The Story of the Times 4491485 British Lit

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The Story of the Times (449-1485) British Lit

• Historical Background
• The Conquest of Britain
• Between 800 and 600 BC 2 groups of Celts invaded
  the British Isles, one called the Britons (who
  settled on the big island-Britain), the other the
  Gaels (who settled on the small island-Ireland)
• They were farmers and hunters settled into
  clans and had disputes settled by the Druids
• In 55 BC the Romans invaded (Julius Caesar)

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• 100 years later the true conquest of Britain was
  complete- camps became towns
• Roman rule lasted more than 300 years
• Romans left to defend Rome in 407 AD
• Next invaders were Anglo-Saxons from what is now
  Germany
• Coming of Christianity
• During the 4th century- Romans had introduced
  Christianity to Britain

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• 100 years later (500 AD) the Celts fled and took
  Christianity with them
• In the 6th Century, Christianity was established
  and monasteries were established in the north
• By 597 the south was converted and a monastery
  was set up in Canterbury
• The church promoted peace and helped to unify the
  English

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• Danish Invaders
• in the 9th century the Vikings invaded (Norse
  took the north)
• Danes took the south
• Vikings were horrible, burning manuscripts and
  monasteries, stealing religious artifacts,
  burning villages, etc.
• By 871 Alfred the Great resisted Danish
  encroachment and England was formally divided

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• Alfred is credited with preserving Danish
  civilization in England and a rebirth of learning
  and education
• The line of Alfred was disrupted by the Danes
  again and was restored in 1042 with Alfreds
  descendent Edward the Confessor (deeply
  Christian)
• His death in 1066 ended the Anglo-Saxon period

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• Normans cane next-descendents of Vikings- who had
  invaded France-William -Duke of Normandy (brother
  of Edward the Confessor) said that Edward had
  promised the English throne to him- even though
  the Saxons had picked Harold II
• William crossed the channel to claim the throne-
  BATTLE OF HASTINGS- William won

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• William ruled as a Norman-controlled the govt.
  and made it a feudal society- exchange of
  property for personal service (all land belonged
  to the King who would give it out as he saw fit)
  his friends would also get titles with the
  land- Baron
• Each Baron would supply knights and taxes to the
  king
• The knights were given smaller parcels of
  land-manors and those who worked the manors were
  serfs (lowest class)

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• Reign of the Plantagenets- Norman rule ended in
  1154 when Henry Plantagenet came to the throne as
  Henry II- known as one of Englands most able
  kings
• His legal concerns led him into direct conflict
  with the Church-he appointed Thomas Becket to be
  Archbishop of Canterbury expecting him to go
  along with the monarchy- but he didnt he
  appealed to the Pope and Henry was enraged
• His knights misunderstood his anger and killed
  Becket in his cathedral

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• Henry tried to atone for the killing by making a
  pilgrimage to Canterbury- this became a common
  English means of showing devotion
• The Magna Carta
• the next king, Richard I- had many military
  operations over seas- costing a TON of money-
  King John inherited the debt who then taxed the
  Barons more heavily- they resisted and England
  was brought to the brink of Civil War- to avoid
  more trouble, John agree to certain conditions of
  the Barons by putting his seal to the Magna Carta

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• In the Magna Carta the king promised not to tax
  without first meeting with the barons- marks the
  beginning of constitutional govt.
• Lancasters, Yorks, Tudors
• During the 14th and 15 centuries the House of
  Lancaster replaced the Plantagenets and the House
  of Lancaster (Henry IV, Henry V, Henry VI) was
  replaced by the House of York

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• Decline of the Feudal System
• After the Black Plague (1348-1349) labor shortage
  increased the peasants value- landowners began
  paying cash greater freedom for the
  workerscomplaints about taxes, etcrevolt and
  called for an end to serfdom- revolt was
  crushedpeasants still unhappy and treated badly

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• The War of the Roses began in 1453 pitting the
  Yorks vs. Lancasters- Henry Tudor (later Henry
  VII) a cousin and supporter of the Lancasters
  killed Richard III (York) was crowned king,
  married Richards niece and united the houses of
  York and Lancaster- ending the War of the Roses

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• Saxon Literature- spoken verse, incantations-
  poems would celebrate victories
• 2 catergories- Heroic poetry (Beowulf) Elegiac
  poetry (lamenting the death of loved ones and the
  past- The Wanderer)
• Beowulf is considered the national epic (composed
  in English) of England- about a pagan warrior

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• Before Alfred the Great- all literature was
  composed in Latin (English was considered
  vulgar)- the greatest English Latin scholar was
  the Venerable Bede (A History of the English
  Church and People) chronicles England from Roman
  invasion to 735 AD
• Literature of the Middle Ages
• Lyric poems fall into 2 categories secular and
  religious

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• Secular poetry deals with love and nature- often
  ballads, (Robin Hood)
• During early Norman times plays were part of the
  religious service- plays moved into the
  marketplace over time (miracle or mystery plays-
  retold stories from the Bible)
• Morality plays (15th century) depicted the life
  of an ordinary person and taught a moral lesson

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• An Emerging National History
• 1454 a German silversmith, Johann Guttenberg,
  perfected a process of printing from movable
  type- printing spread rapidly throughout Europe
  and in 1476 William Caxton set up the fist
  movable type press in England- one of the first
  projects was The Canterbury Tales- Geoffrey
  Chaucer written in middle English