Informationsansvarig: Norman Davies, norda@sol.liu.se
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British Cultural Studies 2
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British Cultural Studies 2
Norman's pictures for the Examination >>
The following subsections are available now:
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(last revised 3 March 2006)
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5. From the Norman invasion to 1485
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6. The Tudors and Jacobethan England
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Page 5
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9. The Romantic Movement and the Regency
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The following are under or await construction:
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11. The 20th Century
1. Introduction
This homepage is intended specifically for use by students following the second semester cultural course in English at Linköping University, Sweden, and therefore acts as a complement to the course materials used on this course. We hope, of course, that others will find the various links useful and interesting.
Cultural Studies 1, which is a first-semester course, concentrates on contemporary British and American politics and social institutions; CS 2, especially the British component, is intended to integrate the study of history with the history of ideas, literature, architecture and art, with a passing nod at music and landscape gardening.
The basic texts prescribed or strongly recommended are the following:
- Anthony Burgess, English Literature. Longman 1974 or later
- William Gaunt, A Concise History of English Painting.Thames and Hudson 1964 or later
- David McDowall, An Illustrated History of Britain. Longman 1989
- David Watkin, English Architecture: A Concise History.Thames and Hudson 1979
In addition students should buy from the printshop the following compendia:
- Norman Davies, Notes on Architecture and Art
- Norman Davies, Epoch Studies - Pictures
Please note that among the reference material in the library is the excellent and very comprehensive 34-volume Grove's Dictionary of Art, which includes architecture. This was very expensive - please use it!
As the Survey Course in Cultural History, which has replaced the formerepoch studies, has fewer lectures than before, a series of lectures based on Burgess is available online - see Norman's literary lectures above.
The following should be studied in conjunction with the Notes and the course books, and provides a series of links to information, pictures, literature etc that I have entered or found on the Web. Be selective - choose items that interest you or that seem useful for examination work or projects. [Note, incidentally, that in many cases, it is possible to link to enlarged pictures by clicking inside the picture.]
I will be very grateful for all information, comments, addresses etc. that will help me improve these pages! Please inform me if some of the links no longer function (a not uncommon fault!) Email: norda@isk.liu.se
2. Prehistory
The hunter-gatherers of the Ice Age (Old Stone Age) c. 500,000 - c. 10,000 BC and the Mesolithic or Middle Stone Age (c. 10,000 BC - c. 3,500 BC) have left little record behind them in Britain apart from stone and flint implements. The Neolithic period or New Stone Age (c. 3,500 BC - c. 2,000 BC), when the first settled agricultural communities appeared, produced more advanced stone tools and flints often mined in sites such as the so-called Grimes Graves near Thetford in Norfolk (clickable pictures at bottom of page).
At this time early civilisations became more highly organized and have left thousands of megalithic sites (megalith = large stone) in Britain, of which the most notable are Avebury, Silbury Hill and Stonehenge. These three, the largest monuments of their kind in Europe, were begun about 2600 BC and extended over hundreds of years into the Bronze Age (c.2,000BC - c. 650BC), giving evidence of an impressive organizational ability . It is estimated, for instance, that Silbury Hill (purpose unknown) took about 18 million man-hours to construct. Other finds are settlements such as Skara Brae, the so-called earth houses (check Rennibister), barrows, brochs, dolmens and the like.
During the Iron Age (c. 650 BC - AD 43), weapons and implements were usually made of iron. This is the period of the so-called Celtic invasions (but see this very interesting site which denies the usual interpretation) and the construction of hill forts such as Maiden Castle the remains of which are still to be seen in many parts of the British Isles. Their priestly cast, the Druids, have inspired some research and much speculation, and various orders of so-called Druids are active today in both Britain and especially the USA (you will find many links to these if you wish to surf!). A restricted number of modern Druids are now once again allowed to celebrate the midsummer solstice at Stonehenge.
3. Roman Britain (AD 43 to AD 410)
For the Britannia site on Roman Britain, click here. Various images will be found at this site. For a map click here and for more details here., while a link to Roman military sites is available here.
The two invasions by Julius Caesar were largely a failure and it was not until the time of the emperor Claudius that Britain was successfully invaded. Even then, there could be fierce resistance, the most famous example of which is the very bloody rising of the Iceni tribe under their Queen, Boudicca (popularly known as Boadicea).
In the north, the Romans met strong opposition from the inhabitants of Caledonia (roughly modern Scotland), the Picts - a people who have disappeared as an entity, squashed between the Scots, who were Celtic invaders from Hibernia (Ireland) and later the Angles from the south and the Vikings from Norway and Denmark. To protect the northernmost border of the Roman empire, the Romans built first the Antonine wall across what is now the Forth-Clyde valley, later retreating further south to Hadrian's Wall , a much more solid structure (click also on this site).
