THE MIDDLE AGES

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• 449-1485

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THE MIDDLE AGES

• The Anglo-Saxon Period
• 449-1066
• The Medieval Period
• 1066-1485

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THE GERMANIC INVASIONS

• Britons
• Celtic People
• Early inhabitants of Britain
• Conquered by the Romans in the first century
• In 410, Roman army called back to Rome
• Britons raided and looted by neighbors on the
  Continent

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THE GERMANIC INVASIONS

• The Jutes
• Perhaps from the peninsula of Jutland in Denmark
• First of many Germanic invaders
• Left the North German plain in 449
• Settled in what is now the county of Kent

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THE GERMANIC INVASIONS

• The Angles and the Saxons followed the Jutes
• Britons were no match for these invaders
• Brought with them a common language

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THE GERMANIC INVASIONS

• The Angles the Saxons
• Created the Anglo-Saxon England
• Lasted until 1066
• The Normans, led by William, Duke of Normandy,
  conquered the country

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THE GERMANIC INVASIONS

• Kingdoms of England
• Kent
• Northumbria
• Mercia
• Wessex

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THE GERMANIC INVASIONS

• King Alfred of Wessex
• Known as Alfred the Great
• 871-899
• Led the Anglo-Saxons against the Vikings
• Also known as Norsemen or Danes

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ANGLO-SAXON CIVILZATIONCommonalities

• High ranking people received with courtesy
• Rulers generous to loyal
• Fate

• Common Language
• Heroic ideal
• Admired men of outstanding courage

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ANGLO-SAXON CIVILZATION
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Anglo-Saxon Civilization

• A Lord's Life
• Richer lords lived on estates
• Inside the hall a lord might mark his prestige
• The hall was the scene of feasts for the lord's
  followers
• Used warfare to acquire land

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• Society was divided into several social classes.
• At the top was the king.
• He was expected to provide for his followers.
• Below the king there were two levels of freemen
  thanes ceorls.
• The division between the two was strictly in
  terms of land owned.
• Admired men of courage and bravery.

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ANGLO-SAXON CIVILZATION

• Appreciation of beauty
• Passion for fine ornament
• More artistic than their Norman conquerors
• Vigorous minds
• Venerable Bede
• Earliest English historian
• Earliest important prose writer

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Religion- Paganism

• The Anglo-Saxons were pagans when they came to
  Britain
• They worshipped many different gods.
• Religion for the Anglo-Saxons
• Religious observance consisted of invocations and
  charms to ensure the gods' help

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Modern Day Connection

• Contributed to days of the week
• Tiw
• Thor
• Frigga

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THE ESTABLISHMENTOF CHRISTIANITY

• Missionaries from the continent helped to spread
  Christianity
• Saint Augustine
• Came in 597
• Established a monastery at Canterbury
• Became the first Archbishop of Canterbury

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The Establishment of Christianity

• In A.D. 314, a bishop of London attended the
  church council at Arles in France.
• Missionaries from the continent helped to spread
  Christianity

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THE ESTABLISHMENTOF CHRISTIANITY

• Abbess Hilda
• Leader of a synod at Whitby Abbey in 664
• This synod united the English church with Roman
  Christianity
• Spiritual director of Caedmon, the first English
  religious poet

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ANGLO-SAXON LITERATURE

• Anglo-Saxon Literature was an oral art
• Poems were sung, frequently to the accompaniment
  of a harp
• The poet was the memory and historian of the
  tribe
• Strong beat and alliteration

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ANGLO-SAXON LITERATURE

• Heroic Tradition Elegiac Tradition
• Two most important traditions
• Beowulf is the most important single poem
• Seafarer is a good example of an elegiac lyric
• Riddles were also common
• Prose and verse were generally written in Latin
  (occasionally in English for verse)

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VENERABLE BEDE

• 673-735
• Greatest prose writer of the time
• Most learned and industrious writer of the entire
  period
• Author of A History of the English Church and
  People (731)
• Regarded as the father of English history

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ALFRED THE GREAT

• 871-899
• Most remarkable of all English kings
• Patron of scholars and educators
• Promoted the use of written English instead of
  Latin
• Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
• Founded the first English public schools