History of Britain

Earliest Times

The earliest people are thought to have come to Britain about 700,000 years ago.
Britain has not always been an island. In the past it was joined to the European land mass.
The English Channel was formed about 8,000 years ago (6500 BC), when the land connecting Britain to the European
mainland was flooded by melting ice and Britain became an island separate from the rest of Europe.
At the end of the last Ice Age, before the bridge land was flooded by the melting ice, people crossed into Britain,
settling mostly in the East and South of England.
Stone Age - The Neolithic (4000 2500)
Bronze Age (2500 800 BC)
Iron Age (800 - 43 BC *)
The initial settlers were hunter-gatherers. This meant that they had a nomadic lifestyle and lived by fishing, hunting
and collecting fruit, nuts, berries, etc.
NEOLITHIC:
INTRODUCTION OF FARMING
The introduction of farming, when people learned how to produce food, is considered one of the biggest changes in
human history.
Farming and breeding started to develop in Britain between 5000 BC and 4500 BC.
From about 3800 BC people started to settle down.
There is evidence of the first large communal tombs (called barrows or mounds), and ceremonial monuments, the
most famous of which is Stonehenge, developed between 3000 and 1400 BC. People generally believe that it was a
place of worship and there seems to be some connection with the summer solstice.
The Celts:
The island we know as England was invaded by two groups of people:
- Celts: known as Bythons (now spelled Britons)
- Gaels (who settled on the island now known as Ireland).
They settled in Britain around 700 B.C.
RELIGION AND BELIEF: THE DRUIDS
The Celts were Pagans. Their priests were called Druids.
The druids were responsible for all sorts of religious ceremonies.
They were educated and powerful members of the tribe.
The Druids instructed young men, supervised sacrifices, judged fights and decreed penalties; they didnt go to war
and paid no tribute.
The Druids were suppressed by the Romans but survived as poets, historians, and judges.
The Celts lived in tribes, they wore gold and loved to fight and drink wine.
They were fierce warriors. The farmers had to be ready to fight whenever the head of the tribe called on them.
The Celts often fought naked - and it's believed that women would fight as well.
One of these women is very famous. Her name was Boadicea (or Boudica). She led the revolt of her tribe against the
Romans.
Even though the Celts were proud, brave and skilled fighters, they were rather undisciplined. They could not fight
against the Romans' order and power. And, of course, in the end they were defeated.
Julius Caesar began the invasion in 55 BC.
But the Romans actually settled there in AD 43 when Emperor Claudius invaded Britain with approximately 50,000
men and conquered it.
Roman Britain, 43 - 410 AD
The Romans built towns and roads throughout the country and they introduced their culture, lifestyle and language.
Christianity was first established in Britain during this time. Emperor Constantine made Christianity the official
religion of the Roman empire in AD 325.
During their rule the Romans took possession of much of England, but they never managed to conquer Scotland and
Ireland.
In AD 122 Emperor Hadrian gave orders to build a great wall in the north of England to protect themselves from
possible invasions from the Scottish tribes.
During the 4th century the Romans had to fight against the assaults of the Picts and Scots.
In AD 410 they withdrew their forces from England to return to Italy and protect the city of Rome. The Romans had
ruled the area for nearly 400 years (43 BC AD 410).

The end of empire meant the end of civilization in Britain. Towns rapidly decayed, coins ceased to circulate, villas
were abandoned, and the population increasingly took refuge in the old hill forts.

THE DARK AGES (410-1066)

The period after the Roman soldiers left Britain is known as the Dark Ages.

The Anglo-saxons
There was no strong army to defend Britain, so tribes called the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes (the Anglo-Saxons) invaded
England (AD 450). They left their homelands in northern Germany, Denmark and northern Holland and rowed across
the North Sea in wooden boats. They settled in different parts of England.
The Anglo-Saxons divided England into several kingdoms: Northumbria, Mercia, Anglia, Wessex, Essex, Sussex and
Kent. Because much of the south of Britain was taken over by the Angles, this area became known as Angle-land
(now England), and the people living here became known as Anglo-Saxons.
When the Anglo-Saxons settled in England the Romano-Britons were forced to escape to the west, to Wales and
Cornwall.
King Arthur is believed to have been a Romano-Briton warrior who fought against these attackers in about AD 500,
although many of the stories about this time are fictional.
The Vikings
The Vikings began their conquest of England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland in the 8th century. They came from
Denmark, Sweden and Norway. King Alfred, known as Alfred the Great (871-899), fought against the Vikings and kept
control of the south of England. The northern part of Britain remained independent during this time, inhabited by
Celtic tribes. The two main tribes were the Picts (who had fought successfully against the Romans) and the Scots,
who had come to this area from Ireland.

These two tribes united under one king in AD 843 to form Scotland, although the highlands and islands were not part
of this. Scotland remained independent until the 17th century.