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Period: 440 to 850
The Anglo-Saxons
After the Romans left England in the 4th century, the peaceful Celtic Britons were attacked by the warlike Angles, Saxons and Jutes, three groups of people who came from West Germany and Denmark. They took control of most of the country they called, “Aengla-land” between AD 450 and 600. They were an agricultural people who lived in long houses and spoke a language we now call “Old English,” which is, of course, a Germanic language. -
Period: 850 to 1066
The Vikings
The Vikings came from Scandinavia. They were similar to the Anglo-Saxons, but more aggressive and warlike. Their Scandinavian language (Old Norse) was also Germanic so that was relatively easy for them to communicate with the Anglo-Saxons who had come from Germany and Denmark years before. When Vikings attacked in their long boats, the Anglo-Saxons united under King Alfred the Great (872-901) to try to fight them off. -
Period: 1066 to 1485
The Normans
In October 1066 William, the Norman king invaded England. Within five years, the Normans had conquered all of England. They imposed unity on England and helped to link England with the culture of the rest of Europe. William gave a lot of land to the Norman nobility. These barons then owed military service to the king. The nobility gave land to others to work on as farmers. People in the village who received land had to work 2 or 3 days a week on the rich person’s land or pay taxes. -
Period: 1485 to
The Tudors
he social and economic order of the medieval period was beginning to break down. More and more people were rejecting the authority of kings and the Catholic Church. This was the period of the English Renaissance, and the growth of a new form of Christianity which rejected the authority of the Roman Catholic Church: Protestantism. The two most famous English monarchs in this period were Henry VIII and Elizabeth I of the House of Tudor. -
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The Stuarts
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Georgian England
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The Victorian Age