From the Origins to the Norman Conquest
700 BC-1066 AD
The Normans
1066 -
- Who were the Normans? They were Vikings who had settled on the northen coast of France a century and a half before.
- In 1066 William the Conqueror, the Duke of Normandy, conquered England. It marks the end of the Anglo-Saxon period in English history.
- The new conquerors brought with them the French language
- LINGUISTIC CLASS DIVISION:
a) English spoken by lower classes
b) French spoken by upper classes
c) Latin spoken by the clergy
- 14th century --> MIDDLE ENGLISH, with the addition of French and Latin words, became dominant
- 1476 --> standardization of the English language and its spelling.
William the Conqueror introduced the FEUDAL SYSTEM into England
William the Conqueror
- feudal system = the Norman organization of the State
Clash between The Crown and the Church
Consequences of the feudal system:
- The Crown and the Church accrued immense power /became more influential and they eventually clashed for the first time
Herny II (1154-89) wanted to control the Church and order the assassination of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Becket
- Thomas Becket strongly opposed the king's attempts to control the Church and he spent 6 years in France as self-imposed exile.
- On his return, the king Henry II had him killed in Canterbury Cathedral.
Richard I (1189-99) joined the Crusade and fought against the French king, Philip II
- Richard I also known the LIONHEART, was a legendary figure and celebrated for his courage and personal charm.
- he reigned for 10 years and he took part to the Third Crusade against the French king to defend his lands but he was killed while besieging a castle
to besiege: to surround a place, especially with an army, to prevent people or supplies getting in or out:
The Vikings
8th-9th centuries
- They embarked on raids across the North Sea and the English Channel, targeting wealthy monasteries, towns, and coastal settlements.
They came from Norway, Sweden and Denmark.
- They were Seafarers warriors from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway, and Sweden)
They attacked the monastery of Lindisfarne in 793 and gradually settled in the country.
King Alfred the Great of Wessex (871–899) united the Anglo-Saxons against the Vikings.
King Alfred of Wessex:
- He won back the occupied territories;
- reorganised the army;
- he built a fleet and established fortified towns.
- He also gave importance to religion and encouraged the writing of a history of England, the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle.
The Vikings conquered a large area of England, the Danelaw. In 1016 the king of England was a Dane, named Canute.
Following the death of Alfred the Great in 899, his son Edward the Elder ascended to the throne of Wessex.
Edward continued his father’s efforts to defend against Viking invasions
under the reign of his son, Athelstan, the unification of England truly took shape.
The Anglo-Saxons
5th century
The arrived over the 5th and 6th centuries
The Anglo-Saxons 7th century
After the Anglo-Saxon invasion, Britain was divided into several local kingdoms, each with its own king (HEPTARCHY)
- It is important to note that the Heptarchy was not a homogenous entity but rather a collection of diverse kingdoms.
- The distinct ethnolinguistic backgrounds of these kingdoms contributed to variations in language, customs, and traditions.
- The dialects spoken in these regions gradually evolved into Old English.
Society
They lived in villages and were organised in clans.
Cultural features
-They exalted physical courage and loyalty to the members of the clan.
-They converted to Christianity in the 6th century.
Christianity disappeared until the end of 6th century.
Then, Pope Gregory I the Great sent the monk Augustine to Britain converting the inhabitants into Christianity.
The fight against the Anglo-Saxons invaders and the Romanised Celts produced a body of stories centred on the figure of King Arthur. The first legendary king in English history!
It would later form the basis of muck folklore, literary material, films and fictions in modern times.
The dialects spoken by the different tribes evolved over time into OLD ENGLISH
- The language spoken and written in England before 1100 was called OLD ENGLISH. It's the ancestor of MIDDLE ENGLISH and MODERN ENGLISH.
The influence of the Anglo-Saxon culture is still evident today: everyday activities and animals
The Ecclesiastical History of the English People, written by the monk Venerable Bede
(ca 673–735). He was the first to use the word ‘Angle-Land’ (the root name for
England).
It is considered one of the most important original references on Anglo-Saxon history and has played a key role in the development of an English national identity.
Literature
8th-11th centuries
The anonymous epic poem Beowulf was composed.
The Anglo-Saxon literature
Anglo-Saxon genre:
- epic poetry (heroic lives and deeds)
- elegiac poetry
Poets: (scops) they recited poetry aloud and from memory (storytelling);
- Professional travellers
- social function: to endure kings's fame
The main feature of Anglo-Saxon poetry:
- Alliterations
- Kennings: highly formalised compound metaphor (formulaic expressions) whale's road, swan's road
it was an anonymous poem
- it was probably written by an educated man
- The audience was Christian
The Romans
43 (Emperor Claudius)-409 (withdrawal of soldiers)
- Romans started to invade Britain under the leadership of Julius Caesar in 55bc.
- Although Caesar’s military maneuver was unsuccessful, the armies of the Roman Empire again made a move to conquer the island, which was populated and governed by various Celtic tribes, at the order of Emperor Claudius, in A.D. 43.
- By the time Emperor Hadrian came to power, he gave order to build a great wall in the north of England against possible invasions and protect the provinces of the Roman Empire of the territories conquered.
- Hadrian’s Wall is located near the border between modern-day Scotland and England. It runs in an east-west direction. 115km
- IN 409BC teh emperor Honorius withdrew his soldiers to fight on the Continent
Cultural features
They built
-towns, baths and roads
-Hadrian's Wall, a defence and customs barrier.
THE CELTS
700 BC-43 AD
Iron Age (700BC)
Society
- They were organised into clans.
- They were skilled at iron-working.
- They practised agriculture.
Cultural features
- They built hill forts.
-They worshipped nature; their priest were the Druids.
They spoke their own language
- They spoke their own language still present in Scottish, Welsh and Irish
5th Century
- Celtic speakers were pushed west by Germanic tribes (Anglo-Saxons)
