King Arthur

Have you ever heard the tale of the man who withdrew a sword from a rock? I'm pretty sure you did. But do you know the legend?

"...Arthur was the first born son of King Uther Pendragon and heir to the throne. However these were very troubled times and Merlin, a wise magician, advised that the baby Arthur should be raised in a secret place and that none should know his true identity.

As Merlin feared, when King Uther died there was great conflict over who should be the next king. Merlin used his magic to set a sword in a stone. Written on the sword, in letters of gold,  were these words: "Whoso pulleth out this sword of this stone is the rightwise born king of all England." Of course all the contenders for the throne took their turn at trying to draw the sword, but none could succeed. Arthur, quite by chance, withdrew the sword for another to use in a tournament. Following this he became King..."

King Arthur is a legendary British hero,who according to medieval stories,he led the defence of Britan against the Anglo Saxons invaders in the late 5th and early 6th centuries AD. This king has a debated historicity,some specialists say he was real,but others don't, and althought the legend of king Arthur varied widely from text to text,there is no canonical version,they don't have contemporary evidence for him as a historical figure.
 This is one of the most popular legends in the world,it has movies too,and even if King Arthur is not real,he will be always be remembered as a hero.
Sources:
http://templars.files.wordpress.com/2007/08/king-arthur-tapestry.jpg
http://www.caerleon.net/history/arthur/page2.htm
https://i.pinimg.com/236x/d5/5f/4c/d55f4cbc28c65c80fa3421673343ecff--swords-rey-arturo.jpg

Magna Carta

Magna Carta is one of the most popular documents in the world,but why? what does it say?
Well,Magna Carta is the document created by King John I,as a solution to the political crisis in 1215 because merchants forced him,and established that everybody,no matter if had power,had to obey the LAW.

This provided a new framework for the relationship between the king and his subjects,and also a new politic where everybody had to obey the law.
And what does it say that is so important? Magna Carta contained 63 clauses but only 3 clauses remain part of the English law,the third,and the most populart says:
"No free man shall be seized or imprisoned, or stripped of his rights or possessions, or outlawed or exiled, or deprived of his standing in any other way, nor will we proceed with force against him, or send others to do so, except by the lawful judgement of his equals or by the law of the land. To no one will we sell, to no one deny or delay right or justice."

Magna Carta changed everything and influenced the whole history because this was the first document that says that everyone had to obey the law,and after that,most of the goverments nowadays have a balanced power between the president and the rest of the people.
Souces:https://www.bl.uk/magna-carta/articles/magna-carta-an-introduction
https://www.google.com.ar/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwim4N_8lvPTAhVJUJAKHUIQBrsQjRwIBw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.historyextra.com%2Ffeature%2Fmagna-carta-turning-point-english-history&psig=AFQjCNG4Poo-0uOq2pLY2MwYOeCI6Zz0cg&ust=1494981657609863
https://www.google.com.ar/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwi88NDcl_PTAhUCOJAKHUBNCQ4QjRwIBw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmagnacarta800th.com%2Fevents%2Fdurham%2F&psig=AFQjCNG4Poo-0uOq2pLY2MwYOeCI6Zz0cg&ust=1494981657609863

Viking Religion

Viking Gods are quite popular,Thor,Odin,Loki,etc. But do you know where do they came from and what do they meant to vikings? 

The popular image of vikings is that they were all pagans and hated the church and Christianity but that is not true.  What is true is that people in Scandinavia were pagans  at the beginning of the Viking age and that they had many Gods but they accepted Christianity as well.  

VIKING GODS:

We start with Odin,known as the "Allfather" of the gods,was an emblematic of war but also of poetry,music,prophecy and magic.

Thor,Odin's most famous son,and God of Thunders,and he was also a representative of healing (but not many people know that)

Baldur,Another son of Odin,the God of the sun,summer and radiance.

Loki,the Trickster God and a Shape-shifter,he managed to become Odin's blood brother.

Hel,The goddess of Death 

And Freyja,The goddess of love and fertility

They were more Gods,but those were the most populars 

Nowadays,Thor,Loki,Odin,and some Viking gods are very popular,and popular editorials such as Marvel made movies 

(Thor and Loki)

Sources: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/feb/04/thor-odin-norse-gods-guide-iceland-temple-vikings-deities

http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/vikings/religion_01.shtml

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/2b/0f/d2/2b0fd29b762cac39bbeeac3b0c66eb18.jpg

https://image.shutterstock.com/z/stock-vector-viking-gods-cartoon-illustrations-224514481.jpg

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/a0/1b/c0/a01bc01c475506e1d4caaecc79e53258.jpg

The first HERO

Heroes are very popular and different now from the ones we had one hundread years ago. Nowadays we have the "super heroes",the most populars heroes that exist,like Superman and Batman. But have you ever wondered which was the very first heroe that existed? 
BEOWULF is the answer.
But who is Beowulf,and where does this heroe came from?
   Is an epic poem. An epic poem is a long, serious, poetic narrative about a significant event, often featuring a hero. Before the development of writing, epic poems were memorized and played an important part in maintaining a record of the great deeds and history of a culture. Beowulf may be the oldest surviving long poem in Old English and is commonly cited as one of the most important works of old english literature,(Old english is the oldest historical form of the english language,for example The nouns hæte, ‘heat’, and wæta, ‘moisture’) 
If you want to know the story of the oldest hero that existed you can read it here: 
http://csis.pace.edu/grendel/projf981e/story.html
Is really cool to have the oldest poem in the whole world right? now you,with your computer,cellphone,tablet or whatever you have,you can read something that thousands of years ago only some people could hear by the "Scops"

(scop)

,(who where both poets and performers of the anglo-saxon period ) because it was transmitted orally,and thanks to monk (who wrote it in old english,the oldest form of the language we know as english) is that we have the poem.

