Historia de la Lengua Inglesa

Carmen Oliva Sanz

15/03/2022
Unit 1: Socio-Historical context

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Introduction
It is necessary to have certain knowledge to understand the Celtic origin of England, the human
ground prior to the invasions. The evolution of English is seen as the evolution of a human: Old
English constitutes the childhood of the language (6th to 11th centuries), Middle English is the
youth of the language where most changes take place (11th to 15th centuries), and Modern English
is the adulthood of the language when it becomes respectable and widely use (16th to 19th
centuries).
Depending on the consideration we have of the Celts, there can be four or five invasions: Celts,
Romans, Anglo-Saxon, Vikings, and Normans. All these civilizations that arrived explain the
heterogenous nature of England and English, the language with the most borrowings.

The British Isles

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There are two isles, Britain and Ireland, two states, The United Kingdom with four nations
(England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland) and one monarchy, and Ireland which is a
republic. The invasions came from East to West, which explains the importance of Kent. Only
Christianization came both ways, East-West and West-East because it started in Ireland.
It is necessary to considerate that England was a profitable land full of resources.

The Celts
They arrived to “the savage land” (Roman name for Britain) 2000 years before Christ and settled
in what we know as the Celtic Britain. They were subdivided in clans, a tight but weak
organization. They had a similar language, religion and cultural expressions. They had differences
between clans but there were many common features. They were ruled by kings/chiefs and they
lived in hill forts, which explains why the monarchy is so deeply installed in the idiosyncrasy of
the isles.
Celts were warrior that took glory on battles and plunder. However, their invasion was not
organized, they battled to defend their small organizations. They were barbarians, primitive,
fragmented and unorganized. There are no written records of their organizations which explains
why their rituals and manifestations are considered to be so mysterious.
They were the first to use iron which had an amazing effect on their lives because it was cheap
and available. It allowed them to develop tools to cultivate and thus settle. The previously used
bronze was not as available. They were mainly farmers known to be very good at cultivating.
They began the use of the iron plough to cultivate the rich valley and soil, which is a characteristic
feature of the iron age.
The clan was their organization, it was the basic unit of Celtic life and it was composed by the
extended family. Children were raised by foster parents because the male figures were constantly
fighting. It was a very tight organization with their own social structure, customs and Gods,
something that is still found in Scotland, where this organization was very relevant for the
subsequent civilizations.
Their religious practices were pagan, meaning that their religious beliefs were not part of the
world’s main religion. They believed in statues which were worshipped, they were superstitious
of the unknown, curses and demons. They had druids which were both priests and administrators
who gave sacrifices to the Gods.

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 Historia de la Lengua Inglesa
Carmen Oliva Sanz
15/03/2022
Celts were the original inhabitants of Britain and they suffered four main invasions. European
invaders came from different regions and with different reasons. Celts were a weak population
who lived in a very rich land.

Invasions of Britain
- Roman invasion: A.C. 43 – A.C. 410
- Saxon invasion: 5th – 9th century
- Viking invasion: 9th – 11th century
- Norman invasion: 1066

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The Roman Invasion
In the summer of B.C. 55, Julius Caesar sent an expedition to Britain without invasion plans. They
conquered France/Gaul which received help from Britain so later on, Caesar decided to invade.
The invasion took place on B.C. 54 but the weak warriors and the weather made romans retire. In
B.C. 43, Claudius sent a strong army to invade them with 48000 troops. It was an easy conquest
of the East and South, however, some Celts got away to Scotland, Ireland and Wales. Romans
decided not to invade those lands but they built the Hadrian and the Antonius walls to keep them
from trespassing.
The invasion was well organized with disciplined soldiers, harsh, cruel and encouragers of fights.
It was a military invasion, not a cultural one. Romans were politically superior and had more

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resources. They had an agreement with Celtic rulers that they would be in peace. Romans didn’t
impose the use of Latin. Some Celts accepted the ruling and the agreement to keep their kingdoms
as client kings. The agreement was that after they died, Romans would take over. One of these
client kings was Cogidummus who built himself a palace in Fishbourne. Other kings like
Caratacus didn’t accept the agreement and kept fighting back.
The influence of Latin and Celtic languages in toponyms was very relevant. As for the
geographical implications of the invasion it is worth mentioning that they came from Dover
looking for fertile lands, they were not interested in the north thus the walls they built. They
established Londinium, London as the capital city because of its centric position. It was the best
location for administrative reasons and for transportation through the Thames. There was not a
social nor ethnical exchange during this invasion and the Celtic culture was maintained.
Romans had to retreat because their capital was being threatened by Germanic tribes. The soldiers
from Britain returned home and Britain stopped being a roman colony. They had only wanted the
resources and they left nothing behind although some monuments prevailed (Bath) but not many
because they were not a respected culture. The network of roads also prevailed and the capital
was kept in London, the trade and administrative centre because of the Thames as a water resource
and a transportation way. Roman architecture was mainly military and civil and not much
remained. It was the least influential invasion.

