Theme 2. Glimpses of history of Great Britain and the USA.
Early history of Britain.
Nobody knows when the first men appeared on the territory of Britain. Its oldest known human remains go back to 200,000 years ago. At that time Britain was not an island but the part of the continent now called Europe.
Little is known about the ancient population of the British Isles. They lived in caves and hunted animals for food. Gradually they learned to grow corn and breed domestic animals. They made primitive tools and weapons of stone. Later they learned to smelt metal. Archaeologists find their tools and weapons, as well as remains of primitive houses. These people were religious. They left behind them the barrows (large mound graves made of earth or stone) that can still be seen in the south of Britain. The greatest of the temples which they built is Stonehenge.
This ancient monument of huge stones solitarily standing on the Salisbury Plain, a region south-east of Bristol, has captured imaginations for centuries. Theories about who built it have included the Druids, Greeks, Phoenicians, and Atlanteans. Speculation on the reason it was built range from human sacrifice to astronomy. Investigations over the last 100 years have revealed that Stonehenge was built in several stages from 2800 - 1800 BC. It seems to have been designed to allow for observation of astronomical phenomena - summer and winter solstices, eclipses, and more. Mostly Stonehenge is associated with sun worship: at dawn in midsummer, the sun rises exactly over a certain stone on the outside of the circle and shines onto the altar in the centre.
Between the sixth and the third century ВС, the British Isles were invaded by Celtic tribes who settled in southern England. They originally came from central Europe. Their culture goes back to about 1200 ВС. Between 500 and 250 ВС, they were the most powerful people north of the Alps. Originally they were pagan, with priests known as Druids.
The druids’ influence was as much social as religious. They not only performed roles similar to modern priests, but were also the philosophers, scientists, lore-masters, teachers, judges and counsellors to the kings. The druids linked the Celtic peoples with their numerous gods, the secular and ritual calendar, and the natural order. Some plants such as the mistletoe and the oak-tree were considered sacred.
The four main Gaelic holidays observed by Gaelic druids and their people include Imbolg (February 1), which marked the earliest signs of the coming spring, Beltane (May 1), a time of community gatherings and moving of the herds to summer pastures, Lughnasadh to celebrate the ripening of first fruits and the many-skilled deity Lugh, and Samhain to recognize the end of harvest, the time of sacrifice, and the lowering of the barrier between the world of the living and that of the dead. The timing for these four festivals was determined by seasonal changes in the natural world, or possibly by combined lunar and solar calendar.
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The Britons lived in huts of arched timber with walls of wicker and roofs of thatch. The huts were generally gathered in loose hamlets. The Celts were mainly farmers. They organized themselves into tribes with a king or queen as leader and intertribal wars were very common.
The Celts were great warriors. The Romans considered the Celts as ”high spirited and quick for battle.” They were also famous artists, known for their sophisticated designs, which are found in their elaborate jewellery, decorated crosses and illuminated manuscripts.
They later converted to Christianity. It was Celtic missionaries who spread the Christian religion through Scotland and northern England.
Hardly anything is left of the Celtic language or culture in England, except for the names of some rivers (Thames, Severn, Avon) and cities (Leeds).
Roman Britain.
In 55 BCJulius Caesar landed in Britain and the Britons were so frightened that they fled inland and Caesar had not so much cavalry as to pursue them. He returned to Gaul with his forces, but the Romans considered it a great victory. A year later Caesar returned with a more substantial expedition. This time the Romans remained for two months. Britannia was not colonized, or annexed to Rome, but it acknowledged Roman supremacy.
In AD 43, the Romans invaded southern Britain. It became a Roman colony called Britannia.Roman rule lasted for over 300 years.
The Romans introduced their civilization and language and built towns, roads, baths and temples. They set up their capital in London which they called Londinium and built major cities in Bath, Chester and York. The cities contained beautiful buildings, squares and public baths. Fine villas were built for Celtic aristocrats who accepted Roman rule. Many of the roads which are still in use today were built by the Romans.
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The Roman invasion was not completely peaceful. Boudicca, the queen of the Iceni tribe together with her two daughters headed a revolt against Roman invaders in East Anglia in AD 61. With almost 100,000 fighting men she destroyed three big Roman settlements: Colchester, London and St. Albans. These towns were burned to the ground and some 70,000 people were killed. That was their terrible revenge on the Romans who treated the Iceni harshly. Though much smaller in number, the Roman well-trained and disciplined army cruelly suppressed the rebels. Not willing to get into the enemy’s hands, Boudicca took poison and before that poisoned her daughters, who had assisted her in the fighting. However, the revolt was not fruitless as Roman governors changed their attitude to the Iceni people for conciliatory. Queen Boudicca’s statue on horseback erected near Westminster Bridge in London commemorates this historic event and her heroic deed.
The Romans established a Romano-British culture across the southern half of Britain, from the River Humber to the River Severn. This part of Britain was inside the empire.
