British Culture
Geography
Terminology and landscape of Britain and the Four Nations
The British Isles
Group of islands:
Great Britain, Ireland, smaller islands
The United Kingdom
Political term
= the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Northern Ireland:
England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland,
several smaller islands
Great Britain / Britain
Main island of the British Isles
England, Scotland Wales
The people
The British; Britons; Brits (infl.)
The English; Englishmen; Englishwomen
The Scots; the Scottish; Scotsmen. Scotswomen
The Welsh; Welshmen; Welshwomen
The (Northern) Irish; Irishmen. Irishwomen
Adjectives
British: ~ the U.K. or (Great) Britain
English: only ~ England
Scottish: ~ people and things in Scotland
Scots: ~ people, law and language of Scotland
(Northern) Irish
Welsh
United Kingdom: Union Jack England: St George’s Cross
Scotland: St Andrew’s Cross
Includes Hebrides and other islands
Near border with
England: Hadrian’s Wall
Wales Y Ddraig Goch
Western part of mainland Britain with Celtic
roots
Northern Ireland (= Part of the U.K.)
Also known as Ulster (only used by protestants who
want to be part of the U.K.)
1
Janne Bruyneel
,British Culture
Ireland: St Patrick’s Cross
History of the British Isles
Prehistory and the Celts
Human habitation Neolithic ppl arrival of Celts
800,000 BC 3,000 BC 700 BC
6,000-5,000 BC 2,400 BC
Britain becomes island Beaker ppl
The Celts brought: tribal, agriculture, druids and bards, art, Celtic cross, Celtic languages
The Romans 55BC – 409 AD
Julius Caesar 1st Claudius incorporates Britannia
Romans out
time in Britain - Boadicea
55 BC 43 AD 409 AD
54 BC 125 AD
2nd time Hadrian’s Wall
Rome brought
Modern government
Written language
Calendar
Infrastructure
Names end in -chester /-cester /-caster
The (Anglo-) Saxons (450-1066)
Invasions: Saxons, Angles, Jutes
The celts were driven West (Wales, Weallas) and North
Legend of King Arthur
End 6th century: Augustine spreads Christianity
End 8th century: invasions by Vikings (≠Normans) and Danes
End 9th century: King Egbert: confederation
King Alfred fought the Vikings and agreed to give them an area: the Danelaw
10th century: Edgar ‘the Peaceful’ reunites England
Ethelred ‘the Unready’ pays off the Vikings: Danegeld
Cnut ‘the Great’: England under Scandinavian control
Danes / Vikings and Anglo-Saxons live together
Edward ‘the Confessor’, son of Ethelred
2
Janne Bruyneel
,British Culture
King Egbert King Alfred King Edgar (grandson) Ethelred Cnut Edward (son of Ethelred)
Old English
No Celtic influences
From late 9th century
Bede: Ecclesiastical History
1066
Edward ‘the Confessor’ dies
Harold crowns himself (last Anglo-saxon king)
Duke William of Normandy claims the throne
Harold marches north (Danes), then south (William)
Battle of Hastings: Harold is killed
William ‘the Conquerer’ (= Guillaume the batard) is crowned on Christmas day
Bayeux tapestry
The Normans (1066-1154)
William I
The Conquerer
Robert, duke of Adela & Stephen of
William II Henry I
Normandy Blois
Matilda Stephen
Henry II
Grand Council (first step to a parliament)
Domesday Book (to keep track of feudalism)
William II ‘Rufus’
Robert fights Henry I and loses. Henry I reunites England and Normandy
Civil war: Stephen vs. Mathilda
Henry II succeeds Stephen
English under the Normans
Normans bring French with them (military, law, cooking, hierarchy). English lives on in spoken form in
the lower classes. The higher classes speak French.
3
Janne Bruyneel
, British Culture
The Plantagenets (12th – 15th century)
Henry II
Richard I John
Henry Lackland
The Lion-Heart
Henry III
Edward I
Edward II
Edward III
Edward John of Gaunt Edmund
The Black Prince Duke of Lancaster Duke of York
Richard II Henry IV Richard
Earl of Cambridge
Henry V Richard,
Duke of York
Henry VI Edward IV Richard III
Edward V
4
Janne Bruyneel
Geography
Terminology and landscape of Britain and the Four Nations
The British Isles
Group of islands:
Great Britain, Ireland, smaller islands
The United Kingdom
Political term
= the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Northern Ireland:
England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland,
several smaller islands
Great Britain / Britain
Main island of the British Isles
England, Scotland Wales
The people
The British; Britons; Brits (infl.)
