The earliest

inhabitants of
British Isles were
the Celts.
The Celts were a tribal society
made up of kins, kinship
groups, clans and tribes.
They practiced the primitive
agriculture.
Women were generally the
gatherers of plant foods
while men hunted meat from
large animals.
They also built permanent
shelters.
The first millennium B.C. Was the period
of Celtic migrations and expansion.
The British Isles had been
known to the Romans as a
source of valuable tin ore .
Romans attacked Britain for
economic reasons –to obtain
tin
perls
corn
Traders and colonists from Rome came in large
numbers and settled in towns.
Many Celtic people were Romanized. The
roman occupation of Britain lasted nearly
400 years
 That’s why Celtic people
learned the Roman civilization
and the Latin language.
The story of the invasion (by
Germanic tribes) is told by Bede.
Celts wrote a letter to Roman Consul and
asked him for help, because they survived
the ferocious invasion of barbarians-
Scots and Picts
 The Romans helped them in the past but ,but they
were now fully occupied by their own wars.
That’s why to prevent cruel and frequent attacks they
all agreed with their King Vortigern to ask for help the
Saxon nation.
Three most powerful nations of Germany were
invited by Celts,but their real intentions were to
enslave the country. They arrived in Britain with
three long ships and soon engaged with the enemy.
Anglo-Saxons became terrible for
the natives themselves and their
power was never in doubt.
The end of 8th century- beginning of
Scandinavian invasion.
At first the invaders fought with the
natives, robbed the country, but
later they began to settle on the
lands, conquered by themselves.
At the beginning of 11th century the
whole of England came under the
Scandinavian rule and the Danish
King was seated on the English
throne.
Changes...........
Norman Conquest
1066-beginning
The Normans came originally from
Scandinavia.
 They were cruising in their Viking ships
and bringing terror wherever they appeared.
 They destroyed Northumbrian civilization in the
ninth century.

Later they came to the French coast and conquered

the whole northern country.
Normans French Coast
Normans England
In 1066 last of Saxon kings Harold was killed at
the battle of Hastings
William the Conqueror ,Duke of Normandy,
became master of the whole of England
French became the language of the upper classes, of
courts and schools and literature.
The lands of most of the Anglo-Saxon aristocracy
were given to the Norman barons, and they ,
introduced their feudal law to force the farmers
to work for them.

The English became an oppressed nation.

William the Conqueror could not speak a word of

English. He and his barons spoke the Norman
dialect of the French language;

but the Anglo-Saxon dialects were not

suppressed.
During the following 200 years communication
went on in three languages:

1) at the monasteries learning went on in Latin;

2) Norman-French was the language of the ruling

class and was spoken at court and in official
institutions;

3) the common people spoke their mother

tongue. In spite of this, however, the language
changed very much.