History of England

Winter semester

Facts, terms and concepts (definitions and examples)

1. Names of selected Paleolithic sites in Britain

Avebury, Aviation Archaeolgy, Bignor, Caerleon, Callanish, Chedworth Roman Villa, Danebury, Emain Macha, Fishbourne, Grimes Graves, Hadrian's wall, Ironbridge, JORVIK Viking Centre, Lullingstone, Mine Howe, Normanton Down, Pixie's Hole, Silbury Hill, Stanton Drew, Stonehenge, Sutton Hoo, Windmill Hill, Woodhenge

2. ceorl/reeve/scop

*Ceorl In Anglo-Saxon, a ceorl was an independent peasant landowner. A freeman of the lowest class in Anglo-Saxon England. The free peasant who formed the basis of society in Anglo-Saxon England. His free status was marked by his right to bear arms, his attendance at local courts, and his payment of dues directly to the king. His wergild, the sum that his family could accept in place of vengeance if he were killed, was valued at 200 shillings.

*In England, a reeve was an official elected annually by the serfs to supervise lands for a lord. The reeve himself was a serf. He had many duties such as making sure the serfs started work on time and ensuring that no one was cheating the lord out of money. The system was introduced by the Saxons, dating at least to the 7th century, and continued after the Norman conquest.

The reeve of an entire shire was a Shire-reeve, predecessor to the Sheriff.

*A scop was an Old English poet, the Anglo-Saxon counterpart of the Old Norse skald.

As far as we can tell from what has been preserved, the art of the scop was directed mostly towards epic poetry; the surviving verse in Old English consists of the epic Beowulf, religious verse in epic formats such as the Dream of the Rood, heroic lays of battle, and stern meditations on mortality and the transience of earthly glory. By contrast, the verse preserved from the skalds consists mostly of poems in praise of kings and incidental verse preserved in the sagas, often done up in the elaborate dróttkvætt meter, and the ballad-like forms that form most of the corpus of the Poetic Edda. Both, of course, wrote within the Germanic tradition of alliterative verse.

3. Passage graves/ Long barrows/Round barrows

*A passage grave is a tomb, usually dating to the Neolithic, where the burial chamber is reached along a distinct, and usually low, passage. Some variants have sub-chambers leading off from the main burial chamber, called cruciform passage graves. Passage tombs, especially later ones, are sometimes covered with a cairn of earth or rocks. Megaliths are usually used in construction.

Passage graves often have elaborate corbelled roofs rather than simple slabs and sometimes a kerb surrounding the barrow or cairn. Megalithic art has been identified carved into the stones at some sites. The passage itself is often aligned in such a way that the sun shines into the passage at a significant point in the year, for example at sunrise on the winter solstice or at sunset on the equinox.

*A long barrow is a prehistoric monument dating to the early Neolithic period. They are rectangular or trapezoidal earth mounds traditionally interpreted as collective tombs. Around 300 are known from Scotland and England with a concentration of the monuments in southern and eastern England. Elsewhere in the British Isles Neolithic people buried their dead in Megalithic tombs.

the construction of the earth barrow was the last phase in a complex sequence connected with the ritual inhumation of the dead that took place in British society between around 4000 and 2400 BC. Many long barrow sites started off as small rectangular enclosures of earth banks topped by a timber palisade, constituting a mortuary enclosure.

*Round barrows are one of the most common types of archaeological monuments. At their simplest, round barrows are hemispherical mounds of earth and/or stone raised over a burial placed in the middle. Beyond this there are numerous variations which may employ surrounding ditches, stone kerbs or flat berms between ditch and mound. Construction methods range from a single creation process of heaped material to a complex depositional sequence involving alternating layers of stone, soil and turf with timbers or wattle used to help hold the structure together.

The central burial may be placed a stone chamber or cist or in a cut grave. Both intact inhumations and cremations placed in vessels can be found.

4. weregild was a reparational payment usually demanded of a person guilty of homicide or other wrongful death, although it could also be demanded in other cases of serious crime. In early Germanic law, a person's value in monetary terms, which was paid by a wrongdoer to the family of the person who had been injured or killed.

5. Cairns/Cromlechs/Dolmens

*A cairn is an artificial pile of stones, often in a conical form. They are usually found in uplands, on moorland, on mountaintops or near waterways.

They are built for several purposes: 1. They may mark a burial site, and/or to memorialize the dead.

2. They may mark the summit of a mountain. 3. Placed at regular intervals, they indicate a path across stony or barren terrain or across glaciers.

*Cromlech is a Brythonic word (Breton/Welsh) used to describe prehistoric megalithic structures, where crom means "bent" and llech means "flagstone". The term is now virtually obsolete in archaeology, but remains in use as a colloquial term for two different types of megalithic monument.

In English it usually refers to dolmens, the remains of prehistoric stone chamber tombs.

*A dolmen (also known as cromlech, anta, Hünengrab, Hunebed, quoit, and portal dolmen) is a type of single-chamber megalithic tomb, usually consisting of three or more upright stones (megaliths) supporting a large flat horizontal capstone (table). Most date from the early Neolithic period (4000 BC to 3000 BC). Dolmens were usually covered with earth or smaller stones to form a barrow, though in many cases that covering has weathered away, leaving only the stone "skeleton" of the burial mound intact.

6. Sutton Hoo discovery

Sutton Hoo near Woodbridge, Suffolk, England, is the site of two Anglo-Saxon cemeteries of the 6th and early 7th centuries, one of which contained an undisturbed ship burial including a wealth of artifacts of outstanding art-historical and archaeological significance.

Sutton Hoo is of a primary importance to early medieval historians because it sheds light on a period of English history which is on the margin between myth, legend and historical documentation. Use of the site culminated at a time when the ruler (Raedwald) of East Anglia held senior power among the English, and played a dynamic (if ambiguous) part in the establishment of Christian rulership in England. It is central to understanding of the Anglo-Saxon Kingdom of East Anglia and of the period in a wider perspective. The ship-burial, probably dating from the early 7th century and excavated in 1939, is one of the most magnificent archaeological finds in England for its size and completeness, the far-reaching connections, quality and beauty of its contents, and for the profound interest of the burial ritual.

7. Megalithic circles

In parts of Britain and Ireland the best-known type of megalithic construction is the stone circle, of which there are hundreds of examples, including Stonehenge, Avebury, Ring of Brodgar and Beltany. These too display evidence of astronomical alignments, both solar and lunar. Stonehenge, for example, is famous for its solstice alignment. Examples of stone circles are also found in the rest of Europe. They are normally assumed to be of later date than the tombs, straddling the Neolithic and the Bronze Age.

They are not always circular and often form an ellipse, or a setting of 4 stones laid on an arc of a circle. The number of stones can vary between 4 and 60[1] purposely erected standing stones, and often contain burial pits or chambers.

Stone circles usually date from the British late Neolithic / early Bronze Age, that is, c. 3000-1500 B.C

The purpose of stone circles was connected with prehistoric peoples' beliefs, and their construction can be used to infer about ancient engineering, social organisation, and religion.

8. longboat (drakkar)

Longships were ships primarily used by the Scandinavian Vikings and the Saxons to raid coastal and inland settlements during the European Middle Ages. They are often called "longboats", but "longship" is more accurate.

The longship was characterized as a graceful, long, narrow, light wooden boat with a shallow draft designed for speed. The ship's shallow draft allowed navigation in waters only one meter deep and permitted rapid beach landings, while its light weight enabled it to be carried over portages. Longships were also symmetrical, allowing the ship to reverse direction quickly. Longships were fitted with oars along almost the entire length of the boat itself. Later versions sported a rectangular sail on a single mast which was used to augment the effort of the rowers, particularly during long journeys.

Longships were the epitome of Scandinavian naval power at the time, and were highly valued possessions. They were often owned by coastal farmers and commissioned by the king in times of conflict, in order to build a powerful naval force. While longships were used by the Vikings in warfare, they were troop transports, not warships. In the tenth century, these boats would sometimes be tied together in battle to form a steady platform for infantry warfare.They were called dragonships by enemies such as the English. The Vikings had a strong sense of naval architecture, and during the 8th-11th centuries, they were advanced for their time, compared to other European nations.

9. Beaker Folk ca. 2800 - 1900 BC, is the term for a widely but spottily scattered archaeological culture of prehistoric western Europe starting in the late Neolithic (stone age) running into the early Bronze Age. The term was coined by John Abercromby, based on their distinctive pottery drinking vessels.

Beaker culture is defined by the common use of a pottery style — a beaker with a distinctive inverted bell-shaped profile found across the western part of the Continent during the late 3rd millennium BC. The beakers are part of a larger cultural package that included a wide range of attributes.

It has been suggested that the beakers were designed for the consumption of alcohol and that the introduction of the substance to Europe may have fueled the beakers' spread.[6] Beer and mead content have been identified from certain examples. However, not all Beakers were drinking cups. Some were used as reduction pots to smelt copper ores, others have some organic residues associated with food, and still others were employed as funerary urns. Beakers may have been a special form of pottery with a ritual character.

10. The formation of shield walls (shieldburg) is a military tactic common to many cultures, with slight variations of the tactic being called by different names at different times. Walls of shields are formed by soldiers standing in formation shoulder to shoulder, holding their shields so that they abut or overlap and each man benefits from the protection of his neighbour's shield as well as his own.

