From Pre-Celtic to Normans

Pre-Celtics Britain

3000 BCE

At the beginning Britain was inhabited.Then people started to burn and cut down all the forests,so they cultivated new cereals and they bred cattle and pigs.In 3000 B.C people built new spaces for defence and for ceremonies.The most famous is Stonehenge.During the Bronze age they started producing pottery and salt.Also they started manufacturing leather and cloth.

The Celts

700 BCE

Around 700 B.C the Celts arrived from Germany and they settled the country between 500 and 100 B.C.Celts were usually tall and muscular.They usually had got fair skin ,blue eyes and blonde hair.They were farmers,fishermen and metal workers.They introduced the iron plough which was a farm implement.Women were free so there wasn't a disparity in the society.The Celt's priests were called druids and they held their ceremonies in the heart of the forest because Celts workshipped the natural elements

The Romans

409

Britain was part of Roman empire for fifteen generations.Romans were attracted by the rich agriculture,the availability of slaves and Britain's strategic importance.In 122 a wall was built by Romans to mark the border between the conquered Britons and the unconquered Scots.Also Romans built 9,6 km of paved roads.They were important for the trade.Many of these towns were originally army camps called castra.Roman control of Britain stopped in 409 when Rome was busy to defend the Barbarian raiders.

The Anglo-Saxons

449

Anglo Saxons conquered Britain during the 5th and 6th centuries.They were people,who came from North of Europe.They settled south of Hadrian's wall because they wanted to farm a new land.The society was founded on loyalty to the family.The Hall was the place where they met their family and they swore loyalty to the chiefs.Boundaries of Anglo Saxons Kingdoms were called Seven Kingdoms and they continued until 829.

Christianisation

597

When Anglo Saxons arrived in Britain they reintroduced pagan values.So in 597 pope Gregory 1 sent a monk to bring Christianity back to England.His name was Augustine and in 602 the first cathedral was built in Canterbury and he became the first archbishop of Canterbury.His mission was successful.The monasteries became important cultural centres where people were educated.In 635 the new monastery of Lindisfarne was built and some monks produced the illuminated Gospels,which are in London today.

The Danes

793

They were Vikings and sea people.They were attracted by treasures,cattle and slaves.In 793 they sacked Lindisfarne so they destroyed some important manuscripts and they took some monks as slaves.In the 9th century their invasion became an occupation so they settled countries.They established a Dane law,Which was a code of danish laws.When they arrived in Wessex,they squared off with the king of wessex called Ethelred and his brother Alfred.

Alfred the great

878

Ethelred died before the war so Alfred became the new king of Wessex.He defeated the danish commander.After the war he reorganised the army and he planned a navy.Then he built new fortresses.Also some Latin text were translated in Anglo Saxon language and he established a new legal code.He died in 899.His successor was his grandson called Athelstan.He created a kingdom with the idea of royal authority,coinage and law.In 1015 Danes conquered Anglo Saxons,but they were defeated by Normans in 1066.

The Battle of Hastings(1066)

1066

William was the duke of Normandy.When he conquered a place,he was the owner of that land,which he gave to his barons in return for military services.In 1066 they claimed the English crown.William's regiment was formed by 8,000 warriors and a cavalry of 3,000 men,who were supported by archers and infantry.The Anglo-Saxon's regiment was organized like a shell,which was impossible to penetrate.They faced in 1066 and Normans defeated Anglo Saxons.So William was crowned the new king of Norman kingdom

The consequences of the invasion(of the Battle of Hastings)

1067

In 1066 the English ruling class was destroyed by Norman's invasion because some nobleman died during the battle,others were exiled or dispossessed of their lands.In the British society remained townspeople and churchmen.During this period The Feudal system was established.There was the new concept of feud and loyalty.

Feudalism

1068

In fact the king gave a feud to a tenant and he paid his rent in military services.Also they built new fortresses called castles to keep more power.They started to sub let a part of their land to lesser tenants called knights.William claimed to be the lord of that land and he issued a census called "Domesday book". It gave information of the country he possessed.Normans replaced English with French,while English was spoken between people in everyday speech.