Anglo Saxon Society and Culture

I. The Vikings
    A. Three main groups [MAP]
        1. the Danes attacked France, Germany and England
        2. the Norwegians attacked Scotland, Ireland and other
                North Atlantic islands
        3. the Swedes attacked Russia and the Byzantine Empire
    B. two main reasons that the Vikings left their homelands
        1. overpopulation; not enough land
        2. ship improvements; very fast ships that could
                carry large numbers of warriors [longship, reconstruction]
    C. they also settled in various areas
        1. they settled in Normandy in France
        2. they controlled most of England

II. King Alfred and the formation of England
    A. King of Wessex (871-899) [MAP]
        1. earned nickname "The Great"
        2. comparison to Charlemagne [MAP]
    B. Danegeld
        1. Viking attacks begin in late 8th c.
        2. the Vikings attack Wessex in 870
        3. Alfred buys them off by agreeing to pay an annual tribute
                called the Danegeld (he taxes his subjects to pay it)
    C. Military/Defensive Reforms
        1. Military Organization
            - divided the army in half
        2. Navy
        3. Burhs [MAP]
            - large forts protected by large mounds of dirt
                and wooden stockades
    D. Battle of Edington (878) and the creation of the Danelaw [MAP]
    E. the Formation of England
        1. Alfred controlled most of southern England by his death (899)
        2. his son Edward conquered East Anglia (918) and inherited Mercia
        3. Edward's son Aethelstan conquered northern England in 927
    F. Legal/Government Reforms
        1. Did Alfred divide "England into shires"?
        2. Did Alfred provide "a unified legal system for England"?
        3. Alfred did, however, outlaw non-Christian religions
    G. Intellectual Life
        1. Translation of documents into English
        2. Establishment of schools

III. Anglo-Saxon Society
    A. Social Ties
        1. Kinship: household, clan, tribe
        2. Lordship
            - comitatus: warrior band
    B. Law [DOC 7: Anglo Saxon Laws; DOC 8: Ordeals]
        1. What do these laws tell us about the Anglo-Saxon legal system?
        2. compurgation/ordeal
        3. What do the laws tell us about Anglo-Saxon society?
    C. Population and the Economy
            - decline and stagnation

IV. Anglo-Saxon Culture
    A. Art: illuminated manuscripts
            - Image from the Book of Kells, c. 800
                [first page of the Book of Matthew ]
    B. Literature
        1. Saints' Lives
                - e.g., similar to Bede's discussion of St. Augustine in DOC 5
        2. Secular Biographies
                - e.g., Asser's Life of King Alfred [DOC 6]
        3. epic poems
                - e.g., Beowulf [DOC 9]

V. Were the early Middle Ages the Dark Ages?