Study the map of Europe.
What countries lie close to the UK?
The story
of prehistoric Britain began around 2,000 years
ago when the first humans arrived there. Those
people were called the Celts.
The
earliest humans were hunter-gatherers.
They survived by hunting animals and finding food to eat. Then, very gradually
people learned new skills. First they learned to herd animals and grow crops. Later they discovered the
secrets of making bronze and iron. Prehistoric people couldn't
read or write, but they were astonishing
builders. Their tombs, forts and monuments have survived for
thousands of years.
The prehistoric period is divided into three ‘ages’. They are known as the Stone Age, the Bronze Age and the Iron Age.
By the end
of the Iron Age many people
lived in hill forts. The forts were surrounded by walls and ditches and warriors defended
their people from enemy attacks.
Inside the
hill forts, families lived in round houses. These were simple one-roomed homes
with a pointed thatched roof and walls made from wattle and daub (a mixture of
mud and twigs-мазанка).
In the
centre of a round house was a fire where meals were cooked in a cauldron [казан]. Around the walls
were jars for storing food and beds made from straw covered with animal skins.
Iron Age farmers grew crops and vegetables.
They kept geese, goats and pigs and had large herds of cows and flocks of
sheep. Some people worked as potters, carpenters and metalworkers. Men and boys
trained as warriors. They had to be prepared to fight at any time.
People in Iron Age Britain believed in
powerful spirits. They met to worship the spirits in a wood. Priests known
as druids led
religious ceremonies. They sacrificed animals and sometimes humans too!
How the Romans conquered Britain
Almost 100 years later, in AD43, the Roman
general Agricola launched
a new invasion. This time the Romans
conquered Britain.
How did the Celts fight back?
When the Romans invaded, the Celtic tribes had to decide whether
or not to fight back. If they made peace, they agreed to obey Roman laws and
pay taxes. In return, they could keep their kingdoms. However, some Celtic
leaders chose to fight.
In AD60, one leader who chose to fight was Queen
Boudica ˈbuːdɪkə of the Iceni ʌɪˈsiːni tribe. She
raised a huge army. She burnt the Roman towns of Colchester and London. The
Roman army turned back from their campaign in Wales to face Boudica. Even
though the Romans were outnumbered by Boudica's 200,000 warriors, they were
better trained and had better armour. Both sides clashed in a fierce battle,
but the Romans won.
Some
ancient Britons retreated to Cornwall,
Wales and Scotland, where they continued to follow their Celtic
customs. Many others decided not to move. They stayed on in Britain and learned
to live like the Romans.
Did the Romans conquer Scotland?
By
the end of the first century AD, Rome had most of southern Britain under its
control. However, it was a different story in Scotland - this was a much wilder
place. It was still controlled by fierce warrior tribes, who refused to bow to
the Roman Empire.
In Roman times, the area of Britain now known as Scotland was
called ‘Caledonia’, and the people were known as the ‘Caledonians’.
Back then, Caledonia was made up of groups of people or tribes.
Some tribes were happy to get on peacefully with the Romans, but others fought
back. The Emperor Hadrian ordered his soldiers
to build a wall between Roman Britain and Caledonia. In AD160 the Romans
made Hadrian’s Wall to
protect themselves from the Celtics attacks which were costing the Romans time
and money.
What was it like in Roman Britain?
When the Romans came to Britain they brought their way of life with
them.
The Romans built new towns. These were often protected by walls
and there was everything a citizen of Roman Britain would need inside - houses,
shops, meeting spaces, workshops, temples and bathhouses.
They also built grand country houses called 'villas'.
These had many rooms, some with beautifully painted walls, mosaic floors and
even central heating.
What
technology did the Romans bring?
The Romans were good at building roads and bridges,
but not so keen on machines. They had slaves to do the heavy
work and nasty job. To make sure
soldiers and supplies could move from town to town quickly, the Romans made
their roads as straight as possible.
Although they didn’t invent the arch, the Romans were the first
people to build arches into big buildings and aqueducts. Romans used aqueducts to
supply towns with water from springs, rivers or lakes. Aqueducts were like a
bridge with a stone channel to carry water on top.
The Romans liked to keep clean. Towns and forts had underground
drains to take away dirty water and sewage. The drain pipes were flushed with
water from the baths, so they didn't get too smelly. Fresh water and sewers are
important. Without them, people risk catching diseases.
The end of
the invasion
In AD410, the Roman Emperor Honorius sent a
goodbye letter to the people of Britain. He wrote, “fight bravely and defend
your lives...you are on your own now”. The city of Rome was under attack and
the empire was falling apart, so the Romans had to leave to take care of
matters back home.
After they left, the country fell into chaos.
Native tribes and foreign invaders battled each other for power. Many of the
Roman towns in Britain crumbled away as people went back to living in the
countryside.
Summary
But even after they were gone, the
Romans left their mark all over the country. They gave new towns, plants,
animals, a new religion and ways of reading and counting. Even the word
‘Britain’ came from the Romans.
.
After the Romans, the next group of people to
settle in Britain were the Anglo-Saxons. They were farmers, not townspeople.
They abandoned many of the Roman towns and set up new kingdoms.
Lesson 2
Who were the Anglo-Saxons?
The last Roman soldiers left Britain in 410. New people came in
ships across the North Sea – the Anglo-Saxons. The Anglo-Saxon
age in Britain was from around AD410 to 1066.
They were a mix of tribes from Germany, Denmark and the
Netherlands. The three biggest were the Angles, the Saxons and the Jutes.
The land they settled in was 'Angle-land', or England.
