Prehistory to the Norman Conquest Roman Britain: A Temporary Civilization,Main idea: The Roman occupation took place between the Celtic and Saxon invasions of Britain. The Romans came as imperialists to exploit and govern by right of being the superior civilization. After the Roman conquerors plundered Britain, they designated it as part of the Roman Empire and endeavored to assimilate the Britons into Roman life, an effort which ultimately failed.,The process: In 55 B. C., the Roman leader Julius Caesar decided to invade Britain. But it was a failure. In 54 B. C., the second campaign was a military success, but it did not lead to Roman occupation. In 43 B. C., the Roman Emperor Claudius ordered the full Roman conquest of Britain. The Romans use different method of conquest to conquer different areas. In 123 A. D. the Emperor Claudius renovated Hadrians Wall (118.3km) . This marked the limit of Roman influence in Britain. In 476A.D., the Roman Empire disintegrated and the Roman soldiers retreated toward Roman.,The other two aspects of the temporary civilization True Roman conquerors was confined almost exactly to modern England and Wales. Roman road were marvels of engineering. They were straight, were raised above ground level, and were wide enough for a troop of soldiers to travel. Even after two millennia, traces of these roads still remain in England Wales. Britain was divided into two sharply contrasting regions :the Latinnized south and east, and the Celtic north and west. Southern and eastern England, ruled by partially Romanized chiefs, were easily conquered. But in the Celtic north and west, the Romans used a different method of conquest from the Celtic which enabled the Romans to occupy Wales although they were unable to Romanize the Celtic mountaineers in the north as they had the Britons in the south.,The beginning of settlement in Britain took place in about 700 B .C . The early settlers were certain Celtic-speaking tribes called Britain ( the land of Britons ). The Britons were a primitive people , a bronze-age people entering upon an age of iron.,A brief history of early Britain A . the earliest settlers,In the mid 5th century , Britain was invaded by three Germanic tribes-the Anglo , the Saxon , and the Jutes ,from the Northeast of Europe , fierce Germanic tribes in late stages of tribal society Established small kingdoms in Britain By the 7th century combined into a united kingdom called England ( the land of Anglo). People called the English. Three dialects spoken by them grew into a single language called Anglo-Saxon , or Old English , a derivative of Low German.,B . The anglo - sanxon invasion,In 597 St. Augustine and his monks landed in Kent . Heathen England was Christianized part by part in the following century. Monasteries were built all over the century . It was in these monasteries that the earliest English books were written down because at that time few except monks could read and write.,C . The christianization of the anglo saxons,From 787 , the English began to be troubled by bands of Danish Vikings (Scandinavian sea robbers ). Invaded parts of the century from time to time Came to make permanent settlement and ruthlessly destroyed many of the monasteries. King Alfred fought to drive off the Danes. The Danes finally occupied England in 1013 and held it for about 30 years.,D . The danish invasion,The most important work of Old English literature The national epic of the English people Existing at first in an oral tradition Probably composed sometime around 750 and passed from mouth to mouth for generations before it was written down The extant manuscript was written in the Wessex tongue about 1000 A . D . Consisting altogether 3183 lines.,beowulf,A long narrative poem on a great and serious subject , told an elevated style , and centered on a heroic divine figure on whose actions depends the fate of a tribe , a nation , or the human race,What is an epic ?,THE NORMAN CONQUEST - 1066,England was united under the leadership of Alfred the Great. He managed to defeat most of the Viking raiders. By the 1000s England was one united country with one single set of laws. Having defeated the vikings Anglo Saxons were soon given a new challenge,ORIGION,The Norman conquest of England took place in 1066. At the beginner of 1066, the Anglo Saxon ruler of England, Edward the Confessor was on his deathbed. Since he had no children, there was no direct heir to the throne and he had not publicly designated any heir to succeed him. After Edward the Confessor died on January 5th,1066, he was succeeded by Harold Godwinson, whose sister was married to Edward the Confessor. He claimed that Edward the Confessor had annoited him the successor on his deathbed in the presence of the queen. Since Harold Godwinson was a powerful lord in the country, he soon received the approval of the Witan, the decision making body who could decide who would be king. This was resented by William of Norma