Invaders in Britain

INVADERS

1) THE CELTS
ü About 400 BC
ü From Central Europe
ü Pottery
ü Tribal troop (tribe)
ü Women – warriors too
ü Weapons: sword, spear, javelin, chariot (fighting vehicle)
ü Leaders: druids – massacred by Romans (61 AD)
ü Religion: polytheistic
o Sacrifice of horses or people

ü Now: Welsh and Scots

2) THE ROMANS
ü Place: hospitable southwest – lowlands (good for fighting)
ü About 55 BC
ü 43 BC – they conquered (controlled) southern Britain (they didn’t conquer Scotland)
ü 61 AD – they massacred druids
§ the Celtic queen Boudicca tried to drive Romans from Britain but failed

ü In 78 AD the Roman governor Agricola brought Wales under Roman control
ü Hadrian´s wall – between Newcastle-upon- Tyne and Bowness. It was 117 km long and 6,7m high.
ü Christianity
ü Built roads and towns (coloniae)
ü 410 AD Roman officials left Britain (they have problems at home)

3) THE ANGLES, SAXONS AND JUTES
ü 410 AD
ü People from Holland, Northern Germany and Denmark
ü They pushed the Celts into Scotland, Wales and Ireland
ü Place: southeast corner – divided 7 kingdoms
ü St. Augustin – spread Christianity over England (600 AD)
ü King Arthur – he united the kingdoms

4) THE VIKINGS
ü 900 AD
ü From Denmark and Scandinavia
ü They were burning down the monasteries and towns and than they stole everything
ü Raiders
ü Alfred the Great – he stopped the influence of Danes and Norseman attacking in the southern parts of the country (9th century)
ü Feudalism – result of the Viking invasions
ü 1016 AD – Canute (Danish king) – ruled England and made peace
- after his death was the civil war and the winner was Harold

William of Normandy = William the Conqueror – seeing his chance of a successful invasion, landed in September 1066. At Hastings, luck and good archery skills gave William the victory and he was crowned at Christmas 1066. He built Tower of London

Saxon revolts (1067, 1069, 1071) – all failed.
William II. , Henry I. – issued Charter of Liberties
Stephen – William’s (of Norm.) grandson – civil war
Henry II. (The 1st of the line of Angevins or Plantagenets, inherited a French empire)
Richard I., the Lion-Heart – he wanted to rescue the Holy Land from the Egyptian ruler Saladin. He was killed in a war in France.
John I. Lackland – lost almost all possessions in France (including Normandy); Magna Charta (1215)
Henry III. – Power was in the hand of barons; * Oxford and Cambridge
Edward I.

– he wanted to win back the power from the barons
Edward II. – Murdered by his wife Isabella of France and her lover Roger Mortimer
Edward III. – Hanged Mortimer and put Isabella in prison for life
Richard II. – The Wars of Roses; Hundred Years War (1338 – 1453) -.