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Hassan II University, Casablanca British Culture and Society

Faculty of Letters and Humanities 3rd Semester, 2022/2023
English Department, Mohammedia Pr. L. Ait Idir & Pr. S. Aouaki

British Culture & Society

Course description: This course is intended to acquaint students with elements of
contemporary British culture and society. It is mainly a survey of historical, political,
educational and cultural aspects of life in the United Kingdom, through the following
chapters:

CHAPTER 1: Pre-Celtic Period.

CHAPTER 2: The Founding of Britain
CHAPTER 3: The Normans (1066-1154)
CHAPTER 4: Plantagenets (1154 to 1485)
CHAPTER 5: The Tudors
CHAPTER 6: The Stuarts.
CHAPTER 7: The 18th Century
CHAPTER 8: British Government & Democracy.
CHAPTER 9: Education.
CHAPTER 10: The Mass Media.

Class participation is an important component of the final assessment of students. The

latter should come to class prepared to discuss a topic and actively participate in the
course.
Forms of Assessment: Final exam.

Useful references:

Oakland, John. British Civilization: An Introduction. Routledge, 2015.

O'Driscoll, James. Britain for Learners of English. Oxford University Press, 2009.
Randle, John. Understanding Britain: a History of the British People and their Culture. Wiley-
Blackwell, 1981.
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Hassan II University, Casablanca British Culture and Society

Faculty of Letters and Humanities 3rd Semester, 2022/2023
English Department, Mohammedia Pr. L. Ait Idir & Pr. S. Aouaki

CHAPT. I: PRE-CELTIC PERIOD.

Prehistory:
1- The Palaeolithic1 Age: (2.5 million to 8000 BC). It is the 1st period of prehistory. It was
characterised by the use of stone in the production of chopping tools. The life Palaeolithics,
known also as Presapiens, was based on fishing, hunting, and collecting fruits. About 200,000
BC, Homo Sapiens succeeded to Presapiens, thus marking the beginning of human intelligence.
Until late in the Mesolithic period, Britain formed part of the continental landmass and was easily
accessible to migrating hunters.
2- The Mesolithic Age: (8000 - 4000 BC). It is the 2nd period of prehistory and it marks the
end of the Ice Age. Mesolithics, whose economy was still that of Paleolithics, concentrated their
hunting activities on different species (deer, bears, shellfish and snails).The cutting of the land
bridge, c. 6000-5000 BC, caused migration to become more difficult. As a result, Britain
developed insular characteristics.
3- The Neolithic Age: (From 4000 to 2000 BC). It is the 3rd period of prehistory. A major
change occurred c. 4000 BC with the introduction of agriculture by Neolithic immigrants from the
coasts of western and possibly north-western Europe. They were pastoralists as well as tillers of
the soil. So the economy was based on, agriculture, the breeding of stock, hunting, and the
exploitation of mines (silex or flint). This period was also characterized by the practice of pottery,
the production of tools out of polished stone, funerary rooms, and megalithic monuments
(Stonehenge & Averbury). The latter reflected considerable knowledge in astronomy. The religion
of Neolithics consisted in the belief in a celestial God, devils, witchcraft and afterlife.
Neolithic society was transformed by the arrival of a vigorous people known as the Beaker
folk. The latter brought with them their own burying practices, and used copper & bronze in the
production of their tools.

Protohistory:

The Bronze Age (from 2000/1700 to 700 BC) was characterized by the use of bronze in the
production of tools, weapons, jewels and cult objects. The economy was based on agriculture,
breeding, and craftsmen's trade especially with the Continent. On the religious level, there was the
predominance of the solar cult. During this age, a highly hierarchical society emerged. In Britain,
it was the Picts who developed the Bronze civilisation.
The period going from the end of the Bronze Age to the beginning of the Roman Conquest
is known as the Iron Age, because it was characterized by the use of iron instead of bronze. The
greater availability of iron facilitated land clearance and thus the growth of population.

1
Palaeolithic, from Greek ‘palaios’, old, and ‘lithos’, stone. These terms (paleolithic & neolithic) were invented, in
1865, by John Lubbock, a British naturalist and politician.
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Hassan II University, Casablanca British Culture and Society

Faculty of Letters and Humanities 3rd Semester, 2022/2023
English Department, Mohammedia Pr. L. Ait Idir & Pr. S. Aouaki

CHAPT. II: THE FOUNDING OF BRITAIN

1- Early Inhabitants:

The earliest inhabitants of Britain were the Gaels, men of Celtic race. They migrated from
the Continent, in the 8th c. BC, and probably drove the aborigines – the Picts,– toward the west
and the north. They cultivated the hard land of valleys with metallic ploughs. Between 500 & 300
BC, a second wave of migration brought into Britain other Celtic tribes, the Britons, who drove
the Gaels westward. They developed agriculture and used Gaelic language. Among the vestiges of
the Celts, the massive hill forts suggest the existence of powerful chieftains. They were secure
places for the population and for the social and religious activities.

However, the emergence, in 200 BC, of British tribes known to Roman historians was due
to a further phase of settlement by tribesmen from Belgian Gaul. These great fighters, who were
also Celtic, established small kingdoms in Southeast Britain (Kent and north of the Thames). Their
iron weapons and their two-wheeled carts enabled them to submit the aborigines and to absorb
their civilisation. Their priests, the Druids, occupied a dominant position in society. But things
changed with the coming of more powerful warriors – the Romans.

