Introducere n cultura i civilizaia Marii Britanii

Suport de curs
Lect. univ. dr. Ioana Raicu

Great Britain's earliest times

Land and climate usually affect life in every country social and economic life, population and even politics. Britain has got a milder climate than much of the European mainland and this is because it lies in the way of the Gulf Stream where warm water and winds from the Gulf of !e"ico are predominant#. $here are however differences of climate across the island, thus the north is on average %& ' cooler than the south. $he northern and western parts of the country are mountainous and hilly, whereas the southern and eastern parts are fairly flat or low(lying. )s an obvious conse*uence, these parts provide better agricultural conditions, thus ma+ing south(east Britain the most populated part of the island, and has conse*uently had, throughout history, the most political power. ,or obvious reasons, Britain-s history is closely connected with the sea, and Britain has been saved from danger from the surrounding seas on numerous occasions. Prehistor Britain became and island after the end of the last ice age the temperature rose and the ice cap melted flooding the lower(lying land#. ) few stone tools discovered on the island and dating from .%/./// B' one of the warmer periods of the ice age# stand as the first evidence of human life. $his evidence points to two different +inds of inhabitants0 the 1st group of inhabitants apparently made their tools from fla+es of flint this was discovered in Europe as well#1 the .nd group of inhabitants apparently made their tools from a central core of flint probably the earliest method of human tool ma+ing#. $here followed a period when the ice advanced again and Britain was again uninhabitable until probably around %/./// B' when evidence point to the e"istence of a new type of human being0 the ancestor of the modern British they loo+ed similar to the British today but were probably smaller and lived for about 2/ years#. )round 1/./// B' the ice age drew to a close and, as a result, Britain was peopled by small groups of hunters, gatherers and fishers. ,ew of them had settled homes, as they followed the herds of deer. )round %/// B' Britain is separated from the continent and becomes an island that would be heavily forested which was going to be a disaster for the wanderer(hunter culture, as the cold( loving deer, as well as other animals, died out. !""" B# $ %eolithic &the %e' Stone ()e* 3t is during this period that people crossed the narrow sea from Europe in small boats and settled on the island. $hey +ept animals and grew corn crops, and +new how to ma+e pottery they probably came from the 3berian4Spanish peninsula or the 5orth )frican coast#. $hey were small, dar+ and long(headed people they may be the forefathers of dar+(haired inhabitants of 6ales and 'ornwall today#. $hey settled in 6estern Britain and in 3reland and were the first several waves of invaders before the 7omans in %% B'. $here are great 8public wor+s9 dating bac+ to this time, wor+s that obviously needed a huge organisation of labour. :ne such type of wor+ is represented by the 8barrows9 or burial mounds, that were made of earth and stone, discovered on the chal+ uplands of south Britain1. )nother type of public wor+ is represented by the 8monuments9 from that period. )fter 2/// B', the chal+ land people started building great circles of earth ban+s and ditches with
1 $his area has a poor soil and few trees now but bac+ then there were airy woodlands and it was easily habitable and could easily be cleared for farming.

