2500 BC to 1066 AD

1. British History & Literature 2500 BC to 1066 AD

2. BC • 2500 BC – First Monoliths (megaliths) are constructed for an unknown purpose. • 2000 – Invaders from the Iberian (Portugal and Spain) Peninsula come to the main island of Britain

3. 600 BC – Celts begin infiltrating Britain and eventually become the dominant people. • 55 BC – First invasion of the Romans by Julius Caesar

4. Anno Domini • 43 – Successful full scale invasion of Britain by the Roman Empire • 50 – Celt tribes are prevelant despite Roman invasion

5. 122 -Construction of Hadrian's Wall to keep out the Picts and Scots 184 - Lucius Artorius Castus- commander of a detachment of Sarmatian conscripts stationed in Britain, some believe that this Roman military man is the original, or basis, for the Arthurian legend

6. 410 – Rome grants Britain its “independence” – many years of small battles ensue. • 430 – St. Patrick begins converting Celtic Ireland to Christianity.

7. CelticChristianity • Romans spread, Celtic areas continued. • St Patrick (389-461) • Celtic monks walking from village to village • Celtic Christianity (anti-hierarchical, rural monasteries)

8. The World Begins to Change • 450 AD – Angles, Saxons, Jutes, Frisians, and others begin to take over Britain by force. • 560 – Aethelbert (Saxon) began his reign as the first Bretwalda • 597 – St. Augustine (Not the guy that wrote Confessions) sent by Rome to convert England to Christianity. • The mass conversions were achieved after a ruling tribal King converted. • Established the first archbishopric at Canterbury.

9. Wait! What?! You mean the English haven’t always just been there? • Who were the Angles? • Who were the Saxons? • Who were the Jutes? • Who were the Celts? • Who were the Vikings? • Who were the Irish? • Who were the Danes? • Who were the Picts? • Who were the Scots?

10. Historical Questions About the Angles, Saxons, Jutes, Frisians, Celts, Irish, Vikings, Geats, Picts, Scots, and other peoples that got mixed together in Britain. • Where did they come from? • Where did they go? • When did they start moving? • What do we know about their culture?

12. The Anglo-Saxon Invasion Begins

14. Vocabulary • Thanes – pledged warriors that would die for their King. • Scop (pr: Shope – rhymes with hope) – a singing poet (created lyrics extemporaneously based on tales of battles and heroism) • Bretwalda – a ruling king (over other rulers) • Kenning – a metaphoric synonym usually hyphenated (Sea = Whale-Road; King = ring giver.) • Caesura – a pause in the metrical foot that represents a pause in the sense of the word: marked by two vertical lines.

15. Celts • Forest sanctuaries • Druids:education, calendar, four festivals, human sacrifices before battles • 100BC-50BC rapid development (minted coinage) • 2000 BC – Were spread throughout all of Europe including Britain (Irish and Scotish) • 600 BC - A second wave of Celts came and settled in Britain. (Welsh, Cornish) • 400 BC - Came upon the Roman people in Northern Italy and because of a disgrace, sacked Rome and left. • Tribal society (hill forts)

16. Jutes • From: Modern Denmark • they ended up settling in Kent, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight. • the Jutes in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight vanished, leaving only the slightest of traces. • In Beowulf the Jutes appear as the Eotenas in the Finn passage, making them a people distinct from the Geatas

17. Angles • after the invasion of Britain the Angles split up and founded the kingdoms of the Nord Angelnen (Northumbria), Ost Angelnen (East Anglia), and the Mittlere Angelnen (Mercia). • The Angles are the subject of a legend about Pope Gregory I. As an abbreviated version of the story goes, Gregory happened to see a group of Angle children from Deira for sale as slaves in the Roman market. Struck by the beauty of their fair-skinned complexions and bright blue eyes, Gregory inquired about their background. When told they were Angles, he replied with a Latin pun that translates well into English: "Not Angles, but angels".

