Chapter2History
1.TheOriginsofaNation:fromtheprehistorytoNormanConquest1.1EarlySettlers(5000BC—55BC)
1.1.1IberiansThefirstknownsettlers3000BCWiltshireandDorsetHengesStonehengeinWiltshire2000BC
1.1.2TheCelts700BCFromFrance,BelgiumandsouthernGermanyPracticedfarmersandironworkersAncestorsofHighlandScots,Irish,WelshTheirlanguagesarethebasisofWelshandGaelic
1.2RomanBritain(55BC—410AD)BritishrecordedhistorybeginswiththeRomaninvasion.JuliusCaesar,invadedBritainin55BCandhereturnedthefollowingyear.Buthedidnotreallyruletheisland.Thesuccessfulinvasion,headedbytheEmperorClaudius,cameinAD43.TheyruledBritainforfourcenturies.
TheRomansbuiltanetworkoftownsandanetworkofroads.FromLondon,roadsradiatedalloverthecountry.Theyalsobroughtthenewreligion,Christianity.TheypulledoutinAD410.TheRomanimpactontheBritonswassurprisinglylimited.Theyleftbehindonlyroads,afewplacenames,andclustersofChristianconverts.
1.3TheAnglo-Saxons(446-871)Frommid-5thcenturyThreeTeutonictribes:Jutes,Saxons,AnglesfromDenmarkandGermanyTheywereinvitedtodriveoutCelts,butafterthattheysettleddownandestablishedtheirownkingdoms.ThenameEnglandcomesfromthewordsAngleland.
Anglo-Saxonkingsdidnothaveabsolutepower.TheycreatedtheWitan(councilormeetingofthewiseman)toadvisetheking,thebasisofthePrivyCouncilwhichstillexiststoday.UnwrittenCommonLawOralliterarytradition:BeowulfAnglo-SaxonslaidthefoundationsoftheEnglishstate.
1.4TheVikingsandDanishInvasionsNorwegianVikingsandtheDanesAlsocalledNorsemenTheword?Viking“means?Pirateraid“Fromtheendofthe8thcentury
theVikinginvadingAgefromtheScandinaviancountries,NorwayandDenmarkinparticularDanesandtheDanelawTheVikingsestablishedsmallkingdomsinEngland.TheterritoryruledbytheDaneswascalledDanelaw.
Both