There was a large amount of brute pushing as there was little room to swing a weapon if one arm was holding a shield that covered the entire front of the body. The shield would likely have pressed against the body with the sheer force, requiring the second rank to do most of the fighting over the shoulder of the first rank with longer weapons aiming for the heads of the front ranks of the opponent. The later ranks would just be pushing forward and killing any wounded or exhausted enemies they walked over.

11. Wessex Culture is a name once given to the predominant prehistoric culture of southern Britain during the early Bronze Age, although it has now largely gone out of usage. It should not be confused with the later Saxon kingdom of Wessex.

Active during the first half of the 2nd millennium BC, knowledge of the Wessex people comes from their burial practices as no settlement evidence has yet been positively identified. They buried their dead under barrows using inhumation at first but later using cremation and often with rich grave goods. It has been argued that they were an immigrant race, replacing and wiping out the earlier Beaker people.

They appear to have had wide ranging trade links with continental Europe, importing amber from the Baltic, jewellery from modern day Germany, gold from Brittany as well as daggers and beads from Mycenaean Greece and vice versa. The wealth from such trade probably permitted the Wessex people to construct the second and third (megalithic) phases of Stonehenge and also indicates a powerful form of social organisation. Although this stage is responsible for the image people think of when they hear the word Stonehenge, this stage of construction has little to do with the astronomical calculations that can be answered using Stonehenge.

12. huscarls (housecarls) were household troops, personal warriors and equivalent to a bodyguard to Scandinavian lords and kings. The term later came to cover armed soldiers of the household. They were often the only professional soldiers in the kingdom, the rest of the army being made up of militia called the fyrd, peasant levy, and occasionally mercenaries. A kingdom would have fewer than 2,000 Housecarls.

In England there may have been as many as 3,000 royal housecarls (the Þingalið), and a special tax was levied to provide pay in coin. They were housed and fed at the king's expense. They formed a standing army of professional soldiers and also had some administrative duties in peacetime as the King's representatives. The term was often used in contrast to the non-professional fyrd.

As an army, the Huscarls were renown for their superior training and equipment, not only because they constituted a standing army (an ad hoc fighting force of professional soldiers as opposed to militia), but also due to rigorous quality control.

13. Celts were European peoples who spoke, or speak, a Celtic language. Celts were a diverse group of independent, indigenous tribal societies. While similarities in language, artifacts, religion and social structures are known, each culture had its own language and traditions.

During the Iron Age, Celtic culture was spread from the Iberian Peninsula to Anatolia (Turkey), but the ultimate origin of the Celts is a subject of controversy. Traditionally, scholars have placed the Celtic homeland in what is now southern Germany and Austria, associating the earliest Celtic peoples with the Hallstatt culture. the term 'Celtic' is generally used to describe the languages and respective cultures of Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Cornwall, the Isle of Man and Brittany, also known as the Six Celtic Nations. These are the regions where four Celtic languages are still spoken to some extent as mother tongues: Irish Gaelic, Scottish Gaelic, Welsh, and Breton plus two recent revivals, Cornish (one of the Brythonic languages) and Manx (one of the Goidelic languages).

The only direct archaeological evidence for Celtic speaking peoples comes from coins and inscriptions. The Celts had an indigenous, polytheistic religion and culture. While the regions under Roman rule adopted Christianity along with the rest of the Roman empire, unconquered areas of Scotland and Ireland moved from Celtic polytheism to Celtic Christianity in the fifth century AD. Ireland was converted under missionaries from Britain such as Patrick. Later missionaries from Ireland were a major source of missionary work in Scotland, Saxon parts of Britain and central Europe.

14. The Battle of Edington (May 878) was a battle which took place near Edington (then known as "Ethandum") in the county of Wiltshire in the south-west of England.

In the 9th century, the Danes had been steadily invading England, pushing and prodding the Anglo-Saxon residents. They held the northeast area of the country and a defeat at Ashdown had paused but not halted their advance. Alfred the Great had been hiding in a marsh throughout the Winter. When Spring arrived, he summoned his forces and marched to Edington, where he challenged the Northmen to a battle. He then defeated the Vikings (or Danes) under Guthrum the Old, fighting behind a protective wall of shields, reminiscent of tactics used by earlier Roman legions.

After fighting for much of the day, the Danes fled to what became the Danelaw, surrendering at Chippenham, their own fortress, after a 14 day siege. They then asked for quarter, which was given. The king of the Vikings was afterwards baptized into the Christian church. Alfred stood godfather to him and raised him from the font. Conflict would continue between the two, however, even after the Treaty of Alfred and Guthrum in 886.

15. Modern Celtic languages in the British Isles

Irish, Scottish Gaelic, Manx, Welsh, Cornish

16. The Danelaw is a name given to a part of Great Britain, now northern and eastern England, in which the laws of the "Danes" held predominance over those of the Anglo-Saxons. Its origins lie in the Viking expansion of the 9th century. With the increase in population and productivity in Scandinavia, Viking warriors sought treasure and glory in nearby Britain. Its name is also used to describe the set of legal terms and definitions created in the treatises between the English king Alfred the Great and the Norwegian warlord Guthrum the Old, written down following Guthrum's defeat at the Battle of Edington, in 878. Later, in 886, the Treaty of Alfred and Guthrum was formalised, founding the boundaries of their kingdoms, with provisions for peaceful relations between the English and the Vikings.

The Danish laws held sway in the Kingdoms of Northumbria and East Anglia, and the lands of the Five Boroughs of Leicester, Nottingham, Derby, Stamford and Lincoln.

Ironically, the prosperity of the Danelaw, especially Jórvík (York), led to it itself becoming a target for Viking raiders. Conflict with Wessex and Mercia sapped the strength of the Danelaw, and the waning of its military power together with the Viking onslaughts led to its submission to Edward the Elder in return for protection. It was to be part of his Kingdom of England, and the province of Denmark no longer, as the English lay final claim on it.

17. Ogham is an Early Medieval alphabet used primarily to represent the "Old Irish" language. Ogham is sometimes referred to as the "Celtic Tree Alphabet".

In Ireland and in Wales, the language of the inscriptions of this period is termed Primitive Irish. The transition to Old Irish, the language of the earliest sources in the Latin alphabet, takes place in about the 6th century. Since Ogham inscriptions consist almost exclusively of personal names and marks possibly indicating land ownership, linguistic information that may be glimpsed from the Primitive Irish period is mostly restricted to phonological developments. From phonological evidence, it is clear that the alphabet predates the 5th century.

The Ogham alphabet consists of twenty distinct characters (feda), arranged in four series aicmí. Each aicme was named after its first character. Additional letters are introduced in manuscript tradition, the so-called forfeda.

18. thing (ting) was the governing assembly in Germanic societies, made up of the free people of the community and presided by lawspeakers.

The ting was the assembly of the free people of a country, province or a hundred. There were consequently hierarchies of tings, so that the local tings were represented at the higher-level ting, for a province or land. At the ting, disputes were solved and political decisions were made. The place for the ting was often also the place for public religious rites and for commerce.

19. Hillforts (oppida)

Oppidum (plural oppida) is a Latin word meaning the main settlement in any administrative area of ancient Rome. The term is now used to describe the large pre-Roman towns that existed all across Western and Central Europe. Many oppida grew from hill forts although by no means did all of them have significant defensive functions.

Hill forts in Britain are known from the Bronze Age, but the great period of hill fort construction was during the Iron Age, between 200 BC and the Roman conquest of Britain in 43 AD. The Romans occupied some forts, such as the military garrison at Hod Hill, and the temple at Brean Down, but others were destroyed and abandoned. Mass graves at Cadbury Castle indicate it was involved in the Boudiccan revolt in 60-61 AD. Many of the place names of these sites bear the suffix "-bury", meaning fort.

Where Roman influence was less strong, such as uninvaded Ireland and unsubdued northern Scotland, hill forts were still built and used for several more centuries.

20. danegeld ("Dane gold") was an English tribute raised to pay off Viking raiders to save the land from being ravaged. The expeditions were usually led by the Danish kings, but they were composed by warriors from all over Scandinavia, and they eventually brought home more than 100 tonnes of silver.

It is estimated that the total amount of money paid by the Anglo-Saxons amounted to some sixty million pence.

21. Druid(s) was a member of the priestly and learned class in the pre-Christian, ancient Celtic societies. These societies existed through much of Western Europe, Britain and Ireland, until they were supplanted by the Roman government and, later, the arrival of Christianity. Druids were part of the cultures of the tribal peoples who were called "Keltoi" (Κέλτοι) or "Keltai" (Κέλται) and "Galatai" (Γαλάται) by the Greeks and "Celtae" and "Galli" by the Romans. These words evolved into the modern English terms "Celtic", "Gaulish", and "Galatian". In the communities they served, druids combined the duties of priest, arbitrator, healer, scholar, and magistrate. Both men and women served as druids.

The druids' influence was as much social as religious. They not only performed roles similar to modern priests, but were also the philosophers, scientists, lore-masters, teachers, judges and counsellors to the kings. The druids linked the Celtic peoples with their numerous gods, the secular and ritual calendar, and the natural order. They were suppressed in Gaul and Britain after the Roman conquests, but retained their influence in Ireland until the coming of Christianity. The druids' roles were then assumed by the bishop and the abbot among the Christians, while some of their other functions were carried on by the poets.

