An overview of Social History of England during old English period

1. SOCIAL HISTORY OF
OLD ENGLISH PERIOD
SEMESTER 1
MODULE 1
EN1331 COMPLEMENTARY COURSE
HISTORY OF ENGLISH LITERATURE 1
SREEKUMAR V. R.
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH
NSS COLLEGE NILAMEL

2. BRITISH ISLES

3.  “Early history of Britain is the history of its invaders”
 Emergence of weak country to a super power
 Political influence over more than half the world
 Rise of English as an international language

4. CELTIC INVASIONS
 Celts: first among the invading tribes
 Made up of numerous tribes like Gales and Britons
 Fierce fighters ;lacked political skill; language-Celtic
 Pagan religious beliefs; worshipped nature,
 Priests called Druids powerful than Celtic chieftains

5. DRUIDS PRIESTS

6. ROMAN PERIOD
 First expedition of Julius Caesar in 55BC, had no
political motives
 Pax Romana; long period of peace and stability
under emperor Augustus
 Invasion of emperor Claudius in AD43 England
became a province of vast Roman Empire
 First attempts at christianising England

7. ROMANS ATTACKING DRUIDS

8. ROMAN CONTRIBUTIONS
 Established forts and camps and
constructed roads
 Walls constructed for preventing Celtic
invasion from the north
 Hadrian’s wall- from Newcastle to Carlisle
 Development of trade and agriculture
 Created towns with well-built houses
 Britons civilized into an orderly community

9. ANGLO-SAXON PERIOD
 Romans withdrew because of threat from
numerous invaders
 Anglo-Saxon sea rovers-new invaders from
northern Germany
 Three main tribes: Angles, Saxons and Jutes
 The language they brought to the land was
called English
 Barbarians-lacked the cultural character of
Romans
 A migration that changed the history of England

10. ANGLO-SAXON HEPTARCHY

11. SEVEN KINGDOMS
 Kent
 Essex
 Wessex
 Sussex
 East Anglia
 Mercia
 Nortumbria

12.  Wessex gained supremacy under King
Egbert
 English derived from the Anglo-Saxon
language
 Anglo-Saxons fond of stories, wandering
minstrels narrated tales of courage and
endurance
 Flourishing of oral literature: fusion of
Paganism and Christianity

13. ANGLO-SAXON SOCIETY
 Effective system of “local government”
 King vested with powers of executive, legislative
and judicial
 Ingrained passion for action
 Women treated with respect; intervention in public
affairs
 Women enjoyed equal status as men; had property
rights
 Heathen in culture and sentiment
 Destroyed the vestiges of Roman culture

14. CHRISTIANITY
 Reintroduction of Christianity in AD 500
 Roman missionaries in the South under St.
Augustine
 Irish missionaries in the North under Aidan
 King Ethelbert of Jutes was converted to
Christianity by Augustine
 Augustine established a monastery at
Canterbury and served as first Archbishop
of Canterbury

15. CANTERBURY CATHEDRAL

16.  By AD 681 the remaining Kingdoms of Anglo-Saxon
fold became Christian
 Learning- largely Christian and was the domain of
monks and priests
 Centered in Northumbria; monasteries of Jarrow
and Whitby chief centres
 Impetus to education and enrichment of Old English
vocabulary

17. VIKING INVASION
 Danes (Vikings), a seafaring tribe conquered Anglo-
Saxons kingdoms in AD 800
 Alfred, the Anglo-Saxon king of Wessex resisted
their attacks
 Defeated Danes in the Battle of Edington
 Treaty of Wedmore: a dividing line drawn from
Chester to London
 Territory north of this line came to be known as
Danelaw
 Wessex’s superiority ends after the period of Alfred;
Edward the Confessor last of Anglo-Saxon kings

18. DANELAW

19. REFERENCES
 Radhakumari K, A concise History of English
Literature and Language, Delhi: Primus Books,2013
 Ashok, Padmaja, The Social History of England,
Chennai: Orient Blackswan, 2011

20. THANK YOU