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Old English Period
In the middle of the fifth century some Germanic (Teutonic) tribes invaded Britain and established permanent settlements there. They brought with them a language, a religion, and a poetic tradition. Their culture was transformed by natural processes from within and by invasions as well as other influences from without of which the most important is their conversion to Christianity early in the seventh century.
Of the pre-historic inhabitants of Britain we know very little. Celts are the first known inhabitants who migrated to Britain from west or north-western Europe in the sixth century B.C. These were warlike and fierce people who disliked cities and loved pastoral life. They called the island Britain. The origin of Albion, the older name of the island, is not known. They believed in gods, magic, and Druidism. “Druid” in Celtic means “magician”. Druids were priests, some were poets, and respected the holy island of Mona. They sacrificed human beings to gods in their religious temples such as Stonehenge. Druids had an important role in such religious ceremonies, and they sang songs of which nothing is extant to give us some hints on their poetic tradition.
When Julius Caesar invaded Britain in 55 and 54 B.C., he had to withdraw in the face of heroic resistance from the Celts. In A.D. 42 Emperor Claudius invaded the country and conquered Britain. A serious uprising of the natives occurred in A.D. 61 under Boadicea, the widow of one of the native chiefs, and about 70,000 Romans and Romanized Britons are said to have been massacred. The Romans never penetrated far into Wales and Scotland. They protected the northern boundary by a stone wall stretching across England. Four great highways soon spread from London to the north, the northwest, the west, and the southwest. Numerous lesser roads connected important military or civil centers. Towns with Roman houses, baths, temples an occasional theaters show the introduction of Roman habits of life. By the third century Christianity had made some progress in Britain and bishops from London and York attended a church council in Gaul. Latin did not replace the Celtic language; it was confined to the upper class, and common people did not dislike the language of their conquerors.
About the year 449 certain Teutonic tribes, the founders of the English nation, invaded Britain which was never regarded by the Romans as a very strong and important stronghold. Consequently, when barbarians began to make attacks upon the heart of the Roman Empire, attacks that were to culminate in the collapse of the Empire, the occupation forces were recalled to Rome. Early in the fifth century, the evacuation had been completed. When the Roman withdrawal was completed in 410, the Celts found themselves at a disadvantage.
The Celts, who had come to depend on Romans for their own protection, were no longer able to keep out the warlike Picts and Scots or the Germanic (Teutonic) tribes. Several times they called upon Rome for aid, but Romans, having problems at home, were forced to refuse assistance. Being cut off from all military protection, Britain was an alluring prey to the restless Germanic tribes of the continent. Our most reliable source for the details of the new invasion is the Venerable Bede (673 735) whose Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Anglorum (Church History of English People, 731) begins with the invasion of Julius Caesar. According to Bede the Teutonic tribes that invaded England were Jutes, Saxons, and Angles who came originally at the invitation of Vortigern a fifth century king of the Britons, who was fighting a war with the Picts and Scots. With their aids, Vortigern defeated the Picts, but he made the alarming discovery that his invited guests had no intention of leaving their pleasant new home. Bede says that Germanic tribes plundered and burned the native temples, and they murdered many native priests. Most Celts were massacred and very few of them settled down in Cornwall, Wales and the remote parts of Britain. That was the end of the Celtic as well as Roman civilization.
In time various Germanic tribes combined either for greater strength or
under the influence of a powerful leader to produce small kingdoms. Seven of these are eventually recognized: Northumbria, Merica, East Anglia, Kent, Essex, Sussex, and Wessex, and they are spoken of as the Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy. In the early part of the seventh century Northumbria gained political supremacy. In the eighth century this leadership passed to Mercia. Finally, in the ninth century Wessex began to extend its influence and under King Alfred (871-901) Wessex attained a high degree of prosperity and enlightenment.