wooden buildings and stone circles inside#. $hey were called 8henge9 and were probably centres of religious, political and economic power. Stonehen)e is, by far, the most spectacular of these monuments. 3t was built in separate stages over a period of more than a thousand years. 3ts precise purpose remains a mystery to this day. ;uring the second building phase < .=// B'#, huge bluestones were brought from South 6ales. $his action points to a the e"istence of some +ind of political authority at Stonehenge. 3t was probably a sort of capital to which chiefs from other groups came from all over Britain. )fter .=// B' new groups of people arrived from Europe. $hey were round(headed, strongly built, taller than 5eolithic Britons. 3t is not +nown whether they invaded by armed force or whether they were invited because of their military or metal wor+ing s+ills. $hey became the leaders of British society. Evidence to this stands the discovery of the first individual graves as opposed to burial mounds#. $hese graves were furnished with pottery bea+ers, hence the denomination of Beaker people or Beaker culture, used to refer to this population. 6hy were these people buried separately fro the first time> 3t is difficult to say. :ne possible e"planation could be that the old barrows were built partly to please the gods of the soil, in the hope that this would stop the chal+ upland soil from getting poorer. $he Bea+er people brought barley from Europe1 it was a cereal that could grow almost anywhere. $hey probably spo+e an 3ndo(European language and they brought the s+ills to ma+e bron?e tools. Stonehenge remained the most important until 12// B'. )fter that, the -henge- civilisation becomes less important. )s a result, the settled farming class becomes more important. ,amily villages and fortified enclosures appeared across landscapes. 'onse*uently, hill-forts replaced henges as the centres of local power. !ost of these hill(forts were built in the south(east .. Bron?e swords were also discovered in the $hames valley, which is a proof of the more advanced metal wor+ing s+ills. !any of these swords were found in river beds apparently, they were thrown here for religious reasons#2. ,he #elts )round @// B' another group of people began to arrive0 the 'elts tall, fair or red hair and blue eyes#. probably came from central Europe or further east, southern 7ussia technically advanced +new how to wor+ with iron, made better weapons than the people who used bron?e# began to control the lowland areas of Britain. )rrived in waves over the ne"t @// years. the ancestors of many of the people in Aighland Scotland, 6ales, 3reland and 'ornwall 'eltic languages are still spo+en in some areas. 3t would be better to call the British today )nglo('elts and not )nglo(Sa"ons. there is slight +nowledge of the 'elts we cannot tell whether they invaded Britain or came peacefully as a result of the lively trade with Europe were organised into different tribes1 tribal chiefs were chosen from each family or tribe sometimes by election, sometimes as a result of fighting matches# the last 'eltic arrivals0 the Belgic tribes. Bulius 'aesar described Belgic tribes as different0 8$he interior is inhabited by people who consider themselves indigenous, the coast by people who have crossed from Belgium. 5early all of these still +eep the names of the CEuropeanD tribes from which they came.9 use of iron technology, introduction of more advanced ploughing methods1 continued to use
. $he land supported more people here than anywhere else. 2 $he discovery of such swords also gave birth to the legend of Eing )rthur a sword was given to him from out of the water and thrown bac+ into the water when he died.

and build hill forts suggesting they were highly successful farmers, growing enough food for a much larger population# Cthe inside of hill forts were filled with houses, and they became the simple economic capitals and smaller -towns- of the different tribal areas. )nnual fairs were associated with these an annual September fair on the site of the ;orset hill(fort, used by $homas Aardy in Far from the Madding Crowd, 1F@=.D they traded across tribal borders. $hey used iron bars for money until they began to copy the 7oman coins they saw used in Gaul ,rance#. they wore shirts and breeches +nee(length trousers# source0 7omans#, and striped or chec+ed cloa+s fastened by a pin 8very careful about cleanliness or neatness. 5either man nor woman, however poor, was seen either ragged or dirty9 source0 7omans# were ruled over by a warrior class of which the priests Druids# seemed to have been very important members Druids could not read or write but could memorise all religious teachings, tribal laws, history, medicine and other +nowledge necessary in 'eltic society Druids met once a year, in sacred groves of trees, on hills, by rivers, by river sources. )t times, their worship included human sacrifice. 6omen may have had more independence than they had again for hundreds of years to follow. 6hen 7omans invaded Britain, two of the largest 'eltic tribes were ruled by women who fought from their chariots1 see Boadicea who became *ueen of her tribe when her husband died# Ctall, long red hair, frighting appearance. 3n ); G1 she led her tribe against the 7omans1 she nearly drove them from Britain, destroyed London, the 7oman capital, before she was defeated and +illed.D ,he Romans $he name 8Britain9 comes from the word 8Hretani9, the Greco(7oman word for the inhabitants of Britain. $he 7omans mispronounced the word and called the island 8Britannia9. $he 7omans had invaded because the 'elts of Britain were wor+ing with the 'elts of Gaul against them. $here was also another reason0 under the 'elts Britain had become an important food producer because of its mild climate. 3t now e"ported corn and animals, as well as hunting dogs and slaves, to the European mainland. $he 7omans could ma+e use of British food for their own army fighting the Gauls. $he 7omans brought the s+ills of reading and writing to Britain. $he written word was important for spreading ideas and also for establishing power. ,urther the toga the 7oman cloa+# came into fashion. $he 'eltic peasantry remained illiterate and only 'eltic(spea+ing. Latin completely disappeared both in its spo+en and written forms when the )nglo(Sa"ons invaded Britain in the ,ifth century );. Britain was probably more literate under the 7omans than it was to be again until the fifteenth century. Bulius 'aesar first came to Britain in %% B', but it was not until almost a century later, in ); =2, that a 7oman army actually occupied Britain. $hey had little difficulty, apart from BoadiceaIs revolt, because they had a better trained army and because the 'eltic tribes fought among themselves. $he 7omans established a 7omano(British culture across the southern half of Britain, from the 7iver Aumber to the 7iver Severn. $he areas were watched from main towns. Each of them was held by a 7oman legion of about @./// men. $he total 7oman army in Britain was about =/./// men. $he 7omans could not con*uer 8'aledonia9 Scotland#, although they spent over a century trying to do so. )t last they built a strong wall along the northern border, named after the emperor Aadrian who planned it. )t the time, -adrian.s /all was simply intended to +eep out raiders from =

