Early History of Britain- 4th century BC- 11th

century AD
The Celts/Britons

They were the original inhabitants of Britain from the

Iron Age. The Iron Age is roughly from 800 BC to AD
100 when Roman occupation was complete.
The Celts spoke Celtic languages called “Britain” or
Brythonic.
Society had a class structure. Druids were the
priestly learned class like the Brahmins.
Celtic languages and culture survive today in Ireland,
Scotland, Wales, and Brittany (Breton, Cornish,
Scottish, Gaelic, Irish and Welsh).

EARLY BRITISH HISTORY

300 BC – Celts in Britain

55 BC-AD 409- Roman Occupation

AD 400-699- Spread of Christianity

AD 449- Anglo-Saxon Invasion

AD 878- King Alfred against the Danes

AD 1066- Norman Invasion

Celtic Religions
The Celts were originally pagans and followed
polytheism/ Druidism.
Christianity reached Britain by the 3rd century of the
Christian era.
In the Early Middle Ages, many Celts converted to
Christianity, and distinctive practices of “Celtic
Christianity” as different from Roman Catholicism
emerged.

This is a Celtic dwelling.

Romans in Britain

The Roman Conquest of Britain was a gradual

process.
Julius Caesar took expeditions to Britain in 55 and 54
BC.
Britain had trade and diplomatic relations with Rome
since then.
Romans under Emperor Claudius invaded Britain in AD
43, invasion ended in the AD 80s.
Britain became “Britannia”, a province of the Roman
Empire.
The Roman Empire became very powerful and it was
divided into the Western Roman Empire and Eastern
Roman Empire. However, there was economic decline
and invasions by barbarians in the western Roman
Empire at the end of the 4th century.
“Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire” (1776-1789)
was a book by Edward Gibbon, published in 6
volumes. Discusses the decline of the Western and
Eastern Roman Empire and the Fall of Constantinople
in 1453.
The Roman rule came to an end in AD 410.

BRITANNIA

Britain was looked upon as a goddess. She was

shown as a Classical female figure who personifies
the British Isles. She wears a trident, a shield, and a
helmet.

ANGLO- SAXONS

We get to know the story of Anglo-Saxons from-

Gildas’s “On the Ruin and Conquest of Britain” (Latin,

6th century).
Venerable Bede’s “Ecclesiastical History of the
English Race” (Latin, 8th century)

After the Romans left Britain, Picts, Scots, and Irish

invaded the island.
The Celtic war-lord, VORTIGERN invited the Germanic
mercenary tribes, the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes to
assist in fighting the warring tribes.
Anglo-Saxons settled in the South and East of Britain
in the 5th century AD.
The ANGLO_SAXON PERIOD IS CALLED THE OLD
ENGLISH PERIOD.
King Arthur

Believed to have lived in the 5th century or early 6th

century. He is a Celtic King, probably of Roman
descent.
He fought against the Saxons.
The religious aspect of Arthur: He is a Christian king
who fought 12 battles against the pagan Saxons.

Arthurian Legends

In the Middle Ages, Arthurian legends began to

appear in English and French and Arthur became an
international figure. Some of the important elements
of his legends include:

Knights of Arthur’s Round Table.

His sword Excalibur.
Arthur’s wife, Guinevere, and her lover Lancelot.
Perceval and the quest for the Holy Grail.
The love of Tristan and Iseult.
Arthur’s final battle against Mordred at Calmann.
His final resting place at Avalon.
Heptarchy, AD 600-800

This referred to the 7 kingdoms of the Anglo-Saxons.

These included Northumbria, Mercia, East Anglina,
Essex, Sussex, Wessex, and Kent.
In the 8th and 9th centuries, Danish (Vikings from
Scandinavia) attacked the Heptarchy.

The dialects of Old English c. 800 CE

Anglo-Saxon Society

These were kingship groups led by a strong warrior

chief.
English emerged as a written language.
Bards/scops strummed the harp and sang of heroic
deeds of warriors and thus gained immortality.

The Spread of Christianity

Christian monks first reached Britain during the
Roman period. By 550 AD, native Britons converted,
and the religion was firmly established.
By 699 AD British pagan religions were replaced by
Christianity.

BEOWULF

The traditional view is that Beowulf was composed

for performance, chanted by a scop to string
accompaniment. Still, modern scholars have
suggested its origin as a piece of written literature
borrowed from oral traditions.

Written around the 7th century, it is the first great

work of English national literature. It is the epic story
of Beowulf who fights the demon monster Grendel.
The story takes place in Scandinavia. Known for its
warning about the transitory nature of worldly
glories.
It seems like a pagan philosophical work however,
Christian themes are woven into the poem through
references to Cain.

