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- 1. The Anglo SaxonPeriod 450-1066 A.D.
- 2. AKA & Emergent Period– kingdoms emerging from Rome’s control & Old English – before the modern Britain & the Dark Ages – time of regression from Rome’s influence, breakdown of society
- 3. & This wasa time of bloody conflicts, ignorance, violence and barbarism. & Life was difficult and the literature reflected this. & England has had many invaders, each leaving their stamp on what we think of as “England” today. & The Celts & The Romans & The Anglo-Saxons
- 4. Let’s step backfor a moment . . . & The first person to ever have written about England may have been the Roman General Julius Caesar, who is 55 B.C. attempted to conquer the British Isles. & Put off by the Celtic warriors, he quickly claimed a victory and returned to Rome. & Thus leaving the Celts (and their neighbors to the north and west the Picts and Geats) in peace.
- 5. The Celtic Heroes:A Magical World & (around 300 BC) the island of Britain was inhabited by tall blond warriors who called themselves Celts & a group of these warriors, called Brythons, left their permanent stamp on Britain
- 6. Religion of theCelts & Animism – the Celts saw spirits everywhere, in rivers, trees, stones, ponds, fire, and thunder. These spirits were all around and needed to satisfied constantly. & Priests, called Druids, acted as intermediaries between the gods and the people. & Ritualistic dances, human sacrifices and religious rites having to do with the lunar and solar cycles were performed.
- 7. Celtic stories & Theirlegends focus on and are full of strong women (very different from Anglo-Saxon legends that focus on strong men and women faded into background). & Celtic stories leap into sunlight after battle, no matter how much blood was spilled. & Full of fantastic animals, passionate love affairs, and fabulous adventures
- 8. The Romans: The GreatAdministrators & Beginning with an invasion led by Julius Caesar in 55 BC and culminating in one organized by the Emperor Claudius about a hundred years later, the Britons (the Celts) were finally conquered by the legions of Rome. & Rome brought organization to Britain – armies that prevented further invasions, networks of roads, and a great defensive wall seventy-three miles long.
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- 10. Religion of theRomans & Rome brought Christianity, and soon the old Celtic religion began to vanish. & Christianity became a unifying force
- 11. But, Rome pulledout . . . & The Romans were having trouble in Rome. & By 409 AD, they had evacuated their troops from Britain, leaving roads, walls, villas, and public baths, but no central government. & Without Roman control, Britain was a country of separate clans. & separation led to weakness, weakness led to vulnerability to other conquering nations
- 12. The Anglo-Saxons Sweep Ashore &In the middle of the fifth century (~450 AD), the attack came from the north, from the Angles and Saxons from Germany and Jutes from Denmark. & The Anglo-Saxon language became the dominant language in this land, thus a new name – Angle-Land, or England. & The Celts did put up a brave fight but finally retreated into Cornwall and Wales in the far west of the country and Scotland in the north.
- 13. King Alfred ofWessex & At first the domination of the Anglo-Saxon was no more politically unified than Celtic Britain had been. & Each independent principality was divided and had its own “king.” & It wasn’t until Alfred of Wessex, or Alfred the Great, led the Anglo-Saxons against the invading Vikings from Norway and Denmark that England became in any true sense a nation.
- 14. King Alfred (continued) &The Viking people of the north were plundering and destroying everything in their path. & At first their aim was to hit and run, to get what they could. Later they realized that England’s winters were easier than their harsh, icy ones. & The Danish invaders set up camps and eventually gained control of parts of the country.
- 15. King Alfred (continued) &But, there was still some instability in England. It is possible that without the help of Christian monks and missionaries converting Anglo-Saxon kings, and, thus, their subjects, there would not have been a unification of England. & Under King Alfred and Christianity, the Anglo-Saxons fought to protect their land and way of life from the Danes. & His children, Ethelfleda, a brilliant military leader and strategist, and her brother Edward, carried on King Alfred’s fight against the Danes. & The battle continued until both the Anglo-Saxons and the Danes were defeated in 1066 by William, Duke of Normandy, and his invading force of Normans from northwestern France.
- 16. The Norman Conquest &In 1042 a descendent of Alfred’s took the throne, the deeply religious Edward the Confessor. & Edward died and left the throne childless. & William, Duke of Normandy, declared that Edward had sworn an oath making the heir. & When a counsel of nobles and church officials chose an English earl, Harold, to succeed Edward, William invaded England. & At the Battle of Hastings in 1066, Harold was killed and William the Conqueror was crowned king on Christmas Day. Thus ending the Anglo-Saxon time period.
- 17. Daily life ofAnglo-Saxons & Warfare was the order of the day. & People were fiercely loyal to their individual clans and leaders. & Fame and success were gained only through loyalty to the leader. & They tended to live close to their animals in single-family wooden- buildings that surrounded a warm-lit communal hall, or mead hall. & In the dark, death-shadowed world of the Anglo-Saxons, the bards gave one element of hope: the possibility that heroic deeds would be remembered in the society’s songs and oral poems.
- 18. Anglo-Saxon Religion & TheAnglo-Saxon religion was very dark, honoring warrior gods. & Woden – god of death, poetry and magic & Thunor – god of thunder and lightning & Religion focused on the fact that life was hard and the way to be remembered after death was to fight gloriously in battle. & Their religion focused on a strong belief in wyrd, or fate, and they saved any admiration for heroic warriors whose fate it was to prevail in battle. & On the whole the religion was more concerned with ethics than mysticism. Focused on the earthly virtues of bravery, loyalty, generosity, and friendship.
- 19. Scops or Bards &In the great mead halls of the lords and nobles, Anglo-Saxons would gather to celebrate and listen to the scops, or professional singing poets, as they brought epic poems to life. & These poems were more than just simple entertainment. They were history lessons, moral sermons, and pep talks all rolled into one. & With no hope of an afterlife, only an epic poem could provide a measure of immortality. & These poems were strictly oral art forms.
- 20. Spread of Christianity &In 597 a Roman missionary named Augustine arrived in the kingdom of Kent, where he established a monastery at Canterbury. & From there Christianity spread, and all of England was at least nominally Christian (some still held to the pagan beliefs.
- 21. The Christian Monasteries &Monasteries served as centers of learning. & They are responsible for preserving the earlier Greek and Latin works, but also local works and epic poems like Beowulf. & In the scriptorium, or writing room, Monks spent their days hand copying texts. (Printing is still 800 years away.) & Latin remained the “serious” language of learning until the time of King Alfred. & He instituted the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, a lengthy running history of England. Because of these efforts, English gained respect as language of culture.