Britain’s first inhabitants
Iberians
The first inhabitants of the Britain were the Iberians (also called pre-Celts): we have li<le evidence about them. The only
things that they leB are their graves, large mound made of earth or stone, and Stonehenge, the world famous circle of
big stones, used to mark the passing of the seasons.
Celts
Then around 700 BC Celts began to migrate to Britain from north-west Germany, known as Britons. They were warriors
and lived inside hill forts surrounded by strong walls. Celts were farmers, arIsans and metal workers too: in fact they
produced iron weapons. Women could fight as well as men, and one of the most famous CelIc warriors was queen
Boadicea.
The society was democraIc: at the top of the hierarchy there was the king or the queen and as important as them were
the druids. They did religious ceremony where they offered sacrifices, even human, to god and it was believed that they
could predict the future. Celts were pagan and venerated natural elements.
They were split in different clans, each one with a strong leader.
Romans
When Julius Caesar tried to conquer Britain in 55 and 54 BC, he didn’t managed it, and he only imposed an annual tax.
The real conquest came much later, in 43 AD: Queen Boadicea didn’t manage to push the Roman’s army back, whose
leader was Emperor Claudius. He conquered most of Britain, but not Island and Scotland: for this reason these lands,
have Gaelic as a second language.
When the Romans arrived in Britain they took over a country that was disorganised and divided into clans, each
occupied by a different race of people. There was no administraIve centre, no roads, no law. The Roman culture was
much more organised than the CelIc one. In fact, the first thing that they did was destroy old villages and impose their
urban civilisaIon: build walled towns, roads, houses and temples. Roman towns looked like a grid: the streets heading
form north to south, and from west to est. The center was where the most important streets met. Today there are lots of
Roman towns in England, and we can recognise them because they have a suffix: chester/cester/caster (castra castrum)
like Manchester, Leicester (lester), Gloucester (gloster). The suffix shire means county, like Yorkshire.
Romans remained in Britain for nearly 4 centuries and who accepted this was called Romano-Britons; who didn’t accept
this tended to be excluded from the city, and forced to live in the countryside. In 121 AD were built the Adrian’s walls to
protect Britain from the Scoash tribes, known as Picts. Now there are sIll rests of it.
Anglo-Saxons
Towards the end of the 4th century the Romans had to withdraw because their forces were needed; Britain was a<acked
again by other invaders and it was unable to defend itself. In the 5th and 6th centuries Saxons (North-West Germany),
Angles (Denmark) and Jutes (Jutland) invaded southern and eastern England and gradually conquered England, called
like this because it was the Angles’ land.
They divided the land in seven kingdoms, oBen at war with each other, and were different from romans: they were a
warlike race who believed in physical strength, courage, freedom, loyalty. They were ready to sacrifice themselves for
the king or the family. Instead of killing each other they asked wergeld (war gold) if one had received a wrong. Also the
king had to be physically strong, courageous, generous.
When Anglo-Saxons arrived destroyed city and rebuilt villages: their lifestyle was similar to the CelIc’s one. They were
divided in clans and were mainly farmers.
Anglo-Saxons believed in paganism, but they converted to ChrisIanity when pope Gregory sent a monk to Britain in 597.
From that moment were built monastery and churches where amanuenses wrote down sacred test, poems. ChrisIanity
also brought the idea of wri<en literature, and for this reason Venerable Bede, a scholar, wrote in LaIn the first history
of England
Vikings
In c.800 Vikings from Scandinavia invaded Britain on their fast and strong longships: in fact they were famous for being
excellent shipbuilders and sailors. They occupied the eastern territories: the Danelaw (from Danes because they were
from Denmark) and they wanted to conquer the rest of Britain. For this reason the kingdoms leB choose one king, Alfred
the great, to fight Vikings, and he managed to establish a dividing line. He was educated and encouraged the wriIng of a
history of England: The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. He also translated various LaIn texts into Old English, promoted
educaIon and created the country’s first laws.
The Old English
The English went into three stages: old, middle and modern English. The old English is completely different and difficult.
There were the cases, just like in LaIn and Greek: one example is the Saxon GeniIve. Moreover the alphabet included
le<ers which today have disappeared, but have remained as phoneIc symbols, (e.g. ð and þ for the “th” sound, and æ,
as in the word “cat”). Most irregular verbs are Old English verb forms: drink-drank-drunk, for example.
Anglo-Saxon literature
Anglo-Saxons are people who used to sit around the fire and tell stories, riddles. Originally their literature was in an oral
form but thanks to amanuenses , who wrote down tests, now we have a wri<en literature and we know a lot about their
culture. When they were transcribing the tests, they also had changed something, because there was too much blood
and violence, so they added crisIan elements.
Epic poems described the great deeds of the heroes, and the items celebrated were: physical strength, loyalty, freedom
and courage.
The most famous is Beowulf, whose seang (Ime and place) was Scandinavia, around to the 5th or 6th century, but the
author is unknown because the origin is oral. Beowulf is a great hero who is called by the king of Denmark because a
monster is threatening a village. This monster, Grendel, eats warriors so the king is unable to save them. Beowulf had to
set out on a voyage, cross the sea and go to Denmark. He was able to find and kills Grendel and his mother, who wanted
to revenge his son. ABer that he came back to his homeland, and since he was generous and kind, he became the king
for long Ime. In his old age he had to front a dragon, and he managed to kill it but he remained mortally wounded.
