GGCA English
  • Home
    • Reading Program >
      • Mrs. Vanderwarker's Reading Blog
      • Mrs. Evans' Picks
      • Summer Reading 2012
      • Summer Reading 2013
      • Summer Reading 2014
    • MLA Formatting
    • Grammar & Punctuation
    • S.A.T. Prep >
      • Greek & Latin Roots
      • S.A.T Writing Section
  • British Literature
    • Senior Blog
    • Unit 1: The Anglo-Saxons >
      • Beowulf
    • Unit 2: The Medeival Period >
      • Folk Ballads
      • The Canterbury Tales >
        • The Pardoner
        • The Wife of Bath
      • King Arthur
    • Unit 3: The Renaissance >
      • Sonnets & Essays
      • Macbeth >
        • Act I
      • Metaphysical Poetry
      • John Milton
    • Unit 4: The Age of Reason >
      • Jonathan Swift
      • Joseph Addison & Daniel Defoe
      • Alexander Pope
      • Samuel Johnson
    • Unit 5: Romanticism >
      • William Blake
      • Robert Burns
      • William Wordsworth
      • Samuel Taylor Coleridge
      • Second Generation of Poets
      • Frankenstein
  • American Literature
    • Junior Blog
    • Unit 1: The New Land >
      • Indians & Explorers
      • American Colonies
      • Revolutionary Writers
    • The Crucible
    • Unit 2: Literary Nationalism >
      • American Romanticism
      • Washington Irving
      • James Fennimore Cooper
      • William Cullen Bryant
      • The Fireside Poets
      • Edgar Allan Poe
    • Unit 3: The American Classic >
      • Ralph Waldo Emerson
      • Henry David Thoreau
      • Nathaniel Hawthorne
      • Herman Melville
      • Rights of Americans
      • Frederick Douglass
    • Unit 4: Variations and Departures >
      • Walt Whitman
      • Emily Dickinson
      • Mark Twain
    • Unit 5: The Modern Temper >
      • Willa Cather
      • Sherwood Anderson
      • F. Scott Fitzgerald >
        • The Great Gatsby
      • Ernest Hemingway
  • English 10
    • Summer Reading 2012
    • Sophmore Blog
    • Unit 1: Traditions in the Short Story
    • Detective Fiction
    • Unit 2: Modern Drama >
      • 12 Angry Men
      • Our Town
      • A Raisin in the Sun
    • Unit 3: Poetry
    • Unit 4: Legends of Arthur
    • Unit 5: Short Fiction
    • Unit 6: Julius Caesar
  • English 9
    • Summer Reading 2012
    • Freshman Blog
    • Unit 1: Short Stories >
      • Short Story Writing Workshop
    • To Kill a Mockingbird
    • Unit 2: The Miracle Worker
    • Unit 3: Poetry >
      • Tone
      • Imagery
      • Figurative Language
      • Sound Devices
      • Narrative Poetry
    • Romeo & Juliet
    • Night
  • Sound Speech
    • Speech Blog
    • Given Speeches
    • Unit 1: The Process of Communication >
      • Chapter 2: But I'm Afraid!
      • Chapter 3: What is Communication?
      • Chapter 4: Listen to Me!
    • Unit 2: Communication Fundamentals >
      • Chapter 5: The Type of Audience
    • Persuasive Speaking
    • Communication in the Work Place
    • Speaking in Special Situations
  • Composition
    • Composition Blog
    • Writer's Notebook
    • Writing Dialogue

Unit 1: The Anglo-Saxons

450-1066

Early Background:

Picture
        The English Isles saw much war and invasion in its first 1,100 years of history.  The rich land and the miles of coast with natural harbors made this land susceptible to invasion. Each invasion brought with it bloodshed and destruction, but it also brought new peoples, cultures, and pieces that would eventually form the England that we know today. 
        The earliest known inhabitants were cave dwellers that were conquered by invaders from modern day Spain and Portugal in 2000 B.C.  These were the people who were responsible for creating the first real society that was sophisticated enough to erect Stonehedge on Salisbury plane.  The Celts then came from the West, and continued east until they reached into the European Continent. They built walled farms and hut villages and grew crops by using bronze, and then iron tools.  The Celtic tribes each had their own king, and often battled each other.

Roman Britain

Picture
55 BC: The first attempt the Romans made to conquer Britain was when Julius Caesar raided the land in an attempt to punish the people for helping the continental Celts why the Roman empire was dominating the Mediterranean.

43 AD: The emperor Claudius invaded the island. Despite a nearly successful uprising lead by a tribal Queen, Boadicia, the Romans eventually conquered most of England and drove the defeated tribes to the highlands of Scotland and Wales.  3 legions were sent to occupy the land, and eventually the emperor Hadrian built a 73 mile wall to separate the Romans and Britons. 
        Roman Britain was a prosperous colony with about 3-4 million people.  Towns, forts, cities, and even large buildings were erected. Meeting halls, court buildings, temples, amphitheaters, public baths, and sanitation systems all became part of city life.  Roman roads connected towns, but yet the society remained rural. 