Sources:
http://www.chegg.com/homework-help/definitions/epic-poem-39
https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beowulf
http://csis.pace.edu/grendel/projf981e/story.html
http://csis.pace.edu/grendel/projf984f/images/Beowulf/oldbeowulf.gif
http://www.thecbg.org/wiki/images/thumb/c/cf/44199_C1_bard.jpg/180px-44199_C1_bard.jpg

The Anglo-Saxon period

THE ANGLO-SAXON PERIOD

➤This period is traditionally known as the Dark Ages, mainly because written sources for the early years of Saxon invasion are scarce. It is a time of war, of the breaking up of Roman Britannia into several separate kingdoms, of religious conversion and, after the 790s, of continual battles against a new set of invaders: the Vikings.

I made a timeline of this period instead of making a summary. I thought that this could be more organised and easy to understand. Below of the timeline i am going to explain each age of the period

AGES:
400:Roman legions began to withdraw from Britain at the end of the fourth century to protect other areas of the empire from invading forces

410:A letter from the Emperor Honorius told the towns of Britain organized their own defences

450:The beggining of Anglo-Saxon Britain

579:St Augustine was sent to England by Pope Gregory,the head of the Roman christian church,to convert the saxons to Christianity

700:Anglo-Saxon literature included sermons,bible translations,legal work,chronicles,riddles and epic poetry. Here emerged the first epic hero,Beowulf and also The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle,a collection of writing important for early English history

793:➛Vikings raid the monastery on Lindisfarne,this marked the beginning of a period of raids on the British isles.
➛Danish Vikings migrated overseas to Britain in search of better land to farm

870:Vikings settled in England and then moved west and invaded Wessex

878:King Alfred defeat the vikings and establish a frontier dividing England in two. The north and east came under Danish control,and Alfred controlled west Mercia,Kent and Wessex

1066:➛King Edward died in January 1066
➛He was succeeded by the last Anglo-Saxon king,Harold II (In the image we can see the crowning of the last Anglo-Saxon king). The duke of Normandy,William, said that king Edward had promised him the throne and went to claim it,defeating the king Harold II
➛The anglo-norman is the language spoken since then,influencing old english and changing it to middle english


1085:King William set his kingdom and ordered a survey of land ownership which was recorded in the Domesday Book,finishing the Anglo-Saxon England.

king William,the first conqueror

Sources: "➤" and some other information from http://www.history.org.uk/resource/3865 
I also used the photocopy we used in class and the timeline was made in paint.
king William: http://c8.alamy.com/comp/AMH50K/king-william-i-1st-conqueror-1027-1087-first-norman-england-guillaume-AMH50K.jpg 
crowning the last anglo-saxon king: http://squaducation.com/sites/default/files/image-4.jpg_0.gif

The Roman invasion to Britain

Before Roman invasion,the celts lived in Britain and had simple lives. It was in 43 a.d when Romans invaded Britain by the new Emperor,Claudius. 

But why they invaded a small island if they had already a vast empire? it's true that by that time Romans had invaded countries including Spain,France,Turkey and Egypt,and they were also extremely rich,so invading that island would be a waste of time. Well,the answer is simple;the Emperor was really worried about what his subjects would think of him,he thought they would think he was weak because of his age,and invading Britain could be his opportunity to show them he was a great leader.

There were many other reasons to invade Britain,however,that was the main one.

Another reasons were the minerals and precious metals of the island,Romans knew that those mines were rich because they have been trading with Britons for many years,and if they conquered Britain they could increase their wealth.

Once they were prepared for the invasion,the emperor,Claudius,assembled an army of more than 40,000 soldiers,and defeated the celts that lived there. Even though Celts were wild ond the battlefield,they could not defeat the highly organised Roman army,and by 47a.d,Britan had become a part of the Roman Empire.

Sources: Images https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/99/f6/19/99f619381fa3b4e45d43bd589b20ea57.jpg ,

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5c/Togato_con_tesa_dell%27imperatore_claudio%2C_inv._2221.JPG/170px-Togato_con_tesa_dell%27imperatore_claudio%2C_inv._2221.JPG

The information i used was from the photocopy and i did the rest.

The celts

The celts were a population living in several parts in Europe. The name celts was given by ancient writers. The celtic languages are still spoken today in parts of the british isles and northen France.

Life styles: They live in clans,tribes,villages and small farming communities that live of milk and flesh and the nature they protect.
The celts did not think of themselves as single people and their allegiance was always to their tribes.

Warriors: They represented the quintessential Barbarian warrior and had well-earned reputation. Their appearance was: Long hair and large stature,and their attacks on the battelfield were fearless wild and savage.

Weapons: They used ancient weapons like javelins,harpoons,bows,slings and used poison on their ranged weapons

Druids: They took charge of public and private sacrifices. They judged public and private quarrels and decreed penalties,and nobody can desobey their decree,they also sacrifice humans who were gravely sick or in danger of death in battle. Upon his dead,another was appointed.

Caratacus: Caratacus was the king and tribal leader of the ancient britons during the iron age. He was the son of the Celtic king named Cunobeline.

Women rol: They could be a Druid or even a warrior.

Sources:
Www.ancient-origins.net
Www.britanica.com
Images : http://celticculture.weebly.com/uploads/7/5/5/7/7557534/5413539.gif?316
http://studyenglish101.files.wordpress.com/2012/12/the-celts.jpg