British Timeline from 100_bc to 2000ad

Heritage Schools
Timeline
Content by
Dr. Charles Kightly
Enquiry questions by Heritage SchoolsTeachers

The Heritage Schools Timeline is a PowerPoint
presentation, which will provide you with a
basic framework of events from 100BC –
2000AD
It can be used as an interactive classroom
resource and adapted by teachers and pupils to
include their local heritage and events.
Here is a demonstration of how it works

In ‘Slide Show’ each of the 21 top-slides represent 100
years, from 100BC - 2000.
You can scroll forwards and backwards using the red
buttons on the bottom right-hand of each slide.

Clicking on each event
will reveal a drop-down
slide.
The drop-down slide has
more information about
the event, an image and an
enquiry question.

(100 BC)
Tribal Britain »
(72 BC)
Metal Out
Wine In »
(55 BC/54BC)
Julius Caesar's
Raids »
(47 BC)
Caesar
Describes
Britain »
(35 BC)
First British Coins »
(10 BC)
The
Influence of
Rome »
1st Century BC

(AD 10)
Cunobelinus »
(AD 43)
Roman
Invasion »
(AD 47)The
Roman Army »
(AD 51)
Caratacus
Captured »
(AD 60)
Boudica's
Revolt »
(AD 83)
Roman Rule
Expands »
(AD 80-100)
Development of
Roman Roads »
1st Century AD

(AD 100)
Roman Forts
Rebuilt in Stone »
(AD 122)
Hadrian’sWall »
(AD 155)
Verulamium Rebuilt
(RomanTowns
Develop) »
(AD 158)
Housesteads
Fort Fully
Re-Occupied »
(AD 180)
Benwell Roman
Temple Built
(Roman
Religion) »
(AD 180)
Uprisings »
2nd Century AD

(AD 208)
Emperor Severus
in Britain »
(AD 209)
St.Alban
Martyred »
(AD 212)
Citizenship Extended »
(AD 250)
GreatWitcombe
Villa Built »
(AD 270)
SilchesterWalled »
(AD 276)
Saxon Shore Forts »
(AD 296)
Britain
Regained
for Rome »
3rd Century AD

(AD 313)
Persecution
of Christians
Ends »
(AD 340)
Prosperous
Britain »
(AD 367)
Barbarian
Conspiracy »
(AD 383)
MaximusTakes
Troops from
Britain »
(AD 369)
Theodosius
Restores
Order »
(AD 391)
Paganism
Outlawed »
(AD 306)
Constantine
Proclaimed
Emperor »
4th Century AD

(AD 410)
Britain Breaks
with Rome »
(AD 429)
Vortigern
(Hengist and
Horsa) »
(AD 442)
Saxons
Advance »
(AD 446)
Last Appeal
to Rome »
(AD 460)
Ambrosius
Fights Back »
(AD 470)
Massacre at
Pevensey »
(AD 495)
Battle of
Mount
Badon »
5th Century AD

6th Century AD
(AD 515)
Tintagel
and ‘King
Arthur’ »
(AD 545)
Plague »
(AD 580)
The First
Anglo-Saxon
Kingdoms »
(AD 560)
Saxon Farms
and British
Rivers »
(AD 597)
Conversion to
Christianity »
(AD 600)
Battle of
Catraeth »
(AD 552)
Renewed
Saxon
Conquests »

(AD 617)
King Edwin
Converted »
(AD 625)
Sutton Hoo »
(AD 635)
Lindisfarne
Founded »
(AD 642)
Battle of
Oswestry »
(AD 664)
The Synod of
Whitby (Rome
or Ireland?) »
(AD 680)
Caedmon »
(AD 699)
Lindisfarne
Gospels
Produced »
7th Century AD

(AD 700)
The Ruthwell
Cross »
(AD 720)
TheTribal
Hideage »
(AD 731)
Bede and
the Idea of
‘England’ »
(AD 757)
King Offa
of Mercia »
(AD 780)
Beowulf »
(AD 787)
FirstViking
Raids »
8th Century AD

(AD 800)
The Law of
the Land »
(AD 825)
Bigger
Kingdoms »
(AD 850)
Viking Raiders
Become
Invaders »
(AD 865)
Viking Great
Army Lands »
(AD 878)
Vikings
Defeated at
Edington »
(AD 891)
Anglo-Saxon
Chronicle »
(AD 899)
Alfred
the Great
Dies »
9th Century AD

(AD 900)
Burhs »
(AD 924)
Reconquest »
(AD 937)
The First
King of all
England »
(AD 954)
The Danelaw »
(AD 970)
EnglishArt
Revived »
(AD 978)
Aethelred the
Unready »
(AD 991)
The
Battle of
Maldon »
10th Century AD

11th Century AD
(AD 1016)
King Cnut »
(AD 1042)
Edward the
Confessor »
(AD 1066)
Battle of
Hastings »
(AD 1069)
The Harrying
of the North »
(AD 1071)
The First
Castles »
(AD 1087)
Domesday
Book »
(AD 1066)
Harold
Godwinson »

(1100)
Death of
William
Rufus »
(1127)
Stone Castles
(Rochester Castle
Keep Begun) »
(1132)
Rievaulx Abbey
Founded »
(1135)
Stephen and
Matilda »
(1154)
Henry II »
(1170)
Thomas Becket »
(1189)
Richard I
and the
Crusades »
12th Century

(1208)
King John and
the Church »
(1215)
Magna
Carta »
(1216)
The Last
Invasion »
(1224)
Friars Arrive »
(1265)
Parliament
Develops »
(1282)
Edward I
Conquers
Wales »
(1296)
Edward I
Attacks
Scotland »
13th Century

14th Century
(1314)
Bannockburn »
(1327)
Edward II
Murdered »
(1337)
HundredYears
War Begins »
(1348)
Black Death »
(1381)
The Peasants’
Revolt »
(1384)
JohnWycliffe
Dies »
(1390)
Chaucer’s
Canterbury
Tales »
(1399)
Richard II
Deposed »

15th Century
(1403)
Henry IV’s
Troubles »
(1415)
Agincourt and
the Conquest
of France »
(1455)
Wars of the
Roses Begin »
(1470)
Guilds and
Mystery Plays »
(1476)
Printing Begins
in England »
(1483)
Richard III and
the Princes in
theTower »
(1485)
Battle of Bosworth »
(1497)
The NewWorld
(Cabot
Discovers
Newfoundland »

16th Century
(1500)
Tudor Monarchs
(a New Kind of
Government) »
(1509)
HenryVIII
(Renaissance Hero
to SavageTyrant) »
(1533)
Royal Supremacy and
the Dissolution of
the Monasteries »
(1547)
Reformation »
(1558)
Elizabeth I
Becomes
Queen »
(1580)
Drake Sails
Round theWorld »
(1588)
Spanish
Armada »
(1596)
Feather Bed
and Flushing
Toilets
(Elizabethan
Everyday Life) »
(1599)
GlobeTheatre
Opens »

17th Century
(1605)
James I and the
Gunpowder Plot »
(1607)
America and
India (The
Beginnings of
Empire) »
(1611)
Authorised Bible
Published »
(1625)
Charles I (Kind by
Divine Right?) »
(1642)
The Civil
Wars Begin »
(1649)
Charles I
Executed
(The English
Republic) »
(1653)
Cromwell
Becomes Lord
Protector »
(1660)
Charles II
Restored »
(1660)
Pepys’s Diary »
(1688)
The Glorious
Revolution »

18th Century
(1707)
Act of Union
with Scotland »
(1714)
The First
Hanoverian Kings »
(1739)
DickTurpin and
JohnWesley »
(1745)
‘Bonnie Prince
Charlie’ and the
Jacobite Rising »
(1756)
The Seven
YearsWar
Begins »
(1760)
The Industrial
Revolution 1:
Steam Engines
and Canals »
(1766)
Captain Cook
Explores the
Pacific »
(1775)
AmericanWar of
Independence
Begins »
(1779)
The Industrial
Revolution 2:
Iron and Factories »
(1796)
Jenner
Discovers
Smallpox
Vaccine »

19th Century
(1800)
Revolutionary and
NapoleonicWars »
(1807)
Abolition of the
SlaveTrade »
(1811)
Regency Period
Begins »
(1825)
First Passenger
Train Runs »
(1832)
Reform Act
Passed »
(1837)
QueenVictoria
Begins her Reign »
(1851)
Great
Exhibition »
(1859)
Origin of Species
Published »
(1870)
First Board Schools
Founded »
(1897)
Queen
Victoria’s
Diamond
Jubilee »

20th Century
(1901)
Edwardian
Period Begins »
(1914-8)
First WorldWar »
(1918)
Votes for
Women »
(1922)
Radio and
Television »
(1930)
Uneasy Decades »
(1939-45)
SecondWorldWar »
(1947)
Indian Independence
and the end of Empire »
(1947-89) ColdWar »
(1948)
Welfare State and the
National Health Service »
(1957)
Consumer Boom »
(1962)
Pop Revolution »
(1977)
Computers and
Mobile Phones »

(100 BC) Tribal Britain
In the period before the Roman Conquest, the
people of Britain were divided into over 30 tribes
with different names. For example, the Catuvellauni
(meaning 'battle experts') lived in modern
Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire; the Ordovices
('hammer-fighters') occupied Mid-Wales; and the
Brigantes (either 'hill-dwellers' or 'mighty ones')
dominated northern England. The meanings of their
tribal names sometimes give hints about how they
saw themselves, or how others saw them.
Archaeology shows that their ways of life differed
widely. Some southern and eastern tribes, including
quite recent arrivals from mainland Europe, built
town-like trading centres. Further west and north,
tribal power centred on strongly defended 'hill forts'.
None were primitive 'cavemen'. Excavated examples
of their homes show that they could be well-built
huts, equal in ground area to a modern bungalow.
Reconstruction of a British Iron Age hut at Maiden Castle hill fort.
[© Paul Birkbeck. English Heritage Photo Library]
Were the people living at this time
clever?

(72 BC) Metal Out Wine In
Archaeology, including evidence from the cargoes of
wrecked prehistoric ships found by divers, proves
that Britain was trading with foreign lands long
before the Romans came. Among its most valued
exports was tin from Cornwall and Devon, a metal
rare in Europe but vital for making bronze.
One of the most important British trading posts was
Hengistbury Head in Dorset, where locally-produced
iron, copper and silver were exchanged for luxury
goods (including figs, glass, tools and weapons, and
especially wine) from Italy, Gaul (France) and even
further away.
Wine came in distinctively shaped pointed jars called
'amphorae‘. More of these have been found at
Hengistbury than in all the other prehistoric sites in
southern England put together.
Roman pottery jar (amphora), which once contained imported wine,
found at Richborough Castle Roman Fort.
[© English Heritage Photo Library]
What does this particular object tell us
about the way people lived at this time?

(55 BC/54BC) Julius Caesar's Raids
The first Roman attacks on Britain were led by Julius
Caesar, an ambitious general and politician who
claimed that the Britons were helping his enemies in
Gaul (France). His first raid in 55 BC was disastrous:
British shoreline resistance and storm damage to his
ships soon made him turn back.
However, in 54 BC Caesar landed again in Kent with
about 25,000 soldiers and, despite resistance led by
Cassivellaunus, a British chieftain, and attacks by
British chariots, he penetrated as far as
Hertfordshire. Some British tribal chieftains
surrendered and became allies of Rome, allowing
Caesar to claim a victory. But it was clear that
Britain was not easily conquered, and after two
months he withdrew. Britain would remain outside
the Roman Empire for nearly another century.
British two-horse chariot with driver and warrior, from a Roman silver
'denarius' coin, c.48 BC.
[© The Trustees of the British Museum]
Were the Romans only interested in
power?

