Romans in British Island

- Under the emperor Claudius the Romans attempted to concuer the island in AD43,
- They continued their conquest and they invaded the whole of South Britain in AD43
- They ruled the island for nearly 400 years and they contributed the island with 2 things: Latin
and Christianity, however, both Latin and Christianity disappeared in the 5th century by the
appereance of 3 Germanic tribes: Angles, Saxons and Jutes.

Anglo-Saxons in British Island

- In 410, the island was suffered from many invasions from the North Sea,
- The chief groups (Angles, Saxons, Jutes) invaded the island and brought their culture, language
and religion (paganism)
- Germanic tribesman were vigorous warriors and skilled seamen,
- It was Jutes who first settled in the island, than come the Saxons and the Angles being the last
but the chief of the group,
- In Anglo-Saxon Culture fighting was a way of life and not to anvenge death of a family member
was considered as a social disagree.
- There was a tribal society ruled by chief warriors who let their man into the battle
- Defeat and capture meant death
- To protect himself and his land, the chief warrior gathered around a reunite of warrior men
called “retainers” or “thanes”

The Anglo-Saxon Culture and Society

- The relationship between the ruler and his thanes is known as “Camitatus Bond”
- The relationship requires that the thane swear to defend a lord to their death,
- In return for their sevice, the king rewards them with a lot of gifts from the spoils of war such as
weapons, golds, rings etc.
- The main structure was called “mad-hall”
- It was a gathering place for the king and his retainers who celebrated their victory after a battle.
- They were entertained by a poet called “scop” “bard”
- Most of Anglo-Saxon Literature was recorded in manuscript and belongs to oral tradition
 - Literature of the age deals with heroic and religious themes, most of them includes battles, wars
and conflicts.
- So, romantic love appears hardly at all

Religion

- Anglo-Saxon people disregarded Christianism and brought their “paganism”

- In the end of 6th century, re-chistianization process began when St. Pope Gregory sent St.
Augustine from Rome to Conterbury to establish the first Archbishopric (547)
- In 731, Venerable Poede wrote to “Feclesiastical History of English People” is was a masterpiece
and it recorded the history of English People

Vikings in England

- In 787, the Scandinavian invasion began with raids along the north-east seacost,
- Beginning around 787, Danes and Vikings from Denmark and Norway harried the cost of
England,
- The most importent opponent of the Vikings was Alfred the Great,
- Alfred the Great, built the first English navy to prevent Viking attacks,
- After a series of setbacks, Alfred defeated the Vikings at the Battle of Edington in 878,
- The final Viking attack came in 1066, when William of Normandy landed in Kent with another
invading army,
- The exhausted English army fought with Normands but the English kind died and William
became the new king of England. (king was Harold Goldwinston)
- 1066> The Battle of Hastings > Old English Period’u bitiren savaş.

Midde/Medieval English Period (1066-1500) Dark Ages

- The Norman conquest in 1066 is used to mark the end of OEP end beginning of the MEP
- After the conquest 3 languages co-existed in England.
- OE  spoken by common English people,
- French  the official language of the king
- Latin  the language of the church
- 1066 The Battle of Hasting fought between Harald Hardrada (the final viking king) and Harold
Goldwinston  The Northern Conquest
- The duke of Normandy (William the Conqueror) became the new king of England by defeating
Harold Goldwinston,
- In 1337, England became involved in The Hundred Years War with France,
- The issue was the control of large parts of France,
- The war ended with the loss of English posessions in France except for Calais, a northern French
part in 1455,
- England became involved in The Wars of Roses in 1455,
 - In 1455, The Wars of Roses began, the bloody, 30 year dynastic struggle between The Houses of
Lanchester and York. (The conflict derives its name from the heraldic emblems of the Houses,
the red rose of Lanchester and the white rose of York)
- In 1485, The Yorkist King, Richard III. faced his Lanchestrian rival, Henry Tudor, of The Battle of
Bosworth Field,
- Richard defeated and killed and the victor crowned Henry VII, married Elizabeth of York, united
the two houses and established The Tudor Dynasty (House of Tudor) that ruled for the next
century,
- The establishment of The Tudor Dynasty offered to England a period of internal peace, and the
last decades of the 15th century already showed traces of Humanism and early Renaissance
- In MEP, two systems in social life existed: religious system represented by pope and secular
system represented by king,
- With the signing of Magna Carta, the influence of the king was reduced,
- The apperiance of different types of religious classes -> Nun, Priest, Frior, Monte etc.
- The influence and dominance of Roman Catholic Church,
- The corruption and immoralty of church members

Medieval English Literature

- It was a period of prase and poetry,

- Romans genre appeared, 
- Knightly deal,  Sir Gwain ant The Green Knight
- Courtly love tradition 
- Geoffrey Choucer  The Conterbury Tales
- William Longland  Ploughman
- Sir Thomas Malary  The Death of Arthur