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The Anglo-Saxon Invasion

The Roman influence was largely confined to the towns. In the countryside where the most people lived Celtic traditions and speech continued to be dominant. But, during the V century, a number of tribes from the north-west of Europe invaded and settled in large numbers. Two of these tribes were the Angles and the Saxons. The Anglo-Saxons soon had the south-east of England in their grasp. In the west their advance was temporarily stopped by an army of Britons led by legendary King Arthur. Nevertheless, by the end of the VI cent., all the Britons were either saxonized or pushed westwards, where their culture and language survived in Scotland, Wales and Cornwall.

The Anglo-Saxons had little use for towns and cities. But they had a great effect on the countryside, where they introduced new farming methods and founded the thousands of self-sufficient villages which formed the basis of English society for the next thousand years.

The Anglo-Saxons were pagan when they came to Britain. Christianity spread throughout Britain from 2 different directions in the VI and VII cent. It came directly from Rome when St. Augustine arrived in 597 and settled in Canterbury. And it had already been introduced into Scotland and northern England from Ireland, which had become Christian more than 150 years earlier.

In the VII century seven kingdoms emerged: Essex, Sussex, Wessex, Kent, Mercia, Northumbria and East Anglia. The Anglo-Saxon kings were elected by the Witan.

The Vikings

Britain experienced another wave of Germanic invasions which started in 795. These invaders, known as Vikings, Norsemen or Danes, came from Scandinavia. In the IX cent. they conquered and settled the extreme north and west of Scotland, and also some coastal regions of Ireland. Their conquest of England was stopped when they were defeated by Alfred the Great, King of Wessex, in 878. This resulted in agreement which divided England between Wessex, in the south and west, and the "Danelaw" in the north and east.

The Norman Invasion

Edward the Confessor became king of England in 1042. His mother was from Normandy, he had spent a lot of time there, and spoke French. William the Duke of Normandy was his cousin and a close friend. In 1066 Edward died leaving no a heir to the throne. The Witan elected Harold Godwin the next king of England. But his rights were challenged by William who claimed that Edward promised England to him.

On 14 October 1066 an invading army from Normandy defeated the English at the battle of Hastings. The battle was extremely bloody. At the end of it, most of the best warriors in England were dead, including King Harold. William marched to London which quickly gave in when he began to burn villages outside the city.

On Christmas day that year William was crowned king of England in Westminster Abbey. He became known as "William the Conqueror".



Date: 2015-02-28; view: 1233


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EARLY BRITAIN | MEDIEVAL ENGLAND
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