The English; Englishmen; Englishwomen
The Scots; the Scottish; Scotsmen. Scotswomen
The Welsh; Welshmen; Welshwomen
The (Northern) Irish; Irishmen. Irishwomen
Adjectives
British: ~ the U.K. or (Great) Britain
English: only ~ England
Scottish: ~ people and things in Scotland
Scots: ~ people, law and language of Scotland
(Northern) Irish
Welsh
United Kingdom: Union Jack England: St George’s Cross
Scotland: St Andrew’s Cross
Includes Hebrides and other islands
Near border with
England: Hadrian’s Wall
Wales Y Ddraig Goch
Western part of mainland Britain with Celtic
roots
Northern Ireland (= Part of the U.K.)
Also known as Ulster (only used by protestants who
want to be part of the U.K.)
1
Janne Bruyneel
,British Culture
Ireland: St Patrick’s Cross
History of the British Isles
Prehistory and the Celts
Human habitation Neolithic ppl arrival of Celts
800,000 BC 3,000 BC 700 BC
6,000-5,000 BC 2,400 BC
Britain becomes island Beaker ppl
The Celts brought: tribal, agriculture, druids and bards, art, Celtic cross, Celtic languages
The Romans 55BC – 409 AD
Julius Caesar 1st Claudius incorporates Britannia
Romans out
time in Britain - Boadicea
55 BC 43 AD 409 AD
54 BC 125 AD
2nd time Hadrian’s Wall
Rome brought
Modern government
Written language
Calendar
Infrastructure
Names end in -chester /-cester /-caster
The (Anglo-) Saxons (450-1066)
Invasions: Saxons, Angles, Jutes
The celts were driven West (Wales, Weallas) and North
Legend of King Arthur
End 6th century: Augustine spreads Christianity
End 8th century: invasions by Vikings (≠Normans) and Danes
End 9th century: King Egbert: confederation
King Alfred fought the Vikings and agreed to give them an area: the Danelaw
10th century: Edgar ‘the Peaceful’ reunites England
Ethelred ‘the Unready’ pays off the Vikings: Danegeld
Cnut ‘the Great’: England under Scandinavian control
Danes / Vikings and Anglo-Saxons live together
Edward ‘the Confessor’, son of Ethelred
2
Janne Bruyneel
,British Culture
King Egbert King Alfred King Edgar (grandson) Ethelred Cnut Edward (son of Ethelred)
Old English
No Celtic influences
From late 9th century
Bede: Ecclesiastical History
1066
Edward ‘the Confessor’ dies
Harold crowns himself (last Anglo-saxon king)
Duke William of Normandy claims the throne
Harold marches north (Danes), then south (William)
Battle of Hastings: Harold is killed
William ‘the Conquerer’ (= Guillaume the batard) is crowned on Christmas day
Bayeux tapestry
The Normans (1066-1154)
William I
The Conquerer
Robert, duke of Adela & Stephen of
William II Henry I
Normandy Blois
Matilda Stephen
Henry II
Grand Council (first step to a parliament)
Domesday Book (to keep track of feudalism)
William II ‘Rufus’
Robert fights Henry I and loses. Henry I reunites England and Normandy
Civil war: Stephen vs. Mathilda
Henry II succeeds Stephen
English under the Normans
Normans bring French with them (military, law, cooking, hierarchy). English lives on in spoken form in
the lower classes. The higher classes speak French.
3
Janne Bruyneel
, British Culture
The Plantagenets (12th – 15th century)
Henry II
Richard I John
Henry Lackland
The Lion-Heart
Henry III
Edward I
Edward II
Edward III
Edward John of Gaunt Edmund
The Black Prince Duke of Lancaster Duke of York
Richard II Henry IV Richard
Earl of Cambridge
Henry V Richard,
Duke of York
Henry VI Edward IV Richard III
Edward V
4
Janne Bruyneel
