From Legend to History Notes

Page 2-14

Conquest of Britain
- 800- 600 BC 2 groups of Celts invaded British isles
- 55 BC invasion by Romans; rule of 300 years
- 407 AD Anglo-Saxon invaders

Coming of Christianity
- Romans introduced Christianity to Britain
- 597 AD Saint Augustine --> conversions --> monasteries--> peace/unification

Danish Invasion
- Norse and Danes invaded & destroyed
- 871 AD Alfred "the Great" made truce with Danish
- England divided; but Danish gained control again
- end of Anglo-Saxon period of history

Norman Conquest
- William of Normandy killed Saxon Harold II
- suppression --> confiscation --> feudalism --> serfs

Reign of Plantagenets
- Norman rule ends 1154 AD; Henry II founded house of Plantagenets
- conflict with church= death of Becket= pilgrimage to shrine

Magna Carta
- Richard I --> King John --> debts --> taxes on barons
- Magna Carta= no taxes w/o first meeting w/ barons= beginning of const. gov't

Lancasters, Yorks, & Tudors
- 1399: Plantagenets --> Lancaster v. Yorks= War of Roses
- Henry Tudor (L) killed York king; married (Y) niece= united both houses

Decline of Feudal System
- Black Death --> labor shortage --> valued peasants --> sense of freedom--> revolts
- free peasantry, no more serfs

Anglo- Saxon Literature
- verse & incantations; heroic poetry (warriors) & elegiac poetry (death)
- Beowulf (heroic poetry)= legendary warrior; 1st in Eng.
- prose --> monks (Latin)  *The Anglo- Saxon Chronicles*
- old eng.= earliest form of our language

Literature of Eng. Middle Ages
- dramas= romances, knights, medieval life; miracle plays
- morality plays= ordinary people, moral lessons

An Emerging National Identity
- 1454 Gutenberg movable type press (Caxton)
- 1st project= printing Geoffrey Chaucer's work
- Middle English (national identity)

Geoffrey Chaucer
- The Canterbury Tales ---> realism ---> compassionate humor
- portrayed cross section of medieval society

Romances, Lyrics, & Ballads
- romances= adventures of knights *King Arthur*
- lyres (harp) while reciting verse ---> lyric poetry : secular and religious
- secular= love & nature      religious= hymn of supplication
- ballad= folk song story *Robin Hood*