Storia dell'Inghilterra: dalla preistoria al medioevo, Appunti di Inglese

Scarica Storia dell'Inghilterra: dalla preistoria al medioevo e più Appunti in PDF di Inglese solo su Docsity! Pre-celtic to romam Britain. Six thousand years ago the land now called Britain was already inhabited. Over the course of four centuries they changed the landscape and they built ritual sites, large, enclosed spaces used both for ceremonies and for defence. The most famous of these is Stonehenge. The celts Around 709 BC the celts began to arrive from Germany. The celts were tall and muscular, with fair skin, blue eyes and blond hair. They were farmers, hunters, fisherman and metal workers. The celts built massive hill forts on top of hills. Women were almost equal to men; they could choose the man they wanted to marry and they could also lead other warriors in war. -Boadicea for example was a warrior queen of the Celtics tribes- The druids were the celts' priests, they were important not only in religion, but also in justice, education and medicine. The celts worshipped the natural elements such as the sun, the moon, trees and rivers. They believed in immortality and in the transmigration of the soul from one person to another. The Romans Julius caesar led a roman invasion of Britain but the country was conquered under Emperor Claudius. The Romans were attracted by the rich agriculture of the south. Emperor Hadrian ordered a wall to be built to mark the border between the conquered Britons. The Romans built over 9,600 kilometres of roads in Britain. They roads connected the towns that developed as military, administrative and trading centres. The most important town was londinium built around the thames. The Romans also brought their culture, the Latin language and Christianity to Britain. Roman control of Britain came to an end in 409 AS defended Rome against the barbarian raiders. Celts were left alone to fight against the Saxons invaders. The anglo-saxons Over the course of the 5 and 6 centuries britain was invaded by peoples coming from Northern Europe including jutes, angles and saxons, the anglo saxons. Their society was founded on loyalty to the family or clan, and the centre of communal life was the hall, which was the most important place. By the beginning of the 7 century the anglo saxons seven kingdoms had formed. Christianisation While the romans had introduced christianity to britain, the anglo saxons reintroduced pagan values. Pope gregory I the great sent a monk, augustine, to bring Cristianity back to england. Augustine’s mission of Christianisation was successful. Augustine became the first Archbishop of Canterbury. As a consequence of christianisation, in england the monasteries became important cultural centres, the church educated the William the conqueror claimed to be the lord of the authority became stronger. That power was demonstrated by the domesday book, a record of a survey which gave the king detailed information on the country he now possessed. The English called the book Domesday because they felt it was like having their souls weighed up on judgement day. The domesday book listed the different types of land and their use, the number of productive people and their status and animals. Latin remained the main language. Anarchy When William the conqueror died in 1087 there was a period of anarchy and conflicts to succeded to the English throne. In the end enry II became the new English king. Henry II Henry II powerful monarch in Europe. Enry II was warriors King and chivalric hero. The feudal duty of military service was replaced with a tax knows as scutage. King John and magna carta Richard I spent less than a year of is reign in England. When died his brother jonh became king. John had two nickname, Lackland (has no land) and softsword (unsuccessful in war). The barons the church and the general population were exposed to his violent abuse of power. He seized lands without process of law, imposed arbitrary taxes and collected money from widows by threatening them with a forced re-marriage if they didn't pay. The barons, knights, clergy and townspeople organised a ribellione and asked the king to sign Magna Carta. The war of the roses The Wars of the Roses were a series of bloody civil wars for the throne of England between two competing royal families: the House of York and the House of Lancaster, both members of the age-old royal Plantagenet family. Waged between 1455 and 1485, the Wars of the Roses earned its flowery name because the white rose was the badge of the Yorks, and the red rose was the badge of the Lancastrians. After 30 years of political manipulation, horrific carnage and brief periods of peace, the wars ended and a new royal dynasty emerged. The medieval ballad Ballad are short, anonymous narrative poems or songs which have been preserved and elaborated by oral transmission over the centuries; many have been passed from one country to another with suitable modifications to local needs. They were an essentially popular tradition of the unschooled and illiterate, which recalled the early oral verse narratives of the Celts and the Anglo-Saxons. Most ballads were set to music, as they were meant to be sung rather than read. Thus ballads are usually in simple quatrains (four-line stanzas) with a repeated refrain (the repetition of one or more lines). They are simple in form, plot and language, so as to make them easier to remember. The medieval narrative poem In the Middle Ages collections of stories were very popular because of their purpose of entertaining and instructing. In this period began to take hold the medieval narrative poem which was a narrative in verse that has a lot of narrative elements, such as the description of characters, setting in time and place, and the use of the narrator in the first person. This kind of poem includes a narration showing links with the common moral views and with the changing social structure. The greatest example of a narrative poem is “The Canterbury Tales” by Geoffrey Chaucher, which is a long poem introduced by a general prologue. The epic poem is a long composition that describes a glorious past of the national history. There are a lot of history references but there are supernatural and mythological events too.  The epic poem has four characteristic: a vivid language; describe an aristocratic and military society; there are “type – scenes” like battle and the main theme is heroic life. Beowulf A monster, called Grandel, frightens the Danes every night, his attack continues for twelve years. So Beowulf, a young warrior, decided to kill the monster. One night Beowulf attended the monster and fought with its in a hand-to-hand combat and managed to hurt mortally him. Grandel died after. Then Grandel’s mother wonted to revenge for her son.