22. Examples of Saxon deities

Sunna, Monna, Tiw, Woden, Thuner, Friga, and Seatern (refers to the days of the week)

23. 3 examples of Celtic deities/Celtic tribes in Roman Britain

Celtic Deities:

Segomo - A god of war, Lenus - A healing god, Icaunus - A god of a river

Celtic tribes:

Cantiaci (Kent), Regini (Sussex), Iceni (East Anglia), Cornovii (Cornwall), Burnett (Scotland)

24. Synod of Whitby was a seventh century Northumbrian synod where King Oswiu of Northumbria ruled that his kingdom would calculate Easter and observe the monastic tonsure according to the customs of Rome, rather than the customs practiced by Iona and its satellite institutions. The synod was summoned in 664 at Saint Hilda's double monastery of Streonshalh (Streanoeshalch), later called Whitby Abbey.

The Synod of Whitby established Roman practice as the norm in Northumbria, and thus "brought the Northumbrian church into the mainstream of Roman culture."[8] The episcopal seat of Northumbria was transferred from Lindisfarne to York. Wilfrid, chief advocate for the Roman position, would eventually become Bishop of Northumbria, while Colmán and the Ionan supporters who did not change their practices withdrew to Iona. Colmán was allowed to take some relics of Aidan, who had been central in establishing Christianity of the Ionan tradition in Northumbria, with him back to Iona. To replace the departing ecclesiastics, Oswiu chose mostly Irishmen who were from the parts of Ireland that kept the Roman Easter (as most of Ireland had done for some time by the 660s).

25. Lindisfarne Gospels is an illuminated Latin manuscript of the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. The manuscript was produced on Lindisfarne in Northumbria in the late 7th century or early 8th century, and is generally regarded as the finest example of the kingdom's unique style of religious art, a style that combined Anglo-Saxon and Celtic themes, what is now called Hiberno-Saxon art, or Insular art. The manuscript is complete (though lacking its original cover), and is astonishingly well-preserved considering its great age.

The Lindisfarne Gospels are presumed to be the work of the monk named Eadfrith, who became Bishop of Lindisfarne in 698 and died in 721. Current scholarship indicates a date around 715, and it is believed they were produced in honour of St. Cuthbert. The Gospels are richly illustrated in the insular style, and were originally encased in a fine leather binding covered with jewels and metals made by Billfrith the Anchorite in the 8th century. During the Viking raids on Lindisfarne, however, this cover was lost, and a replacement made in 1852. The text is written in insular script.

In the 10th century an Old English translation of the Gospels was made: a word-for-word gloss inserted between the lines of the Latin text by Aldred, Provost of Chester-le-Street. This is the first translation of the Gospels into the English language.

The Gospels were taken from Durham Cathedral during the dissolution of the monasteries, ordered by Henry VIII, and were acquired in the early 17th century by Sir Robert Cotton from Thomas Walker, Clerk of the Parliaments. Cotton's library came to the British Museum in the 18th century, and from there to the British Library in London.

26. Hadrian's Wall is a stone and turf fortification built by the Roman Empire across the width of modern-day England. It was the second of three such fortifications built across Great Britain, the first being Gask Ridge and the last the Antonine Wall. All three were built to prevent military raids by the Pictish tribes (ancient inhabitants of Scotland) to the north, to improve economic stability and provide peaceful conditions in the Roman province of Britannia to the south, and to mark physically the frontier of the Empire. Hadrian's Wall is the best known of the three because its physical presence remains most evident today.

The wall marked the northern limes in Britain and also the most heavily fortified border in the Empire. In addition to its use as a military fortification, it is thought that the gates through the wall would also have served as customs posts to allow trade taxation.

A significant portion of the wall still exists, particularly the mid-section, and for much of its length the wall can be followed on foot. It is the most popular tourist attraction in Northern England, where it is often known simply as the Roman Wall. It was made a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987. English Heritage, a government organization in charge of managing the historic environment of England, describes it as "the most important monument built by the Romans in Britain".

27. Antonine Wall is a stone and turf fortification, built by the Romans across what is now the central belt of Scotland. Although most of the wall has been destroyed over time, sections of the wall can still be seen in Bearsden, Kirkintilloch, Twechar, Croy, Falkirk and Polmont.

Construction of the Antonine Wall began in CE 142, during the reign of Antoninus Pius, by Quintus Lollius Urbicus and was completed in 144. The wall stretches 60 kilometres (37 miles) from Old Kilpatrick in West Dunbartonshire on the Firth of Clyde to Bo'ness, Falkirk, on the Firth of Forth. The wall was intended to replace Hadrian's Wall 160 km (100 miles) to the south, as the frontier of Britannia, but while the Romans did establish temporary forts and camps north of the wall, they did not conquer the Caledonians, and the Antonine Wall suffered many attacks. The Romans called the land north of the wall Caledonia, though in some contexts the term may mean the area north of Hadrian's Wall.

The Antonine Wall was inferior to Hadrian's Wall in terms of scale and construction, but it was still an impressive achievement, considering that it was completed in only two years, at the northern edge of the Roman empire in what they perceived as a cold and hostile land. The wall was typically an earth bank, about four metres high, with a wide ditch on the north side, and a military way or road on the south. The Romans initially planned to build forts every six miles, but this was soon revised to every two miles, resulting in a total of 19 forts along the wall. The best preserved but also one of the smallest forts is Rough Castle Fort.

28. Normans were the people who gave their name to Normandy, a region in norther France. They were the descendants of the original Viking conquerors of the territory and the native population of mostly Frankish and Gallo-Roman stock. Their identity first emerged in the first half of the tenth century and gradually evolved over the succeeding centuries until they disappear as an ethnic group in the early thirteenth century. The name "Normans" is derived from "Northmen" or "Norsemen", after the Vikings from Scandinavia who founded Normandy.

The Normans played a major political, military, and cultural role in medieval Europe and even the Near East. They were famed for the martial spirit and for their Christian piety. They quickly adopted the Romance language of the land they settled in, their dialect becoming known as Norman French, an important literary language. The Duchy of Normandy which they formed by treaty with the French crown was one of the great large fiefs of medieval France. The Normans are famed both for their culture, such as their unique Romanesque architecture and their musical traditions, as well as for the military accomplishments and innovations. Norman adventurers established a kingdom in Sicily and southern Italy by conquest and a Norman expedition on behalf of their duke led to the famous—or infamous—Norman Conquest of England. Norman influence spread from these new centres to the Crusader States in the Near East and to Ireland, Scotland, and Wales in the British Isles.

29. Feudalism refers to a Medieval European political "system" comprising a set of reciprocal legal and military obligations among the warrior nobility, revolving around the three key concepts of lords, vassals, and fiefs.

Before a lord could grant land (a fief) to someone, he had to make that person a vassal. Vassals were people who were lower than the person that granted them land. The lord's principal obligation was to grant a fief, or its revenues, to the vassal; the fief is the primary reason the vassal chose to enter into the relationship. In addition, the lord sometimes had to fulfill other obligations to the vassal and fief. One of those obligations was its maintenance.

The vassal's principal obligation to the lord was to provide "aid", or military service. Using whatever equipment the vassal could obtain by virtue of the revenues from the fief, the vassal was responsible to answer to calls to military service on behalf of the lord. This security of military help was the primary reason the lord entered into the feudal relationship.

30. Examples of Roman forts in Britain:

Alauna (Maryport), Anderitum, Anglian Tower, Arbeia, Ardotalia, Bremenium, Coria (Corbridge), Deva Victrix, Dubris, Eboracum, Galava, Garrianonum, Lagentium, Lunt Roman Fort, Mancunium, Manduessedum, Mediobogdum, Metchley Fort, Moridunum (Axminster), Olicana, Petuaria, Piercebridge Roman Fort, Portus Adurni, Rigodunum, Rutupiæ, Saxon Shore, Tripontium, Vercovicium, Vindolanda.

31. Battle of Stamford Bridge took place at the village of Stamford Bridge, East Riding of Yorkshire in England on September 25, 1066, shortly after an invading Norwegian army under King Harald Hardrada defeated the army of the northern earls Edwin of Mercia and Morcar of Northumbria at the Battle of Fulford two miles south of York. After a lengthy forced march up to Stamford Bridge that took place in just four days, King Harold Godwinson of England caught Harald's force by surprise, which meant that the soldiers were unarmoured. After a stubborn battle the majority of the Norwegians were killed, along with Harald Hardråde and Earl Tostig, Harold's brother.

According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, Stamford Bridge was held by an enormous Norwegian berserker, armed with an axe, who kept intimidating and killing everyone who dared come too close to him. He wore no armor, so he was eventually killed by a spear from a boat that had sneaked underneath the bridge without him noticing. This delay gave Harald Hardråde time to form his army in a circle on high ground and let the English approach uphill with their backs to the river. After a stubborn battle with losses on both sides, although particularly bad for the unarmoured Norwegians, Harald Hardråde and Earl Tostig, Harold's brother, both fell.

The arrival of Norwegian reinforcements prolonged the battle, but in the end the Norwegian army was decisively defeated.

32. Villa(s) was originally an upper-class country house, though since its origins in Roman times the idea and function of a villa has evolved considerably. After the fall of the Republic, a villa became a small, fortified farming compound, gradually re-evolving through the Middle Ages into luxurious, upper-class country homes. In modern parlance it can refer to a specific type of detached suburban dwelling.