(47 BC) Caesar Describes Britain
The oldest written descriptions of Britain, by Ancient
Greek authors, describe a land of magical wonders
beyond the known world. Although he had visited
only south-east England, Julius Caesar gives a slightly
more realistic account. Writing in about 47 BC,
perhaps to impress Roman readers, he described the
Britons as fierce barbarian warriors who shaved
their bodies and dyed them blue with woad, but
wore long hair and moustaches. He also wrote that
they would not eat hares, cockerels or geese but
kept them as pets.
Caesar thought the south-eastern tribes, some of
whom had only recently come from France, were
the most civilised Britons. He declared that those
living further inland grew no crops, ate only meat
and dairy products and wore animal skins.
Archaeology proves he was wrong!
Celtic warrior, with characteristic 'spiky hair', from a Roman silver
'denarius' coin, c.48 BC.
Can Julius Caesar’s description of
Britain be trusted?

(35 BC) First British Coins
Caesar says that the Britons used bronze or iron
rings as currency (money). However, gold and silver
coins had already existed for hundreds of years in
Asia, Greece and Rome, and by about 150 BC they
had reached Britain. The first coins were imports
from France.
Not long after Caesar's raids, tribal rulers in
southern and eastern Britain began producing
('minting') coins of their own. These were made by
hammering an iron punch (or dye) engraved with a
pattern onto discs of precious metal. Soon some
British coins included the name of the ruler who
ordered them. Among the earliest of these were
made for Commios, at first an ally and then an
enemy of the Romans, who ruled in the Hampshire-
West Sussex region.
British silver coin of Commios, King of the Atrebates tribe, c.50 BC.
Are coins important sources of evidence
of life in past times?

(10 BC) The Influence of Rome
Though Britain was still independent, the influence of
the Roman Empire, which now extended to the
coast of France, was very strong. Feuding British
rulers turned to Rome for support in their quarrels,
or fled there as refugees if defeated. Some adopted
the Roman title 'rex' (meaning 'king') and imitated
Roman styles for their coins.
Trade with the Roman Empire also increased and
Roman luxury goods, like those found in Lexden
Tumulus (the burial mound of a powerful British
ruler at Colchester), were valued as 'status symbols'
by wealthy Britons. It is even possible that some
Britons took to wearing fashionable Roman clothing.
Roman 'galley' ship, from a coin of Mark Antony, c.30 BC.
Did all the people of Britain want to be
like the Romans?

(AD 10) Cunobelinus
Cunobelinus, whose name means 'the Hound of
Belinus' ('the Shining One', a British god) was the
most powerful British ruler in the decades before
the Roman Conquest. He was the leader of the
Catuvellauni tribe, which had headed the resistance
to Julius Caesar, from about AD 10. He extended his
rule over all south-eastern Britain, from Kent to the
Wash, and the Romans thought him 'King of (all) the
Britons'. His 'capital' was Camulodunum (now
Colchester).
Cunobelinus remained friendly with Rome
throughout his long reign. British corn, cattle, gold,
silver, iron, pearls, slaves and hunting dogs were
traded for Roman luxuries like ivory and amber
jewellery, glass and wine. However, after his death in
about AD 42, his sons adopted policies which helped
encourage Roman invasion.
British coin of Cunobelinus depicting an ear of barley – perhaps suggesting
that British barley beer was better than Roman wine?
Did trading with Rome prevent or
encourage invasion?

(AD 43) Roman Invasion
In AD 43 the Romans landed at Richborough in Kent
with an army of about 40,000 soldiers. They defeated
the Britons (led by Caratacus and Togodumnus, sons
of Cunobelinus) on the River Medway, and then
fought their way over the Thames. The Emperor
Claudius joined them for a triumphal entry into
Colchester, the British 'capital', accompanied by the
first elephants seen in Britain.
However, Britain was far from fully conquered. One
Roman legion marched northwards from Colchester
towards Lincoln, another into the Midlands, and a
third fought its way into the south-west, besieging
and capturing many British hill forts on the way. By
AD 47 all Britain south of a line from Devon to the
Humber was under Roman control.
Gold Roman coin of the Emperor Claudius, AD 43, showing a triumphal
arch proclaiming the conquest of Britain.
Was the Roman invasion good or bad
for Britain?

(AD 47) The Roman Army
The Roman army that conquered Britain was a well-
equipped, uniformed and highly disciplined force. Its
most effective soldiers were 'legionaries', tough
armoured foot-soldiers equipped with short swords,
throwing spears and big shields. Each of the four
legions in Britain had about 5,000 men, divided into
'centuries' of about 80 soldiers, commanded by
centurions. Legionaries were also engineers, building
Roman forts and roads.
Legionaries were recruited from Roman citizens, but
their 'auxiliaries' (meaning 'helpers') were 'cohorts‘
(regiments) from many different parts of the Empire.
Some were spear-armed infantry, others bowmen,
and others made up cavalry regiments of 500 or
1000 men. There were usually more auxiliaries than
legionaries in Britain. The Romans also used
'artillery‘ – machines for throwing big stones or
shooting arrow-headed darts at the enemy.
Model of a Roman legionary soldier from Corbridge Roman Town
showing his armour, shield, throwing spear (pilum) and camping gear.
[© English Heritage]
Was Britain conquered because the
Romans had better weapons than the
Britons?

(AD 51) Caratacus Captured
Caratacus, son of Cunobelinus, headed the British
resistance to the Roman invasion in AD 43 and,
although he was defeated, he refused to give up. He
moved west to lead the fierce Silures tribe of South
Wales in eight years of successful guerrilla warfare
against the invaders. His acceptance by this 'foreign'
tribe suggests that Caratacus had a powerful
personality: his name means 'the beloved one'.
Eventually, in AD 51, he was defeated again
somewhere on the Welsh borders and he fled to
northern England, to Queen Cartimandua of the
Brigantes tribe. She handed him over to the Romans
and he was put on show in Rome as a trophy of
victory. However, his dignity impressed the Romans
so much that Caratacus and his family were
pardoned.
British coin of Caratacus.
Was Caratacus well liked?

(AD 60) Boudica's Revolt
In AD 60 Queen Boudica (Boadicea) came close to
destroying Roman rule in Britain. Her tribe, the Iceni
of East Anglia, had been friendly with Rome, but
when her husband died the Romans not only seized
their land, they also brutally ill-treated Boudica and
her daughters. While the Roman governor and his
troops were away fighting in North Wales, Boudica
united many tribes in a fierce revolt. They destroyed
Colchester, Verulamium (St. Albans) and London,
massacring all their inhabitants. Tens of thousands of
people were tortured and killed.
Racing back, the Roman governor defeated Boudica's
much larger army, and she took poison rather than
fall into enemy hands. After taking savage revenge,
the Romans eventually realised that less harsh rule in
Britain would prevent further risings.
Skulls found in the Wallbrook stream, London, dating from AD 60. They
may well be the severed heads of Boudica’s Roman victims.
[© Museum of London]
Would Boudica be as well remembered
if she had been a man?

(AD 80-100) Development of Roman
Roads
Roman Britain could not have operated without the
network of Roman roads that linked cities and
military bases. Many of their routes are still used as
modern roads today. Unlike the dirt tracks that
preceded them, Roman roads were built in stone,
usually by legionary soldiers. They were paved,
drained, well maintained, and they could be used in
all weathers. Their routes were carefully planned by
engineers, usually in long straight stretches, which
sometimes changed direction on hilltops. However,
in mountainous areas they took the easiest route
along valleys.
Villas (country houses) and small towns developed
along the road network and the Roman government
operated a system of roadside inns and stables.
These helped the Roman officials to travel as quickly
as possible throughout Britain.
Map showing the main Roman roads in Britain.
[Roman Roads in Britain by my work is licensed under (Wikipedia Commons) CC BY-SA 3.0
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Roman.Britain.roads.jpg]
Were Roman roads such a big deal?

(AD 83) Roman Rule Expands
The spread of Roman rule over Britain, temporarily
halted by Boudica's rising, began again with the
conquest of northern England (AD 70-1) and Wales
(AD 74-8). Then the great Roman governor Agricola
invaded Scotland, totally defeating the 'Caledonian'
tribes at the Battle of Mons Graupius (probably near
Inverness) in AD 83. His Roman fleet sailed right
round Britain, proving it was an island.
Agricola's victory, completing the conquest of
Britain, marked the greatest extent of Roman rule.
However, soon afterwards troops were pulled out
to deal with trouble elsewhere in Britain. The
Romans gradually abandoned Scotland and the
northern frontier of Roman Britain was eventually
finalised on Hadrian's Wall.
Tombstone of Flavinus, standard-bearer of a Roman cavalry regiment. He
rides in triumph over a naked 'barbarian'. From Hexham Abbey.
[Tombstone of Flavinus, Roman Standard Bearer by Mike Quinn is licensed under (Wikipedia
Commons) CC BY-SA 2.0
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tombstone_of_Flavinus,_Roman_Standard_Bearer_-
_detail_-_geograph.org.uk_-_732240.jpg]
What evidence is there of Roman rule
near where you live?

(AD 100) Roman Forts Rebuilt in
Stone
Roman forts secured the conquest of Britain. Roman
armies were said to 'carry a walled town in their
packs', and even fortified the temporary 'marching
camps' where they halted when in enemy territory.
Forts were more permanent army bases, controlling
the surrounding area. At first they were defended by
ditches and timber stockades, but from about AD
100 they were often rebuilt with stone walls.
Nearly always rectangular with rounded corners
('playing-card shaped') forts varied greatly in size.
Most were occupied by 'auxiliary' regiments of 500
or 1,000 infantry or cavalry. Among the best-
preserved are those on Hadrian's Wall, including
Housesteads. Legionary 'fortresses', each housing a
whole legion of 5,000 soldiers, were much bigger.
Those at Caerleon, Chester and York remained
important centres of military power until the end of
Roman Britain.
Aerial view of Hardknott Roman Fort, showing the remains of the
defences, headquarters building (centre), commander's house and corn
stores.
Were forts important to Roman rule?

(AD 122) Hadrian's Wall
Hadrian's Wall was begun on the orders of the
Emperor Hadrian in AD 122. It is among the most
famous Roman monuments in the world. It stretches
73 miles from coast to coast, across one of the
narrowest parts of Britain. The 4m-high stone wall
was set with small forts ('milecastles') a mile apart,
with turrets between them. It was part of a wide
band of defences including ditches to front and rear,
outpost forts, and 15 big 'backup' forts for
reinforcements.
The wall complex was a barrier against enemies
raiding from the north, and a means of stopping
them uniting with possibly hostile tribes further
south. It may also have been a springboard for future
Roman advances into Scotland. However, by AD 158
this policy was abandoned, and the wall became the
permanent northern frontier of Roman Britain for
nearly 250 years.
Remains of a central section of Hadrian’s Wall. The wall originally stood
4m high.
Did Hadrian’s Wall serve its purpose?

