Part 2 Text: Britain in the 5th - 13th Centuries By the 5th century the Roman Empire was beginning to disintegrate and the Roman legions in Britain had to return back to Rome to defend it. Britain was left to defend and rule itself. Barbaric tribes of Angles, Saxons and Jutes were making raids against the British. That was the period of the half-legendary King Arthur and his knights of the Round Table who defended Christianity against the Anglo-Saxons. The Germanic invaders first arrived in small groups but managed to settle and oust the British population to the mountainous parts of Britain. Beginning with the 8th century, pirates from Scandinavia and Denmark began raiding the eastern shores of Britain. They are known in English history as the Danes or the Vikings. They were brave, cruel and brilliant sailors. …But the Romans left And the Danes blew in… That's where your history book begins… R. Kipling At that time the West Saxons who lived in Wessex, one of the seven kingdoms of the Anglo-Saxon England, got a new young king, his name was Alfred, later he was called Alfred the Great. And no other king has earned this title. Alfred the Great was really a great king. He was very well educated for his time. He worked out a code of laws. Alfred the Great saved England from the Danish conquest, but in the 10th - 11th centuries the Danes managed to expand their possession in Britain. The Danish kings ruled in Britain for about 24 years. The last of them, Edward the Confessor, died without a son to follow him. 15 years later before his death he had promised the English Crown to the Duke of Normandy, William, who was his cousin. But the British nobility supported Harrold. Harrold was the most powerful AngloSaxon earl of England and in 1066 he was crowned. William gathered an army to invade England. There was a great battle at Hastings on October 14, 1066. Harrold was killed in the battle, and the English understood that the battle was lost. William was crowned King of England in Westminster Abbey on Christmas Day, 1066. He was named William the Conqueror. In the 13th century King John Lackland was made King of England after his brother's death. His brother was famous Richard I the Lion-Heart, who spent most of his life in Crusades in the Holy Land. King John was the most unpopular king: he lost most of his French possessions, he rebelled against his brother, etc. The list of his misdeeds was endless, but he did one good thing (or was forced to do it). He was made to sign a document called the Magna Carta (in Latin) or the Great Charter. For the first time in the history, the Magna Carta officially stated certain rights and liberties of the people, which the king had to respect. Notes Christianity [ ,kristr'æniti ] - христианство Scandinavia [ ,skændr'nevjə ] - Скандинавия Denmark [ 'denma:k ] - Дания the Danes [ deinz ] - датчане the Vikings [ 'varkinZ ] - викинги Alfred the Great ['altradöa'greit ] - Альфред Великий Edward the Confessor ['edvəddəkən'4esə] - Эдуард Исповедник Duke of Normandy ['d.ju:kav'no:məndi ] - герцог Нормандский earl [3:1 ] - граф the battle at Hastings [ 'herstinz ] - битва при Гастингс William the Conqueror ['wiljəmдә'kənkəгә] - Вильгельм Завоеватель King John Lackland [ dzon'læklænd ] - король Джон Безземельный Richard the Lion-Heart ['ritfadöə'larən'ha:t ] - Ричард Львиное Сердце Crusades [kru'seidz ] - крестовые походы the Holy Land [ 'h3uli'lænd ] - Святая земля Task 1. Match the English words and word-combinations given below with their Russian equivalents. 1) disintegrate a) захватчик 2) defend б) владение 3) raids b) восставать 4) invader г) защищать 5) oust д) оплошность, ошибка 6) possession e) уважать 7) rebel ж) распадаться 8) misdeed 3) набеги 9) state и) выгонять, вытеснять 10) respect к) устанавливать Task 2. Read the text. Find the answers to the questions given below. 1. When did the Roman legions leave Britain? 2. What was Alfred the Great famous for? 3. When did the battle at Hastings take place? How did it end? 4. Where did Richard I the Lion-Heart spend most of his time? 5. What important document was King John made to sign? Why was the document very important? Task 3. Read the text carefully and agree or disagree with the statements given below. 1. King Author and his knights defended England against the Romans. 2. The Vikings were the Dutch. 3. Alfred the Great saved England from the Danish conquest. 4. William the Conqueror came from Wessex. 5. Harrold was the most powerful Anglo-Saxon earl of England. 6. The battle at Hastings took place on November 14, 1066. 7. King John was very clever ruler.