Anglo Saxon Economy and Burhs

• Anglo-Saxon economy

  • How much money a country has and how that money is made
  • Related to work in late Anglo-Saxon England
  • Coins made from silver and sometimes gold, making them rarer than they are today
  • Most people bought and sold things in an exchange economy, swapping one thing for another instead of using money
  • Trade involved swapping goods at markets, in the burs, or with neighbors
• Imports in the Anglo-Saxon economy

  • Food produced locally
  • Fine quality cloth
  • Wine
  • Pottery
  • Jewelry
• Exports in the Anglo-Saxon economy

  • Wool
  • Illuminated manuscripts and books
• Wool merchants could become 'fanes' after completing three trading trips in their own ship
• English scribes produced renowned illuminated manuscripts and books
• Bur


  A village or small town surrounded by a defensive wall, fortified against attack with an economic function of controlling access, checking goods, and collecting taxes
• Fortified towns known as burs were constructed to protect people from Viking invasions
• The first step in constructing a burr was to dig a very deep trench and build a wooden or stone wall around the town
• Constructing a burr

  Dig a very deep trench and build a wooden or stone wall around the town (palisade)
• Towns with burrs

  • Large gates on either end to control who came in and out
• The safety of burrs across southern England

  Increased trade and made people feel safe and confident buying and selling inside
• Defended gates of burrs

  Controlled access to markets and provided a means for collecting the king's taxes on goods brought in for sale
• Anglo-Saxon coinage was very high quality
• Coins were sometimes clipped on the sides to fraudulently obtain spare silver
• A coin like an Anglo-Saxon silver penny could represent a poor person's wages for an entire week
• Coins minted by kings were a propaganda statement to show their power
• Coins symbolized and strengthened the king's power while upholding the power of the church
• Saxon England had an exchange economy and an export economy, with wool being the main export
• Burrs made trade and tax collection easier and more effective
• Coins helped advertise the king's power