Seamus Heaney translated Beowulf, 1999.

Alfred and the Vikings

King Alred of Wessex, AD 849-99 fought against the

Vikings (Danes). The Viking Age in Britain began from
AD 800-1066. So, there was Danish rule in many parts
of Britain.

Norman Conquest of 1066

The last Anglo-Saxon King, Edward the Confessor

promised William, the Duke of Normandy, the English
throne.
However, Edward did not keep the promise. He placed
HAROLD his successor on the throne.

William of Normandy defeated Harold and his Anglo-

Saxon army.
FRENCH REPLACED ENGLISH AS THE LANGUAGE OF
THE RULING CLASS.
Day 2

Some other works related to Arthurian literature are:

Le Morte D’Arthur by Thomas Malory, 1469-70

The Faerie Queene by Edmund Spenser

The Maque at Kenilworth by George Gascoigne

Marmion, The Bridal of Triermain by Walter Scott

Idylls of the King by Tennyson

Defence of Guenevere by William Morris

The Day before the trial, Lancelot, Tristram of

Lyonesse by A C Swinburne

Tristam and Iseult by Mathew Arnold

OLD ENGLISH LANGUAGE

English developed from the dialects of Germanic

tribes, Angles, Jutes, and Saxons.

English belongs to the Germanic family, a sub-group

of the Indo-European family.

Old English has 4 dialects- Northumbrian, Mercian,

West Saxon, and Kentish.

Nearly all the surviving Old English texts are in West

Saxon.
There are 4 major Old English Manuscripts

Junius Manuscript

Exeter Book

Vericelli Book

Nowell Codex or Beowulf Manuscript

These speak of sorrows and the ultimate futility of

human life. They portray the helplessness of man

before the power of fate. Alliteration and Kenning

(elaborate descriptive phrases), internal rhyme, and

poems are mostly anonymous.

Plot of Beowulf

Survives in a 10th-century manuscript called Cotton

Vitellius or Nowell Codex. It has 3,182 lines.

The Geatish warrior, Beowulf kills Grendel, a monster

who attacks Heorot, the hall of Danish King Hrothgar.

Grendel’s mother who seeks revenge is also killed.

In the second part, set 50 years later, Beowulf is now

the king of Geats. Beowulf kills a dragon who attacks

his people and is himself mortally wounded. The work

ends with Beowulf’s sorrowful burial.

Caedmon

He is a 7th-century Northumbrian poet- “Father of Old

English Poetry.”

The details of his life are known from Venerable

Bede’s “Ecclesiastical History of the English Race.”

Caedmon’s Hymn is an Alliterative vernacular praise

poem in 9 lines.

Cynewulf

Lived in the 9th century. Nothing is known for certain

about his life. He was a Latin scholar. With him,

Anglo-Saxon religious poetry moved beyond Biblical

themes into the didactic, the devotional, and the

mystical.

Some of his poems are The Fates of the Apostles,

Juliana, Elene, Christ II / The Ascension.

OLD ENGLISH PROSE

Venerable Bede

He lived in the 7th-8th century. He wrote

“Ecclesiastical History of the English Race”, AD 731.

Written in 5 books.

King Alfred the Great (AD 848-99)

He successfully resisted Danish attacks. He

translated theological and philosophical prose from

Latin.

“Pastoral Rule” by Pope Gregory

“History of the World” by Orosius

“Ecclesiastical History of the English Race” by

Venerable Bede

“Consolation of Philosophy” by Boethius

Aelfric of Eynsham

He was a late 10th-century clergyman and prose

stylist. He was well-known for his sermons- “Catholic

Homilies” and “Lives of Saints.” His works were

copied throughout the Middle Ages and they were the

first Old English books to be printed.

 Wulfstan

He is a contemporary of Aelfric.

Wrote sermons of which “Sermon of the Wulf” is

important. His other work is “Martyology” which is a

prose work about saints and martyrs.

MIDDLE ENGLISH PERIOD (11th to 16th century AD)

This is known as the Medieval Period which extends from

the Norman Conquest, the 11th century to the Renaissance

in, the 16th century. There was French influence on culture

and society. Feudalism was present which led to a strict

social hierarchy. There were 3 social classes which were

called Estates.

Aristocracy which included the kings, barons, and knights.

Episcopacy which included the clergy.

Peasantry which included the serfs.

THE ARISTOCRACY

The kings ruled by Divine Right theory.

Barons were the king's subordinates, they provided troops

and fought for the King. They paid money with which the
kings maintained the army. Aristocracy spoke French and

read French poetry.

