Old English Period
55, 54 BC: Cesar lands in Britain, celtic population
Today’s descendants of Celtic language: Welsh (Wales), Gaelic (Highlands), Erse
43 A.D.: Roman conquest (Claudius). Hadrian’s wall against the Picts and Scots
313: Christianity tolerated in the Roman Empire
Latin words in place names e.g. Winchester, Stratford
410: last Roman troops withdrawn, Celts defencness, St. Patrick converts Ireland
449: The Picts attack the Britons, Jutes landed in Kent, followed by the Saxons and the Angles, the Celts were driven west (Wales, Scotland, Ireland)
Germanic dialects. Old English epic “Beowulf”
Christianity survives in Wales and Ireland
600: St. Augustine landed in Kent. Centre of learning: Northumbria greatest scholar. Venerable Bede (i: Beda Venerabilis): History about the Church of England
The most important bishopric: Canterbury and York
787: Beginning of Viking raids (Danish r. ). Destruction of Northumbrian learning. The Danes settle in East England (“Danelaw”)
871/901: King Alfred the Great (Wessex) defeated the Danes
Alfred established schools. Wessex literature (translations from Latin). Anglo-Saxon Chronicles
1016/42: Danish kings. Canute
Danish influence on the Old-English language. Weakening of the infectual endings.
1042: Saxon king Edward the Confessor returned from his exile in Normandy
Norman influence in State and church
1066: Battle of Hastings: Duke William of Normandy invaded England
Religion of the Celts
Leaders – Druids, the worshipped gods similar to those of the Greeks and the Romans. There were human sacrificies; the oak and the mistletoe were secret plants. Circles of massive stones were used as places of worships.
Religion of the Anglo-Saxons: Polytheism
- Chief gods: Woden, Thor, Loki, Tiu
- Tiu – Tuesday
- Wyrd – Fate
- Wierd Sisters (Shakespear’s Macbeth)
Christianity
6th Century: Irish missionaries converted the North Anglians to a Celtic form of Christianity. At the same time Augustin with some monks was sent to England by Pope Gregory from Rome. They converted Kent (centre: Canterbury). The Celtic and Roman churches differed in certain aspects. Finally at the Synod of Whitby (664) the Roman form of Christianity was accepted.
Alfred the Great
He reorganized the army, he favoured a navy and he encouraged learning. He established many schools and he translated a number of Latin books into English, e.g.
1. Cura pastoralis (Pope Gregory)
2. Historia universalis
3. Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum (Venrable Bede)
The language of Alfred’s translations is on the whole simple, direct and unornamental. He is considered to be the founder of English prose.
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