Later Iron Age

-          100 BC - 50 BC (though there are no hard and specific dates established) and the roman invasion of Britian in 55 and 54 BC probably did not overly change British life becuase the Romans than departed and returned almost 100 years later during the Claudian invasion

-          Stratified society

-          Use of defenses and hill forts came into use

-          Roman goods were seen as a symbol of power to the elite

- High population densities and reletive land shortages

-          Military and political leader of Rome; transformed Rome from a Republic into an Empire

-          55 BC: first unsuccessful invasion of Britain

-          54 BC: Second Invasion

-          Roman influence seeps into British society (but very slowly because the Romans did not actually stay in Britian and only returned again during the Claudian invasion)

Claudius

-          Fourth emperor after Emperor Augustus

-          43 C.E. Military intervention into Britain brought the lowlands fully into the Roman obit and influence

-          The resistance to the Roman invasion lasted only 16 days

Mon Graupius

-          Battle in 84 C.E. between the Roman Empire (commanded by Agricola)  and the Caledonians  (commanded by Calgacus).  Caledonians are basically Picts

-          After the battle it was declared that the Romans had completely subdued the British tribes, however there were still pockets of resistance

-           Battle is recorded by Tacitus who declares that the numbers were 30,000 Caledonians to 20,000 Romans with the Caledonians suffering losses close to 10,000 and Romans losing only 360.  This is probably untrue as is the speech given by Calgacus to his troops before the battle.

Hadrian’s Wall

-          122 C.E.: Constructed in 122 C.E. It marked the limits of Roman Britain (it is about 73 miles long)

-          Built to protect the Roman Britons from the northern Pict tribes

-            Built on the remains of Agricola’s ditch

Civitas

-          Local political centers in Roman Britain which were the main units of local government – there were about 30 throughout the country

-          They normally corresponded to the tribal divisions of pre-Roman Britain

-           The Civitas were run by the ordo who were composed of 100 leading local men

-          When the imperial authority collapsed the civitas and the ordo became the autonomous ruling bodies.  The civitas took power in the early 400’s

-          These centers became the core around which post-Roman kingdoms began to form.  The civitas were not common in areas to which Roman control had not extended

Battle of Adrianople

-          Battle fought between the Eastern Roman legions and the Goths in 378 C.E.

-          The Goths had been invited into the empire by Emperor Valens, however they were mistreated and they rose in revolt

-          The defeat of the Roman Empire foreshadows its downfall.  The movement of barbarians across the empire also foreshadowed future events.  This affected Britain in that troops defending Roman Britain’s from the Picts were recalled to the mainland to defend against the barbarian invasion.

Magnus Maximus

-          Commander of the Roman Army in Britain

-           His troops, dissatisfied with the preferential treatment given to those troops fighting the barbarians declared Maximus the Western Roman Emperor. 

-          Maximus then crossed the channel with his army and defeated Gratian (the declared Roman Emperor) by virtue of the defection of Gratian’s Army to Maximus

- He became Western Emperor in 383 CE

-          Maximus was later executed by the Eastern Roman Emperor

-          Britain was a launching pad for usurping emperors (the last of which was Maximus) however his leaving with the last of the Roman troops opened the doors of Roman Britain to invasion.

Emperor Honorius

-          Though Honorius was the eastern emperor his reign was characterized by the erosion of the western empire

-          Rome is sacked by the barbarian Visigoths on Aug 24, 410

-          Because of the chaos in the empire Honorius is unable to help the Roman British defend themselves against the northern Pict tribes and sends reply to them telling them to defend themselves

-          He is seen as the first true Byzantine Emperor as the split between Eastern and Western Empire is now seen as compete

Pelaguis

-          British native (b. c. 354)  who moved to Rome and studied and wrote about Christian theology

-          He denied the doctrine of original sin and emphasized the extent to which salvation can be achieved by man’s own efforts rather than by grace

-          His ideas were declared heretical by the Council of Carthage

-          There were waves in which the ideas of Pelaguis gained acceptance in Britain however representatives of the church were sent in order to combat the spread of the heresy

Germanus of Auxerre

-          Bishop in Gaul who went to Britain in 429 to combat the growing heretical threat of Pelagunism

-          It is said that he was able to convert the people of Britain back to the orthodoxy by the power of his words and by performing miracles (mostly of healing, but there were some other types)

-          Bede also relates the story in which a bloodless battle was won by the Britons because of the Germanus who baptized all the soldiers and told them to yell ‘Alleluia’ to scare away the enemy

St. Patrick

-          Roman-Britain (b. c. 387) who was captured by the Irish at the age of 16 and taken to Ireland as a slave

-          He stayed in Ireland for 6 years before escaping and returning home upon which time he entered the church

-          He later returned to Ireland as a missionary

-          He wrote the Declaration, Confessio, and Letters to the soldiers of Coroticus

-          He sometimes is called the first writer of Britain and his works give us a window to the world at the time he was writing

Tintagel

-          A powerful late post-Roman site (around the 5th and 6th centuries) that was a hub of trade

-          Many archeological artifacts have been discovered which link it with the mainland world indicating that contact to areas outside of Britain had not been completely lost

-          Later this trade dropped off as a result of the rise of Islam and the fact that Britain was at the edge of the known world

Artognou

-          Leader of Tintagel in either the 6th or 7th centuries

-          Found a slate covering a sewer that said Artogonu, descendant of Coll had this made

-          This proves that Tintagel was a power, not monastic site

-          Also the residents of Tintagel say that Artogonu is King Arthur

Vortipor

-          Known as Vortipor the Protector (a late 5th early 6th century ruler)  though Gildas calls him the “foolish tyrant of the Demetians”

