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Geography

Population

History

Economy

Politicalsystem

MULTICULTURAL BRITAIN As a result of a long history of invasion, the UK has a multicultural population with a wide range of costums and traditions. The majority of the ethnic groups live in 3 big cities: London, Manchester and Birmingham.

2 large islands = Great Britain (Scotland, England, Wales) and (Northern) Ireland + hundreds of smaller ones. Most of Ireland is an independent state = The Republic of Ireland

Normans

1066

Vikings.

Late 8th century

Germanic tribes

5th century

Romans leave Britain

410 AD

Romans

55 BC

Celts

1000 BCE

Pre-Celtic tribes

Neolithic period

Milestones in British history

1087-1100

WIlliam II

The Romans were forced to leave the country to defend Rome against the Barbarian invasion.

The Romans leave Britain

  • 14th October 1066: Battle of Hastings. William the Conqueror, Duke of Normandy defeated the Anglo-Saxons
  • Harlod was killed --> Anglo-Saxon reign came to an end.
  • On Christmas Day 1066 William the Conqueror (1066-1087) was crowned king of England in Westminster Abbey --> beginning of the Middle Ages

The Normans

Norman invasion

What elements favoured Norman victory and control in England?

  1. the armoured knight on horseback --> The Anglo-Saxon army, fighting on foot, could not resist the attack of mounted Norman knights, armed with lances and protected by chemical chainmail tunics.
  2. the militarization of the English landscape through the construction of castles --> immediately after the Norman Conquest, an intense programme of castle-building was undertaken to control the newly-conquered land, exploiting the slave labour of the Anglo-Saxons. These castles had strong walls enclosing great tower

  • feudal system = pyramid-like social structure where every man was bound to an overlord and finally the king
  • Anglo-Saxons were reduced to the condition of serfs
  • Guilds = form of trade organisation
  • Norman French: Latin and French were the language of church and government
  • Domesday Book
  • reorganisation of the English Church: Anglo-Saxon bishops and abbots were replaced with Normans and set about an unprecedented programme of building churches, cathedrals and monasteries
  • separation of ecclesiastical and civil justice: Bishop's Court of Justice / King's Court
  • William controlled the nomination of Bishops and Abbots

  • Use of stone and metals
  • Construction of wooden huts
  • Introduction of agriculture
  • trade-routes to link up the centres of distant tribes
  • large temple (Stonehenge) = a great feat of engineering for that time

Pre-Celtic tribes

  • Julius Caesar
  • 43 AD: Emperor Claudius
  • 122 AD: Emperor Hadrian --> Hadrian's Wall

The Romans

The Romans brought their civilisation: - towns - roads - stone villas - aqueducts - language: Latin - religion: Christianity

Left defenceless, Britain was invaded by German tribes

  • transformed moors or forests into cultivable lands thanks to their ploughs
  • 7 kingdoms --> heptarchy
  • Language: Old English
  • Religion: paganism

Germanic tribes

Anglo-Saxons were pagan so they re-established stronger pagan values (courage, physical, strength…) and they worshipped ancient gods and venerated trees or stones. Christianity returned to Britain only at the end of the 6th century, when Pope Gregory the Great sent the Benedictine monk (called Augustine) to convert the seven Anglo-Saxon kingdoms. It was him who built the famous Canterbury church, where he later became the first archbishop (since then, the archbishop of Canterbury has always been the leading churchman in England). However, Christianity was mainly brought by Irish monks (St Patrick) and by 650 AD a lot of monasteries had been founded throughout Britain.

What rights did Anglo-Saxon women enjoy? Anglo-Saxons seemed quite advanced when we consider the position of women:

  • They could own land in their own name
  • They could participate in legal questions
  • Marriage was a contract between the woman’s family and the bridegroom. The bridegroom paid a “bride-price” to the woman’s family before the wedding and a “morning gift” after the consumption of the marriage. This money was hers to keep
  • The law protected women from being forced into nunnery or from being forced to marry against their will
  • The system of primogeniture (inheritance by the first-born male) was introduced after the Norman Conquest, so the Anglo-Saxon sons and daughters enjoyed the same legal rights and could both inherit money and property when they reach the age of majority (10 or 12)

  • Artisans, farmer, fishers, warriors
  • Pagans: druidism
  • Druids

The Celts

William II succeeded William I but he proved to be very unpopular

William II

The Vikings

The Vikings arrived from Scandinavia and started the conquest of whole island but King Alfred the Great united the Anglo-Saxons against the Vikings. The Danes maintained possession of north-eastern England, the Danelaw, only Wessex remained to Anglo-Saxons. Anglo-Saxon England continued to flourish after Alfred’s death. His son, Edward the Elder (900-924) reconquered the Danelaw and later the century the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle records that king Edgar (959-975) issued laws recognising the multi-ethnic character of England at the time. Harold, the last Anglo-Saxon king, defeated the Vikings at the battle of Stamford Bridge in the north of England in 1066