The Anglo-Saxon conquest.

I

In prehistoric times Britain was joined to the rest of the continent. The first human inhabitants and many of the animal inhabitants came there over the dry land. Towards the end of the ice age the mighty prehistoric river which joined the present-day Thames with the Rhine overwhelmed the land joining Britain to the continent and formed the present-day English Channel. Immediately after its formation the Channel was too stormy and full of strong currents. That's why the hunters of the new-stone age crossed the sea to Britain to the west off the Channel and settles along the western shores in their search for food.

About 3 thousand years B.C. many parts of Europe in including the British Isle were inhabited by a people, who came to be known as the Iberians. Some of their descendants are still found in the north of Spain. They used stone weapons and tools. Soon after 2000 B.C. a new race of Alpine stock came from the east of Europe. This time they entered the country from the south-east and east. According to their essential features of their pottery they are known as Beakeafolk.

During the period from the 6^th to the 3d century B.C., a people called the Celts spread across Europe from the east to the west. More than one Celtic tribe invaded Britain. From time to time one Celtic tribe was attacked and overcome by other tribes. Celtic tribes called the Picts came to the mountains on the North, some picts as well as tribes of Scots crossed over to Ireland and settled there.

Later on some Scots returned to the larger island and came in such large numbers that the whole territory was named Scotland after them. The most powerful and civilized tribe was the tribe of Britons, and as a result the southern half of the island which was inhabited by them was named Britain after them. The Celts were very unusual people. They were tall, with long fair hair, blue eyes, they wore moustaches. They could use make things from copper, tin and iron. They kept large herds of cattle and sheep which formed their chief wealth. The Briton's clothing was made of wool, woven in many colours while the other Celts wore skins.

The Celts were very good warriors. Not only a man but a woman could become a good warrior. The Celts could frighten an enemy not only by their war art, but by their severe look as well. They used to paint their hair, arms and legs red and blue in the time of war. As we've already mentioned the Celts lived in tribes. A chief was at the head of the tribe. In some places chiefs were called kings; usually the best and the most respectable warrior became a chief. The Celts were pagans. They believed in many gods. They thought rivers, lakes trees to be rules by beings like themselves, only much more powerful. They sacrificed not only animals but also human beings. The Celts believed in another life after death. They were taught by priests called druids that their souls passed after death from one body to another.

The druids were very important and powerful people. The Celts believed in their magic power and also believed that the druids were able to foretell the future. They were often called upon to settle disputes or solve family problems, even to begin or to stop warfare. There are some mysterious places on the territory of Britain connected with that period. The most famous one is Stonehenge, upright stones standing in groups of twos, 8,5 meters high, with flat stones on the top.

There are many versions to explain the origin of this place. According to one version Stonehenge used to be an ancient observatory, but another version tells that this place was connected with the religion of druids.

II

While the Celts were still living in tribes, the Romans were the most powerful people in the world. The Roman Empire was one of the strongest in the history and its society included slaves and slave-owners. The Romans were more civilized than the Celts and they were city-dwellers.

The Romans conquered all the countries around the Mediterranean Sea. Julius Caesar who was the head of the Roman Army was sent to conquer Gaul (France). In the course of his campaigns Caesar reached the Channel and that was the first time when the Romans saw the white cliffs of the Br. Isles.

In 55 B.C. a Roman Army of 10000 men crossed the Channel to invade Britain. As the Celts saw the ships approaching they rushed to attack the army in the sea. They also fought them on foot and in chariots with loud shouts, red hair and moustaches, the arms legs painted blue. The well-armed Romans, being frightened had to return to Gaul. In the next year, 54 B.C. Julius Caesar came to Britain again. This time the army was much larger: 25000 men. The Romans were well-armed and trained. In spite of the fact that the Celts were very brave they were not strong enough to drive the Romans off. So, the Celts were defeated in several battles. Some of the chiefs submitted and promised to pay tribute to Rome.

Although Julius Caesar came to Britain twice in the course of two years, he was not able to conquer it. The real conquest of the country began many years after Caesar's visits to the island.

In 43 A.D. a Roman Army invaded Britain and conquered the South-East. Other parts of the country were taken from time to time during the next 40 years. The Celts fought fiercely against the Romans and the Romans never managed to become masters of the whole territory. They didn't manage to invade the Scottish Highlands. From time to time the Picts managed to raid the Roman part of the island, burn their villages and drive off their cattle and sheep.

