The People: Formation of the British Isles and Population Movements

The People of the British Isles

THE PEOPLE. How was the UK formed? Who were its first inhabitants? The changes and developments that have taken place in the British Isles over time. British Isles: geographically we are talking about the two islands, Britain (Scotland, England and Wales) and then Ireland (specifically Northern Ireland). It is true that the English, the Scots, the Welsh and the Irish have a very specific identity of their own, but they are also different. We must be aware that these populations have overtime mixed a lot.

Population Mixing Example

• Example: if you ask to people, 1/4 of the English, Scottish, Welsh say that they have Irish background, Irish blood. In reality it is 1/10. If we talk about Ireland, a great number of Irish people have English blood. So it is true that they have a specific identity but it is also important to underline that in history, over the years, very often these populations have mixed. Racial purity doesn't exist anywhere in the world.

Early Inhabitants and Migration

Our background going back in time, the first inhabitants in the world came from Africa and then they moved northwards, they reached Europe and they reached the British Isles. Because the British Isles were not always separated from Europe by the sea; in reality, they were originally attached to today's France, and so inhabitants were able to reach the British Isles on foot. Many Irish went to work in the UK and also many from Wales and Scotland moved to Ireland. Result: A lot of internal migration. Remember that 99.9% of our DNA is in common whether you come from Africa, South America, Australia, North America, Asia.

The Birth of the British Isles

The birth of the British Isles. When did the first humans appeared in the British Isles? Some studies affirm that the first arrivals in Europe from Africa took place around 500,000 years ago. We're talking about the Neanderthal group (then went extinct).

Neanderthal DNA

Curiosity: 3% of our DNA comes from the Neanderthals (the Neanderthals and the Homo Sapiens "married" into one another over a period of time, we still do not know why the Neanderthal got extinct and the Homo Sapiens survived). The first bones of modern humans that we find in Britain date back 500.000 years ago, which means that when the first Neanderthal group arrived in Europe they arrived also in Britain. Archaeologists have found traces of Hominid activities, extinct human activity, even back to 700.000 years. In the first phase, the British Isles were not constantly inhabited. Why? Because the people back then were nomads, they moved around, and as a consequence there were entire areas of Britain that were never inhabited 1going back then, were inhabited only for a period of time. They hadn't started cultivating the land yet, so they survived by hunting and by collecting fruits. And so, out of necessity, they have to move around. Perhaps there was a human presence in Britain even 850.000 years ago but it was from 500.000 years ago this presence becomes more regular.

Stone Age Settlements

We move into the first phase of the Stone Age where we have settlers in Britain starting from 8300 BC; then we have another phase of the Stone Age, the Neolithic with arrivals at around 4000 BC. What do we discover here? Humans, in reality, have been in our planet for a very short time. Our planet has existed for millions of years but the human presence has been instead relatively recent. Generally, the first settlements where in the southwest part of Britain. For example Stonehenge, in the southwest of Britain. So, the first important Stone Age settlements date back we could say 4000 years ago and they have left us some important movements. Then there were later arrivals, they called them the beakers, they arrived in this case in south eastern England, around 2500 years ago from Russia, from the Russian steps.

Celtic Tribes Arrival

An important date is 600 BC, the date that indicates the arrival of the first Celtic tribes (pronunciation: Keltic). They came from:

• central and western Europe (north of France): settled in eastern Britain;
• Spain, Portugal (northern part): settled in Wales, Ireland, Isles of Man and Scotland.

Celtic Music Example

• Example: Why is it interesting? If you ever been in the north of Spain or in the north of Portugal, and if you ever listened to their traditional music. Some years ago there was a Spanish musician who came out with some songs (pop) influenced by the traditional music of those areas of Spain and it was like listening to Irish music. Both of them have the same Celtic background.

Historical Recap

Recap:

• 500,000 year ago humanoids who arrived from Africa
• Stone Age: the first settlement in Britain were in the southern part of Britain and dates back to 8.300 B.C.
• Neolithic phase: arrivals at around 4000 B.C. The first important Stonehenge settlement date back to 4000 years ago.
• Arrivals of the beakers: they arrived in southern easter England about 2.500 years ago. They arrived from the Russian stapes.

