2020-04-07
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The people who now live in Britain are descended from various peoples who inhabited the British Isles many years ago. From the earliest times known a long succession of invaders and colonizers moved to the British Isles as they lay within the easy reach of the continent. The first settlers on the British Isles were Iberians who came from the Iberian Peninsula (the area of Spain and Portugal) between 3000 and 2000 BC. The Iberians stayed comparatively long before they were attacked, slain or driven away westwards by the numerous Celtic tribes (Picts, Scots and Britons), which came from Central Europe and the Rhine valley in the period between the 6th and 3rd centuries BC. Their culture goes back to about 1200 BC. Between 500 and 250 BC, they were the most powerful people north of the Alps. They were pagan, with priests known as Druids. They later converted to the Christianity. It was the Celtic missionaries who spread the Christian religion through Scotland and northern England. The Celts were famous artists, known for their sophisticated designs, which are found in their elaborate jewelry, decorated crosses and illuminated manuscripts.
In the middle of the 1st century AD Britain was successfully invaded by the Romans who stayed on the island for four centuries, living in the military camps, building towns, roads, walls and bridges, so that to defend their gains from other invaders. The Romans set up their capital in London (Londinium) and built major cities in Bath, Chester and York. The cities contained beautiful buildings, squires and public baths. Fine villas were built for Celtic aristocrats who accepted Roman rule.
The Roman invasion was not completely peaceful. In AD 60, the Iceni, a tribe led by Queen Boudicca, destroyed three cities, including London. The Romans stopped the rebellion brutally and Boudicca killed herself.
The tribes of Scotland never completely surrendered to the Romans. As a result in AD 122, Emperor Hadrian built a long wall to defend the border between England and Scotland. Hadrian wall was overrun several times by Scottish tribes and was finally abandoned in AD 383. By then, the Roman Empire was collapsing and Roman legions had left to fight the tribes on the continent. After the Roman legions left Britain at the beginning of the 5th century to defend their own Empire from the Barbarians, the British Isles were almost immediately attacked by numerous invaders from all sides. Germanic tribes – the Jutes, the Saxons and the Angles attacked Britain from the south and east, Danes and Norsemen from Scandinavia in the north-east. Again the native population was driven to the west (Wales) and north (Scotland). These tribes gave the name to the country, and their language formed the basis of the Old English language.
The Celts fled north and west taking ancient arts and languages with them. Celtic languages disappeared from most of Europe, but are still spoken in parts of Wales, Ireland and Scotland. Celtic Christians later returned to England from Ireland and Scotland as missionaries. The Anglo-Saxons in south of England were converted to Christians following the arrival of Saint Augustine of Rome in AD 597. As Christianity spread churches and monasteries were built all over England.
About AD 790, the Vikings started to invade England. The Norsemen, who came from Norway, mainly settled in Scotland and Ireland. The north and east of England were settled by Danes. The Vikings were excellent traders and navigators. They traded in silk and furs as far as Russia. In 1016, became part of the Scandinavian empire under King Cnut.
In 1066, England was again facing invasion from the north and the south. In September, King Harold II marched north to defeat his half-brother, King of Norway, at the Battle of Stamford Bridge. Just three weeks later, he himself was defeated at Hastings by another invader of Viking origin, William Duke of Normandy, from northern France. The last in the long succession of invaders on the British Isles were the Normans, the Norsemen who had assimilated in France. In 1066, led by Duke of Normandy (who went into history as William the Conqueror), they crossed the Channel and conquered England, subduing the Anglo-Saxons. England became a strong centralized country under military rule. Castles appeared all over England to enforce Norman rule. England has never been invaded since 1066. William was a harsh ruler: he destroyed many villages to make sure the English people did not rebel. The Normans’ power was absolute and the language of the new rulers, Norman-French, has had a lasting effect on English. For almost two centuries there were two languages, two nations and two cultures in the country. Norman-French was the language of the ruling class, the official language of the country, while Anglo-Saxon (Old English) was spoken by the majority of the oppressed native population. The victorious Normans gradually broke their ties with France and by the 13th century had mingled in blood and language with Anglo-Saxons and united into one nation, speaking one language, born as a result of the marriage of two nations and the two languages. The New English (Middle English) greatly enriched and changed under the influence of Norman-French, had become the language of educated classes and the official language of the state by the end of the 13th century. The 14th century poet Geoffrey Chaucer wrote in that language.
So all these people left traces of themselves – not only archeological fragments but also place names, parts of the language and physical features such as hair colour and height. The fact that the British people are descendants of many nations is reflected in the nationalities, national character and languages of the peoples, inhabiting the British Isles today. They are the English, the Scots, the Welsh, the Irish who constitute the British nation and collectively are called “the British”, or “Britons”.
The mixture of nations must not be overlooked. It is inaccurate to refer to the British as English. This mistake is made all over the world – when talking about English. Such reference may hurt the Welsh, the Scots, and the Irish. Thus everybody from the UK is British, but only people from England are English.