the north. But it also mar+ed the border between the two later countries, England and Scotland. 7omans control of Britain came to an end as the empire began to collapse. $he first signs were the attac+s by 'elts of 'aledonia in ); 2G@. $he 7oman legions found it more and more difficult to stop the raiders from crossing AadrianIs 6all. $he same was happening on the European mainland as Germanic groups, Sa"ons and ,ran+s, began to raid the coast of Gaul. 3n ); =/J 7ome pulled its last soldiers out of Britain and the 7omano(British, the 7omanised 'elts, were left to fight alone against the Scots, the 3rish and Sa"on raiders from Germany. 6hen Britain called to 7ome for help against the raiders from Sa"on Germany in the mid(fifth century, no answer came. $he most obvious characteristic of 7oman Britain was the towns, which were the basis of 7oman administration and civili?ation. Broadly, there were three different +inds of towns in 7oman Britain. $hese were the Coloniae, towns peopled by 7omans settlers, the Municipa, large cities in which the whole population was given 7oman citi?enship, and Civitas, through which the 7omans administrated the 'eltic population in the countryside. $he 7omans left about ./ large towns of about %/./// inhabitants, and almost 1// smaller ones. !any of these towns were at first army camps, and the Latin word for camp, castra, has remained part of many town names to this day with the ending ( chester, (caster or (cester#. $hese towns were built with stone as well as wood, and had planned streets, mar+ets and shops. $hey were connected by roads which were so well built that they survived when later roads bro+e up. Si" of these roads met in London, a capital city of about ././// people. :utside the towns, the biggest change during the 7oman occupation was the growth of large farms called 8villas9. Each villa had many wor+ers. $he villas were usually close to town so that the crops could be sold easily. $here was a growing difference between the rich and those who did the actual wor+ on the land. 3n some ways life in 7oman Britain seems very civili?ed, but it was also hard for all e"cept the richest. $he bodies buried in a 7oman graveyard at Kor+ show that life e"pectancy was low. Aalf the entire population died between the ages of twenty and forty, while 1% per cent died before reaching the age of twenty. 3t is very difficult to be sure how many people were living in Britain when the 7omans left. Hrobably it was as many as five million, partly because of the peace and the increased economic life which the 7omans had brought to the country. $he Sa"on invasion changed all that. ,he (n)lo0Sa1on invasion $he wealth of Britain, the mild climate and the centuries of peace, all represented a temptation to the greedy. Germanic tribes only raided Britain at first, but, after =2/ );, they began to settle. $hey were warli+e and illiterate. $here was an English mon+, Bede, who lived 2// years later and who wrote a story of the events of the )nglo(Sa"on invasion, called the Ecclesiastical History of the English eople. $he events, as described by Bede there, were proved generally correct by archaeological evidence. Bede spo+e of invaders from three Germanic tribes0 1. Sa"ons .. )ngles 2. Butes $he )ngles settled in the East and 5orth !idlands. $he Butes settled mainly in Eent and along the South coast they were soon considered no different from the )ngles and the Sa"ons#. $he Sa"ons settled between the Butes and the )ngles, from the $hames Estuary westward. ) new name was given to this land0 England 8land of the )ngles9#. $he 'elts were slowly pushed westwards until %@/, when they were forced west of Gloucester. $hey were driven into the mountains, far west, hence the denomination 86eallas9 today 6ales# ( 8land of the foreigners9. :thers were driven into 'ornwall and others into lowlands %

