British and Celtic History: The Beginnings to the Norman Conquest, a Brief Timeline
Dr. Susan Oldrieve ©
1300 BCE. Beginnings
of Celtic civilization around the source of the Danube in Germany.
1100 BCE. Archaelogical
evidence of early Celtic culture down to the Middle Danube--Hungary and Western
Romania--and in Middle Europe--eastern France, Switzerland, Germany, Czechoslovakia,
and Poland.
720-600 BCE. Celts have spread to
cover Middle Europe from Burgundy to Bohemia and have settled also in Ireland
and Britain.
530-470 BCE. Celtic contact with
Mediterranean (Greek) culture. Greek
luxury items found in Celtic graves. Emergence of Celtic La Tene warrior aristocracies using two
wheeled war chariots.
400 BCE. Celts
begin to migrate south into the Mediterranean areas, France, and Spain.
60-57 BCE. Julius Caesar conquers the Celts in Gaul (France and Spain)and
turns to Britain.
55 BCE. to 400 CE. Britain Romanized
and Christianized. Ireland is left
untouched by the Romans and remains primarily Celtic in culture. Scotland North of Hadrian’s Wall (built in
117 CE.) remains in indigenous Pictish hands. The turf built Antonine Wall is
erected further north in 137 CE. but fails to hold. Land between Hadrian’s wall and the Antonine wall is left to
British Celts to defend against the Picts.
200 Tertullian, a Roman theologian, mentions the preaching of Christianity in
Britain, in sections not yet conquered by Rome.
312-313 Constantine, Emperor of Rome, is converted to
Christianity and makes
Christianity a legal religion in the Roman Empire. Three British bishops are present at the
Council of Arles in 314. Christianity may
have been practiced mostly by the aristocracy influenced by Rome until the
500s.
371 Martin of Tours, considered to be the true missionary to the continental Celts, elected Bishop of Tours and effects spread of Christianity throughout the continental Celtic nations (Gaul). Conversion of populace takes place between 350 and 380. St. Martin established hermetic monasteries as the major form of Christianity
372 The Goths, a continental Germanic
tribe, are converted to Christianity by Ulfias, a Roman missionary.
383 Magnus Maximus, British
governor, using British Celtic troops, is acclaimed Emperor in Rome and, living
in Gaul, holds the position for 3 years.
400 Vortigern commanding British troops
against Picts calls in Saxons for help.
410 The Goths sack Rome
432 Death of St. Ninian, who converted
the Southern Pictish tribes to Christianity.
Ca. 431, in the reign of Leary of Tara St.
Patrick brings Christianity (and with it, writing) to Northern Ireland,
probably from Britain. Christianity may
have been introduced earlier in the south by saints Declan of Ardmore; Ailbe of
Emly; Ciaran of Sighir; Abban of Moyarney and Killabban (in Leinster); Ibar of
Beg-Eire. Patrick tried to establish a
diocesan organization, but the Irish church quickly became focused on hermetic
monasteries and on the peregrinatio or spiritual journey, effected both
physically and mentally, resulting in anchoritism, defined by Chadwick as “a form of permanent peregrination from
one’s home to pass one’s life in solitude” (210).
450 Angles, Saxons, and Jutes begin to
settle in Britain. They gradually impinge upon Celtic culture and overwhelm it
except in the West (current day Wales) and north (current day Scotland). Celtic culture and Christianity begin to
wane.
455 Visigoths overrun Rome
493 Theodoric, King of the Ostragoths,
becomes king in Rome
early 500's The British Arthur
resists Anglo-Saxon invasions in Roman fashion. The
Battle of Mons Badonicus succeeds in stopping Germanic
invasions for about 50 years.
Welsh resistance persists successfully until Oswald of
Northumbria’s defeat of Cadwallon
of Wales at a battle in Hexham, north of Wales in 623.
The ministries of Ninian, Patrick, Columba, and
Augustine speeded up the process of conversion to Christianity among the Celtic
and Anglo-Saxon peoples. Monasteries were established to help educate lay
people and to establish a native priesthood.
They were also given the task of creating manuscripts for educational
and ecclesiastical use. In this way,
writing was introduced to the previously oral cultures of the Celts and
Anglo-Saxons (not without some cultural resistance, we are now beginning to
think). Non-religious texts began to be written down along with the religious
ones. This is how the small body of
Celtic and Anglo-Saxon poetry which we now have was preserved.
Ireland remained independent of both Rome and the
Anglo-Saxons throughout this period. Irish Christianity maintained traditions
derived from the church before its split into Eastern and Western orthodoxy,
and the Byzantine flavor of medieval Irish art can be traced to the influence
of Eastern Christianity.
563 St. Columba travels to the island of
Iona off the coast of Scotland from Ireland and establishes influential
hermetic groups and monasteries in southern Scotland, northern England, and
Wales (which already had Christianity) with their center the great abbey at
Iona itself.
575 Aedan mac Gabrain, descendent of the
Ui Neill of Northern Ireland, establishes the kingdom of Scottish
Dalraida. He and St. Columba were good
friends.
