The AngloSaxon Period

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The Anglo-Saxon Period
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History of Conquest

• Celts (800-600 B.C)
• Romans (55/56 B.C.)
• Anglo-Saxons (449 A.D.)
• Vikings (8th-12th C A.D.)

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Celts

• 800-600 B.C.
• two groups of Celts invaded British Isles
• Brythons (Britons) settled the largest
• island-Britain
• Gaels settled Ireland
• Celts were farmers and hunters
• clans---tightly knit family units
• chieftain-ruler

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Druids

• Class of priests who presided over religious
  ceremonies
• Duty was to memorize long heroic poems that
  preserved the peoples myths about the past
• Oral tradition

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Romans

• 55/56 B.C.
• Begun by Julius Caesar
• 100 years later Emperor Claudius completes the
  invasion
• Contributionsroads and the art of warfare
• Roman rule lasts for more than 300 years

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Anglo-Saxons

• 449 A.D.
• Fierce warriors of Germany and Denmark
• Angles Saxons Jutes
• As they drove native Britons from their areas,
  these places began to be known as Angles Land
  or England
• Brought with them highly organized tribal
  unitsKing elected by a Witan -council of elders

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Four Classes of Society

• Earls-hereditary class of warlords who could own
  land and owed their position to the king
• Freeman-owned land engaged in commerceThanes-baro
  ns who were
• granted positions as a reward

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• Churls-Serfs bonded servants who worked the land
  in return for military protection
• Thralls- slaves-military prisons or people being
  punished

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Belief System

• Pagan
• because of the ever-present threat of
  death and warfare, these people had a grim
  life-view.
• Every human life was in the hands of fate
  wryd
• Worshipped Germanic gods
• Tiu-war and sky-Tuesday, Woden, chief
  god-Wednesday, Fria, home--Friday

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Christianity

• Originally introduced to the Celts by the Romans
• The Celts took it with them when they fled the
  Anglo-Saxon invaders
• In 597 A.D. a Roman cleric converted King
  Ethelbert to Christianity
• By 650 A.D. most of England was Christian
• Church softens a warrior people, promotes peace
  and unifies the English people-will still remain
  tough people-fearless and loyal

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Influence of Christianity

• Education
• Written literature
• Church created schools and
• encouraged the preservation of
• learning.
• Monks labored over hand-copied
• manuscripts in Latin

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Venerable Bede

• The Father of English History
• As a historian tracked down documents and
  interviewed witnesses to write
• A HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH CHURCH
• AND PEOPLE.best account of Anglo-
• Saxon life

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Viking Invasions

• 8th-12th C
• Because of rising population and limited
  farmland, people from Norway (Norse) and Denmark
  (Danes) invaded the British Isles
• fiercely burned villages, monasteries
• and manuscripts
• by the 9th C most of England had
• fallen to the invaders

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Alfred the Great

• 871 A.D. takes throne and resists further
  encroachment
• Truce of 886- divides England-
• DanesEast and North
• Saxons- South

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Contributions of Alfred the Great

• Preserved old British traditions
• Encouraged learning and education
• Translated Bedes History from Latin to
  Anglo-Saxon vernacular
• Kept records of English History
• Anglo-Saxon Chronicles

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Anglo-Saxon Literature

• Literature of the British Isles began with Celtic
  Druids
• Began not with books, but with spoken verse
• Pass along tribal history and values to those who
  could not readoral tradition
• Had runes for inscriptions on statues and
  buildings, but most could not read

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Poetry

• Recited at ceremonial occasions such as military
  celebrations
• Performers-professional minstrels known as scops
  and gleeman would perform long heroic poems and
  pass on history

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Poetic Form

• Rigid set of stresses made them easier to
  memorize
• Mid-line pause-caesura
• Repetition of initial sounds-alliteration
• Kenning two-word metaphor

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Poets and Poetry

• Two Christian poets-Caedmon,Cynewulf
• Heroic poetry celebrates warriors
• Elegiac mourns the loss of loved ones and of the
  past
• Beowulf

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