Transcript The Anglo-Saxon and Medieval Periods

The Anglo-Saxon and Medieval
Periods
The Middle Ages
British Literature
449-1485
Taken from The Longman Anthology of British Literature and *The Language of Literature
Geological signs indicate
The Celts
that Paleolithic
man arrived
some 50,000 years before
the ice cap severed Britain
from the continent
Approx. 400 BC - The first
British people were Celtic
people (inhabitors of the
British Isles and northern
France, also called
Brittany)
The Celts
• The Celts that settled
in Ireland formed a
distinct culture and
eventually colonized in
parts of Scotland
– the Picts, a pre-Celtic
people, also lived there
The Invasions
• Approx. 1st through 5th
centuries – Romans
occupied Briton
(Constantine’s
conversion to
Christianity in the 4th
century brought
Christianity to Briton)
– The Picts and Scots
were never
“Romanized”
The Romans*
• Introduced cities, fine paved roads, written
scholarship, and eventually Christianity.
• The “Romanized” Britons became dependent
on the Roman military for protection.
The Invasions
• Early fifth century:
Roman armies
abandoned Britain to
defend the city of
Rome, and Britain
became the target of
invasion.
– The Picts and the Scots
began to harass the
“Briton” Celts
The Invasions
• Approx 6th and 7th
centuries - the
Britons invited
German allies, the
Angles, Saxons,
and Jutes from
Europe, to come to
their aid
•The Angles, Saxons, and Jutes eventually
also become oppressors
•The Britons resisted (possibly under the
leader that later became known as Arthur)
Anglo-Saxons
• Many of the Briton Celts retreated
westward (Wales)
• In southern and central Britain,
Celtic culture all but disappeared.
• Angles and Saxons intermarried and
became the Anglo-Saxons
Anglo-Saxons*
• Anglo-Saxons eventually began calling
themselves the British (after the
Britons they originally displaced) and
even took on the Celtic hero Arthur as
their own.
• The Angles were dominant in the early
history of the Heptarch; therefore, the
area of Germanic settlement became
known as Angle-land , or England, and
the people became known as the
English.
Anglo-Saxons*
• Scholars use the term Anglo-Saxon
to refer to this time period in
British History.
Growth of Christianity*
• Despite the collapse of
Roman power,
Christianity never
completely died out in
British Isles.
• In 597, A Roman
Missionary, Augustine,
established a
monastery at
Canterbury.
• By 690 most of Britain
was Christian.
The Vikings
• Late 9th century – the Vikings
invade (Danish)
The Norman Conquest
• 1066, William the Conqueror of Normandy
(France) invades when the Anglo-Saxon king
Edward dies and his successor, King
Harold, is disputed
– Normans (North Men) were originally Vikings that
settled in France that eventually accepted French
ways
– William’s introduction of French practices
started the Medieval (middle) period in
England
The Normans: feudalism
• The Normans established the feudal system:
– The king kept a fourth of the land, gave a fourth to
the church, and parceled the rest out to his barons*
– A nobleman (fief) held land from the king and
owed the king military and judicial services
(including providing knights)
– The knights held land from the fief (their lord) and
owed him military service and other duties
– Serfs (Anglo-Saxons) lived on the land belonging to
the knight, took care of it, and owed him
agricultural produce and rent (some of which the
knight then in turn owed this fief); they were bound
to the land on which they were born
The Normans: culture
• The cultural impact of the Normans was
great
– The with the Norman conquest also came a
strong influence of the intellectual current and
the arts of Europe along with frequent travel
back and forth
– Aristocratic women were educated (at convents),
became the focus of much literature, and were
central to social rituals like courtly love
Celtic
Danish
French
Roman
German
Henry II & Becket
• The Normans also believe that the church and its law should
be separate from secular power, causing conflicts between
monarchs that wanted to control the clergy
– Becket was Henry II best friend and fellow rabble-rouser
– Henry II decided to name Becket as Archbishop of
Canterbury so than he could have influence over the church
– Becket took his new position very seriously and strove to
follow God’s will (causing many great conflicts with Henry)
– Henry II had Becket killed in 1170 at the altar of Canterbury
Cathedral
– Becket was quickly canonized (made a saint) and
Canterbury became the destination of a regular religious
pilgrimage
William’s Descendants*
• Eleanor of Aquitaine, former French Queen
and wife of Henry II, brought ideals of
chivalry, code of honor, knightly behavior,
and encouraged holy quests
• Henry II’s 2 sons:
– Richard I (the lionhearted) fought the Crusades
in France, where English possessions were
threatened.
– John—the villain in many Robin Hood legends–
plotted against Richard I.
John becomes King*
• In 1215 John I was forced to sign the
Magna Carta (Great Charter) which limited
royal authority by granting more power to the
barons.
• Under Edward I, the House of Commons
(commoners) were included in parliament.
Return of English
• The Normans and Anglo-Saxons began to
intermarry, and by the 13th century,
English was the official language of
discourse
The Hundred Year’s War*
• War between England and France
continued off and on for more than a
century…
• during which England experienced many
domestic crises
– Black Death
– Peasant’s Revolt
– Richard II forced to abdicate
The Hundred Year’s War*
• These things led to the conflict between
the house of York (white rose) and the
house of Lancaster (red rose) for the claim
of the throne: War of the Roses.
• In 1485 Lancaster’s Henry Tudor killed
York’s king Richard III, ending the war…
• becoming King Henry VII, marking the
end of the Middle Ages in England.
The Plague
• Between 1348 and 1375, the Black Death
(plague) struck 4 times and killed nearly half
of the population