The Ice Age - the first evidence of human lifeThe flint hand axe was used to

skin and butcher game. It was made and used by one of four of the earliest
ancestors of the British people. Probably dated to about 300,000 BC.
50,000 BC (a milder period of the Ice Age) : The ancestor of the modern
British emerged.
These people were smaller than the modern British. They had a life span of only 30
years.
10,000 BC (the Ice Age draws to a close) :
Britain is peopled by: groups of hunters, gatherers & fishers. Few had settled
homes (mobility).
They followed herds of deer: food & clothing.
People from the Iberian peninsula or even the North African Coast crossed the
narrow sea from Europe in small round boats of bent wood, each carrying one or two
persons. They knew how to make pottery, grew corn crops, kept animals.
Appearance : small, dark, long-headed people.
Settlement: from Cornwall at the southwest end of the island, all the way to the far
north.
The BARROW / BURIAL MOUND: It is one of the first examples of public works.
When the mound is composed entirely of stone, rather than earth, the term
cairn replaces the word barrow. The mound may be simply a mass of earth or stone,
or it may be structured by concentric rings of posts, low stone walls, or upright
stone slabs. Most of these barrows are found in Southern Britain, an easily habitable
part of the country where the ancestors of the British used to farm extensively.
Purpose: to please the gods of the soil.
Explanation: After 3000 BC, the chalkland people started building great
circles of earth banks and ditches. Inside they built wooden buildings and stone
circles which were called henges. Stonehenge is the most spectacular of all the
henges.
It was built in separate stages over more than 1,000 years. It is made of
different stones. The biggest are the so-called bluestones. Stonehenge was a sort
of capital. Chiefs from other groups came from all over Britain, as far as the Orkney
Islands north of Scotland, and as far south as Cornwall.
The importance of the place in folk memory far outlasted the builders of the
monument.
Time: After 2400 BC new groups of people started to arrive in the S-E of
Britain From Europe. Physical features: round-headed, strongly built & taller than
Neolithic Britain.
Skills: military & metal-working.
Outcome: leaders of the society.
Burial: individual graves, furnished with pottery beakers, from which these
people got their name, the Beaker people.
The anglo-saxons
AD 430: Germanic tribes start settling in Britain
Features: warlike & illiterate
Source: Ecclesiastical History of the English People by Bede, a monk who lived about
AD 730. Settlement patterns: The Saxons, the Angles, the Jutes.
THE EFFECT OF THE INVASION / SETTLEMENT
The British Celts were pushed westwards towards Wales / Weallas (the land of the

foreigners)
Slavery: British Celts become slaves of the Anglo-Saxons.
Little is left of Celtic language & culture, except the names of the rivers:
Thames, Severn, Avon.
The Anglo-Saxons established kingdoms such as:
Essex (East Saxons) Sussex (South Saxons) Wessex (West Saxons) Middlesex
(Middle Saxons)
Days of the week are named after Germanic gods:
TIG (Tuesday) WODIN (Wednesday) THOR (Thursday) FREI (Friday)
Place name contain the ending ing, meaning folk / family.
Reading = the place of the family Rada. Hastings = the place of the family Hast
Ham = farm (Nottingham, Birmingham) Ton = settlement (Southampton)
The Anglo-Saxons introduced a heavy plough, used to cultivate heavy soils.
Land is divided into long thin strips. Each family had several strips. The oxen used
for ploughing were shared on a cooperative basis.
Deforestation: trees were cut and land could be used for farming.
The manor (large house): the lord lived here.
The manor = a simple building where locals paid taxes & justice was
administered by the lord
The most important institution: the Kings Council called Witan. Originally
made up of senior warriors & churchmen.
The Council = a formal body that issued laws (10 th century)
Purpose: to advise the king on vital issues
The beginning of the class system:
KINGS > LORDS >SOLDIERS > WORKERS >THE MEN OF LEARNING (coming
from the Christian Church)
What is old English ?
Its the first form of the English language, also known as Anglo-Saxon. Spoken
from AD 600 AD 1100. The old language cannot be read now, except for those who
have made a special study of it.
What does it include ?
EPIC POETRY/ SERMONS & BIBLE TRANSLATIONS /LEGAL WORKS /RIDDLES/
(400 manuscripts)
What is Beowulf ?
The first English epic poem. Origin: Scandinavia (story set in Denmark &
Sweden) It contains 3000 lines. The name of the author is unknown. The Beowulf
manuscript : the British Library
Language : vernacular (native language)
Explanation: At the time, Latin was considered a literary language. Latin was also
the language of learning and actually competed with the vernacular language.
King Hrothgar of the Danes builds a towering mead hall next to a swamp
inhabited by Grendel, a monstrous spirit in the form of a man, the demonic offspring
of Cain. For years, Grendel ravages the hall until Beowulf of the Geats, a man
surpassing in strength and size, comes to face the marauder one-on-one. Grendel is
defeated, and the hall rejoices; but the next night Grendels mother comes for
revenge, murdering Hrothgars closest friend. Beowulf seeks and slays Grendels
mother in her underwater home, for which he is rewarded by Hrothgar; and then he
returns to his own country. There Beowulf rules for fifty yearsuntil a treasure-