As a result of the conquest there was a great influence of Roman civilization over the British Isles. The Romans were city-dwellers, and having conquered Britain they started building towns, villas, public baths. They built strong fortified walls to protect themselves from the attacks of the natives. Straight roads were built so that the legions might march quickly, whenever and wherever they were needed. In the course of time the Roman way of life was adopted by the chiefs and their surroundings. The Latin language penetrated into the speech of the natives. The words the Romans left in English are for the most part the names of the things which they taught the Celts. e.g.

Eng Lat

street > strata

port > portus

wall > vallum

The names of many modern E. towns are of Latin origin too. The fortified Roman towns were called "castra" = "camps". This word can be found in such names as: Chester, Winchester, Manchester, Lancaster, Gloucester.

York, Gloucester, Lincoln and London became the chief Roman towns which grew up as markets and centres of administration. London became a centre of trade both by land and river.

The Romans were great builders and we may find ruins of their work all over Britain. Unfortunately a great part of their work perished because of the Anglo-Saxons who came after the Romans. The Anglo-Saxons were country-dwellers and they disliked towns. So, many magnificent Roman structures were ruined, but still some traces of Roman constructions are still alive.

The Romans remained in Britain for about 4 centuries. In the 3-4th centuries the power of the Roman Empire weakened. In the 5^th century the Romans had to return to their own country to defend the Roman Empire from the attacks of the barbarian tribes. They didn't return to Britain, and the Celts were left alone.

III

After the Romans' leaving the Celts remained independent but not for long. Germanic tribes, such as the Jutes, the Saxons and the Angles began to migrate to Britain. At first they only came to plunder, but they returned again and again and the invasion began. In the 449 the Jutes landed in Kent and this was the beginning of the conquest. The British natives fought fiercely and it took the invaders more than a hundred and fifty years to conquer the country. The final refuge of the Celts was Cornwall and Wales, the northern part of the island (Scotland), where the Celts were still living in tribes, and, later on, some independent states were formed. The Celts, of Ireland remained independent too.

During the conquest many Celts were killed or taken prisoners and made slaves, or had to pay tribute to the conquerors.

The life under new masters was very hard and differed in many ways from the life under the Romans. The new comers were country-dwellers. They disliked towns preferring to live in small villages. So, many roman towns, villas, were destroyed in the course of the conquest. The majority of the population lived in villages, where most of the necessities were produced (food, clothing, tools). There was almost no communication between the villages. There were only muddy tracks between one village and another one. A person might live in his own village all his life but without moving anywhere and very often without an idea what was going on in the world.

By the end of the 6^th century and the beginning of the 7^th century the Saxons formed a number of kingdoms: Sussex (the land of the south Saxons), Wessex (the land of the West Saxons), and Essex (the land of the East Saxons). In the north the Angles founded Northumbria. These kingdoms were very hostile to one another. Looking at the map we may find names of E. towns ending in 'ton' (a Saxon word, means 'hedge' or a place surrounded by the hedge).

E.g. Southampton, Brighton, Preston.

'Burgh' or 'bury' was the Saxon for to 'hide'. There are many village- and town-names derived from the words: Canterbury, Edinburgh, Salisbury.

The Anglo-Saxon 'ham', a form of the word 'home' can also be found in such name as: Nottingham, Birmingham, Cheltenham.

The Angles, the Jutes and the Saxons were closely akin to each other in speech, manners, and way of life and as a result in a course of time they merged into one people. The name of Jutes died out and the whole period is usually known as the period of Anglo-Saxon invasion.

The Anglo-Saxons made up the majority of the population. Their customs, religion and language became predominant. They called the Celts 'welsh' which means 'foreigners' as they could not understand the Celtic language. But gradually the Celts which were in the minority adopted their customs and learned to speak their languages. Only the Celts who remained independent in the West, Scotland and Ireland spoke their native language.

In the course of time all the people of Britain were referred to as the English after the Angles and the new name of England was given to the whole country. Their language was called the English language.

