1. The Anglo-Saxon Period and the Middle Ages Introduction to the Literary Period
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Fast Facts
Key Concept: The Anglo-Saxon Legacy
Key Concept: The Normans Invade Britain
Key Concept: Life in Medieval Society
Your Turn

2. The Anglo-Saxon Period and the Middle Ages Fast Facts
Historical Highlights
The Romans invade Britain in 55 B.C. and create a four-hundred-year period of political stability.
King Alfred and his descendants unite Anglo-Saxon England in the late ninth century.
William the Conqueror defeats the Anglo-Saxons in 1066 and introduces feudalism to Britain.

3. The Anglo-Saxon Period and the Middle Ages Fast Facts
Literary Highlights
The brooding fatalism of pagan Anglo-Saxon culture gives the first British epic, Beowulf, its melancholy tone and stress on earthly heroism.
The bards ensure stories have an important position in early British culture.
Christian monks copy ancient manuscripts, preserving classical and Anglo-Saxon texts.
Chivalry gives rise to a new form of literature, the romance.
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4. Key Concept: The Anglo-Saxon Legacy
History of the Times
After the legions of Rome conquered the Celts, Roman armies kept Britain free from invaders.
Troubles at home forced Rome to evacuate its soldiers in A.D. 409, opening Britain to invasion.

5. Key Concept: The Anglo-Saxon Legacy
55 B.C.
Hadrian’s Wall
Julius Caesar invades Britain.
A.D. 43
Celts defeated by Claudius.
Romans build walls, villas, baths, roads.
A.D. 409
Romans evacuate their troops.
Britain left vulnerable to attack.
Roman ruins
Central government breaks down.

6. Key Concept: The Anglo-Saxon Legacy
Celts in Britain—before fourth century A.D.
Britain home to several Celtic tribes.
Britain named for one Celtic tribe—the Brythons.
Celtic religion a form of animism.
Druids were Celtic priests.
Stonehenge

7. Key Concept: The Anglo-Saxon Legacy
Jutes
Angles
Saxons
Celts
A.D. 449 Angles, Saxons, and Jutes sweep ashore from Germany. The invaders push the Celts into the far west of Britain.

8. Key Concept: The Anglo-Saxon Legacy
History of the Times
Angle and Saxon clans impose warrior culture on the island for six centuries.
Until ninth century, Britain is subject to constant invasions and battles.
King Alfred unites Anglo-Saxons against the invading Danes.
The spread of Christianity helps unify the Anglo-Saxons.

9. Key Concept: The Anglo-Saxon Legacy
Anglo-Saxon Society
Kinship groups led by strong warrior chief.
Constant threat of war bonded local clans through harsh living conditions.
People farmed, established local governments, and produced fine craftwork.
English emerged as a written language.

10. Key Concept: The Anglo-Saxon Legacy
Invasion of the Danes
The Danes were one of the fierce Viking peoples who crossed the North Sea in their dragon-prowed boats, plundering and destroying everything in their path.

11. Key Concept: The Anglo-Saxon Legacy
8th–9th centuries
Vikings called Danes invade Britain.
871 Alfred of Wessex is king of England.
878 King Alfred unifies the Anglo and Saxon clans against the Danes.
King Sweyn and his Danish troops arrive in England, from a manuscript (c. 14th century)
England becomes a nation.

12. Key Concept: The Anglo-Saxon Legacy
Around A.D. 400
Christian monks settle in Britain.
Christianity and Anglo-Saxon culture co-exist.
Christianity’s hope of an afterlife becomes more appealing than Anglo-Saxon religion.
By A.D. 699
Christianity replaces British pagan religions.

13. Key Concept: The Anglo-Saxon Legacy
Anglo-Saxon religion
Norse god Thor
offered no hope of an afterlife
valued earthly virtues of bravery, loyalty, generosity, and friendship
was similar to what we call Norse mythology
Thunor
Thor
Woden
Odin
Weekday
Anglo-Saxon god
Norse god
Wednesday
Thursday

14. Key Concept: The Anglo-Saxon Legacy
Literature of the Times
Anglo-Saxon literature is rooted in oral tradition.
Poetry, like fighting, hunting, and farming, had great significance.
Bards relied on sound devices and repeated phrases to remember their tales.
Old English epic poem Beowulf combines Germanic heroism and Anglo-Saxon fatalism.

15. Key Concept: The Anglo-Saxon Legacy
The Anglo-Saxon bards
also called scops
strummed harp as they sang
sang of heroic deeds
were often warriors
Why were the scops important?
Anglo-Saxons did not believe in an afterlife.
Anglo-Saxon harp
Warriors gained fame and immortality through songs.

16. Key Concept: The Anglo-Saxon Legacy
Literature of the Times
English emerges as a written language.
Christian monks copy ancient manuscripts, preserving classical and Anglo-Saxon texts.
Historical poems in Anglo-Saxon Chronicle detail events of early English history.

