Background Sources for British Culture, Literature & Language:
 
 

Native tribes: Descendants from original Britons	Invaders:
Scotch Irish Welch Cornish	Romans Angles Saxons Jutes  Vikings  Normans

 
Celtic:

• Descendants of original Britons
• Scotch
• Irish
• Welch
• Cornish
• Language was Cymraeg.
• Great dux bellorum (leader of wars) Artorius resisted the Germans (Arthur).

Classic (Greco-Roman):

• Caesar invaded with Roman legions in 55 B.C.
• 100 years later, Roman Emperor Claudius attacked Celts & established Roman rule.
• 400 years of relative order & stability followed.
• Latin & Greek literature imp. then brought back later

Germanic:

• Angles, Saxons, & Jutes came in 5^th Century. A.D. (started in A.D. 449).
• A.D. 410
• Rome had been sacked.
• Rome withdrew from Britain, beginning the Medieval Period.
• Middle Ages or Dark Ages are other terms for the era.
• Era ended 1000 years later in the 1400's-1500's.

5^th century

• Rome left
• Germanic tribes (Angels, Saxons, Jutes) took over.
• Settled in East. Britain
• Took over England by 650
• Anglo-Saxon (Old English) forms the basis of English. The, is you, mann, hus, sheep, ox, earth, plough, swine, dog, glee, etc.

The Vikings: (793-1050)

• These tribes were also Germanic.
• The invasion began as plundering, ended in conquest & settlement.
• 878 King Alfred beat back the Vikings, preserving English.

The Norman Conquest 1066.

• Christmas Day
• William the Conquerer was coronated
• Religion, law, science, & literature were now in French & Latin, not English, for 200 years.
• French overlords had to learn English to talk to their subjects.

• Led to using English again.
• 1356-1400 English appeared as official language in various places.

    Anglo-Saxon society was quite different from the culture that developed in the high Middle Ages reflected in Chaucer. Following the Roman exit from Britain, there was a breakdown of the rule of law. It was a very tribal form of society in which much superstition abounded. They were pagans. Pagan traditions were fused with Christian ones.  For instance, the spring festival of Eostre became Easter. Christian concepts of fortune & providence were similar to the Anglo Saxon concept of wyrd, or fate: the control of a person's destiny beyond the reach of personal exertion. Christianity brought intellectual advancement. Schools grew up as monestaries spread; Latin taught. Led Anglo Saxons to produce & write down their own literature. Anglo Saxon (Old English) the first important vernacular written literature of Western Europe. (Vernacularlanguages were the local language, as opposed to the Latin that was common across the area covered by the western Roman Empire. )

Two classes recognized by Anglo-Saxon society:

• Earls
• ruling class based on kinship to the founder of a tribe.
• Churls
• bondsmen
• subject classes (slaves)
• A few got higher status becuase they or their ancestor had been freed for service to the king.

• Brave commander
• Revered leader in wartime
• Wise judge
• Generous gift-giver in peacetime.

The tribal social system:

• Based on loyalty & indebtedness
• Crimes against one's own kin were unforgivable.
• Punished by death

597 A.D.:
 

• Augustine:
• Converted King Ethelbert of Kent.
• Augustine became 1st archbishop of Canterbury.
• Brought back Latin.

Christian concepts of fortune & providence were similar to the A.S. concept of wyrd, or fate:
the control of a person's destiny beyond the reach of personal exertion.

Christianity brought intellectual advancement. Schools grew up as monestaries spread; Latin
taught. Led A.S. to produce & write down their own lit. Anglo Saxon (Old English) was the first
important vernacular written literature of W. Europe. (Vernacular languages were the local
language, as opposed to the Latin that was common across the area covered by the western Roman
Empire. )
 
 

Bede:

• 8th century historian & churchman
• Wrote the Ecclesiastical History of the English Nation.

• Viking Danes began attacking
• Alfred the Great
• Emerged as most imp. Anglo Saxon king.
• Had history recorded yearly in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle.
• Encouraged translation of books.
• Ceded north & central portions of England to the Viking Danes to save Britain.

1042: Anglo Saxons returned to power

1066:

• The Normans/Frenchmen invaded under William the Conqueror.
• William imposed Norman law, government and language on Anglo-Saxons.
• End of the Anglo-Saxon Era.

1066.  The Normans/Frenchmen invaded. William imposed Norman law, government and
language on Anglo-Saxons.

    The foundation of Norman civilization (Feudal System) which was based upon the holding of land. King owned all the land. He granted areas to his lords who promised him their services. Lords gave portions to the knights who pledged to assist them in battle. Serfs were the lowest on the social scale. They paid goods and services to the lord in return for land they farmed.

Social Scale:

• King
• Lords
• Nobles - Knights
• Serfs – Peasants & Clergy