Unit One Notes

Numerous Invasions

● The first invaders were Romans in A.D. 43

○ Drove the original Celtic inhabitants of Britain into

the north (Scotland) and west (Wales).

● Then Germanic tribes--the Angles, the

Saxons, and the Jutes--came in A.D. 449

● In A.D. 597 Roman cleric St. Augustine came

with followers.
○ More peaceful: Converted pagans to Christianity

Invasions continued

● In 8th century the Danes arrived.

○ Raided, looted, and settled the northeast.
○ When attempted to overrun the rest of island,

stopped by Alfred the Great, who is now considered
the first king of England.

● Last successful invasion was in 1066.

○ The duke of Normandy in France, known as William

the Conqueror, claimed and won throne.

The Feudal Era 1100-1485

● With the Normans came their form of

government: Feudalism
○ Feudalism: A vision of the natural and human world

as a triangle or pyramid.
■ At the peak is the king and below, in carefully

graded steps, are nobles (lords), down to the
peasants (serfs) who till the land.

The Feudal System

● The feudal system involved an exchange of property for

personal service.
○In theory, all land belonged to the king who parcelled it out to
supporters.

○These supporters were also given noble titles (lord, baron) and
privileges.

○Each baron paid fees (taxes) and supplied knights (professional
soldiers) when needed by the king.

○Knights received small parcels of land called manors.

○Peasants who worked these manors were lowest class (serfs).

○Merchants and artisans were below nobles but above serfs.

Difficulties in Feudal Era

● King John wanted to raise taxes on barons to relieve

debts.

● Barons resisted, bringing England to brink of civil war.
● To avoid war, the king signed the Magna Carta in 1215.
● One part says: Won’t tax land without first meeting with

barons.

● This marks the beginning of parliamentary government

in England.

The Decline of Feudalism

● The plague ravaged England in the 14th century.
● So many deaths created a massive labor shortage, which

increased the value of a peasant’s work.

● Were then paid in cash, but then taxed.
● In 1381, peasants staged a revolt against serfdom.
● This wasn’t immediately successful, but it marks the

decline of feudalism.

From Unrest to Unified Nation

● Numerous wars with France dragged out for more than

100 years.

● Brutal civil war 1455-1485. (War of the Roses)
● At the end of the civil war, Henry VII came to the throne

and all of the forces that had shaped the island kingdom
for a thousand years came together in a newly unified
state.

Literature of the Period

● In the ten centuries between the Germanic invasions

and the dawn of the modern world, England changed
from a place of warrior bands and invading tribes to a
country with kings, nobles, and bishops.

● England was increasingly run and organized by

merchants and landowners and their representatives in
an evolving Parliament.

● The literature written during this period reflects these

changes.

Literature of the Period

● Early literature was passed down orally.
● Common topics: invasions, the sea, changes in society,

and emerging Christian beliefs.

● The sea was sometimes considered a placeless place that

can separate one from home.

● In Christian tradition, all exile is a model of the exile of

humankind from its rightful place in Heaven.
○ When monks wrote down some of the early works,

they included this religious aspect.

Literature of the Period

● Many authors of this period made use of literary

traditions of the past and created new ones.
○ For example, Geoffrey Chaucer (often referred to as

the father of English literature) reinvented a French
verse form to create the iambic pentameter line that
would dominate English poetry for hundreds of
years.

○ He also took the idea of a group of stories held

together by a frame story from an Italian author.

Literature of the Period

● In his frame story TheCanterbury Tales, Chaucer

combined the topics of religion and shared stories.
○ Canterbury was a symbol of the ultimate sacred

place to which people journey on their life’s
pilgrimage--Heaven.

○ Chaucer included characters from all walks of life.
○ Many characters represent various religious orders.

■ Their questionable behavior suggests the

controversy that would lead to the Reformation.