英语国家概括第二课.ppt

Offa and Egbert By the end of the 8th century, Offa, the king of Mercia, built the great earthwork known as Offa’s Dyke along his western border to keep out the Welsh, and controlled for a long time all central, eastern and south-eastern England. In AD 829, King Egbert of the west Saxons became an overlord of all the English. Offa’s Dyke Offa’s Dyke The Impact of the Anglo-Saxons They brought their own Teutonic religion to Britain and Christianity became a fringe belief. Among their gods were Tiu, the god of war, Woden, king of heaven, Thor, the god of storms, and Freya, goddess of peace, from which came Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. 蒂乌(日耳曼神话中的战争和天空之神) 沃登(日耳曼神话中的主神,相当于北欧神话中的Odin) 托尔(北欧神话中的雷神); 福瑞雅Frey: 爱与美之神freya They laid foundations of the English state: 1: dividing the country into shires (later counties by the Normans), with shire courts and shire reeves, or sheriffs, responsible for administering law; 2: devising the narrow-strip, three-field farming system(窄条三圃田农耕制); 3: establishing the manorial system（领地国制度）, whereby the lord of the manor collected taxes and organized the local army; 4: creating the Witan (council or meeting of the wisemen) to advise the king, which is the basis of today’s Privy Council. “贤人议会”, 向国王提供建议，是今天枢密院（Privy Council）的基础。 The Viking and Danish Invasions The Norwegian Vikings and the Danes from Denmark attacked various parts of England from the end of the 8th century. Alfred the Great (871-899) Alfred was the king of Wessex. He was strong enough to defeat the invading Danes and came to a relatively friendly agreement with them in 879. Thereafter, the Danes gained control of the north and east of England(the Danelaw), while Alfred ruled the rest. Alfred is known as ‘the father of the British navy as he founded a strong fleet to protect the coasts and encourage trade. He reorganized the fyrd (the Saxon army), making it more efficient. He translated into English Bede’s Ecclesiastical History of the English People. He encou