Early British history

EARLY BRITISH HISTORY

Guided Notes

What’s Britain or England or the United Kingdom?

Great Britain is an island situated to the north-west of Continental Europe.

It’s the ninth largest island in the world and the third most populated.

The island of Ireland lies to its west. Great Britain is surrounded by over 1,000 smaller islands.

Politically, it includes England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales.

Great Britain

Who’s There? Neolithic builders – from the “New Stone Age” –

created burial mounds that were little more than patches of raised, overgrown earth. Eventually, wooden columns were built atop these.

This structure was known as a Woodhenge. Many possible areas have been identified as the

remains of such structures in ancient England. Eventually, groups of people would build Stonehenge over these structures for astronomical, memorial, and processional reasons.

The Neolithic people were replaced by Celtic tribes.

Stonehenge

Who’s There? Celts – Considered barbarians to the Romans, the

Celts were actually a series of tribes who spread from Central Europe to the British Isles (England, Scotland, Ireland).

Since Rome was considered one of the greatest of the ancient civilizations, much ancient history is written from their perspective.

A barbarian is a negative term applied to a group of people whose language the Romans couldn’t understand (“bar bar bar bar” is how the Celts sounded to an unfamiliar ear. Consider our use of “blah blah blah”).

Who’s There?

Romans – Julius Caesar, fresh from successfully defeating barbarian tribes in Gaul, modern day France, was primed to take the British Isles.

The Celts were smart, however, and pretended to pledge allegiance. As a result of this cunning trickery, Caesar had to work much harder to subjugate the native British population.

The Romans influenced Britain’s agriculture, town construction and orientation, architecture, and religion.

Bath City They also left behind

several reminders of their occupation.

In Somerset County, the Romans built a spa around a city called Bath.

The hot water springs would hold mystical and religious significance for generations to come.

Hot Springs - Bath

Who’s There?

Angles, Saxons – Two of the major tribes who invaded the British Isles were the Angles and the Saxons. These people were originally from the area known today as Germany.

Their noblemen ruled England from the end of the Roman reign until William the Conqueror began the Norman Conquest.

The Anglo-Saxons and Beowulf

It was the Anglo-Saxons who brought with them the story of Beowulf, a story existing from the time they were in Scandinavia.

Beowulf and the Mead Hall

The mention of Scandinavia brings up a very important concept to our next major text.

The central setting of Beowulf is the mead hall.

A mead hall gets its name from two items: a large feasting hall for a King, Lord, or Thane with a single room and mead, a fermented honey beverage.

Likely, a mead hall was the safest place in the kingdom.

Mead hall Entertainment

Speaking of safe places, mead halls would regularly host groups of people. Food, beverages, and entertainment would be provided. Entertainment came in the form of recited poetry.

The poetry at this time was not about flowers and feelings, but about epic warfare, heroes, and monsters. Bards / scops were the Anglo-Saxon storytelling musicians.

 What language did they speak?

Originally, the Celts spoke Celtic. The Romans spoke Latin. The Anglo-Saxons spoke Frisian and Germanic

based languages that would solidify into Old English. Old English is the language in which our first text

was originally written.

What did they believe? Celts – The Celts engaged in polytheistic nature

worship, meaning they worshipped many natural gods.

There was no unified pantheon, or set of religious figures across the Celtic tribes.

The stories they told would include superstitious beliefs in local monsters like trolls or demons.

Angles, Saxons – The tribes from Germany and the Continental Europe believed in the Norse gods from Norse mythology.

Some names include Odin, Freya, Thor, and Loki.

Romans – The Romans had their own religion consisting of gods from Roman mythology.

Some names include Jupiter (Zeus in Greek), Juno (Hera), Neptune (Poseidon), and Mars (Ares).

Early Christians – Early Christian missionaries were successful in teaching the theology of God and Jesus Christ within the Roman Empire.

As Christianity spread through Europe, it would reach the British Isles through missionary work.

King Ethelbert I, an Anglo-Saxon king, was successfully converted through St. Augustine of Canterbury’s efforts.

Why is this important?

Our study of Beowulf is based around the pre-existing beliefs from Celts, Angles, and the Saxons as they clashed with Christianity’s influence.

Besides being a powerfully entertaining story, Beowulf has been read as a Christian allegory in which the characters, places, and objects represent Christian concepts.