Scotland#. :thers stayed behind and became slaves of the Sa"ons. $here was hardly anything left behind from the 'eltic language and the 'eltic culture. Some names of rivers $hames, !ersey, Severny, )von# and towns London, Leeds# have their origins in the 'eltic language. :n the other hand, the strength of the )nglo(Sa"on culture is reflected in0 the names of the days of the wee+ chosen after the names of the Germanic gods#0 $ig $uesday#, 6odin 6ednesday#, $hor $hursday#, ,rei ,riday#1 new places names0 a# having the ending -(ing- which meant 8fol+9, 8family9#0 7eading -place of the family 7ada-#, Aastings -place of the family Aasta-#1 b# ending in -(hamwhich meant 8farm9#0 Birmingham, 5ottingham1 c# ending in -(ton- which meant 8settlement9#0 Southampton, Eingston, etc. the )nglo(Sa"ons established a number of +ingdoms which are the county names or the regional names of today#0 Esse" -East Sa"ons-# Susse" -South Sa"ons-# 6esse" -6est Sa"ons-# !iddlese" -!iddles Sa"ons-# East )nglia -East )ngles-# the largest By the middle of the @th century, there were 2 large +ingdoms0 1. 5orthumbria .. !ercia 2. 6esse" Eing :ffa of !ercia @%@(@JG# was the first +ing to have claimed +ingship of all the English. Government and Societ durin) the (n)lo0Sa1on invasion $he )nglo(Sa"ons created institutions0 1. the 2in)'s #ouncil the -!itan-# informal groups of senior warriors and churchmen to whom +ings turned to for advice or support. By the 1/th century, the !itan was a formal body, issuing laws and charters. 3t was not at all democratic0 the +ing could decide to ignore it although he +new it might be dangerous to do so#. $he !itan also had the right to choose +ings and to agree the use of the +ing-s laws. 3t established the +ing-s or *ueen-s Privy Council, a system that still e"ists and that represented a group of advisors on the affairs of the state. .. $he -shires- or -counties-= administrative areas into which the land was divided. $he shires were established at the end of the 1/th century and remained the same for 1/// years. ) 8shire reeve9% was appointed over each shire and he was the +ing-s local administrator. $he )nglo(Sa"ons changed English agriculture. $hey introduced a heavier plough, able to plough in long straight lines across the filed. But this heavier plough re*uired si" or eight o"en to pull it. $his made it difficult to turn the plough. 'onse*uently, changes in land ownership and organisation appeared0 land was divided into strips owned by families, and the o"en were shared on a co(operative basis.

= -Shire- is the Sa"on word, whereas -county- is the 5orman word. % $he word -sheriff- comes from this denomination.

Spring crops

)utumn crops

Left to rest for a year

)fter harvest, they were used as a common land for animals to feed on. Because of this type of organisation, villagers had to wor+ more closely than ever before. Sa"ons also cut down forested areas in valleys to farm the soil and began to drain the wet land. 2. Each district had a 8manor9 -large house-#, where local villagers came to pay ta"es, where Lustice was administered and men met together to Loin the army the -fyrd-#. $here was a lord of the manor and this new type of organi?ation represents the beginning of the manorial system that was going to fully develop under the 5ormans. )t first, the lords were called -aldermen- which meant -local officials-. Later, they will be called by a new ;anish name -earl-. $oday, the -aldermen- are the elected officers in local government, while the -earls- are the high ran+ing nobles. 6e can spea+ at this time of the beginning of -class system- with a hierarchy comprising +ings, lords, soldiers and wor+ers of the land. $o this category we can also add the -men of learning- usually representatives of the 'hristian 'hurch# #hristianit 3 a partnership o4 church and state $he )nglo Sa"ons belonged to an older Germanic religion. 3n %J@ Hope G7EG:7K $AE G7E)$ sent the mon+ )MGMS$35E, to re(establish 'hristianity in England )ccording to the 8Ecclesiastical Aistory of the English HeopleN written by the mon+ and historian BE;E, $AE OE5E7)BLE, )ugustine and his companions landed on the 3sle of $hanet, at the east of EE5$. )t the beginning, E$AELBE7$, the +ing of Eent ordered them to stay in that island until he decided what to do with them1 apparently he was afraid that these men practiced some +ind of magical art. Some days later, the +ing went to the island and he listened to )ugustinePs prayers about the Lord and the eternal salvation. )fter hearing all this, Ethelbert, whose *ueen was already a 'hristian herself, said to )ugustine that his words were fair enough but that they were new and uncertain for him and that he could not approve them and forsa+e all in he had believed till then. Aowever, Ethelbert said that he would allow them to stay in 'anterbury, the metropolis of his dominions1 that he would supply them with the necessary sustenance1 and that he would not prevent them from preaching their religion. )gustin was very successful and within a year almost 1/./// of the +ingIs subLects, and the +ing himself, underwent baptism. @

