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    Britain After The Romans

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    Samir Halawani
    Between 407-800 AD, five distinct cultures interacted in Britain after the departure of the Romans. The dominant Anglo-Saxon culture gradually came to control much of eastern and southern Britain by 800 AD, as they arrived from Germanic regions. Meanwhile, Irish culture expanded and became dominant in the north, west, and parts of Scotland. British culture was nearly wiped out, surviving only in the westernmost areas. The arrival of the Vikings in the late 8th century marked the beginning of a new period in British history.

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    Britain After The Romans

    Uploaded by

    Samir Halawani
    43 views12 pages
    Between 407-800 AD, five distinct cultures interacted in Britain after the departure of the Romans. The dominant Anglo-Saxon culture gradually came to control much of eastern and southern Britain by 800 AD, as they arrived from Germanic regions. Meanwhile, Irish culture expanded and became dominant in the north, west, and parts of Scotland. British culture was nearly wiped out, surviving only in the westernmost areas. The arrival of the Vikings in the late 8th century marked the beginning of a new period in British history.

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    Britain After the Romans

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    Between 407-800 AD, five distinct cultures interacted in Britain after the departure of the Romans. The dominant Anglo-Saxon culture gradually came to control much of eastern and southern Britain by 800 AD, as they arrived from Germanic regions. Meanwhile, Irish culture expanded and became dominant in the north, west, and parts of Scotland. British culture was nearly wiped out, surviving only in the westernmost areas. The arrival of the Vikings in the late 8th century marked the beginning of a new period in British history.

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    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
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    43 views12 pages

    Britain After The Romans

    Uploaded by

    Samir Halawani
    Between 407-800 AD, five distinct cultures interacted in Britain after the departure of the Romans. The dominant Anglo-Saxon culture gradually came to control much of eastern and southern Britain by 800 AD, as they arrived from Germanic regions. Meanwhile, Irish culture expanded and became dominant in the north, west, and parts of Scotland. British culture was nearly wiped out, surviving only in the westernmost areas. The arrival of the Vikings in the late 8th century marked the beginning of a new period in British history.

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    of 12

    Britain After The Romans

    407-800 AD
    “When Angles and Saxons came hither from the east,
    Sought Britain over the broad-spreading sea,
    Haughty war-smiths overcame the Britons,
    Valiant earls got for themselves a home.”
    From The Anglo Saxon Chronicle
    Five Distinct Cultures
    • With the departure of the Romans began the so-called Dark Ages, lasting 1000
    years.
    • The period between the departure of the Romans (407 AD) and the coming of the
    Vikings (ca. 800AD) was marked by the interaction of five distinct cultures.
    • Anglo-Saxon ( from the Baltic shores of Germany), British (Celtic/Iberian), Pictish,
    Irish and Jute (from the peninsula of Jutland in modern day Denmark)
    • At the beginning of this period (407 AD) The dominant culture of this period was
    Romano-British and the least important was the Germanic/Anglo-Saxon
    • By 800AD this had been completely reversed and the Anglo-Saxons controlled
    much of the east and south-east, and Irish culture was dominant in the north, west
    and the eastern part of Scotland (among the Picts).
    • British Culture had all but been wiped out, the only places it survived were in the
    westernmost and northernmost parts of Britain and the area of north west France
    which came to be called Brittany (‘little Britain’)
    The Venerable Bede
    • What we know of these centuries we know
    from the writings of the Venerable Bede
    (ca.673-735)
    • Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum (A
    History of the English Church and People)
    • A church history – concerned itself with the
    Christianisation of England and the
    establishment of the church of Rome .
    • Bede was a ‘Modern’ historian.
    • Employed the term Anglorum, so Bede saw
    ‘the English’ as a nation rather than a tribe –
    a new concept.
    • Writing from the perspective of the dominant
    culture – Anglo-Saxon, Christian and Latin.
    Need to take this into account.
    • However, the best source we have for this
    time.
    The Coming of the Anglo-
    Saxons
    • New arrivals from Northern Germany and the Danish peninsula.
    • British regional warlords hired them as mercenaries.
    • 440s Hengist and Horsa rebelled against their British commander and seized the land
    for themselves.
    • Over the next 50 years, wave after wave of Germanic and Scandinavian tribes followed
    them.
    • By 495 they had pushed as far north as York and West to Southampton.
    • Sheer weight of numbers overwhelmed the indigenous Britons.
    • Battle of Badon Hill halted the advance of the Saxons.
    • 550 new wave of Germanic immigration.
    • Around six or seven Anglo-Saxon kingdoms: East Anglia, Mercia , Sussex, Essex,
    Wessex, Kent and Northumbria.
    • These kingdoms worshipped same gods, spoke similar dialects, shared a common
    culture, but soon competing for land, influence and trade.
    • Sutton Hoo - Raedwald of the East Angles.
    Anglo-Saxon Culture
    • Fishermen, farmers and marauders. Sought and
    won land so as to escape the nature of theirs.
    • Highly organised tribal system
    • Each tribe ruled by a king. Four classes: Earls,
    freemen, serfs and slaves.

    • Reintroduced paganism to Britain. Worshipped


    ancient German Gods such as Woden and
    Thunor.
    • Eventually these gods succumbed to Christianity
    but still with us e.g. days of the week.