Beowulf kills Grendel
This passage describes the final fight between Grendel and Beowulf. It starts with the descripIon of a big noise, followed
by a scream: Grendel had been grabbed by Beowulf and he was crying with the pain. The hero was incredibly strong and
he didn’t want to let the monster go. Beowulf wasn’t fighIng alone, but with other warriors who aimed to help and
protect him. Unfortunately they couldn’t hurt Grendel because on their swords there was a spell, so Beowulf kept
holding the arm. The monster had already killed many mens, and in fact he was in war with god. Grendel and Beowulf
hated eachother unIl they would live, but fortunately the hero managed to rip off his arm and shoulder. At the end,
Beowulf was the winner and Grendel died.
Main features of Anglo-Saxons poems.
Line (per indicare il verso) verses (per dire è scri<a in verso)
Figures of speech (metaphors, similes, symbols, hyperbole, litotes), which rely on meaning
Sound devices (alliteraIon, assonance, consonance, rhyme, onomatopoeia), which has to do with sound
The language was old English and the most used techniques were:
• alliteraIons, which repeats the same iniIal consonant sound at the beginning of a line
• assonance, which repeats the same iniIal vowel sound at the beginning of a line
• consonance, the repeIIon of the same consonant sound in a word
• kennings: instead of using a common one word, they use circumlocuIons, like the whale-road which means the sea.
• caesura, is a pause in the middle of the line
The medieval period
Normans
Normans were descendants of Vikings, so originally came from Scandinavia. When they arrived in Normandy they
adopted the French’s dialect and culture. From this moment, common people conInued to speak old English, the monks
spoke LaIn, which was the language of the culture and the conquerors spoke French, which became the official language
in England. In fact it was the language of the law, the courts and the literature. The Middle English is in fact the result of
Old English, French and LaIn, and it’s much more easier than the Old one since he lost cases except for the Saxon
geniIve.
William duke of Normandy
One of the last kings in England was Edward the Confessor, who, before dying, leB the reign to one of his relaIves, the
William duke of Normandy. When Edward died, the Witan, the great council of wise men, choose another king, Harold II
of Wessex. So, William collected an army, crossed the English Channel and fought against Harold in the Ba<le of HasIngs
(1066). He killed him, conquered England and on the 25th of December in the Westminster abbey he was crowned as
the king of England. He was the first king of a series in England.
Local people didn’t accept the normans’ conquer, so they tried to rebel and William I deprived the Anglo-Saxons of their
territory. Castles were built in every part of the country, to control the territory. An example is the white tower, which is
also the place where prisoners were kept.
William introduced feudalism, according to which every land belonged to the king. He was at the top of the hierarchy
just as the clergy and also fought each-other:
• He gave part of his lands to the barons (‘fiefs’) who, in exchange, had to provide the king with armed men.
• The knights, who were also landholders, received their land from the barons (‘manors’) and, in exchange for that, gave
military service to the lord.
• The peasants had to farm the land for the lord, and in exchange to fuse his lands for his family, he had to give him part
of the produce;
• One tenth of the populaIon were slaves: they had no land to work and were owned by their lord who used them as he
wished.
In 1086 the King wanted to know exactly the value of every piece of land, its owners, the number of families, the
animals, how much it produced so he could have a clear idea of how much tax he could collect. He sent men to carry out
this survey, at which no one could escape, and the results of which were recorded in the Domesday Book. This
document is so important because it is the first survey of its kind in the whole world. It was wri<en in Medieval LaIn,
was highly abbreviated, and included some vernacular naIve terms without LaIn equivalents.
Henry II
The second most important king was Henry II. He was powerful because he had lands not just in England, but in Europe
too. For this reason it was called the dual kingdom.
• The problem that Henry had to face was that aristocrats were geang more and more powerful. In fact, since every
fiefs is a reality, the lords of these lands were becoming like their kings. For this reason he introduced a tax called
scutage, for who didn’t want to give military service. With this money he payed mercenaries.
• At the Ime each region in England had its own set of laws. Henry wanted to establish a “Common Law” in the whole
England so he sent his “travelling judges” everywhere in the country to apply the law. The Common Law was based on
custom and comparisons with previous cases: this mixture of experience and custom is the basis of law in England
even today.
• To reduce the power of the church made to his friend, Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury. Altough, Thomas ,
instead of working with the king, became his opponent, so he went in France. ABer 6 years he came back and
mysteriously he was killed in the Canterbury church by four knights, probably sent by the king. Becket was made
martyr and saint from the Catholic Church
Richard I (the Lion-Heart)
Henry II’s eldest son Richard I, be<er known as the Lion-Heart, was celebrated as a legendary figure for his courage and
personal charm. During the ten years of his reign he first joined the Third Crusade, then went to France to defend his
possessions and was killed there while besieging a castle.
