Transcript Britain After The Romans

Britain After The Romans
407-800 AD
“When Angles and Saxons came hither from the east,
Sought Britain over the broad-spreading sea,
Haughty war-smiths overcame the Britons,
Valiant earls got for themselves a home.”
From The Anglo Saxon Chronicle
Five Distinct Cultures
•
•
•
•
•
•
With the departure of the Romans began the so-called Dark Ages, lasting 1000
years.
The period between the departure of the Romans (407 AD) and the coming of the
Vikings (ca. 800AD) was marked by the interaction of five distinct cultures.
Anglo-Saxon ( from the Baltic shores of Germany), British (Celtic/Iberian), Pictish,
Irish and Jute (from the peninsula of Jutland in modern day Denmark)
At the beginning of this period (407 AD) The dominant culture of this period was
Romano-British and the least important was the Germanic/Anglo-Saxon
By 800AD this had been completely reversed and the Anglo-Saxons controlled
much of the east and south-east, and Irish culture was dominant in the north, west
and the eastern part of Scotland (among the Picts).
British Culture had all but been wiped out, the only places it survived were in the
westernmost and northernmost parts of Britain and the area of north west France
which came to be called Brittany (‘little Britain’)
The Venerable Bede
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
What we know of these centuries we know
from the writings of the Venerable Bede
(ca.673-735)
Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum (A
History of the English Church and People)
A church history – concerned itself with the
Christianisation of England and the
establishment of the church of Rome .
Bede was a ‘Modern’ historian.
Employed the term Anglorum, so Bede saw
‘the English’ as a nation rather than a tribe –
a new concept.
Writing from the perspective of the dominant
culture – Anglo-Saxon, Christian and Latin.
Need to take this into account.
However, the best source we have for this
time.
The Coming of the AngloSaxons
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
New arrivals from Northern Germany and the Danish peninsula.
British regional warlords hired them as mercenaries.
440s Hengist and Horsa rebelled against their British commander and seized the land
for themselves.
Over the next 50 years, wave after wave of Germanic and Scandinavian tribes followed
them.
By 495 they had pushed as far north as York and West to Southampton.
Sheer weight of numbers overwhelmed the indigenous Britons.
Battle of Badon Hill halted the advance of the Saxons.
550 new wave of Germanic immigration.
Around six or seven Anglo-Saxon kingdoms: East Anglia, Mercia , Sussex, Essex,
Wessex, Kent and Northumbria.
These kingdoms worshipped same gods, spoke similar dialects, shared a common
culture, but soon competing for land, influence and trade.
Sutton Hoo - Raedwald of the East Angles.
Anglo-Saxon Culture
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Fishermen, farmers and marauders. Sought and
won land so as to escape the nature of theirs.
Highly organised tribal system
Each tribe ruled by a king. Four classes: Earls,
freemen, serfs and slaves.
Reintroduced paganism to Britain. Worshipped
ancient German Gods such as Woden and
Thunor.
Eventually these gods succumbed to Christianity
but still with us e.g. days of the week.
Anglo-Saxons had a strong cultural relationship
with the Irish – common values in poetry, fighting
and farming
Antagonistic toward British culture. Christian
vs. pagan and coloniser vs. colonised. Offa's
Dyke a sign of this
A Nation is Born?
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Reestablishment of Christianity - Pope Gregory "Angels not Angles" - St Columba, St
Augustine and St. Patrick.
By 650, Augustine had succeeded in converting most of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms to
Christianity.
Why did they agree to be converted? Christianity, perhaps owing in part to its association
with the power of Rome, seemed more attractive than paganism. Literacy was also
associated with Rome and therefore was more desirable.
Christianity had many influences on the Anglo-Saxons. It softened the ferocity of the warrior
people. It ‘improved’ their behaviour. Taking revenge on those who you believed had
wronged you became less important, whereas calling upon a higher law (that of God)
became more important. Society became more peaceful.
Celtic versus Roman Christianity.
664 Synod of Whitby.
Christian message interpreted in a Saxon way.
