Old English

Saxons, Angles and Jutes

449

In 499 AD the Saxons, the Angles and the Jutes came to help defend themselves from the Picts and Scots. They were collectively known as the Anglo Saxons.

Anglo Saxons invade

450

The Anglo Saxons pushed the Celts to the edges of the country e.g Wales
Inhabited by Germanic tribes
Led to the creation of Anglo Saxon Kingdoms:
- Northumbria - York - Wessex - Mercia

Christianity came to England

597

Christianity was re-introduced to Britain in 597 AD by Augustine, a missionary. As Christianity spread, Latin was again introduced to the country and it became the language of the Church.

Vikings invaded England

Dec 24, 793

The Vikings invaded England and destroyed monasteries which resulted in the loss of manuscripts.
They kept returning over again until finally in the 9th century they stayed.
They began to seize land from Anglo Saxon inhabitants.
Vikings - Danes/Norse

Battle of Edington

May 6, 878

King Alfred defeats Guthrum (leader of Norse army)
This resulted in the Danelaw:
becomes a Norse Kingdom with Northumberland, Mercia and Wessex remaining as English territory. Overtime, trade means intermingling and languages mixed. It comprised of 14 shires e.g York, Nottingham, Lincoln and Essex

Unified the English Kingdom - 1016 to 1035

Sep 5, 1016

Cnut the Great ruled over a unified United Kingdom

Anglo Saxons defeated by Normans

Aug 26, 1066

King Harold was defeated by William the Conqueror which meant all Anglo Saxon Lords were driven north to Scotland. They were replaced by Norman nobles who spoke Old French.

Nominal End date for Old English

Aug 31, 1150

Reflects the period when these change in grammar and vocabulary begin to become noticeable in most surviving texts. Often called ‘transitional English’ the number of distinct inflections becomes fewer, and word order takes on an increasing functional load.