ENG1505 British

Civilisation
Welcome to the course!
 Lecture 1:
Studying the British Isles
and
Course Outline
A bit about me
• Aaron Ackerley

• Senior Lecturer in British Studies (Historian of modern Britain)

• From Manchester in the UK (City not United…), moved to Oslo

recently after 18 months in Trondheim
• Research interests: political history, cultural history, media history

• You can email me to discuss anything about the course, or to set

up a meeting in my office or online
• Email: a.m.ackerley@ilos.uio.no
Today’s Lecture
1.Course content – Studying the British
Isles as an Area
2.Lectures, seminars and general course
information
3.Britain before 1066
What is so important about
Britain?
British influence
• 1922: British Empire covered approximately 1/4 of the
world’s landmass, ruled over approximately 1/5 of the
world’s population

• Maritime empire: global reach

• Empire has (nearly) gone, but left a massive footprint

• Settler colonialism, Anglosphere

• English as Lingua Franca

When and what?
• When did ‘Britain’ as we know it
today, come to exist?
• And what is it we understand it to
be?
• Who are the British anyway?
• What do you think of when
Over to
you hear the terms
Britain/British/British Isles? you...
– Add your thoughts here:
https://www.menti.com/al
mf8zccvti7

–Or go to menti.com and

use the code: 8978 6120
No motto please, we are British!
• Winner in a tongue-in-cheek ‘motto-writing’ contest sponsored by The
Times
– Response to PM Gordon Brown’s aim of formulating a British
‘statement of values’
– Other suggestions: ‘Once Mighty Empire, Slightly Used’, ‘At Least
We’re Not French’, and ‘We Apologise for the Inconvenience’

• What, if anything, does this say about Britons’ perceptions of

themselves?

• When did people start to refer to themselves as ‘British’… and do they

do so now?
British Civilisation
• What does it mean to be
studying British Civilisation?
• Mohandas (‘Mahatma’)
Gandhi on British
Civilisation:
– ‘I think it would be a good idea’…
• The concept of civilisation:
– Does it refer to that which is uniquely or specifically
British only?
• Political system of ‘Crown-in-Parliament’ perhaps?

– What applies elsewhere too, in other societies, but

where are interested in the British ‘take’ in this?
• Build-up of the British Welfare State in the post-war period
for example – hardly a uniquely British experience, but still…
• Is civilisation about a way of life?
Our way of life, from the shape of our communities
to the organisation and content of education, and
from the structure of the family to the status of art
and entertainment, is being profoundly affected by
the progress and interaction of democracy and
industry, and by the extension of communications…
• Raymond Williams, The Long Revolution (1975), p. 12
(bold mine).
• Is civilisation a problematic
concept?
– Presupposes that there are societies, which
are not civilisations, but what are they then –
primitive societies, or should ‘civilisation’
been seen as synonymous with ‘society’? Is
it about the achievements of a society?
– Does ‘Norwegian civilisation’ make sense?
• Oakland (Preface):
Although the word ‘civilization’ has
traditionally been associated with
notions of national and racial superiority
and imperialism, it now has a more
descriptive, or neutral, force
• One can argue either way here on what is ‘traditional’:

– For some, ‘civilisation’ remains linked to notions of European

or even white superiority/supremacy – and is therefore
unacceptable/unusuable

– Yet, the first civilisations (as identified by historians) were not

in Europe, nor were they white…

– British Civilisation: what characterises Britain / British society

/ the British

• Our focus is area studies: the British Isles as an area

How to study Britain and the
British
• Area studies is open to wide range of disciplines,
theories and methodologies (history, literature,
sociology, anthropology, political science,
economics, cultural studies, media studies etc)
• Historical approach

• Anthropological approach
The British Isles

Classic
British
saying:
Storm in the
Channel, the
Continent is
isolated
• The British Isles a geographical
concept

• Two main islands: Britain and

Ireland
– So: British-Irish Isles? Atlantic
Archipelago?

• Four ‘historic nations’

– England, Scotland, Wales & (Northern)
Ireland
• Two states/political units:
1. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Northern Ireland, UK

2. The Republic of Ireland, Eire

• In British-Irish official documents, they

are often simply referred to as ‘these
islands’
United Kingdom or Great Britain?
• The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern
Ireland
• The UK is a union, consisting of one union and one province – confused?

• The Union known as Great Britain is made up of:

– the kingdom of England

– the kingdom of Scotland

– the principality of Wales (historically an admininstrative part of the English

kingdom, but more complicated now)
United Kingdom or Great Britain?
• Great Britain is then in union with the province of
Northern Ireland
• Originally a union of GB and the kingdom of Ireland, but since 1921: NI
only

• Hence: The United Kingdom of Great Britain and

Northern Ireland

• It gets even more complicated, however…

The British Isles – an American
view…
• Blue: the geographical area

• Red: the two states

• Green: the two islands

• Orange: the four nations

within the UK
– Hang on: four nations in the UK?