33. Battle of Hastings was the decisive Norman victory in the Norman conquest of England. The battle took place at Senlac Hill, approximately 6 miles (9.7 km) north of Hastings, on which an abbey was subsequently erected.

The battle took place on October 14, 1066, between the Norman army of Duke William of Normandy from France, and the English army led by King Harold II. Harold was killed during the battle; traditionally, it is believed he was shot through the eye with an arrow. Although there was further English resistance for some time to come, this battle is seen as the point at which William gained control of England.

34. The Bayeux Tapestry is a 50 cm by 70 m (20 in by 230 ft) long embroidered cloth which explains the events leading up to the 1066 Norman invasion of England as well as the events of the invasion itself. The Tapestry is annotated in Latin. It is presently exhibited in a special museum in Bayeux, Normandy, France.

Recent scholarly analysis in the 20th century shows it probably was commissioned by William the Conqueror's half brother, Bishop Odo. The reasons for the Odo commission theory include: three of the bishop's followers mentioned in Domesday Book appear on the tapestry; it was found in Bayeux Cathedral, built by Odo; it may have been commissioned at the same time as the cathedral's construction in the 1070's, possibly completed by 1077 in time for display on the cathedral's dedication.

The Bayeux tapestry is embroidered in wool yarn on a tabby-woven linen ground using two methods of stitching: outline or stem stitch for lettering and the outlines of figures, and couching or laid work for filling in figures. The linen is assembled in panels and has been patched in numerous places.

The main yarn colours are terracotta or russet, blue-green, dull gold, olive green, and blue, with small amounts of dark blue or black and sage green. Later repairs are worked in light yellow, orange, and light greens.

The tapestry tells the story of the Norman conquest of England.

35. Eboracum was a fort and city in Roman Britain. Today it is known as York, located in the English county of Yorkshire. Eboracum was founded in 71 AD when Cerialis and the Ninth Legion constructed a military fortress (castra) on flat ground above the River Ouse near its junction with the River Foss.

From its foundation the Roman fort of Eboracum covered an area of 50 acres (0.202 km²) the standard size for a legionary fortress. The layout of the fortress also followed the standard for a legionary fortress with wooden buildings inside a square defensive boundary. These defences originally consisting of turf ramparts on a green wood foundation, were built by the Ninth Legion between 71 and 74 AD.

36. The Harrying (or Harrowing) of the North was a series of campaigns waged by Alain Le Roux, grandson of Geoffrey I, Duke of Brittany, in the winter of 1069-1070 in order to subjugate Northern England and is considered as part of the Norman conquest of England. It effectively ended the quasi-independence of the region through wide scale destruction resulting in the relative pacification of the local population and the replacement of local Danish lords with Norman ones. The death toll is believed to be 150,000, with substantial social, cultural, and economic damage. Due to the scorched earth policy, much of the land was laid waste and depopulated, a fact to which Domesday Book, written almost two decades later, readily attests.

From the Norman point of view, the tactics were a complete success, as large areas, including regions as south and west as Staffordshire, were waste (wasta est, as Domesday says) and further rebellions of any substance did not occur. Contemporary biographers of William considered it to be his cruelest act and a stain upon his soul, but the deed was little mentioned before Whig history and was not mainstream knowledge until then.

The effect on the north was immense and, in economic terms, there was a great inequality between North and South until the Late Middle Ages and arguably into modern times.

37. Litus Saxonicum (The Saxon Shore) was a military command of the late Roman Empire, consisting of a series of fortifications on both sides of the English channel. It was established in the late 3rd century and was led by the "Count of the Saxon Shore". In the late 4th century, his functions were limited to Britain, while the fortifications in Gaul were established as separate commands. Several Saxon Shore Forts survive still in east and south-east England. The most obvious interpretation, supported by Stephen Johnson and deriving from the very name "Saxon Shore", holds that these fulfilled a coastal defense role against seaborne invaders, mostly Saxons and Franks,[2] and acting as bases for the Classis operating against them.

38. The Doomsday Survey and Book

The Domesday Book was the record of the great survey of England completed in 1086, executed for William I of England. The survey was similar to a census by a government of today. William needed information about the country he had just conquered so he could administer it. While spending Christmas of 1085 in Gloucester, William "had deep speech with his counsellors and sent men all over England to each shire ... to find out ... what or how much each landholder had in land and livestock, and what it was worth."

One of the main purposes of the survey was to find out who owned what so they could be taxed on it, and the judgment of the assessors was final—whatever the book said about who owned the property, or what it was worth, was the law, and there was no appeal. It was written in Latin, although there were some vernacular words inserted for native terms with no previous Latin equivalent and the text was highly abbreviated. The name Domesday comes from the Old English word dom, meaning accounting or reckoning. Thus domesday, or doomsday, is literally a day of reckoning, meaning that a lord takes account of what is owed by his subjects. Medieval Christians believed that in the Last Judgment as recorded in Revelation, Christ would carry out a similar accounting of one's deeds—hence the term doomsday also referred to this eschatological event.

The survey - from the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, it is known that the planning for the survey was conducted in 1085, and from the colophon of the book it is known that the survey was completed in 1086. It is not known when exactly Domesday Book was compiled, but the entire work appears to have been copied out by one person.

Thus domesday, or doomsday, is literally a day of reckoning, meaning that a lord takes account of what is owed by his subjects.

39. In the Battle of Mons Badonicus Romano-British and Celts severely defeated an invading Anglo-Saxon army some time in the decade before or after 500. It is a major political/military event of the 5th and 6th centuries in Britain, but there is no certainty about its date or place. By the 9th century the victory was attributed to King Arthur.

However uncertain the place, date, or participants of this battle may be, it clearly halted the Anglo-Saxon advance for some years. The Anglo-Saxons held the present counties of Kent, Sussex, Norfolk, Suffolk, and around the Humber; it is clear that the native British controlled everything west of a line drawn from the mouth of the Wiltshire Avon at Christchurch north to the river Trent, then along the Trent to where it joined the Humber, and north along the river Derwent and then east to the North Sea, and an enclave to the north and west of London, and south of Verulamium, that stretched west to join with the main frontier. The Britons defending this pocket could securely move their troops along Watling Street to bring reinforcements to London or Verulamium, and thus keep the invaders divided into pockets south of the Weald, in eastern Kent, and in the lands around the Wash.

40. Curia Regis is a Latin term meaning "Royal Council" or "King's court".

The Curia Regis in the Kingdom of England was a council of tenants-in-chief and ecclesiastics that advised the king of England on legislative matters. It replaced its Anglo-Saxon predecessor, the Witenagemot, after the Norman invasion of 1066.

The royal council slowly developed into a Parliament. In 1265, Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester, who was in rebellion against Henry III, summoned a parliament of his supporters without any royal authorisation.

41. Angles, Saxons and Jutes (their homelands and areas they settled in Britain)

Angles - people who took their name from the cultural ancestral region of Angeln, a modern district located in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. Ancient Angeln preceded all modern national distinctions and was probably not coterminous with the modern.

Anglowie - lud pochodzenia germańskiego, który w V wieku n.e. najechał wraz z Sasami i Jutami Brytanię.

Od nich nazwę wzięła Anglia. Po raz pierwszy wspomina o nich Tacyt (I wiek n.e.), mówiąc jako o wyznawcach bogini Nertus. Według Bedy Czcigodnego pochodzili z prowincji Angeln w Szlezwiku. W wiekach od V do VI zamieszkiwali obszar Nortumbrii, Mercji i wschodnią oraz środkową Anglię.

Saxons - The Saxons or Saxon people were a confederation of Old Germanic tribes. Their modern-day descendants in northern Germany are considered ethnic Germans; those in the eastern Netherlands are considered to be ethnic Dutch; and those in southern England ethnic English. Their earliest known area of settlement is Northern Albingia, near modern Holstein.

Saxon participation in the Germanic settlement of Britain was very strong and at times dominant, so that particularly in today's southern England, the basic population is thought to descend essentially from the ancient Saxon people.

Sasi - lud pochodzenia germańskiego, osiadły w średniowieczu w Westfalii i Dolnej Saksonii. W V-VI wieku wraz z Anglami i Jutami najechali Brytanię i założyli tam królestwa Wessex, Sussex i Essex.

Jutes, were a Germanic people who are believed to have originated from Jutland (called Iutum in Latin) in modern Denmark, Southern Schleswig (South Jutland) and part of the East Frisian coast.

Jutowie - lud północnogermański osiadły pierwotnie w północnej i środkowej części Półwyspu Jutlandzkiego; w połowie V wieku część Jutów zasiedliła południowo-wschodnią Anglię (Kent), reszta zasymilowała się z Duńczykami.

42. The Marcher Lords

A Marcher Lord is the English equivalent of a margrave (in the Holy Roman empire)

In English history, Marcher Lords were strong, trusted Lords appointed by the King to guard the borders with Wales and Scotland. Marcher Lords had special, privileged status with more rights and powers than other Anglo-Norman lords; in fact, they had nearly all of the rights that belonged to the King in other parts of the Kingdom. For example, Marcher Lords could establish forests with forest laws, grant charters to towns, build castles without a Royal license, raise armies and wage private wars, establish markets and fairs, and control weights and measures.

43. Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy (Greek: seven + realm) is a collective name applied to the Anglo-Saxon ancient kingdoms of south, east, and central Great Britain during late antiquity and the early Middle Ages which eventually unified into Angle-land (England) (at this time the areas now known as Scotland and Wales were also divided into several smaller political units). The first recorded use of the term dates from 12th century in the English historian Henry of Huntingdon, and it has been in common use since the 16th century.

The word heptarchy refers to the existence (as was thought) of seven kingdoms, which eventually merged to become the basis for the Kingdom of England; these were Northumbria, Mercia, East Anglia, Essex, Kent, Sussex and Wessex. The period supposedly lasted until the seven kingdoms began to consolidate into larger units, but the actual events marking this transition are debatable.

The supposed separate kingdoms which made up Anglo-Saxon England were:

Kent, Sussex, Wessex, Essex, East Anglia, Mercia ,Northumbria, including sub-kingdoms Bernicia and Deira.

45. Offa's Dyke is a massive linear earthwork, roughly following some of the current border between England and Wales. In places, it is up to 65 feet (20 m) wide (including its surrounding ditch) and 8 feet (2.5m) high. In the 8th century it formed some kind of delineation between the Anglian kingdom of Mercia and the Welsh kingdom of Powys. It has been the subject of considerable research in recent years, dispelling many of the earlier understandings.

44. Henry II's Angevin Empire

The term Angevin Empire describes a collection of states ruled by the Angevin Plantagenet dynasty. The Plantagenets ruled over an area stretching from the Pyrenees to Ireland during the 12th and early 13th centuries. Their 'empire' was roughly half of medieval France as well as all of England and Ireland.

W następnych latach Henryk wciąż poszerzał swoje imperium. Francję udało się na pewien czas uspokoić hołdem lennym z Akwitanii, Andegawenii i Normandii oraz zaręczynami syna Henryka (również Henryka) z córką Ludwika VII, Małgorzatą. Henryk zyskał we Flandrii sojusznika, w czym pomogły mu ekonomiczne powiązania Anglii i Flandrii. Henryk roztoczył swoje wpływy również na Bretanię, która była pogrążona w wojnie domowej.

Henryk dążył również do podporządkowania sobie Szkocji. Kolejny król Szkocji, Wilhelm I Lew, w 1173 r. przyłączył się do koalicji przeciw Henrykowi, ale jego dwa najazdy (w 1173 i 1174 r.) zakończyły się niepowodzeniem, a podczas tego drugiego król dostał się do niewoli i w 1174 r. został zmuszony do podpisania upokarzającego traktatu w Falaise, w którym oddawał Anglii zamki Stirling, Edynburg, Roxburgh, Jedburgh i Berwick.

Rok 1165 przyniósł Henrykowi formalne zwierzchnictwo nad walijskimi królami. Szczególne miejsce w planach Henryka zajmowała Irlandia. Już od początku swojego panowania Henryk dążył do podboju wyspy.

46. Bretwalda(s) is an Anglo-Saxon term, the first record of which comes from the late ninth century Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. It is applied in that chronicle to some of the rulers of Anglo-Saxon kingdoms from the fifth century onwards who had achieved overlordship over some or all the other Anglo-Saxon kingdoms. It is unclear if the word really dates back to the fifth century, or is a ninth century invention. The Mercian kings, who were overlords from the seventh to the ninth centuries, are not accorded the title of Bretwalda by the chronicle - which fact is usually assigned to anti-Mercian bias by its authors. Whether they used it themselves is again uncertain, though in many cases their power was even greater than those listed by the chronicle.

The term also appears in a charter of Æthelstan, king of the English. It appears in several variant forms (brytenwalda, bretenanwealda, &c.), and means most probably "lord of the Britons" or "lord of Britain"; for although the derivation of the word is uncertain, its earlier syllable seems to be cognate with the words Briton and Britannia; but Kemble derives Bretwalda from the Old English word breotan, to distribute, and translates it "widely ruling."

47. Scutage (shield money)

The tax of scutage or escuage, in the law of England under the feudal system, allowed a knight to "buy out" of the military service due to the Crown from the holder of a knight's fee. Its name derived from the knightly shield (in Latin: scutum).

The institution existed under Henry I (reigned 1100-1135) and Stephen (reigned 1135-1154), when it occurs as scutagium, scuagium or escuagium. The creation of fractions of knights' fee probably hastened its introduction: the holders of such fractions could only discharge their obligation via scutage. The increasing use of mercenaries in the 12th century would also make a money payment of greater use to the crown.

48. thegn(s) (lennicy królewscy) was an attendant, servant, retainer, or official in Early Medieval Scandinavian and Anglo-Saxon culture. From the first, however, it had a military significance, and its usual Latin translation was miles, meaning soldier, although minister was often used. Joseph Bosworth describes a thegn as "one engaged in a king's or a queen's service, whether in the household or in the country," and adds, "the word in this case seems gradually to acquire a technical meaning, and to become a term denoting a class, containing, however, several degrees."

It is only used once in the laws before the time of Aethelstan (c. 895-940), but more frequently in the charters. H. M. Chadwick (Studies on Anglo-Saxon Institutions, 1905) says that "the sense of subordination must have been inherent in the word from the earliest time," but it has no connection with the German dienen, to serve. In the course of time it extended its meaning and was more generally used. The thegn became a member of a territorial nobility, and the dignity of thegnhood was attainable by those who fulfilled certain conditions. The nobility of pre-Conquest England was ranked according to the heriot they paid in the following descending order: earl, king's thegn, median thegn. In Anglo-Saxon hierarchic society, a king's thegn attended in person upon the king, bringing with him his men and resources. A "median" thegn did not hold his land directly from the king but through an intermediary lord.

49. The Assize of Arms of 1181 is a legal precedent decided by King Henry II of England and developed in common law jurisdictions ever since guaranteeing a right to bear arms. Having inherited the English common law legal system, the Assize of Arms formed part of the legal basis for the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution. The Act also establishes certain Anti-Semitic provisions, terms of inheritance, and an Arms embargo (and further autarky).50. ealdormen

51. The Constitutions of Clarendon were a set of legislative procedures passed by Henry II of England in 1164. The Constitutions were composed of 16 articles and represent an attempt to restrict ecclesiastical privileges and curb the power of the Church courts and the extent of Papal authority in England. In the anarchic conditions of Henry II's predecessor, Stephen, the church had extended its jurisdiction in the void. The Constitutions were claimed to restore the judicial customs observed during the reign of Henry I (1100-35), while in fact they were a part of Henry II's larger expansion of royal jurisdiction into the Church and civil law, which was the defining aspect of his reign.

The Constitutions' primary goal was to deal with the controversial issue of "criminous clerks," or clergy who had committed a serious crime but escaped justice via ecclesiastical courts by "benefit of Clergy." Unlike royal courts, ecclesiastical courts were more sympathetic to clergy. An ecclesiastical case of murder often ended with the defendant being defrocked (dismissed from the priesthood). In a royal court, murder was often punished with mutilation or death

52. Witenagemot (Witan) was a political institution in Anglo-Saxon England which operated between approximately the 7th century and 11th century.

The name witenagemot derives from the Old English for "meeting of wise men". It was the remnant of the ancient tribal general assembly, or folkmoot, which had soon developed into a convocation of the land's most powerful and important people including senior clergy, ealdormen and the leading thegns speaking to the king.

The witenagemot was in some respects a predecessor to Parliament, but had substantially different powers and some major limitations, such as a lack of a fixed procedure, schedule, or meeting place. The witan could prevent autocracy and carry on government during interregnums. But while the king must answer to the Parliament, the witenagemot answered to the king. It only assembled when he summoned it, and its assembling without his approval could be considered treason. The witenagemot was more an advisory council. In some cases, weak kings (such as Ethelred the Unready) were dependent on the witenagemot, while others used it as simply a group of advisers.

53. Provisions of Oxford

The Provisions of Oxford were installed in 1258 by a group of barons led by Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester; these documents are often regarded as England's first written constitution. The provisions forced King Henry III of England to accept a new form of government in which power was placed in the hands of a council of 15 members who were to supervise ministerial appointments, local administration and the custody of royal castles. Parliament, meanwhile, which was to meet three times a year, would monitor the performance of this council. Its significance was that, for the first time, the English Crown was forced to recognize the rights and powers of Parliament.

54. fyrd

Fyrd zwany także pospolitym ruszeniem (mass levy, universal conscription), w Wielkiej Brytanii podczas epoki średniowiecza, było powszechną mobilizacją wszystkich wolnych mężczyzn zdolnych do obrony ziemi pośrednio (obrona mostów, budowa grodów, patrol i czuwanie) bądź bezpośrednio (uczestnictwo w kampanii wojennej).

Istniał również tzw. fyrd pośredni. Przejawiał on się tym, iż piątka hide była zobowiązana do wyekwipowania jednego wojownika. Co więcej, hide musiała opłacić i utrzymać tego żołnierza. Głównie członkowie, którzy brali udział w mobilizacji, pochodzili z grupy tenów czyli pewnego rodzaju arystokracji. Część pospolitego ruszenia składała się również z chłopów. Według szacunków podczas fyrdu mogło zgromadzić się z całego królestwa około 20000 wojowników.