-          His tombstone is one of the ways in which power was expressed

-          There is Augum on the marker which was an Irish language that was outside the sphere of Roman influence

-          There is a story about Vortipor engaging in incest with his daughter though it is possible this was just a political slur

Gildas

-          6^th Century cleric who wrote about the tyrannies of the British Kings and lamented the state of ungodliness of the isles

-          He was a major source for Bede

-          Though he attacks the learning of secular life and only puts stock in the Church his writing reflects a secular Roman education

-          He is really the only source we have for this period and he is very ambiguous in some places

Battle of Badon

-          Fought in approx. 495 CE

-          Battle between the Britons and the Saxons

-          The severe Anglo-Saxon defeat temporary stopped the Germanic migration

-          I am not sure about this term

Adventus Saxonum

-          Literally “the coming of the Saxons’ this term identifies the Germanic invasion of Britain

-          Dated to approx. 449 CE

-          King Vortigen invited the Saxons to come and protect Roman Britain from the Picts because Rome was no longer going to help them.  However, though the Saxons did ward off the Picts, they also took over Britain

Angles, Saxons, Jutes

-          These peoples came from Germany

-          The Jutes: Kent

-          Check this def.

Angeln

-          Peninsula in Northern Germany that is believed to be the origin of the Angles

-          The Angles are the Germanic people who immigrated to the central and Northern England and East Anglia

Dunkerque II Transgression

-          This is a rise in sea level in approx. 400 CE

-          This is an important reason as to why people began migrating to Britain

o   They look out one morning and their farm is underwater

Aethelbert

-          King of Kent who accepted Christianity partially because of his Christian wife, Bertha, who brought a Christian entourage with her from the Frankish Kingdom and because of St. Augustine

-          He was the third Britain to hold kingship over the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms and ruled from 560-616

-          He was the responsible for the first law codes to be written in Germanic

o   This code is devoid of many of the religious and moral elements that are found in later law codes, however its focus on crimes of a brutal nature speaks to the culture of the society

Whitred

-          He came to the throne in 690 and was responsible for the third code of laws for Britain

-          This code of laws has a greater concentration of Church and Christian issues with harsher punishments for paganism

-          This speaks to the changing culture of Christianity in this time and place

Wergeld

-          This is similar to blood money

-          Kings and rulers wanted to avoid a society in which a person’s family had to go to war against another clan to avenge a member’s death and regain their own family honor.  In the brutal society of the Anglo Saxons death was a constant companion

-          The weregeld set a monetary price on a person based on their social standing and wealth.   If someone killed someone else they could just pay the fine to the family and, in most cases, the king and go home.  This system also applied to injuries.  This system also applied to the King

-          The court system was based more on character representations than on fact.

Gregory the Great

-          Otherwise known as Pope Gregory I, he was extremely influential in Christianizing the British Isles

-          The story goes that he saw youths for sale and wanted to Christianize Britain because of some convoluted system of logic.  This story is most likely apocryphal.

-          The Mission was carried out by Augustine of Canterbury

-          He was pope from 590-604 and was born in 540

Augustine

-          Otherwise known as Augustine of Canterbury  or St. Augustine

-          Sent by Pope Gregory I to Christianize the Britons in 597

-          He was able to convert King Aethelbert and later the King of Essex

-          Though later Christianity wavered, after Augustine died, because of the death of Aethelbert

Bertha

-          Christian wife of King Aethelbert (who ruled from about 560-616) , the first Christian King.  She played a large role in the acceptance of Christianity by the King

-          She was a Frankish princess.  When she married Aethelbert she brought a Christian entourage with her

-          She and the bishop she brought with her established a few churches before Augustine even arrived

Edwin

-          Anglo-Saxon King of Northumbria from 616-633; he also conquered part of Wales and was recognized as the overlord by most of the other English rulers except for Kent

-          He was the first Christian King of Northumbria.  He Christianized, in approx. 627 CE, as a result of his marriage to a Kentish princess

-          He was killed in battle against the pagan king Penda

Paulinus

-          His most important accomplishment was converting the pagan King of Northumbria to Christianity.  The King’s Christian bride probably also had something to do with this

-          He was the first Archbishop of York and is also known as Paulinus of York

-          When Edwin, the King, fell in battle to the Pagan king Penda both the Queen and Paulinus left because staying was too dangerous

-          By converting the King Paulinus was able to convert most of the population of Northumbria even if it was just for a short time

- He was consecrated as a bishop in 625

Sutton Hoo

-          This late 6th and early 7th century site consists primarily of the ship burial of an unknown Saxon noble

-          Many burrows containing the graves of other nobles have also been found surrounding the ship burial

-          This site demonstrates the importance of burials in the Saxon culture as well as the fact that it was important to be buried near other important figures.  This demonstrated importance of the individual, look at me!  Look at who I’m next to!

-          This site contained many important art and cultural artifacts which have enlightened Anglo-Saxon historians and Art Historians alike.

Prittlewell (Southend)

-          7th century burial site for many Saxon warriors

-          Found an un-raided burial of a sunken room

-          The grave goods and location tell us he was a very powerful man

-          Normally the burrow is very visible so that the dead are still visible and still powerful

Mellitus

-          First bishop of London and the third Archbishop of Canterbury

-          Sent to England by Gregory in 601 in response to a request for more missionaries

-          Was told to associate Christian and pagan festivals and saints to sway the pagan population

-          Performed miracles

Bede (not actually a term)

-          One of the most famous monks ever and a historian who has given us almost everything usable from this time period

-          His works were very popular even in his own day and were widely read

-          His influence is spread far and wide.

- born around 672