The Making of the Nation

The Making of the Nation

The Celts

Around 700 BC the fair- or red-haired, blue-eyed Celts began to arrive from north-west Germany. A tribal society, they were skilled at working iron and lived on fishing, hunting and agriculture. The Celts worshipped the natural elements and among the most influential Celts were the Druids.

The Romans

In 55 BC the Romans, with Julius Caesar, invaded Britain. They introduced their civilisation, language and an important characteristic, that was the towns, connected by roads. In AD 409, Emperor Honorius withdrew his soldiers from Britain. The Romanised Celts were left to ht alone against the Angles, the Saxons and the Jutes which invaded the island and gave it the name of England.

The Anglo-Saxons

The Anglo-Saxon invaders were organised in family groups, called clans, where the most important social bond was loyalty to the other members and to the lord. They exalted courage, personal freedom and beauty and enjoyed feasting and drinking.

The Christianisation of Britain

Roman Britain had been Christian until Christianity retreated into the western parts of the country. It survived in Wales and above all in Ireland. Pope Gregory I The Great, sent the monk Augustine to bring Christianity back to England. Augustine became the first Archbishop of Canterbury and soon monasteries progressed.

The Viking invasions

Around the 9^th centuries the Vikings invaded Britain. King Alfred the Great of Wessex won back the occupied territories. The Vikings continued to raid Britain until their king Canute became king of England. He was succeeded by Adward the Confessor who devoted his life to religion and to the building of Westminster Abbey.

The Norman invasion

In 1066 William, Duke of Normandy, defeated Harold II, the last Anglo-Saxon king, and was crowned King in Westminster Abbey on Christmas day of the same year. Since than all English monarchs have been crowned in the abbey.

Feudal society

The Normans introduced the French language and tradition. Feudalism was greatly developed. The king was the owner of all land, that were held by vassals, in return for goods and military service. The barons, chief vassals, received land from the king and created the knights and the villains. The peasants could be villains, who were free but attached to the land on which they were born, or serfs, almost slaves. The peasant's service was in the form of work on his lord's farm.

The growth of the middle classes

In 14^th century the new middle classes, rural and urban, first appeared upon the political, economic, social, religious and literary scenes. The century saw the rise of the minor aristocracy and the formation of the gentry, that is a class of landowners marked by an aristocratic spirit.

The role of the Church

The church played a fundamental role in medieval society. As most people were uneducated, the priest was the only reference point with a world different from their everyday life; the church became the school, the meeting place, the centre of art and was linked to the rise of the theatre.

Middle English

During the Middle Ages three languages were spoken in England: French, Anglo-Saxon and Latin. The French was used by the ruling classes and the aristocracy, the Anglo-Saxon was used by the conquered people, while the Latin was used by the Church and as the language of learning.

The medieval mind

Medieval civilisation was religious and based on the belief that the life of the soul after death is the real one, while life on earth is a period of preparation. Typical of the Middle Ages was the habit of acting in accordance with the position of the ets. The etary system was Earth-centred. This description of the Solar System was overthrown by Copernicus in 1543.