The Mother Tongue

Indo-European Languages

Indo-European Timeline I period: Breaking Up (60th c. bce - 25th c. bce) II period: Settling Apart (25th c. bce - 13th c. bce) III period: Primary Migrations (13th c. bce - 7th c. bce) IV period: Secondary Migrations(7th c. bce- 1st c. bce) V period: The Great Movement (1st c. ce - 500 ce)

VI period: Fixing Borders (500 – 1000 ce)

ce: Common Erabce: Before Common Era

Cultural Fusion of the Early Middle Ages5th-11th centuries

Fall of RomeCeltic InfluencesNorse-Germanic InfluencesSpread of Christianity

throughout EuropeIslamic InfluencesFeudalismEmpires and Kingdoms

Celtic Migrations

Hallstatt

Celtic Migrations2100 bce       Celtic tribes in Europe 1400 bce       Celts arrive in Spain 1200 bce       Celtic cultures in Gaul and Germania 650 bce         Celts settle in Britain and Ireland 600 bce        New Celtic invasion to Spain 450 bce         Celtic tribes come to Italy 280 bce        Celts arrive in the Balkans and Asia Minor 133 bce         Spain conquered by Rome 50 bce        Gaul conquered by Rome 43 ce         Romans conquer Britain 250 ce        Ogham inscriptions in Ireland and Scotland409 ce        Romans leave Britain 450 ce        Celtic migrations to Brittany 844 ce   Kingdom of Scotland established

Gundestrup Cauldron

1st c. bcesilver overlaid with

gold

Cernunnos: God of the Beasts

Celtic Influences Decorative

Animal motifs Arabesques

Religious Scholarship Monasticism

Literary Epics and folklore Sovranty: Love-Political Triangle

King-Queen-Suitor/Challenger Arthur-Guinevere-Lancelot

Celtic ChristianityChristianity was introduced into

the British Isles in late 1st century or early 2nd c. with Roman soldiers

It was a cultic religion existing alongside other cults, both indigenous cults and those brought in by the Romans, such as the cult of Mithras.

The new faith rapidly gained adherents

St. Patrick (389?-461?)

Apostle of Ireland, Christian prelate. Born in Scotland -- kidnapped at 16 by

Irish pirates and sold in Ireland as a slave. He passed his captivity as a herdsman

Saw visions in which he was urged to escape, and after six years of slavery he did so,

Ordained as a deacon, then priest and finally as a bishop.

Pope Celestine then sent him back to Ireland to preach the gospel.

Syncretism: St. Bridgit

Patrick carried Christianity to the Irish by transforming their sacred groves, wells, and mounds into centers of worship for the new faith.

He also adopted the ancient Celtic deities into the new faith, demoting them to saints

Brigit,the goddess of healing and fertility became St. Bridgit in the new faith.

The Irish Church

Elements of Eastern Christianity: emphasis on monasticism organizational structure of abbots and monasteries versus bishops and

parish churches ascetic holiness and pilgrimage

The abbeys' and monasteries' success in teaching: Generations of scholars who not only copied Christian material but also

transcribed the myths of the Ulster and Finian cycles, the Brehon laws, and other Celtic documents

Survival of Christianity in the British Isles despite conquest by the pagan Angles and Saxons.

Missionaries sent to England and scholars to courts, such as Charlemagne’s, throughout Europe

The Book of Kells

Fall of Rome330: Constantine moved the capitol of the Roman Empire to

Constantinople402: Honorius moved capitol of the Western Empire from

Rome to Ravenna410: Visigoths sacked Rome455: Vandals sacked Rome and took control of N. Africa and

Spain5th c.: Waves of Angles, Saxons and Jutes invaded Britain

and Burgundians controlled much of France476: Goths seized Rome: Odoacer became Emperor

Völkerwanderrung

Germanic Migrations

Germanic Comitatus or Kinship Groups

König, eorlas und thanes: kings, nobles and warriors Mutual loyalty -- warriors fight for king, king is

generous to warriors Originally a socially egalitarian setup, during the third

and fourth centuries CE, it became socially stratified Basis for feudal loyalty Ideal and philosophy expressed in oral epics like

Beowulf and The Song of Roland

The Lindisfarne Gospels

Viking Conquests

I've been with sword and,spearslippery with bright blood

where kites wheeled. And how wellwe violent Vikings clashed!

Redflames ate up men's roofs,raging we killed and killed;

and skewered bodies sprawledsleepy in town gateways.

Viking Runes

Viking

Art

Scene taken from the stone Smiss I, found in Stenkyrka parish. Dated 700-

800 AD.

8th c. Bronze keys

The Norman

s

Vikings, or Norsemen, who settled in northern France (or the Frankish kingdom), together with their descendants

A Viking named Rollo emerged as the leader among the new settlers.

The Normans founded the duchy of Normandy and sent out expeditions of conquest and colonization to southern Italy and Sicily and to England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland.

Norman Conquest 1066: Contest for the English crown:

Harold, Earl of Wessex: Anglo-Saxon claimantHarald Hardrada of NorwayWilliam Duke of Normandy

Battle of Stamford Bridge: Harold defeated Hardrada's army which invaded using over 300 ships; so many were killed that only 25 ships were needed to transport the survivors home.

Battle of Hastings: William led Norman forces against the English. Harold killed in battle; William seized the throne

William the Conqueror

BAYEUX TAPESTRYEnglish axman in combat with Norman cavalry during the Battle of

Hastings

Norman

Castles

Tower of London

Motte and Bailey Castle

Feudalism

”Feudal Society" is a form of civilization that flourishes especially in a closed agricultural economy

It is a social system of rights and duties based on land tenure and personal relationships: land is held in fief by vassals from lords to whom they owe specific services and with whom they are bound by personal loyalty.

Those who fulfill official duties, do so from personal and freely accepted loyalty to their overlord not because of loyalty to a state or nation.

Public authority becomes fragmented and decentralized. In this system, landlords exercise a wide variety of police, judicial,

and fiscal, rights over the unfree peasantry (serfs).

DecemberLimbourg Bros.

Très Riches Heuresof the Duc de Berry

Social ClassesSECULAR

KING

NOBLES

KNIGHTS

MERCHANTSPROFESSIONALS

CRAFTSMEN

PEASANTSfreemen

serfs

ECCLESIASTICAL

POPE

CARDINALS

BISHOPS ABBOTS

PRIESTS MONKSSUMMONERS FRIARSPARDONERS NUNS

PEASANTSlay brothers and sisters

serfs

JanuaryLimbourg Bros.

Très Riches Heuresof the Duc de Berry

Evolution of English

Language 650 bce- 500 ce: Celtic domination of British Isles: Gaelic: Irish, Welsh, Scots, Breton

2nd C. ce: Roman conquest: Latin5th C. ce: Germanic invasions by Angles, Saxons and Jutes:

Anglo-Saxon/Old English8th- 10th C: Viking invasions: Old Norse1066: Norman conquest:

Norman French → Anglo-Norman1200-1500: Middle English: literary fusion1500: Great Vowel Shift: Early Modern English1700: Modern English