MID - Culture in The Middle Ages Lesson

Culture in The Middle Ages

The Beginnings of the Middle Ages

Throughout the Anglo-Saxon time period, many Viking raids occurred on Anglo-Saxon lands. However, in 1066, the last Anglo-Saxon king, Harold II, led the defeat against the invading Norwegians at Stamford Bridge. Although the defeat at Stamford Bridge carried a heavy weight against the Norwegians, also known as Vikings, the battle did not necessarily end the Viking Age. As society changed and more people focused on agriculture, fewer Vikings could leave the land to participate in raids. Therefore, the Vikings did not die out, they just became civilized and known as Danes, Swedes, Norwegians, Icelanders, and Greenlanders due to where they settled.

The end of the Viking Age just so happens to correspond with the end of the Anglo-Saxon time period and the beginning of the Middle Ages. In 1066, the Normans from Normandy, an area in France, led the Norman Invasion into Anglo-Saxon England. Duke William II of Normandy, also known as William the Conqueror, believed he had a claim to the British throne through a previous familial connection, so he led the Norman Invasion of Great Britain. The Norman Invasion left the final Anglo-Saxon king dead at the Battle of Hastings and simultaneously ended the Anglo-Saxon time period, and the Middles Ages began.

As the Normans brought the influence of French language, culture, and literature, the previously written and spoken Old English dissipated, and historians coined the new language as Middle English. Middle English looks more like the English language spoken today, but Middle English still has distinct differences.

Culture in The Middle Ages

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