(AD 155) Verulamium Rebuilt (Roman
Towns Develop)
The biggest change the Romans made in Britain was
to introduce towns and cities. The Romans thought
the best way to 'civilise' (which means 'townify') the
Britons was to focus their lives on imitations of
Rome. The towns built in Britain had Roman-style
'forums' (squares where public events took place)
and 'basilicas' (courtrooms and town halls). They also
had 'amphitheatres' for gladiators, public baths for
exercise and steam baths for gossip.
Towns varied in size and origin. Some, like
Verulamium (now St. Albans), which was rebuilt in
AD 155 after an accidental fire, were the 'capitals' of
Romanised British tribes. Others (like Colchester,
Lincoln and York) started as settlements for retired
soldiers or (like Wroxeter in Shropshire) developed
from forts. Country people visiting such towns could
see and imitate 'citizens' dressing and behaving in
Roman ways.
Reconstruction of a busy street in Roman Wroxeter (Viriconium).
What evidence of Roman towns can be
found where you live – or near where
you live?

(AD 158) Housesteads Fort Fully
Re-Occupied
When Hadrian's Wall became the permanent
frontier of Roman Britain in about AD 158, its forts
like Birdoswald, Chesters and Housesteads were
fully garrisoned. The soldiers at Housesteads came
from what is now Belgium, but other garrisons came
from warmer parts of the Roman Empire, and may
have had trouble coping with the harsh weather of
northern England.
To make them more bearable, forts contained not
only barracks for soldiers and a house for the
commander, but also 'comforts' such as bath houses
with saunas, which were also soldiers' club-rooms.
Some forts even had amphitheatres. Of course they
also needed toilets, as in the famous example at
Housesteads. At many forts, like Housesteads, a
village for traders, pub-keepers, retired soldiers and
their families, grew up outside the walls.
The Roman communal toilets at Housesteads Roman Fort. Sponges on
sticks, washed in the central running-water channel, were used as 'toilet
paper'.
Was life in a Roman fort good?

(AD 180) Benwell Roman Temple
Built (Roman Religion)
Like almost all the world's peoples at this time, the
Romans worshipped many gods. Apart from the gods
and goddesses they brought with them (such as
Jupiter, King of the Gods, and Minerva, Goddess of
Wisdom) the Romans also adopted local gods. For
example, they sometimes merged British war gods
with their own war god, Mars. The temple at
Benwell, built in about AD 180, was dedicated to the
purely British god Antenociticus, but its altars were
given by Roman officers from the nearby Hadrian's
Wall fort.
'Official' Roman religion also included worship of the
Emperor, but individual regiments and even families,
often also had their own private gods. As long as
their worship did not conflict with loyalty to Rome,
nobody minded. However, those following
supposedly anti-Roman religions, like Druidism and
later Christianity, were persecuted.
A trio of mother goddesses from a house outside Housesteads Roman
Fort. They wear hooded capes, a famous product of Roman Britain.
Did people respect different spiritual
beliefs in Roman times?

(AD 180) Uprisings
Though Britain had the largest occupying Roman
army of any province in the Roman Empire, it was
not always able to control the British tribes to the
north and south of Hadrian's Wall. In addition, the
size of the army sometimes tempted Roman
governors to use it to make themselves Emperor –
with disastrous results.
In about AD 180 'Pictish' invaders from Scotland
defeated a Roman legion and may have broken
through Hadrian's Wall. There was more trouble
around AD 197, when governor Clodius Albinus
stripped Britain of troops in order to support his
unsuccessful bid for imperial power. During his
absence hostile tribes in Yorkshire and Wales
rebelled, and some Roman forts were destroyed.
Perhaps because of these troubles, at about this
time, Roman cities defended themselves with
earthwork banks and ditches.
Aerial view of the Roman fort at Bainbridge, Wensleydale, Yorkshire, one
of those attacked during the risings.
[© R White/YDNPA]
Did everyone accept Roman rule at this
time?

(AD 208) Emperor Severus in Britain
In the early 200s, rebellions and invasions in
northern Britain had got so bad that in AD 208 the
Emperor Severus (elderly, but a famous soldier)
came with a large army to restore order. For the
next three years the whole Roman Empire was ruled
from Britain. Severus marched deep into Scotland to
punish hostile tribes, but achieved little there before
his death at York in 211.
However, in his time, many northern Roman forts,
including some on Hadrian's Wall, were
strengthened or rebuilt. Severus also divided Britain
into two provinces: Upper Britain ruled from
London and Lower Britain ruled from York. This
made individual governors less powerful and less
likely to rebel against Rome. For the next 70 years,
Roman Britain was relatively peaceful.
Statue of the Emperor Severus, who originated from North Africa.
Was the Roman invasion more
beneficial for the Romans or Britons?

(AD 209) St. Alban Martyred
By AD 200, a few people in Britain were already
Christians, but they had to worship in secret. The
government thought their refusal to worship the
'official' Roman gods (which Christians regarded as
'idols') or 'divine’ emperors made them traitors to
Rome. If discovered, they were often killed.
History suggests that in AD 209, Alban, a Roman
citizen of Verulamium, sheltered a fleeing Christian
priest, changing clothes with him to help him escape.
Alban was himself beheaded, becoming the first
known British Christian 'martyr'. His (probably) true
story became surrounded by fantastic legends, and
much later a great abbey church was built on the
supposed site of his execution. Verulamium then
became 'St. Albans'.
A 13th-century manuscript painting of the martyrdom of St. Alban. The
executioner’s eyes are shown dropping out.
[© The Board of Trinity College Dublin]
How reliable is the evidence which
surrounds the story of St. Alban?

(AD 212) Citizenship Extended
Before AD 212 there was a big distinction between
Roman 'citizens', who had many rights and privileges,
and other people within the Roman Empire.
However, from that year all 'free' men (those who
were not slaves) throughout the Empire were made
citizens and all free women given the same rights as
Roman women. From then on there was less and
less distinction between 'Britons' and 'Romans'.
Many Romans from other parts of the Empire,
merchants and administrators, as well as soldiers,
also lived in Britain, which was a really international
community. Though they came from places such as
North Africa, Syria or the Balkans, these people
were also 'Romans'. The different races mixed freely.
Regina, a former British slave from the Hertfordshire
area, married her master Barathes, a Roman Syrian
living in South Shields.
Tombstone of Regina, a British-born slave who married her Roman Syrian
master. From South Shields (Arbeia) Roman fort.
[© Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums/Bridgeman Images]
Was life better for Roman citizens?

(AD 250) Great Witcombe Villa Built
Wealthy Roman citizens, including some who were
British-born, owned country houses called 'villas'.
Many of these have been found within reach of
Roman towns, and in prosperous farming areas like
the Cotswolds. Some villas (such as Great
Witcombe Roman Villa – built in about AD 250 –
and Lullingstone Roman Villa) were luxurious
mansions, with underfloor 'central heating', one or
more 'bath-suites', shrines to local gods, and floors
covered with colourful and expensive mosaics.
Others were more akin to farmhouses, and most
were the centres of large farming estates. These
were the homes of communities, including not only
the owner's extended family, but also his servants,
farm workers and slaves.
Villas were at their wealthiest peak during the
relatively peaceful 200s and 300s. Along with their
comfortable lifestyle, they declined towards the end
of Roman Britain.
Reconstruction of Great Witcombe Roman villa.
What would you like or dislike about
living in a Roman villa?

(AD 270) Silchester Walled
Most Roman towns had defences, originally ditches
and stockades. However, by around AD 200 larger
cities like London were given much stronger stone
walls. Later in the century, towns such as Silchester
in Hampshire (known as 'Calleva Atrebatum'),
originally the tribal capital of the local British
Atrebates tribe, also had their defences rebuilt in
stone.
Unlike most Roman cities, Silchester never
developed into a modern town, and its Roman walls
remain very complete today. They are about 4.5m
high, but originally they were around 7.8m tall, with
battlements and seven gateways. About 150,000
cartloads of stone were needed to build them. This
included decorative stone, brought from as far away
as Bath. So perhaps Silchester's walls were originally
as much about showing off as defence.
Reconstruction of Roman Silchester (Calleva Atrebatum). The
amphitheatre is in the foreground, outside the walls.
Are towns with stone walls better
examples of how the Romans influenced
urban development than those without
walls?

(AD 276) Saxon Shore Forts
Though inland Britain remained largely peaceful, its
eastern and south-eastern coasts faced a new threat
from outside. Seaborne raiders came from north-
eastern Europe, including the peoples later called
Anglo-Saxons. These 'pirates' often penetrated up
rivers and estuaries to launch hit-and-run attacks,
escaping before Roman ships could catch them.
After serious raids in about AD 276, more and much
bigger forts were added to those defending east-
coast harbours and estuaries, many with new-style
towered walls like medieval castles. Some even
mounted stone-throwing 'catapults' to bombard
pirate ships. Their garrisons were mainly cavalry,
which could move quickly to attack raiders who
landed, and forts could support each other in serious
trouble. Because the coast they defended was
threatened mainly by Saxons, the Romans called it
'the Saxon Shore'.
Map of the Saxon Shore forts.
[© English Heritage]
Was Roman Britain an easy target for
sea raiders at this time?

(AD 296) Britain Regained for Rome
Carausius, a low-born Belgian sailor who rose to
command the Roman North Sea fleet, scored
spectacular successes against the pirates. However,
the Roman Emperor accused him of keeping their
loot for himself, and he ordered his execution. But,
in about AD 287 Carausius proclaimed himself
independent Emperor of Britain and northern
France, with strong local support. He called himself
'Restorer of Britain'.
In AD 293, Carausius was murdered by his own
finance minister and in AD 296 a Roman army, led by
the Emperor Constantius, invaded. They saved
London from barbarian mercenaries, and regained
Britain for the Roman Empire. Perhaps to avoid
further independence bids, Britain was now sub-
divided into four smaller provinces, with capitals in
London, Cirencester, Lincoln and York.
Gold medallion commemorating the re-conquest of Britain. A figure
representing London [right] kneels before Constantius. A Roman galley is
shown at bottom left.
[© The Roman Society]
Who were the ‘goodies ‘and ‘baddies’ at
this time?

(AD 306) Constantine Proclaimed
Emperor
Constantius, who had regained Britain for Rome in
AD 296, returned in AD 306 and won a great victory
against the Picts north of Hadrian's Wall, which he
also strengthened. When he died in York, his army
there proclaimed his son, Constantine, as Emperor.
Though it took Constantine nearly 20 years to gain
full control of the Empire, he became one of the
most successful Roman rulers – he was known as
'Constantine the Great'. He was also the first
Christian Emperor. His mother, Helena, claimed to
have discovered in Jerusalem the actual 'True Cross'
on which Christ was crucified. Constantinople (now
Istanbul), which Constantine founded as a new
capital of the Roman Empire, was named after him.
Modern statue of Constantine outside York Minster, near the place where
he was proclaimed Emperor.
[© Charles Kightly]
Did Constantine deserve to be called
‘great’?

