the history of england - uniwersytet opolskistann/materialy/history of england and usa/01 history of...
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Iberians
• Earliest immigrants to the British Isles!
• Arrive c. 2500 B.C. with late Stone-Age weapons!
• Migrated from Spain / Portugal!
• Stonehenge – c. 2000 B.C.
Celts
n Arrive c. 800-600 B.C.!
n Also from Southern Europe !
n Two main groups: Brythons & Gaels!
n Brythons (Britons) settle in Britain!
n Gaels settle in Ireland
Celtic Society
n Individual clans loyal to Chieftains!
n Inter-Clan rivalries and disputes settled by priestly class – Druids!
n Druids were religious leaders and keepers of history and myth through the oral tradition
Significance of the Romans
n Brought improvements, primarily roads
n Brought Christianity!
n Ruled for 300 years, until barbarian invasions of Italy forced Roman troops home to defend homeland!
n Departed Britain by 407 A.D.
Anglo-Saxon Invasionn449 A.D. The end of Celtic possession
of Britain!
nAngles, Saxons, & Jutes arrive separately from areas around present day Denmark!
nCelts are pushed West into Wales, North to Scotland, & off the island into Ireland!
nLegend has King Arthur as the last great Celtic king defending against the Anglo-Saxons c. 475-515 A.D.
By end of 6th Centuryn Anglo-Saxons dominate England!
n Celts pushed to!
§Wales!
§Cornwall!
§Brittany!
§Ireland!
§Scotland
Anglo-Saxon Language and Culture
n Angles, Saxons, and other invading groups meld together into cooperative neighboring kingdoms with much social exchange, including marriage, etc.!
n Languages meld over time into one “Anglo-Saxon” language today called Old English (“Angl-ish”). !
n Old English: written form made up of ancient symbols called Runes, not Greek Alphabet of today.
Christianity
n 597 – St. Augustine is sent by Pope Gregory the Great to bring Christianity to England
Christianity
• The population gradually converted until the 9th century when most Britons were Christian.!
• Latin was introduced to the Anglo Saxons who integrated Old English with Latin Vocabulary!
• Examples: Area, bacteria, cancer, circus, complex, equilibrium, fungus, pauper, peninsula!
• Christian monks inaugurated a literary tradition in Anglo Saxon society
Venerable Bede
Bede, or Baeda (c. 672 - May 25, 735 CE) was an Anglo-Saxon Benedictine monk at the Northumbrian monastery.!
Most famous work: Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum (History of the English Church and People) which begins “Britannia is an island in the ocean and once was called Albion”.
Anglo-Saxon culture c.700
n Norsemen (from Norway); settled in Northern England, Scotland, Wales, & Ireland!
n Danes settled in Southern & Eastern England, region known as “Danelaw”!
n Both groups’ languages affect Anglo-Saxon
The Norman Invasion – 1066 A.D.
n 1066 A.D. – William the Conqueror of Normandy (Northern France) invades Harold, the last Anglo-Saxon king, at the Battle of Hastings!
n The birth of Middle English
n Normans are French, and although the language of the people of England remains Anglo-Saxon, the new language of law and government becomes French overnight!
n By 1400 A.D., English has absorbed so much French, it begins to look like English we can recognize