fandomhigh | History of Medieval England - Thursday 6th Period: Discussion 2: Dark Ages Britain

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History of Medieval England - Thursday 6th Period: Discussion 2: Dark Ages Britain

All right. So we touched briefly on King Arthur of gloriously fake memory, Alfred the Great who actually lived, and Anglo-Saxon Britain. Now it's time to talk.

Your homework, which should sound familiar already is to select a topic from your readings and ~~cut and paste~~ give me at least 100 words. Ready, steady, go.

[[OOC: OCD threads are up, go ahead.]]

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If man does not have a great leader, he feels compelled to invent him. What was Arthur to the people of the British Isles, and why is his name the one that echoes down through history?

The Saxons are coming, the Saxons are coming!

The Vikings are coming, the Vikings are coming!

Mr. Adama asked a very interesting question on Tuesday (http://community.livejournal.com/fandomhigh/522937.html?thread=24636345#t24636345), namely, did the invading hoardes also have different religious beliefs? Answer: Sometimes. One of the things that Alfred the Great was credited with was converting the Scandinavian king of his generation to Christianity, with the unspoken assumption that Christianity would civilise and gentle him. In truth, the cultural clashes between the groups often involved religion, but were more profoundly on tribal lines.

The clearest instance of that is the rift between the Celtic Church and the Church of Rome, who had different criteria for locating Easter in the calendar, leading to one Easter being a week after the other. At the Synod of Whitsby, the Church of Rome's predominance in such matters was unescapably established.

So. We have Norse worshipping Norse gods, Christians who follow Rome, Christians who follow Ireland, and the ever-popular peasant who will pray to anyone who keeps himi alive.

Talk behind your hands, toss notes, etc. But don't expect that Methos won't snark on you if he catches you.

Add/drops processed here. Also, ask questions that you didn't want to ask in front of the class.

Turn in next Tuesday's homework here. Your homework, which should sound familiar already is to select a topic from your readings (http://britannia.com/history/h50.html) and ~~cut and paste~~ give me at least 100 words.

Mary had a little lamb, her fleece was white as snow, and everywhere that Mary went, the lamb was sure to go.

Zero signed in.

St. Oswald's Priory in Gloucester was founded by the last King of Mercia, Aethelred II, and his formidable wife, Lady Aethelflaed, in about 890. Aethelflaed was the daughter of her husband's overlord, the powerful King Alfred the Great of Wessex. She had been virtually ruling the Kingdom of Mercia since her husband had been struck down with a debilitating illness about two years before. Perhaps the foundation was undertaken in the hope of some divine relief for the ailing monarch. It was certainly part of a major rebuilding programme in the city, as the place was being fortified as part of a string of Mercian defensive burghs.

Lana signs in.

Zero looks up from decorating the hem of her shirt with safety pins. "King Arthur was...well, he was hope, wasn't he? He's gonna come back and save us when times get tough, that kind of thing. And, I thought he was real, or, well, sorta. Like, some Welsh chieftan or summat. ~~So, you were Lancelot, then?~~"

L.A.

"I'd be with the equal-opportunity peasants on this one. Except for that they tried to burn me."

*is actually Mary*

*wonders if there's a wolf in sheep's clothing around here*

"Yeah, he was sort of the symbol of a unified front - the people being able to stand against anyone who came after them and win. It's easy to see why he - or the legend of him - would be remembered, especially when times got tough."

Where's a Bad Wolf when you need one?

"The Saxons seemed to be very smart about things. They didn't just come in and take over, they intermarried with the existing people - made themselves a part of the place until eventually they *became* the people."

*wonders if that would be Cam*

"Do you think that was a conscious decision, Ms. Lang, or a case of fighting men coming over and intermarrying with the women because they had not originally intended to settle and therefore had not brought women from their own lands?"

Zero's in an impish mood, what can you do? "So, when the Vikings fought the Indians..."

"I think it might have been a little of both. Certainly once they'd established a good foothold they would have been able to bring over their own women. And in other cases the invaders looked down upon the people whose countries they were taking over and chose *not* to intermingle with them."

"The whole time of the Viking invasions seems like a pretty big time of upheavel in general. It sounds like they spent a fair amount of time fighting each other which left them pretty open for attacks from outside. It must have been a very confusing time to live in."

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History of Medieval England - Thursday 6th Period: Discussion 2: Dark Ages Britain

SIGN IN: ME Disc 2

DISCUSSION Topic 1: King Arthur

DISCUSSION Topic 2: Saxons invading Celtic Britain

DISCUSSION Topic 3: Scandinavians invading Saxon Britain

DISCUSSION Topic 4: Religion and Learning in Anglo-Saxon Britain

TALKING IN CLASS: ME Disc 2

AFTER CLASS: ME Disc 2

HOMEWORK: ME Disc 2

OOC

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