From Pre-Celtic to Roman Britain

Six thousand years ago the Britain was inhabited by the Pre-Celtic people, this population
burned ad cut down the forests for plant cereals and have the space to breed animals. They
were usual build ritual sites, the most important is Stonehenge.
Around the 700 BC arrived in England the Celts; their language remains in some part of
England. The Celts had Nordic stretches and they were great workers, they built big hill forts
on top of the hills and sometime took refuge inside in danger time. About religion, adored the
natural elements, thought that water was holy, believed in the immortality and the transmission
of the soul from one person to another. The Romans arrived in Britain with Emperor Claudius,
they admire the agriculture and the availability of the slaves, in 122 AD built one of the most
important project in the ancient world, a wall to mark the border between the different territory.
They built miles of roads to connect cities. The romans brought their culture to Britain, like
Latin and Christianity. When the Barbarians start to attack Rome, the Romans returned in Italy
and left the Romanised Celtic to fight against Saxons.

The Anglo-Saxons
Between 5th and 6th century British overwhelmed by populations coming from the North Sea
region of Northern Europe: Jutes, Angles and Saxons. They are also known as Anglo-Saxons,
they settled south of Hadrian's Wall because they were lowland people, rather than upland.
Their society was founded on loyalty to the family, or clan and they gathered in the hall, where
they swore loyalty to the chiefs. In the 7th century the Anglo-Saxons' kingdoms had formed,
known as Heptarchy, between those the kingdom of Wessex became the most important.
The Anglo-Saxons reintroduced pagan values and it was the monk Augustine, who brought
back Christianity to England. After the successful mission of Augustine, the cathedral of
Canterbury was founded and him became Archbishop. The monasteries became important
cultural centres: The Church educated people and offered them efficient public administration.
In the monastery of Lindisfarne, the monks produced illuminated gospels. The Vikings were
sea people, they crossed the Atlantic Ocean on their long ship looking for cattle, treasure and
slaves. They sacked Lindisfarne, destroyed manuscripts and took the monks as slaves. In the
9' century their invasion became an occupation: they settled and also established then
Danelaw, code of laws that also described their territory. Their language blended with the one
of the local populations. Alfred became king of Wessex in 871. He defeated a Danish
commander and he reorganised the army, built fortresses and planned a navy with long ship.
Latin texts were translated in Anglo-Saxon and the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle was commissioned.
Church's school were opened and a new legal code was created. Alfred died in 899 and his
grandson Athelstan succeeded to the throne. He introduced the idea of royal authority, law and
coinage. Vikings organised a further attack and English responded by paying Danegeld, a tax,
to be left alone, the last Anglo-Saxon king was Harold: he fought and won against the Danes,
but then had to fight against William, duke of Normandy, who was claiming the English throne,
Harold was killed and the Anglo-Saxons were conquered by the Normans.

The Norman Conquest and the Domesday Book

William ruled the dukedom of the Normandy. His rule was based on the ownership of the land,
which he gave to his barons in return for military service. William had circa 10,000 of warriors,
and Harold had many soldiers capable of taunting himself so that no one could hit them. The
battle between the two armies was very difficult to fight, especially for the shell deployment of
the Anglo-Saxon soldiers. The Normans won’t prevail until they hit Harold in the eye and killed
him. After the Anglo-Saxons fled and the Normans declared victory on 14 th October 1066.

The fall of the Anglo-Saxon Empire brought several changes within the society, the nobles
were killed in battle, exiled and dispossessed from their lands; the important English
churchmen were replaced by the French and Italian ones. Only the lower-class citizens and
clergymen could continue their traditions. The French take their place in English society and
form the feudal system, where the knights began to take importance; the knights in exchange
for their service to the king or lord received land or castles. The military service of the knights
and the agricultural service of the peasants brought peace and prosperity to the Empire.
William the Conqueror declared himself lord of the earth and his central authority became
stronger. His strength was seen when he could see the Domesday Book, which contained all
the where all the information in the country was contained. The Normans also replaced English
with French, Latin remained in legal and administrative contexts, and English was used in
everyday life.

Anarchy and Henry Plantagenet

When William I died in 1087 his first son became duke of Normandy, instead William his
middle son succeeded him on the throne of England, for the youngest son weren’t no land.
William died in 1110 and Henry became the new king, after defeat Robert became also duke
of Normandy. The reign of Henry was peaceful, but when his heir died in a incident, the throne
was destined to Matilda, Henry’s daughter, but his nephew Stephen took the throne. The
period of civil war between Matilda and Stephen is called the Anarchy. on the death of
Stephen’s son, he recognized Matilda’s son as his heir. Henry II was an important king, was
concerned to settle the French territories and restore the English legal order. The feudal duty
of military service was replaced with a tax known as 'scutage’, the knight could choose to
remain in their land and the king would have taken professional soldiers. Also introduced the
‘common law’ managed by the royal judges. English law was different from all Europe, which
was based on Roman law. Henry wrote the Constitution of Clarendon, where he asserted his
supremacy in civil and ecclesiastical matters, but Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury
and Henry’s friend, was opposed. The conflict led to the death of Becket who was killed by four
knights sent by the king. the murder shook all of Europe, Henry was forced to walk barefoot
through the cathedral and the monks frustrated him to restore his reputation. He was
succeeded by Richard the Lionheart.

From Magna Carta to the Peasants’ Revolt

On the death of Richard in the war, his brother John succeeded him, also called 'Lackland' and
'Softswort'; he was not a good king, to get rich he raised taxes for everyone. The people,
including barons, clerics and knights, organized a rebellion and had the king sign the Magna
Carta, which gave him some freedoms, in 1215. Simon de Montfort, brother-in-law of the king,
followed by bishops and barons, asked the king to assemble a Great Council, but the king
refused and a few years later civil war broke out. In the final battle, Simon was killed. After
Henry III was enthroned by his son Edward, he respected the terms of the Magna Carta and
summoned the so-called 'Model Parliament', the first English Parliament. He tried to expand
into Wales and Scotland, but was stopped. After Edward II son of Henry III succeeded Edward
III, he claimed the crown, this conflict gave birth to the Hundred Years' War. Edward III
introduced the values of the perfect knight into the cavalry, such as those of King Arthur and
the Round Table. the Hundred Years' War stopped only because of a great plague epidemic.
On the death of Edward the throne passed to his nephew Richard II. In place of Richard II he
ruled his uncle, John of Gaunt, who raised taxes to all without distinction to income. From this
the peasants revolt broke out. They marched to London asking to abolish their duties to their
masters. Richard II agreed to listen to the revolting, but the mayor of London decided to kill the
leader of this march. Richard initially declared that he wanted to help them, but later killed all of
the leaders of the revolt.