17. Key Concept: The Anglo-Saxon Legacy
The Book of Kells
In 760 A.D. monks began creating The Book of Kells, an illuminated manuscript of Latin Gospels.
This page reflects the opening words of St. Matthew’s Gospel.

18. Key Concept: The Anglo-Saxon Legacy
Comprehension Check
What event led to the Anglo-Saxon invasion of the British provinces?
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19. Key Concept: The Normans Invade Britain
History of the Times
In the Norman invasion of 1066, William the Conqueror defeats the Anglo-Saxons.
To squash revolts, William divided the land among his loyal barons and built castles around the country.
By establishing a social structure called feudalism, William created a hierarchy of rulers under one lord and a network of thousands of knights sworn to serve him.

20. Key Concept: The Normans Invade Britain
William the Conqueror
a duke from Normandy, France, claimed the English throne had been promised to him
crosses the English Channel with a huge army
defeats King Harold and the Anglo-Saxons at the Battle of Hastings

21. Key Concept: The Normans Invade Britain
The Normans Change England
land divided among William’s followers from Normandy
more contact with European civilization
French replaces English as language of the ruling class
Normans add law and order to Anglo-Saxon’s democratic and artistic achievements

22. Key Concept: The Normans Invade Britain
King
Lords powerful landowners
Vassals did work or military service for feudal lords in exchange for land
Serfs servants to lords and vassals, bound to their master’s land
Feudalism
social, economic, and military system
based on a religious concept of rank
some vassals appointed by king in return for loyalty
lords (powerful vassals) appoint their own vassals

23. Key Concept: The Normans Invade Britain
Knights in Shining Armor
provided military service to lords
often the sons of nobles
began training at an early age
wore very heavy armor into battle
followed a code of chivalry

24. Key Concept: The Normans Invade Britain
Literature of the Times
Old English disappears from laws and literature after William makes French the language of the state.
Reflecting the chasm between the British masses and the Norman rulers, literature was usually written in Latin or Norman French after 1066.
Bibles and gospels created in monasteries were celebrated for their brilliant illuminated manuscripts, all created by hand.

25. Key Concept: The Normans Invade Britain
Comprehension Check
How was William the Conqueror able to form such a powerful army following his victory in 1066?
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26. Key Concept: Life in Medieval Society
History of the Times
Medieval society was dependent on strictly defined social classes—nobility, knights, priests, merchants, and peasants.
The contributions of each group affected how well villages and towns prospered.
Villages, built around castles, were the fundamental center of medieval society.
Social mobility was nearly impossible in the Middle Ages. Social rank remained fixed.

27. Key Concept: Life in Medieval Society
The Middle Ages
This illustration from the Golf Book of Hours shows peasants taking a break from their work in the fields.
The bulk of society consisted of laborers. Peasants owned their land; serfs did not. Serfs were little more than slaves to their overlords.

28. Key Concept: Life in Medieval Society
Growth of Cities and Towns
most merchants and artisans lived in villages
merchant class—people earn their own money
villagers viewed themselves as having more freedom for art
townspeople’s tastes influence arts, ballads, plays, and so on

29. Key Concept: Life in Medieval Society
Social Status
Regardless of how hard a merchant worked or how much money an artisan earned, social status was fixed.
A family’s only hope was to apprentice a son to a higher vocation or “marry up” a daughter to a husband from a higher class.

30. Key Concept: Life in Medieval Society
Literature of the Times
Some medieval writers began to use the vernacular, or language of the people.
Works written in English, such as ballads and romances, helped to define England’s identity.
A new literary form—the romance—becomes popular, reflecting the concepts of courtly love and chivalry.
Scholarly works from monasteries and universities reflect society’s interest in moral instruction and morality plays.

31. Key Concept: Life in Medieval Society
The Romance
new genre of literature
inspired by legends of chivalrous knights
hero goes on quest to conquer evil enemy
hero often has magical help
Malory’s Le Morte d’Arthur (from a 14th c manuscript)
includes stories of distant, idealized courtly love

32. Key Concept: Life in Medieval Society
Courtly Love
The knight
adored the lady and was inspired by her
glorified the lady in words
The lady
remained pure and out of reach
was set above her admirer

33. Key Concept: Life in Medieval Society
Code of Chivalry
A code of conduct that covered
whom to defend—knight’s lord, the king, and the Christian faith
how to treat a lady— courtly love
how to help others
how to resist the urge to run away if captured

34. Key Concept: Life in Medieval Society
Comprehension Check
Describe the trends in English literature during the Middle Ages. Were they reflective of life at the time?
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35. The Anglo-Saxon Period and the Middle Ages Introduction to the Literary Period
Your Turn
Copy the Academic Vocabulary list into a notebook.
Try to use the words as you outline the main ideas of the selections in the collection that follows.
concept status
diverse attribute
emphasis
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36. The End