2- The Romans (55 BC – 410):

Julius Caesar made only 2 quick raids in 55 and 54 BC against the Cantii, a Briton people
in Kent. Disunited, the latter were defeated and obliged to pay an annual tax to Rome.
Furthermore, when the Romans discovered that this land was rich and fertile, they annexed it to
their Empire. The real conquest was, then, undertaken in AD 42 by Emperor Claudius, whose son
received the title of Britannicus, for this effect.
The Romans met the resistance of some British leaders such as Caratacus, who led some
tribes of Wales, but was arrested in AD 51. Boudicca, queen of the Iceni, was able to rally other
tribes to her assistance when she revolted in AD 61. As for the north of Scotland, being peopled
by the fierce Picts, it was not occupied by the Romans. The latter chose rather to build Hadrian's
Wall in 122 as a frontier with the North.
After this phase of pacification, came the rapid process of Romanization. This was
strongest in the towns and among the upper classes. Yet, after more than 4 centuries of Roman
occupation, the Romanization of the British society was superficial, and the old Celtic background
persisted. Latin did not succeed in superseding the language of the conquered nation. Confronted
with imminent danger at home, the Romans they left the island to itself in 410. The Britons were,
then, exposed to the incessant raids of their northern neighbours: the Picts and the Scotti.
3- The Saxons:
Around 430 Britain was invaded by Teutonic tribes coming across the North Sea: Jutes
(Jutland in Denmark), Saxons (Holland) and Angles (Germany). They were probably invited to
defend a British kingdom against the Picts and the Scots. But in 442 these Anglo-Saxon
mercenaries revolted against their British employers and called in others of their race to help them.
Even though heir advance was halted by native resistance under the leadership of King Arthur, the
new settlers soon became the masters of the land. By the early 7th c., Britain was a Heptarchy:
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Wessex, Essex, Sussex (Saxons), Kent (Jutes), East Anglia, Mercia, and Northumbria (Angles).
These kingdoms were united under Ethelbert of Kent (560-616).
The Anglo-Saxons were excellent farmers, using heavy ploughs and improving the English
countryside. They brought with them their own language and their own polytheist religion
belonging to the old Teutonic gods (names of days). All the kingdoms – except Wessex – were
established by rulers deemed to have descended from the gods. Their society was subdivided in
powerful clans, ruled by the customary law and a system of financial compensation (wergild) in
the cases of murder, injury or theft.
With the support of Saxon kings, the Christianization of the people of Kent was effected
(in 597) by the monk Augustine, who established the ecclesiastical capital at Canterbury. The
christianization of the Angles in the north was effected, in 630, by missionaries from Ireland and
Scotland. This created notable differences between the Celtic Church in the north and Roman
Christianity in the south. But the religious parties met at the Synod2 of Whitby in 663, and the
English Church resolved to follow the Roman model.
Anglo-Saxon scholars, whose intellectual centre was at York, abandoned their Germanic
letters (runes) for the Roman alphabet. The venerable Bede (673-735) was the best theologian and
the best historian of his time. His great book, Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Anglorum (731), gave
him a European reputation.
4- The Vikings:
The Danes, kinsmen of Angles and Jutes, came from Scandinavia and Denmark and landed
for the first time in 787. When Egbert of Wessex (802-839) was unifying and dominating all the
Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, the Danes were conquering England little by little, from London and
Thanet Island in the estuary of the Thames. They submitted the country at the north of this river to
their law (Danelag), and in 867 they succeeded completely to subdue Northumbria and the whole
of Ireland.
As for the Saxons of the south, they came into political prominence under King Alfred the
Great (871-901), who organised an effective opposition to the Danes in Wessex. When he
defeated them in the battle of Edington (878) he signed the peace of Wedmore and took London.
The country was hence divided by a frontier-line: London-Chester. Good internal government
contributed to Alfred’s successful resistance to the Danes. He set to educate his people by
encouraging learning and translating the existing Latin works to English. His efforts left lasting
traces on English culture and language.
After the conversion of the Danish prince, Guthrum, to Christianism, the Vikings turned
steadily to the new faith. Unlike the Anglo-saxons who had exterminated the Britons, the Danish
conquerors were absorbed in the mass of the English nation. Together, their tongues would later
form the basis of English.
In 973 Edgar, Alfred’s grandson, was crowned king of a united England and was anointed
by Saint Dunstan, the archbishop of Canterbury. Ethelred ‘the Unready’ (978-1016) tried vainly
to stop the invasions of the Danes by paying high taxes that he imposed on his subjects. That was
the first generalised tax (Danegeld). The Danes conquered all England in 1013, and their Viking
king, Canute, became in 1017 the supreme ruler of England, Viking Scotland, Denmark and
Scandinavia. Yet his rule, which was a kind of Anglo-Danish state was not tyrannical. But since
his sons, Harold and Hardicanute had no heirs, Edward ‘the Confessor’ (1042-66), Ethelred’s son,
succeeded to the throne.
Edward organised a central administration with the help of the Normans, but he met the
opposition of the Anglo-Saxon national party led by Godwin of Essex. Meanwhile two ambitious
persons were claiming the throne: Harold, son of Godwin, and Duke William of Normandy. When
Edward died, Harold became king, but he was also facing the danger of his half-brother, Tostig,
who was allied to the king of Norway, Hardrada. In Sept. 25th 1066, Harold defeated the
Norwegians in Stamford Bridge, and killed Tostig and Hardrada; but he was, in his turn, defeated
by William of Normandy in Hastings (Oct. 14th 1066).
2
Meeting of church officers to discuss and decide on questions of policy, gvnt, teaching, etc.