The Celts called their Teutonic conquerors Saxons. Early Latin writers, following Celtic usage, call the Teutons in England Saxons, and the land Saxonia, but soon the terms Angli and Anglia are used for the Teutons generally. Pope Gregory, in 601, calls the king of Kent “Rex Anglorum.” The language is called Englise by the vernacular writers. From about the year 1000 Englaland is used for the country and finally England replaces Englaland. Possibly a desire to avoid confusion with the Saxons who remained on the continent and the early supremacy of the Anglian Kingdoms were the factors in determining usage.
Conversion to Christianity
Many Celts have been Christianized during the Roman occupation, and St. Patrick converted Ireland in the middle of the fifth century. The conversion of the English people began in 567 when Pope Gregory sent a mission to England. Bede’s account concerning Gregory’s desire to convert the English people is an attractive story: One day, in the market-place in Rome, Gregory happened to meet some handsome slaves. When he found that those Angles were pagans, he decided to go personally to England and convert the English. But he became Pope and could not undertake the conversion personally. He sent a mission of 40 monks to England led by his friend St. Augustine (who became the first Archbishop of Canterbury). Gregory advised them to proceed slowly with the conversion. Pagan customs were not to be immediately stamped out but were to be gradually remolded.
In a letter recorded in Bede's eighth-century A History of the English Church and People, Gregory tells Mellitus, whom he sent to assist Augustine, that when they come across pagan temples the idols are to be smashed but the temples themselves are to be re-consecrated for Christian use with altars to be set up and relics of the saints set into the former temples.
Furthermore, if there has been a custom of sacrificing animals on a certain day in honour of the pagan idols, those days should be changed: "Let some other solemnity be substituted in its place, such as a day of Dedication or the Festivals of the holy martyrs whose relics are enshrined there."
Augustine visited the king of Kent and convinced him it would be politically valuable to have continental support, and so converted him to Christianity. Conversion of kings was a particularly valuably achievement, as the entire kingdom could be expected to follow. This policy of moderation may explain the awkward mixture of pagan and Christian elements such as we find in Beowulf. Augustine converted Kent and made Canterbury the seat of Roman church in England.
In the middle of the fifth century some Germanic (Teutonic) tribes invaded Britain and established permanent settlements there. They brought with them a language, a religion, and a poetic tradition. Their culture was transformed by natural processes from within and by invasions as well as other influences from without of which the most important is their conversion to Christianity early in the seventh century.
Of the pre-historic inhabitants of Britain we know very little. Celts are the first known inhabitants who migrated to Britain from west or north-western Europe in the sixth century B.C. These were warlike and fierce people who disliked cities and loved pastoral life. They called the island Britain. The origin of Albion, the older name of the island, is not known. They believed in gods, magic, and Druidism. “Druid” in Celtic means “magician”. Druids were priests, some were poets, and respected the holy island of Mona. They sacrificed human beings to gods in their religious temples such as Stonehenge. Druids had an important role in such religious ceremonies, and they sang songs of which nothing is extant to give us some hints on their poetic tradition.
When Julius Caesar invaded Britain in 55 and 54 B.C., he had to withdraw in the face of heroic resistance from the Celts. In A.D. 42 Emperor Claudius invaded the country and conquered Britain. A serious uprising of the natives occurred in A.D. 61 under Boadicea, the widow of one of the native chiefs, and about 70,000 Romans and Romanized Britons are said to have been massacred. The Romans never penetrated far into Wales and Scotland. They protected the northern boundary by a stone wall stretching across England. Four great highways soon spread from London to the north, the northwest, the west, and the southwest. Numerous lesser roads connected important military or civil centers. Towns with Roman houses, baths, temples an occasional theaters show the introduction of Roman habits of life. By the third century Christianity had made some progress in Britain and bishops from London and York attended a church council in Gaul. Latin did not replace the Celtic language; it was confined to the upper class, and common people did not dislike the language of their conquerors.
About the year 449 certain Teutonic tribes, the founders of the English nation, invaded Britain which was never regarded by the Romans as a very strong and important stronghold. Consequently, when barbarians began to make attacks upon the heart of the Roman Empire, attacks that were to culminate in the collapse of the Empire, the occupation forces were recalled to Rome. Early in the fifth century, the evacuation had been completed. When the Roman withdrawal was completed in 410, the Celts found themselves at a disadvantage.
