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THE IBERIANS
The Iberians were the first settlers in Britain. They came from the south of Europe during the Neolithic period. Their existence is proved by archeological remains such as beakers, pottery and megaliths. Beakers were "cups" put in grave mounds as offerings. Megaliths are big stone constructions; we do not know their use, but probably they were places of cult. The most famous megalith is Stonehenge, in South-West England.

THE CELTS
The Celts arrived in England in the Iron Age (around 700 B.C.) from north-west Germany. They were tall and warlike, had blue eyes, fair skin and blond hair. The term "Celtic" originally denoted only a group of Indo-European languages, but later was transferred to the speakers. Before arriving in Ireland, the Celts inhabited an area comprising Bavaria, Switzerland, Austria, Hungary and Bohemia. Then, they spread in northern Italy, Spain and France. They also sacked Rome and raided Greece and Asia Minor.
The Celts lived by farming, hunting and fishing and were strong warrior, in order to defend themselves from the dangers of nature or other migrant populations. They could work iron and were traders (of silver, tin, goods, pottery). They introduced a new language, which survives today in Welsh and Gaelic. Their buildings hosted a single extended family and were made of stone or timber, covered with a roof made of thatch or turf. They were round and surrounded by a circular wall. The Celts also built hill forts and crannogs (artificial islands made of stone or timber with defensive purposes).
Their religion was druidism and was administered by the druids. They were important not only in religion, but also in medical practices, education and justice. The druids formed a very prestigious class in the society.
The Celts worshipped natural elements and their ceremonies were held in the natural environment. They believed that praying nature would protect them from natural dangers and make nature more beneficent to them. They believed in immortality and in the transmigration of the soul. They used sacrifice as mean of communicating with the spiritual world. Probably they sacrificed also human in case of great need.

THE ROMANS
The Romans invaded Britain in 44 A.D., under the command of Claudius. Probably, Claudius ordered the conquest of Britain to secure the support of Senate and the population. Britain had been already invaded twice by Julius Caesar in 55 and 54 BC, but he had had to interrupt the conquest to fight a revolt in Gaul. Caesar had invaded Britain for the same purpose of Claudius; a military victory gave great prestige and power, which increased politic importance.
Under the command of Aulus Plautius Romans returned in Britain. The conquest was rather difficult; the queen of the Iceni Boudicca even came close to expelling the invaders. Under the provincial governor Gnaeus Julius Agricola, the Romans occupied northern Britain in 84 AD.
After the conquest, some Roman troops were moved from Britain to defend other parts of the empire. Therefore, they built walls and forts along the frontier to defend the territory, defining a line between "civilization" and "barbarians".
The northern zone of Britain remained only under military occupation, while the southern was highly romanised. The Romans built new towns, redesigned the previous ones and connected them with many stone roads. There were eventually three kinds of towns: the coloniae, peopled by Roman settlers, the municipia, inhabited by Roman citizens and the civitates, the ancient Celtic capitals. Many of the new towns were originally army camps and still maintain the Latin suffix "caster", "chester" or "cester" (from castra, army camp), such as Lancaster, Manchester, Gloucester
Roman customs began to spread; baths and villas were built, Mediterranean products were brought and Latin language was spoken. People in charge were still local; indeed the Roman invaders promised to preserve their power on condition that they ruled the territory on Rome's behalf and they romanised their culture.
The end of the conquests marked the end of the Roman empire. There was not enough wealth to defend such big territory. Besides, imperators were not capable enough to handle the situation and the society became apathetic. In the meantime, Rome's enemies (the Germans) were getting stronger.
Britain was repeatedly raided - by Anglo-Saxons in the south east, Irish in the west, and Picts in the north. When Italy itself was attacked, troops were withdrawn to defend the homeland. By about 425 AD, Britain had ceased to be in any sense Roman. Conventionally, this date marks out the start of the British Medieval period.
Later, in 550, a monk called Gildas wrote in his De excidio et conquest Britannie about a Romano-Celtic leader, Ambrosius Aurelianus, who fought the Anglo-Saxon invaders. This narration may have been the origin of the legend of King Arthur.

THE ANGLO SAXONS
During the 5th and 6th centuries the Angles, the Saxons and the Jutes invaded and settled in Britain, driving the Celts west and far north. At first seven Anglo-Saxon kingdoms were established; by the 9th century they had all recognized king of Wessex as king of England.
The Anglo-Saxons brought with them their Nordic religion, a strong military organization, a strict code of values based on fidelity and honour, their farming and fishing methods and a social structure based on the family. The society was ruled by a chief/king with military power. The population was subdivided into thengs (nobles by birth), earls (companions of the king) and freemen, who were obliged to help maintaining public structures and providing military service when needed. The environment was owned communally.
The first Anglo-Saxon settlements were small villages. Then, around the 8th and 9th centuries they formed larger communities called "boroughs"; they were in origin walled fortresses, then became trade centres, populated by soldiers, merchants and their families. Nowadays the term denotes the districts of London and survives as suffix in many city names.
The Anglo-Saxons introduced a new language, now called Old English. The Celtic languages of the previous populations survived only in Wales, Ireland and north-west Scotland.
On their arrival, the Anglo-Saxons practiced a primitive and polytheistic religion anxious to placate the adverse natural forces around them and activate the beneficent ones. The major gods were Tiw, Woden, Thor and Frig, from whose names the words Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday derive. In 597, Pope Gregory I the Great ordered St. Augustine to convert the Anglo-Saxons to Christianity. Augustine managed to convert the royal family of Wessex, where he became archbishop. A monastery was built in Canterbury and more monks were sent from Rome. However, it was the Celtic Church which brought the Christian faith into the north and the common people. The Celtic Church was made up of small ascetic communities in Wales and Ireland.
Christianity helped the union between the kingdoms and the contacts with the mainland and brought the Latin alphabet and the writing of documents in Britain. Monasteries became important centres of culture; in them books were collected, preserved, studied and translated.
Christianity influenced greatly also the royal succession. During this period, there were no established rules about the succession of the king; every member of the royal family could become the sovereign provided that he had enough armed support. Therefore, heirs had often exploited a coronation ceremony made by a bishop in order to get more prestige.
From 787 some Nordic population (the Vikings and the Danes) entered and raided Britain. They came from Scandinavia and Denmark in search of new lands. They reached also North America, Russia, Sicily and Iceland. We can identify their settlements, since they end with the suffix -by or -throp(e) In Britain, they first attacked the monasteries on the coasts; then, in 866, began the conquest of Britain. Only Wessex and its king Alfred standed against them. Alfred was skilful both in war and politics. He promoted culture as way of placating God for the punishment of the Viking and as way of promoting strength and unity. He enacted the first written laws, ordered the translation of various Latin works into Old English and encouraged the writing of a history of England, The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. Alfred and the Danish Vikings reached a peaceful compromise and the invaders founded a king in East Anglia, the Danelaw.
By the 950 the Danish Vikings started raiding England (Wessex, Northumbria and Mercia) again. The Danish king Ethelred imposed an unpopular tax, the Danegeld, to the English so that they would not invade England. Ethelred's successor, Canute, did not linger and conquered England directly (1013). After Canute's death (1035), the reign broke: his sons ruled the Viking possessions in Scandinavia, while Ethelred's son, Edward, ruled Britain. King Edward (r. 1042-1066), who earned the title of Confessor because of his saintly life, ordered the Westminster Abbey to be built. He was defeated in 1066 by William of Normandy, who claimed the English throne by right of blood.
During the 10th and 11th century, the Vikings became integrated with the Anglo-Saxon and their dialects mixed. This is one reason why English language is rich of synonyms.