If we use the modern names for the countries they came
from, the Saxons were German-Dutch, the Angles were southern Danish, and the
Jutes were northern Danish.
What jobs did the Anglo-Saxons do?
Life on an Anglo-Saxon farm was hard work. All the family had to
help out - men, women and children.
Men cut down trees to clear land for ploughing and to sow crops.
Farmers used oxen to pull ploughs up and down long strip fields. Children with
dogs herded cattle and sheep.
The Anglo-Saxons were great craftsmen too. Metalworkers made
iron tools, knives and swords. The Anglo-Saxons were skilled jewellers, who
made beautiful brooches, beads and ornaments from gold, gemstones and glass.
The Anglo-Saxons had armies, but their soldiers didn't fight all
the time. After a battle, they went home as soon as they could and looked after
their animals and crops.
Who was Alfred the Great?
Each group of Anglo-Saxon settlers had a leader
or war-chief. A strong and successful leader became 'cyning', the Anglo-Saxon
word for 'king'. Each king ruled a kingdom and
led a small army.
There were many famous Anglo-Saxon kings, but the most famous of
all was Alfred, one of the only kings in British history to be
called 'Great'.
He fought the Vikings and then made peace so that English
and Vikings settled down to live together. He encouraged people to learn and he
tried to govern well and fairly.
Alfred made good laws and believed education was important. He
had books translated from Latin into English, so people could read
them. He also told monks to begin writing the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle.
To help protect his kingdom from Viking attacks, Alfred built
forts and walled towns known as ‘burhs’. He also built warships to guard
the coast from raiders and organised his army into two parts. While half the
men were at home on their farms, the rest were ready to fight Vikings.
Did
Anglo-Saxons tell stories?
Very few Anglo-Saxons could read or write. All
their stories were told to them by their friends and family.
On dark winter days, people gathered in the great hall around a
log fire. They listened to stories and poems, feasted and sang
songs.
They ate roast meats with bread and fruit, and they drank ale or
a strong drink made from honey called mead. People often drank too
much, so feasts were usually noisy and sometimes ended in
fights!
Anglo-Saxons loved tales about brave warriors and their adventures.
A favourite story told how Beowulf, a heroic prince, battled the
fierce man-eating monster Grendel.
The
story of Beowulf was first written down around the 8th or 9th century,
but long before that the story was told around the fire.
Lesson 3 Who
were the Vikings?
The Viking age in European history was from about AD700 to 1100.
During this period many Vikings left their homelands in Scandinavia and
travelled by longboat to other countries, like Britain and Ireland.
When the people of Britain first saw the Viking longboats they
came down to the shore to welcome them. However, the Vikings fought the local
people, stealing from churches and burning buildings to the ground.
The people of Britain called the invaders 'Danes', but
they came from Norway and Sweden as well as Denmark.
What was life like in Viking Britain?
Their longships brought families who settled in
villages. There were farmers, who kept animals and grew crops, and skilful
craft workers, who made beautiful metalwork and wooden carvings. Everyone lived
together in a large home called a longhouse.
With just one room for all the family to share
with their animals, a longhouse would have been a crowded and smelly place to
live. There was no bathroom inside, but the Vikings kept clean by washing in a
wooden bucket or beside a stream.
The Vikings also brought with them their way of life and
beliefs. The Norse people worshipped many gods and loved to tell stories of
magic and monsters around the fire.
What happened to the Anglo-Saxons and Vikings?
Around the end of the 8th century, Anglo-Saxon history tells of
many Viking raids. These marked the start of a long struggle between the Anglo-Saxons and
the Vikings for control of Britain.
In the 9th century, the English king Alfred the Great stopped
the Vikings taking over all of England. He agreed to peace with them and some
Vikings settled down to live in their own area of eastern England, called the Danelaw.
The Anglo-Saxons and Vikings became neighbours in Britain,
but they didn’t always get along peacefully.
In 954, the Anglo-Saxons drove out the last Viking king
of Jorvik. Later, the Vikings agreed to be ruled by England's king.
The most powerful Anglo-Saxon king was Edgar.
Welsh and Scottish rulers obeyed him as well as the English, and his court at
Winchester was one of the most splendid in Europe. Anglo-Saxon England reached
its peak during Edgar's reign.
Who was King Cnut?
In Viking times, a king had to be strong to fight and keep his
land. In the early 11th century, England had a weak king. His name was Ethelred
the Unready.
Ethelred tried to stop the Vikings from invading by giving them
gold and land. This money was called Danegeld. But it didn’t work –
the Vikings took the gold and attacked anyway.
In 1002, Ethelred's soldiers killed many Viking families in the
Danelaw. This made King Sweyn of Denmark angry. He
invaded England and Ethelred had to flee to France.
In 1016
Sweyn's son Cnut became king of England. For the next few
years England was part of his Viking empire, along with Denmark and Norway. He
ruled well.
What happened when the Normans came?
When Edward died in 1066, the English Witan
chose Harold as the next king.
Duke William of Normandy and Harald Hardrada, the King of
Norway, were not happy with the decision. They believed they had a claim to the
throne.
In 1066, England was invaded twice. First, a Norwegian army led
by Harald Hardrada landed in the north. Harold killed Hardrada in a battle at
Stamford Bridge in Yorkshire.
Three days later William's Norman army landed in Sussex. Harold
hurried south and the two armies fought at the Battle of Hastings (14
October 1066). The Normans won, Harold was killed, and William became king.
This brought an end to Anglo-Saxon and Viking rule. A new
age of Norman rule in England had started.
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