John I (Lackland)
Since Richard I died without an heir, his brother John was made king as King John I (1199-1216). Under his reign the
power of the barons would be reaffirmed: the King was also known as Lackland, because he lost Normandy and nearly
all his French possessions. Since he needed money to use in wars in the a<empt to defend his territories, he imposed
such heavy taxes that the clergy and the middle class rebelled and made him sign the Magna Carta. From then on, the
King couldn’t impose more taxes without the approval of the Council. These restricIons on royal power, mark the origins
of consItuIonal government in England. This also marked the end of feudalism, because the nobles were no longer
vassals to the king, but rather acted as a class.
Parliament
Under Henry III, the Great Council of barons who advised the King became known as Parliament. This was sIll composed
of nobles and high clergy, but in 1265 two representaIves from each town, were also called to Parliament (the beginning
of the House of Commons). Under Henry’s successor, the first real Parliament, which included townspeople (two
representaIves from each county and two ciIzens from each town) was founded: this was called Model Parliament
(1295).
The 100 years war
The middle age was characterised by a lot of wars. The 100 years war was between England and France and it broke out
when Edward III claimed the vacant throne of France. This was because his mother was the daughter of Philip the Fair.
The main reason of the war was that Flanders, the chief market for English wool, were threatened by France.
During the first years English won some fights, like the ba<le of Henry V at Agincourt. But the French, in ten years, had
recovered many of the lost territories. The conflict was oBen interrupted by tragic events as the bubonic plague, known
as Black Death, in 1348, which swept through all of western Europe and, in England alone it killed about one third of the
populaIon. It caused food shortages and rising prices. During the reign of Henry VI the English were defeated several
Imes by the French. The king, inspired by a peasant girl, Joan of Arc, won spectacularly.
In the second half of the 14th century England was also troubled by popular revolt. It was caused by a tax (Poll Tax) that
they had to pay, imposed to all the families (12 pennies for every male over fiBeen) because England had to recover the
debts deriving from the war with France. So in 1381 the Peasants’ Revolt broke out.
By 1453 the English had lost all the French possessions except Calais, and the long war came to an end.
The war of Roses
It was a long, devastaIng civil war between two noble families: the House of Lancaster and the House of York. The war is
known as Wars of the Roses since the heraldic symbol of the Lancastrians was a red rose and that of the Yorkists a white
one.
In 1461 Edward IV of the House of York gained the throne, but the war conInued. When the king died, he leB a thirteenyear-old son, Edward V. Richard Duke of York, Edward’s uncle, was Lord Protector and, aBer a few months, seized the
throne and crowned himself as Richard III. He was evil and it was believed that he had ordered the imprisonment in the
Tower of London, and later the execuIon, of Edward V and his younger brother. So Richard lost the support of his people
and a Lancastrian, Henry Tudor, claimed the throne. He defeated Richard III at Bosworth in 1485 and married Elizabeth
of York, Edward V’s sister, in order to put an end to the Wars of the Roses and was crowned king as Henry VII Tudor. So
Tudor dynasty began.
The medieval ballad
The medieval ballad was the most popular poeIc form. It was addressed to common people, who used to meet in
alehouses and fairs. So it focuses on the way this poeIc forms were delivered . It was a real performance: poems were
wri<en by balladeers, which ba. the ballad was a short epic poem, and it was meant to talk about adventure and blood
to entertain people. The story mixed legends and tragic stories which circulated among people. The characters are
witches, ghosts, fairies, while the Ipycal themes were love story with tragic consequences, and also stories of domesIc
tragedies, revenges and deaths. Usually the protagonist dies and before his death he leaves his possessions to his family.
Only later the ballads were wri<en down, and this happens on the 13 or 14 century. There is more than one version,
because the performers tended to change. The narraIon isn’t too much deaIled, because altrimenI it would be boring
to know everything of the story from the very beginning. It is done to create suspense. The narrator provides us of the
basics informaIon, and let the reader do the reast, using imaginaIon. So he doesn’t explain things, provide comments
because everything has to be imagined. The events are presented in an impersonal way
AcIons begin in medias res, so at the middle of the story. There is a crescendo of events, which means not too many
details, and when there is the highest point of tension, it decreases, it is called climax. We have a final revelaIon and
there is the soluIon of the ballad.
The most important sound device is repeIIon. It is done because in this way it is easier to memorise. The story
progresses very slowly and the details are repeated, so the story doesn’t go on. This increases tension and it is called
incremental repeIIon. We have the addiIon of new elements, but very slowly, so the tension increase. Are use rhymes,
alliteraIons, assonances, consonances. A stanza is made of two or more lines. In a typical medieval ballad 4 lines form a
stanza, and the typical rhyme scheme, which is represented by using the le<ers of the alphabet (AABB rhyming couplets
ABBA envelope rhyme ABAB alternate rhyme
The protagonist goes hunIng in the forest, but it was a territory full of fairies, witches. When he meet this fairy, she
offers him some food, he eats it and give some to his dogs. When he come back home he feels Ired and wants to go to
bed. Through some quesIons from his mother the understands that he has been poisoned and he will soon die. So the
mother wants him to pronounce his wills.