GREAT BRITAIN'S INVADERS

In these paragraphs I want to give you some information about people who invaded the Great Britain. They were the Iberians, the Celts, the Romans and the Anglo-Saxons. IN this period, British culture was influenced by all the cultures who were brought in Great Britain with the invaders. Now, when we travel to Great Britain we can watch something from these invaders in museums or in protect areas where there are some remains.

The first invaders were the Iberians. They arrived in Britain in the Neolithic period from the South of Europe. We can talk about them because some archaeologists had found "beakers" (cups of pottery) and Stonehenge, which are archaeological remains. Stonehenge is built of bluish stone, it is very enormous! They went away a century before Christs because another population arrived: the Celts.

Another invasion from a group of Indo-European language: the Celts! They were from the North-west Germany and they settled in Ireland around the 700 before Christs. They dominated the island for a thousand years and the absorbed influences from other cultures. They were tall, muscular and warlike, they had blue eyes and blond hair. They were hunters, farmers, fishermen and metal workers, so they had weapons made of iron. These objects are conserved in the National Museum in Dublin. We know about the Celts with the arrival of the Christianity and the Roman alphabet. Christianity was bought in the island by St. Patrick in the fifth century and it created a conservative society with the Celtic culture. In this period there were frequent local wars, but these were not prolonged. In this society there were not cities or towns, there were only some monasteries, who were the centres of a large population. The Ireland was divided into five kingdoms; country was born in a hundred and fifth with a few thousand people. In the Celtic society there were some priests called "the Druids", they were important in religion, education, medicine and justice. Their ceremonies took place in the forests. They worshiped the Sun, the Moon, the rivers, the the trees and the Water. The thought to communicate with the spiritual world through the sacrifices of animals, who were offered to the Gods. The Celts had to go away in the 55 before Christs because arrived the Romans.

Britain could not have a peaceful period: a lot of groups invaded the big island continually. In 55 before Christs another population invaded the Britain: the Romans. They conquered the country in 43-47 AD under Emperor Claudius. The South-east became romanised! The Romans brought their culture with them, so they built towns and roads which existed still today. The towns were the basis of Roman administration and civilization. There were three different kinds of towns: Coloniae (for Roman settlers), Municipia (for inhabitants with Roman citizenship) and Civitates (for the old Celtic tribal capitals). The Latin name "Castra" has remained in many cities like Lancaster, Gloucester and Manchester. Emperor Hadrian ordered to built a wall between the conquered Britons and the Scots and Picts. Then the Romans had to defend Rome from the Barbarian invasion, so they returned in their city and the Britain went under the Anglo-Saxon control.

Last invasion: the Anglo-Saxon. This population used the religious practices to placate the adverse natural forces. They venerated trees, stones and wells. During their invasion Britain became Christian: Christianity was bought by Augustine, the first Archbishop of Canterbury. The monasteries became important centres of culture where Latin was introduced. King Offa of Mercia was the first Christian coronation.

These populations invaded the Britain from the Neolithic period to around the 700 AD. In this period there were a lot of wars for the power! Every group wants to impose his culture and did not want to mix it with another one. Now we can tell this "story" because we have firms: archaeological remains or written proves after the arrival of the Christianity! If you have noticed, the paragraph of the Iberians is shorter than the others: the Roman alphabet was not still introduced, there are only archaeological remains! This is the eventful Britain's story but now there is only a population: the English one!