hoarding dragon emerges from a barrow. Once more, the champion ventures alone
to face a monstrous enemy, but this time he purchases victory with his life. Beowulf
and the dragon destroy each other.
The value of Beowulf
The poem gives us an interesting picture of life in those old days. It tells us
about fierce fights & brave deeds, about the speeches of the leader & the sufferings
of his men. It describes their life in the hall, the terrible creatures they had to fight,
and their ships & travels.
They had a hard life, both on land and on the sea, which they bore well.
Descriptions of sad / cruel events are extremely common. Happiness is not
actually very much illustrated. Features of the poem:
THERE IS NO RHYME
THE VERSE IS ALLITERATIVE
Things are described indirectly using combinations of words. E.g. ship = a
sea-goer, a sea-boat, a wave-floater.
E.g. sailor = sea-traveller, seaman, sea-soldier.
E.g. sea = the ocean-way, sea-streams.
REPETITION
Repetition is usually employed as a figure of speech. In fact, repetition is
associated with unsophisticated styles. Thus, several words expressing the same
concept / idea are used.
If the poet wants to say that the ship sailed away, he may say that the ship, the
sea-goer, the wave-floater set out, started its journey and set forth over the sea,
over the ocean-streams, over the waves.
Result : the action moves slowly & descriptions take a lot of space.
The celts
700 BC: arrival from central Europe. They settled in the South of Britain. They
drove many of the inhabitants they found westward towards Wales, Cornwall &
Ireland. Technically advanced: worked with iron & produced better weapons than
those who used bronze. Used advanced ploughing methods.
Organization: tribes led by tribal chiefs.
Celtic tribes often fought against themselves.
The Celts built many hill-forts in the South of Britain. Their insides were filled
with houses.
They became simple economic centres. Annual fairs took place in them.
The druids Could not read / write. Memorized religious teaching, laws, history.
All Druids from Britain met once a year. Had no temples. They met in sacred groves
of trees or by rivers Their worship included human sacrifice.
ETYMOLOGY
The name Britain comes from the word Pretani, the Greco - Roman word for
the inhabitants of Britain. The Romans started to mispronounce the word and called
the island Britannia.
WHY DID THE ROMANS INVADE BRITAIN?
Because the Celts of Britain were working with the Celts of Gaul against
them, giving them food & allowing them to hide in Britain. Because Britain had
become an important food producer (cattle and ploughs were used to farm).

Because the Romans could use British food for their own army fighting the Gauls.
55 BC: Julius Caesar briefly visits Britain.
AD 43: Roman invasion.
The Romans conquered the island easily, apart from Scotland, which they
called Caledonia.
Reasons:
Their well-trained army.
Their superior organization.
The Celtic tribes fought against themselves.

Explanation:
The Romans could not conquer Caledonia so they build a strong wall along
the northern border, named after the Emperor Hadrian who planned it.
Purpose: To keep out raiders from the north.
TOWNS : The basis of Roman administration & civilization. The Romans left
about 20 large towns of about 5,000 inhabitants. Many of them were at first army
camps. The Latin word castra has remained part of many town names to this day:
Chester, Lancaster, Winchester.
FEATURES : Streets, markets, shops. Buildings with central heating.
Roads. (6 of these Roman roads met in London, a capital city of about 20,000
people)

