Social history of england - Social history of England book pdf

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Social History of England- How was the England created?  

         New York may be the city so nice they named it twice, but we know England by three names. England, Great Britain, and the United Kingdom all refer to the lands governed by the British parliament. 

 

   So, what’s the difference? 

         The Kingdom of England refers to the main landmass, which became the Kingdom of England and Wales in 1536. It was changed to the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. This name change took place when the Act of the Union was passed, and the Kingdom of Scotland joined with England. 

          Finally, in 1801, it became the United Kingdom of Great Britain when Ireland joined the union. However, the earliest mention of the area now known as the UK is from the Romans, who called it Britannia. 

 

   So, how did England form in the first place? 

          Due to its northern position, Britain has not had continual habitation for the entirety of human existence. The earliest inhabitants were Homo heidelbergensis, who lived in southern England around 500,000 years ago when rhinoceroses still roamed Sussex. 

          After the Anglian glaciation rendered life in Britain impossible, the Neanderthals took up intermittent residence from 400,000 and 50,000 years ago – although there is evidence (or more accurately, lack of evidence) suggesting that Britain was uninhabited for a period of around 120,000 years during that time. Modern humans arrived in Britain around 40,000 years ago. 

          However, it seems they never stayed very long, and humans only took up permanent residence in England approximately 12,000 years ago. Not much is known about Britain before the Roman occupation – other than it was a Celtic culture – and there is no record of what the natives called their land, although the Greeks referred to it as Albion. During the glory days of Rome, Britain was a mythical and mystical land. 

          Tales of the wealth of tin that came from England were enough to entice the Romans to invade. Britain was under Roman rule for over 350 years. After the collapse of the Roman Empire, Britain was invaded by Germanic tribes from modern-day Denmark, namely the Jutes, the Saxons, and the Angles. The Germanic tribes invaded the East coast of Britain, pushing the Britons North and into the Southwest to what is now known as Cornwall and Devon. 

          It is impossible to tell if these tribes physically took over from the native inhabitants or just brought a culture that was assimilated by the people who already lived there. The relationship between the east coast of England and the Germanic lands was lengthy, and they had been exchanging populations even before the Roman occupation, which means determining the scale of invasions based on DNA evidence is very tricky. 

          Some believe that the Germanic tribes wiped out the entire male population, and others think the male intrusion was – at most – around 15%. However, studies of mitochondrial DNA suggest that female immigration was pretty conclusively less than 20%. Whatever the truth, this invasion started forming England as we know it. 

          From the Angles, Britannia got its modern name – Angle Land – and the name of its new language, Englisc. This period of English history is called the Anglo-Saxon era, and it set England on the path to becoming a united kingdom. 

          At first, Britain was divided into many individual kingdoms that eventually amalgamated into the Seven Kingdoms of Old England. These seven kingdoms did not include Dummonia –modern-day Cornwall and Devon – or the kingdoms in Wales and Scotland. 

          The seven kingdoms of the Anglo-Saxons were Kent, Essex, Sussex, Northumbria, East Anglia, Mercia, and Wessex. Kent was settled by the Jutes, one of three tribes that colonized England after the collapse of the Roman Empire – the two others were the Angles and the Saxons. According to legend, they were invited over by a British warlord as mercenaries who were then given Kent. 

          Although this story is impossible to corroborate, there may be truth in the invasion being negotiated by a truce rather than a violent takeover. This kingdom, situated in the southeast, had its capital at Canterbury. Due to its location on an important trade route between London and the continent, it prospered and became reasonably wealthy. After the Romans, Britain was Christianized, which led to clashes between the Church and the pagan emigrants. 

          King Aethelberht of Kent – who ruled from 560-616 CE – was the first Anglo-Saxon king to accept baptism after marrying Bertha, the Christian daughter of the King of Paris. Saint Augustine is credited with the king's conversion and became the first Archbishop of Canterbury in around 597. Kent eventually fell to Mercia in 774 but is still a county in England today. You may have noticed that nearly half of the kingdoms on the list end in “sex.” 

          The suffix “sex” – far from denoting anything rude – means Saxon, and Essex was home to the East Saxons. Their territory was the lands just above Kent and included the old Roman capitals of Colchester and London. Over time, like Kent, Essex also came under the control of Mercia. Also, like Kent, it still exists as a county in England. Sussex was the Kingdom of the South Saxons and was located along the southeast coast of England. Sussex was covered in forests during the Anglo-Saxon age, which essentially cut them off from the other Saxon settlements. 

          This separation made them culturally distinctive from the other kingdoms, and they were the last to convert to Christianity. It was also a weaker kingdom than the others and recognized Mercian dominance early on. Nowadays, Sussex is a county that includes the seaside town of Brighton. The Angle Kingdom of Northumbria dominated the North of England and was formed after two smaller kingdoms – Bernicia and Deira – united in 604. 

