The+Battle+of+Hastings

The Battle of Hastings. The Romans The Romans were people who lived in Rome and spoke Latin. They were a religious people who believed in many Gods. For example Jupiter, Venus and Mars. They were a quite barbarian people and some of the emperors were bad. But anyway they were good rulers, because they built straight roads, big towns and made sensible laws. The Romans conquered large parts of Europe and North Africa, for example Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Greece and Egypt. They invaded Britain in 55 BC, but the final and successful invasion of Britain was in 43 AD. They came to Britain because they were cross with Britain for helping the French to fight against the Romans, but also because the country had a lot of treasures. The Romans stayed in Britain for 400 years. Just a few Roman words remained in the English language, but the Roman alphabet and the calendar with 12 months and 365 days are still in use. We also use the Roman numerals a bit.

The Anglo-Saxons. The Anglo-Saxons were warriors from northern Germany, Denmark and Netherland. They rowed across the sea in wooden boats to Britain. Their boats were long with one sail and many oars. Old English is sometimes called Anglo-Saxon and was the language that were spoken in England and continued to be the common language of England until the influence from the Anglo-Norman language came. When they were out fighting they usually were small armies with only a few hundred men. After the man’s have been they went back home as soon as they could, because all of the warriors lived on farms and had to look after their animals and crops. The king of the Anglo-Saxons had an own little group of warriors to protect him and die to defend him. When they were fighting they used spears, axes, swords and bows and arrows. The Anglo-Saxon period lasted from 410 to 1066, about 600 years. 

The Vikings. The Vikings were a seafaring people from Norway, Sweden and Denmark (Scandinavia). They were a brutal people who raided places and settled there. They invaded Britain in 793 AD, and the reason why they came to Britain was because they needed land for their farms. Some of the Vikings also were fishermen, merchants and craftsmen. Most of the Vikings settled in northern Scotland and eastern England. The Vikings believed in the Norse mythology, but soon after they had settled in Britain they converted to Christianity. The Vikings brought a lot of new words into the English language, for example fellow, cake, sister, law and window. A lot of place names in England also have Scandinavian words, for example places which end in //–by // (Whitby).

The Normans. The Normans were from Normandy, a region in northern France. They were ordinary a native publication of people from the Frankish and Gallo-Roman stock. They ordinary spoke French, but when the Vikings from Scandinavia came they took the land and named it Normandy. The name Normandy comes from the word Norsemen or Northmen, and means the people who speak one of the North Germanic languages as their native language. The North Germanic language is the same as Scandinavian language. They were a people who were famous for their martial spirit and their Christian piety. They were also famous for their culture, Romanesque architecture and their musical traditions. They also known for have good military accomplishments and innovations. The Normans conquests were in Italy, in Byzantium, in England, in Wales, on Crusade, in Scotland and in Ireland. Normans had the most obvious influence on the English language. It was a northern dialect of Old French, more like the language the ruling classes in England speak. Evan after the decline of Norman the French language retained the status of a Prestige language for nearly 300 years.

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