Outside the towns: Villas (large farms). They belonged to the richer Britons. Each
villa had many workers. Position: near towns so that crops could be sold easily.
Differences: the rich & those who worked the land. The poor still lived in round
huts. Although the total army in Britain was about 40,000 men, Roman control of
Britain came to an end as the empire began to collapse.
Signs: attacks by Celts of Caledonia in AD 367. The Roman legions found it
more & more
difficult to stop raiders from crossing Hadrians wall. AD 409: Rome pulls its last
soldiers out of Britain.
Saxon raiders from Germany started to plunder the country.
Who were the Vikings? They were raiders coming from Denmark & Norway.
Tempted by Britains wealth. Meaning: Viking = pirate / the people of the sea
inlets Action: burned churches & monasteries in the N, E & W of Britain.
842: London is raided
WARSHIPS = the Vikings instruments of conquest. The name of the ship =
drakkar (a swift vessel)
Navigation skills: the Vikings used sun, stars & birds to help them when
sailing.
865: the settlement process begins
875: only KING ALFRED in Wessex held out against Vikings
878: Alfred wins a decisive battle & recaptures London. Viking rule was called
DANELAW.
950: the Saxon King Ethelred introduces a tax called DANEGELD (Danish
money) to provide money for the army. The effect of this tax is felt by ordinary
villagers.
DANEGELD = the beginning of a regular tax system.
When Ethelred died, Canute, leader of the Danish Vikings, controlled much of
England.
He becomes king (1017) because the Witan feared disorder. Rule by a Danish
king was far better than rule by no one at all. 1035: Canute dies
The Witan chooses EDWARD, one of Saxon Ethelreds sons to be king.
Edward the Confessor
Interested in the Church more than kingship. He encouraged church building:
there was a church in every village.
Rural pattern: manor house + village.
He started building Westminster Abbey outside London. Westminster Abbey =
a Norman building.
Edward had spent most of his life in Normandy. His mother was a daughter of
the duke of Normandy. Brings Normans to his English court from France. Who were
the normands? People from the north. They were the children & grandchildren of
the Vikings who had captured and settled in Northern France. French became their
language . They also became Christians. Known for their fighting skills.
1066: Edward the Confessor dies.
There is no obvious heir. The Witan chooses HAROLD as king. Harold = a
Saxon noble, a Godwinson. The Godwinsons = a powerful Saxon family who did not
like the Normans.

Harold right to the English throne is challenged by Duke William of

Normandy.
William claimed that King Edward had promised the throne to him.
1066: William lands in England with a small but well equipped army.
Meanwhile Harold was also fighting the Danish Vikings in the north. The
Danes were also claiming the English throne. Harold does not wait the fyrd (Saxon
army) to gather because he thought he could easily defeat William.
THE BATTLE OF HASTINGS. Harold is defeated and killed.
Norman soldiers: well equipped, better trained, rode horses.
William starts marching towards London. He burs villages around the town.
London gives in.
William is crowned king of England.
Place: Westminster Abbey.
Time: Christmas Day, 1066
Conflict: the Normans brought by William from France vs. Saxon nobles.
The norman conquest
Fighting lasts for another 5 years. Anglo-Saxons rebellions occurred regularly
till 1070
The Norman army = an occupation army: destroyed places it could not
control, built forts to guard others.
Most Saxon lords lost everything unless they accepted William as king.
After each rebellion, there was more land to give away William gave these
lands to his Norman nobles 4000 Saxon landlords were replaced by 200 Norman
ones.
Feudalism
William organized his English kingdom according to the feudal system giving
land to his nobles.
Etymology: feudalism feu (French) : the Normans used it to refer to land
held in return for
duty or service to a lord.
Principle: all land was owned by the king but it was held by others (vassals),
in return for services and goods. The vassals had to serve the king war & give him
part of the produce of the land.
Lesser nobles, knights & freemen received land from the main nobles paid rent,
did military
service the king was connected through this chain of people to the lowest man in
the country.
Paying homage At each level a man had to promise loyalty and service to his
lord. This promise was made with the lord sitting on his chair & his vassal kneeling
before him.
The doomsday book
William thought of England as their personal property. William wanted to
know exactly who owned which piece of land & how much it was worth in order to
plan his economy,
e.g. how much was produced & how much he could ask in tax.

He made a complete economic survey of England (1086), which was unique

in Europe but
extremely unpopular with the people.