Forming the Nation

About 2,000 years ago the British Isles were inhabited by the Celts¹, who had originally come from continental Europe. During the next 1,000 years there were many invasions. The Romans came from Italy in AD 43. The Angles and Saxons came from Germany, Denmark and the Netherlands in 5^th century and gave the country the name England (Angle-land). The Vikings² kept coming from Denmark and Norway throughout the 9^th century. In 1006 (the date in history which every British schoolchild knows) The Normans invaded from France. All these invasions drove the Celts into Wales and Scotland, and of course they also remained Ireland. The present-day English are the descendants of all the invaders, although they are more Anglo-Saxon than anything else. These various origins explain many of the differences which exist between England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland — differences in education, religion, the legal systems³ and in language.

QUESTIONS

1. What people were the British Isles inhabited by about 2,000 years ago?

2. When did the Romans settle in Great Britain?

3. When did the Anglo-Saxons come?

4. When did the Normans invade Britain?

5. In what spheres of life do differences still exist between England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland?

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¹ Celts [kelts] — кельты

² Vikings [’vaikiŋz] — викинги

³ legal systems — судопроизводство

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