Ethelbert became the first )nglo(Sa"on +ing to convert to 'hristianity. But the problem of )ugustine arose with ordinary people since they were reluctant to the rules of the new faith. Aere is where 'eltic 'hurch comes into action. 'eltic bishops started to wal+ from village to village teaching 'hristianity and they were immediately accepted by )nglo(Sa"ons despite their differences. $he reason was that 'EL$3' 'AM7'A was more interested in the hearts of ordinary people while 7:!)5 'AM7'A was interested in authority and organi?ation. $he competition between the 'eltic and 7oman 'hurches reached a crisis because they disagreed over the date of Easter Bede wrote about this disagreement as well0 apparently, after years of controversy it was agreed that a synod a meeting# should be held where the difficulty might be settled. 3n GG2 at the SK5:; !EE$35G# :, 6A3$BK the +ing :S63M :, 5:7$AM!B73) decided to support 7oman rather than 'eltic practices. Since that moment 7ome e"tended its authority over all 'hristians, even in the 'eltic areas. Sa"on +ings helped the church to grow but the church also increased the power of the +ings by giving them its support which made it harder for royal power to be *uestioned since +ings had 8G:;QS )HH7:O)L9. $his was very important especially in terms of royal succession. ,or e"ample, when E35G :,,) arranged for his son to be crowned as his successor he made sure that this was done at a 'hristian ceremony led by a bishop, which suggested that his son was chosen not only by people but also by God. ) lot of !:5)S$E73ES, or minsters, where established. $hese were places for education in which men were trained to read and write so they had the necessary s+ills for the growth of royal and church authority. )L,7E;, the +ing who ruled 6esse" from F@1(JJ was the one who made most use of these literate men of church to help establish a system of law, to educate the people and to write down important matters. Ae started the )nglo(Sa"on 'hronicle, a collection of early English history which together with the wor+ of Bede was the most important written records regarding British history of that time. $hose who could 7E); )5; 673$E became more powerful and this increased the ;3O3S3:5 :, 'L)SSES. Landlords who had been given land by the +ing were empowered because their names were written down. :n the other hand, peasants who could neither read nor write could lose their traditional rights on their land only because there was not written register. Oillages and towns grew around the monasteries, and local trade was enlarged. !any bishops and mon+s from ,rance and Germany were invited by English rulers who whished to benefit from economic contact with Europe since these bishops used Latin, the written language of 7ome. )nglo(Sa"on England became well +nown in Europe for its ERH:7$S of woollen goods, cheese, hunting dogs, pottery, and metal goods. )nd imported wine, fish, pepper, Lewellery and wheel made pottery. ,he 5i+in)s

$he Oi+ing invasions to Britain started by the end of the eighth century. 3t is impossible to assign the various Oi+ing groups precisely to places of origin. But broadly spea+ing, adventurers from the coast of 5orway and ;enmar+ raid the north of England and F

