Is it true that the Slavs are the ancestors of the British?

In blogs, there is often a statement that the ancestors of the current British are not Angles and Saxons, but Slavic tribes. We decided to check if this is true.

An article called "Slavs - the ancestors of the British, British scientists believe" was Published in Zen, in the community "History of Russia»With 557,000 subscribers. It states that long before the Angles, Saxons and Utov, the British Islands were mastered by other tribes - vandals and rugs, which are called Slavic in the article. This version is also found on popular historical sites, for example, "Story. Interesting!", And in the VKontakte community" "Historical club".

In most records, the main source of knowledge about the Slavs as the ancestors of the British is the book of the British historian Thomas William Schora "The origin of the Anglo -Saxon people". The book was published in 1906, the next year after the death of the author. There was no work in Russian, there is only only Unofficial translation its first part.

One of the first chapters of the book Dedicated Slavic tribes. Translated popular on the network, statements are accompanied by emotional comments of the translator. In the original, Shor puts forward a version, according to which representatives of the tribes of vandals and rubles began to move to England in England, another 200 years before Angls and Utov. Then the Shor, not denying that the vandals and rugs of the 4th century are German tribes, suggests that their ancestors, ancient vandals and rugs could have Slavic origin. The British historian, giving examples from English toponymy and relying on archaeological data, puts forward a hypothesis about the significant influence of these tribes on the development of the Anglo -Saxon people.

The influence of vandals and rugs (the latter, according to another version, came to the islands along with Angles, Saxons and Utami) in English history is the main topic of Shor's study. But in this case, we are more interested in how correct it is to talk about their Slavic origin.

Most often, the proof of the Slavic origin of the Rugs is the mention of this tribe in connection with ancient Russia. So, the English chronicler of the XII century Roger from Khveden tellsAs the son of the Anglo -Saxon King Edmund of the Iron -toe, "fled from this land to the land of the rugs, which we call Russia." Even earlier, at the end of the 10th century, Bishop Adalbert Magdeburg calls Princess Olga Reginae Rugorum - “Queen of Rugs”.

Historian Alexander Nazarenko, specialist in Russian-German relations in the Middle Ages, I thoughtWhat is here about the so-called scientist of ethno and toponymy. The authors of the chronicle, preserving the exalted style of the narrative, specially cited ancient ethnonyms, the "expanded" origin of peoples for greater solidity. So, the Hungarians in the Byzantine texts became the Huns, and the Rus - Tavroskifs. The tradition was preserved in Latin monuments: the Goths turned into ancient Gets, and Dana - into Dakov, although the Geta and Daca lived much south. So, obviously, it also happened with the rugs revived by the X century in written monuments.

The route of the Rugs can be easily traced from the works of ancient authors. Roman historian Tacitus Describes They are like a German people living on the Baltic coast. Gothic historian Jordan tellsthat the Goths (whom he calls the Geta) forced the rubles to move south, to the banks of the Danube. Finally, Pavel Deacon in the "History of the Langobards" tells About the war of the barbaric king of Italy Odoacra with the Dunay rugs (rugies), after which the last state of the Rugs was destroyed. In most sources, they are invariably called the German people.

In his book, Thomas Shor is identified by the ancient German tribe of vandals and Slavs-Vedes. Proof of the penetration of the Slavs into Britain, according to the author, is the presence of Slavism, ethnonyms and toponyms in the Old English language. Now modern scientists are sure that vandals and Wends are different tribes, although they lived in the neighborhood between the Oder and the Village. The interpenetration of the two cultures and the influence of Roman civilization on them It is proved archaeological research. But, as noted in his article, Academician Valentin Sedov, head of the department of the Institute of Archeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, “there cannot be a straightforward answer to the question about the ratio of archaeological crops with ethnic groups.” Both tribes belonged to the Pereshorsky culture, but the traces of this culture disappear after the 4th century due to the invasion of the Huns.

There are really traces of Slavic influence in ancient England. But this may be due to the contacts that the Angles, Saxons and Utes with the Slavs had. There are no reliable evidence of the Slavic origin of vandals and rugs. In addition, representatives of other tribes who moved to the islands (the same rugs or frizes), apparently, were assimilated and dissolved among the Angles and Saxons. Therefore, the statement of the Slavs as the ancestors of the British can hardly be considered seriously. But completely exclude the fact that among the warriors, landing In Britain in the 4th century, there were also some descendants of the Slavs, it is impossible. Another thing is that this resettlement certainly did not have a massive nature.

Most of the untruth

What do our verdicts mean?

Read on the topic:

1. The trouble is venerable. Church history of the people of the Angles
2. A.V. Nazarenko. Ancient Rus' on international ways: interdisciplinary essays of cultural, trade, political relations of the 9th - XII centuries
3. V.V. Sedov. Ethnogenesis of the early Slavs