King Offa (757-796), King of Mercia brutally acquired Sussex, Kent and East Anglia, while
Wessex and Northumberland became passive neighbours.
Recognised by Charlemagne as the ruler of all England, he built churches, encouraged
literacy, introduced widely accepted English currency. Constructed `Offa`s Dyke` protected
his back. With peace existing between the various Saxon kingdoms and with Christianity
bringing a return to literacy, England seem to be finally emerging from the dark ages.
789, however, saw some strange visitors turning up on the coast of Dorset, the Vikings.
Saxon Kings of England
1.
2.
3.
4.
Offa (r. 757-796)
Battle of Brunanburgh.
1016)
Rex totius Britanniae
1. Defeated Danes, deal with
Canute then died.
Egbert, King of Wessex (r. 802- 10. Edmund I (r. 939-946)
839)
– Next 4 kings consolidated 18. Canute 'The Great' (r. 1016work of Alfred and
1035)
– Bretwalda
Athelstan
– Brought Viking/Saxon
Ethelwulf (r. 839-856)
feud to an end. Huge
– Four sons succeeded him 11. Edred (r. 946-55)
empire. The tide. Married
to prevent conflict.
Ethelred`s widow.
12. Edwy (r.955-959)
Ethelbald (r.856-860)
19. Harold Harefoot (r. 1035-1040)
5.
Ethelbert (r. 860-866)
13. Edgar (r. 959-975)
6.
Ethelred (r.866-871)
14. Edward II 'The Martyr' (r. 975979)
7.
Alfred 'The Great' (r. 871-899)
– Battle of Ashdown. Battle 15. Ethelred II 'The Unready' (R. 9791013 and 1014-1016)
of Edington, Treaty of
21. Edward 'The Confessor' (r. 1042–
Worst
Saxon
king.
Used
Wedmore. Reorganised
1066)
gold
instead
of
force
to
defences, promoted
– A puppet, Westminster
pacify new Viking
learning and established a
Abbey, rise of Harold.
invasions. St.Brices Day
legal code.
Neglected defences.
Massacre.
Edward 'The Elder' (r. 899-924)
8.
9.
Athelstan (r.924-939)
– Greatest Saxon King –
conquered Danelaw.
20. Hardicanute (r. 1035-1042)
– Canute`s two sons
followed him but left no
heirs so crown passed to
Edward their half-brother
22. Harold II (r. Jan - Oct 1066)
16. Sweyn (r. 1013-1014)
– Viking King
17. Edmund II 'Ironside' (r Apr - Nov 23. Edgar Atheling (r. Oct - Dec
1066)
British Culture
•
•
•
•
Anglo-Saxons advanced – British culture in decline
British suffered military losses and retreated to Cornwall and Wales – the
peripheries.
Some Britons went to Ireland where they formed a distinctive group named the
Scots (after the Latin, Scotia, the name given by the Romans to Ireland). This group
migrated back to Britain, eventually settling in what is now Scotland.
A culture in retreat often seeks compensation in the story of a warrior who will throw
off the yoke of the oppressor. For many Britons this was King Arthur (although the
myth was not popularised until the 12th century by Geoffrey of Monmouth)
Irish Culture
•
•
•
•
•
•
Golden period
Irish culture expanded into Scotland, Wales and
continental Europe.
Irish Christianity assimilated elements of paganism
such as polygamy and ‘cursing one’s enemies’
Tribal system declined to be replaced by two
kingdoms – in the north and the south.
By the sixth century Ireland was by and large
Christianised thanks to St. Patrick and other
missionaries.
This missionary zeal was so great that by the end of
this period nearly all of the British Isles had adopted
the religion. Irish missionaries were at the forefront
of this.
Pictish Culture
•
Unknown quantity
•
Whereas the Anglo-Saxons had Bede,
the British had the oral and the written
word, as did the Irish - all we know
about the Picts comes from
archaeological digs.
•
What we do know is that they had
wealth (silver), they has access to Irish
and Anglo-Saxon culture, they were
Christianised, they accepted the
Roman (eventually) rather than the
Celtic dating of Easter and they used
Roman architecture to build their
churches.
•
…and that is all we know of them.