Restoration of the Saxon Kings

At the beginning of the 11^th century, in 1018, England was conquered by the Danish King Canute, who became King of Denmark, Norway and England. He made England the centre of his power.

The country was divided into four earldoms of Wessex, Mercia, North-umbria and East Anglia, they were ruled by earls appointed by the king. As part of the thanes and knights did not want to continue as professional warriors, the permanent army of well-trained soldiers, who were paid for their service (the "Housecarls") was created.

During Canute's reign the Godwin family came to power in England southwest of the line marking the "Danelaw" territory.

After the death of Canute in 1035, and the death of his sons (the last died in 1042), the Godwin group, who held three of the six large earldoms of the country, succeeded in restoring the old Saxon dynasty to the throne of England. Edward, the son of Aethelred the Unready, was brought back from Normandy, where he had to stay at the court of his cousin.

He brought crowds of Norman counsellors, sly Norman monks and nobles, who soon got best land and church posts, preparing the ground for the Norman Conquest. In his reign the Westminster Abbey was built and the royal residence moved into a new palace in Westminster.

Task 12. Fill in the dates in the table, which represents the Scandinavian Invasion.

Date	Events
	Norsemen start the raids to England and Ireland
	London is burnt up
	The first permanent settlements are founded
	"Alfred's great year of battles" — the Danes are pushed from Wessex by King Alfred the Great
	Fighting between the Danes and Anglo-Saxons
	A peace treaty is signed to divide the country into two equal parts "Danelaw" and England proper
	The Danish invasions are resumed. The Anglo-Saxon kings give the Danes money to leave them in peace
	The government imposes a heavy tax called Danegeld, or Dane money
	England is conquered by the Danes once more. The Danish King Canute becomes King of Denmark, Norway and England and makes the latter the centre of his power
	After Canute' o the throne and the line of Danish kings comes to an end

Task 13. Using the scheme describe the transformation of the Anglo-Saxon society from the 6^th century to the end of the Scandinavian Invasion.

	Ihe Anglo-Saxon society of the 6^th—7^th centuries	The English society of the 8^th—9^th centuries
Main classes	Thanes — professional warriors Ceorls — peasants	landowners peasants
Land	common property of the village community	private property, which could be sold, inherited or used as a payment for debts
Local division	village communities hundreds shires kingdom	townships hundreds shires kingdom
System of judgment and manning	folk-moots in the village communities hundred-moots, presided by elected elders shire-moots, presided by sheriffs	landowners hundred-moots of the most influential landlords presided by royal officials shire-moots, presided by the kings chief official the king as a supreme judge

Task 14. Historical consequences. The Scandinavian Invasion. Match two statements from columns A and B into a compound sentence with a conjunction "so".

A	B
1. The Anglo-Saxons had to stop constant attacks of the Danes	a) they signed the peace treaty, which, divided the country into 2 parts
2. The Danes every year went to different places	b) today many countries on the former Danelaw territory have similar names to the main city
3. Alfred the Great failed to push the Danes away from England	c) they paid the tribute called Danegeld
4. The Anglo-Saxon villages were fortified and secured	d) the Anglo-Saxons organised Danish massacre in 1002
5. Each Danish shire had a market town	e) they had to unite in order not to lose their independence completely
6. In 991, the Anglo-Saxons were unable to resist the Danes	f) he soon lost control over its biggest part
7. The Danes tried to raise the tribute they got from the Anglo-Saxons	g) they made the basis for the first English towns
8. The empire of Canute included three distant countries	h) all the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms experienced Danish raids

Task 15. Here are different events, which happened during the 5^th—11^th centuries in England. Discuss them in groups and rank them to their importance. Prove your choice.

1. Conversion of the Anglo-Saxons to Christianity.

2. Political unification of Anglo-Saxon kingdoms.

3. The written history of England called "The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle" was started by King Alfred the Great.

4. The Code of English Law was drawn up.