(AD 313) Persecution of Christians
Ends
Though not actually baptised a Christian until just
before his death in AD 337, Constantine was always
sympathetic to Christianity. In AD 313, after a vision
of the Cross brought him a victory, he decreed that
Christians were free to practise their religion
without persecution, and that all property seized
from them should be restored. There were at least
four Christian bishops in Britain by AD 314.
At this time, however, Christianity was not the only
'legal' religion. Many people still worshipped the old
gods, and some Christians were, at first, cautious
about declaring their faith. Wall paintings in a 'house
church' within Lullingstone Roman Villa, are the
oldest surviving evidence of Christianity in Britain
and date from about AD 350. However, some
experts believe that a neighbouring room there was
still being used as a pagan temple!
Wall painting of Roman Christian worshippers shown praying with
outstretched arms, c.AD 350. From Lullingstone Roman Villa.
What were the differences and
similarities in different religious beliefs
at this time?

(AD 340) Prosperous Britain
The earlier 300s were the 'golden age' of Roman
Britain. By now, there was really no difference
between 'Britons' and 'Romans'. Away from the
troubled northern frontier and pirate-threatened
east coast, the land was peaceful and prosperous.
Indeed, Britain was one of the richest provinces in
the whole Roman Empire. Farming especially
flourished, so that Britain could export corn to
Europe. The waterproof hooded cloaks and saddle-
rugs produced by the British woollen industry were
famous throughout the Roman world.
Especially in the south-west, country villas were built
or enlarged, and small towns prospered. In bigger
towns, like Wroxeter, the fourth largest town in
Britain, richly decorated public baths and other grand
public buildings proclaimed the wealth of Roman
Britain.
Reconstruction of the luxurious Roman public baths at Wroxeter Roman
City (Viriconium).
Did prosperity make people more
peaceful in Roman Britain at this time?

(AD 367) Barbarian Conspiracy
In AD 367 'barbarian' peoples from outside the
Roman Empire attacked its borders in many places,
all at the same time. Britain was simultaneously
invaded by Picts from beyond Hadrian's Wall, raiders
from Ireland and Saxons who attacked along the east
coast. The Roman commander in Britain and the
general in charge of the Saxon Shore were both
killed in battles. Some Roman soldiers deserted to
the enemy, forts were destroyed, and plunderers
roamed about stealing and killing, so 'Britain was
reduced to the verge of ruin’.
Before now, the attackers of Britain had acted
independently and in small groups. This pre-planned
attack by a ‘conspiracy' of barbarians working
together was something new, and also very
dangerous.
A Pictish warrior carved on a standing stone at Collessie, Fife, Scotland.
[© RCAHMS (Tom and Sybil Gray Collection). Licensor
www.rcahms.gov.uk]
Is it fair to describe those attacking
Britain at this time as barbarians?

(AD 369) Theodosius Restores Order
Though the raiders who attacked Britain in AD 367
preferred to go home with their plunder rather than
stay as permanent conquerors, it took the Romans
two years to restore order. This was eventually
achieved by the general, Theodosius. He drove out
the invaders, rebuilt damaged forts, and strengthened
defences in the west against the Irish. He also made
alliances with friendly tribes to help defend Britain's
frontiers.
To give warning against further attacks by Saxon
pirates, he also built a series of fortified watch
towers along the north-east coast, from Hadrian's
Wall down through Yorkshire. Protected by all these
defences, Britain regained some of its prosperity, but
it was never really secure again.
Reconstruction of the Roman signal station on the site of Scarborough
Castle. The beacon gave warning of Saxon raiding ships
approaching.
Was Theodosius good at his job?

(AD 383) Maximus Takes Troops
from Britain
Magnus Maximus, the Spanish-born Roman
commander in Britain, defeated a new Pictish attack,
but could not resist the temptation to declare
himself Emperor of Rome. In AD 383 he invaded
Europe, taking many troops from Britain with him.
He was eventually defeated and killed in 388, and the
troops never returned. Many Roman forts were now
deserted, but Hadrian's Wall was still held, and after
a while Roman imperial rule was re-established.
Though his actions weakened Britain, Maximus was
clearly popular there, perhaps because he
encouraged British frontier tribes to take over from
Roman soldiers against raiders from outside. He
passed into legend as a hero and was later claimed as
an ancestor by Dark Age Welsh princes.
Gold coin of Magnus Maximus, showing him as joint-emperor of Rome.
Was Magnus Maximus a hero?

(AD 391) Paganism Outlawed
In AD 391 the Emperor Theodosius made
Christianity the official state religion of the whole
Roman Empire. The worship of other gods was
outlawed and their temples closed. Despite protests
against abandoning the traditional gods of Rome,
even their worship behind closed doors was soon
forbidden. Magistrates and other officials had to be
Christians, and from now on Christian churchmen
exercised great power in the Roman Empire.
The 'new' eastern god Mithras, who was particularly
favoured by soldiers, was perhaps a more dangerous
rival to Christianity than the traditional gods. At
about this time, his temple near Carrawburgh Fort
on Hadrian's Wall was attacked and its altars
damaged, probably by Christians.
The god Mithras shown emerging from an egg, surrounded by Signs of the
Zodiac. From Housesteads Roman Fort.
[© Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums/Bridgeman Images]
Was having just one religion across the
Roman Empire a good idea?

(AD 410) Britain Breaks with Rome
The Romans did not suddenly leave Britain. In fact,
after 350 years of Roman rule, all Britons thought of
themselves as Romans. However, by the early 400s
most soldiers had been taken to Europe by generals
trying to make themselves Emperor and were never
replaced. Since the Roman Empire could not protect
them, the 'Romano-Britons' declared independence
from the Empire.
Due to a lack of reliable evidence, experts disagree
on exactly when independence came about. In AD
409, the Britons apparently expelled the Empire's
officials. Then in AD 410, when barbarians sacked
the city of Rome itself, the Emperor Honorius may
have written to tell the Britons to look after their
own defence. Certainly, at about this time, Britain
ceased to be part of the Roman Empire.
Gold coin of Honorius, the last Roman Emperor to rule Britain.
Did Rome abandon Britain or did
Britain reject Rome?

(AD 429) Vortigern (Hengist and
Horsa)
In the 420s, the most dangerous enemies threatening
newly independent Britain were the Picts and the
Irish. According to one story, a Romano-British ruler
called Vortigern (which means 'great lord') asked
two Saxon brothers called Hengist (meaning
'stallion') and Horsa ('mare') to bring their followers
to help him defend eastern England against these
enemies. In return he would pay them and give them
land in Kent to live in.
About a century later, a writer blamed Vortigern's
actions for starting off the Saxon conquest of Britain.
However, the Roman army had been employing
Saxons and other Germanic soldiers for some time
before this date, and archaeology shows that some
were already living in eastern England.
Anglo-Saxon belt-buckle from Mucking, Essex.
Is archaeological evidence more reliable
than a writer's account of the past?

(AD 442) Saxons Advance
According to the legend, Hengist and Horsa kept
demanding more money and land from Vortigern.
When they did not get them, they decided to
conquer England for themselves, bringing allies over
from the Saxon homeland to help them. There is
historical evidence that in about AD 442 large
numbers of Saxons, Jutes and Angles advanced into
eastern and south-eastern England.
A chronicler, writing in France, even believed that
the Saxons conquered the whole country at this
time, though this was not yet true. Others reported
widespread attacks and massacres by the Saxons.
Archaeology shows that Roman-style civilised life in
south-east England, ended abruptly about now.
Blade of an Anglo-Saxon seax knife from Sittingbourne, Kent.
Is the object above evidence that the
Anglo-Saxons were all brutal killers?

(AD 446) Last Appeal to Rome
In about AD 446 the Romano-Britons desperately
appealed for help to the Roman general, Aetius, who
was fighting in France. They claimed that, 'The
barbarians drive us to the sea, but the sea drives us
back to the barbarians; between these two kinds of
death, we are either killed or drowned'. By
'barbarians' they probably meant the Saxons, but
they might have meant the Picts and Irish as well.
This plea was called 'the Groans of the Britons‘.
However, the Roman general was too busy fighting
Attila the Hun to send help, and the Britons had to
manage alone. This was probably the last time they
appealed for Roman help
Map showing the European origins of the Anglo-Saxon peoples.
[Anglo-Saxon Migration in the 5th century by my work is licensed under (Wikipedia
Commons) CC BY-SA 3.0
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AAnglo.Saxon.migration.5th.cen.jpg]
Can the 'Groans of the Britons' be
interpreted in different ways?

(AD 460) Ambrosius Fights Back
The Romano-Britons fought hard against the Saxons,
and for a long time prevented them from invading
central, western and northern England. Among their
most successful leaders was Ambrosius Aurelianus,
who was called 'the last of the Romans'. This may
mean he used Roman-style tactics and armoured
cavalry against the Saxons, who fought on foot.
Archaeological evidence also shows that other
British leaders, whose names we do not know,
defended local territories against the invaders. For
instance at Birdoswald Roman Fort on Hadrian's
Wall, the last Roman commander probably became
an independent 'warlord' and built himself a big
timber house within the fort's stone walls.
Reconstruction of the post-Roman hall built within Birdoswald Roman
Fort.
Were old Roman forts of any use to
anyone one at this time?

(AD 470) Massacre at Pevensey
Because very few written records survive from this
period, it is difficult to know exactly what happened
to the British population when the Saxons attacked.
One record says that they massacred all the Britons
who took refuge in Pevensey Roman fort. However,
archaeology shows that towns including Verulamium
(St. Albans) and Wroxeter continued to be lived in,
while others became deserted. Roman civilisation
collapsed, and people stopped using coins and even
pottery.
It used to be thought that the Saxons killed or drove
out all the Britons from the areas they conquered.
However, 'genetic' research into the ancestry of
modern people suggests instead that most ordinary
Britons stayed where they were, adopting the
lifestyle and language of their new Saxon rulers.
The gateway of the Roman fort, Pevensey Castle.
Were the Romans more civilised than
the Saxons?

(AD 495) Battle of Mount Badon
In about AD 495 the Romano-Britons won a great
victory over the Saxon invaders at Mount Badon.
Where this battle took place is uncertain, but it was
probably in south-west England. Some historians
believe that 'Mount Badon' was Liddington Castle hill
fort, near Badbury in Wiltshire, others that it was
near Bath.
It is also uncertain who the British commander was
at this time. Some think it was Ambrosius
Aurelianus, others that it was 'King Arthur'. Though
the legend of King Arthur did not become popular
until many centuries later, some believe that he was
based on a real British 5th-century hero. Quite
certainly, however, the British victory halted the
Saxon conquest for over 50 years.
A 14th-century manuscript painting of King Arthur, as imagined in
medieval times.
[© The British Library Board, Royal 20 A. II, f.4r]
Are the stories about King Arthur fact
or fiction?

(AD 515) Tintagel and 'King Arthur'
Independent British kingdoms survived longest in the
west and north of England, furthest from the Saxon
invaders. They were ruled by Christian princes who
still thought of themselves as 'Romans'. Tintagel on
the north coast of Cornwall was an important
settlement of the Romano-British kingdom of
'Dumnonia' (now Devon and Cornwall). Objects
found there by archaeologists, like containers for
Italian wine, and fine pottery and glass from Spain,
Turkey and North Africa, show that in the 500s its
people were still trading with the Roman Empire.
Much later on, Tintagel was believed to be the
birthplace of 'King Arthur'. Other stories say that
Arthur was killed in about AD 515, possibly in battle
with rival British rulers.
Reconstruction of the Tintagel settlement in about 700. A trading ship is
entering the harbour [right].
[© English Heritage (drawing by Liam Wales)]
Do the objects found at Tintagel tell us
about life in other parts of the world at
this time?

