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Chapter 3

Early Britain

From the Stone Age to the Roman Empire in Britain

Table of Contents

Chapter 3: Early Britain

Early Prehistory -- The Stone Age

The first inhabitants of Britain were hunter-gatherers during the Stone Age. Britain only became permanently separated from the European continent by the English Channel about 10,000 years ago.

Around 6,000 years ago, farming communities arrived in Britain. They constructed monuments and settlements, including:

  • Stonehenge -- likely a ceremonial gathering site, located in Wiltshire
  • Skara Brae on Orkney -- preserved as northern Europe's finest example of a prehistoric village

The Bronze Age

Approximately 4,000 years ago, people learned to make tools, ornaments, and weapons from bronze. They lived in roundhouses and were part of increasingly sophisticated communities.

The Iron Age

The subsequent Iron Age saw the development of iron tools and weapons. Settlements included defended hill forts.

  • The language spoken by Iron Age Britons was part of the Celtic language family
  • Iron Age people were the first to mint coins in Britain
  • Some coins were inscribed with the names of kings, marking the beginning of recorded history in Britain

The Romans (55 BC -- AD 410)

  • Julius Caesar led an initial invasion of Britain in 55 BC, but it was unsuccessful
  • Emperor Claudius led a successful invasion in AD 43, and the Romans occupied most of Britain
  • Queen Boudicca (also known as Boadicea) of the Iceni tribe led a famous resistance against the Romans
  • Areas of what is now Scotland were never conquered by the Romans
  • Emperor Hadrian ordered the construction of a defensive wall -- Hadrian's Wall -- to mark the northern boundary of Roman Britain
  • Roman occupation lasted approximately 400 years

What the Romans Brought to Britain

  • Roads and public buildings
  • Structured legal systems
  • Christianity

The Anglo-Saxons (AD 410 -- 789)

After the Roman withdrawal from Britain, Anglo-Saxon tribes invaded. These were:

  • Jutes
  • Angles
  • Saxons

The languages they spoke are the basis of modern-day English.

By AD 600, Anglo-Saxon kingdoms dominated what is now England. Key developments included:

  • Missionaries converted the Anglo-Saxons to Christianity:
    • St Patrick -- spread Christianity in Ireland
    • St Columba -- founded a monastery on the island of Iona (off Scotland)
    • St Augustine -- sent from Rome to Canterbury, became the first Archbishop of Canterbury

The Vikings (AD 789 -- 1066)

Danish and Norwegian Vikings initially raided Britain's coasts before establishing permanent communities.

  • King Alfred the Great of Wessex defeated the Vikings and is the only English monarch known as "the Great"
  • Despite their defeat, many Vikings settled in eastern England and Scotland in a region called the Danelaw
  • Viking place names survive today, including places ending in -by (e.g., Grimsby, Derby) and -thorpe (e.g., Scunthorpe)

The Norman Conquest (1066)

In 1066, William, Duke of Normandy, invaded England and defeated the Saxon King Harold at the Battle of Hastings.

  • William became King of England and is known as William the Conqueror
  • The Bayeux Tapestry commemorates the battle and events leading up to it
  • This was the last successful foreign invasion of England
  • The Norman conquest fundamentally transformed governance, society, and culture

Key Changes Under the Normans

  • Norman French influenced the development of the English language
  • William commissioned the Domesday Book -- a survey documenting England's towns, land ownership, and resources after the conquest
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