          After initial success, Northumbria proved to be a volatile place to rule. During the 8th century, only three of fourteen kings had successful rules. As for the others, two chose to abdicate and become monks, six were overthrown, and four were murdered. Although the Mercians were their great rivals, the Picts turned the fortunes of Northumbria for the worst at the Battle of Nechansmere in 685. 

          The Vikings then finished the job, first striking a Northumbrian monastery at Lindisfarne and continuing to raid until they took York in 867. East Anglia was a small Anglican kingdom on the east coast just above Essex and is now the modern counties of Norfolk and Suffolk. While all seven kingdoms had a relationship with Christianity, the East Anglican King Raedwald took the most pragmatic approach, placing both Christian and Pagan altars in the same temple. It seemed to work as he became, in his time, the most powerful king in England. 

          However, as with most of the other kingdoms, East Anglia soon came under the control of Mercia. While they did manage to overthrow the Mercians, they were later conquered by Wessex – and then the Vikings, who held onto control of the region until England was unified. 

         Mercia translates to “border,” and they were located right in the middle of England. It shared borders with pretty much all of the other English kingdoms, as well as Wales. Perhaps it was their land-locked position that made them determined to expand, but whatever the reason, they went on to become the most powerful English Kingdom of the 8th century. 

          The kingdom is thought to have been more of a confederation, with leaders of individual groups acting as nobles to the king. But despite their success in gaining control over the majority of the other kingdoms, they were eventually taken over by Vikings and subsequently conquered by the kingdom of Wessex. Wessex was the kingdom of the West Saxons, located between Sussex and the River Severn. 

          The Kings of Wessex would eventually rule all of England, essentially creating the country as we know it today. The amalgamation of two settlements formed Wessex; one in Hampshire and the other – according to archaeological evidence – was situated on the upper Thames. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle documented the Hampshire settlement as forming in around 495 when a Saxon called Cedric landed and settled the land. He became the founder and first king of Wessex shortly after. 

          It is thought that William the Conqueror – who would later invade England from Normandy and become king – was one of his descendants. First, Cedric and his son (or possibly, his grandson) Cynric expanded their influence over the Isle of Wight in 530. The kingdom frequently engaged in conflict with Mercia until the reign of King Ecgberht, who ruled from 802-839 CE. Ecgberht conquered Mercia and took control of all the lands under their dominance, including Essex, Sussex, and Kent. 

          Ecgberht also conquered Cornwall in 814; however, he did not manage to do this entirely. Cornwall was still considered largely independent until around 1700. Wessex reached the height of its power under the reign of Alfred the Great, who ruled between 871 and 899. Alfred ascended to the throne after the death of his elder brother. He believed that education was important and took steps to make books more accessible by translating them from the traditional Latin into English. 

         Alfred also commissioned the famous Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, with the work being completed by monks. These writings are of great historical importance as they are one of the earliest records of the English people during the Anglo-Saxon times and the Norman Conquest. Alfred was also successful in fighting the Vikings. He built walled towns and forts and warships to guard the coast. 

          However, he additionally made peace so that the Anglo-Saxons and Vikings could live together in relative harmony. By the end of his reign, he was known as “the king of the Anglo-Saxons” or “King of the English” since most of Angle Land was under his control. After Alfred, Wessex steadily amassed power, but it was Alfred’s grandson, Athelstan, who would turn the kingdoms dominated by Wessex into the Kingdom of England. 

          When Athelstan took the throne, he inherited the Kingdoms of Wessex and Mercia. He immediately started to establish boundaries and set about trying to weaken the Viking settlements by annexing York in 927. 

          A Scottish king and claimant to the kingdom of York, Constantine, challenged his rule and joined forces with the Vikings to oust Athelstan. However, their efforts were in vain, and they were beaten at Brunanburh in 937. This defeat led to the submission of Constantine and the Northern Kings. 

          The Welsh kings agreed to pay him annual tribute, and he further subdued Cornwall. Athelstan’s kingdom united England, including Cornwall, the south and east coast, and the north up to Scotland. He received tribute from the Welsh, defined the Welsh border, and allied with the Danes from Dublin in Ireland. Athelstan was dedicated to his role as king and never married or had children. Upon his death in 939, the throne went to his half-brother Edmund I. 

          While some historians feel that England was created by the invasion of William the Conqueror in 1066, King Athelstan undoubtedly created a kingdom worth invading. Built on a base of various invaders, England is a country that absorbs culture. Sometime between 58 and 50 BCE, Julius Caesar wrote in his Bellum Gallicum, “The interior of Britain is inhabited by people who claim, on the strength of their own tradition, to be indigenous,” proving that despite thousands of years of cultural exchange and immigration, nothing much really changes. We hope you guys enjoyed most interested topic social history of england.