The Haestingas, or alternatively Heastingas or Hæstingas, were one of the tribes of Anglo-Saxon Britain

Anglo-Saxons

Anglo-Saxon is a term used by historians to designate the Germanic tribes who invaded and settled the south and east of Great Britain beginning in the early 5th century AD, and the period from their creation of the English nation to the Norman conquest. The Anglo-Saxon Era denotes the period of...

. The Kingdom of Haestingas was located in modern-day Sussex

Sussex

Sussex , from the Old English Sūþsēaxe , is an historic county in South East England corresponding roughly in area to the ancient Kingdom of Sussex. It is bounded on the north by Surrey, east by Kent, south by the English Channel, and west by Hampshire, and is divided for local government into West...

, and was one of the minor sub-kingdoms of the Heptarchy

Heptarchy

The Heptarchy is a collective name applied to the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of south, east, and central Great Britain during late antiquity and the early Middle Ages, conventionally identified as seven: Northumbria, Mercia, East Anglia, Essex, Kent, Sussex and Wessex...

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History

When Ælle of Sussex came to Britain in 491, he soon forged the Saxon kingdom of Sussex. Soon after Ælle arrived, a Saxon tribe known as the Haestingas appeared in the southeastern region of Sussex. It is believed that they were named so after a chieftain or ruler called Haesta, as in the Old English language

Old English language

Old English or Anglo-Saxon is an early form of the English language that was spoken and written by the Anglo-Saxons and their descendants in parts of what are now England and southeastern Scotland between at least the mid-5th century and the mid-12th century...

, Haestingas means "Haesta's People". Haesta by itself, however, means "violent". The Kingdom of Haestingas was most likely very small, extending only a few leagues from the centre of their kingdom, which became known as "Haestingas" now known under the modern name of Hastings

Hastings

Hastings is a town and borough in the county of East Sussex on the south coast of England. The town is located east of the county town of Lewes and south east of London, and has an estimated population of 86,900....

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In 771, Offa of Mercia

Offa of Mercia

Offa was the King of Mercia from 757 until his death in July 796. The son of Thingfrith and a descendant of Eowa, Offa came to the throne after a period of civil war following the assassination of Æthelbald after defeating the other claimant Beornred. In the early years of Offa's reign it is likely...

conquered all of Sussex, effectively ending the reign of the Haestingas.