(AD 545) Plague
A terrible epidemic of bubonic plague swept across
Europe during the 540s, and reached Britain in about
AD 545. One of the symptoms was swellings or
'buboes' under the armpits and elsewhere. Many
people died of it, including some rulers of the
northern and western Romano-British kingdoms.
The deaths of farmers and craftsmen, people who
knew how to grow and make things, made civilised
life even harder for the survivors.
The Saxons who ruled eastern England were not so
badly affected as they did not trade with plague-
ridden southern Europe, and the Romano-Britons
would have nothing to do with them. Therefore few,
apparently, caught the disease.
Mosaic depicting the Emperor Justinian who ruled over eastern Europe
when the epidemic broke out. It is also know as the Plague of Justinian.
[© World History Archive/Alamy]
Did everyone suffer from the impact of
the plague at this time?

(AD 552) Renewed Saxon Conquests
The Romano-British victory at Mount Badon stopped
the Saxon advance for 50 years. There may have
been a peace treaty dividing the country between
Saxons and Britons, and there is evidence that some
towns in British-held areas continued to thrive.
However, from AD 552 (when they captured
Salisbury) the Saxons started attacking from their
south-eastern strongholds again. They pushed the
Britons westwards and northwards, and in AD 571
they took Bedford.
The Britons fought back hard, and sometimes
temporarily defeated the Saxons, but more and more
of England came under Saxon control.
Finely decorated Anglo-Saxon brooch from West Heslerton.
Was it easy for the Anglo-Saxons to
conquer Britain?

(AD 560) Saxon Farms and British
Rivers
As the Saxons conquered England, they gave names
in their own language to the places they lived in. This
Anglo-Saxon language is related to German and is
the ancestor of the English we speak today.
However, if we heard a Saxon speaking now, we
wouldn't be able to understand him.
Many Saxon place names end in 'ham' (meaning a
village) or 'ton' (a homestead or farm). Often places
were named after the people who lived there:
'Nottingham', originally spelled 'Snotingaham', means
the village of the followers of a man called 'Snot', the
'Snotings'. However, many rivers kept, and still keep,
the names given to them in the British (Celtic)
language spoken by earlier inhabitants. For instance,
'Avon’ means 'river' in that language.
An Anglo-Saxon plough hauled by oxen, from a manuscript of about 1030.
[© The British Library Board, Cotton Tiberius BV, Part 1, f.3]
Can you find any places in your area
with names of Saxon origin?

(AD 580) The First Ango-Saxon
Kingdoms
The 'Anglo-Saxon' conquerors of England were not
yet a united nation. Depending on where they came
from in northern Europe, some were Saxons, some
Angles and some Jutes. As they conquered England,
they divided it into separate and independent
kingdoms, large and small. These included: Kent in
the south-east; Sussex (the land of the South
Saxons); Essex (East Saxons); Wessex (West
Saxons); East Anglia (East Angles); Mercia in the
midlands and Northumbria in the north.
Sometimes an especially powerful or respected
Anglo-Saxon king (like King Ceawlin of Wessex who
reigned in about AD 580) claimed temporary
leadership of all the other Anglo-Saxon rulers. These
men were called 'Bretwaldas', meaning 'wide-ruler'
or perhaps 'sovereign of Britain'.
Map of the major Anglo-Saxon kingdoms.
[Source: http://www.edmaps.com]
Was Britain more Anglo-Saxon or
Romano-British at this time?

(AD 597) Conversion to Christianity
When the Anglo-Saxons came to England they were
pagans, worshipping gods like Tiw, Woden, Thor and
Frey, after whom Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday
and Friday are still named. The Christian Britons
hated the Saxon invaders so much that they didn’t
want their souls to be 'saved' by Christianity, so they
did nothing to convert them.
Eventually the southern Saxons were converted by
missionaries sent by the Pope from Rome. The
earliest and most famous was St. Augustine, who
converted the King of Kent in AD 597. In northern
England, however, the missionaries came from
Christian Ireland. However, it would take a long time
before all the Anglo-Saxons became Christian.
The remains of St. Augustine’s Abbey, Canterbury, founded by the saint
himself in about 597.
Were the missionaries right to convert
people to Christianity?

(AD 600) Battle of Catraeth
In northernmost England, where the Romano-British
kingdoms remained strong, the Anglo-Saxon
conquest was slow. The 'Anglian' invaders of this
part of the country first landed at Bamburgh in
Northumberland, later the site of a famous medieval
castle. In about AD 600, they destroyed a British
army at the Battle of Catraeth, now Catterick, North
Yorkshire.
We know about this battle from a famous poem
written at the time in the British language, an
ancestor of modern Welsh. It is the oldest surviving
poem in a language still spoken in Britain. It also
includes the earliest known reference to 'King
Arthur’.
Medieval Bamburgh Castle, built on the site of the first Anglo-Saxon
stronghold in Northumbria.
[© English Heritage Photo Library/Peter Dunn, English Heritage Graphics
Team]
Is this poem reliable evidence?

(AD 617) King Edwin Converted
By AD 604 the Anglo-Saxons had taken York. This
old Roman capital of northern England became the
capital of their kingdom of Northumbria. One of its
most powerful kings was Edwin, who reigned from
AD 617. Originally a pagan, he was baptised a
Christian in about AD 625, probably at the site
where York Minster now stands.
A famous story tells how one night a sparrow flew
through King Edwin's lit feasting hall, from darkness
into darkness. Someone compared it to the life of
pagans, going from one unknown and frightening
place to another. If Christianity could give people
more hope of life after death, Edwin thought he
ought to become a Christian.
A re-erected pillar from the Roman headquarters building in York, near
the place where Edwin was baptised.
Did people want to convert to
Christianity at this time?

(AD 625) Sutton Hoo
In 1939, archaeologists made an amazing discovery at
Sutton Hoo in Suffolk. A buried ship full of treasures
was found, which had once surrounded the body of a
very rich and important Saxon ruler. The treasures
included a helmet and sword; Swedish-style
metalwork; coins from all over western Europe, and
even silver spoons from Constantinople. Some of the
treasures suggest that the person buried was a
Christian, but Christians were not usually buried
with objects for the ‘after-life’.
Historians think that this is the tomb of the great
King Redwald of East Anglia, who died in about AD
625. It seems Redwald could not decide whether he
was a pagan or a Christian. He installed a statue of
Christ in his private temple, but also kept statues of
pagan gods there.
The reconstructed helmet from the Sutton Hoo ship burial: it was
probably made in England.
What does the discovery at Sutton Hoo
tell us about religious beliefs, trade and
craftwork at this time?

(AD 635) Lindisfarne Founded
Many of the first missionaries were monks who were
unmarried men living together in communities,
devoted to prayer and poverty. They believed that
this simple and sometimes hard way of life brought
them closer to God. They often set up their
'monasteries' in lonely places, where they would not
be distracted.
In AD 635 St. Aidan, an Irish monk, founded a
monastery on the lonely island of Lindisfarne, off
Northumberland, later called 'Holy Island'. From
there he journeyed through Northumbria preaching
Christianity. The Anglo-Saxon King Oswald of
Northumbria was his friend and protector.
Afterwards, Lindisfarne became even more famous
as the home of St. Cuthbert and the Lindisfarne
Gospels.
The 9th-century ‘Doomsday’ memorial stone from Lindisfarne Priory.
Did monasteries only influence religion?

(AD 642) Battle of Oswestry
In the 600s many wars were fought in England, as the
different independent kingdoms struggled for
supremacy. The battles were not always between
Saxon and British kingdoms, or between Christians
and pagans. Sometimes Britons allied with Saxons,
and pagans allied with Christians.
In AD 642 the Christian Saxon King Oswald of
Northumbria was killed by an alliance between the
pagan King Penda of Anglo-Saxon Mercia (in the
West Midlands) and Christian Britons from
Shropshire and North Wales. Oswald's body was
chopped up, and his head stuck on a tree or a
wooden cross (‘Oswald’s Tree’). This battle site in
Shropshire is now called Oswestry. Oswald, the
friend of St. Aidan of Lindisfarne, was later himself
regarded as a saint.
Battle scene from the Franks Casket, dating from about 700. The casket
was made in northern England from the bones of a stranded whale.
Did having many kingdoms create more
conflict at this time?

(AD 664) The Synod of Whitby
(Rome or Ireland?)
Some Anglo-Saxon kingdoms were converted by
missionaries from Rome, and some by monks from
Ireland. The Churches of Rome and Ireland had
different ways of doing things, like the haircuts of
their priests. They did not even agree on the date of
Easter, the most important Christian festival, and this
caused problems. King Oswiu of Northumbria,
influenced by Ireland, celebrated Easter at one date,
but his Roman-convert wife at another.
So King Oswiu summoned a 'synod' (church
conference) at the monastery of Whitby to decide
whether the Church in England should follow Roman
or Irish religious rules. After much argument, Oswiu
decided on Rome. This was because he dared not
offend St. Peter, a 'Roman' saint, who was thought to
hold the keys of heaven. For nearly the next nine
centuries, England would be a 'Roman Catholic'
nation.
A monk receiving a Roman-style haircut [right] and a monk with Celtic-
style haircut [left]].
[© The British Library Board, Cotton Cleopatra C. XI, f.27v.
© The Board of Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland/Bridgeman Images]
Did choosing to follow Roman rules of
Christianity create peace in Britain?

(AD 680) Caedmon
At the time of the Synod of Whitby, the monastery
at Whitby was ruled by the powerful Abbess Hilda, a
Saxon princess. Among her servants was a poor
cowherd called Caedmon. Anglo-Saxons loved
poetry and singing, and the Whitby monks used to
pass round a harp and sing songs to entertain each
other. Caedmon, however, knew no songs, so he
crept off sadly to sleep in the cowshed.
That night, according to legend, an angel appeared to
him, giving him the power to write poetry. He
composed a hymn about the ‘Creation of the World’
and sang it to Abbess Hilda. This was regarded as a
miracle, and Caedmon became an honoured monk.
He died in about AD 680.
'Caedmon's Hymn' still survives, and it is one of the
very earliest poems in the Anglo-Saxon language, the
ancestor of modern English.
Victorian cross commemorating Caedmon in St. Mary’s Churchyard,
Whitby.
Are the story and poem of Caedmon
reliable sources of evidence?

(AD 699) Lindisfarne Gospels
Produced
The most famous saint of Anglo-Saxon northern
England was Cuthbert, a monk and abbot of
Lindisfarne. He spent a lot of time meditating alone
on the remote Farne islands, and made friends with
otters and seabirds. He died in 687, and nine years
later his body was dug up. It had not rotted away at
all, which convinced the Lindisfarne monks that he
was a powerful saint.
Probably to celebrate St. Cuthbert's re-burial in a
new shrine, a monk called Eadfrith created a
beautifully painted version of the Christian New
Testament Gospels. The Lindisfarne Gospels still
survive. They are the among the finest works of art
produced in Anglo-Saxon England.
The beginning of St. Matthew’s Gospel, a ‘carpet page’ from the
Lindisfarne Gospels manuscript.
[© The British Library Board, Cotton Nero D. IV, f.27]
What do the Lindisfarne Gospels tell us
about life at this time compared with
life today?

