From Legend to History

Conquest of Britain 
-Were groups of Celts, Brythons and the Gaels who settled Ireland.
-Anglo-Saxons came from Germany, took over what is today England, large parts.

The Coming of Christianity
-Romans accepted Christianity.
-Rome fell to barbarian tribes
-Columba, a solider and abbor called for converts of this religion.
- Unity between people

Danish Invasion
-Viking Invaders destroyed monasteries, manuscripts, and stole sacred religious objects.
-People from Norway and Denmark who wanted more land.
-Alfred the Great- resisted further Danish encroachment, only person to be given "The Great" in this history.

The Norman Conquest
-Normans or north men, descendants of vikings.
-Harold II to be king, William of Normandy however went to battle and took the thrown when Harold was killed.
-Suppressed Anglo-Saxon nobility
-Knights were awarded manors with serfs to work on them

The Reign of the Plantagenets
-Henry Plantagenet came to thrown as Henry II
-Henry's legal matters led him and the Church to disagree
-Thomas Becket was put in a chair and sided with the pope.
-Becket was killed and now his tomb is a journey of devotion

The Magna Carta
-Richard I next king, military minded
-King John raised money, in debt from major battles
-In Magna Carta promised not to tax without meeting with the barons first, showed beginning of constitutional rights in England.

Lancaster, Yorkers and Tudors 
-Lancaster, replaced Plantagenets
-Conflict of the Wars of the Roses between Yorkers against Lancasters
-Cousin of Henry of Lancaster, Henry Tudor, revolted against Richard the III (Yorkist), ended war.

Decline of the Feudal System 
-Royal families struggled for supremacy after Black Death
-labor shortages, heavy taxes
-England peasants revolted against serfdom.
-Social Justice to lower classes was later given

Literature
-Anglo-Saxon- spoken verse, reciting of poems, and celebrated military victories.
      -Poetry- heroic poetry and elegiac poetry
-Composed in Latin
-Example of heroic is Beowulf- warrior of courageous and strength

Middle Ages
-Dramas emerged, medieval life, romances, ballads
-National Identity of printable type, set up by William Caxton
-First person printed was Geoffery Chaucer, poet who wrote The Canterburry Tales.
-Created a greater dimension of realism in the world.

Prepare to Read
-People turned to travel story tellers, scops instead of reading because many couldn't read.
-Stories eventually written down.
-Exeter Book, collection of manuscripts, mystery scholars
-Literature flourished during the invasion of Britain and conversion to Christianity.