刘国清英国文学史1.pptVIP

Part One The Middle Ages I. Coverage and Division 1.?????? The Middle Ages lasted from Anglo-Saxon invasion(449)to the end of the War of Roses.(1485) 2.?????? Division of the Middle Ages A.The Old English Period (4491066) B.The Middle English Period II.Two Divisions of the Middle Ages A. Chapter I. The old English Period (449l066) 1.General Background a.?????? The earliest settlers were Celtic-speaking Britons, from whom the island got its name Britain (land of Britons). b.?????? Roman general Julius Caesar invaded Britain in 55 B.C. The Roman occupation ended in 410 A.D. c. The three Germanic tribes the Angles, The Saxons and thttpe Jutes invaded Britain in the middle of the 5th century. By the end of the 7th century the three tribes were combined into a United Kingdom, England (land of Angles). They spoke Anglo-Saxon, or Old English, a derivative of Low German. d.?????? The Anglo-Saxons were a heathen people. They believed in the old mythology of Northern Europe. In 597 St. Augustine and his monks landed on Kent and England was Christianized e.Danish Vikings (Scandinavian sea robbers)began to invade England from 787. King Alfred the Great succeeded in. driving off the Danes. The king started the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. (the King’s contribution to literature). f.?????? Led by Duke William the French-speaking Normans came in 1066. The Norman Conquest marks the establishment of feudalism in England. g.The formula of the nation is : the original Britons + Angles +Saxons + Jutes +Danes +Normans →English 2.Early English Literature a. Non- Written Literature 1)????? English literature began with the Anglo-Saxon Settlement in England, but there was only spoken form of literature. 2)English myths and legends were not recorded for many centuries. E.g. The Adventures of King Arthur and His Knights of the Round Table is about a Celtic chieftain of the 5th or 6th century, but these legends were not written down