The tribes of Scotland never completely surrendered to the Romans. As a result, in AD 122, Emperor Hadrian built a long wall to defend the border between England and Scotland. Hadrian’s Wall was overrun several times by Scottish tribes (known as Picts) and was finally abandoned in AD 383. By then, the Roman Empire was collapsing. At the beginning of the 5th century AD, Rome withdrew legions from Britain.
The Anglo-Saxon period.
From about AD 350, Germanic tribes began invading south-east England. The tribes came from what is now northern Germany, Holland and Denmark. The first to come were the Saxons, joined later by the Jutes and Angles. Britain had the protection of only a few Roman legions. The native people could not stop the new enemy, known as the Anglo-Saxons. The Celts fled north and west taking their ancient arts and languages with them. Celtic languages have disappeared from most of Europe, but are still spoken in parts of Wales, Ireland and Scotland.
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The Angles gave England its name. New place names appeared on the map. Seven kingdoms were established: Northumbria, Mercia, Wessex, Sussex, Kent, Essex and East Anglia. The Anglo-Saxons divided the land into new administrative areas, based on shires. A “shire reeve”, the king’s local administrator, was appointed over each shire. In time the title became shortened to “sheriff”. The Anglo-Saxons lived in small villages; their houses were made of mud, wood and straw and were grouped around the house of their lord. The “thane” was the most important man in the village; he kept order and made his people obey the law. Punishment varied according to the crime. Criminals were mutilated, hanged, or compelled to pay a sum of money called “wergild’.
The Anglo-Saxons liked fighting, gambling and drinking. Their sense of hospitality was renowned. They also liked music and singing. The strength of Anglo-Saxon culture is obvious even today. For instance, days of the week were named after Germanic gods. Life expectancy was not very long; few people lived beyond the age of 45. Epidemics and famine contributed to the high rate of mortality.
The Anglo-Saxons in southern England were converted to Christianity following the arrival of Saint Augustine of Rome in AD 597. He established a Christian community n Canterbury and became the first Archbishop of Canterbury. As Christianity spread, churches and monasteries were built all over England. The greatest scholar of the time not only in England but in Europe was the VenerableBede (?673-735). His primary interest was in explaining the teachings of the Bible and relating them to the Christian life. His most famous book is the Ecclesiastical History of the English People, written in Latin and completed in 731. He is considered to be the first English historian.
Alfred the Great was the first ruler who deserved the title of King of England and the only king in England’s history ever to be honoured with the epithet “the Great”. In an age that knew little mercy, Alfred was merciful to his defeated foes and kind to his own people. Immortality of his name rests on the two main things — his defence of Wessex against the Danes and his attempts to enlighten his people.
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Being very well educated for his time, he encouraged a rebirth of learning and education in his country. When only clerics knew how to read and write, he mastered Latin and personally translated and directed the translation of a number of Latin works into the Anglo-Saxon (Old English). He imported foreign scholars and craftsmen, established monasteries and schools, and gathered about him literate people of civil service, priests and scholars.
Alfred ordered that the learned men should begin to write a history of England. In several monasteries the learned monks collected together all that was known of the early history of the country and began to keep a record of the outstanding events of each year. Thus was written a history of England called the “Anglo-Saxons Chronicle” which was continued for 250 years after the death of Alfred.
The Vikings raided Northern Western Europe between the 8th and the 9th centuries, carrying anything of value they could find. The Vikings were excellent traders and navigators. They traded in silk and furs as far as Russia. About AD 790, the Vikings started to invade England. The Norsemen, who came from Norway, mainly settled in Scotland and Ireland. The north and east of England were settled by the Danes.
Alfred spent much of his reign saving Wessex from those terrible invaders. The Danes made several raids and even captured London. But Alfred the Great managed to raise an army and to stop the offensive of the Danes. He recaptured London and compelled the Danes to leave Wessex in peace.
Alfred was now the acknowledged leader of Englishmen outside Danish-held territory (Danelaw) and Welsh kings sought his alliance. During the period of peace he built a fleet of large ships (the first British Navy), several new fortified towns, organized the army so that renewed Danish attacks were not effective. In 878 King Alfred the Great signed a treaty leaving the Vikings in control of northern England while he maintained power in the south.
King Alfred also ordered that old customs and laws followed by the Anglo-Saxons before him in Wessex and Mercia should be collected. New Laws based on the Bible were added to the collection and a “Code of English Law” was drawn up. Everyone had to follow the laws of the kingdom.
Alfred’s intellectual curiosity and energy, his religious devotion and sense of duty preserved Wessex’s independence and helped in consolidating all the kingdoms into a unified country in the next century.
In 1016, England became part of the Scandinavian empire under King Cnut. Canute (Cnut) was a King of Denmark and Norway who defeated Wessex soon after Alfred the Great’s death. Canute was a strong monarch, cruel and ruthless, but a capable king, a legend in his lifetime and the most commanding figure in the northern world. He gave England peace for nearly twenty years. The Vikings eventually blended with the Anglo-Saxons and made important contributions to the English language: for example nouns like skirt and sky and pronouns like they and them are of Viking origin. With the death of Canute’s second son in 1042 the Danish rule was over. An English king, Edward the Confessor, came to the throne.
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