Summary British Culture: History

Alba Casado Vallarino



British Culture
History
Prehistory and the Celts
- Human habitation 800,000 BC
- Britain becomes island 6,000 – 5,000 BC
- Neolithic people1 (barrows2 & henges3) 3,000 BC
- Beaker people 2,400 BC

Stone henge = still WHY was it built?
Some stoned were dragged 25km to that specific place, others come from Wales  how??
Beaker people built it, not druids!

- Takeover/arrival of Celts 700 BC:
 Better in tribal and agriculture  dominance

Druids ‘future tellers’  after stone henge (still no link between the 2)
Bards = entertainers
Art: they left jewellery with particular designs (Celtic cross)


The Romans
- Julius Caesar came to Britain 55 BC
- Went up to Thames 54 BC
- Gradual cultural change from the inside
 Ex. Took sons of important ppl hostage, educated with roman culture and send back to
UK = hope of spreading roman culture
- Claudius tries to incorporate Britannia 43 AD
- Resistance of Boadicea
 British folk hero
 Queen of British Iceni, led uprising against Roman Empire = failed
 Statue wrong, shouldn’t be on Roman horse carriage
- Romans fail to conquer Caledonia (Scotland)
 Emperor Hadrian ordered ‘Hadrian’s Wall’  protects from
Caledonians
- First attacks by Scottish Rome brought:
Celts  collapse Roman
 Modern government (tribes were organized)
Empire
 Written language
- 409 AD: Romans out
 Calendar
 Infrastructure (paved roads, cities, villas, baths,..) travelled easy
and quickly
 Names in -chester/-cester/-caster  roman ‘castra’ = fort, camp




1
First new people, from the Stone age
2
a.k.a. burrows = tombs
3
Circle of stone or wood

, Alba Casado Vallarino


The (Anglo-)Saxons
Romans left  need of ‘power’  Saxons filled that position

- Invasions:
 Saxons: south (Sussex, Essex, Wessex)
 Angels: east + north (England)
 Jutes: Kent (= smallest tribe, not that important)
- Celts driven west and north
- ‘Legend of King Arthur’  no evidence of existence
 Prob. Based on numerous people
 He would be a celt fighting WITH Saxons/English
- Augustine spreads Christianity (end of 6th C.)  spreads very quickly
- Invasions by Vikings and Danes (end 8th C.) = Scandinavians
- King Egbert: confederation (early 9th C.)
- King Alfred and the Danelaw
- Edgar reunites England (10th C.)
- Ethelred ‘the Unready’  pays off the Vikings: Danegeld
- Cnut (Canute): England under Scandinavian control
- Danes/Vikings and Anglo-Saxons live together
- Edward ‘the Confessor’

Old English
- English developed from Ingveonic dialects
- Old English  late 9th C.
- Bede: Ecclesiastical History Examples:
- Anglo-Saxon Chronicles = writing down - Prepositions: on, in, to, into, by, with
events that occurred - Articles/pronouns: the, a, you, he, I, me, that, which
- Placenames: - Verbs: is, was, are, have, can, make, like, write, come
 ‘-ing’ = the people of - Nouns: word, time, people, water, day, oil
 ‘-ton’ = village - Others; not, as, or, and, so, no, if, one, two
 ‘-ham’ = farm
- 96/100 modern English words come from Old English

1066
- Edward ‘the Confessor’ dies  no obvious successor
 Harald Hardraada: related to previous king
 Edgar atheling: 14y, very sick  quickly ruled out
 Duke of Normandy William and Harold Godwinson
- Closest to Edward  Harold Godwinson crowns himself
- September: Viking king Harald attacks from north  battle of Stanford bridge = Harold won
- William attacks from south  Harold directly heads to south (tired army)
- Battle of Hastings = Harold killed
- William ‘the Conqueror’ crowned king Important invasion because:
(25/12/1066 in Westminster)
1. Last successful hostile invasion in England
2. Society changes  introduction of feudal system
3. French language dominates  English blown away