Ø Roman and Anglo-Saxon England (55 BC – AD 1066)
55 and 54 BC – Caesar made two expeditions to Britain
AD 43: Claudian Conquest of Britain
When Emperor Hadrian visited Britain in AD 120 he ordered the
construction of a defensive wall (to protect Roman Britain against
Scottish tribes)
Roman legacy:
• roads
• forts (locations for future cities)
• Christianity
The Anglo-Saxon Invasion - ca. 446 – 577 (by Angles, Saxons and
Jutes)
597 – Augustine arrives from Rome and becomes the first
Archbishop of Canterbury (St. Augustine of Canterbury)
601 – Augustine baptizes the first Anglo-Saxon king: Aethelbert of
Kent
Heptarchy
9th Century - Danish conquest of Britain: 865 - Vikings begin
settling in England / DANELAW
Alfred the Great (871-899) of Wessex (Over the next century
Alfred’s descendants re-conquered Danelaw from the Vikings)
In 991 the second Viking invasion begins (Danegeld) (Canute the
Great - King of England 1016-1035)
Edward the Confessor (King of England: 1042-1066)
After William the Confessor’s death the Witangemot chose Harold
Godwinson as King of England (last Anglosaxon King of England).
Two other claimants: William, Duke of Normandy and Harald
Hardrada, King of Norway
Ø Early Middle Ages (1066-1202)
1066: Viking & Norman Invasion: Battle of Stamford Bridge &
Battle of Hastings - William, the Duke of Normandy VS. an
English army under the Anglo-Saxon King Harold Godwinson
(William was crowned as King of England on Christmas day 1066
at Westminster)
More than 4,000 Anglo-Saxon thegns lost their lands and were
replaced by a group of less than 200 Norman barons à rise of
feudalism
, William I the Conqueror (King of England 1066-1087)
His sons: Robert, William and Henry (only William and Henry
would become Kings of England)
1070 - Harrying of the North
1086 - Domesday Book - taxes
On the continent: Conflict with the French King and the Count of
Anjou
William II (King: 1087-1100)
à confrontation with elder Rother, Robert Curthose
Henry I 1100-1135 (King: 1100-1135)
à confrontation with elder Rother, Robert Curthose (Robert
defeated, imprisoned and blinded)
• Charter of Liberties
Matilda, Henry’s daughter, married Geoffrey, the Count of Anjou’s
son à their son, Henry, would become the first King of England of
the House of Anjou (the first English Plantagenet King)
Stephen (King of England: 1135-1154)
à The Anarchy
Henry II (King of England: 1154-1189)
à wife: Eleanor of Aquitaine (enormous French possessions)
Gregorian Reform: Henry II’s Conflict with Thomas Beckett
In 1171 Henry invaded Ireland / Henry’s sons: Henry, Richard,
Geoffrey, John / apart from John his sons were constantly
plotting against their father and making alliances with the French
King / only Richard and John would become Kings of England
Richard the Lionheart (1189-1199)
à 3rd Crusade / Captured by Holy Roman Emperor
CHANGES after the Norman Conquest(1066-1135)
1) Language – a well educated Englishman was trilingual:
English / French / Latin
2) Rise of bureaucracy: only about 2,000 writs survive from the
whole of the Anglo-Saxon period; from the 13th century alone
there are tens of thousands
3) Rise of literacy – development of higher learning: Oxford
established towards the end of 11th century
4) Because the king would often be away in Normandy, a vice-
regal committee would meet twice a year to audit the
accounts of sheriffs (development of the Exchequer)
55 and 54 BC – Caesar made two expeditions to Britain
AD 43: Claudian Conquest of Britain
When Emperor Hadrian visited Britain in AD 120 he ordered the
construction of a defensive wall (to protect Roman Britain against
Scottish tribes)
Roman legacy:
• roads
• forts (locations for future cities)
• Christianity
The Anglo-Saxon Invasion - ca. 446 – 577 (by Angles, Saxons and
Jutes)
597 – Augustine arrives from Rome and becomes the first
Archbishop of Canterbury (St. Augustine of Canterbury)
601 – Augustine baptizes the first Anglo-Saxon king: Aethelbert of
Kent
Heptarchy
9th Century - Danish conquest of Britain: 865 - Vikings begin
settling in England / DANELAW
Alfred the Great (871-899) of Wessex (Over the next century
Alfred’s descendants re-conquered Danelaw from the Vikings)
In 991 the second Viking invasion begins (Danegeld) (Canute the
Great - King of England 1016-1035)
Edward the Confessor (King of England: 1042-1066)
After William the Confessor’s death the Witangemot chose Harold
Godwinson as King of England (last Anglosaxon King of England).
Two other claimants: William, Duke of Normandy and Harald
Hardrada, King of Norway
Ø Early Middle Ages (1066-1202)
1066: Viking & Norman Invasion: Battle of Stamford Bridge &
Battle of Hastings - William, the Duke of Normandy VS. an
English army under the Anglo-Saxon King Harold Godwinson
(William was crowned as King of England on Christmas day 1066
at Westminster)
More than 4,000 Anglo-Saxon thegns lost their lands and were
replaced by a group of less than 200 Norman barons à rise of
feudalism
, William I the Conqueror (King of England 1066-1087)
His sons: Robert, William and Henry (only William and Henry
would become Kings of England)
1070 - Harrying of the North
1086 - Domesday Book - taxes
On the continent: Conflict with the French King and the Count of
Anjou
William II (King: 1087-1100)
à confrontation with elder Rother, Robert Curthose
Henry I 1100-1135 (King: 1100-1135)
à confrontation with elder Rother, Robert Curthose (Robert
defeated, imprisoned and blinded)
• Charter of Liberties
Matilda, Henry’s daughter, married Geoffrey, the Count of Anjou’s
son à their son, Henry, would become the first King of England of
the House of Anjou (the first English Plantagenet King)
Stephen (King of England: 1135-1154)
à The Anarchy
Henry II (King of England: 1154-1189)
à wife: Eleanor of Aquitaine (enormous French possessions)
Gregorian Reform: Henry II’s Conflict with Thomas Beckett
In 1171 Henry invaded Ireland / Henry’s sons: Henry, Richard,
Geoffrey, John / apart from John his sons were constantly
plotting against their father and making alliances with the French
King / only Richard and John would become Kings of England
Richard the Lionheart (1189-1199)
à 3rd Crusade / Captured by Holy Roman Emperor
CHANGES after the Norman Conquest(1066-1135)
1) Language – a well educated Englishman was trilingual:
English / French / Latin
2) Rise of bureaucracy: only about 2,000 writs survive from the
whole of the Anglo-Saxon period; from the 13th century alone
there are tens of thousands
3) Rise of literacy – development of higher learning: Oxford
established towards the end of 11th century
4) Because the king would often be away in Normandy, a vice-
regal committee would meet twice a year to audit the
accounts of sheriffs (development of the Exchequer)