continued round the Scottish coast to 3reland. Oi+ings from the same region later settle in the Scottish islands, 3celand and parts of 3reland. $he word Oi+ing is Scandinavian from Scandinavia0 Sweden, ;enmar+ and 5orway# for -pirate-, and it accurately describes these men who for two centuries raid the coasts of Britain. $he coast of the British isles were dotted with monasteries with sufficient wealth to attract Oi+ing raiders. So when they arrived there they burnt churches and monasteries all along the east, north and west coast of Britain and 3reland. 3n FG% they arrived in England armed and ready to battle. $his time they were going to con*uer and settle there too. $hey too+ Kor+ in FGG and becomes, as Kor+vi+, the ;anish capital in England#. 5ottingham in FG@. $hen in F@/ they advance into 6esse" where they found the hardest opposition. ;uring the ne"t year nine battles are fought in this district. )nd during the same year F@1#, at )shdown, the English won their first significant victory of the war1 a ;anish +ing and nine earls are +illed on the battle field. $his Oictory introduced a figure of significance in English history. $his army was commanded by )lfred, brother of the +ing of 6esse". Later on, in the same year )lfred-s brother died and he became the +ing of 6esse". 3n this period the Oi+ings had accepted 'hristianity and did not disturb the local population. By F@% )lfred, in the west of 6esse", was the only +ing who could held out the Oi+ings that have ta+en most of England. )fter some serious defeats )lfred won a decisive battle in F@F and got enough power to ma+e a treaty with the Oi+ings. $he treaty +nown as the treaty of 6edmore Guthram stated that Guthram agree to move his men out of 6esse" and convert to 'hristianity. Oi+ing rule was recogni?ed in the east and north of England. 3t was called the ;anelaw. 3n the rest of the county )lfred was recogni?ed as Eing. ;uring this period he built walled settlements to +eep them out burghs, now spelled borough#. Later on by J%/ the ;anish Oi+ings started raiding westwards and when they met the Sa"on Eing Ethelred, he decided to pay the Oi+ings to stay out of his territory. So he set a ta" upon all his people called ;anegeld. 6hen Ethelred died 'nut 'anute#, the leader of the ;anish Oi+ings controlled much of England. Ae became a +ing because the 6itan and everyone else feared disorder. 3t was better to have a ;anish +ing that no +ing. 'anute died in 1/2% and his son lasted only % years more and died too. )fter that the 6itan chose Edward to be the +ing. Ae was the son of the Sa"on +ing Ethelred. Eing Edward was +nown as 8$he 'onfessor9 because he was more interested in the church than in +ingship. Ae built churches in almost every village and spent almost all his life in 5ormandy because his mother was daughter of the du+e of 5ormandy. Edward died in 1/GG having no heir. So, who should follow him as a +ing became the most important *uestion for England during those days. 5orman were not li+ed by the most powerful Sa"on nobles, particularly by the most powerful family of 6esse", the Godwinson. $he 6itan chose Aarold Godwinson to be the ne"t +ing of England, even though he had no royal blood. Aarold-s right to the English throne soon was threatened and challenged by 6illiam who was a ;u+e of 5ormandy. ;uring this period he faced several dangers from the south and north with the ;anish Oi+ings that were still claiming to the English throne. 3n 1/GG he went north to Kor+shire to defeat the ;anes in that area. Ae was informed that during his absence 6illiam had landed in England with an army. Ais men were tired but had no time to rest and marched bac+ to England as fast as possible. $his time 5orman soldiers were better armed, better organi?ed and were mounted on horses. Aarold was defeated and +illed in the battle of Aastings. )fter that 6illiam marched to London and started burning villages outside the city so they soon gave in and crowned him +ing on England in 1/GG. $he long(term linguistic effect of the Oi+ing settlements in England was threefold0 over a thousand words eventually became part of Standard English1 numerous places in the East and 5orth(east of England have ;anish names1 and many English personal names are of Scandinavian origin. Scandinavian words that entered the English language included landing, score, bec+, fellow, J

ta+e, busting, and steersman. $he vast maLority of loan words did not appear in documents until the early twelfth century1 these included many modern words which used s+( sounds, such as s+irt, s+y, and s+in1 other words appearing in written sources at this time included again, aw+ward, birth, ca+e, dregs, fog, frec+les, gasp, law, nec+, ransac+, root, scowl, sister, seat, sly, smile, want, wea+, and window. Some of the words that came into use are among the most common in English, such as both, same, get, and give. $he system of personal pronouns was affected, with they, them, and their replacing the earlier forms. :ld 5orse influenced the verb to be1 the replacement of sindon by are is almost certainly Scandinavian in origin, as is the third(person(singular ending (s in the present tense of verbs. $here are more than 1,%// Scandinavian place names in England, mainly in Kor+shire and Lincolnshire within the former boundaries of the ;anelaw#0 over G// end in (by, the Scandinavian word for NvillageN or NtownN S for e"ample Grimsby, 5aseby, and 6hitby1 many others end in (thorpe NfarmN#, (thwaite NclearingN#, and (toft NhomesteadN#. $he distribution of family names showing Scandinavian influence is still, as an analysis of names ending in (son reveals, concentrated in the north and east, corresponding to areas of former Oi+ing settlement. Early medieval records indicate that over G/T of personal names in Kor+shire and 5orth Lincolnshire showed Scandinavian influence. ,he #eltic +in)doms in earl times England has always played the most powerful part in the history of the British 3sles. Aowever, the other three countries, 6ales, 3reland and Scotland, have a different history. Mntil recently few historians loo+ed at British history e"cept from an English point of view. But the stroies of 6ales, 3reland and Scotland are also important, because their people feel different from the )nglo(Sa"on English. $he e"perience of the 6elsh, 3rish and Scots helps to e"plain the feeling they have today. /ales By the eighth century most of the 'elts had been driven into the 6elsh peninsula. $hey were +ept out of England by :ffa-s ;y+e, the huge earth wall built in ); @@J. $hese 'elts, called 6elsh by the )nglo(Sa"ons, called themselves cymry, Nfellow countrymenN. Because 6ales is a mountainous country, the cymry could only live in the crowded valleys. $he rest of the land was roc+y and too poor for anything e"cept +eeping animals. ,or this reason the population remained small. 3t only grew to over half a million in the eighteenth century. Life was hard and so was the behaviour of the people. Slavery was common, as it had been all through 'eltic Britain. Society was based on family groupings, each of which owned one or more village or farm settlement. :ne by one in each group a strong leader made himself +ing. $hese men must have been tribal chiefs to begin with, who later managed to become overlords over neighbouring family groups. Each of these +ings tried tocon*uer the others, and the idea of a high, or senior, +ing developed. $he early +ings travelled around their +ingdoms to remind the people of their control. $hey travelled with their hungry followers and soldiers. $he ordinary people ran away into the hills and woods when the +ing-s men approached their village. Life was dangerous, treacherous and bloody. 3n 1/=2 the +ing of Glamorgan south 6ales# died of old age. 3t was an unusual event, because between J=J and 1/GG no less than thirty(five 1/

