The Anglo Saxons and the Celts Anglo Saxons

The Anglo Saxons and the Celts

Anglo Saxons and Celts When Roman soldiers left Britain in the 5 th century, warriors from Germany moved in and drove the Celtic peoples out Warriors were Angles, Saxons, and Jutes Together called the Anglo-Saxons (the English)

Anglo Saxons and Celts were once very powerful When the invaders came, the language and culture started to die out

Anglo-Saxon England Thought of themselves as warriors – really just farmers Lived in small villages Men and women shared the hard work of agriculture between them

Anglo-Saxon England

Anglo-Saxon England Skilled metal workers Storytelling – great epics – Beowulf Hero battles 3 monsters; dies after killing the third, a dragon, who burns and bites him Shows a fear of wild animals

Anglo-Saxon England Viking raids on the English shore in the 9 th century Alfred the Great of England lost many battles, but learned to defeat the Vikings Southern England prosperous after him; England as a whole somewhat weak until William the Conqueror

Importance of the Irish Practiced Druid worship – form of nature worship Celts – fought bloody battles, kept slaves, made human sacrifices

Importance of the Irish Everything changed when St. Patrick came to Ireland Brought Christianity to Ireland in the 5 th century Set up large monastic communities on the coast

Importance of the Irish Brought in a respect for learning, and the communities became big centres for Irish monks and scholars escaping from the Germanic tribes Greatest centre of learning until Charlemagne’s renaissance

Importance of the Irish monks crucial in training missionaries and spreading Christianity Also preserved the cultural legacy of ancient Ireland, Greece and Rome – copied old books onto parchment (sheepskin)

The Story of King Arthur (late 400 s and ealry 500 s CE)

The Story of King Arthur Uther Pendragon, who is Arthur’s father, falls in love Igraine (she’s married to Lot already…Merlin helps) Uther is the King of the Anglo tribes in England/Britain Igraine becomes pregnant with Uther’s child

The Story of King Arthur In the late 400 s CE, Arthur is born and given away, to be raised in secret. Uther dies, leaving no King in England/Britain. A Celtic Wizard, Merlin, puts a sword into stone. He says that whoever takes it out will be King.

The Story of King Arthur: Arthur takes the sword from the stone, and Merlin says he is King. A lady also rises up from a lake, and gives Arthur the best sword in the land. The 11 tribe leaders in the area rebel against Arthur puts down the rebellions, and makes allies out of the 11 men.

The Story of King Arthur marries a woman named Guinevere. For his wedding he is given a large, round table. Him and the 11 other rulers sat at the round table to make decisions. Arthur and his men are called ‘The Knights of the Round Table. ’

The Story of King Arthur united the Anglos and the Saxons and drove the Romans and Celts out of England. Arthur single handily killed 960 men in one battle. Arthur’s wife, Guinevere, falls in love with Arthur’s best knight, Lancelot. The two run away to Europe. Arthur leaves England to bring Guinevere back.

The Story of King Arthur While Arthur was gone, Mordred, one of his knights started a rebellion. Arthur returned to England to stop the rebellion, and is hurt in battle. Arthur does not die. He is carried away and recovers, but he is never seen again.

King Arthur: Man or Myth? How much of the story is true? How much of the story is not true?

Why am I learning Myth? Many groups of people have stories to explain their history History in the Dark Ages is partly based on guesswork