THE MIDDLE AGES
449-1485
THE MIDDLE AGES
• The Anglo-Saxon Period– 449-1066
• The Medieval Period– 1066-1485
THE GERMANIC INVASIONS
• Britons– Celtic People– Early inhabitants of Britain– Conquered by the Romans in the
first century– In 410, Roman army called back
to Rome• Britons raided and looted by
neighbors on the Continent
THE GERMANIC INVASIONS• The Jutes
– Peninsula of Jutland in Denmark
– First of many Germanic invaders
– Settled in what is now the county of Kent
THE GERMANIC INVASIONS
• The Angles and the Saxons
– Britons were no match for these invaders
– Brought with them a common language
THE GERMANIC INVASIONS
• The Angles & the Saxons– Created the Anglo-
Saxon England– Lasted until 1066– The Normans, led by
William, Duke of Normandy, conquered the country
THE GERMANIC INVASIONS
• Kingdoms of England– Kent– Northumbria– Mercia– Wessex
THE GERMANIC INVASIONS
• King Alfred of Wessex– Known as Alfred the
Great– 871-899– Led the Anglo-Saxons
against the Vikings
ANGLO-SAXON CIVILIZATION
Commonalities
• Common Language
• Heroic ideal• Admired men of
outstanding courage
• High ranking people received with courtesy
• Rulers generous to loyal
• Fate
ANGLO-SAXON CIVILIZATION
Kingdom
Tribe
Clan
Family Unit
ANGLO-SAXON CIVILIZATION
• Appreciation of beauty– More artistic than their
Norman conquerors– Vigorous minds
• Venerable Bede–Earliest English
historian–Earliest important
prose writer
THE ESTABLISHMENTOF CHRISTIANITY
• Missionaries from the continent helped to spread Christianity
• Saint Augustine– Came in 597– Established a monastery
at Canterbury– Became the first
Archbishop of Canterbury
THE ESTABLISHMENTOF CHRISTIANITY
• Abbess Hilda– Leader of a synod at
Whitby Abbey in 664• This synod united the
English church with Roman Christianity
ANGLO-SAXON LITERATURE
• Anglo-Saxon Literature was an oral art– Poems were sung (harp)– The poet was the memory and historian of the
tribe– Strong beat and alliteration
ANGLO-SAXON LITERATURE
• Heroic Tradition & Elegiac Tradition– Two most important traditions– Beowulf is the most important single poem– “Seafarer” is a good example of an elegiac lyric– Riddles were also common– Written in Latin (occasionally in English)
VENERABLE BEDE• 673-735• Greatest prose writer of the
time• Most learned and industrious
writer of the entire period• Author of A History of the
English Church and People (731)
• Regarded as the father of English history
ALFRED THE GREAT• 871-899• Most remarkable of all
English kings• Patron of scholars and
educators• Promoted the use of written
English instead of Latin• Anglo-Saxon Chronicle• Founded the first English
“public schools”
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