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The Anglo-Saxon Period and the Middle AgesIntroduction to the Literary Period
Fast Facts
Key Concept: The Anglo-Saxon Legacy
Key Concept: The Normans Invade Britain
Key Concept: Life in Medieval Society
Your Turn
Feature Menu
Historical Highlights
• King Alfred and his descendants unite Anglo-Saxon England in the late ninth century.
• The Romans invade Britain in 55 B.C. and create a four-hundred-year period of political stability.
• William the Conqueror defeats the Anglo-Saxons in 1066 and introduces feudalism to Britain.
The Anglo-Saxon Period and the Middle Ages Fast Facts
Literary Highlights
• The bards ensure stories have an important position in early British culture.
• The brooding fatalism of pagan Anglo-Saxon culture gives the first British epic, Beowulf, its melancholy tone and stress on earthly heroism.
• Christian monks copy ancient manuscripts, preserving classical and Anglo-Saxon texts.
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The Anglo-Saxon Period and the Middle Ages Fast Facts
• Chivalry gives rise to a new form of literature, the romance.
History of the Times
• Troubles at home forced Rome to evacuate its soldiers in A.D. 409, opening Britain to invasion.
• After the legions of Rome conquered the Celts, Roman armies kept Britain free from invaders.
Key Concept: The Anglo-Saxon Legacy
• Until ninth century, Britain is subject to constant invasions and battles.
• King Alfred unites Anglo-Saxons against the invading Danes.
• Angle and Saxon clans impose warrior culture on the island for six centuries.
History of the Times
• The spread of Christianity helps unify the Anglo-Saxons.
Key Concept: The Anglo-Saxon Legacy
• Poetry, like fighting, hunting, and farming, had great significance.
Literature of the Times
• Old English epic poem Beowulf combines Germanic heroism and Anglo-Saxon fatalism.
• Anglo-Saxon literature is rooted in oral tradition.
• Bards relied on sound devices and repeated phrases to remember their tales.
Key Concept: The Anglo-Saxon Legacy
• Christian monks copy ancient manuscripts, preserving classical and Anglo-Saxon texts.
Literature of the Times• English emerges as a
written language.
• Historical poems in Anglo-Saxon Chronicle detail events of early English history.
Key Concept: The Anglo-Saxon Legacy
Comprehension Check
What event led to the Anglo-Saxon invasion of the British provinces?
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Key Concept: The Anglo-Saxon Legacy
• By establishing a social structure called feudalism, William created a hierarchy of rulers under one lord and a network of thousands of knights sworn to serve him.
History of the Times
• To squash revolts, William divided the land among his loyal barons and built castles around the country.
• In the Norman invasion of 1066, William the Conqueror defeats the Anglo-Saxons.
Key Concept: The Normans Invade Britain
• Bibles and gospels created in monasteries were celebrated for their brilliant illuminated manuscripts, all created by hand.
Literature of the Times
• Reflecting the chasm between the British masses and the Norman rulers, literature was usually written in Latin or Norman French after 1066.
• Old English disappears from laws and literature after William makes French the language of the state.
Key Concept: The Normans Invade Britain
Comprehension Check
How was William the Conqueror able to form such a powerful army following his victory in 1066?
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Key Concept: The Normans Invade Britain
History of the Times
• The contributions of each group affected how well villages and towns prospered.
• Medieval society was dependent on strictly defined social classes—nobility, knights, priests, merchants, and peasants.
• Villages, built around castles, were the fundamental center of medieval society.
• Social mobility was nearly impossible in the Middle Ages. Social rank remained fixed.
Key Concept: Life in Medieval Society
• Works written in English, such as ballads and romances, helped to define England’s identity.
• Some medieval writers began to use the vernacular, or language of the people.
Literature of the Times
• A new literary form—the romance—becomes popular, reflecting the concepts of courtly love and chivalry.
Key Concept: Life in Medieval Society
• Scholarly works from monasteries and universities reflect society’s interest in moral instruction and morality plays.
Comprehension Check
Describe the trends in English literature during the Middle Ages. Were they reflective of life at the time?
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Key Concept: Life in Medieval Society
Your Turn
Copy the Academic Vocabulary list into a notebook.
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Try to use the words as you outline the main ideas of the selections in the collection that follows.
concept status
diverse attribute
emphasis
The Anglo-Saxon Period and the Middle AgesIntroduction to the Literary Period
The End