6elsh rulers died violently, usually +illed by a cymry, a fellow countryman. 3n 1/2J Gruffydd ap son of# Llewelyn was the first 6elsh +ing strong enough to rule over all 6ales. Ae was also the last, and in order to remain in control he spent almost the whole of his reign fighting his enemies. Li+e many other 6elsh rulers, Gruffydd was +illed by a cymry while defending 6ales against the Sa"ons. 6elsh +ings after him were able to rule only after they had promised loyalty to Edward the 'onfessor, +ing of England. $he story of an independent and united 6ales was over almost as soon as it had begun. Ireland 3reland was never invaded by either the 7omans or the )nglo(Sa"ons. 3t was a land of monasteries and had a flourishing 'eltic culture. )s in 6ales, people were +nown by the family grouping they belonged to. :utside their tribe they had no protection and no name of their own. $hey had only the name of their tribe. $he +ings in this tribal society were chosen by election. $he idea was that the strongest man should lead. 3n fact the system led to continuous challenges. ,ive +ingdoms grew up in 3reland0 Mlster in the north, !unster in the south west, Leinster in the south(east, 'onnaught in the west, with $ara as the seat of the high +ings of 3reland. 'hristianity came to 3reland in about ); =2/. $he beginning of 3reland-s history dates from that time, because for the first time there were people who could write down events. $he message of 'hristianity was spread in 3reland by a British slave, Hatric+, who became the Npatron saintN of 3reland. 'hristianity brought writing, which wea+ened the position of the ;ruids, who depended on memory and the spo+en word. 'hristian monasteries grew up, fre*uently along the coast. $his period is often called 3reland-s Ngolden ageN. 3nvaders were un+nown and culture flowered. But it is also true that the five +ingdoms were often at war, each trying to gain advantage over the other, often with great cruelty. $his Ngolden ageN suddenly ended with the arrival of Oi+ing raiders, who stole all that the monasteries had. Oery little was left e"cept the stone memorials that the Oi+ings could not carry away. $he Oi+ings, who traded with 'onstantinople now 3stanbul#, 3taly, and with central 7ussia, brought fresh economic and political action into 3rish life. Oi+ing raids forced the 3rish to unite. 3n F%J 3reland chose its first high +ing, but it was not an effective solution because of the *uarrels that too+ place each time a new high +ing was chosen. Oi+ing trade led to the first towns and ports. ,or the 'elts, who had always lived in small settlements, these were revolutionary. ;ublin, 3reland-s future capital, was founded by the Oi+ings. )s an effective method of rule the high +ingship of 3reland lasted only twelve years, from 1//. to 1/1=, while 3reland was ruled by Brian Boru. Ae is still loo+ed bac+ on as 3reland-s greatest ruler. Ae tried to create one single 3reland, and encouraged the growth of organisation ( in the 'hurch, in administration, and in learning. Brian Boru died in battle against the Oi+ings. :ne of the five 3rish +ings, the +ing of Leinster, fought on the Oi+ings- side. Bust over a century later another +ing of Leinster invited the 5ormans of E5gland to help him against his high +ing. $his gave the 5ormans the e"cuse they wanted to enlarge their +ingdom. 11