There is a wide range of Roman sites dotted around the country (click for instance for the Athena Review main index). Among the most impressive are the remains of Fishbourne Roman villa near Chichester, the largest palace found north of the Alps, and the Roman baths in the beautiful city of Bath or Aquae Sulis, site of the only hot springs in Britain. It was the Romans who founded Londinium, which in the later first century came to replace Colchester as the provincial capital.
During the period, the North Germanic tribes frequently raided the coast of Britain (as did the Vikings in a later period) and the Romans erected a series of forts along the 'Saxon shore', many of which are still to be seen.
4. Anglo-Saxon England (mid 5th c. to 1066)
History
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[Visit the 'Angelcynn' site for many aspects of Anglo-Saxon England. There is a "timeline" of the period (and a shorter one here). It is during the struggles of the Celtic Britons to throw back the Germanic invaders that the stories and legends of Arthur arose, though most of the tales of chivalry date from the later Norman period (see below). Here for an account of Arthurian England. |
Many sites have been claimed for Camelot, his supposed palace, including the old hill-fort Cadbury Castle in Somerset, while Glastonbury is also an important centre for Arthuriana.
Among the best-known relics of this period is the Sutton Hoo treasure found on an ancient neolithic site, a ship burial which, among its many proofs of the craftsmanship of the time, includes a fine helmet similar to ones found in Sweden.
[For a map of Anglo-Saxon England, click here, while this has other information.]
In the late 8th century new raiders struck the British coasts and rivers, the Vikings. Gradually, they settled and took over much of the north of England, the so-called Danelaw (Danelagh) in which Viking Law prevailed. They also invaded Scotland, where their rule lasted longest (in Orkney and Shetland ), Ireland, where they founded Dublin, and the Isle of Man whose Parliament, the Tynwald, is still opened in the Manx language, a Gaelic tongue with Norse components. Modern excavations of the important Viking settlement at York (< Jorvik), Roman Eboracum, led to a modern type of museum that has had many followers elsewhere. Wikipedia information on Jorvik.
The Viking advance south was stopped by King Alfred the Great of Wessex (a hero-worshipping site), credited among other things with being the founder of the English navy and a wise and educated king. This account is more sober, but Alfred really does seem to have had many excellent qualities.
Gradually the two closely related peoples were combined (albeit unwillingly) into one nation, and under Cnut (Canute), King 1016-1036, were for a short time part of a three-nation empire, Denmark, Norway and England.
Literature
The Anglo-Saxon language was of course Germanic and A/S poetry used head rhyme rather than end rhyme, with a caesura (break) in the middle and usually two head rhymes before and one (or two) after the break, as in the great epic Beowulf (original and translated text etc available here) The story of Beowulf and his fight with the monster Grendel and Grendel's even more horrific mother takes place in Jutland, Denmark, and Beowulf himself was a Geat from the province of Scania (Skåne), now in Sweden, then part of Denmark. In other words, this was a tale the English brought with them from their continental homeland. Beowulf died a hero's death in old age fighting a dragon (animals now extinct as a result of early heroes' deeds of derring-do...).
The earliest Christian literature is represented by Caedmon's Song of Creation, here in a West Saxon version. Learning, writing and art outside church buildings were very largely found in the monasteries - valuable relics of great beauty from this time are for instance the 7th c. Lindisfarne Gospels and the Book of Kells, an Irish work from c. 800. A history of the times between 850-1150 approx. was kept in monasteries in various chronicles, together known as the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. Anglo-Saxon literature is full of the stories of battles. The last great battle for many years was the Battle of Hastings, which brought Anglo-Saxon dominance to a close (alternative BBC Battle site).
Whereas the Celtic population of Britain had been largely christianised in Roman times (though sometimes keeping the pagan gods as an insurance policy), the Anglo-Saxons were a pagan people who gradually came to adopt Christianity after settling in England (= the land of the Angles). As they were normally builders in wood, it was the Christian church which taught them to build in stone from the end of the 6th c., and Saxon architecture is thus an early example of the Romanesque style based on the round Roman arch.
Notable examples of largely preserved Saxon churches are Bradford-on-Avon, Brixworth, the largest (a series of views here), and the tower of Earl's Barton. This last shows the elaborate use of strip decoration on the west tower [click on the picture for a massive enlargement]. Many of these patterns were obviously inspired by local Roman relics and Roman bricks or tiles were often used in the building, especially of the rather primitive arches over doors and windows, which lack a keystone (seen at the bottom of this page). See similar work at Deerhurst. The art of brick-making was probably unknown to the Anglo-Saxons.