– Is Northern Ireland a nation in its

own right?

– Contentious to say the least!

It came about in stages…
• Never any overall plan behind the creation of the British state
– Not defined anywhere what kind of state it is…

• 1707: union of England and Scotland – Great Britain

• 1801: union of Great Britain and Ireland – United Kingdom of Great

Britain and Ireland

• 1921: partition of Ireland leading to the setting up of an independent

Irish state in the south – United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Northern Ireland AND the Republic of Ireland
– ‘Free state’ from 1922; full formal independence from 1949
...and it might come to an end?
• Ongoing tensions in Northern
Ireland and Republican aims at
independence and reunification
with the Republic of Ireland

• Scottish and Welsh

independence movements (and
even an English independence
movement!)

• Devolution

• Cornish independence!
So…
• We are studying the area of the British Isles, not just England…

• The terms Britain and British are often used as short for the UK
and its citizens

• England is the biggest country, and has the capital of the UK,
so is often used to mean ‘Britain’

• BUT, as you now know, this is…

• WRONG!
Two strands or ‘pillars’ to the course
• Cannot possibly cover everything related to the British Isles

• Instead, a broad overview approach

1. British history
– Rather massive topic, isn’t it?

– So, focus on: A framework of key events & developments

2. Contemporary Britain
– Equally massive perhaps?

– Focus on: Central institutions and society in relation to them

Lectures
1. Introduction, Studying the British Isles as an area
2. Medieval Britain: 1066 & the English Kingdom
3. 16th Century (1500s): Tudors, Reformation and Anglo-Welsh
Union
4. 17th Century: Union of 1603, Civil Wars and Glorious Revolution
5. 18th Century: Unions of 1707 and 1801, imperial expansion
6. 19th Century: Industrial Revolution and political reforms
7. The British Empire
8. British-Irish relations, and Northern Ireland since 1921
9. The two World Wars and the interwar period

10. Post-war Britain: political, economic and social developments

since 1945

Weeks 13-14: Easter Holidays

11. Education in the UK

12. The British Political System today

13. Modern British Politics

14. Britain and Europe and Summing up

Do the readings before each week’s lecture, as we will often

have interactive activties
Seminars
• Seminar start in calendar week 4 (week 2 of the course, i.e. Next
week!)

• Eight in total, taught by myself, Randall Stephens, Helén

Rummelhoff, Siham Bougroug, and Lisa Morgner

• Check the Course Schedule document on Canvas to check when

your group meets!

• We will do different activities in seminars, but some preparation

questions and activities will be available on Canvas to do in advance
of each session

• In the seminars the onus is on you to do the talking…

Seminars
• If you wish to change group, go to:

• Bytte seminargruppe på ILOS - Universitetet i Os

lo (uio.no)
• Deadline: 1 February

• First apply to change group, but if that does not

work, it is still possible for two students to ‘swap’
groups
More practical information
• Handouts, exercises for the seminars & power-points are
posted in Canvas
– Handouts (courtesy of Atle Wold) already available on Canvas

– Lecture slides will be uploaded just prior to the lecture in case it makes it
easier for you to follow along

• The lectures are live performances; no recording will be

made, there will be interactive material (and some ad lib
comments) which therefore don’t appear on the slides
More practical information
• Mandatory attendance at seminars, but not
lectures, however:
– They are equally important, and the expectation is that
students attend all the teaching
– What if I miss a session?
– Try to find out what you missed (for example by asking
other students, doing the reading, and checking the
material in Canvas)
Course web page and Canvas
• Web page: the course ‘rulebook’:
– ENG1505 – British Civilisation – University of Oslo (uio.no) (Click 2024 section)

• Canvas:
– https://uio.instructure.com/courses/49247

– Course material and reading information will be posted in the main

Canvas room for the course, including any preparatory work for seminar
meetings. Two readings not in the core textbooks are uploaded directly
to Canvas under the relevant week

– Seminar group rooms will be used for the submission of the qualification
essay
 Assessment
• 60% attendance of seminars is mandatory to pass the course
• One essay of 5 standard pages
– Choose from list of questions on Canvas (to be uploaded soon)

– The essay needs to be approved and accepted (godkjent) by the

teacher of your group

– Submit their essay by the set deadline, and bear in mind both content
and language must be acceptable to be allowed to sit the written exam

• 4-hour exam June 3 at 3:00 PM

– Meet 30 minutes before the examination starts at Silurveien 2 Sal 4D

Best ways to prepare and to get the
most out of the course and your studies
• Try your best to do the readings before each week’s
lecture and preparation before each seminar
• Even if you do not manage to read everything (or
anything!) do still come to the lectures and seminars
• Try to read actively, not passively, and make useful note

• Always try to google (other search engines are available..)

words, concepts, events etc you aren’t sure about!
 Any questions?