Chivalry was in vogue and Knights constituted the lower

nobility. A boy under training as a knight was called a

squire.

The knights had faith in Christianity, they protected the

women and the weak and fought against injustice and evil.

THE EPISCOPACY

The clergy were divided into high clergy who were like

barons and low clergy who were like serfs. The church

had great power over the peasants/serfs, they were active

in politics. They spoke and wrote in Latin.

THE PEASANTRY

They were treated like animals and were sold along with

the land. They lived a life of poverty, superstition and

ignorance. The peasants believed that in their afterlife

they would be in heaven so gave money to the Church and

served the clergy.

THE CRUSADES

These refer to a series of religion-driven military

campaigns by Christian Europe against Muslims who were

very powerful in the Middle Ages.

The Crusades had the goal of recapturing Jerusalem and

the Holy Land from Muslim rule. There were 9 major

Crusades from the 11th to 13th centuries.

EARLY MIDDLE ENGLISH PERIOD (11th to 13th centuries)

The English language was transformed as spelling and

grammar was simplified.

London became the administrative centre. England

became confident and militaristic and this prepared the

way for a vast empire. It was enriched by cosmopolitan

cultures and literature.

ENGLAND IN THE 14th CENTURY

The population increased leading to calamities like the

Black Death in the Late Middle Ages.

There was economic prosperity.

The Christian monasteries began developing as

intellectual, artistic, and spiritual centres.

LATE MIDDLE AGES (14th to 16th Centuries)

The following important developments took place.

Great Famine- 1315-17: There was excessive rain and as

many as 15% of the peasants in some villages died.

Starvation and poverty led to disease.

Black Death- 1348 onwards: Led to the death of one-third

of the English population. This was the bubonic plague.

There was social chaos, labour shortage, Peasants’

Revolt, and the introduction of a wage system

Hundred Years’ War -1337 to 1453: This was the war

between France and England. It was the first European

war. It covered the reign of 5 English Kings from Edward

III. The French gained ultimate victory because of the

appearance of Joan of Arc, 1429.

Peasants’ Revolt- 1381: It was the uprising of the peasants

because of the Black Death and rising political and

economic insecurities. The immediate cause was that

Richard II, who was 14 then, wanted to collect a poll tax.

Peasants wanted unpaid serfdom to end. Wat Tyler and

John Ball led the revolt. Tyler was beheaded and the revolt

was put down.

The revolt is described in Gower’s Vox Clamantis.

Fall of Constantinople-1453: It was the capital of the

Eastern Roman/Byzantine Empire, founded by Emperor

Constantine in the 4th century AD.

In 1453, Emperor Constantine XI was defeated by the

Ottoman Turkish Sultan Mahomet II. The Christians lost all

their territories to the Ottoman Turks. Hence,

Constantinople was renamed Istanbul. Christian monks

fled to the West and spread learning. This led to

Humanism and the Renaissance.

The invention of printing by movable types- 1456:

Woodblock printing was invented in China in the 3 rd

century AD. This method was difficult. The Koreans were

the first to print books with movable metal types in the

late 14th century.

Movable printing was introduced into Europe by German

artisan Johannes Gutenberg. The first printed book in

Europe (produced by Gutenberg) was the Vulgate Bible,

1456, now called the Gutenberg Bible. For the first time,

texts including the Bible were available in vernacular

languages, which led to the Reformation.

William Caxton introduced the printing press at

Westminster in England in 1476. He printed the 1st English

book in Belgium in 1473. It was his own translation of the

French courtly Romance, “Recuyell of the Historyes of

Troye.”

The 1st book to be printed at the Westminister press was

probably an edition of Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales.

The 1st book to be printed with the date, 18 Nov 1477, The

Dictes and Sayings of the Philosophers.

Wars of the Roses- 1455-85: It refers to the Civil War

between Lancaster/Red Rose and York (White Rose).

Therefore, it resulted in the establishment of the Tudor

dynasty.

Extra Notes

The Holy Grail is identified with the cup used by Jesus at the Last
Supper.

In the legends, the Holy Grail is the object of a search, and finding it
symbolizes a kind of mystical union with God. When and how the
legend originated is unknown.

The version of the Holy Grail legend that had the widest influence in
romances of the late Middle Ages was written by Sir Thomas
Malory. His book is Morte d’Arthur (Death of Arthur). In the story,
King Arthur has been told that a seat at the Round Table will
someday be filled by a knight who seeks and finds the Holy Grail.
MAJOR KINGS OF THE MEDIEVAL PERIOD