FOCUS ON HISTORY

 

 

CELTIC BRITAIN

 

THE IBERIANS:

·       Settled in Neolithic

·       They spread from the South

·       Evidences: archaeological remains → “beakers”

·       Landmark: Stonehenge.

 

THE CELTS:

·       They arrived from North–West Germany

·       Language remains: Welsh, Gaelic

·       Physical appearance: tall, muscular, fair skin, blue eyes, blond hair

·       Occupations: farmers, hunters, fishermen and metal workers

·       Social role: warriors, seamen, traders

·       Social organisation: tribes

 

RELIGION: Druidism

·       Druids occupations: religion, justice, education, medicine

·       Rites: ceremonies in the forest

·       Symbols: mistletoe

 

RELIGION: Worships

·       Divinities: natural elements → the Sun, the Moon, trees, rivers

·       Holy element: Water  → which generates life and is the door to the world after death

·       Believes: immortality, transmigration of the soul

·       Life after death: spent on the Earth in caves, hills or lakes → nature gets a magical connotation

 

RELIGION: Sacrifices

·       Means of communicating with the spiritual world

·       Offering of precious objects, animals, sometimes human sacrifice

 

ROMAN CONQUEST:

·       When: 55 B.C.

·       Why: - the British Celts were helping Celts of Gaul against Romans

-        agricultural and commercial prosperity

 

 

MIDDLE AGES – EUROPEAN SCENE

·    When: from the collapse of Roman Empire to the Renaissance

 

UNIFYING FEATURES

·       Christianity:

·       Filled the vacuum left by Roma Empire

·       Gave rise to new imperial systems (that of Charlemagne, the Holy Roman Empire, Tsars of Moscow)

·       The Pope got spiritual and temporal power

·       Feudalism:

·       Had a hierarchical structure: king, vassals, serfs

·       Gave power to local kings and weakened ecclesiastical authority

 

FACTORS OF CHANGE:

·       Invasions:

·       Nordic populations and Mongols

·       Destructed old settlements but gave rise to new kingdoms

·       Crusades:

·       Why: to free the Holy Land from Muslims

·       Ravaged many countries through which Crusaders travelled

·       Opened new routes to trade and travel

·       Trade and pilgrimage:

·       For professional or spiritual reasons

·       They were very hard

 

EMERGENCE OF CITIES AND THE MIDDLE CLASS:

·       Cities development:

·       When: by the 12^th century

·       Where: in several regions of Europe on trade routes

·       Why: for economic and political reasons

·       Middle-Class (bourgeoisie):

·       Merchants and artisans formed a new social class

·       They laid between nobles and peasants

 

MIDDLE AGES – BRITISH SCENE

MAIN FACTS:

·       Roman domain: from 43 A.D. to 410 A.D.

·       Invasions of Angles, Saxons and Jutes:

·       When: in the 5^th-6^th century

·       They drove indigenous population to West and North

·       Anglo-Saxon England:

·       When: by the 6^th century

·       Seven kingdoms were born → in the 9^th century they unified themselves under and Anglo-Saxon king (King of Wessex)

·       Spread of Christianity in England:

·       Who: St. Augustine, some Benedictine monks and missionaries

·       When: from 597 A.D.

·       Why: to convert to Christianity the heathen British

·       Viking invasion:

·       When: from 787

·       Viking tribes began to raid British coasts and settlements

-        By 872 the Danes established themselves in East Anglia

-        The Vikings continued their attacks until the 10^th century

Famous Anglo-Saxon and Danish Kings:

·       Alfred the Great (871-899): learned and skilful in political and military affairs

·       Cnut: a Danish king who ruled wisely until 1035

·       King Edward (1042-1066): Anglo-Saxon king, named the “Confessor” for his religious piety

·       Norman invasion (1066) → William of Normandy claimed the throne

·       The Historical MacBeth:

·       When: 11^th century

·       Where: in Scotland

·       Unlike the Shakespeare’s hero he defeated his predecessor and got the throne

 

THE ANGLO-SAXONS

They brought in Britain their code of values based on a sense of honour and fidelity to their chiefs, their religion and military organisation

Society: there was a hierarchical structure:

-        The king

-        The “earls”: nobles by birth

-        The “thegns”: personal companions of the king

-        “freemen”: they had to help building forts, roads and bridges and provide military service

Life: they lived in villages based on agriculture and farming

Early towns:

·       When: in the 8^th and 9^th century

·       They were military bases and centres of trade

·       They were inhabited by soldiers, merchants and their families

Language:

·       Their language was Old English from which was born English spoken nowadays

·       Celt’s languages survived in Wales, North-West Scotland and Ireland

Influence of Christianity:

·       Christianity unified the kingdom and opened England to Europe

·       Introduced the use of writing