Britain in the Middle Ages

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"Medieval Britain" is a term used to suggest that there is a unity to the history of Great Britain from the 5th century withdrawal of Roman forces from the province of Britannia and the Germanic invasions, until the 16th century Reformations in the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Scotland. What comprises medieval Britain is a matter of debate but for the purposes of this article it includes what is now modern day England, Scotland and Wales.

Individual histories of these countries can be found in the following articles:

• History of Anglo-Saxon England - England between the 5th century and the Norman Conquest.
• History of England - England after the Norman Conquest.
• Scotland in the High Middle Ages
• Scotland in the Late Middle Ages
• History of Scotland
• History of Wales

The medieval period in England can be dated from the arrival in Kent of Anglo-Saxon troops led by the legendary Hengest and Horsa. Subsequently the Brythonic, Celtic powers were conquered by Jutes, Angles and Saxons Germanic tribes, from the contemporary Angeln and Jutland areas of northern Germany and mainland Denmark. Political takeover of other areas of England proceeded piecemeal and was not completed until the tenth century.

Similarly, the end of the medieval period is ordinarily dated by the rise of what is often referred to as the "English Renaissance" in the reign of Henry VIII of England, and the Reformation in Scotland. From a political point of view, the Norman Conquest of England divides medieval Britain in two distinct phases of cultural and political history. From a linguistic point of view the Norman Conquest had only a limited effect, Old English evolving into Middle English, although the Anglo Norman language became the language of English government, if not the populace, for several centuries.

A further problem comes from the term "Britain", which is sometimes viewed as a political rather than geographical term but only then refers to the modern period. During the medieval period, Britain, the island, was a number of kingdoms. At the height of pre-Norman medieval English power, a single English king ruled from the border with Scotland to the border with Wales to the border with Cornwall. After the Norman Conquest, English power intruded into Wales with increasing vigour, but the process of consolidation was continuous from William I of England to Oliver Cromwell and is not just a medieval feature. The other problem with suggesting such a unity is that the various states had relations with Scandinavia and Continental Europe which are excluded by the concept. For example, northern Scotland often had closer ties with Norway and France (see Auld Alliance) than England or Wales in the medieval period, with Orkney and Shetland only becoming part of Scotland in 1471. Southern England, due to its proximity to Normandy, Flanders and Brittany, had closer relations with them than the other regions.

[edit] See also

• States in Medieval Britain
• Groans of the Britons
• Celtic Christianity
• Anglo-Norman
• English historians in the Middle Ages Important English historians and historical works from the Middle Ages.
• List of English chronicles

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