1. A Brief History of the
British Isles
Cultural Foundations
Mr. Gilliand
English IV

2. The Celts
• Arrived around 500 BC
from the Apls
• Occupied most of the
isles byabout 2000 years
ago.
• Also called “Britons”
• When the Romans arrived,
the country was dominated
by 27 tribes.

3. The Celts
• Each tribe was made up of
several smaller clans; each
clan had its own chieftain.
• No centralized
government
• Warfare was very
common
• Brutal
• Unified by tribe and
chieftan

4. The Celts
• The Celts did not read or write,
so our knowledge of them comes
from encounters with the Roman
Empire.
• The Romans were scared of the
Celtic Britons who were brutal
warriors who often decapitated
their victims (ask me why!).
• Pagan- The religion of the Celts
was a form of Animism
• – they saw spirits
everywhere; worship of
nature gods

5. The Roman Invasion
Socio-Political Unification
Socio-Political Unification• Romans invaded in 55
B.C. under General
Julius Caesar (heard of
him?)
• Brought “civilization” to
the isles.
• Most of the Celts were
integrated into the new
order.
• Founded Londinium
Romans

6. Fall of Rome/Angles and
Saxons
• As Rome fell, the Legions either
withdrew or remained and
assimilated. Either way the isles
lost the support of the Empire
around 409 AD. Britons invited
the Angles and Saxons to settle in
the isles in exchange for their
protection, which didn’t work out
well for the English, as the Angles
and Saxons became, essentially,
invaders rather than guests
around 449 AD.
Romans
Angles/Saxons

7. Anglo-Saxon Life
• Anglo-Saxon life was dominated by
the need to protect the clan and
home against enemies.
• Anglo-Saxons were not barbarians
but they were a warring people.
• The Importance of the Bard/Scop
• The leader was responsible for law
and order. He protected his
people.
• In return the people must be loyal
to the leader. (This is the only way
fame, success, and even survival
could be gained.)
Romans
Angles/Saxons

8. Christianity
Religious Unification
Religious Unification• 430 AD-First Christian
Missionaries come
• 461 AD-St. Patrick comes to
Ireland
• Christians bring stability and
especially learning t British Isles.
Monestaries became the
“universities” of the day.
• 540 AD-Historical Welsh
Romanized King leads many
united tribes against invaders from
the north (Angles and Saxons).

9. Vikings
• 780 AD-Vikings (Norse) from
Scandanavia invade Northumbria,
Scotland,Wales, and Ireland
• The Danes target eastern and
southern England
• Plundered monasteries and
destroyed manuscripts
• Destroyed the communities
• By the middle of the 9th century,
the majority of England came under
their control.
Vikings

10. Vikings
• 880ish AD-King Alfred of Wessex
unites the Isles under Christianity...a
country is born.
• National unification follows:We
now have the nation of England
which continues to fight agains
Norse invaders until both the
Vikings and the English are defeated
by the French at the Battle of
Hastings in 1066.
Vikings

11. Beowulf?
British History Captured in Literature
British History Captured in Literature
•Originally a Viking story
•Oral Traditions and Christian
Transcription
•Didactic: Meant to teach
•Christian Influence/Overlap. Why?
•Our manuscript is 1000 years old

12. • This is the first page of
our only existing copy of
Beowulf. This is the only
document that
preserves English
storytelling of this era.
• And this is an audio
sample, read in Old
English.