18. Saxons • The Saxons were considered by Charlemagne and other historians to be especially war-like and ferocious. • The Saxons gave their names to the kingdoms of Essex, Sussex and Wessex (the lands respectively of the East Saxons, South Saxons and West Saxons), which with the shorter-lived Middlesex eventually became part of the kingdom of England.

19. Picts • Many legends exist about the Picts because little can be proven. What is known is that they inhabited Scotland for many hundreds of years and they would use a blue dye to create tattoos to ornament their bodies. • They frequently raided neighboring villages, thus the need for Hadrian’s wall. • They left many stone carvings, but little else.

20. Irish • The Irish are, just as most of England is, a mixture of different peoples. • The are probably the combination of Celts, Picts, Scots, Vikings, Angles, and Saxons. • A distinctly Irish culture did not emerge until around 1000 AD

21. Scots • Inhabited modern Ireland. • Fought against the Picts for hundreds of years. • Fought with the Picts against the Romans • Continued fighting with the Picts after the Romans left. • Lost to the Picts, but remained in Ireland until after the Vikings defeated the Picts. The Scots then intermingled with the Picts and slowly became the modern Scottish.

22. Danes • AKA Spear-Danes, Shield-Danes, West-Danes, East-Danes • Highlighted in Beowulf and Hamlet

23. Back to the Timeline… • 450 – Invasion • 560 – Aethelbert (Saxon) began his reign as the first Bretwalda • 597 – St. Augustine

24. 627 - Sutton Hoo • In 1939 archaeologists unearthed an astonishing Anglo-Saxon ship burial in Woodbridge, Suffolk; • The find was so important because of everything that was inside the ship…. • Lots of very expensive stuff in the burial leads to support the claim that….

26. …. King Raedwald was the person buried in the ship. • He fits the timeframe on the coins found; • It was tradition for Kings to have a ship burial. • Was the most powerful Saxon ruler at that time (a bretwalda). • Acknowledged Christianity – all of his successors were Christian.

27. Roman Christianity • Roman Christianity (hierarchical, urban bishoprics) • St. Augustine 597 founder of Church at Canterbury • Synod of Whitby 663 (dating of Easter) • Venerable Bede: Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Anglorum, 730

28. 750 – Beowulf written • 750 – Vikings begin to pillage coastal towns by way of Norway and Denmark • 835 – Vikings start making more regular raids and conquests with larger armies.

29. 867 – 877 Vikings invade and conquer most of Eastern Britain • 878 – Alfred the Great defeats the encroaching Vikings at Edington; He forces them to retreat to the Danelaw.

30. Alfred the Great • Alfred the Great (849-899) Wessex royal line • Except the Danelaw he united kingdom (886) • Only English ruler to have the title “the great” • Anglo-Saxon cohesion (English language) • He translated Bede’s History. • Began keeping records in The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle

31. 926 – Saxons conquer the Danelaw • 975 – The Book of Exeter - also called the “Red Book of Exeter”

32. Edward the Confessor • 1042 – King Edward the Confessor ascends to the throne as a descendent of Alfred the Great. • Deeply Religious (Christian) • Had close ties with the ruler of Normandy (France)… his cousin. • After Edward died in 1066…

33. the Normans Invaded!!! • William the Conqueror • Captured the beach unopposed. • The Anglo-Saxons were in the north fighting the King of Norway The Battle of Hastings

34. Early “English” Literature • Ecclesiastical History of the English People - 731 • Beowulf – 750 • The Dream of the Rood 750 – 900? • Anglo-Saxon Chronicle - 891 • Book of Exeter - 975

35. Beowulf • An Epic Poem written around 750 • Events occur around the time of the death of Hygelac (521) • Author wrote down what had been passed down through the generations. • The story was lost for nearly a millennia – found on a shelf in a private library. • $11.25 at Borders or B&N – Seamus Heaney’s translation.

36. Old-English, Beowulf • Anglo-Saxon dialects replaced Celtic (Latin letters) • vernacular poetry: bards,(harp) • A lot of translation problems…