Historia de Gran Bretaña: Desde los Orígenes hasta los Reinos Celtas

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Earliest Times Chapter 1: The foundation stones The island - Britain's prehistory - The Celts - The Romans - Roman Life The island The localization of the island has an impact on economic life, the population and even politics. Britain has differences in climate between the north and the south, the east and the west. These facts mean that the south and east possess better agricultural conditions, thus it is possible to harvest their crops early. Therefore, the southeast of Britain has always been the most populated and powerful area of the island.

Likewise, Britain's history is closely linked with the sea due to it was easy to travel across the water, and the sea has helped as a protection from danger. Britain's prehistory Britain has been an island since the end of the last Ice Age which creates the North Sea and the English Channel. Our first evidence of human life is a few stone tools, dating from one of the warmer periods, about 250.000 BC. These simple objects show that there were two different types of inhabitants depending on how they made their tools. However, Britain was not habitable until around 50.000 BC because of the ice.

During this period, a new kind of human had to arrive, who was the ancestor of the modern British (life span of about thirty years). Around 10.000 BC, Britain was populated by small groups of hunters, gatherers and fishers. Few had settled homes, and they seemed to have herds of deers which provided them food and clothing. By about 5.000 BC, Britain had finally become a heavily forested island. This fact was a disaster for the wanderer-hunter culture and for the cold-loving deer and other animals, because they died out. About 3.000 BC, Neolithic people crossed the narrow sea from Europe in boats of a few people. These people kept animals and grew corn crops, and knew how to make pottery.

They probably came from the Iberian peninsula or even North Africa. They were small, dark, and may be the antecedents of dark-haired inhabitants of Wales and Cornwall today. These were 1 the first of several waves of invaders before the arrival of the Romans in 55 BC. Invaders brought new ideas and methods; however, the changing pattern of Britain's prehistory was the result of local economic and social forces. The great <public works= were <barrows= that were used for farming. Eventually, these areas became overfarmed. Therefore, this land could no longer support many people. After 3000 BC, the chalkland people started building great circles of earth banks and ditches.

Inside, they built wooden buildings and stone circles. These <henges= were centres of religious, political and economic power. The most well-known was Stonehenge (it is a kind of rudimentary political institution), which was a sort of capital where other chiefs came from all over Britain. Stonehenge remained the most important centre until 1300 BC. The Beaker people's richest graves were there. British society continued to be centred on a great number of henges across the countryside. After 2400 BC, new groups of people arrived in southeast Britain from Europe. These people became leaders of British society.

Their arrival is marked by the first individual graves, furnished with pottery beakers, which is the reason because they are called <Beaker= people. It is thought that old communal burial barrows were built partly to please the gods of the soil, thus to improve the quality of the soil. However, as beaker people brought the barley, which could grow almost anywhere, they did not need to do community burial barrows to please the soil's gods. Beaker people probably spoke an Indo-European language, brought a new culture and skills to make bronze tools as a replacement for stone ones. About 1300 BC the henge civilisation was replaced by a farming society in southern England.

At the beginning, the role of this new society was the feeding of the people at the henges; but, eventually it became more important and powerful. The new farmers were wealthy because they enriched the soil with natural waste materials. Moreover, henges were changed by hill-forts as the centres of local power, mainly, they were built in the southeast. Furthermore, bronze swords were found in the Thames Valley, which could have suggested the origin of King Arthur's sword. 2 The Celts Around 700 BC, the Celts arrived in Britain, who probably came from central Europe or further east (southern Russia).

They knew how to work with iron, thus they made better weapons than the bronze ones made by the previous community. The Celts are important in British history because they are the ancestors of many of the people in Wales, Ireland, etc. The British today which came from the Anglo-Saxon, it would be better to call it the Anglo-Celt. It is uncertain if Celts came from trading with Europe around 750 BC or if not. About 500 BC, the differences between the south and the north greatly increased. The last Celtic arrival from Europe were the Belgic tribes. Hill-forts were the centres for local groups full of houses as a rudimentary town.

Trading was possible through the employment of iron bars as money until they began to make coins. Celtic tribes were ruled by a warrior class, the priests, and the Druids (they were in charge of memorised religious aspects). During the Celtic period women may have had more independence, even, they ruled two large tribes when Romans invaded Britain. The most famous woman of this period was Boadicea. In 61 AD, she destroyed London, the Roman capital, before she was defeated and killed. The Romans The name <Britain= comes from the word <Pretani=, the Greco-Roman word for the inhabitants of Britain. The Romans mispronounced the word and called the island <Britannia=.