597 Augustine (a different St. Augustine
from the more famous St. Augustine of Hippo) is sent by Pope Gregory the Great
from Rome to Southern England. He
re-introduces the Western version of Christianity to Britain, and converts King
Aethelbert (reigned 563-616).
603 Augustine meets with the Welsh
bishops to try to convince them to conform to the newer Roman version of
Christianity, especially the new dating for Easter. They refuse.
636 Southern Ireland accepts Roman order
of Christianity.
664 Council of Whitby. Oswald of Northumbria agrees to accept Roman
order of Christianity, including the change of the dating for Easter.
685 Ecfrith, King of Northumbria, killed
at Dunnichen trying to defeat the Picts.
Last Anglo-Saxon attempt to move north into the Highlands of Scotland.
696 Synod of Burr. Adamnan of Iona convinces northern Irish
church to accept Roman order of Christianity.
716 King Nechtan IV of the Southern Picts
evicts monks of Iona for refusing to accept Roman order of Christianity; the
English monk Ecgberct goes to Iona and the Roman Easter is celebrated there for
the first time in 718. Supremacy of
Irish church begins to shift from Iona to Armagh.
768 Bishop Elbodug of Bangor begins
introduction of Roman Easter into Wales.
789 and 793 First Viking raids on
Northumbria--Danish vikings.
Ca. 790 Merfyn Vrych, descendent
of rulers of the Isle of Man, succeeds to the kingdom of North Wales. Marries the sister of the king of
Powys. Cultural flowering of Welsh
court--lore from North Wales written down during the reign of his son Rhodri
Mawr.
Wales continues its resistance to the Anglo-Saxon
kingdoms, but Wales declares submission to the West Saxons in 828 and then to
the Mercians ca. 860.
795 First Viking raid on Ireland, at
Lambey--Norwegian vikings.
820-845 Turgeis comes from
Norway, conquers Armagh and sets up Viking settlements in Anagassin, Dublin,
Wexford, Waterford, Cork, and Limerick.
Finally taken prisoner by Mael Saechlainn, King of Meath who executed
him by drowning. Irish resistance to
Norwegian settlements.
836-842 Danish fleets explore and
test strength of English coastlines with a series of raids. Danish vikings are also attacking France and
the Low Countries in Europe at the same time.
24 June, 842 During a celebration of
St. John’s Day (John the Baptist, that is), a Norwegian viking fleet attacks
Aquitaine in France.
After plundering all the way to Nantes, the Norwegians
winter for the first time in western Europe.
First Norwegian wintering in England is in 850.
851-2 Danish fleets attack and
conquer Norwegian settlement at Dublin.
843 Final union of Picts and Scottish
kingdom of Dalraida completed by the marriage of the Scots/Irish king Kenneth
mac Alpin to a Pictish princess.
865-70 Harald Harfagar born in
Norway.
867 Danish vikings conquer York and
defeat the Northumbrian effort to retake it.
869 Danish vikings attack East Anglia and
kill King Edmund
871 Alfred elected to the kingship of
Wessex.
876 Halfdan distributes the lands of
Northumbria among the Danish Vikings.
After unifying the Welsh kingdoms, Rhodri Mawr is
defeated by the Danes at the “Sunday Battle” in Angelsey. Retreats to Ireland where he dies a year
later. His sons continue resistance to
Anglo-Saxons.
877 Danes divide up Mercia for settlement
(modern Yorkshire, Nottingham, Lincoln, Derby, and Leicester.)
878 The Danish Guthrum attacks Wessex and
drives King Alfred to refuge on the island of Athelney, where he directs a
determined resistance until he succeeds in getting Guthrum to accept baptism
and to withdraw from Wessex.
879 Danes partition East Anglia for
settlement (Northampton, Huntingdon, Cambridge, Bedford, Norfolk, Suffolk,
Essex and even London for a short time.)
885-900 Harald
Harfagar succeeds in conquering all of Norway.
886 Alfred recovers London from the Danes
and is considered to be king of all the English—he has united the Anglo-Saxon
kingdoms against their common enemy.
871-899 Reign of King Alfred,
who temporarily brought many of the southern Anglo-Saxon tribes into
alliance. A major revival of learning
takes place during these years. In addition, with his daughter Ethelflaed and
her husband Ethelred, he conducted a series of campaigns in Mercia to keep the
Danes in check. Ethelflaed was
responsible for much of their military strategy and even led troops to battle. She suceeded Ethelred to the Mercian throne
when he died in 911 and continued the campaigns against the Danes. Upon Alfred’s death, his son Edward
succeeded to the throne of Wessex. In
addition, during the 900's, missionaries like St. Dunstan were moving into the
Danelaw and establishing Christianity among the Danish Viking settlers.
900 Norsemen begin invading Northumbria
from the north, coming from Ireland.
902 King Cearbhall of Leinster takes
Dublin back from the Viking “foreigners”
912 The Viking Rollo
(Ganga-Hrolf of the Heimskringla and Roland of Le Chanson de Roland)
establishes himself as Duke in Normandy.
