Figure 1.-- |
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The English are at amalgum of the various people who settled in southern and central Britain since the Neolithic period. Very little is known about the original Neolithic inhabitants. DNA analysis have provided some interesting information. Recent tudies suggest that the majority of the traceable ancestors of the modern English people reached the British Isles in the Neolithic era (13,000-5,500 BC). These people were related to the Basque people. More is known about the subsquent groups that entered the British Isles during antiquity, including the Celts and Romans as wll as the Anglo-Saxons, Norse, and Normans who reached the British Isles during the Middle Ages. On the perifery of England were the Irish to the east and the Picts to the north in what is now Scotland. These different groups were unevenly mixed. he Celtic tribes controlled what is now England. The DNA evidence suggests that the Celtic tribes who conquered the original Neolithic inhabitants, came in relatively small numbers, but suceeded in imposing their culture. This changed with the Roman invasion (1st century AD). The Romans were concentrated in the cities and the Celts in the countryside. These two groups weee beginning to increasongly mix at the time of the Anglo-Saxon invasions (6th century. The anbglo-Saxons pushed the Romano-Celts to the preifery in Cornwall and Wales and dominated much of modern England. The Norse appeared and raids turned into conquest (9th century). The Norse almost totally defeated the Abnglo-Saxons, but Alftred the great managed to defeat the Norse (9th century). England gradually emerged as a mixture of the Anlo-Saxon and Norse people. The final invasion was the Normans, a Franofile-Norse people (11th century). They left only a minor ethnic imprint, but a major cultural legacy. Over the next several centuries these various ethnic groups inter-married to form the English people. Through the 19th century the dufferent ethnic groups were poorly mixed and observanle both in facial features as well with regional accents. These diffences gradually disappearedin the 20th century at the same time new ethnic groups appeared in numbers.
Very little is known about the original Neolithic inhabitants. DNA analysis have provided some interesting information. Recent tudies suggest that the majority of the traceable ancestors of the modern English people reached the British Isles in the Neolithic era (13,000-5,500 BC). These people were related to the Basque people. [Oppenheimer]
The Celtic tribes controlled what is now England. The DNA evidence suggests that the Celtic tribes who conquered the original Neolithic inhabitants, came in relatively small numbers, but suceeded in imposing their culture.
This changed with the Roman invasion (1st century AD). The Romans were concentrated in the cities and the Celts in the countryside. The Romans came in relatively small numbers, but had a major cultural impact. These two groups were beginning to increasongly mix at the time of the Anglo-Saxon invasions (6th century. The Anglo-Saxons ivaders pushed the Romano-Celts to the preifery. Their modern imprint is thus most significant in those two western regions of Britain.
As the Roman Empire declined it was less capable of maintaining its borders. Germnanic Tribes poured accross the Rhine and the Danube. The Legions were withdrawn from Britain, leaving the Ramano-Celts to defend themselves. German tribes invaded Britain. The process in Britain was different than on the Continent. There the Germans became the nobility and were eventually swolled by the larger local populations. The Anglo-Saxons were also Germanic tribes. They had a larger ethnic and cultural impact than the other Germanic invaders of Western Europe. Here language is a good measure. English is basically a Germanic language with a major Franco-Latin influence. The languages of the other Western European countries (France, Italy, Spain and Portugal) are Romance (Latin-based languages). The Anglo-Saxon invaders pushed the Romano-Celts to the perifery of Britain--Cornwall and Wales and dominated much of modern England. It is at this time the Norse appeared.
The Norse appear in Western history (8th century). They were the northern German tribes, vurtually unknown to the Roman world.
Norse raids were at first rare and intermittent, but steadily increased in size abnd number. And the raids eventually turned into conquest and the permanent colonization of England (9th century).The Norse almost totally defeated the Anglo-Saxons, but Alftred the great managed to defeat the Norse (9th century). England gradually emerged as a mixture of the Anlo-Saxon and Norse people.
The final invasion was the Normans, a Frano-Norse people (11th century). King Harold repelled a Norse invasion in Yorkshire and then rushed south when he learned that Duke William has landed along the Channel coast. The two armies met at Hasyions (1066). Williams victory was complete and he soon extended his control over all of England. The Norman ethnic impact was limited, but the cultural impact was enormous.
Over the next several centuries these various ethnic groups inter-married to form the English people.
Oppenheimer, Stephen. "Myths of British ancestry" Prospect (October 21, 2006). The DNA work is still preliminary and their is no real consensus about the Neolitic population of Britain.
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