Liza Langa 2014

 Part of the European land mass until the end of the last Ice Age  3000BC – inhabited by Iberians  Stonehenge - prehistoric megalithic monument  The Bronze Age – reached Britain between 2100 and 1650 BC

 The Celts brought the technique of smelting iron to Britain around 700BC  Two waves – the Gaels around 600BC and the Cymri (or Britons) around 300BC  No towns, lived in villages  Lived under the primitive system  Boudicca was the ruler of one of the largest tribes

 Slave society  Julius Caesar reached the Channel in 55BC  Two raids to Britain (55 and 54BC)  The Roman invasion began properly in 43AD – Emperor Claudius  The Celts were not turned into slaves

 Hadrian’s Wall was built to keep out the raiding Picts and Scots  Many main towns and cities were established by the Romans  In the 4th century the Christian church was established in Britain

 Romans left Britain in 410  Mid 5th century – Angles, Saxons and Jutes  The Celts were driven away to remote areas  Welsh/Cymri – still spoken in Wales  Gaelic – still spoken in Scotland  Anglo-Saxons were agricultural people

 579 – the conversion of the Anglo-Saxons to Christianity  Roman culture spread, big landed estates, libraries and schools...  At the beginning of the 9th century Wessex became the strongest state  King Egbert became the first king of England

King Egbert

 End of the 8th century – second wave of Germanic invasions  The Viking age in European history was about AD700 to 1100  871 – the Danes invaded Wessex again (King Alfred)  The Danes were allowed to settle in the northern boundary

 1016 – England was conquered by the Danish king Canute  after Canute’s death  1042 – Edward the Confessor became king  Edward the Confessor died and three men claimed his throne

 The battle of Hastings was the last successful invasion of Britain  Depicted on the Bayeux Tapestry in Normandy, France  1066 – William the Conqueror  French became the language of the aristocracy