History Chapter 13

England Through the Norman Conquest

Celts (Britons)

• The earliest groups of settlers in the British Isles were known as Celts (Also called Britons), descendants of people from the European mainland.
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Slide 3

• The Druids were a special group of Celtic men who acted as teachers, judges, and priests, conducted religious ceremonies which included human sacrifice.
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Stonehenge

• The Stonehenge was a mysterious monument in southern England that still stands. It may have been an ancient Celtic worship site and observatory.
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The Anglo-Saxons

• The Angles gave their name to the southern part of Britain —“Angle-land,” or England—and to the English language that developed over the centuries.
• The early Saxons were renowned for their wandering poets, or scops, who devised the greatest Saxon poem that still remains, Beowulf which gives us a good idea of the warlike,barbaric manners of the Anglo-Saxons.
• The most famous Anglo-Saxon, Augustine was a missionary appointed by the pope to convert the Anglo-Saxons to Roman Catholicism. He eventually became the archbishop of Canterbury, the most influential church office in England.
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Danes

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• The Danes were vikings who began to invade England in the mid-800s. They controlled most of England outside of the leading Saxon kingdom.

Alfred the Great

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• England’s first great king was Alfred the Great who helped in many ways to make England a nation-state.
• Alfred’s descendants defeated the Danes, and by the late 10th century all of England was a single kingdom.

The Battle of Hastings

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• The Battle of Hastings was between William, duke of Normandy and Harold Godwin. They were fighting to claim the throne of England.
• William’s Norman knights defeated Harold’s infantry, and Harold himself was killed. William was crowned king of England and became known as William the Conqueror.
• William brought feudalism to England and to inventory his “property,” he directed his assistants to take a census (a count of the people and property). The results were entered in the Domesday Book to make sure he got all of his taxes. He also established the Great Council, a body composed only of his chief vassals.

Henry I

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• Henry I became kind after William died and his reign was characterized by his wisdom and fairness. He became known as the “Lion of Justice.”
• Henry issued his “Charter of Liberties,” promising to end heavy taxation of the nobles and the church and not to abuse his power as king.
• Henry also established the Exchequer, a group of nobles and administrators who looked after the government’s finances and acted as judges over revenue matters.