(AD 700) The Ruthwell Cross
Before churches were built, Anglo-Saxon Christians
often gathered to worship in the open air in places
marked by tall crosses, made of timber or stone and
often carved and painted. Among the finest survivors
is the Ruthwell Cross.
Five and a half metres high, this cross probably dates
from around AD 700. It is carved all over with
figures of Christ, saints, vines and birds. It also has
carved inscriptions quoting in Latin from the Bible,
and in Anglo-Saxon from a poem called 'The Dream
of the Rood’ ('rood' being the Saxon word for a
cross). These words are the oldest surviving
examples of written Anglo-Saxon. They are carved in
letters called 'runes'.
The head of the Ruthwell Cross. Carved runes can be seen near the
bottom of the picture.
[© Crown Copyright Historic Scotland]
What can you find out about runes?

(AD 720) The Tribal Hideage
The Tribal Hideage is a document listing 34 of the
separate Anglo-Saxon 'tribes' or peoples who lived in
southern and midland England in the 700s, and how
many 'hides' of land each of them owned. A 'hide'
was the amount of farmland necessary to provide
food for a 'household'. A household meant not just a
family, but also the servants and slaves who worked
for them.
Some tribes (such as the West Saxons, the Mercians
of the Midlands and the East Angles) were very large,
including tens of thousands of households. Others,
like the 'Spaldas’ (who lived around Spalding in
Lincolnshire) and the 'Peak dwellers' of Derbyshire,
were much smaller. Some tribes included only about
300 households.
Harvesting with scythes, from an Anglo-Saxon manuscript of about 1030.
[© The British Library Board. All Rights Reserved/Bridgeman Images]
What does The Tribal Hideage tell us
about life in Britain at this time?

(AD 731) Bede and the Idea of
'England'
Bede was a monk who lived at Jarrow monastery in
Northumbria, a famous centre of learning. He wrote
about 60 books in Latin, many of which survive. The
most important is the 'History of the English Church
and People', completed in AD 731. This was the
earliest attempt to write a history of England,
especially from the time of the Anglo-Saxon
conquest.
Bede’s book is a very important milestone in the
history of England because it treated England as a
single united country, rather than a collection of
independent kingdoms and separate tribes. England
would not really be united for another two
centuries, but Bede helped plant the idea that it
should be a single nation.
A medieval depiction of Bede writing. He holds a quill pen in his right hand
and a penknife in his left.
[© The British Library Board, Yates Thompson 26 f2r]
Why is Bede such a significant person in
British history?

(AD 757) King Offa of Mercia
In the later 700s, the Midlands kingdom of Mercia
dominated all southern England. Its greatest ruler
was King Offa (757-96), who was the first to
standardise the silver 'penny' as the coin used for
trade. His power was also respected in Europe: the
Emperor Charlemagne called him 'brother'.
'Mercia' means 'the borderlands', and Offa's greatest
achievement was the construction of a massive
earthwork ditch and bank still called Offa's Dyke.
Stretching over 80 miles from near Chepstow to
Prestatyn, it clearly defined from sea to sea the
boundary between the Anglo-Saxon 'English' and the
Britons of Wales. Many sections of this astonishing
feat of engineering still look impressive today.
A dramatic section of Offa’s Dyke on the Shropshire/Wales border.
Are Offa’s achievements still significant
today?

(AD 780) Beowulf
Beowulf is the oldest surviving Anglo-Saxon 'epic
poem' or adventure story. Some experts think it was
composed in the late 700s, though it tells of events
supposed to have happened much earlier, before the
Anglo-Saxons came to England.
Its hero, Beowulf, kills a man-eating monster called
Grendel, and then Grendel's even fiercer mother.
Later he defeats a dragon, but dies of the wounds he
got while fighting it. Poems like this were not meant
to be read, but to be sung or recited for
entertainment at feasts. So though the poem is over
3,000 lines long, the reciter would be expected to
know it 'off by heart'!
The first page of the only surviving original manuscript copy of Beowulf.
[© The British Library Board, Cotton Vitellius A. XV, f.132]
What does the poem Beowulf tell us
about life at this time?

(AD 787) First Viking Raids
The Vikings were fierce pagan raiders from Norway
and later also from Denmark, who began attacking
England in the late 700s. The English called them
'pirates', or 'heathen men'. Their first raid was on the
Dorset coast in AD 787, but their first serious attack
was on the rich monastery of Lindisfarne in AD 793,
where they slaughtered the monks and stole the
treasures. Soon afterwards they also began raiding
other parts of Europe.
Viking raids at first menaced only coastal areas,
which they plundered before sailing away. But during
the later 800s raiders became invaders, and the
Vikings almost conquered the whole of England.
Battle scene from the 9th-century ‘Viking Stone’ at Lindisfarne Priory.
Why did the Vikings raid, then invade
England?

(AD 800) The Law of the Land
Anglo-Saxon laws protected the rights of free men as
well as setting out their duties, such as serving in the
army in times of war. They also tried to keep the
peace and prevent blood-feuds happening if someone
was killed. Instead, a 'wergild' or ‘man price’ in
money could be paid by the killer or his family to the
dead man's relations, to prevent them taking
vengeance. The 'man price' of a killed king was 12
times that of a nobleman, and a slain nobleman was
worth 6 times more than a wealthy farmer.
Locally, laws were dealt with at 'hundred courts',
where representatives of a hundred households met
in the open air to make decisions.
Medieval manuscript recording the Laws of Aethelbert, first Christian King
of Kent.
[© Rochester Cathedral]
How far have laws changed since Anglo-
Saxon times?

(AD 825) Bigger Kingdoms
In AD 825 the King of the West Saxons defeated the
Mercians at the Battle of Ellendun (near Swindon)
and 'Wessex' became the leading power in southern
England. Smaller kingdoms like Kent, Sussex and East
Anglia still survived, but they were now dominated
by the three big Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of Wessex,
Mercia and Northumbria. Although the Anglo-
Saxons now called themselves 'English', England was
not yet a single united country.
In Cornwall and parts of north-west England as well
as in Wales, British kingdoms still survived. The
English called their people 'Welsh' (from a Saxon
word meaning 'foreigners') but they called
themselves 'Cymry’, meaning 'fellow countrymen’ in
their own language. This name is the origin of
'Cymru' (still the Welsh-language name for Wales)
and 'Cumbria'.
Ring of King Aethelwulf of Wessex (839-58), father of King Alfred.
How have the names of places in
England changed?

(AD 850) Viking Raiders Become
Invaders
In AD 850, for the first time, a Viking army stayed in
England throughout the winter instead of sailing
home with their plunder, so they were ready to start
raiding again when spring came. This was a very
dangerous development, turning raiders into
invaders. Earlier Viking raiders had come from
Norway, but from this time on, most Vikings who
attacked England came from Denmark.
Sometimes independent English rulers united
together to fight the Vikings, and occasionally they
defeated them. More often the Vikings won. Some
people began to think that it was better to pay the
Vikings to go away, or even to let them take over
their land, than to fight them.
An original Viking boat.
[© Rick Strange/Alamy]
How did different people react to the
Viking raids at this time?

(AD 865) Viking Great Army Lands
In AD 865 a huge Viking army invaded England, led
by two notorious pirate brothers, Ivar the Boneless
and Halfdan the Black. Each following year they
moved on to plunder another part of the country,
taking York in AD 866 and then invading Mercia. In
869 they killed Edmund, King of East Anglia, shooting
him full of arrows and then cutting off his head when
he refused to renounce Christianity.
Only in Wessex did the English keep on resisting the
Vikings. In AD 870 they actually managed to defeat
them at Ashdown (Berkshire), but they lost more
battles than they won. In AD 871 Alfred became
King of Wessex and kept up the fight.
A Viking army preparing to land, from a 10th-century Norwegian
manuscript.
[© Bymuseum, Oslo, Norway/Index/Bridgeman Images]
Was it easy for the Vikings to invade
England?

(AD 878) Vikings Defeated at Edington
Early in AD 878 the Vikings suddenly attacked
Wessex in midwinter. King Alfred was forced to hide
in the marshes of Athelney, and many of his subjects
surrendered and paid 'tribute money' to the Vikings.
But Alfred refused to despair. He gathered a new
army and completely defeated the enemy at the
Battle of Edington (Wiltshire).
This was the first time the Vikings had ever been so
badly beaten in England. Their leader, Guthrum,
agreed to become a Christian, with Alfred acting as
his 'godfather'. He also swore to take his army out of
Wessex. Wessex was saved, but many other parts of
England were now being permanently settled by
Vikings.
Victorian statue of King Alfred at Winchester, the old capital of Wessex.
What reasons might Guthrum have had
for agreeing to become a Christian?

(AD 891) Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
The Viking invasions did tremendous damage to art,
culture and learning in England. Monasteries had
been centres of knowledge, but many were
destroyed along with their precious books and their
monks. By Alfred's time hardly anyone was left who
understood Latin, the language previously used for
recording information.
So when Alfred wanted to rebuild learning, he had to
write books in the English language, something
nobody had done before. To help him, he gathered
scholars from all over Britain. One of these, the
Welshman Asser, wrote the story of Alfred's life.
Alfred also ordered the making of a history of
England, called the ‘Anglo-Saxon Chronicle’. He sent
copies to all the main surviving monasteries, with
orders to keep it up to date.
Manuscript of the version of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle written at
Abingdon Abbey.
[© The British Library Board, Cotton Tiberius B. I, f.144v]
Did the Viking invasion help or hinder
literacy in England?

(AD 899) Alfred the Great Dies
Alfred is the only English King called 'the Great'. His
resistance had saved England from total conquest by
the Vikings, and as the ruler of the only surviving
Anglo-Saxon kingdom, he was honoured throughout
the whole land. Some even thought of him as the
first King of all England. He was also respected for
trying to revive English learning, and had begun to
build ships to fight the Vikings at sea.
However, at the time of Alfred's death, England was
still not yet a single united country, and much of it
was still occupied by Vikings, who were beginning to
settle down there permanently. Even Wessex itself
was not safe from a renewed Viking attack.
The gold and rock-crystal ‘Alfred Jewel’, part of a pointer sent to a
monastery with copies of Alfred’s books. The figure symbolises sight.
[© Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford]
Was King Alfred ‘great’?

(AD 900) Burhs
One reason why the Vikings conquered much of
England so easily was that people had nowhere to
take refuge when attacks came. Castles had not been
invented, and most old Roman fortifications were
ruinous.
So King Alfred and his successors created fortresses
where people could shelter. Local people had to help
dig ditches and banks to protect them, and then
provide part-time soldiers to defend them. These
places of refuge were called 'burhs', and by 900 no
village in Wessex nor its neighbouring areas was
more than 20 miles away from one. Many of these
'burhs' later became prosperous market towns,
today known as 'boroughs’.
Map of ‘burhs’ in southern England.
[Anglo-Saxon burhs by Hel-hama is licensed under (Wikipedia Commons) CC BY-SA 3.0
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AAnglo-Saxon_burhs.svg ]
How have people defended their
territory throughout history?