In Saxon times, defenses were based upon the fyrd, the Anglo-Saxon version of the Scandinavian leidang. It was a militia of all able-bodied men that was called up from the districts threatened with attack. Service in the fyrd was usually of short duration and the participants were obliged to provide their own arms and provisions. The origins of the early militia can be traced back to at least the seventh century. It is likely that the obligation of Englishmen to serve in the fyrd or peoples army is older than our oldest records.

55. Inns of Court

The Inns of Court, in London, are the professional associations to one of which every English barrister (and those judges who were formerly barristers) must belong. They have supervisory and disciplinary functions over their members. The Inns also provide libraries, dining facilities and professional accommodation. Each also has a church or chapel attached to it. Each Inn of Court is a self-contained precinct within London, where barristers traditionally train and practise, although growth in the profession caused many barristers' chambers to move outside the precincts of the Inns of Court in the late 20th century.

56. hide/hundred

In England a hundred was the division of a shire for administrative, military and judicial purposes under the common law. Originally, when introduced by the Saxons between 613 and 1017, a hundred had enough land to sustain approximately one hundred households headed by a hundred-man or hundred eolder. He was responsible for administration, justice, and supplying military troops, as well as leading its forces. The office was not hereditary, but by the 10th century the office was selected from among a few outstanding families.

Hundreds were further divided. Larger or more populous hundreds were split into divisions (or in Sussex, half hundreds). All hundreds were divided into tithings, which contained ten households. Below that, the basic unit of land was called the hide, which was enough land to support one family and varied in size from 60 to 120 old acres, or 15 to 30 modern acres (6 to 12 ha) depending on the quality and fertility of the land. Compare with township.

57. 3 examples of Welsh castles of Edward I

Caernarfon Castle, Rhuddlan Castle, Beaumaris Castle

Important Names (including who the people were and what they achieved or why they are important)

1. Boudicca (Boadicea) (d. AD 60 or 61 ) was a queen of the Iceni people of Norfolk in Eastern Britain who led an uprising of the tribes against the occupying forces of the Roman Empire.

2. Venerable Bede, (c. 672 or 673 - May 25, 735), was a Benedictine monk at the Northumbrian monastery of Saint Peter at Monkwearmouth, today part of Sunderland, and of its companion monastery, Saint Paul's, in modern Jarrow, both in the English county of Durham. He is well known as an author and scholar, and his most famous work, `Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum' (The Ecclesiastical History of the English People) gained him the title "The father of English history".

3. Constantine the Great, proclaimed Augustus by his troops in 306, ruled an ever-growing portion of the Roman Empire until his death. Best known for being the first Christian Roman Emperor, the Edict of Milan - issued by his co-emperor Licinius - helped to put an end to institutionalized persecution of Christians in the Empire.

4. Edward the Confessor, (c. 1003/1004 - 5 January 1066), son of Ethelred the Unready, was the penultimate Anglo-Saxon King of England and the last of the House of Wessex, ruling from 1042 until his death.[1] His reign marked the continuing disintegration of royal power in England and the aggrandisement of the great territorial earls, and it foreshadowed the country's later connection with Normandy, whose duke William I was to supplant Edward's successors Harold Godwinson and Edgar Ætheling as England's ruler.

5. Germanus of Auxerre, (c. 378-31 July 448) was a bishop of Auxerre in Gaul. He is a saint in both the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches, commemorated on July 31. He visited Britain in 429 in response to the growth of Pelagianism there and the records of his visit provide valuable information on the state of post-Roman British society.

6. Harold Godwinson (c. 1022 - October 14, 1066) was the last of the Anglo-Saxons to be crowned King of England - Edgar Ætheling (c. 1051 - c. 1126) was to be his successor after the Battle of Hastings, by the proclaimation of the Witan, but was not crowned. His reign was from January 5 to October 14, 1066. He was killed attempting to repel the Norman invaders, led by William the Conqueror, at the Battle of Hastings.

he two armies clashed at the Battle of Hastings, near the present town of Battle close by Hastings on October 14, where after a hard fight Harold was killed and his forces routed. His brothers Gyrth and Leofwine were also killed in the battle. According to tradition, Harold was killed by an arrow in the eye, but it is unclear if the victim depicted in the Bayeux Tapestry is intended to be Harold, or whether indeed the tapestry's scene depicts that particular type of wound.

7. Vortigern (Gwrtheirn), was a 5th century warlord in Britain, a leading ruler among the Britons. His existence is considered likely, though information about him is shrouded in legend. He is said to have invited the Saxons to settle in Britain as mercenaries, only to see them revolt and establish their own kingdoms. This earned him a poor reputation; he was eventually remembered as one of the worst Kings of the Britons in later legend.

9. Hengist was a semi-legendary ruler of Kent in southeast England. His name is Anglo-Saxon for "stallion". Horsa, according to tradition, was the brother of Hengest. "Here Hengest and Horsa fought against King Vortigern in the place that is called Aylesford, and his brother Horsa was killed, and after that Hengest and his son Æsc took the kingdom."

8. William I Conqueror, was Duke of Normandy from 1035 to 1087 and King of England from 1066.

In support of his claim to the English crown, William invaded England in 1066, leading an army of Normans to victory over the Anglo-Saxon forces of Harold Godwinson at the Battle of Hastings, and suppressed subsequent English revolts in what has become known as the Norman Conquest.[1]

His reign brought Norman culture to England, which had an enormous impact on the subsequent course of England in the Middle Ages. In addition to political changes, his reign also saw changes to English law, a programme of building and fortification, changes in the English language, and the introduction of continental European feudalism into England.

10. Ambrosius Aurelianus, was a war leader of the Romano-British who won an important battle against the Anglo-Saxons in the 5th century, according to Gildas. Some scholars have speculated that he was also the leader of the Romano-British at the Battle of Mons Badonicus and as such may have been a historical basis for King Arthur. He also appeared independently in the legends of the Brythons, beginning with the Historia Britonum.

11. Simon de Montfort (1208 - August 4, 1265) was the principal leader of the baronial opposition to King Henry III of England. After the rebellion of 1263-1264, de Montfort became de facto ruler of England and called the first directly-elected parliament in medieval Europe. Because of this, de Montfort is today regarded as one of the progenitors of modern parliamentary democracy.

12. King Offa (died July 26/29, 796) was the King of Mercia from 757 until his death. Prior to the rise of Wessex in the 9th century, he was arguably the most powerful and successful of the Anglo-Saxon kings, effectively ruling much of Britain south of the River Humber during the latter part of his reign. His capital was based in Tamworth. Offa's Dyke is named after him.

Offa was the son of Thingfrith and a descendant of Eowa, the brother of King Penda, who had ruled over a hundred years before. Following the murder of his cousin King Æthelbald in 757, Offa defeated Beornrad, who fled, thus seizing the throne of Mercia. Offa took over a kingdom that had enjoyed supremacy over southern England during Æthelbald's reign, but this supremacy had been seriously weakened by Æthelbald's death and subsequent internal conflict. Offa thereafter endeavoured to reestablish Mercian power over the other Anglo-Saxon kingdoms.

13. Roger Bacon (c. 1214-1294), also known as Doctor Mirabilis (Latin: "wonderful teacher"), was one of the most famous Franciscan friars of his time. An English philosopher who placed considerable emphasis on empiricism, he was one of the earliest European advocates of the modern scientific method.

14. Ethelred the Unready (Un-raed) (c. 968 - April 23, 1016), was King of England (978-1013, and 1014-1016). He was the son of Edgar, King of all England (959-975) and Ælfthryth. The majority of his reign (991-1016) was marked by a defensive war against Viking invaders.

Despite the total failure of his government in the face of the Danish threat, Ethelred's reign was not without some achievements. The quality of the coinage, a good indicator of the prevailing economic conditions, significantly improved during his reign due to his numerous coinage reform laws.

15. John I Lackland (24 December 1166 - 19 October 1216[1]) reigned as King of England from 6 April 1199, until his death. He succeeded to the throne as the younger brother of King Richard I (known in later times as "Richard the Lionheart"). John acquired the nicknames of "Lackland" (French: Sans Terre) for his lack of an inheritance as the youngest son and for his loss of territory to France, and of "Soft-sword" for his alleged military ineptitude.[2] He was a Plantagenet or Angevin king.

Apart from entering popular legend as the enemy of Robin Hood, he is also known for when he acquiesced to the nobility and signed Magna Carta, a document limiting his power which is popularly thought as an early first step in the evolution of modern democracy.

16. Canute the Great (c. 995 - November 12, 1035) was a Viking king of England, Denmark, Norway, parts of Sweden[1] (such as the Sigtuna[2] Swedes), as well as overlord of Pomerania and the Mark of Schleswig. He was in diplomatic, even amicable relations with the Holy Roman Emperors, the Germanic kings, Henry II and Conrad II, suzerain vassals of Rome's pontificate, and dealt with the papacy himself. His reign, almost two decades long, was over a northern empire spread across Scandinavia and the British Isles, and saw the Danish sovereignty at its height.

Canute is legendary for his apparent attempt to "hold back the tide". Canute sat his throne on the beach, and the evident disregard of the sea for his commands to roll the waves away from the land was proof to his courtiers of the limitations of a king. Their flattery drove him to this, yet it is not likely he ever thought it to be within his limits, but it was probably a grand gesture of reverence towards God.