Roman Arrival and Influence

600 BC Important for the arrival of the Celts. They brought with them also the Iron Age because they were able to make and work iron. 2Another important date is the arrival of the romans: Giulio Cesar (the first to make an expedition in the south of England, then followed by many other emperors. In particular, by Claudius that will occupied from a military point of view the British Isles). The roman did not occupy all the British Isles, they did not occupy Scotland, they actually built a wall, the Adrian wall to separate their domain from Scotland. They did not occupy Ireland, they called it Hibernia, but they did not occupy this territory because it was poor of resources, inhabited by hostile Celtic tribes, it wasn't worth it. So they occupied Wales and present-day England. The romans saw the domain of Roma in this part of the British Isles, lasted from 43 AD to 409 AD, 400 years. The name Britain itself was given to them probably by the romans > Britannia was the name of the roman colony. What was the relationship between the existing population who were already there when the ropes arrived on the romans themselves? The romans called all these Celtic tribes living there "Britons". Which as you know we use also today. Archaeologists, historians say that the romans did not mix well with the original population, and in fact the original population kept many of its Celtic traditions but in any case, there are many examples of roman presence in England; not only the cities examples of architecture, the roman law system, there were many signs of the physical presence of Rome in Britain that you can find today.

Roman Remnants in British Museum

• Example: If you visit the British museum in London there is a section dedicated to Rome and most of the remnants that you can see there are in reality, come from England itself.

Post-Roman Britain and Germanic Tribes

What happen when the romans withdrew? The romans withdrew mainly because they had too many problems of the continent. The roman empire was declined and the romans had no choice but to abandon the British colony to its destiny. And so Britain was occupied by three Germanic tribes. (It is for this that we say that the English language is a Germanic language, it started then). The three tribes were:

• The Angles: generally, we say it is from the Angles that came the name of England.
• The Saxons;
• The Jutes.

They occupied Britain after the withdrew of the romans. There was a long period of war because certain areas in Wales, Scotland and Ireland remain Celtic, while these Germanic populations succeeded in occupying England and part of Wales. The Celts survive but in Wales, in Scotland and in Ireland, England instead was entirely occupied by these three Germanic tribes. These regions will then be subject to another type of attack, the Vikings, the Scandinavian populations. Generally, the Vikings did not really stay permanently in the regions that they tried to occupy. They generally arrived, they took whatever was of interest to them and then generally they went back to their own countries. However, in the 10th and the 11th century, Britain was continuously attacked and invaded by these Viking populations. 3This invasion period is completed though by a significant historical moment, the last moment in which England will be occupied by a foreign population: we are talking about the war between the Anglo-Saxons and the Normands (France). The famous battle of Hastingsb 1066 AD: disinvasion of England, the Anglo-Saxon were defeated.

Norman Influence on English Language and Society

Curiosity: It was extremely important first of all because the Normands influenced the development of the English language, bringing some French words into the English language. For over three centuries on the court of England the aristocracy, the nobility will speak in French. The language of the church will be Latin, the language of the aristocracy will be France and only the poor people will actually speak English (a "vulgar" language). The Normands conditioned British society also in another way, because they gave Britain its school institutional framework, the feudal system. The Normands contributed to bringing in the British Isles the feudal system. The Celts will continue to survive in Wales, Scotland and Ireland.

Gaelic Languages in Celtic Regions

Curiosity: It is for this reason that in these countries, in addition to English, we have also Gaelic languages. The Celts manage to defend their culture. Also in Wales, we have a part of the Welsh population that speaks a Gaelic language and in Scotland it is the same, a minority nowadays but still a consistent number people that speak this Gaelic language. What do we know about the population of the British Isles in that period? Very small numbers compared to today, during the roman age the population in Ireland was of about 1 million people living in the British Isles (like the city of Dublin today).

Summary of Early Settlement to AD 1066

Summary of what we have said: TABLE 3.L Early settlement to AD 1066

1. 850,000 BC Palaeolithic (Old Stone Age)
2. 8,300 BC Mesolithic (Middle Stone Age)
3. 4,000 BC Neolithic (New Stone Age)
4. 2,000 BC Beaker Folk (Bronze Age)
5. 600 BC 'Celtic' groups (Iron Age)
6. 200 BC 'Belgic' tribes AD 43 The Romans AD 410 Germanic tribes (Anglo-Saxons) Eighth to eleventh centuries The Scandinavians AD 1066 The Norman Conquest

Tribal and Royal Identity

Growth and immigration to the twentieth century. Tribal identity, not national identity. Concept of royalty. By the 12th century England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland, (the four countries that make up the British Isles), had a very precise identity and also a precise geographic borders. But we must not talk about them as nations, but there was a concept of tribe and a concept of royalty, because each country had its own king or sometimes several kings. 4