The Romans had invaded the Celts of Britain because they were working with the Celts of Gaul against them. The British Celts were giving food and allowing them to hide in Britain. Moreover, British Celts had become an important part of food production because of their mild climate, and, at the same time, they exported corn, animals, hunting dogs and slaves to mainland Europe. The Romans could make use of British food for their own army fighting the Gauls. The Romans brought the skills of reading and writing to Britain. The written language served as a tool to show power and to spread ideas. Approximately 80 AD, the toga became fashionable.

Celtic peasantry remained speaking Celtic, town dwellers preferred Latin and 3 Greek, and the richer landowners used Latin. Nevertheless, Latin disappeared both in its spoken and written forms when the Anglo-Saxons invaded Britain in the fifth century AD. Julius Caesar first came to Britain in 55 BC, but it was not until almost a century later, in AD 43, that a Roman army actually occupied Britain. The southern half of Britain was considered the empire; the other areas were occupied by them, but they were not developed at all. Likewise, they established Romano-British culture in their consolidated areas.

The total Roman army in Britain was about 40,000 men (each of the relevant cities had 7,000 men). They could not conquer <Caledonia=, as they called Scotland; however, they built a wall that divided the north and the south, which is called the Hadrian's wall. Moreover, this division marked two posteriori countries, England and Scotland. Roman control of Britain came to the end as the empire began to collapse. The first signs were the attacks by the Celts of Caledonia in AD 376. It was truly difficult to stop them from crossing the Hadrian's Wall. Likewise, Germanic groups, the Saxons and the Franks began to come to Britain from the mainland of Europe.

In 409, Rome pulled its last soldiers out of Britain and Romano-Britain. The Romanised people were left to fight alone against the Scots, the Irish and Saxon raiders from Germany. Britain called to Rome for help against the raiders from Saxon-Germany, but no answer came. Roman Life The most characteristic feature of Roman Britain was its towns, which were the basis of its administration and civilisation. Likewise, many grew out of Celtic settlements, military camps, or market centres. There were three kinds of towns in Roman Britain: - Coloniae, towns populated by Roman settlers. - Municipiae, large cities in which the population was given Roman citizenship.

- Civitas, including the old Celtic tribal capitals, the Romans administered the Celtic population in the countryside. Large cities had about 5,000 inhabitants and streets, markets and shops. London, the capital city, had about 20,000 inhabitants, and it was the most relevant spot of trading in Europe because of its corn production. The Roman people's life expectancy was low; they died between their twenties and their forties. 4 Chapter 2: The Saxon invasion The invaders - Government and society - Christianity: the partnership of Church and state - The Vikings - Who should be king? The invaders After AD 430, Vikings began to settle. We know about them because of an English monk named Bede.

His story of events in his Ecclesiastical History of the English People. Bede tells us that the invaders came from three different Germanic tribes: the Saxons, the Angles and the Jutes. The Anglo-Saxons gave Britain a new name, England, <the land of the Angles=. In 570, the British Celts were pushed by the Anglo-Saxons to the far west mountains, which were denominated as <Wales=, which means <the lands of the foreigners=. Other Celts were driven to Cornwall and others to Scotland. Likewise, the Celts' culture almost disappeared and was replaced by the Anglo-Saxons' culture. On the other hand, the Anglo-Saxons established seven kingdoms: - Essex (East Saxons). - Sussex (South Saxons).

- Wessex (West Saxons). - Middlesex (Middle Saxons). - East Anglia (East Angles). - Northumbria. - Mercia. The King Offa of Mercia (757-96) claimed <kingship of the English= and built a wall in the Welsh border to keep out the problematic Celts. Although he was truly powerful, he could not control all of England. After his death, the Saxons Kings began to replace loyalty to family with loyalty to lord and king. 5 Government and society The Saxons created institutions that made the English state strong for the next 500 years. One of these institutions was the King's Council, called the Witan.

The Witan were informal groups of warriors and churchmen to whom kings like Offa offered advice or support. By the 10th century, Witan was an institution that created laws, charters, and had the authority to choose kings. Without its support the King's authority was in danger. This institution consolidated a new method that remains today. Moreover, they divided the land into new administrative areas, based on shires or counties. Over each shire, there was the king's local administrator, whose name became <sheriff=. Anglo-Saxon technology changed the shape of English agriculture.

The Celts had kept small fields for agriculture, while the Anglo-Saxons made a new and bigger system of plough that changed the land ownership and organisation because it required more space. To make the best use of village land, they divided it into two or three large fields, and these fields were again divided into thin strips given to the families as <holdings=, each family was the owner of its part of the field. Likewise, the created the fallow (barbecho), an agricultural method that refers to the practice of leaving fields unplowed in rotation. This method was widely spread throughout Europe.

