The people whose rule ended with the Battle of Hastings referred to themselves as “Englisc” or “Anglecynn”, it is claimed

Academics have called for the term Anglo-Saxon to be dropped because it is “bound up with white supremacy” — an idea described as “mad as a bag of ferrets” by one historian.

The term traditionally refers to groups from across the North Sea, including Angles and Saxons, who settled in Britain after the end of Roman rule, and to their descendants and their culture until the Norman Conquest.

However, it has also been used by imperialists and white-supremacists to describe white people of British origin. Hitler wrote admiringly of “Anglo-Saxon determination” to hold India. Some academics believe that the term is not only tainted by these associations but is also historically inaccurate.

The term “Anglo-Saxon” gained popularity in the 1700-1800s as a way of linking white people “to their supposed origins” ALAMY

Mary Rambaran-Olm, a specialist in early medieval England, wrote this week in History