Old English

By 15001554
  • 449

    Saxons, Angles and Jutes

    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.
  • 450

    Anglo Saxons invade

    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
  • 597

    Christianity came to England

    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.
  • Dec 24, 793

    Vikings invaded England

    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
  • May 6, 878

    Battle of Edington

    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
  • Sep 5, 1016

    Unified the English Kingdom - 1016 to 1035

    Cnut the Great ruled over a unified United Kingdom
  • Aug 26, 1066

    Anglo Saxons defeated by Normans

    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.
  • Aug 31, 1150

    Nominal End date for Old English

    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.