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From the Pre – Celtic Peoples to Medieval Times. From the Pre – Celtic Peoples to the Norman Conquest. The Iberians
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The Iberians The Iberians, before called Pre-Celtic People, started to settle in Britain since 2000 B.C. During the Bronze Age they reached the first stages of civilization and in the same time they realized an extraordinary construction, a temple, now called Stonehenge and which is famous all over the world. Instead, they started to use metals in the Iron Age.
The Celts The Celts were a people of warriors who were organized in clans; they were able to process metals and they practiced agriculture and breeding. Their priests, the Druids, were very important: in fact they kept knowledge and religious traditions; moreover they administered justice and educated the young. This people lived in wooden huts.
The Romans The Romans invaded Britain again in 43 A.D. in the reign of the Emperor Claudius, they conquered it and made it a Roman province called “Britannia”; the only part that wasn’t submitted was Scotland which was separated from the rest of the country by a wall erected under the order of the Emperor Hadrian (Hadrian’s Wall) in 121 A.D. The most important commercial centre was London. The Romans brought to Britons considerable innovations: they constructed the public bath system of Bath and they also planned a road network of paved roads over the whole Britain. The most important road was “Fosse Way”.
The Germans The Germans came to Britain in around 400 A.D. from the North Sea. They divided the country into seven Kingdoms: Northumbria, Kent, Essex, Sussex, Wessex, East Anglia and Mercia. They drove out Roman legions and they crossed out Roman civilization too.
The Norse The Norse or Vikings attacked Britain in 787 A.D. and they conquered all the land with exception of Wessex. Their society was constituted by the freemen, who owned the land they cultivated and whose social status was far superior to that of most European peasants at the time. Above them there were the Chieftains and the kings, elected by the General Assembly called Althing. At first they were polytheists believing in a lot of gods but in the late 1oth century they converted to Christianity. The Vikings were expert shipbuilders but they also worked wood, metal and whalebone.
In the field of literature they didn’t write records about their works so their epic poems and their stories were passed on orally by the balds or skalds, expert minstrels. The most important Norse pagan epic poem is Edda.
The Anglo – Saxons The Anglo-Saxons were a people of farmers or fishermen who lived in small communities, situated in the fertile districts of the South and East of Britain, in houses detached from one another. The basis of their economy was agriculture. They held in great consideration women who had property rights. Their literature traces its origins back to the 7th century and it narrate about war, adventure and heroic legends of the past. It is divided into two categories, poetry and prose.
Anglo – Saxon poetry The Anglo-Saxon poetry was originally oral and it was written down only long after its composition, in monasteries, by monks. This group is subdivided into two sub-groups: epic and lyric. • The oldest and most famous epic poem is Beowulf, written between 8th and 11th century by an anonymous Anglo-Saxon poet in Old English; it consists precise references to real historical events and tribal struggles. • The lyric group consists of pagan elegies which all treat the same themes: loneliness at the departure of a loved one; exile and banishment; nostalgia for happier times, now disappeared. They also introduced a new element: the presence of women.
Anglo – Saxon prose The only great Anglo-Saxon prose writer is King Alfred the Great, who translated the most important Latin works then available including “Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Anglorum”, the best-known work of the Venerable Bede (the most important Latin author of the 7th-8th century). The Wessex king wanted to give his people the basis of the European culture of the time. His most important work is the composition of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, a chronological record of events began during his reign and continued after his death until 1554; it is the main source for the general history of the whole Anglo-Saxon Period.
Realized by: Serena Bonnì: Literature Part Flaviana Casella: Artistic Director Antonino Provenzano: Leader Caterina Ribuffo: Diagrams and Maps
