UNIT 2

Historical Overview
 Prehistory (Paleolithic Age)

•Paleolithic (Old Stone Age), Mesolithic (Middle Stone Age), Neolithic (New Stone
Age, around 3500 BC)
•Around 5000 or 6000 BC, Britain was cut off from the mainland.
 Prehistory (Stone Age)

Silbury Hill, Wiltshire

The largest burial
mound in Europe
 Prehistory (Stone Age)

Stonehenge, Salisbury
Plain, Wiltshire
(around 3000 BC)

Bards
Ovates
Druids
 Prehistory (Iron Celtic Age)
750 BC – Roman Invasions AD43
Celtic tribes, 700-400 BC
The Belgae

Since 200 BC

Germanic and Roman

invasion of the Gaul

First towns in England

Coins

The plough
The Roman Period (43-410 AD)
 s g the Celts of Gaul
(Irelan against the Romans.
d/Scotl
2. Britain was a very
and)
productive island
The
Brito
ns 55 BC Julius Ceasar
(Wal
AD 43 Emperor
es/E
Claudius
nglan
d)
Why did
the
Romans
invade
T Britain?
h
e 1. The
Britis
G h
a Celts
e were
l aidin
 The Roman Period (43-410 AD)

Roman baths, Bath Roman roads and

Improved farming technology cities
The Monty Python “What have the Romans ever done for us” (Sketch):
The aqueduct, sanitation, roads, irrigation, medicine, education, wine,
public baths, safety (public order), peace…
 The Roman Period (43-410 AD)

Londinium
Chester
Lancaster
Gloucester
Latin word castra (military camp)
 The Roman Period (43-410 AD)
Queen Boudicca
(or Boadicea) 61 AD
 The Roman Period (43-410 AD)
Hadrian’s Wall (122 AD)
 The Roman Period (43-410 AD)

Antonine Wall (142 AD)

http://mrbpielglobal.edublogs.org/files/2010/12/HORRIBLE-
HISTORIES-The-Roman-Report-with-Bob-Halewww.savevid.com-
24aqyer.mp4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=475sbcUj9t4
Germanic Invasions (410-1066)
Anglo-
Saxon
Britain
(410-871)
 King Arthur

- The advance of the Angles and

Saxons was temporarily halted
by an army of Celtic Britons
under the command of King
Arthur.

- King Arthur is a king of the

Britons who historians believe
may have existed during the 6th
century.

- In folklore he is a great English

hero and, together with his
Knights of the Round Table, an
example of medieval nobility and
chivalry.

- In fact he lived before medieval

times, a Celt trying to stop the
Anglo-Saxons (the people who
became “the English”)
Britain about 600 - Settlements of Angles, Saxons and Jutes
Saxon Control
 Origin of the Names of the Days of
the Week
• Sunday: Sunnenday
– the sun's day
– Middle English translation of Greek Hemera heliou
• Monday: Monan daeg
– the moon's day
– Anglo Saxon, monan, moon; daeg, Anglo Saxon, day
• Tuesday: Tiwes daeg
– Tiw's day
– Anglo Saxon Tiw, war god, related to Greek god Zeus
• Wednesday: Woensdag
– Woden's day
– Danish, Woen, Woden, Chief Norse god, Frigga's husband;
dag, day
• Thursday: Thursdaeg
– Thor's day
– Old English; Thorr, Icelandic, thundergod
• Friday: Frigedaeg
– Frigga's day
– Anglo Saxon; Frige, Frigga, chief Norse goddess, Woden's
wife
• Saturday: Saeterdaeg
– Saturn's day
– Anglo Saxon; Saeter, Saturn, Roman god of time
 The Germanic Invasions (410-1066)
Christianity
• 6th and 7th centuries
Christianity spread through
Britain. It came from two
directions:

– ROME. South of England: St

Augustine (the first archbishop
of Canterbury).

– IRELAND. Ireland had become

Christian in 432 (St. Patrick).
Scotland and Northern
England were also converted.
 The Germanic Invasions (410-1066)

• 8th/9th century: Vikings,

Norsemen or Danes,
from Scandinavia

• 750 – Vikings begin to

pillage coastal towns by
way of Norway and
Denmark

• 835 – Vikings start

making more regular
raids and conquests
with larger armies.
• 867 – 877
Vikings
invade and
conquer most
of Eastern
Britain
• 878 – Alfred
“the Great”
defeats the
Vikings at
Edington; He
forces them to
retreat to the
Danelaw.
Who was King Alfred the Great?

Alfred was born in 849.

By the age of 22 he had become

the ruler of the West Saxons.

He raised an army to drive the

Danes out of the South of England.

He then made an agreement with

the Danes that they could live in
a certain part of England.

This area was called the Danelaw.

He also made many improvements to

the army and navy, and to
education and laws.
Where did the Vikings finally settle in England?

The area shown in red on the map

was called the Danelaw. This was the
area controlled by the Vikings.

The green areas were controlled by the

Anglo-Saxons.

This was the situation after the

agreement that was made between
the Danes and King Alfred.
• 926 – Saxons
conquer the Danelaw

• 973 – Edgar, a
grandson of Alfred,
becomes king of
nearly all of present-
day England and for
the first time the
name “England” is
used.
• England (Old English:
Engla land or Ængla
land)
 Timeline of British History
• 3000 b.c.—Stonehenge
• 750-400 b.c.—Celts arrive in England
• 55 b.c-410 a.d—Roman occupation
• 450—Jutes, Angles, Saxons arrive
• 597—St. Augustine brings Christian revival
• 500-600—Historical King Arthur in Celtic Wales
• 787—Danish (Viking) raids
• 878 — Peace of Edington. King Alfred.
• 1066—The Battle of Hastings (Norman
conquest)
 The Medieval Period (1066-1458)

Battle of Hastings (1066)

William the Conqueror (Duke William of

Normandy)

King Harold (brother-in-law of King

Edward the Confessor)

King Hardråda, King of Norway

Norman
Conquest (1066)
300 years of Norman nobles
ruling in Britain. House of
Plantagenet (also called house of
Anjou or Angevin dynasty)
The Tower of London, built by William
the Conqueror in 1078
English-speaking Saxons
French-speaking Normans
Words and social class
Animal Meat
Cow Beef

Calf Veal

Swine Pork

Sheep Mutton

Hen Poultry
 The Medieval Period (1066-1458)

1170: Thomas Becket,

Archbishop of Canterbury

King Henry II (great-grand-son

of William the Conqueror)

14th century: Geoffrey

Chaucer’s The Canterbury
Tales
 The Medieval Period (1066-1458)

1215: Magna Carta,

King John

The Parliament
(assembly of nobles
called by the King)
 MAGNA CARTA –
QUESTIONS
Read the extracts from the Magna Carta that you have in
your photocopies and answer the following questions:

• What does Magna Carta say regarding the rights of

inheritance of the nobility?
• How would you describe its references to women?
• Find references in the text that suggest the creation of a
proto-parliament.
• Find references in the text to the notion of “habeas
corpus” (that every free person has the right to a fair trial).
• How is the monarch’s observance of these articles to be
assured?
 The Medieval Period (1066-1458)

Robin Hood, Sherwood

Forest

King Richard I (1189-

99) . The Crusades.
John (the King’s
brother)