    • Anglo-Saxons had a strong cultural relationship


    with the Irish – common values in poetry, fighting
    and farming
    • Antagonistic toward British culture. Christian
    vs. pagan and coloniser vs. colonised. Offa's
    Dyke a sign of this
    A Nation is Born?
    • Reestablishment of Christianity - Pope Gregory "Angels not Angles" - St Columba, St
    Augustine and St. Patrick.
    • By 650, Augustine had succeeded in converting most of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms to
    Christianity.
    • Why did they agree to be converted? Christianity, perhaps owing in part to its association
    with the power of Rome, seemed more attractive than paganism. Literacy was also
    associated with Rome and therefore was more desirable.
    • Christianity had many influences on the Anglo-Saxons. It softened the ferocity of the warrior
    people. It ‘improved’ their behaviour. Taking revenge on those who you believed had
    wronged you became less important, whereas calling upon a higher law (that of God)
    became more important. Society became more peaceful.
    • Celtic versus Roman Christianity.
    • 664 Synod of Whitby.
    • Christian message interpreted in a Saxon way.
    • King Offa (757-796), King of Mercia brutally acquired Sussex, Kent and East Anglia, while
    Wessex and Northumberland became passive neighbours.
    • Recognised by Charlemagne as the ruler of all England, he built churches, encouraged
    literacy, introduced widely accepted English currency. Constructed `Offa`s Dyke` protected
    his back. With peace existing between the various Saxon kingdoms and with Christianity
    bringing a return to literacy, England seem to be finally emerging from the dark ages.
    • 789, however, saw some strange visitors turning up on the coast of Dorset, the Vikings.
    Saxon Kings of England
    1. Offa (r. 757-796) Battle of Brunanburgh. 1016)
    Rex totius Britanniae 1. Defeated Danes, deal with
    2. Egbert, King of Wessex (r. 802- 10. Edmund I (r. 939-946) Canute then died.
    839) – Next 4 kings consolidated 18. Canute 'The Great' (r. 1016-
    – Bretwalda work of Alfred and 1035)
    3. Ethelwulf (r. 839-856) Athelstan – Brought Viking/Saxon
    – Four sons succeeded him 11. Edred (r. 946-55) feud to an end. Huge
    to prevent conflict. empire. The tide. Married
    12. Edwy (r.955-959) Ethelred`s widow.
    4. Ethelbald (r.856-860)
    19. Harold Harefoot (r. 1035-1040)

    5. Ethelbert (r. 860-866) 13. Edgar (r. 959-975)


    20. Hardicanute (r. 1035-1042)
    14. Edward II 'The Martyr' (r. 975- – Canute`s two sons
    6. Ethelred (r.866-871) followed him but left no
    979)
    heirs so crown passed to
    7. Alfred 'The Great' (r. 871-899) Edward their half-brother
    – Battle of Ashdown. Battle 15. Ethelred II 'The Unready' (R. 979-
    of Edington, Treaty of 1013 and 1014-1016)
    21. Edward 'The Confessor' (r. 1042-
    Wedmore. Reorganised – Worst Saxon king. Used 1066)
    defences, promoted gold instead of force to
    pacify new Viking – A puppet, Westminster
    learning and established a Abbey, rise of Harold.
    legal code. invasions. St.Brices Day
    Massacre. Neglected defences.
    8. Edward 'The Elder' (r. 899-924)

    16. Sweyn (r. 1013-1014) 22. Harold II (r. Jan - Oct 1066)
    9. Athelstan (r.924-939)
    – Greatest Saxon King – – Viking King
    conquered Danelaw. 17. Edmund II 'Ironside' (r Apr - Nov 23. Edgar Atheling (r. Oct - Dec
    1066)
    British Culture
    • Anglo-Saxons advanced – British culture in decline
    • British suffered military losses and retreated to Cornwall and Wales – the
    peripheries.
    • Some Britons went to Ireland where they formed a distinctive group named the
    Scots (after the Latin, Scotia, the name given by the Romans to Ireland). This group
    migrated back to Britain, eventually settling in what is now Scotland.
    • A culture in retreat often seeks compensation in the story of a warrior who will throw
    off the yoke of the oppressor. For many Britons this was King Arthur (although the
    myth was not popularised until the 12th century by Geoffrey of Monmouth)
    Irish Culture
    • Golden period
    • Irish culture expanded into Scotland, Wales and
    continental Europe.
    • Irish Christianity assimilated elements of paganism
    such as polygamy and ‘cursing one’s enemies’
    • Tribal system declined to be replaced by two
    kingdoms – in the north and the south.
    • By the sixth century Ireland was by and large
    Christianised thanks to St. Patrick and other
    missionaries.
    • This missionary zeal was so great that by the end of
    this period nearly all of the British Isles had adopted
    the religion. Irish missionaries were at the forefront
    of this.
    Pictish Culture
    • Unknown quantity

    • Whereas the Anglo-Saxons had Bede,


    the British had the oral and the written
    word, as did the Irish - all we know
    about the Picts comes from
    archaeological digs.

    • What we do know is that they had


    wealth (silver), they has access to Irish
    and Anglo-Saxon culture, they were
    Christianised, they accepted the
    Roman (eventually) rather than the
    Celtic dating of Easter and they used
    Roman architecture to build their
    churches.

    • …and that is all we know of them.

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