Historical Background

The OE period is divided into periods: 1. before Anglo-Saxon invasion, 2. after

Anglo-Saxon invasion. The earliest mention of the British Isles is in the 4th century B.C. At

that time Britain was inhabited by Celtic tribes (Britons and Gaels), who spoke various

Celtic languages. The Celts were heathens. In 55 B.C. the Romans under Julius Caesar

occupied Britain. It became a Roman province. This colonization had a profound effect on

the country. The Latin language superseded the Celtic dialects. In the 4th century, when

Christianity was introduced in the Roman empire, it also spread among the Britons. The

Romans ruled Britain up to the early 5th century. In 410 Roman legions were recalled from

Britain to defend Italy from the advancing Goths.

Under Roman occupation the Celts in Britain were Romanized. The influence must

have been stronger in the towns than in the countryside. The use of Latin steadily grew.

However the Romanization of the island was superficial and its results were not enduring.

It was about mid-5th century that Britain was conquered by Germanic tribes. An old

saying names the year 449 as the year of the beginning of the Anglo-Saxon conquest. The

Angles occupied most of the territory north of the Thames up to the Firth of Forth; the

Saxon, the territory south of the Thames and some stretches north of it; the Jutes settled in

Kent and in the Isle of Wight. It is at this time, the 5th century, that the history of the English

language begins.

The Scottish Highlands, where neither Romans nor Teutons had penetrated, were

inhabited by Picts and Scots. The Scots language, belonging to the Celtic group, has

survived in the Highlands up to our own days.

The Anglo-Saxons were Barbaric tribes and all achievements of Christianity were

destroyed.

The Germanic tribes which conquered Britain formed seven separate kingdoms, which

during four centuries struggled with one another for supremacy: Kent, Sussex, Essex,

Wessex, Mercia, East Anglia and Northumbria. In 828 the struggle came to an end with the

victory of Wessex. The capital of Wessex, Winchester, became the capital of England.

Anglo-Saxon Britain was isolated from Rome. In 597 Pope Gregory I sent a mission to

England in order to spread Christianity among the Germanic conquerors. Only in the 7th

century Christianity spread all over England. The Latin language was at the time an

international language of the church and was introduced in England. As a result, the English

language adopted a considerable number of Latin words which were connected with

religious and church notions ( OE biscop - 'bishop' - Lat. episcopus )

mжsse 'mass' missa