Old English / Anglo- Saxon Period

Early Britain - Celtic settlement and Roman Britain (6th C. B.C. - 410 A.D.)
 Early Britain had people who mostly came from different parts of Russia and
eastern Baltic region. They were called Celts and identified as Britons/
Brittones by the Romans. It is believed that from them the island received its
name ‘Britain’. Celtic settlement could be dated back from 500 B.C. -300
B.C.
 These barbaric Celts fought the Great Roman General Julius Caesar between
55-54 B.C. Roman invasion let more people, for example the Gauls tribe, to
arrive in Britain. These societies had chieftains ( often called Kings) who
tried to maintain peace and harmony within the tribe.
 These tribes even tried to resist the Roman emperor Claudius but without any
success. Slowly the whole land went under the Roman domination except for
Scotland. The Romans left a profound influence on the lives of these native
Celts/ Celtic people in terms of culture and lifestyle but they had to leave the
land around 5th c. A.D.

Migration of the Germanic Tribes ( 3rd C. onwards )

 Soon after the Romans left Britain around 410 A.D. , some tribes from West
Gerrmany such as Angles, Saxons, Jutes invaded Britain and tried to
establish their settlements. Together they are called the Germanic Tribes. The
Jutes were first to arrive from Jutland, the Angles migrated from North-West
Germany and South Denmark and The Saxons from West Germany.
 Among these three tribes, the Angles and the Saxons outnumbered the third
tribe and hence the whole group is named as Anglo- Saxons ( this term was
found in the early writings in Latin in 9th c. and the age is also named so).
 Anglo Saxons were fierce and killed many natives in order to survive in a
new found land. Most of them also married Briton women.
 The land is now come to known as “Angle-land” which in course of time
changed to “Engle-land” and finally to “England”.

Christianity ( 597 A.D. )

 Though during the last two hundred years of the Roman rule some Catholic
churches were built but mostly the Celts and the Anglo Saxons were pagans
and worshipped their local gods.
 In 597 A.D. Pope Gregory the Great sent some missionaries under the
leadership of St. Augustine to England in order to introduce Christianity
systematically. King Æthelbert, who was the then king of England, bacame
the first convert under St. Augustine’s supervision.

Viking / Scandinavian Invasion ( 8th C. onwards )

 During the 9th century fresh invasion started in England by the Scandinavian
tribes who mostly came from Norwey, Sweden, Denmark. They are also
known as the Vikings. The aim was to plunder and loot the land. The Anglo
Saxon tribe was by then turned into a more civilised tribe and could not put up
a strong resistence against these ferocious attacks. The fierce Vikings could
have demolished the Anglo-Saxons had Alfred the Great, the most notable
king of the Anglo-Saxon time, not been there to protect them. Slowly the
vikings started to establish settlements and soon became landowners.
 Anglo- Saxon age owes a great deal to King Alfred fot its gradual
development in every sphere- from political to cultural. When the Danes
attacked Wessex in 871 A.D., King Alfred resisted them successfully. The
leader of the Danes, Guthram, had to remain satisfied with “Dane Law” as a
result of the Treaty of Wedmore in 878 A.D. To prevent further attacks, King
Alfred built a strong naval army and secured the coastal regions.
 Later on, these Vikings got merged with the Anglo- Saxons and formed one
race. The Scandinavians were not culturally advanced unlike the Romas and
therefore the contribution to the English life is limited to everyday words of
daily life.

Norman Conquest / The Battle of Hastings ( 1066 A.D.)

 On the death of King Edward the Confessor, the last descendant of King
Alfred, William, the Duke of Normandy claimed England on the basis of a
promise of king Edward. William had developed a strong army and was
culturally superior to the English people. William of Normany defeated
English King Harold in the battle of Hastings in 1066 A.D. ( also known as
the Norman Conquest) and the English crown was passed into the hands of a
Norman duke. Thereafter, he is known as William the Conquerer.