17. Edward I Longshanks achieved fame as the monarch who conquered Wales and tried to do the same to Scotland. He reigned from 1272 to 1307, ascending the throne of England on 20 November 1272 after the death of his father, King Henry III. His mother was queen consort Eleanor of Provence.

18. St.Patrick was a Christian missionary and is the patron saint of Ireland along with Brigid of Kildare and Columba. Patrick was born in Roman Britain. When he was about sixteen he was captured by Irish raiders and taken as a slave to Ireland, where he lived for six years before escaping and returning to his family. He entered the church, as his father and grandfather had before him, becoming a deacon and a bishop. He later returned to Ireland as a missionary, working in the north and west of the island, but little is known about the places where he actually worked and no link can be made with Patrick and any church. By the eighth century he had become the patron saint of Ireland. The Irish monastery system evolved after the time of Patrick and the Irish church did not develop the diocesan model that Patrick and the other early missionaries had tried to establish.

The available body of evidence does not allow the dates of Patrick's life to be fixed with certainty, but it appears that he was active as a missionary in Ireland during the second half of the fifth century. Two letters from him survive, along with later hagiographies from the seventh century onwards. Many of these works cannot be taken as authentic traditions. Uncritical acceptance of the Annals of Ulster (see below) would imply that he lived from 373 to 493, and ministered in northern Ireland from 433 onwards.

19. Llywelyn ap Gruffydd (c. 1223 - December 11, 1282)—meaning Llywelyn, Our Last Leader—was the last prince of an independent Wales before its conquest by Edward I of England. He is sometimes called Llywelyn III of Gwynedd or Llywelyn II of Wales.

20. St.Colum Cille was the outstanding figure among the Gaelic missionary monks who some of his advocates claim, introduced Christianity to the Kingdom of the Picts during the Early Medieval period.

21. William Wallace (c. 1272-76 - 23 August 1305) was a knight and Scottish patriot who led a resistance against the English occupation of Scotland during the Wars of Scottish Independence.

Wallace was the inspiration for the poem, The Acts and Deeds of Sir William Wallace, Knight of Elderslie, by the 15th century minstrel, Blind Harry. The 1995 film Braveheart is based on the poem.

Following the trial, on 23 August 1305, Wallace was taken from the hall, stripped naked and dragged through the city at the heels of a horse to the Elms at Smithfield. He was hanged, drawn and quartered — strangled by hanging but released while still alive, emasculated, eviscerated and his bowels burnt before him, beheaded, then cut into four parts. His preserved head was placed on a pike atop London Bridge.

22. Theodore of Tharsus (Theodore of Tarsus), (602-September 19, 690) was the eighth Archbishop of Canterbury, best known for his reform of the English Church and establishment of a school in Canterbury with major scholarly achievements. He is commemorated as a saint in the Calendar of Saints of the Eastern Orthodox Church on September 19.

Theodore's life can be divided into the time before his arrival in Britain as Archbishop of Canterbury, and his archiepiscopate. Until recently, scholarship on Theodore had focused on only the latter period since it is attested to in the Venerable Bede's Ecclesiastical History of the English, and also in Stephanus's Life of Wilfrid, whereas no source directly mentions Theodore's earlier activities. However, M. Lapidge and B. Bischoff have reconstructed his earlier life based on a study of texts produced from his Canterbury school. Below their work is followed closely concerning the first half of Theodore's life.

More general issues (their dating, origins, course and consequences)

1. Celtic social organization, feasts and warfare

Społeczeństwo celtyckie składało się z trzech warstw (kapłańskiej, wojowników i rolników) pełniących różne funkcje. Najwyższym szacunkiem cieszyli się kapłani, wśród których wyodrębnić można trzy grupy:

bardów , wieszczów, druidów.

Wojownicy rekrutowali się z najbogatszych członków wspólnoty. Ich powinnością była walka a łupy wojenne źródłem zysków. Najdzielniejszych opiewano w pieśniach.

Szczególną rolę w społeczeństwie odgrywali rzemieślnicy. Do tej grupy należeli kowale, lekarze, sędziowie i bardowie. Znajomość profesji była podstawą ich bogactwa a także sławy sięgającej często poza własne plemię.

Najniższą i nieliczną warstwę tworzyli niewolnicy - jeńcy wojenni. Należeli do rodu lub plemienia (gdy byli własnością króla). Niektórych z nich poświęcano podczas składania krwawych ofiar.

Feasts and celebrations were the highlights of the Celtic year. They were usually rowdy, often

extravagant affairs at which the Celts could indulge their love of eating and drinking. At large feasts the

whole tribe could meet together to display their unity and loyalty to their chieftain. Some feasts were held to celebrate special festivals in the Celtic year, such as the New Year. Others were held just to bring people together.

Samhain, The Winter Solstice, or Alban Arthuan, Imbolic, Vernal Equinox Also called Alban Eiler, which means "Light of the Earth,", Ostara Also known as Lady Day or Eostre, Beltane, A May Pole, Summer Soltice Alban Heruin, Lammas, Autumnal Equinox Alban Elued

Tribal warfare appears to have been a regular feature of Celtic societies. While epic literature depicts this as more of a sport focused on raids and hunting rather than organised territorial conquest, the historical record is more of tribes using warfare to exert political control and harass rivals, for economic advantage, and in some instances to conquer territory.

The Celts were described by classical writers such as Strabo, Livy, Pausanias, and Florus as fighting like "wild beasts", and as hordes. Dionysius said that their "manner of fighting, being in large measure that of wild beasts and frenzied, was an erratic procedure, quite lacking in military science. Thus, at one moment they would raise their swords aloft and smite after the manner of wild boars, throwing the whole weight of their bodies into the blow like hewers of wood or men digging with mattocks, and again they would deliver crosswise blows aimed at no target, as if they intended to cut to pieces the entire bodies of their adversaries, protective armour and all". Such descriptions have been challenged by contemporary historians.

2. Caesar's expeditions to Britain ( 55 and 54 AD)

In 55 BC Caesar repelled an incursion into Gaul by the Germanic Usipetes and Tencteri, and followed it up by building a bridge across the Rhine and making a show of force in Germanic territory, before returning and dismantling the bridge. Late that summer, having subdued the Morini and Menapii, he crossed to Britain, claiming that the Britons had aided the Veneti against him the previous year. His intelligence was poor, and although he gained a beachhead on the Kent coast he was unable to advance further, and returned to Gaul for the winter. He returned the following year, better prepared and with a larger force, and achieved more. He advanced inland, establishing Mandubracius of the Trinovantes as a friendly king and bringing his rival, Cassivellaunus, to terms. But poor harvests led to widespread revolt in Gaul, led by Ambiorix of the Eburones, forcing Caesar to campaign through the winter and into the following year. With the defeat of Ambiorix, Caesar believed Gaul was now pacified.

3. Claudius' invasion of Britain

In 43, Claudius sent Aulus Plautius with four legions to Britain (Britannia) after an appeal from an ousted tribal ally. Britain was an attractive target for Rome because of its material wealth — particularly mines and slaves. It was also a safe haven for Gallic rebels and the like, and so could not be left alone much longer. Claudius himself traveled to the island after the completion of initial offensives, bringing with him reinforcements and elephants. The latter must have made an impression on the Britons when they were used in the capture of Camulodunum. He left after 16 days, but remained in the provinces for some time. The Senate granted him a triumph for his efforts, as only members of the imperial family were allowed such honors. Claudius later lifted this restriction for some of his conquering generals. He was granted the honorific "Britannicus" but only accepted it on behalf of his son, never using the title himself. When the British general, Caractacus, was finally captured in 50, Claudius granted him clemency. Caractacus lived out his days on land provided by the Roman state, an unusual end for an enemy commander, but one that must have calmed the British opposition.

4. Boudicca's revolt

Boudicca - była brytyjską królową Icenów i Trynobantów, która we wczesnych latach rzymskiej kampanii w Brytanii (61 r. n.e.) wywołała jedno z ostatnich powstań przeciw Rzymianom we wschodniej Anglii.

Rzymianie nie zamierzali jednak przystawać na oferowane warunki. Królestwo Icenów traktowali jak podbitą prowincję terroryzując jej mieszkańców. Królowa została publicznie wychłostana a jej obie córki na jej oczach zgwałcone i uprowadzone przez Rzymian.

W odpowiedzi na te okrucieństwa królowa zebrała armię Icenów i licznych sąsiednich plemion brytyjskich wygnanych przez legionistów rzymskich ze swoich ziem. Pierwszym jej celem okazała się kolonia weteranów Camulodunum (dzisiejszy Colchester), gdzie zniszczyła tamtejszą kwaterę główną Rzymian. Po tych wydarzeniach rzymski namiestnik Brytanii Gajusz Suetoniusz Paulinus, przebywający wówczas w Walii, gdzie zwalczał Druidów otrzymał rozkaz powrotu, nie mógł jednak zapobiec marszowi Brytów w kierunku Londinium (Londyn). Po ciężkich walkach Boudicca zajęła Londinium oraz Verulamium (Saint Albans), a ofiarą plądrujących wszystko Brytów padło żyjące tam prorzymskie plemię Catavaloni. Armia Boudiccy liczyła wówczas 200 000 wojowników i stanowiła poważne zagrożenie dla rzymskiego panowania w Brytanii. W walkach powstańcy zabili około 70 000 wojowników prorzymskich (relacja Tacyta) niszcząc m.in. cały cały IX legion. Pojmanych legionistów Brytowie wbijali na pal. Pauliniusowi nie pozostało nic innego jak doprowadzenie do otwartej bitwy.

