1. THE MIDDLE AGES

2. THE MIDDLE AGES The Anglo-Saxon Period The Medieval Period 449-1066

3. 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

4. THE GERMANIC INVASIONS
The Jutes
Peninsula of Jutland in Denmark
First of many Germanic invaders
Settled in what is now the county of Kent

5. THE GERMANIC INVASIONS
The Angles and the Saxons
Britons were no match for these invaders
Brought with them a common language

6. 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

7. THE GERMANIC INVASIONS
Kingdoms of England
Kent
Northumbria
Mercia
Wessex

8. THE GERMANIC INVASIONS
King Alfred of Wessex
Known as Alfred the Great
Led the Anglo-Saxons against the Vikings

9. ANGLO-SAXON CIVILIZATION Commonalities
High ranking people received with courtesy
Rulers generous to loyal
Fate
Common Language
Heroic ideal
Admired men of outstanding courage

10. ANGLO-SAXON CIVILIZATION

11. ANGLO-SAXON CIVILIZATION
Appreciation of beauty
More artistic than their Norman conquerors
Vigorous minds
Venerable Bede
Earliest English historian
Earliest important prose writer

12. THE ESTABLISHMENT OF 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

13. THE ESTABLISHMENT OF CHRISTIANITY
Abbess Hilda
Leader of a synod at Whitby Abbey in 664
This synod united the English church with Roman Christianity

14. 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

15. 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)

16. 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

17. 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”