The Anglo-Saxon Invasion

The British Isles were defenceless, the cities were abandoned and the population diminished. Celts
didn’t understand the political organization nor the Roman way of living, neither did the Anglo-
Saxons. During the 5th century the Germanic tribes invaded the isles, it was not a military invasion,
they wanted to expand and settle, they were good farmers and in the isled they had water
resources, fertile soil and good weather. They were looking for a better life.
They invasion was in the form of raids, small armies and sudden attacks. They first plunder and
then settled down in Britain. There was interaction, they kept the client kings but they had a closer
relationship with the Celts. There was ethnical mixture between Celts and Anglo-Saxons thus

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 Historia de la Lengua Inglesa
Carmen Oliva Sanz
15/03/2022
explaining the racial makeup of Britons. They changed England beyond recognition with the race
mixture, the language (Germanic tongue dialects) and the different tribes: Angles on the East,
Jutes in Kent that were assimilated by the Saxons, and Saxons in the South. The three tribes were
thought as a unit because the Saxons prevailed over the rest with Harold of Sussex in the 7th and
8th centuries.
This invasion is the origin of proto-English, the basis of English can be traced back to the
Germanic dialectal evolution. It was not yet English and there is not an easy way to exactly
determine when was it created. The dialects from different languages, the Angles and the Saxons

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became a unified dialect in London.
Kingship and Kingdoms were maintained and divided England into seven kingdoms: Wessex,
Essex, Sussex, Northumbria, Kent, Mercia, and East Anglia. This kingship idea was already
present in the Celts and that explains the idiosyncrasy of the monarchy in the British population.

Romans Anglo-Saxons
3rd -5th centuries 5th-9th centuries
Conquered Attraction of food and land
Organized army Primitive army: raids
Didn’t settle Settlement and racial
mixture
Military invasion Cultural invasion
City dwellers Farmers: cultivated the land

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The Viking Invasion
In the 9th century, there was a prosperous trading centre in London which was an attractive wealth
for Viking (Denmark and Scandinavia). Their visits for trace became more aggressive in the late
8th century and early 9th century. They were ferocious, violent, savage and bloody, they were
savage and barbarians which attacked the isles. Britain was already catholic but Vikings wiped
out Christianity and religion.
They came with canoes, 48 men by ship (fast and strong). There are actually theories about them
crossing the Atlantic. The king of Wessex fought the Vikings more than any other Saxon and
Alfred the Great created the Dane (Danish) law. It gave the Danes eastern England and the rest
of Britain remained with the Saxons; it was an attempt to stop the invasion but peace didn’t remain
after his death. Aethelred, the Unready took the throne after his borther died and he depended too
much on his advisers, something that created problems with the Danish invasion. The Dane law
had worked because the British troops kept peace but when the invaders returned they were not
ready.
The Dane law failed and the king bribed the Vikings in a reckless movement. He was exiled to
Normandy, which is the beginning of the Norman claim. He is succeeded by King Canute and
then Edward the Confessor.

The Norman Invasion

Edward the Confessor promised the crown to William, duke of Normandy and heir of the exiled
king. However, he changed his mind and gave the throne to Harold of Wessex, the other possible
successor to the throne. However, he suffered a shipwreck in the coast of Normandy and he was
force to sign himself out of the succession but ended up crowning himself king of Britain. He
battled the Vikings in the north and fought against William in 1066 in the battle of Hastings
(closer to Europe). His army was weak from fighting with the Vikings so he lost and died leaving
the throne to William.

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 Historia de la Lengua Inglesa
Carmen Oliva Sanz
15/03/2022
William the Conqueror was the first English and European king, with the first unification. He

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introduced French as the official language, which is one of the first cases of the official language
of the country not being the country’s language, English. He established a feudal system and
created the Domesday Book, where all the wealth and land-owning was recorded, something that
increased the richness of the high classes and gave as a result a rich aristocracy who built many
palaces.
Not only the French language but also the French culture was established with refinement and
palaces. It was the origin of modern English, the lexicon coming from French is higher than 25000
words. The concept of the French knight also came with William, the elegance and sophistication
were enhanced thanks to the economic control and the strict social pyramid. The army was well
organized and the feudal hierarchical system left power to a few. The extensive control of the
administration was led thanks to systematic records and the new political organization.

Conclusion

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The Norman invasion was a well organized one like the Roman. However, it was also like the
Saxon invasion because they never left and settle in the land to become intermixed. A clear
example of how history repeats itself.

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