The Anglo-Saxon and Medieval Periods 449-1485

1. The Anglo-Saxon and Medieval Periods 449-1485 • Julius Caesar conquered England and claimed it for Rome in 55 B.C. • When he sailed from France to England, He found the British Isles inhabited by • Britons—A Celtic people • Picts—A Pre-Celtic people • And Gaels—Another Celtic people in Ireland

2. The Britons had a thriving culture that included • Agriculture • Trade with other Celtic neighbors overseas • An oral tradition of literature and learning • A priestly class called Druids

3. The Celts were an ancient people. They are mentioned in: • The Bible—The Galatians. • books written by Roman historians. • the slave rebellions led by Spartacus. • Greek history. • Julius Caesar’s Commentarii de bello Galico

4. The Romans came to Britain and introduced its inhabitants to • Cities • The protection of the Roman military • Fine Roman roads • Written scholarship • And Christianity

5. Around A.D.449 Roman armies had to abandon Britain to defend the city of Rome. They left Britain to the invasion of Germanic peoples like Angles, Saxons, Jutes and Frisians

6. The Anglo-Saxon Period 449-1066

7. The Britons--perhaps led by a Christian commander named Arthur--fought a series of legendary battles against the Anglo-Saxon invaders, but . . .

8. were driven to seek refuge in the northern and western areas of the island: • Scotland • Wales • Cornwall and in • Britanny • On the west coast of Continental Europe

9. The Germanic tribes organized themselves into a confederation of kingdoms like . . . Kent Sussex, Essex, Wessex East Anglia, Mercia, and Northumbria.

10. The Area of Germanic settlement became known as Angle-land, or England

11. The Anglo-Saxons were seafaring pagan wanderers whose lives were . . . bleak, violent and short.

12. At this time the Germanic societies had not yet adopted Christianity. • They revered the warrior culture • People gathered in mead halls to • celebrate • Feast • Drink mead • And to listen to tales of heroic achievements as told by poet singers called scops.

13. They brought with them the epic of Beowulf and other poetry as well as the strong pagan belief of wyrd, or fate. They were loyal warriors and admired those whose wyrd it was to prevail in battle.

14. Anglo-Saxons settled in the land and became. . . • An agricultural people • Less violent, • More secure, • More civilized, and • Christian

15. Thus, one of the most important civilizing forces in British history was Christianity.

16. Christianity spread when St. Patrick converted the Gaels Who went to Scotland and then south, throughout all Britain as missionaries, transforming the culture.

17. Then in 597, Augustine, another Roman missionary came to Kent Where he established a monastery at Canterbury

18. Monasteries were important centers of learning, where • scribes laboriously copied manuscripts by hand. • the spread of Christianity was accompanied by the spread of literacy.

19. Christianity spread so rapidly that by 690 all of Britain was at least nominally Christian. But there were two new threats in the horizon.

20. The Danes in the east and the Moslems in the south

21. In the 790’s, the Danes invaded northern and eastern England The Danes, who were also known as • Vikings • Norsemen (“north men” in France) • or Normans (Danes who adopted French ways) Settled in northern and eastern England and in Normandy on the coast of France, and became Christians.

22. Though the Danes were successful in northern and eastern England, they were defeated in 878 by Alfred the Great, who forced them to agree to a truce in 886, and accept Christianity

23. The last successful invasion of Britain was the Norman Conquest, which was led by William the Conqueror, who • claimed Edward the Confessor had sworn an oath to him to make William heir to the throne. • led his Normans across the channel and killed Harold, earl of Wessex, at the battle of Hastings. • was crowned king of England on Christmas day of 1066. • introduced French culture and social customs to England

24. The Normans were Viking raiders who accepted Christianity, and settled in Normandy on the eastern coast of France and adopted French ways.

25. The Medieval Period 1066-1485

26. William introduced England to • Feudalism--a political and economic system of Hierarchical power with • The king governing at the top • Barons who swore allegiance to the king • Serfs who are bound to the land owned by the barons • The building of strong castles to defend the countryside • Great cathedrals and abbeys as centers of worship and education • French customs, culture, and language. • The ideals of chivalry

27. Chivalry was a code of honor and behavior that encouraged knights to Honor and protect the king, ladies, and the defenseless. And to go on holy quests against rogues and ogres.

28. Chivalry inspired many a knight to accomplish great deeds of courage and good will.

29. The Crusades (1096-1270) were the Christian response to the violent expansion of Islam. In order to keep the Muslim hoard at bay, Richard the Lion-Hearted and others made military expeditions to Jerusalem.

30. Richard left England in the hands of his brother John, a villain, who was resisted and confronted by Richard’s barons and forced to sign the Magna Carta (Great Charter).

31. The Magna Carta • limited royal authority. • granted more power to the barons. • was an early step on the road to democracy. • led to the creation of a parliament

32. Some results of the Crusades were . . . • An increase of trade and commerce • The growth of medieval towns • The formation of organizations or guilds by merchants and craftspeople • An expansion of the middle class • More freedom of religion, freedom to travel and study science and mathematics. • The decline of feudalism

33. The Hundred Years’ was a long struggle between England and France that finally ended with England losing its French possessions in 1453.

34. Though England lost the land war, English prevailed over French as • the prime language of trade and government. • a language of literature, with Geoffrey Chaucer, author of The Canterbury Tales, leading the way.

35. At this time the Black Death ravaged the England’s population.

36. Then two rival families claimed the throne: • The house of York, whose symbol was a white rose. • The house of Lancaster, whose symbol was a red rose

37. The War of the Roses ended when the Lancastrian Henry Tudor Killed King Richard III, and marked the end of the Middle Ages in England.