Britain in the Middle Ages

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"Medieval Britain" is a term used to suggest that there is a unity to the history of Great Britain from the 5th century withdrawal of Roman forces and Germanic invasions until the 16th century Reformations in Scotland and England. What comprises medieval Britain is a matter of debate but for the purposes of this article it includes what is now modern day England, Scotland and Wales.

Individual histories of these regions can be found in the following articles:

• History of Scotland
• History of Anglo-Saxon England - England between the 5th century and the Norman Conquest.
• History of England - England after the Norman Conquest.
• History of Wales

The medieval period can be dated from the arrival in Kent of Anglo-Saxon troops led by the legendary Hengest and Horsa. Subsequently the Celtic powers were conquered by Jutes, Angles and Saxons Germanic tribes, from the contemporary Jutland area. Political take over of other areas of England proceeed piecemeal and was not completed until the tenth century. Similarly, the end of the medieval period is ordinarily dated by the rise of what is often referred to as the "English Renaissance" in the reign of Henry VIII and John Knox's Reformation in Scotland. From a political point of view, the Norman Conquest of England divides medieval Britain in two distinct phases of cultural and political history. From a linguistic point of view the Norman Conquest had only a limited effect, Old English evolving into Middle English.

A further problem comes from the term "Britain", which is sometimes viewed as a political rather than geographical term but only then refers to the modern period. During the medieval period, Britain, the island, was a number of kingdoms. At the height of English medieval power, a single English king ruled from the border with Scotland to the border of Wales, while Scotland and Wales contained kingdoms of various sizes. After the Norman Conquest, English power intruded into Wales with increasing vigour, but the process of consolidation was continuous from William to Oliver Cromwell and is not just a medieval feature. The other problem with suggesting such a unity is that the various states had relations with Scandinavia and Continental Europe which are excluded by the concept. For example, northern Scotland often had closer ties with Norway than England and Wales in the medieval period, with Orkney and Shetland only being annexed in 1471. Southern England, due to its proximity to northern France, Flanders and Brittany, had closer relations with them than the other regions.

See also

• Groans of the Britons
• Celtic Christianity
• Anglo-Norman
• English historians in the Middle Ages Important English historians and historical works from the Middle Ages.

Middle Ages by region
Medieval Britain | Byzantine Empire | Medieval France | Medieval Germany Medieval Italy | Medieval Poland | Medieval Romania | Medieval Spain