Scotland )s a result of its geography, Scotland has two different societies. 3n the centre of Scotland mountains stretch to the far north and across to the west, beyond which lie many islands. $o the east and to the south the lowland hills are gentler, and much of the countryside is li+e England, rich, welcoming and easy to farm. 5orth of the NAighland LineN, as the division between highland and lowland is called, people stayed tied to their own family groups. S:uth and east of this line society was more easily influenced by the changes ta+ing place in England. Scotland was populated by four separate groups of people. $he main group, the Hicts, lived mostly in the north and northeast. $hey spo+e 'eltic as well as another, probably older, language completely unconnected with any +nown language today, and they seem to have been the earliest inhabitants of the land. $he Hicts were different from the 'elts because they inherited their rights, their names and property from their mothers, not from their fathers. $he non(Hictish inhabitants were mainly Scots. $he Scots were 'eltic settlers who had started to move into the western Aighlands from 3reland in the fourth century. 3n F=2 the Hictish and Scottish +ingdoms were united under a Scottish +ing, who could also probably claim the Hictish throne through his mother, in this way obeying both Scottish and Hictish rules of +ingship. $he third group were the Britons, who inhabited the Lowlands, and had been part of the 7omano(British world. $he name of their +ingdom, Strathclyde, was used again in the county reorganisation of 1J@=.# $hey had probably given up their old tribal way of life by the si"th century. ,inally, there were )ngles from 5orthumbria who had pushed northwards into the Scottish Lowlands. Mnity between Hicts, Scots and Britons was achieved for several reasons. $hey all shared a common 'eltic culture, language and bac+ground. $heir economy mainly depended on +eeping animals. $hese animals were owned by the tribe as a whole, and for this reason land was also held by tribes, not by individual people $he common economic system increased their geeling of belonging to the same +ind of society and the feeling of difference from the agricultural Lowlands. $he sense of common culture may have been increased by marriage alliances between tribes. $his idea of common landholding remained strong until the tribes of Scotland, called NclansN, collapsed in the eighteenth century. $he spread of 'eltic 'hristianity also helped to unite the people. $he first 'hristian mission to Scotland had come to southwest Scotland in about ); =//. Later, in %G2, 'olumba, +nown as the N;ove of the 'hurchN, came from 3reland. $hrough his wor+ both Aighland Scots and Hicts were brought to 'hristianity. Ae even, so it is said, defeated a monster in Loch 5ess, the first mention of this famous creature. By the time of the Synod of 6hitby in GG2, the Hicts, Scots and Britons had all been brought closer together by 'hristianity. $he )ngles were very different from the 'elts. $hey had arrived in Britain in family groups, but they soon began to accept authority from people outside their own family. $his was partly due to their way of life. )lthough they +ept some animals, they spent more time growing crops. $his meant that land was held by individual people, each man wor+ing in his own field. Land was distributed for farming by the local lord. $his system encouraged the )ngles of Scotland to develop a non(tribal system of control, as the people of England further south were doing. $his increased their feeling of difference from the 'eltic tribal Aighlanders further north.

1.

,inally, as in 3reland and in 6ales, foreign invaders increased the speed of political change. Oi+ings attac+ed the coastal areas of Scotland, and they settled on many of the islands, Shetland, the :r+neys, the Aebrides, and the 3sle of !an southwest of Scotland. 3n order to resist them, Hicts and Scots fought together against the enemy raiders and settlers. 6hen they could not push them out of the islands and coastal areas, they had to deal with them politically. )t first the Oi+ings, or N5orsemenN, still served the +ing of 5orway. But communications with 5orway were difficult. Slowly the earls of :r+ney and other areas found it easier to accept the +ing of Scots as their overlord, rather than the more distant +ing of 5orway. Aowever, as the 6elsh had also discovered, the English were a greater danger than the Oi+ings 3n J2= the Scots were seriously defeated by a 6esse" army pushing northwards. $he Scots decided to see+ the friendship of the English, because of the li+ely losses from war. England was obviously stronger than Scotland but, luc+ily for the Scots, both the north of England and Scotland were difficult to control from London. $he Scots hoped that if they were reasonably peaceful the Sassenachs, as they called the Sa"ons and still call the English#, would leave them alone. Scotland remained a difficult country to rule even from its capital, Edinburgh. )nyone loo+ing at a map of Scotland can immediately see that control of the Aighlands and islands was a great problem. $ravel was often impossible in winter, and slow and difficult in summer. 3t was easy for a clan chief or noble to throw off the rule of the +ing.

12