REGIONS OF THE BRITISH ISLES.
Approaches to the issues of the British Isles: 1 interdisciplinary - sociology, anthropology, cultural studies... 2 non-anglo centric 3 The Box Theory ENGLAND: 50% of land, 80% of population, Midlands, the heartland of Britain, densely populated, industrial heart, Black Country. Home Counties - surround London/Surrey, Sussex, Essex.../ rich area, commuterland, stock broker belt
The history of the British Isles is the history of invasions and assimilation, layers of invaders resulting in the mixture of blood = no pure Englishman, Scotsman... It was one new layer of culture replacing the former one. Since Normans = the history of the English invasions and England has not been invaded since then. Turning points in the history: 1066 called key, pivotal date. Since then the history has been dominated by the English and the period between 1066 and present can be seen as a conflict between English and Celtic nations.
The first evidence of people living in the British Isles: 250,000 BC Swanscombe - remnants of early man 40,000 BC flint - hard rock primitive tools / axes, hammers/ used in cigarette lighters today 1 The period of the first settlements in the British Isles 3,000 BC - 55 BC - Iberian 3,000 BC - 800 BC -Celtic 800 BC - 55 BC (Celtic tribes in Slovak territory) 2 Roman Period (the Romans in S) 55 BC - 407 AD (Germanic tribes S, 1 C) ^------Ancient Times v------Middle Ages 3 Anglo-Saxon Period 5 C - 1066 (Slavonic tribes arrive S, 5 C) the beginning of the English nation Samo creates the first Slavonic Empire in Central Europe, 623) (Avar invasions, 7 C) (Great Moravia, 830 - 900) overthrown by Magyars, (Slovakia part of the Hungarian Kingom) 4 Norman Period 11 C - 13 C 5 Medieval Wars 14 C - 15 C Hundreds Year War, Peasant revolts, the War of the Roses 6 The Tudor Period 1485 - 1603 Reformation, Elizabethan era, rise and growth of the British Empire 7 The Stuart Period 1603 - 1714 Bourgeois Revolution, the Glorious Revolution 8 Hanoverian Dynasty 1714 - present (Maria Theresa,1740) 1917 Windsor (Joseph II, 1781) (Slovakia part of Austro-Hungarian Empire) (1844 Slovak lit.lang.established.) (indep. Czechoslovakia, 1918) (indep. Slovakia, 1993) The Industrial Revolution, Chartism, Working class movement, Colonial expansion, WWI, Great Depression, WWII, postwar development, Thatherite era. REGIONS:
Suppression of Wales was simple, Wales was never single kingdom, it took them 100 years to suppress Scotland, a single kingdom under Canmore Dynasty and the thing in Ireland is not yet completed /Ireland was occasionally single kingdom.
SCOTLAND Scotland was a single kingdom, from 9 C very powerful kingdom in the North of Britain. 9 C the kingdoms of Dalriada and Pictland >>kingdom of Alba. 11 C Lothian belongs to Alba, Angles are defeated. 13 C The Norse are defeated and Western Isles belong to Scotland. After Wales king Edward I turned his attention towards Scotland. South of Scotland formed a barrier with its moors and hills. At the beginning he was not very successful. In 1291 The Great Cause. Scottish king Alexander III died without a heir, only 4year old granddaughter in Norway (north and west of Scotland belonged to Norway since the Vikings invasions), she died on her way to Scotland and >>> the English king Edward I in 1296 made himself recognized as Lord Superior of Scotland, after bribing Scottish lords to support him. This started the great Scottish nationalist resistance against him. (Braveheart) William Wallace alias Mell Gibson started a campaign against the English, partially successful, but short lived. In 1298 he wasdefeated at Falkirk, executed by the English and his arms and legs were sent to the 4 corners of Scotland as a warning. In 1314 Robert Bruce after a victorious Battle of Bannockburn, where the English were defeated he was recognised as a king of Scotland. The English formally recognized the Scottish independence by Treaty of Northampton and when the Scottish became e happy, the English immediately invaded Scotland 16 C Mary,Queen of Scots, after abdication in favour of her son James VI, flees to England, beheaded by Elizabeth I. 1603 James VI inherits the English throne as James I. 1638 Oliver Cromwell does not allow Charles II to become the Scottish king. Only after his death he can. 1707 The Treaty of Union of the parliaments S and E. 1747 The Act of Prescription bans Highland dress. 1780s The Highland clearances begin, thousands of highlanders are made to emigrate abroad to escape poverty. 1979 Referendum on devolution, with negative result, because overall majority of all possible voters was needed and though majority of those who voted said yes it did not gain overall majority of all the electorate. 1997 Referendum on Devolved Parliament - positive
