1.1. Ancient Britain

The very beginning

The first evidence in Britain of human life (Homo sapiens) dates from about 15,000 BC. By 3500 BC farming had largely superseded hunting, people began to build huts of stone and wood. Bronze, made by mixing copper with tin, was in use in Britain from about 2100 BC - weapons, tools and utensils were made of it.

Stonehenge (in Wiltshire) was built in about 1800 BC. It was probably used as a giant calculating machine to calculate the position of sunrise and sunset at different times of the year, it may also have been used to calculate the position of the stars.

During the period from the 6th to the 3rd century BC a people called Celts spread across Europe from the East to the West. Many Celtic tribes settled in Britain about 500 BC, and even earlier. Some of the tribes, called 'Britons', held most of the country, and the southern half of the island was named Britain after them (in ancient geography, after the time of Caesar, the name was 'Britannia’; now it is the poetic name for Great Britain and for a female personification of Great Britain).

The anient Celts were tall and blue-eyed, they wore long flowing moustaches but no beards. They lived in villages or on farms, although later there were also some larger settlements. They may have brought the technique of smelting iron. During the Iron Age the Celts lived in tribes ruled by chiefs. Some of them were very powerful military leaders and sometimes were called kings. Trade existed with the mainland Europe. By the 1st century AD foreign coins were introduced and British metal smiths began making their own.

Iron Age people believed their gods lived in natural places - in forests, on hilltops or by water. Their priests, known as druids, were an important part of society. They made human and animal sacrifices to the gods. Besides their pagan gods, they had many lesser gods. They also believed in many nameless spirits who lived in the rivers, lakes and thick forests. The Celts believed in another life after death, they believed that their souls passed after death from one body to another. The Druids had long white beards and wore white linen robes, they were able to cure people and foretell the future, acting as prophets.

Roman Britain

The Romans conquered a huge empire in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Led by Julius Caesar, Roman troops invaded the south of Britain in 55 BC and again the following year. The local tribes resisted Roman attack but eventually submitted and agreed to pay tributes to Rome.

The Romans returned, led by Claudius, in AD 43 and by AD 47 they had occupied an area stretching north as far as the Severn and Trent rivers.

British history of that period contains information on Boudicca's revolt. Boudicca was the queen of a British tribe and in AD 61 she led hi uprising against a tyrannical Roman governor. The revolt was suppressed and she committed suicide. Romans stayed until AD 410.

Scotland (Caledonia) remained hostile and unconquered. The Romans never tried to conquer Ireland.

The Romans brought writing and a sophisticated legal system into Britain. They introduced the Alphabet the British use today, and almost half the words in modern English derive from Latin. They created new towns (some up to 50,000 people), and introduced drain-systems, houses with glass windows, and a form of central heating. One of the oldest buildings in Britain is the Roman light-house, or Pharos, at Dover. Hadrian's Wall was built by the Romans in 128 AD to keep wild tribes of people in the North. There are many other Roman remains in Britain, for example, baths in Bath, and remains of houses and castle walls in York. Also, long straight roads were built to move the troops rapidly through forest and swamp. And so trade and communications were improved. The sites of old Roman camps became centers of trade. Roman influence is always evident in names of towns ending with -caster, -chister, because castrum in Latin denoted a fort, and castra - a camp. Introduced were new types of food and flowers. Once the Romans had departed, the civilization they left behind gradually fell into decay.

The Romans withdrew their troops from Britain in AD 410 because the army was needed to prevent barbarian invasions in mainland Europe.

BRITAIN IN ANGLO-SAXON TIMES

In the 5th century Britain was invaded by Angles (a people from northern Germany, many of whom settled in the north and east of England), Saxons (a group of north Germanic people who conquered most of Britain) and Jutes (a Germanic people originated in Jutland in Denmark, they occupied Kent in about AD 450).

Many native Britons fled to Wales, Scotland, Cornwall and Ireland.

By the 7th century England consisted of seven kingdoms which competed for supremacy. The strong kingdoms controlled their weaker neighbours. In the 7th century Northumbria was the strongest but Mercia then became dominant under King Offa (757-796). Offa was the first to call himself "King of the English". Later, in the 9th century, Wessex became dominant under King Alfred the Great (871-899).

Saxon Kings were supported by warrior nobles; there were free peasants and also some slaves, many of whom were origi-iiiilly Britons.

The Vikings, seafarers from Scandinavia, attacked northern Europe in the 8th century. Danish Vikings reached Britain in 789 and began their control over a large territory. But in 878 King Alfred defeated them at the Battle of Edington, he established a strong army, built fortified towns (burghs), built up a fleet of ships, began reviving learning. He captured London and was accepted as King everywhere except the Danelaw (eastern England, where Danes lived).

Alfred's grandson Athelstan (925-939) seized the Danelaw in 926.

But great though Alfred's military achievements were, his real greatness lay not in war, but in the arts of peace: he started a court school to educate the nobility in reading and writing English, he insisted that the clergy should learn Latin properly as this was the language of the Church, he invited craftsmen and scholars to his court, he translated the medieval books on history and philosophy thus giving the English their first literature. The 'Anglo-Saxon Chronicle', a yearly account of events, was probably begun during his reign.

The country was ruled by the Anglo-Saxons until 1013 when they finally surrendered to the King of Denmark. When the Danish royal line died out in 1042, the Anglo-Saxon line returned - Edward (1042-1066) became king. He was known as ' the Confessor', because of his piety. He had no children and when he died in 1066, three men claimed the throne, one of them being William, Duke of Normandy.

THE NORMANS

The Normans, or 'northmen', were descended from Vikings who had settled in northern France during the 9th century.

In 1066 King Edward the Confessor (1042-1066) of England died and was succeeded by Harold, Earl of Wessex. However there were two other claimants to the throne: William, Duke of Normandy and Harold Hardrada of Norway. Both invaded England: Harold - the north, but was defeated, and William - three days later - invaded in the south with the best cavalry in Europe. The Battle of Hastings was one of the most decisive battles in English history, and it brought victory to William who became the English king - William I (1066-1087), known as 'the Conqueror'. He also controlled most of Wales despite uprisings by the Welsh princes, and subdued rebels in the north, but he failed to make the Scottish king accept him as his overlord though he had made raids on Scotland too.

The Normans introduced a new social system into England which is known as feudalism. William I organized a strong central rovernment in which Normans held most positions of power. He retained the Anglo-Saxon sheriffs as his representatives in the shires. They kept law and order and collected taxes. The nobles paid dues to the king. The knights paid dues to their lord and fought with him in the king's army. There were two types of peasant. Free peasants owned or rented land; villeins paid their lord dues and worked on his land as well as their own.

After the death of William I in 1089, all subsequent kings of England were related to him in some way - his eldest son Robert in Normandy and his second son William II (1087-1100) in England, known as Rufus (from the redness of his face), who was succeeded by a third brother, Henry I (1100-1135). There were plots and fights for the throne between the rivals in that period, including the civil war in 1139 - 1153, after which", in 1154, Henry of Anjou became king - Henry II (1154-1189) - who was the first of the Plantagenet kings.