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| 1066 was a
very important year in the History of England: The Normans invaded the
island and defeated the Anglo-Saxons, creating a new country in Europe,
a single and powerful nation with a strong capital city. But what was England
like before this year? Who lived there in the old days?
Well, Britain has been receiving immigrants from different parts of Europe since the year 4000 BC !! The Celts started colonising the island in small groups in the 8th century BC, and Celtic migrations were constant since that date until Britain developed a full "Celtic character" in the year 200 BC. By that time Britain was inhabited by many different Celtic tribes. And then, the Romans arrived... Iulius Caesar invaded Britain in the year 54 BC, establishing the first big contact between the island and the continent. Caesar's relationships with the Celtic tribes (called "Britons") were quite good, but in AD 43 Emperor Claudius decided to conquer the island, and the Britons couldn't stop the Romans: they built roads, founded towns, and forced the cult of their gods. England and Wales formed a Roman province in the year 74, but the problem was Scotland: too far, too cold and too dangerous inhabitants (Some of them, called "Picts" painted their faces like"Braveheart"!). The Romans needed their troops in Europe, so they decided to build a huge wall separating Scotland from the Roman world, called "Hadrian's wall" (130 AD). However, the Romans were interested in the South of Scotland, and they tried to be friends of the terrible Picts and Scots: treaties in the 3rd century made it possible. In the 5th-6th century Angles, Saxons and Jutes arrived in Britain, and at the same time the Roman influence started to disappear. These tribes came from Northern Germany and Southern Denmark. At the beginning the Celtic Britons stopped them, but in less than a century the Germanic invaders were so many that the Celts were forced to migrate to the west and north : That's why Cornwall, Wales, Ireland and Scotland are still called "Celtic" countries today. These Germanic peoples continued to arrive throughout the 5th and 6th centuries, forming the South Saxon Kingdom (or Sussex), the West Saxon kingdom (or Wessex), and the East Saxon kingdom (or Essex). Angles and Saxons formed a country with many small kingdoms. If you have a look at the map at the bottom of this page you will see that the Anglo-Saxon area is almost the same as today's England, while the west and north of the island was controlled by other tribes, mainly Celtic ( in green in the map). The Angles gave their name to "England" and the "English" language, and in the 7th century the notion of an "English nation" divided into small states was very strong. And then... the Vikings started their invasion of the island: first with raids at the end of the 8th century: they arrived with their ships, attacked, burned and destroyed many towns and villages on the East coast from Scotland to Canterbury, killing and robbing. In the 9th century the Vikings were a terrible problem! Soon they controlled the kingdoms of Northumbria, Mercia and Wessex (in the south). But in the 10th century the Anglo-Saxons attacked and started their "reconquest", and before the year 1000 the Viking influence had come to an end. York (Jorvik in viking language) was the last Viking centre in Britain. Well, Britain was now free of the Viking terror, and the Anglo-Saxon kings were happy. But not very far, in the north of France, the Normans were ready to attack ... |
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Anglo-Saxon England |
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