英国文学史及选读chapter-1.pptVIP

English Literature of the Anglo-Saxon Period Chapter 1 The Historical Background The historical background Before the coming of the Anglo-Saxons, the Celtic tribes lived in what is now Britain. In the middle of the first century B.C. Roman troops led by Julius Caesar凯撒 invaded Britain, then Claudius conquered it in A.D. 43 and Britain became a Roman province till the beginning of the fifth century. During their rule the Romans built roads, walls, garrisons 要塞, villas 附有地产的乡间宅第或庄园, etc., and the Celts became either slaves or unfree cultivators耕者 of the land. Then in early 5th century, as the Germanic 日耳曼民族的 races attacked and overran侵占 the Roman Empire, the Roman garrisons 守备部队 in Britain withdrew. Note1: Celt Celt: 1) one of an Indo-European people originally of central Europe and spreading to western Europe, the British Isles, and southeast to Galatia during pre-Roman times, especially a Briton or Gaul. 凯尔特人：印欧民族的一支，最初分布在中欧，在前罗马帝国时期遍及欧洲西部、不列颠群岛和加拉提亚东南部。尤指不列颠人或高卢人 2) a speaker of a modern Celtic language or a descendant of such a speaker, especially a modern Gael, Welshman, Cornishman, or Breton. 讲现代凯尔特语的人：讲现代凯尔特语的人及其后代，尤指现代盖尔人、威尔士人、康沃尔人或不列塔尼人 Not long after that, in the mid-5th century, the tribes of Angles, Saxons and Jutes 朱特人 (later known simply as Anglo-Saxons) migrated to England from the European Continent, or more specifically from western Denmark and the northwest coast of Germany. They settled down there and soon ruled over the whole of England, enslaving some of the native Celts while driving the others to the hills north and west, to Wales and Scotland and even Ireland across the sea. Thus began the Anglo-Saxon period in English history. occupation tribalism While still on the Continent, the Anglo-Saxons were in the later stages of tribal society. Their common occupation was agriculture, with a small number of them already set apart as professional soldiers or as hereditary世代相传的 military leaders. Some of these leaders gradually became thanes 大乡绅