5. The Routes of the Vikings

The Vikings reached south to North Africa and east to Russia and Constantinople, as looters, traders, or mercenaries. Vikings under Leif Eriksson, heir to Erik the Red, reached North America, with putative expeditions to present-day Canada, Maine and Southeastern Massachusetts, including Cape Cod in the 10th century.

6. Alfred the Great and his reforms

Alfred the Great (c. 849 - 26 October 899) was king of the southern Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Wessex from 871 to 899. Alfred is noted for his defence of the kingdom against the Danish Vikings, becoming the only English king to be awarded the epithet "the Great". Alfred was the first King of the West Saxons to style himself "King of the Anglo-Saxons." Details of his life are discussed in a work by the Welsh scholar, Asser. A learned man, Alfred encouraged education and improved the kingdom's law system.

Alfred oparł się na uczonych zagranicznych, których, wzorem Karola Wielkiego, sprowadzał na swój dwór. Byli to m.in. Walijczyk Asser, Flandryjczyk Grimbald czy uczony mnich Jan z Korbei. Przy ich pomocy Alfred założył szkołę pałacową i hojnie uposażył szkołę w Oksfordzie. Wartym odnotowania jest fakt, że król nie chciał ograniczyć edukacji do kręgu możnych i duchownych, ale udostępnić ją wszystkim poddanym. Wprowadził coś na kształt przymusu szkolnego, nakazując posiadającym więcej niż 2 łany ziemi posyłanie swoich dzieci do szkoły. Bardziej uzdolnieni chłopcy mieli kontynuować naukę na wyższym poziomie. Do szkoły pałacowej przyjmowano nie tylko dzieci arystokratów, ale także zdolnych chłopców z niższych warstw społecznych.

7. Irish monasticism

The first non-Roman area to adopt monasticism was Ireland, which developed a unique form closely linked to traditional clan relations, a system that later spread to other parts of Europe, especially France.

The earliest Monastic settlements in Ireland emerged at the end of the fifth century. The first identifiable founder of a monastery (if she was a real historical figure) was Saint Brigit, a saint who ranked with Saint Patrick as a major figure of the Irish church. The monastery at Kildare was a double monastery, with both men and women ruled by the Abbess, a pattern found in other monastic foundations.

Commonly Irish monasteries were established by grants of land to an abbot or abbess, who came from a local noble family. The monastery became the spiritual focus of the tribe or kin group. Successive abbots and abbesses were members of the founder's family, a policy which kept the monastic lands under the jurisdiction of the family (and corresponded to Irish legal tradition, which only allowed the transfer of land within a family).

Ireland was a rural society of chieftans living in the countryside. There was no social place for urban leaders, such as bishops. In Irish monasteries the abbot (or abbess) was supreme, but in conformance to Christian tradition, bishops still had important sacramental roles to play (in the early Church the bishops were the ones who baptized new converts to bring them into the Church). In Ireland, the bishop frequently was subordinate to (or co-equal with) the abbot and sometimes resided in the monastery under the jurisdiction of the abbot.

Irish monasticism maintained the model of a monastic community while, like John Cassian, marking the contemplative life of the hermit as the highest form of monasticism. Saints' lives frequently tell of monks (and abbots) departing some distance from the monastery to live in isolation from the community.

Irish monastic rules specify a stern life of prayer and discipline in which prayer, poverty, and obedience are the central themes. Yet Irish monks did not fear pagan learning. Irish monks needed to learn a foreign language, Latin, which was the language of the Church. Thus they read Latin texts, both spiritual and secular, with an enthusiasm that their contemporaries on the continent lacked. By the end of the seventh century, Irish monastic schools were attracting students from England and from Europe.

Irish monasticism spread widely, first to Scotland and Northern England, then to Gaul and Italy. Columba and his followers established monasteries at Bangor, on the northeastern coast of Ireland, at Iona, an island north-west of Scotland, and at Lindisfarne, which was founded by Aidan, an Irish monk from Iona, at the request of King Oswald of Northumbria.

8. St.Augustine's mission

Święty Augustyn z Canterbury (? - 27 maja 604) - pierwszy arcybiskup Canterbury. W roku 596 mianowany na przeora klasztoru św. Andrzeja. W roku 597 wysłany z misją chrystianizacji Wysp Brytyjskich przez papieża Grzegorza Wielkiego.

Pierwsza próba zakończyła się niepowodzeniem, misjonarze zawrócili w połowie drogi, zniechęceni przeciwnościami losu.

9. Battle of Hastings

The Battle of Hastings was the decisive Norman victory in the Norman conquest of England. The battle took place at Senlac Hill, approximately 6 miles (9.7 km) north of Hastings, on which an abbey was subsequently erected.

The battle took place on October 14, 1066, between the Norman army of Duke William of Normandy from France, and the English army led by King Harold II. Harold was killed during the battle; traditionally, it is believed he was shot through the eye with an arrow. Although there was further English resistance for some time to come, this battle is seen as the point at which William gained control of England.

The famous Bayeux Tapestry depicts the events before and during the battle.

10. Henry II's succession to the throne

W 1152 r. samodzielnie podjął kolejną próbę ataku na Anglię, jednak jego flotę rozproszyła burza i Henryk wylądował w Anglii z niewielkimi siłami. Udało mu się oblec zamek Malmesbury, spod którego wycofał się na wieść o zbliżaniu się wojsk króla Stefana. Henryk nie przyjął również bitwy pod Wallingford. Zamiast tego doszło do rokowań. Sprzyjał temu fakt, że król Stefan był zmęczony ciągłymi wojnami, a na dodatek stracił swojego najstarszego syna, Eustachego. Traktat został spisany w listopadzie 1153 r. w Winchesterze, a podpisany niedługo później w Wallingford. Traktat ten wyznaczał Henryka następcą Stefana. Rok później król Stefan zmarł i 19 grudnia 1154 r. Henryk został koronowany na króla Anglii.

11. Martyrdom of St.Thomas Becket

He engaged in a conflict with King Henry II over the rights and privileges of the Church and was assassinated by followers of the king in Canterbury Cathedral. On Tuesday, December 29, 1170, they carried out their plan. Becket was killed inside Canterbury Cathedral itself, in a spot near a door to the monastic cloister, the stairs into the crypt, and the stairs leading up into the quire of the cathedral, where the monks were chanting vespers.

12. Richard I and the Third Crusade

Richard was a central Christian commander during the Third Crusade, effectively leading the campaign after the departure of Philip Augustus, and scoring considerable victories against his Muslim counterpart, Saladin.

13. The conflict between Henry III and the Barons

He spent much of his reign fighting the barons over the Magna Carta[citation needed] and the royal rights, and was eventually forced to call the first "parliament" in 1264.

Henry also became embroiled in funding a war in Sicily on behalf of the Pope in return for a title for his second son Edmund, a state of affairs that made many barons fearful that Henry was following in the footsteps of his father, King John, and needed to be kept in check, too. De Montfort became leader of those who wanted to reassert Magna Carta and force the king to surrender more power to the baronial council. In 1258, seven leading barons forced Henry to agree to the Provisions of Oxford, which effectively abolished the absolutist Anglo-Norman monarchy, giving power to a council of fifteen barons to deal with the business of government and providing for a thrice-yearly meeting of parliament to monitor their performance. Henry was forced to take part in the swearing of a collective oath to the Provisions of Oxford.

14. The origins of Oxford and Cambridge Universities (including names of the first colleges in Oxford)

The University of Oxford (informally "Oxford University"), located in the city of Oxford, England, is the oldest university in the English-speaking world. The university traces its roots back to at least the end of the 11th century, although the exact date of foundation remains unclear. After a dispute between students and townsfolk broke out in 1209, some of the academics at Oxford fled north-east to the town of Cambridge, where the University of Cambridge was founded. The two universities have since had a long history of competition with each other.

St Edmund Hall, University College, Balliol College, Merton College, Hertford College.

The University of Cambridge (often Cambridge University), located in Cambridge, England, is the second-oldest university in the English-speaking world and has a reputation as one of the world's most prestigious universities.

The University grew out of an association of scholars in the city of Cambridge that was formed, early records suggest, in 1209 by scholars leaving Oxford after a dispute with local townsfolk there.

15. Magna Carta (origins, definition, examples of clauses, implementation of the charter)

Magna Carta (Latin for "Great Charter", literally "Great Paper"), also called Magna Carta Libertatum ("Great Charter of Freedoms"), is an English charter originally issued in 1215.

Magna Carta was originally written because of disagreements among Pope Innocent III, King John and the English barons about the rights of the King. Magna Carta required the King to renounce certain rights, respect certain legal procedures and accept that his will could be bound by the law. It explicitly protected certain rights of the King's subjects, whether free or fettered — most notably the writ of habeas corpus, allowing appeal against unlawful imprisonment. Many clauses were renewed throughout the Middle Ages, and further during the Tudor and Stuart periods, and the 18th century. By the late 19th century, most clauses in their original form had been repealed from English law.

Example: IX. THE City of London shall have all the old Liberties and Customs which it hath been used to have. Moreover We will and grant, that all other Cities, Boroughs, Towns, and the Barons of the Five Ports, and all other Ports, shall have all their Liberties and free Customs.

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