The Celts, who had come to depend on Romans for their own protection, were no longer able to keep out the warlike Picts and Scots or the Germanic (Teutonic) tribes. Several times they called upon Rome for aid, but Romans, having problems at home, were forced to refuse assistance. Being cut off from all military protection, Britain was an alluring prey to the restless Germanic tribes of the continent. Our most reliable source for the details of the new invasion is the Venerable Bede (673 735) whose Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Anglorum (Church History of English People, 731) begins with the invasion of Julius Caesar. According to Bede the Teutonic tribes that invaded England were Jutes, Saxons, and Angles who came originally at the invitation of Vortigern a fifth century king of the Britons, who was fighting a war with the Picts and Scots. With their aids, Vortigern defeated the Picts, but he made the alarming discovery that his invited guests had no intention of leaving their pleasant new home. Bede says that Germanic tribes plundered and burned the native temples, and they murdered many native priests. Most Celts were massacred and very few of them settled down in Cornwall, Wales and the remote parts of Britain. That was the end of the Celtic as well as Roman civilization.
In time various Germanic tribes combined either for greater strength or
under the influence of a powerful leader to produce small kingdoms. Seven of these are eventually recognized: Northumbria, Merica, East Anglia, Kent, Essex, Sussex, and Wessex, and they are spoken of as the Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy. In the early part of the seventh century Northumbria gained political supremacy. In the eighth century this leadership passed to Mercia. Finally, in the ninth century Wessex began to extend its influence and under King Alfred (871-901) Wessex attained a high degree of prosperity and enlightenment.
The Celts called their Teutonic conquerors Saxons. Early Latin writers, following Celtic usage, call the Teutons in England Saxons, and the land Saxonia, but soon the terms Angli and Anglia are used for the Teutons generally. Pope Gregory, in 601, calls the king of Kent “Rex Anglorum.” The language is called Englise by the vernacular writers. From about the year 1000 Englaland is used for the country and finally England replaces Englaland. Possibly a desire to avoid confusion with the Saxons who remained on the continent and the early supremacy of the Anglian Kingdoms were the factors in determining usage.
Conversion to Christianity
Many Celts have been Christianized during the Roman occupation, and St. Patrick converted Ireland in the middle of the fifth century. The conversion of the English people began in 567 when Pope Gregory sent a mission to England. Bede’s account concerning Gregory’s desire to convert the English people is an attractive story: One day, in the market-place in Rome, Gregory happened to meet some handsome slaves. When he found that those Angles were pagans, he decided to go personally to England and convert the English. But he became Pope and could not undertake the conversion personally. He sent a mission of 40 monks to England led by his friend St. Augustine (who became the first Archbishop of Canterbury). Gregory advised them to proceed slowly with the conversion. Pagan customs were not to be immediately stamped out but were to be gradually remolded.
In a letter recorded in Bede's eighth-century A History of the English Church and People, Gregory tells Mellitus, whom he sent to assist Augustine, that when they come across pagan temples the idols are to be smashed but the temples themselves are to be re-consecrated for Christian use with altars to be set up and relics of the saints set into the former temples.
Furthermore, if there has been a custom of sacrificing animals on a certain day in honour of the pagan idols, those days should be changed: "Let some other solemnity be substituted in its place, such as a day of Dedication or the Festivals of the holy martyrs whose relics are enshrined there."
Augustine visited the king of Kent and convinced him it would be politically valuable to have continental support, and so converted him to Christianity. Conversion of kings was a particularly valuably achievement, as the entire kingdom could be expected to follow. This policy of moderation may explain the awkward mixture of pagan and Christian elements such as we find in Beowulf. Augustine converted Kent and made Canterbury the seat of Roman church in England.
Source:1- English Literature vol.1
Dr. Amrollah Abjadian
SAMT Publications
2- wiki.answers.com