Anglo-Saxons

500-1066

The Anglo-Saxonsc. 450-1066

Discuss Beowulf• What was this Germanic culture like according to

the poem? Consider..– Values– Settlement of disputes– Entertainment– Fighting– Women– Aristocracy and peasants– The socioeconomic class of heroes

Anglo-Saxon

Kingdoms c. 700

Monastic scribes

Written Laws

Elevated the Prestige of

Kings

The Ismere Diploma

736

Charter during Aethelbald’s

reign716-757

Anglo-Saxon Charter

Chirograph

Tribal Hidage c. 700-720• Hwinca syfan þusend hyda. 7,000 • Ciltern sætna feower þusend hyda. 4,000 • Hendrica þryu þusend hyda ond fif hund hyda. 3,500 • Unecungaga twelf hund hyda. 1,200 • Arosætna syx hund hyda. 600 • Færpinga þreo hund hyda. is in Middelenglum Færpinga 300 • Bilmiga syx hund hyda. 600 • Eastwilla syx hund hyda. 600 • Westwilla syx hund hyda. 600 • East engle þrittig þusend hida. 30,000 • Eastsexena syofon þusend hyda. 7,000 • Cantwarena fiftene þusend hyda. 15,000 • Suþsexena syufan þusend hyda. 7,000 • Westsexena hund þusend hyda. 100,000

Coins of Offa

Anointing &

Coronation Raised the Prestige of

Kings

Anglo-Saxon

Kingdoms c. 700

Viking Invasions

of the British Isles

Viking Invasion 793-1066

Alfred the Great

871-899

http://itsa.ucsf.edu/~snlrc/britannia/maldon/maldonbattle.html

The Burghal Clusters

Guthrum’s Peacec. 886

Early Shire Structure

approx. 30 shires. C. 950

Royal Writ

King Edgar, c. 973

Cnut the Greatr. 1016-1035

Danish King of England

The Norman Conquest

1066

European Expansion1000-1300

Physical Map of Europe

Moldboard plow

Agricultural Patterns

throughout Europe

c. 1300

The Hanseatic League c. 1300

Monarchies became

increasingly powerfulby 1300

Medieval Universities

French Gothic at

St. Chapelle

The Annunciation

Siege of Jerusalem,

1099

Anglo-Saxons

• Migrations – begin from Continent in 5th century– initiate battles with Britons

• Originally adamant pagans• Converted through domestic proselytization

– Augustine of Canterbury arrives 597– Ethelbert of Kent and Queen Bertha– Establishment of Roman Christianity in Britain– eventual conflict with Irish Christianity

Christianity and Literacy

• Clerical literati• Written legal codes

– Ethelbert c. 600– Alfred c. 900

• Written charters• Formal wills and writs

The Northumbrian Renaissancec.625- c.790

• Illuminated Manuscripts• Intellectual revival

– Bede– Alcuin

• Conversion– Mercia– Continental Saxons, including Frisia

• Composition of Beowulf?

The Venerable Bede

Alfred the Great (849-99)

• Unification of Southern England• Establishment of Uniform Legal Code• Reinvigoration of Learning• Danish Invasions (793- c.900)

– Danish cultural influence– Establishment of the Danelaw c. 900– Unification of Mercians and West Saxons– Danish rule ends 1042

English Society c. 1066

• Political Unity and Administrative System • English Identity

– Anglo-Saxon– Danish/Scandinavian

• Thoroughly Christian• Uniform Currency• Established Vernacular Tradition

Summary

• The conquests of the Franks, Anglo-Saxons, and Normans had an enduring impact on the formation of the political boundaries of Europe

• Similarly the achievements of the Celtic Church during its golden age had an enduring impact on the spread of monasticism and the preservation of texts throughout Europe; ultimately, however, Celtic Christianity gradually receded as the papacy formed an enduring relationship with the Franks