Old English Period – Social History of Britain

Historical Background

1. Celts -500 BCE – Celtic language
2. Gales – invaded the western and northern parts of the country.
3. Britons – occupied present day England & Wales.
4. Roman – 43 AD to 410 AD, by Emperor Claudius, Roman Britain – Latin Language
5. Anglo – Saxons – 450 – 1066 AD – German dialects/Old English – Pagans/polytheistic (Worshiped many God) until St. Augustine arrived in 597 AD, he converted King Ethelbert to Christianity. Christianity Spread.
6. Jutes – Germanic tribe.
7. Danes & Vikings – 800 AE (Vikings/Norsemen from Scandenevia): Defeated by King Alfred at Battle of Edington (878 AD)
8. King Alfred – Anglo-Saxon King of Wessex, upto 899 – Anglo Saxons named their land Angleland(Land of Angles) which later became England
9. Edward the Confessor – last saxon king – upto 1066
10. Norman Conquest – 1066, Battle of Hestings – Duke of Normandy became popular as William the Conqueror – Anglo -Norman Period
11. William Rufus or William II (son of William the Conqueror)
12. Henry I (brother of William II)
13. Stephen (nephew of William II, as Henry I’s grandson,Henry II, Matildas son was of only two years)
14. Henry II (House of Plantagenet/Angevins, son of Matilda and Geoffrey Plantagenet)
15. Richard I /Richard the lion Hearted
16. John
17. Henry III
18. Edward I
19. Edward II
20. Edward III

Britain was made of

1. Scotland
2. Republic of Ireland
3. England
4. Wales

English Language

1. From 900 B.C to 300 B.C Greek poems,plays were read and copied throughout Europe. Tragedies of Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides…
2. Roman/Latin replaced Greece as the lader of ancient Mediterranean Civilization. Retelling of Greek Stories. Virgil’s Aeneid is similar in form to Homar’s Iliad and Odyssey. Ovid’s Metamorphoses retold the Greek stories.
3. Having emerged from the dialects and vocabulary of Germanic peoples—Angles, Saxons, and Jutes—who settled in Britain in the 5th century CE, English today is a constantly changing language that has been influenced by a plethora of different cultures and languages, such as Latin, French, Dutch, and Afrikaans.

Literary Works

Historical Events of Importance

• The earliest inhabitants of Britain recorded in history – Celtic people, the Britons.
• Caesar (he was from Rome) invaded Britain for twice in 55 BC and in 54 BC
• The Roman occupation of Britain lasted for about 350 years
• 410 C – Withdrawal of the Roman legion from Briton
• St. Augustine came from Rome to Christianize in 596. He made his first convert in Kent.
• English belongs to the German Family: a sub group of Indo-European family
• 1066 – Norman invaders from France conquered England in Battle of Hastings.
• Feudalism was introduced in England after Norman Conquest.
• Domesday Book – William’s survey 
• Who was the legendary literary figure said to have resisted the Germanic invaders/mercenaries? King Arthur
• Invaders: 1.Celts 2.Romans 3.Anglo-Saxons 4.Normans
• Reign of Augustus – Pax Romana (Roman Peace)
• Heptarchy – seven kingdoms formed by Anglo-Saxons: 1.Kent 2.Essex 3.Sussex 4.Wessex 5.East Anglia, 6.Mercia 7. Northumbria
• English is derived from Anglo-Saxon language, not from Latin.
• Anglo-Saxon literature: 1. Pagan literature 2. Christian literature
• Anglo-Saxon literature is full of images.
• In 4 manuscripts O.E poetry is preserved:
  • 1. The Beowulf MS ( Containing Beowulf and Judith) 
  • 2. The Junius MS ( Containing Caedmonian poems)
  • 3. The Exeter MS (Containing two signed poems of Cynewulf)
    • 10th Century anthology of Anglo-saxon Poetry
    • 90/95 lyrical riddles are there
    • Contains 7 O.E.Elegies
    • Largest known collection of O.E literature
    • “World’s principal Cultural artifacts” – UNESCO
    • Poems:
      • The Wanderer
      • The Seafarer
      • The Wife’s Lament
      • The Husband’s Massage
      • The Ruin
  • 4. The Verceli Book ( Containing two other signed poems of Cynewulf: Elene and Andres and The Dream of The Rood); only religious poetry

• Alliterative Verse
• Kenning