(AD 924) Reconquest
In AD 914 Alfred's son, King Edward of Wessex, and
his sister, Aethelflaed, who ruled in the Midlands and
was called 'the Lady of the Mercians', began
reconquering the lands taken by the Vikings. As they
recaptured territory year after year, they protected
it with new fortresses called ‘burhs’.
The warrior princess Aethelflaed, planning her own
campaigns and leading them herself, marched north-
westwards towards Chester, while Edward fought
his way north-eastwards. The Vikings surrendered or
fled, and by the time Edward died in AD 924, all the
country south of the Humber was again under
English rule.
Thirteenth-century manuscript painting of Queen Aethelfleda.
[© The British Library Board, Cotton Claudius B VI f.14r]
Why were Edward and Aethelflaed so
successful in reconquering land from the
Vikings?

(AD 937) The First King of all England
The mighty Aethelstan, Edward's son (Alfred's
grandson), completed the reconquest of southern
England, and pushed on to capture York. He became
the first recognised king of a single united 'England',
whose power was also respected in Wales.
After destroying an attacking coalition of Vikings,
Scots and Britons at the Battle of Brunanburh in AD
937, Aethelstan was also hailed as 'Ruler of All
Britain'. He was the overlord not only of England,
but also of an 'English Empire' that dominated the
whole island of Britain.
Perhaps the greatest of all Anglo-Saxon kings,
Aethelstan was famous for his just laws and for
founding monasteries. His power made him
respected throughout western Europe, whose rulers
sought alliances with him and sent their sons to be
educated at his court.
Manuscript painting of King Aethelstan, shown presenting a book to St.
Cuthbert. Painted c.930 during Aethelstan's lifetime, it is the earliest
known 'portrait' of an English king.
[© By kind permission of the Master and Fellows of Corpus Christi
College, Cambridge]
What does the image above tell us
about King Aethlestan?

(AD 954) The Danelaw
Though the English kings reconquered the lands
taken by the Vikings, they did not drive out the
Vikings who had settled down there as peaceful
farmers. The parts of eastern England where these
retired Vikings lived were called the Danelaw,
because the people there kept their Danish language
and Danish laws. These included the judgement of
law cases by a 'jury' of 12 men, a system the English
took over.
The most important Viking-settled town was York.
This kept its Scandinavian rulers until the last of
them, the violent Erik Bloodaxe, was killed in AD
954.
Map showing the Danelaw and English-held lands.
[England 878 by Hel-hama is licensed under (Wikipedia Commons) CC-BY-SA-3.0
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AEngland_878.svg]
What can the map above tell you about
the area you live in at this time?

(AD 970) English Art Revived
English art and craftsmanship, which had suffered
during the Viking wars, had a great revival in the
more peaceful 900s. Encouraged by the Church and
its famous Archbishop Dunstan (AD 909-88) monks
produced beautiful painted manuscripts such as the
'Benedictional of Aethelwold' (about AD 970). This
was made at Winchester, the royal 'capital' of
southern England.
English craftspeople were also famous for their fine
metalwork, but most of all for their beautiful
embroidery using silk and gold thread. This
fabulously expensive 'English work' was valued all
over Europe for fine royal robes and church
decoration.
Page from the Anglo-Saxon Benedictional of Aethelwold, a manuscript
painted at Winchester c.970.
[© The British Library Board, Add. MS 49598, f. 45v]
Is there a link between times of peace
and great art and creativity?

(AD 978) Aethelred the Unready
After a long period of peace, things began to go
wrong for England under King Aethelred (AD 978-
1016). Suspected of murdering his brother to get the
throne, Aethelred proved a weak and foolish ruler
who could not beat off a new outbreak of Viking
attacks. So instead he began bribing the raiders to go
away, making his people pay heavy taxes called
'Danegeld' to provide the money.
People soon nicknamed him 'the Unready'. This
doesn't mean he was not prepared, but comes from
an old word 'unrede', meaning 'bad advice'. So the
Aethelred the Unready meant 'Aethelred the Ill-
Advised‘ – or just 'the Stupid'.
Thirteenth-century manuscript painting of King Aethelred.
[© The British Library Board, Cotton Claudius B. VI, f.87v]
Did Aethelred the Unready deserve his
nickname?

(AD 991) The Battle of Maldon
During Aethelred the Unready's reign, a large force
of Vikings landed on an island near Maldon.
Byrhtnoth, the English ealdorman (governor) of
Essex, defended the narrow causeway connecting
the island to the land. Even though they
outnumbered him, he eventually allowed the Vikings
to cross it, so they could fight on fairer terms. The
Vikings won, Byrhtnoth was killed, and all his
companions chose to die with him rather than
retreat or surrender.
We know about this because a famous poem praised
the heroism of the companions, whose honour
bound them to die with their master rather than
saving themselves.
Modern statue of Byrhtnoth at Maldon.
[Byrthnoth statue Maldon by Oxyman (Wikipedia Commons) CC-BY-SA-3.0.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Brythnoth_statue_Maldon.jpg]
Can poems tell us about the past?

(AD 1016) King Cnut
When Aethelred the Unready died after a troubled
reign, people wanted a strong ruler to restore peace
and order. Many chose Cnut, the commander of an
invading Danish army, who became undisputed King
of England when Aethelred's son died in 1016. Soon
afterwards he inherited the kingship of Denmark,
and later also ruled Norway and parts of Sweden.
Thus during his reign (1016-35) England was part of a
'North Sea Scandinavian Empire'.
Though a harsh king, Cnut (also spelt 'Canute‘) ruled
England wisely, and was a great supporter of the
Church. He protected England from Vikings, united
Danes and Englishmen, and upheld English law.
King Cnut [bottom right] presents a golden cross to Hyde Abbey,
Winchester, from a manuscript compiled there in 1031.
[© The British Library Board, Stowe 944, f6]
Why did the people of England choose a
Danish king?

(AD 1042) Edward the Confessor
Following the short reigns of Cnut's two sons, the
English chose a king of the old royal line, Edward, a
son of Aethelred the Unready. Known as 'Edward
the Confessor' (which in this case means someone
who lives a holy life) he was regarded as a saint by
many of his poor subjects. He had been brought up
in exile in Normandy, and his English and Danish
nobles disliked his preference for Norman ways and
Norman advisers, especially churchmen.
His most famous achievement was founding a great
abbey just west of the old city of London called 'the
West Minster'. Westminster Abbey is still used for
coronations and royal burials today.
The shrine of the sainted King Edward the Confessor in Westminster
Abbey.
[© Angelo Hornak/Alamy]
What did it take to be regarded as a
saint?

(AD 1066) Harold Godwinson
Old King Edward died childless on 5th January 1066.
He had always wanted his successor to be his cousin
William, Duke of Normandy. At this time, however,
England was threatened by foreign invaders, so on
his deathbed, he accepted Harold Godwinson
instead. Though not of royal blood, Harold was the
greatest warrior in England, and nobles immediately
chose him as king.
As the last Saxon King of England, Harold prepared
for invasion. In September a big Viking army landed
in Yorkshire, commanded by King Harald Hardrada
('Hard Ruler') of Norway, who claimed to be the
heir of King Cnut. Harold Godwinson rapidly
marched up from London, destroying the Vikings at
the Battle of Stamford Bridge on 25th September.
Three days later, the Normans landed on the Sussex
coast.
Harold Godwinson, from the Bayeux Tapestry.
[© De Agostini/The British Library Board]
Was choosing a king or queen a fair
process in this period of history?

(AD 1066) Battle of Hastings
Duke William of Normandy landed near Pevensey in
Sussex on 28th September 1066, with an army
including cavalry. He had come to claim the throne
of England, which he believed had been promised to
him by Edward the Confessor.
Harold Godwinson marched 241 miles (386km) from
Yorkshire to oppose him. On 14th October he took
up a defensive position at the place now called
Battle, near Hastings. The English fought on foot with
axes, spears and swords. The Norman army included
bowmen and mounted, armoured knights. Several
times they pretended to run away, drawing the
English from their position and then cutting them
down.
After about nine hours of fighting, Harold was killed
and the English army routed. William 'the
Conqueror' became King of England.
The death of King Harold at Hastings, from the Bayeux Tapestry. Some
people think Harold is the figure shot with an arrow, others the figure cut
down by a knight.
[© Lessing Archive/The British Library Board]
Is the Bayeux Tapestry reliable evidence
of what happened at the Battle of
Hastings?

(AD 1069) The Harrying of the North
After Hastings, not all the English accepted William
as king. In the Fens, Hereward the Wake held out
against the Normans for a long time. But the main
resistance was in the north, where English rebels
were aided by a Viking fleet.
So during the winter of 1069-70, King William
marched his army from the Humber northwards to
the Tees, and then back again via Chester and the
north Midlands. To make sure the rebels would
starve and never resist again, they not only killed all
the rebels they found, but they also destroyed
villages, killed farm animals and burnt crops. Large
parts of Yorkshire were still 'waste land' over 20
years later.
Reconstruction of the early Norman motte and bailey castle at York: now
the site of Clifford’s Tower.
Was it easy for William to conquer
England?

(AD 1071) The First Castles
Two developments helped the Normans to conquer
and control England: the mounted knight and the
castle. Neither had been seen in England before
1066.
The first Norman castles were made of earth and
timber, and could be built very quickly, probably
using forced local labour. They consisted of ditched
and banked enclosures (called 'baileys') defended by
wooden stockades. They nearly always also had a
mound ('motte') strongpoint, with its own ditch and
its own stockade, defending the mound top. In
addition, sometimes they had a timber tower (called
a 'keep') on the mound top.
Norman soldiers used these castles to defend
themselves, and soldiers living there could ride out
and control the surrounding country.
Building a motte and bailey castle at Hastings, soon after William the
Conqueror’s landing in 1066. From the Bayeux Tapestry.
[© Hemis/Alamy]
Did the Normans need castles?

(AD 1087) Domesday Book
The Normans controlled England much more tightly
than the Saxon kings. William the Conqueror
wanted to know exactly who owned what land, what
it was worth, and what sort of people and farm
animals lived in each place. Thus he would know
how much he could make his subjects pay in taxes.
So in 1087, William commissioned a detailed survey
of the whole country. His surveyors asked so many
questions that the English compared them to the
questions that Christians expected to answer at the
Last Judgement, or ‘Doomsday’. So they called the
survey 'Domesday Book’.
For us, Domesday Book provides a unique, valuable
and interesting 'snapshot' of early Norman England.
Page from Domesday Book, recording part of Yorkshire.
[© The National Archives, ref. E31/2/2 (316v)]
How far is Domesday Book different
from today’s census?

(1100) Death of William Rufus
On 2nd August 1100, King William Rufus (1087-1100)
was mysteriously killed by an arrow while hunting in
the New Forest. The son of William the Conqueror,
Rufus ('the red') got his nickname from his red face.
He was a vain, violent man who scorned religion.
Many people thought Rufus’s brother, who
succeeded him as Henry I (1100-35), ordered his
murder. Others believed it a punishment for the
Norman kings' creation of 'royal forests', vast private
hunting preserves that eventually covered nearly a
third of all England. Nobody (except those given
permission by the King) was allowed to hunt there.
Brutal 'forest laws' enforced blinding or death on
poachers, and even forest-dwellers' dogs had their
paws mutilated to stop them chasing deer.
Map showing royal forests in England in the 14th century.
[Royal.Forests.1327-1336 by my work is licensed under (Wikipedia Commons) CC-BY-SA-
3.0
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3ARoyal.Forests.1327.1336.annotated.jpg]
Is there a connection between the
stories of Robin Hood and ‘forest laws’?

