Anglo-Saxon England:

Origins * History

Language * Culture

Early Timeline

• Prehistory: British Isles already inhabited by Celts (Britons, Picts, Scots) prior to Roman arrival

• 55 BCE: Romans arrive; “Britannia” annexed to Roman Empire 43 CE.

• Intermittent attacks by Picts, Scots (Celtic tribes), Saxons

• Construction (2nd century) of Hadrian’s Wall in far north of England to repulse attacks by Picts, Scots

• Legacy of Roman rule: walled towns, roads, coinage and luxury items, Roman cities such as Bath and York

The Roman bath-house, Bath

Ruin of Hadrian’s Wall,

Northumberland

The End of Roman Rule

• 410 CE: Roman troops leave to protect continental empire from “Barbarian” attacks

• remember, Germanic tribes cross Rhine in 406 CE

• Picts and Scots attack remaining Romans and Britons.

• 450 CE: Romano-Britons invite Germanic “protectors” in form of Angles, Saxons, Jutes, Frisians… BAD IDEA. The invaders decide to stay; original Britons pushed into what is now Wales.

Routes of Invasion

Germanic groups eventually organized into 7 main kingdoms (Kent, Essex, Sussex, Wessex, East Anglia, Mercia, Northumbria)

(Essex)

(Sussex)(Wessex)

Close-up of the kingdoms – Kent: early center of wealth and

culture. • By the end of 6th century, King Aethelberht

ruled over southern kingdoms and was first Anglo-Saxon king to convert to Christianity

– Northumbria: inherited supremacy from Kent in 7th and 8th centuries.

• Great monasteries and centers of learning (Lindisfarne, Wearmouth-Jarrow)

– Wessex: supreme region as of 825.• greatest monarch was King Alfred the

Great, who “united” kingdoms against Viking threat.

– “Pikes swallowed minnows” and kingdoms collapsed and were absorbed until only 4 major kingdoms remained in 800.

Aethelberht

Alfred the Great

VIKINGS!!!– 8th, 9th centuries: Vikings sacked

monasteries and other places of wealth, gained control of almost all eastern England.

• Attacked kingdom of Wessex in 870, defeated by Alfred the Great in 878.

– 10th century: Second conquest! Vikings returned, attacked for 20 years, defeated English (who did not resist strongly). One raid (991) serves as basis for “The Battle of Maldon.”

• 10th century and after: north-east of England settled by Danes; came to be known as the “Danelaw.”

– FIRST conquest: plunder. SECOND conquest: LAND.

the coming of Christianity

– 4th century CE: Britons converted to Christianity with Emperor Constantine. For 150 years afterward, Christianity is pushed to margins of the island.

– 597 CE: Pope Gregory the Great sends St. Augustine to convert King Aethelberht of Kent (first English Christian king) and the Angles.

– 7th century CE: “second conversion” headed by Irish monk Aidan and others from Isle of Iona.

– within 75 years, entire island predominantly Christian.

the Anglo-Saxon “boc”: language, literacy, and culture

Christianity brings the Latin alphabet and literacy. Prior to this, inhabitants of Britain used a runic script.

Runes are angular, suitable for carving in stone or wood… NOT for use on parchment (vellum), which would come later.

runes in a material context

The Franks Casket, 7th century Northumbrian, made of whalebone

runes in a modern context

Map from J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit

Anglo-Saxon language and literacy

o Saxons, Angles, Jutes all had own dialects and settled different parts of country, so there is no actual “Old English” or “Anglo-Saxon” as we know it until later.o Germanic language is the parent of the Anglo-Saxon and

Scandinavian languages (see handout).

o Dialects became less diverse in 9th century thanks to the unification of kingdoms under leadership of Alfred the Great of Wessex and his program of translation and education.

o Impact of Christianity on literacy is seen by fact that first long written specimen of Old English is a book of laws of Aethelberht of Kent (first king who converted, remember!)

movers and shakers in Anglo-Saxon literacy

• The Venerable Bede: monk, born 7th century. Called the “Father of English History.” His work An Ecclesiastical History of the English People (ca. 731) tells us the story of Caedmon and the history of this Christian nation.

• Alcuin (735-804) becomes friend and advisor of Frankish king Charlemagne; some sharing of culture and learning between Frankish and Anglo courts

• Alfred the Great (king of Wessex from 871-899), an enthusiastic patron of literature… he himself translated works from Latin (incl. Boethius’s Consolation of Philosophy) Almost all OE poetry is preserved in copies made in West Saxon dialect after the reign of Alfred

the Alfred jewel: a symbol of learning

Surviving Anglo-Saxon (Old English) Poetry

• OE poetry was originally an ORAL and AURAL art form.

• Scop: a performer / musician / “minstrel” of the Anglo-Saxon hall.

• four 10th-11th century manuscripts containing 30,000+ lines of OE poetry survive, likely thanks to efforts of monks and scribes.

• Christian scribes and clerics must have felt an uneasy fascination with the old, “heroic” pagan culture described in much of the poetry.

There is no way to know how many poems, stories, and legends have been lost to us.

Heroic (Germanic) Culture“Germanic culture” describes an overlap between Old English

and Old Norse heroes, gods, and legends.

Germanic codes of battle and honor– The lord and his retainers (many are his blood kin)

• Lord’s duty to lead men in battle and repay them with spoils of war.

• GENEROSITY is one of the most important aspects of heroic behavior.

• Retainers must fight for their lord to the death and avenge him if he is slain or die in the attempt.

– Bonds of blood are paramount

• Blood-vengeance: one must avenge (or seek compensation) for the death of kinsmen

• Tension may arise between a man’s loyalty to his sworn lord and his kinsmen

– FAILING to avenge one’s kin or reneging on one’s duty in battle result in SHAME… in a society based on honor and praise, this is a fate worse than death!

– VALUES: praise of heroism, battle-prowess; pride in one’s martial

deeds and wealth; avoiding shame; generosity; loyalty to one’s kin and lord; honor

BEST POETRY of Anglo-Saxon England crosses the boundary between “heroic” and “Christian”