In each <district= was a <manor= or large house in which villagers had to pay taxes, the justice was administered, and men could join the Anglo-Saxon army, the fyrd. The lord of this manor had to organise all this. At the beginning, lords were simple local officials, but by the beginning of the eleventh century, they were warlords. Another important figure of the Anglo-Saxon period was the men of learning, who came from the Christian Church. Christianity: the partnership of Church and state In the last hundred years of Roman government, Christianity was established across Britain. However, the Anglo-Saxons belonged to an older Germanic religion.

In the Celtic areas, Christianity was spread, thus paganism ended. In 567, Pope Gregory the Great sent a monk, Augustine, to re-establish the Christianity in England. Both the Anglo-Saxons and the Celts accepted Christianity. Furthermore, the bishop from the Roman Church lived at the courts of the kings, which made centres of Church power across England. The Celtic Church was 6 interested in the hearts of ordinary people, while the Roman Church was interested in authority and organisation. In 663 at the Synod (meeting) of Whitby the King of Northumbria decided to support the Roman Church, thus the Celtic Church retreated.

Saxon kings helped the Church to grow, and the Church gave to the kings the <God's approval=. The value of the Church approval was truly necessary because of the uncertainty of the royal succession. Any member of the royal family who had enough soldiers could attempt to possess the throne. However, the king Offra did a religious ceremony to give his son the throne, thus the divine power elected the Anglo-Saxon kings. Moreover, the Church established monasteries, which were places of learning and education. The king who made most use of the Church was Alfred who ruled Wessex from 871-899.

He used the literate men of the Church to establish a system of laws, to educate people and to write down important matters. He started the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, the most relevant source, together with Bede's Ecclesiastical History of the English People, for understanding the period. During the following years, laws occupied multiple matters, and royal authority went wider and deeper. This process gave power into the hands of those who could read and write, thus the class divisions were increased. Likewise, landlords who could write and read became even more powerful.

However, peasants who could neither read nor write, could lose their traditional rights to their land, because their rights were not registered. Moreover, the Anglo-Saxon kings also preferred the Roman Church for economic reasons. Villages and towns grew around the monasteries and increased local trade. Many monks from other trading routes from Europe, were invited to Britain to be closer to the Church and to obtain economic contacts with Europe. In addition, these monks used Latin and helped to improve the relationship between England and Europe's trading routes. England became well-known in Europe for its exports of woollen goods, cheese, and hunting dogs.

Its imports consisted of wine, fish and pepper. The Vikings In 865, the Vikings invaded and settled Britain. The Vikings quickly accepted Christianity and did not disturb the local population. By 875, the only Anglo-Saxon king, Alfred from Wessex, resisted against the Vikings; and, after serious defeats, Alfred won a decisive battle, in 878, so he could capture London. He could make a treaty with the Vikings. The Vikings 7 ruled the east and the north of England with the Danelaw, while Alfred was recognised as the king in the rest of the country. During Alfred's fight against the Vikings, he built the burghs that became prosperous market towns.

Now usually spelt borough, it is the name of the unit of municipal or town administration today. Who should be the King? By 950, the Danish Vikings started going to the west; thus, the Saxon king, Ethelred, decided to pay the Vikings to stay away. To obtain the money, the Saxon King created a tax, which is called <Danegeld= or <Danish money=. It was the beginning of a regular tax system to provide money to the armies. People have to pay their village landlord the Danegeld. When Ethelred died, Cnut (or Canute), the leader of the Danish Vikings, became the king of England because Witan feared the disorder. Cnut died in 1035, and his son died in 1040.

Witan had to choose Edward, one of Saxon Ethelred's sons, to be the new king. Edward, <The Confessor=, was more interested in the Church than in the kingship. He created the pattern of an English village, with its manor house and a church. Edward started a new church that fit for a king at Westminster; in fact, this abbey was a Norman construction instead of a Saxon one. This fact is due to the King having a Norman legacy. Normans were people who spoke French and believed in Christianity. Edward died in 1066 without heirs. The question of who should be the next king was one of the most important events in English history.

Harold Godwinson, a member of the most powerful family from Wessex, had been chosen by the Witan to be the next King of England. Harold's right to the English throne was challenged by Duke William of Normandy. William had two claims to the English throne: his first claim was that King Edward had promised it to him, and the second claim was that Harold, who had visited William, had promised to William that he would not take the throne for himself (he had made a promise). Harold decided not to wait for the whole Saxon army, the fyrd, because William's army was small. However, Norman soldiers were better armed and organised, so William defeated and killed Harold in the Battle of Hastings (1066).

