The Anglo – Saxons449 - 1066

Early Development of British Life

• Geological signs indicate that Paleolithic man arrived some 50,000 years before the ice cap severed Britain from the continent.

• One of the earliest westward migrations was made by people whose descendants now live in Cornwall, the Scottish highlands, Ireland, Wales and Brittany:

• THE CELTS- the early inhabitants of Briton!

B.C. A.D.

500 400 300 200 100 1 100 200 300 400

• Stonehenge was built in 2000 B.C. on the Salisbury Plain

Some people believe that Stonehenge was used by the Druids or priests for religious purposes.

Druids acted as intermediaries between the gods and the people

Celtic People307 – 1B.C.

• Religion was a form of animism from the Latin word for “spirit.”

• The Celts saw spirits everywhere ~• In trees in water

• In fire

• In thunder These people were hunters

and farmers.

The Roman Invasion

• The Celts or Brythons were invaded by the Romans in 55 B.C.

• The Romans provided armies against other invaders.

• They built a network of roads.

• They built a defensive wall 73 miles long.

• During Roman rule, Christianity was introduced by European missionaries.

Roman Invasion Cont…

• Romans left in 409 A.D. because they were needed back home in Rome because they were being attacked

• They left roads, public baths and villas but no central government.

• Britain became again a country of small, separate clans, each with its own king.

The Angles, Saxons & Jutes

• Around 449, the Celts were invaded by three different tribes – the Angles, the Saxons & the Jutes.

• The Celts fought against these armies then retreated into Wales. These Celtic people are the true Briton people.

The Angles and Saxons came from Germany.

The Jutes came from Denmark.

The language of the Anglo-Saxons became the dominant language in Britain.

The land was called Engla land or England from the Angles.

King Alfred the Great

• Anglo – Saxon England was not any more politically unified than Celtic Britain had been until the time of King Alfred of Wessex.

• King Alfred united the Anglo - Saxons against invading Danes better known as the dreaded Vikings.

• Christianity was reintroduced during this time and became a unifying agent.

• Responsible for turning Britain into a nation

The Danes were Vikings (pirates) who crossed the cold North Sea in their dragon boats in the 8th and 12th centuries

Anglo –Saxon Culture

• Britain was divided into parts, each with its own family, clan, tribe and kingdom.

• Social classes: king, freeman: thanes and churls, slaves

• Thanes had to own at least 5 hides of land• Law and order was the responsibility of the

leader of any given group.• Fame, success and even survival were

gained only through loyalty to the leader.

Scops

• Scops were skilled storytellers who sang of the gods and heroes.

• They were the historians of the tribe.• They were a respected member of the

tribe.• The scops were not inferior to warriors, for

to the Anglo-Saxons, creating poetry was just as important as fighting, hunting and farming.

A-S Poetry• Two types of poems: heroic- about heroes

elegiac- mourning the loss of someone/thing

Characteristics:

Kenning- compound metaphorical phrase

Whale-road= sea meat-piercer= fork

Alliteration- repetition of initial consonant sounds

Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers

Runes• used by the A-S to write short messages of ownership, like "This

belongs to Offa". • They were also used to write inscriptions on gravestones, like "Here

lies Alfred. We miss him". • They were usually carved on wood or stone (not written in books). • There were different types of runes. The ones used in Britain are

known as 'Anglo-Saxon' Runes. • There are 33 characters in this Runic Alphabet. • The Alphabet is called a 'Futhork' from the first 6 letters. • Christians did not understand runes. They thought they were evil

and could be used to cast spells. ENGLISH

Paganism• Before and during most of Roman rule in Britain, the British had

been pagans too. • Each pagan god controlled a particular part of everyday life: the

home, growing crops, healing, wisdom, metalworking, love, the weather, the family, war, day & night…

• Most of the days of the week are named after Saxon gods. • The Saxons worshipped their gods in wooden temples or

sacred clearings in the woods called 'groves'. • Pagan Saxon priests practiced magic and fortune telling and

gave out charms to help people, like against disease or for recovering stolen things.

• People wore amulets around their necks or put them in their homes. This was usually for good luck.

Paganism

• The pagan Saxons also believed that the countryside was inhabited by elves, goblins, dwarves and dragons.

• And that, after death, you had a long journey ahead of you to an 'after-life’.

• When the Saxons became Christians, they often turned their temples into churches and made pagan festivals Christian. This stopped pagans using them and showed that Christianity was stronger. Amulets became crosses.

Christianity Arrives• For the first 300 years that the Romans ruled Britain, the

Romano-British worshipped many different gods. They were pagans, like the Saxons.

• In the Middle East, a religion called Christianity was started by Jesus Christ, around the year AD 25.

• Legends tell us that Christianity was brought to Britain by Jesus's grand uncle, Joseph of Arimathea, in AD 63. These stories are probably made up.

• Traders and merchants (people selling things) brought Christian ideas to Britain in the 2nd century

Christianity…

• Sometimes, they were hunted down and executed. In Rome, they were eaten by lions! This might have happened in Britain too.

• In AD 313, the Emperor Constantine changed the law. He said it was OK to be a Christian.

• Christianity quickly became very popular. Romano-British bishops went to a big conference at Arles (in France) the next year.

Wyrd

• A-S word meaning fate

• A-S believed your fate was predetermined

• One could not change his or her fate- it was set

• Anglo-Saxon Britain was a time of warfare. It was a time of invasions and war.

• The Anglo-Saxons and the Vikings continued to fight with each other until both were defeated in 1066 by William, Duke of Normandy better know as William the Conqueror.

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