Normandy secedes from France and becomes a kingdom in its own right.
916 Edward and Ethelflaed complete a line
of fortresses to protect their kingdoms against Danes on one side, and the Welsh
on the other.
918 Ethelflaed dies; Edward becomes king
of both Mercia and Wessex and brings the Danelaw in Mercia under his control.
919 The Norwegian Rognvald captures York
from the Danes. In 920 he recognizes
Edward as overlord. All of Scotland,
Northumbria, and the northern Welsh/Pictish kingdom of Strathclyde come under
Edward’s control.
924 Edward dies and is succeeded
by his son Aethelstan. Aethelstan
marries his sister to the Norse successor to Rognvald, Siggtrygg. Upon Siggtrygg’s death, his infant son Olaf
succeeds to the kingdom with his Norse uncle Guthfrith, king of Dublin as
regent. Aethelstan drives them both
out.
926 Athelstan establishes a
Roman Christian diocese in Cornwall, marking final conversion of Welsh and
Cornish church to Roman order.
934 Norse, Scot, and Strathclyde Welsh
armies battle Aethelstan and his brother Edmund for Northumbria at the Battle
of Brunanburg. The armies of Mercia and
Wessex win. The battle is celebrated in
the poem “The Battle of Brunanburg” of which only a fragment remains.
939 Aethelstan dies and is succeeded by
his 18 yr old brother Edmund.
Leicester, Derby, Nottingham, and Lincoln regained by Norwegian Olaf of
Dublin in 940. The Danes are not
happy and battles for control of the Danelaw ensue for 10 years.
945 Harald Harfagar dies. His son Hakon, fostered by Aethestan, succeeds
to the kingship of Norway.
948 Eirik Bloodaxe, wild and exiled son
of King Harald Harfargar of Norway, comes to Northumbria and takes the
kingship. Olaf Siggtrygsson and Eadred,
brother and successor to Edmund (d. 946), fight to regain control of Northumbria.
928-950 Reign of Hywel Dda,
grandson of Rhodri Mawr, acting as suzerain king of Wales under the West Saxon
High Kings Athelstan and Edmund. Wales no longer an isolated kingdom.
954 Death of Erik Bloodaxe, ending
struggle for kingship of Northumbria and leaving it
973 Edgar succeeds Eadred; first ruler to
be crowned King of England with an elaborate coronation ceremony.
978 Aethelred “The Unready” (meaning
"badly counseled) succeeds to the English throne when his supporters
murder Edgar.
980 Danish raids on English coastlines
resume
991 Serious Danish attacks begin. Defeat
of Byrthnoth at the Battle of Maldon in
Essex. See the famous poem, “The Battle
of Maldon,” in Anglo-Saxon Poetry.
982 Eric the Red explores Greenland. Greenland settled in 986.
986 Greenland settled. Bjarni Herjolfsson, following his father’s
emigration to Greenland, is blown off course and sights Newfoundland and
Labrador
1000 Lawspeaker Thorgeir decides at the
Althing that all Icelanders will be baptized as Christians.
1001 Leif Eriksson of Greenland explores
Newfoundland and winters in Vinland there.
Beginning of attempt to settle North America.
1003-6 Major attack on England
by King Swein of Denmark.
1013-14 Aethelred driven out of
England to Normandy by Swein and his son Cnut.
1016 England divided between Cnut and
Aethelred’s son Edmund Ironside. When
Edmund dies, Cnut becomes king of all England.
1019 Cnut inherits Denmark; becomes King
of Denmark and England.
1020 Efforts to settle Vinland end. Karlsefni returns home, having concluded
that “there would always be fear and strife dogging them there on account of
those who already inhabited it."
1040 Harald Harefoot replaces Harthacnut,
Cnut’s son, as king of England, leaving Denmark to Harthacnut. Dies childless in 1042.
1042 Edward the Confessor, last son of
Aethelred, becomes King of England after having grown up in Normandy. His Norman influence is challenged by Earl
Godwin of Wessex and then by Godwin’s son Harold.
5 January 1066 Edward dies. Harold Godwinsson elected to the
throne. But Duke William of Normandy
challenges his claim, saying that Edward had promised the throne to him.
Harold Godwinsson goes north to fight his exiled brother
Tostig and Harald Hardrada , invading from Norway. Defeats the Norwegians at
Stamford bridge on 25 September.
28 September William of Normandy
lands at Pevensy in the south of England.
Harold marches down to meet him.
14 October, 1066 English are
defeated at the Battle of Hastings
25 December, 1066--Christmas Day William
of Normandy acclaimed King of England in Westminster Abbey.
With William’s accession to the throne, the Anglo-Saxon
language is officially replaced by the Anglo-Norman dialect of French, and
Anglo-Saxon cultural institutions rather quickly replaced by European feudal
culture. Nevertheless, Anglo-Saxon
influence remained strong in the development of the Middle English language and
in the English law codes upon which our current American law is also based.