William was crowned king of England in Westminster Abbey on Christmas Day, 1066. A new period had begun. 8 Chapter 3: The Celtic kingdoms Wales - Ireland - Scotland The stories of Wales, Ireland and Scotland are also important, because their people still feel different from the Anglo-Saxon English. Wales In the eighth century, most of the Celts had been driven into the Welsh peninsula. They were kept out of England by Offa's Dyke, the earth wall built in AD 779. These Celts called themself Cymry, and they lived in crowded valleys because of the mountainous relief. The population was small, and life conditions were hard, so this had an impact on the behaviour of the people.

Likewise, slavery was common. Society was based on family groupings; each group owned one or more village or farm settlements. In each group, there was a leader who would make himself the king. Each of these kings tried to conquer each other, so the idea of a most relevant king was invented. Kings travelled, with their followers and their soldiers, around their kingdoms, to remind the people of their control. In 1043, the king of Glamorgan died of old age. This was an unusual event because kings usually were killed by a cymry. In 1039, Gruffydd, son of Llewelyn, was the first king to be strong enough to rule all Wales.

However, after his murder, the Welsh kings were able to rule only after they had promised loyalty to Edward the Confessor, king of England. The story of an independent and united Wales ended as soon as it had begun. 9 Ireland Ireland was never invaded by either the Romans or the Anglo-Saxons. It was a land of monasteries where the Celtic culture flourished. People were organised into different tribes, they only had the name of their tribe. The kings in this tribal society were chosen by election. Five kingdoms grew up in Ireland: - Ulster in the north. - Munster in the southwest. - Leinster in the southeast. - Connaught in the west.

- Tara was the seat of the high kings of Ireland Christianity came to Ireland in AD 430. The history of Ireland dates from that time, because for the first time, people could write down events. The message of Christianity was spread by a British slave, Patrick, who became the <patron saint= of Ireland. Christianity brought writing, so this weakened the position of the Druids, who depended on memory and the spoken word. This period is known as the <golden age= and finished with the arrival of Viking raiders who stole all that the monasteries had. The Vikings, who traded with Constantinople (Istanbul), Italy, and central Russia, brought fresh economic and political action into Ireland.

The Viking trade led to the first towns, such as Dublin, and ports. In 859, Ireland chose its first high king; likewise, Brian Boru is considered the best ruler. He even tried to unify Ireland. Brian died in battle against the Vikings. One of the five Irish kings, the king of Leinster, fought on the Viking side. One century later, another king of Leinster invited the Normans of England to help him, thus this gave the Normans the excuse they wanted to enlarge their kingdom. 10 Scotland As a result of its geography, Scotland has two societies, one in the Highlands and another in the Lowlands, which were more influenced by the changes of England. This division is called the <Highland lane=.

Scotland was populated by four separate groups of people: - Main group: the Picts, who seem to have been the first inhabitants of the land. They spoke Celt and another old language. The Picts were different from the Celts because they inherited their rights, their names and property from their mothers, not from their fathers. - Non-Picts (Scots): the non-Picts were mainly Scots. The Scots were Celtic settlers who had moved on to the Highlands. In 843, the Pictish and Scottish kingdoms were united under a Scottish king who obeyed both Scottish and Pictish rules of kingship. - The Britons: they inhabited the Lowlands and had been part of the Romano-British world.

- Angles from Northumbria who had come to the Scottish Lowlands. Unity between Picts, Scots, and Britons was possible because they shared the same Celtic culture, language, and background. Their economy depended on keeping animals, so they ended up creating clans, while the society from the Lowlands was based on agriculture. The first Christian mission came to Scotland about AD 400. In 563, Columba, known as the <Dove of the Church=, came from Ireland, bringing Christianity to the Highland Scots and Picts. It is also said that he defeated a monster in Loch Ness. By the time of the Synod of Whitby in 663, the Picts, the Scots, and the Britons had been converted to Christianity.

On the other hand, the Angles were different from the Celts. Each Angle man worked his own field growing crops, and land was distributed for farming by the local lord. They ended up developing a non-tribal system of control. Finally, the Vikings (Norsemen) came and they settled on Shetland, the Orkneys, the Hebrides, and the Isle of Man, forcing Picts and Scots to unite against them. 11 Over time, Viking leaders found it easier to recognise the Scottish king rather than Norwegian king. However, the English posed a greater threat (amenaza): after a major defeat in 934, the Scots reached peaceful relations with them to avoid more losses.

Despite this, Scotland's geography allowed local clans to resist royal authority. 12