Anglové

Anglové is the Czech and Slovak term for the Angles, a Germanic people who inhabited the Angeln peninsula in what is now Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, and nearby regions during late antiquity. The ethnonym derives from Angeln and is sometimes linked to proto-Germanic roots meaning “angle” or “corner.” In the 5th century, after the Roman withdrawal from Britain, Anglové migrations—alongside the Saxons and Jutes—settled in parts of southeastern Britain, where they established several early kingdoms that would later form England. The Anglové were central to the emergence of the Anglo-Saxon world; the name Angle contributed to the identity of the English people and to the East Anglian and other Old English dialects.

Culturally and socially, the Anglové typically organized themselves into tribal polities ruled by kings and nobles, with local communities tied by kinship, law, and customary practice. Their Christianization began in the 6th and 7th centuries through missions such as that of Augustine of Canterbury, leading to the integration of Latin Christian practices into regional life. The political landscape of both their continental homeland and their British settlements evolved under pressure from internal dynamics, dynastic changes, and later Viking incursions, culminating in the broader consolidation of England by the 10th century.

In modern usage, Anglové designates the Angles in historical and linguistic contexts, distinct from related groups such as the Saxons (Saxové) and Jutes (Jutové). The legacy of the Anglové lies in the ethnogenesis of the English people and in the development of Old English.