WALES Edward I, the English king, very nasty, ambitious, expansionist. Wales had been Celtic, divided into many small kingdom never united into one single kingdom. In 1282 rebellion against Edward I led by Llewelyn ap Gruffydd /tlewelin ap grufid/, nationalist hero, cult figure for the Welsh even today, symbol of the Welsh nationalism. Rebellion was crushed by Edward I, and he was killed. English Common Law, the key element of British non-written constitution was extended to Wales. >>>> 1 political system for England and Wales today, separate one for Scotland and another one in Ireland. Since the end of the 13 C Wale was treated as England, in 1964 Secretary of State for Wales appointed. For 700 years Wales had no representative within the UK. Edward I was very brutal towards Wales, brutal invasion, plantation of Wales after 100 years, almost no Wales. 1301 the first Prince of Wales = Edward I's eldest son, it created an identity for Wales, the principality. But English kings took Wale as a part of England >>>> absorbtion of Wales by England, English Church colonized Wales, English military regime controlled Wales in 14 C , small rebellions, because aristocracy cooperated with the English Great bitterness, irritation by the Welsh Norman castles in Wales 1400 >>> colonisation of Wales. The original Welsh population was concentrated along the river valleys, the English drew them out to the hills, moorland. In those border areas, heavily anglicised, still Welsh marches. Owain Glyndwr /ouin glendaue/ a leader of a partisan campaign against the English, attacking towns, fighting the English. 1404-1405 he held national Welsh parliaments,worked out plans for the future independent national state and, the church and universities. Until 19C no Welsh university. He went too far in 1405 to Woster, the army was defeated and he was killed. 1536 Act of Union - England and Wales - Henry VIII's idea, good for the English, Wales became legally and constitutionally part of England. Since then the Welsh history has been quite quiet. 19 C the industrial revolution came to Wales to south - coal, iron and steel industry - Rhondda Valley, the heart of coal production. Wales was very much destroyed. Many mines are closed down since 80s - high unemployment - cheap coal from Australia and Poland. North of Wales, residential, retirement area for the English. 1960 rise of the Welsh nationalism and rebirth of the Welsh language. Welsh National Party Plaid Cymru established. 1966 first Welsh national MP elected. 1970s militant, extremist nationalist movement, very low standard of living, very high prices for properties, only rich people from England were buying property on the seaside. Many holiday homes were burned down - arsoning. 1979 Referendum in Wales and Scotland. The same result and reasons. 1997 Referendum positive
IRELAND 5C arrival of Christianity by Patrick (parton saint), he converted the Irish to Christianity. It was based on ascetism and spread through monasteries from Ireland to Scotland and then to England. though the English prefer to think that it came from the south and spread to the north. It was a synthesis of the pagan and Christian ideas and values. Christianity brought Latin, the first written language the Irish had. Previously oral Celtic language Ogham, only 20 characters for writing. It was soon replaced by Latin. 8-9 C Ireland's Dark Ages. Christianity was weakened, Vikings invaded Ireland and it became pagan again. the Vikings destroyed monastic culture, established their loose presence but not a single kingdom. 1114 Brian Born - Emperor of the Irish defeated the Vikings at the battle of Clontarf. He united the whole Ireland into one kingdom. Four historic provinces of Ireland ////////////////////////////// / ULSTER / / fertile / / / CONNACHT / / LEINSTER rocks / / best land / MUNSTER / ////////////////////////////// fertile
The king of LEINSTER asked Henry II, the king of England for help against Brian Born. Perfect opportunity for the Normans to invade Ireland through the open door. King Henry II wanted to civilize the barbarians got the blessings of the Pope = Papal Bull, permission paper. The Normans were successful, established feudal hierarchical society of lords, knights and ordinary people in Ireland. 16 C brutal colonisation began. 1536 the English Reformation, Irish remained Catholic and the colonisation of Ireland began. the English and Scottish settlers took the best land, property and drew the Irish out of Ulster and LEINSTER the most fertile land. It was Protestant Plantation - the Irish Catholics were driven out to CONNACHT and MUNSTER. Protestant ascendancy /oligarchy/ had all power, rights, lands. the Catholics had no rights. The most fertile land around Dublin, only for Protestants. 1541 Henry VIII called himself the King of Ireland. Queen Elizabeth I invaded Ireland many times to stop the Spanish from invading Ireland and from there England. 1641 English Civil War - rebellion in Ireland = England's danger is Ireland's opportunity. Cromwell massacred the population of two towns in Ireland - Drogheda and Wexford, and plague, famine, slavery reduced the population of Ireland to 500,000. 1690 Battle of the Boyne (1688, James II, the English catholic king deposed, kicked of throne, Glorious Revolution, William of Orange, Protestant brought back to be the English king) >>>> James II defeated>>> Catholics had no rights in army, parliament, law, Catholic mass and priests were banned. 1800 the Irish Parliament voted to be united with the English Parliament = UK had 1 parliament 1916 WWI - the Irish revolution 1920 Partition - 6/26 1968 The Troubles started
"English" literature: Author: Place of birth:
Robert Burns Scotland Walter Scott Scotland R.L.Stevenson Scotland James Kellman Scotland James Joyce Ireland Samuel Beckett Ireland Sean O'Casey Ireland G.B.Shaw Ireland Oscar Wilde Ireland W.B.Yeats Ireland Seamus Heaney Ireland Dylan Thomas Wales