We will now have a

break. Discuss with your When we return And I will try
neighbours whether in 15 minutes, to answer
there’s anything you you can ask
don’t understand about them
questions
the course
Part II: The British Isles
before 1066
Any questions?
• 1066 – arguably a
vitally important
date (at least in
the British popular
imagination)
• ...but life did exist
before that!
• Stone Age: first human habitation in
British Isles

• Bronze Age lasting from around

2000 BC to 800 BC (BC= before
Christ)

• Pre-Celts (Picts, Beaker Folk),

from at least 1500 BC
• A humorous take on waves of migration to
the British Isles, by Stewart Lee:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a17du
TUK6qw
Stonehenge
• How was it built? And why?

• Comedian Eddie Izzard has

the answer…
Settlements in Britain
• Celts:
– Settled from Western and Central Europe

– Brought with them Iron Age technologies

– Britons (name derived from Britanny in

France)

– Celtic Scotti (Scots) from Ireland settled in

(today’s) Scotland and merged with the
Picts
Roman conquest
• Julius Ceasar landed
armies in 55 and 54 BC,
but withdrew; Roman
conquest by Claudius in
43 AD

• Resistence, revolts,
most famously Boudicca
• What came with the Romans?
– They brought advanced government to Britain, and founded
towns: Londonium, Bath; infrastructure: roads and aquaducts

– Christianity introduced to Britain during Roman times

– Culture of writing – British history becomes written

• Romans remained a conqueror people –

never settled in large numbers
Exit the Romans
• Hadrian’s Wall built 122-138 AD:

– Classic example of Roman defensive

line (limes)
– Manned by soldiers from across the
Empire, including regions covering
modern Syria, Romania and North
Africa

• Roman Army withdrew from Britain in

409, leaving a ‘power vacuum’

• Wars ensued between the Celts

Anglo-Saxons arrive
• Wars between Celts precipitated Anglo-
Saxon invasions in 5th century
• Not one people, but variety of Germanic-
speaking peoples:
– Angles, Saxons, Jutes, Frisians
Anglo-Saxon period
• 450-600 AD, seven Anglo-Saxon
kingdoms Known as ‘The Heptarchy’
– From the forming of Anglo-Saxon kingdom to
Scandinavian incursions

• Celts were now ‘pushed’ out to Wales,

Ireland, Scotland and Cornwall
– Generally, less fertile lands

• Anglo-Saxon period roughly 410-1066

AD
Vikings attack!
• First recorded
Viking attack:
Lindisfarne
monastery in 793
• Start of
increasingly
frequent attacks
and settlement
• Norse Vikings
seized control
in part of
Scotland and
Ireland
• Danish
Vikings in
England
created:
– Danelaw
– Danegeld
The struggle for England
• Viking attacks led to unification of England and to a lesser extent
Scotland, but not Ireland

• Wales largely avoided attacks and remained politically fragmented

• Wessex emerged as strongest Anglo-Saxon kingdom

– Under King Alfred (871-899), the Danes were defeated and Danelaw was
recovered by Anglo-Saxons

• 927: notion of a kingdom of England (‘the Angles’) emerged

– Anglo-Saxon kings swore allegiance to Æthelstan of Wessex

• Danes returned and England was ruled by Cnut
from 1015-1035
• Anglo-Saxon rule re-established thereafter
1066 and the throne of England
• In the year 1066, the English king Edward the Confessor died

• Three claimants to the throne:

– Harold Goodwinson (Anglo-Saxon)

– Harald Harada (Norse)

– William of Normandy (Norman)

• Who would it be? …

• This is where we will start next week, but first, let us have a quick
recap…
Early Britain – a summary
• The peopling of the British Isles:

– Pre-Celts (Picts, Beaker Folk) archaeological find from 1500 BC and earlier

– Celts (Gaels, Brythons) arrive 800-500 BC and 300-100 BC

– Roman ‘interlude’, 43 to 409 AD

– Anglo-Saxon invasions of Britain from about 350 AD onwards (Angles,

Saxons, Jutes, Frisians)

– Scandinavians (Danish and Norse Vikings), late 700s to mid-1000s

– 1066: Norman invasion of England

Next week
• Lecture 2: Medieval Britain: 1066,
and the emergence of the English
Kingdom
• Seminar 1: Peopling the British Isles
• Read: Kramer, ch. 3, documents 3-6