Learning:
The Journey of a Lifetime
A Cloud Chamber of the Mind

April 2006 History Notebook

An Example of a "Learning Process" Journal (using the 2 colored box format)

Notes for "In Search of the Dark Ages" by Michael Wood

6:00 am I have completed reading chapters 1 -3 which focus on Boadicea, King Arthur and the Sutton Hoo Man and have begun reading about Offa, the first noteworthy Anglo-Saxon king. Now for a few notes.

Time	Description
	original inhabitants were Celtic-speaking Britons (ancestors of today's Welsh)
AD 43	Roman invasion of Britain
AD 60 - 61	revolt led by Boudica (Boadicea).
61 - 400	Britain was a relatively prosperous province of the Roman Empire.
400 - 500	Fall of the Roman Empire
	Invasions of Anglo-Saxons from Denmark and Saxony (Germany)
	Legend of King Arthur (defends the British against the invading English)
757 - 796	Offa (Anglo-Saxon king)
800 - 900	Viking invasions
871 - 899	Alfred the Great (Anglo-Saxon king)
924 - 939	Athelstan (Anglo-Saxon king)
954	Anglo-Saxons defeat Eric Bloodaxe, the last king of an independent Viking settlement
978 - 1016	Ethelred the Unready fails to maintain Anglo-Saxon rule
1016 - 1042	Danish rule under Canute and his successors
1042 - 1066	Anglo-Saxon rule restored
1066	William the Conqueror of Normandy ends Anglo-Saxon rule

 

 

The table provides a good overview for the entire book. This leads to the question of whether further notes and detail are necessary.

As the Roman Empire began to disintigrate, England was invaded by Anglo-Saxons from Denmark and Saxony (Germany). They settled in the south east and appeared to form some sort of alliance and stable culture. The legend of King Arthur is based on the battles of the resident British to defend themselves from these invaders. There is some tantalizing evidence to support the idea of King Arthur but it is very meagre and inconclusive.

The Sutton-Hoo Man refers to an archealogical dig of a burial mound at Sutton-Hoo in the south-east of England where the remains of a wooden ship complete with numerous artifacts of a warrior-king were found in 1939. It appears to be very similar to viking burial traditions but is dated for a period before they were common in England.

I must google "Sutton Hoo archaealogy" and see what I can find. This book was originally published in 1981. I wonder what has happened since then.

http://www.archaeology.co.uk/ca/timeline/saxon/suttonhoo/suttonhoo.htm

http://www.suttonhoo.org/

These excellent web sites describe a number of more recent excavations. The current interpretation is that all of the burials represent Anglo-Saxon burials in the early 7th century (about 625 AD). They are interpreted as pagan burials at the time that christianity was beginning to make inroads into England. The main boat burial indicates strong connections with Swedish viking settlements. Nonetheless this is viewed as an Anglo-Saxon settlement and was the precursor to future battles between the Anglo-Saxons and the Vikings.

Now to read the next three chapters about Offa, Alfred the Great, and Athelstan. This period covers the time of the Viking invasions over a period of almost 200 years and their eventual defeat by the Anglo-Saxons.