- Title: Seven Ages Of Britain
- Date: 6th December 2003
- Summary: In programme four of this ground-breaking seven-part series, historian Bettany Hughes continues her exploration of the lives and aspirations of the ordinary citizens in Britain. In The Fourth Age 410 - 1066 AD the gradual collapse of the Roman Empire led to the disintegration of Britannia. For the next 600 years people would watch their homelands become battle-grounds; invaded and plundered by men from Scandinavia and northern Europe. Men hungry for power and land. "This was to be a time of upheaval and chaos, but out of it came much of the England that we know today. Language and rule of law, state religion and faith in the market economy all originate from this period. This would also be a time when England would eventually become wealthy and independent, recognised as one of the prizes of western Europe," says Bettany. The Saxons - who came from Denmark, Germany and Holland - were here to stay. They had no imperial ambition, instead they were interested in family and kinship. Eschewing the crumbling stone towns and villas of Rome they built new villages and a new way of life. They reverted to paganism - and introduced a new language which is recognisable as the early form of English. But after England had been nearly 200 years without Christianity, the established religion of the late Roman Empire. But Christian Missionaries who streamed into the country were remarkably successful in converting the Anglo Saxons. Gradually the great rites of birth, marriage and death became regulated by the church. New monasteries became attractive places to join - they could offer learning, even to the poor. Then into this relatively settled world came a new and newly violent force. Scandinavian invaders desperate for good land proved themselves to be masters of rape, theft and pillage - but equally good at farming, trading and rearing their own families. In a relatively short time Viking blood lines came to dominate large parts of this already polyglot race. Saxons and Vikings battled, lived separately in uneasy peace and then finally England was united - once again becoming a soft touch for a purposeful and brutal invader.
- Description:The history of how Britain grew into the country it is today as lived and experienced by the ordinary people
- Broadcaster:Channel 4
- Collection: Channel 4
- Genre:Documentary and Factual
- Producer:Wildfire Television Ltd.
- Programme Episode:Episode 4
- Transmission Date:06/12/2003
- Rights:Worldwide
- Decade: 2000s