Picture
        The Romans ruled for nearly 400 years.  The Roman empire was in decline after 300 years, and life became more troubled.  The empire was unable to successfully protect the island from the increasing raids from Irish, Scottish, and German warriors.  When an army of German barbarians sacked and conquered Rome, the emperor Honorius sent a letter to the Roman Britons announcing that they were on their own for defenses.  Most Romans withdrew.  Some stayed and continued to think themselves still a part of the Roman empire.  Although some Latin words were adopted, the Celtic language became once again dominant. Homes were abandoned, manufacturing stopped, tribal ways resumed, and the country was left week and open to invasion.  
       

Germanic Invasion: The Beginnings of the Anglo-Saxons

Picture
        Germanic peoples dominated the European mainland after the fall of the Roman empire.  These Germanic tribes, mainly the Jutes, Anglos, and Saxons, were vigorous warriors and seafarers.  Their low lying farmland had poor soil, it was susceptible to flooding, and it was unable to support a growing population.  These people soon invaded Britain.
        By 441 A.D. they had secured the mouth of the river Thames.  Just like the Celts and Romans had before, they conquered the south East of Britain and continued to push inhabitants either North to Wales and Scotland, or West to Ireland.  In some areas the Britons were allowed to coexist with the Anglos, Saxons, and Jutes; but by the 6th century the Britons had been expelled form the South East, and the Angles dominated the the lowland part of the Island, giving it the name: England.
        This is the society where the legend of King Arthur originates.

Anglo-Saxon England

Picture
        The epic poem Beowulf faithfully records the culture of these Germanic tribes. Tribal societies were ruled by warrior kings, thanes, blood feuds, mead halls, boon, rewards, honor, and heroism.
        Petty kingdoms arouse, taking over control of towns and lands that had been left without a government when the Roman Empire retreated.  Soon ambitious kings began to assert authority over other kings: the first, Aethelbert, ruled from 560-616 A.D. dreamed of creating a confederation of kings  and a united peace to the land. 
        Christianity often aided the efforts of those seeking peace for the Island.  The Christian church offered a developing power and influence for those supporting it.  As early as in the Roman days, Christian communities existed in England; and even though the pagan Germanic invasion nearly destroyed them, St. Patrick began converting Celtic Ireland and this revival spread into England and as far as Scotland.  Even so, Anglo-Saxon Britain remained mainly pagan until 597, when Rome sent St. Augustine to convert England and establish the first archbishop at Canterbury. 
        The spread of Christianity proved to play a crucial role in the development of Anglo-Saxon Culture.  Christianity connected the illiterate Germanic tribes to distant Rome, bringing an essential skill for advanced culture: writing.  Anglo-Saxon monasteries began copying books from Rome as well as religious texts.  The Church also taught new values of unity and peace to the warrior based Germanic society by emphasizing compassion and cooperation over arrogance and violence. 
        Anglo-Saxon Culture reached it's peak in the Mercian kingdom during the 8th century.  From this era, over 30,000 lines of Anglo-Saxon poetry have survived, as well as important historical prose such as Bede's Latin history of England.  During this era Anglo-Saxon and Christian cultures synthesized. The complex, interlaced patterns of ornament, once used to decorate the regalia of pagan warrior kings was used to illuminate the Bible manuscripts.  Christian themes began to color pagan tales. 

Picture

The Viking Era in England

Picture
        Alas, peace and prosperity were to be interrupted by yet another invader: the vikings. Vikings crossed the North Sea from Denmark and Norway in order to plunder coastal villages. Early raids turned into regular attacks, which then turned into a 250 ship navel invasion.  Between 867 and 877, the Vikings invaded and took over most of the Northeast and central England portions of England.
        The most successful English opponent was Alfred the Great (848-899). He maintained the only remaining Anglo-Saxon Kingdom in Southern England.  He did this by constructing the first English navy of longboats manned by 60 oar men and fortified towns.  After forcing the Vikings to retreat, Alfred fostered a second era of literary culture in his court.  He invited Latin scholars from around the world as well as studied and translated Latin texts. 
       

        Alfred's successors were unable to fend off the Vikings, so the Island remained split between the Scandinavians in the North and the East, and the Anglo-Saxons in the South and Southeast.  
        The Anglo-Saxons dominated the history of England for 600 years.  In a period of such violence, confusion, upheaval, and strife, they managed to build the foundation of the culture of their land.  They provided its language, they began its literature, and they established traditions in law, government, and religion.  They were the first English people.
Picture
Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.