The Anglo-Saxons lived in communities. The life wasn't easy but the strong of the Anglo-Saxons was the arable-farming, a system of 2 or 3 fields. While one field was used, another one was waiting for its turn. The field was divided into stripes. Each family got stripes of both good and not very good land. Besides the community possessed forests, rivers, meadows, lakes, and the thing and the animals which were picked up or caught there might be used by any member of the community. Tools were usually common; the chiefs decided when and how to use them, what to grow. The results of the common labour were equally shared among the members of the community, but the equality didn't last for long. The signs of inequality could be seen even before the Anglo-Saxon invasion. Some archeological researches show how rich the tribal chiefs became in the course of the conquest.

By the end of the 6^th century the inequality became quite noticeable. In the 7^th-9^th centuries the arable land held by families became their private property. Now it could be inherited, sold, presented or given in turn for debts to another owner.

Many peasants were losing their land and freedom because of the frequent raids and wars in the course of which they lost almost everything and had nothing to do but to go to the landowner to ask for protection. The land then would be given back to them but they were no owners of their land, they held it only and in return they had to cultivate the lord's field and give him a part of their harvest and promise to follow him in a battle. Besides, the Anglo-Saxon nobles began to seize the land of the free communities to make the free peasants work for them.

Thus, in the 7th-8th centuries feudal relations were beginning to develop, that is a class of rich landowners and the free peasants, gradually losing their land and freedom. The Christian church also influenced the growth of the new-feudal relations. The conversion of Anglo-Saxons to Christianity began at the end of the 6^th century (597) and was over in the 2^nd half of the 7^th century. Before this the Angles, Saxons and Jutes were pagans. They worshipped the sun and the moon, the sea, springs and trees. Their believes were reflected in many things that surrounded them.

E.g. the Anglo-Saxons named the days of the week after their gods:

Sunday - the Sun's day

Monday = the Moon's day

Tuesday = the day of the god of darkness Tuesco

Wednesday = the day of the god of war Woden

Thursday = the day of the god of thunder Thor

Friday = the day of the goddess of peace and plenty Freya

Saturday = the day of a Roman god Saturn

Paganism has developed in a primitive Anglo-Saxon society. With the beginning of feudal relations kings and lords needed a new religion, teaching the peasants obedience and showing that this order of society in which the peasants had to work for their master had been established by god.

The religion that was to serve the interests of the rich Anglo-Saxons was Christianity. Besides teaching people some moral qualities, it promised them a happy life after death. Many churches and monasteries were built. There were held services, books were brought and the Latin language was heard again. People became more educated. The Christian religion had a tremendous influence over men's minds and actions. It controlled the most important events of their life: baptism, marriage and burial. The churchmen who became rich landowners themselves did their utmost to preach up the king, to justify the exploitation of the peasants and the power of the great landlords over them.

4 centuries later the Danes began to disturb the country. First they came in spring and summer only to plunder but they returned home for the winter. Every year they went to different places. Thus all the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms faced the same dangerous enemy, but nobody could catch them, as there were no sea guards and other kinds of protection. The Anglo-Saxon kingdoms were too busy struggling against each other. But before the danger of the new invasion the problem of the unification came urgent. The first raids on Britain began in 793. In a course of time the Danes managed to take York and then the whole Yorkshire and East Anglia. At last all England north of the Thames was in their hands. It was not easy to stop such an enemy but Wessex was not ready to gield. Under the reign of King Alfred (871-899) the small Anglo-Saxon kingdoms were united.

Alfred managed to raise an army and to stop the offensive of the Danes. He made new rules for the army, in which every free man had to serve and to come provided with the proper weapons. During the reign of Alfred the Great the first British Navy was built and a war fleet of ships larger and faster than those of the Danes protected the island. Besides, many places that could be attacked by the enemy were fortified. As a result the Anglo-Saxons won several victories over the Danes. At the end of the 9^th century new Danish attacks were made but there were beaten off.

In time of peace Alfred took measures to improve the laws in the interests of the landlords and to raise the standard of culture among them. He invited people from the continent to teach the Anglo-Saxons different crafts and arts. The churches and the monasteries ruined by the Danes were rebuilt. Alfred wanted all the priests and the officials to know Latin (the books and services were in Latin).

A school was organized in the palace itself where the sons of the nobles learned to read and write. Alfred himself taught there. Almost all the books were in Latin at that time and people couldn't read them. That's why some translations into Anglo-Saxon were made.

Alfred offered to begin writing a history of England - known as the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle which was continued for 250 years after Alfred's death. Also under the supervision of Alfred a Code of English Law was drawn up.

Date: 2015-12-24; view: 2446