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História da Língua Inglesa   

Anglo-Saxon England 450-1066

English Language Program, Kingston University (UK)

The historical background: Anglo-Saxon England 450-1066

The settlement

The settlement of England by the Germanic tribes (Angles, Saxons, Jutes, Frisians) took place from the beginning of the 5th century, first by invitation and later by conquest. How late the migrations continued we do not know; it may be broadly accurate to think of them as mostly occurring in the latter half of the fifth century (say 450-500) though people may have continued to settle after that date.

The new arrivals set up small kingdoms rather than a national, "English" state. These varied in extent and power. Usually one kingdom would achieve some level of dominance, and its ruler would be accepted by the others as an overlord. The term "bretwalda" (ruler of Britain) was applied to this figure in the 6th century.

The Germanic settlers were pagan. There was Christianity in the British Isles (it had been established among the British population of the Roman Province since as early as the second century). This Celtic Christianity continued in the Celtic areas, cut off from the rest of Christendom by the new arrivals. At first it appears to have had little impact on them.

The conversion of the English

In 597, Augustine (of Canterbury, as he was later known) arrived from Rome, having been sent by Pope Gregory the Great to mission the English. He landed in Kent, in Thanet, and made contact with the King of Kent, Ethelbert, whose wife (from France) was already Christian and had a private chapel. Augustine and his followers began to persuade rulers and ruled to adopt the new religion. At the same time, Celtic missionaries were working in the Anglian kingdom of Northumbria. Gradually England was converted, so that by 685 all of the country was Christian.

This conversion, though it had come from two sources (the Celtic church and the Latin church), nevertheless introduced a new element of cultural unity into the English nation. It also brought literacy to a few, and access to the learning of Europe. From about 650 to 750 this resulted in a cultural flowering centred on the great monasteries, such as those of Northumbria (Lindisfarne, Jarrow, Whitby). It was here that Bede wrote the first history of the country: his Latin History of the English Church and People, around 730.

Northumbrian dominance: the 7th century.

The culture of Northumbria, at this point unthreatened by invasion, made the northern kingdom the dominant centre in the earlier half of the 7th century. In 720, the Northumbrian King Edwin was acknowledged the overlord of all the English kings. At this time there was still expansion going on north and west: Northumbria extended its territory and settlement into the lowlands of Scotland and as far as Edinburgh, and the British (Celtic) people were pushed back from north west England (Cumbria). A strain was placed on Northumbrian power by its wars against the Picts, a remote people of whom we know little, who inhabited the north of Scotland.

Mercian dominance: the 8th century

In the later years of the seventh century, the Midland Anglian Kingdom of Mercia began to rise to prominence. King Wulfhere of Mercia was successful in extending his power from the Midlands across most of southeast England as far as Sussex and the Isle of Wight. The peak of Mercian power came under King Offa (ruled 757-796). Offa defended his kingdom against the Welsh by building a ditch-and-rampart earthwork down the full length of the Welsh border from the Dee to the Severn ("Offa's Dyke", as it is called, is still traceable today).  Offa was also the first to issue his own coinage, which suggests that his kingdom was engaged in substantial trade. He also made approaches to the new Holy Roman Emperor, Charlemagne, who acknowledged him with gifts.

The rise of Wessex: the 9th century

From the early ninth century the north and east of the country were subject to Scandinavian (mostly Danish) raids and invasions. This weakened Northumbria and Mercia. Wessex, which was less in the front line, emerged as the strongest of the English kingdoms, and under Alfred it was successful in stopping the Danish advance at the battle of Ashdown Wiltshire, in 871. Alfred succeeded in forcing the Danes to an agreement, which allowed them the north and east of England (the Danelaw) down to a line roughly from the Thames estuary to the Mersey. The rest of the country came increasingly under the authority of Wessex. Alfred organised and fostered an active scholarly and literary centre around his capital at Winchester; and most of the OE texts that survive come to us from that West Saxon source.

Further conflicts: the 10th and 11th centuries

Alfred died in 899. During the first quarter of the tenth century, his successors were able to recover much of the country from Danish rule. By 927, Athelstan (crowned in Kingston, like most of the tenth century kings) was king of all England. But by 980 a new wave of Danish attacks had begun, and the Danes were successful in extending their power once again. In 1013 Sweyn (Sveinn) King of Denmark was also King of England. He was succeeded in 1014 by Knut (Canute), who united the Kingdoms of Denmark and England into a single state. On his death in 1042, the succession went to an Englishman, Edward ("the Confessor"); but his death in 1066 led to the dynastic dispute which resulted in the arrival of William Duke of Normandy (William I).

The characteristics of the Old English language.

The Old English language was in most respects a typical West germanic language, with features that can still be identified in related languages such as German and Dutch.

Influences and changes: the Old English period

Old English, as it gradually defined itself, had a history in the British Isles of some 600 years (450-1066). During this period it would be surprising if changes did not take place. It is hard for us to know how extensive they were, because most of our records of the language come from a limited area and a limited period (Wessex, 9th-10th centuries). Certainly after the Norman Conquest in 1066 what limited writing there was in English suggests that the West Saxon written language of Alfred's court two hundred years before does not well represent the state of spoke English at the time of the conquest.

Some influences can be identified, the most important of which was the Scandinavian invasions (which is the topic for the next lecture).

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