(1127) Stone Castles (Rochester
Castle Keep Begun)
The first Norman castles were made of earth and
timber, but in many places their wooden stockades
were soon replaced by stronger stone walls. By the
early 1100s, the most important new castles were
given big stone 'keeps'. These were square or
rectangular stone buildings, with two or more
storeys of rooms inside, where the owner could live
in safety. Often they were surrounded by outer walls
for additional security.
Some keeps, like the one at Rochester Castle in
Kent (begun in about 1127), were very tall, with
turrets at each corner. Their entrances were
extremely well protected. Attackers trying to get in
had to pass through a whole series of defended
doors, staircases, 'portcullises' and drawbridges,
where they could be trapped and killed by the
defenders.
The keep of Rochester Castle.
Were stone castles better than those
made of timber?

(1132) Rievaulx Abbey Founded
Though there were monks in England before the
Norman Conquest, many more monasteries were
founded afterwards. The first monks were called
'Benedictines' (after their founder, St. Benedict) but
soon other 'orders' of monks developed, living by
even stricter rules.
'Cistercian' monks liked to live in lonely places, and
did physical work as well as praying. They farmed
large areas of land, and often kept thousands of
sheep. Rievaulx Abbey in North Yorkshire is among
the biggest and best preserved Cistercian
monasteries. It was founded in 1132 by a Norman
baron, Walter L'Espec of Helmsley Castle. He
believed that giving land and money to start a
monastery would help him get to heaven.
Reconstruction of Cistercian monks at a service in Rievaulx Abbey church.
Team]
Were monasteries just places of
worship?

(1135) Stephen and Matilda
King Henry I, who died in 1135, wanted his only
child, Matilda, to succeed him. But the Norman
barons did not want a woman ruler, and disliked the
haughty Matilda. So instead they crowned Henry's
nephew Stephen, a brave and generous man but a
weak king.
Soon war broke out between the rival supporters of
Stephen and Matilda. Law and order collapsed, and
baronial warlords robbed, killed and extorted money
unchecked for nearly 15 years. A chronicler
reported that, 'they filled all the land with castles ...
and filled them with devils and wicked men ... the
land was ruined, and men said openly that Christ and
His saints slept'. Eventually, Stephen agreed that
Matilda's son should rule after him, as Henry II.
King Stephen, from a 13th-century manuscript.
[© The British Library Board, Royal 14 C. VII, f.8v]
Have the rules about rulers changed
over time?

(1154) Henry II
Henry succeeded Stephen at the age of 21, and
immediately began to restore order in England. An
amazingly energetic man, he wore out his courtiers
by constantly travelling round the 'empire' he gained
by inheritance or marriage. This stretched from the
Scottish borders to Spain, including most of western
France. Though he had tantrums and rolled on the
floor screaming when he lost his temper, Henry was
one of the most powerful and successful medieval
kings of England.
However, he could not rule his own family, which
some called 'the Devil's Brood’. His wife, Eleanor of
Aquitaine, and all his sons often plotted and rebelled
against him, and eventually drove him to his death.
Effigy of Henry II on his tomb in Fontevrault Abbey, Anjou, France.
[Church of Fontevraud Abbey Henry II effigy detail by Adam Bishop (Wikipedia Commons)
CC-BY-SA-3.0
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AChurch_of_Fontevraud_Abbey_Henry_II_effigy_
detail.jpg]
Is family more important than power?

(1170) Thomas Becket
Thomas Becket was the very clever son of a London
Norman tradesman. He became the close friend and
Chancellor (effectively 'Prime Minster') of Henry II.
But when Henry made Becket Archbishop of
Canterbury, they quarrelled bitterly about who
should control the Church. In one of his terrible
rages, Henry said he wanted him killed, and four
royal knights cut him down as he prayed in
Canterbury Cathedral on 29th December 1170.
Becket’s murder shocked all Europe and Henry even
allowed himself to be whipped by monks to prove
how sorry he was. Regarded as a martyr, 'Saint
Thomas Becket' became the most famous saint of
medieval England. Thousands of pilgrims journeyed
every year to his shrine in Canterbury Cathedral.
The martyrdom of Thomas Becket, cut down by Henry II’s knights in
Canterbury Cathedral. From an English manuscript, c.1250.
[© The Walters Art Museum]
What impact did the death of Thomas
Becket have?

(1189) Richard I and the Crusades
Richard I, called 'the Lionheart', son of Henry II,
spent only 6 months of his 10-year reign (1189-99) in
England. He was more interested in his European
lands, and above all in 'crusading'.
The Crusades (1095-1272) were a series of Christian
campaigns to capture the 'holy city' of Jerusalem
from the Moslems, and defend it as a Christian city.
In the end they failed. King Richard led the Third
Crusade (1189-92) and had some success against the
Moslem leader Salah ad-Din Yusuf ('Saladin'), but
never reached Jerusalem. Though enemies, Richard
and Saladin respected each other: Richard even
suggested Saladin marry his sister.
On the way home, Richard was captured by his
enemy the German Emperor. His people had to pay
a huge ransom to release him.
Richard I fighting Saladin (shown with a blue face) during the Third
Crusade, from a 14th-century manuscript.
[© The British Library Board, Add. 28681, f.9]
Were the conflicts at this time about
religion or land and money?

(1208) King John and the Church
King John (reigned 1199-1216), younger brother of
Richard the Lionheart, is known as one of the
'baddies' of English history. Though he certainly did
some wicked things, his bad reputation may be partly
due to the reports written by chroniclers, who were
monks and churchmen. John quarrelled with the
Church so much that in 1208 the Pope decreed that
nobody in England could be married, baptised or
buried in a church. Eventually, John submitted in
1213, making the Pope his overlord.
Becoming the Pope's representative strengthened
John against his rebellious barons. The barons
constantly plotted with his arch-enemy, King Philip of
France, to overthrow him.
King John hunting, from a 14th-century manuscript.
[© The British Library Board, Cotton Claudius D. II, f.116]
Was John really such a bad king?

(1215) Magna Carta
In June 1215 King John was forced by his rebellious
barons to sign 'Magna Carta', the Latin for 'Great
Charter'. This laid down that even kings were bound
by the law, and could not do just as they liked. No
free man could be punished without legal trial, and
nobody could be denied the right to justice. Among
many other things, the charter also protected the
rights of the Church, and of merchants to trade
peacefully.
Restricting the powers of rulers and guaranteeing the
legal rights of their subjects, Magna Carta was an
immensely important document. It later inspired
declarations of liberties all over the world, including
the United States Constitution.
An original manuscript of Magna Carta.
[© The British Library Board, Cotton Augustus II.106]
Was Magna Carta really such a big deal?

(1216) The Last Invasion
Despite Magna Carta, John's barons still wanted to
depose him. So they called in their French ally,
Prince Louis, offering to make him king. Louis landed
in May 1216 with a powerful army, and soon
controlled almost all eastern England. Only a few
royal castles resisted: the most important was Dover
Castle, which the French unsuccessfully besieged for
10 months.
After King John's sudden death in October 1216,
support rallied round his nine-year-old son, Henry III
(reigned 1216-72). It was led by a famous knight
called William the Marshal, who defeated the French
at Lincoln in May 1217. A few months later, Louis
gave up and went home.
This was the last time a foreign invader ever gained a
foothold in England.
Reconstruction of the siege of Dover Castle, 1216.
Team]
Why did Prince Louis fail where William
succeeded in conquering England?

(1224) Friars Arrive
In 1224, the first members of a new kind of religious
order arrived in England. These were 'friars‘ (from
the French ‘freres’, meaning 'brothers') inspired by
the teachings of St. Francis of Assisi to live in poverty
while preaching the Christian gospel. Unlike monks,
who stayed in their monasteries, friars moved about
begging and preaching . Because they worked among
the poor, they established bases in the poorest parts
of towns instead of in the countryside. By the end of
the 1200s, most bigger English towns had at least
one 'friary'.
There were four kinds of friars: Franciscans
('Greyfriars'); Dominicans ('Blackfriars'); Carmelites
('Whitefriars') and Austin Friars. Although at first
they were enthusiastically supported, some friars
later developed a reputation for bad behaviour.
A friar and a woman being punished in the stocks, from a 14th-century
manuscript.
[© The British Library Board, Royal 10 E IV f.187r]
Were friars better Christians than
monks?

(1265) Parliament Develops
English kings had always chosen councils of advisers,
called whenever they wanted them. However, Henry
III's barons also demanded the automatic right to
advise the king at regular 'parliaments' (meaning
'talking places', from the French 'parler', 'to speak').
When the king refused, war broke out, and in 1265
the victorious baronial leader Simon de Montfort
called the first real parliament. This also included
'knights of the shire' (representing the counties) and
'burgesses' elected by the bigger towns. These later
became the 'House of Commons', while barons and
bishops became 'the House of Lords'.
At first, parliaments met wherever the king was.
Later they settled down at Westminster, where the
'Commons' met in Westminster Abbey's Chapter
House.
The Chapter House at Westminster Abbey, a meeting place of the
'Commons' in early parliaments.
Was the development of parliament a
turning point for the power of
monarchy?

(1282) Edward I Conquers Wales
Edward I (reigned 1272-1307) was a warrior king
who wanted to dominate the whole island of Britain.
Parts of eastern and southern Wales (called 'the
Marches') had already been conquered by Norman
barons, but the rest was ruled by the Welsh Prince
Llywelyn ap Griffith. When Llywelyn refused to
submit, Edward invaded Wales in 1277, and by 1282
he had conquered it. He then declared his son
'Prince of Wales', the title used by the heir to the
throne ever since.
To help control the conquered land, Edward built a
series of very strong and up-to-date new castles,
including Caernarvon, Conway and Harlech.
Edward I creating his son Prince of Wales, from a contemporary
manuscript.
[© The British Library Board, Cotton Nero D. II, f.191v]
Were Edward1’s castles his most
important legacy?

(1296) Edward I Attacks Scotland
After the king of independent Scotland died in 1286
without an obvious heir, Edward I was asked to
choose his successor. When the man he chose, John
Balliol, rebelled against him, Edward decided he
would rule Scotland himself. He invaded it in 1296,
temporarily gaining its submission.
But Scotland would not stay conquered. First
William Wallace led the Scots resistance, defeating
and killing Edward's representative. After Edward
defeated Wallace in 1298, Robert Bruce was
crowned independent King of Scotland in 1306 and
kept up the fight. Edward was about to invade yet
again when he died near the Scottish border in 1307.
Fourteenth-century battle scene, from the Holkham Bible Picture Book.
[© The British Library Board, Add. 47682, f.40]
Was England the neighbourhood bully?

(1314) Bannockburn
Unlike his fierce father Edward I, Edward II (1307-27)
was no soldier. By 1314 King Robert Bruce had
retaken all the English-held castles in Scotland except
Stirling. Attempting to relieve it, Edward was
disastrously defeated at Bannockburn.
Each year after that, the Scots raided into northern
England, burning and destroying as far south as
Yorkshire. In 1322 they nearly captured Edward
himself near Byland Abbey. Despairing of help from
their incompetent king, many northern English paid
the Scots to go away, or made peace with them.
People also blamed Edward for the disastrous
flooding and bad harvests which left many people
starving.
Contemporary drawing of the siege of Carlisle by the Scots, 1315, after
the English defeat at Bannockburn.
[© Cumbria County Council]
Why should we remember the Battle of
Bannockburn?

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