[文学]Lecture 2 The Anglo-Saxon Period.ppt

The Anglo-Saxon Period(449 A.D.-1066 A.D.) I. The Historical Background Ⅱ.Characteristics of Anglo-Saxon Literature Ⅲ. Anglo-Saxon Poetry Ⅳ. Anglo-Saxon Prose V. Questions I. The Historical Background The making of the nation:? from the following formula, we can know that the English people are?of a mixed blood: ??????  Angles Britons + Saxons + Danes + Normans = English Jutes 3 famous conquests in the British history: (1)The Roman Conquest (55B.C-410A.D.) (2) The Anglo-Saxon Conquest (449A.D.-1066) (3) The Norman Conquest (1066-1485) (1)The Roman Conquest ? The beginning of settlement in Britain took place in about 700 B.C. The earliest settlers were Britons(不列冬人）, a tribe of Celts, from whom the island got its name—Britain. The Britons were primitive people, living in the tribal society. Britain was invaded by the Romans under the leadership of Julius Caesar in 55 BC. But Britain was not completely subjugated to the Roman Empire until 78 A.D. At the beginning of the 5th century, the Roman Empire was in the process of declining. And in 410 A.D, all the Roman troops went back to the continent and never returned, thus ended the Roman occupation in Britain. ? With the Roman Conquest the Roman mode of life came across to Britain also. It was during the Roman rule that Christianity was introduced to Britain.  (2) Anglo-Saxon Conquest In 449 A.D., Britain was invaded by three Germanic tribes from the Northeast of Europe: Angles（盎格鲁人）, Saxons（撒克逊人） Jutes（朱特人）, who had reached the later stages of tribal society. At first they established some small kingdoms in Britain which by the 7th century were combined into a united kingdom called England (the land of Angles). Its people was called the English. The three dialects spoken by them naturally grew into a single language called Anglo-Saxon or Old English. Angles, Saxons and Jutes usually known as Anglo-Saxons are the first Englishmen. Language spok