosperous farmers. Even if they had not started with a fair 

 knowledge of agriculture, they were favoured by the comparative 

 absence of serious attacks from hostile and powerful races. They 

 were able to devote themselves wholly to the rearing of herds and 

 flocks and to the cultivation of their land. 



For the farmers in western Europe, including Britain, it was 

 little good to grow crops unless they were in a position to protect 

 them. The only nation whose crops were secure was the nation 

 which was supreme in war. The experience of hundreds of 

 years had made this clear to all the Anglo-Saxons and still more 

 to their kindred tribes across the Channel. We have seen that 

 it was the custom for all the freemen in a tribe to take part in 

 fighting when the call came. When a nation was invaded, the 

 council of each township was called to decide who should go. 



