English History : Earliest Times To 1066 (1954)

more than 12200 years ago a monk named bead wrote this book it was completed in the year 731 and it is a history of anglosaxon England but the history of England goes back long before this book was written one of the earliest landmarks of English History is the monument we call Stonehenge it dates back to the dawn of civilization in Britain our story of early England begins with Stonehenge in 1900 BC out of a long pageant of peoples and places comes Anglo-Saxon England which ended in 1066 the stage on which all this happened is the island of Britain off the coast of Europe Britain is a small land about the size of Illinois in the north and west are mountains and low Hills in prehistoric times Britain was an unspoiled land of forests and Wilderness grasslands and Heath from the air we can see the work of prehistoric man in Britain these are round barrows great Mounds in which people of the Stone Age buried their dead they also built stone tombs lasting monuments of the Stone Age that still Mark the land of Britain the early men of Britain who raised these huge slabs also dug into the soft chalk for Flint at this Flint mine in southern Britain men of the Stone Age patiently sat and chipped the Flint into weapons weapons such as this Stone axe at the time our story of early England begins Stone weapons are being replaced by tools of bronze during this time the age of bronze and iron a people called the selts invaded Britain the coming of the selt from the region called Gaul was the first of many invasions of Britain still over the land of Britain we find the remains of Celtic Villages these are Stone foundations of the round Huts in which they lived we can imagine how the village might have looked for hunting the selts used Spears tipped with bronze or or iron as life became less primitive the cells produced more artistic metal work a beautiful Celtic princess may have used this bronze mirror these helmets may have been worn by Celtic Chiefs Chiefs whose tribes built great Hill forts in their struggles with one another these great Earthworks still Mark the land where the selts lived for almost 2,000 years until one day another people invaded Britain the selts or Britain as we can call them faced an invasion in 55 BC an invasion of Romans the great General himself Julius Caesar led the first Invasion with a fleet of 80 ships he landed here in the southern part of the island this is what the invading Roman Legions saw the Cliffs of Britain as the Roman ships approach countless eyes are watching from The Cliffs the eyes of Britain's ready to defend their Island Homeland but the Invaders are on the beach years after this first landing the Romans returned in great force in 43 ad and conquered the island some roads they built have lasted to the present day these marvelous roads cut straight across the countryside vital links that tied Roman Forts and military camps together from the word castra a Roman camp we get the word Chester which we still see in towns of Britain today Chester Winchester Rochester Colchester and many others Colchester was one of the early capitals of Roman Britain after 2,000 years Colchester still has its ancient Roman walls and one of the gates through which Roman occupation soldiers marched Roman families of the upper class lived in Countryside Villas these are the remnants of buildings that were once a beautiful Suburban estate in Britain the Romans also built theaters resembling those of Rome and ancient Greece Roman Britain was protected by Roman troops and Military works such as Hadrian's Wall and yet this too passed away the change began began in the fifth century the thriving towns and cities that the Romans had built were deserted as Roman troops left to defend other parts of the Empire with the decline of Roman power came another great change in 449 ad another Invasion from across the sea among the Invaders were Saxons members of one of the tonic tribes War flamed with the coming of the tonic tribes from the region called Jutland came the tribe of jutes from the reinland came tribes of Angles and Saxons during the invasions many Native Britain were enslaved many were killed and many of the Britain or selts were driven by the Invaders to the north and west where they became the ancestors of the Welsh and Scottish peoples of today out of this between Celtic Britains and Anglo-Saxons Comes The Legend of a Great British hero the legend of King Arthur and his Knights of the Roundtable we do not know if Gallant King Arthur really lived we do know that the Invaders triumphed and Britain became an Anglo-Saxon land the Anglo-Saxons organized areas called shers an important official in each Shire was the reev Shire plus Reeve gives us Sheriff an Anglo-Saxon word hundreds of anglo-saxon words became part of the language we know as English the same men who brought their language also brought their system of government each tribe had a king and a council of advisers these became the forerunners of the Monarch and his court in such a gathering glorious Deeds of War were sung in such poems as Beowolf an Ang Saxon poem that we still read during the 6th and 7eventh centuries when Anglo-Saxon Kings were building their towers and governing the land another important influence was shaping life in Britain that influence was Christianity introduced by monks from Rome and from Ireland as Christianity spread monasteries were founded this Ancient One at jro is very famous because it was here that the monk bead wrote his history the book bead wrote tells us much about life in Anglo-Saxon times but this period too came to an end once more Invasion and War this time the Invaders were Danes The Defenders were Anglo-Saxons the time 850 ad in their ships the Danes or as they were called the Vikings sailed from Denmark to invade England opposing these Fierce northmen was the great defender of anglo-saxon England King Alfred King scholar devout Christian Alfred the Great fought the Danes for many years Alfred confined the Danes to this territory while he held Southern Britain with Winchester as his capital in Winchester King Alfred fostered learning and made this city a center of early English life Anglo-Saxon England changed once again in 106 under King canut the Danish and Saxon kingdoms were United out of chonic Anglo land came England and the foundation of a new nation do you remember the main events of the English History we've seen it is a history that begins in prehistoric times it is a history of invasions by different people the selts who came about 1900 BC the Romans who invaded in 55 BC and returned to conquer in 43 ad the tonic tribes who came about 450 ad and the Danes or Vikings who invaded about 4 centuries later in 850 under the influence of Christianity the country contributions of different peoples were slowly Blended together in Winchester ancient capital of England we can recall the Romans the Anglo-Saxons King Alfred the Danes and the first thousand years of recorded English History