I was thinking more culturally - what with having almost no literary culture to speak of, not much of an urban culture - and, you know...they hadn't even gotten their heads around the whole 'CASTLE' idea and were still using hut type things (I mean, Heorot sounds cool, but the castles were way cooler ;)), and didn't even have cities (or a word for 'city', they just had ceastre (sp?)) - in comparison to somewhere like Byzantium - and of course the rest of Europe had more connection with places like that - it was a bit lacklustre, culturally. And hm - I think there is a teeny bit more Old French/Norman lit pre-1066, but not much. At least there's a slightly larger amount of langue d'oil lit (that has survived) - Chanson de Roland, the life of Saint Eulalie and a few others, also what about the Carolingian Renaissance? It's a bit hard to separate Normandy from the rest of France (or what was 'France' at the time), esp considering the French king was the Norman liege lord. And the Anglo-Norman stuff produced for awhile after 1066 is often counted as French, 'cos...well, it was written in a langue d'oil language and was written by the French settlers. They had also already come up with the polyphony form of music...does anything survive of Anglo-Saxon music? Have they found any instruments, at least? There was also more Christian philosophy (er, the only kind of philosophy there was, it seems...).
I know absolutely nothing about Anglo Saxon economics - I should have specified that I was talking more generally about culture - but I think the latest hoard found shows us that they certainly had a LOT of wealth. The Mercians did, at least. Was the Heptarchy still around in 1066?
Do you know that some articles have been written - in the Guardian, at least - about how modern society in the UK now is becoming more and more like Anglo Saxon society, with almost no middle class, only the uber-wealthy and the poor? Do you agree with that?
I would be so, so curious to see what would have happened if the Normans never invaded, or lost. Just a trip to an alternate reality so I could see how things would have turned out. With England so secluded away from the rest of Europe and stuff and therefore less open to invasion/influence, it's really quite curious. I wonder if the Anglo Saxons would have started invading France or Scandinavia?
I think it was a good thing - we got Chaucer and John of Grimestone and Middle English and fab castles and the high middle ages. YAY :D
I know absolutely nothing about Anglo Saxon economics - I should have specified that I was talking more generally about culture - but I think the latest hoard found shows us that they certainly had a LOT of wealth. The Mercians did, at least. Was the Heptarchy still around in 1066?
Do you know that some articles have been written - in the Guardian, at least - about how modern society in the UK now is becoming more and more like Anglo Saxon society, with almost no middle class, only the uber-wealthy and the poor? Do you agree with that?
I would be so, so curious to see what would have happened if the Normans never invaded, or lost. Just a trip to an alternate reality so I could see how things would have turned out. With England so secluded away from the rest of Europe and stuff and therefore less open to invasion/influence, it's really quite curious. I wonder if the Anglo Saxons would have started invading France or Scandinavia?
I think it was a good thing - we got Chaucer and John of Grimestone and Middle English and fab castles and the high middle ages. YAY :D
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