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m This is factually correct, it is not a statement of exclusivity (that was for Enzedbrit). Replied in his talk page.
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not quite - very arbitrary coming from us, this kind of thing is for the ethnologists to decide and even if this is true, it doesn't hurt not mentioning it
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|related=[[Scottish people|Scottish]], [[Welsh people|Welsh]], [[Irish people|Irish]], [[Manx]], [[Frisians]], [[Dutch people|Dutch]], [[Danish people|Danes]], other [[Germanic peoples|Germanic]] peoples}} |
|related=[[Scottish people|Scottish]], [[Welsh people|Welsh]], [[Irish people|Irish]], [[Manx]], [[Frisians]], [[Dutch people|Dutch]], [[Danish people|Danes]], other [[Germanic peoples|Germanic]] peoples}} |
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The '''English''' are a |
The '''English''' are a northern European [[ethnic group]] directly associated with [[England]] and the [[English language]]. The majority of the ethnic English currently live in England, the largest division of the [[United Kingdom]]. |
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==History== |
==History== |
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| File:English-people.JPG | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
|---|---|
| United Kingdom[1]: 45,265,093
United States[2]: 281,895 | |
| Languages | |
| English | |
| Religion | |
| Christianity, atheist[7], agnostic, other[8] | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Scottish, Welsh, Irish, Manx, Frisians, Dutch, Danes, other Germanic peoples |
The English are a northern European ethnic group directly associated with England and the English language. The majority of the ethnic English currently live in England, the largest division of the United Kingdom.
The English as an ethnic group can trace their heritage back to the Anglo-Saxons (or Old English), who between the 5th and 7th centuries, after the withdrawal of the Roman Empire, came to occupy most of lowland Britain. The name of the area known as England derives from this settlement. The tribes participating in this conquest of Britain included the Angles, the Jutes, the Saxons and the Frisians.
At one time it was widely believed that the Anglo-Saxons supplanted the native Romano-British populations. Genetic studies have shed light on the matter but the results cannot be considered conclusive (limited tests have only be carried out on but a few sections of the DNA). Recent studies suggest that the Anglo-Saxons may have established political and cultural dominance over the Romano-British natives and intermarried with them.
Y chromosome analysis of people from the British Isles, Denmark, Germany, Norway, Friesland and the Basque Country has revealed that some areas of England have a higher Germanic (Danish/North German/Frisian) component in the male line of descent than others. Germanic Y chromosomes are at their highest concentrations in York and Norfolk, here the Germanic male sex chromosome occurs in about 60% of men, with indigenous Y chromosomes comprising about 40%. The research cannot distinguish between Danish (the presumed source of Danish-Viking settlers to East and Northern England), North German (Schleswig-Holstein, modern era) and Frisian (Anglo-Saxon) Y chromosomes. The study concludes these data are consistent with the presence of some indigenous component in all British regions[9]. It should be noted that the work cannot make reference to the extent of settlement by Anglo-Saxon/Danish-Viking women. It is therefore the case that even in places like York, the total genetic contribution of these peoples may represent less than 60% of the whole if fewer women than men migrated, conversely the total contribution to the gene pool by these peoples would be greater than 60% if there were more women settlers than men.
A further settlement of Danes occurred during the 9th century in northern and eastern England.
Some people concentrated in several English counties, generally further from the south and east, notably the Cornish and the Cumbrians claim to have a noticeably less diluted connection to the pre-Anglo-Saxon ancient Britons; As a result of this, some people from Cornwall claim not to be English but Cornish.
Population movements within England over the centuries indicate that further genetic research would be useful.
One influence on the English language is from Scandinavian culture, particularly in the north of England. This is most pronounced in York, formerly the Danish settlement of Jorvik. These groups had a noticeable impact on the English language, for example the modern meaning of the word dream is of Scandinavian origin. Additionally place names that include thwaite and by are Scandinavian in origin.
The Anglo-Saxons established several kingdoms, commonly referred to as the Heptarchy. These were united in the early 9th century under the overlordship of Wessex, forming what would eventually become the modern nation-state of England.
These kingdoms were then subjected to a series of raids, conquest and settlement by Vikings originating from Denmark from the 9th century onwards. The Treaty of Wedmore gave the Danes dominion over territory north and east of a line between London and Chester called the Danelaw and represented the beginning of a period of acceptance and assimilation of the Danes.
Most notably, this period saw the rise of Alfred the Great, the only king in English history to receive 'the great' appended to his name. Alfred was king of the region of Wessex which effectively held off the Danish conquest of what would later become England. Wessex grew from a relatively small kingdom in the South West to the complete annexing of all remaining Anglo-Saxon kingdoms not in the Danelaw.
The Norman Conquestof1066 brought English and Danish rule to an end, and began a diminished period, both culturally and socially for the native inhabitants. The new Norman elite almost universily replaced the English aristocracy and church leaders. The English existed as a subject class for about 300 years with the aristocracy speaking French until a full assimilation was made by the time of Chaucer, in the late 1300s. By this time a large number of French words had been added to the English language. The impact of the Normans on English government, law and culture was out of all proportion to the small number who settled there.
During Britain's centuries as a major colonial power, people migrated from all over Britain's sphere of influencetoEngland, leaving a small but noticeable mark on English culture.
The English have played a significant role in the development of the arts and sciences. Prominent individuals have included the scientists and inventors Isaac Newton, Francis Crick, Abraham Darby, Michael Faraday, Charles Darwin and Frank Whittle; the poet and playwright William Shakespeare, the novelists Jane Austen, Charles Dickens and George Orwell, the composer Gustav Holst, and the explorer James Cook (for a complete list of famous English people see List of English people). English philosophers include Francis Bacon, John Locke, Thomas Hobbes, Thomas Paine, Jeremy Bentham, John Stuart Mill, Bertrand Russell, Michael Oakeshott and Roger Scruton.
Thanks to the legacy of the British Empire, the English language is now the world's unofficial lingua franca, while English common law is also the foundation of legal systems throughout the English-speaking countries of the world.
English people traditionally speak the English language, a member of the West Germanic language family. The only other language traditionally spoken is Cornish, a Celtic language originating in Cornwall spoken by about 3500 people. More recently immigrants from across the globe have brought other languages to England which are mainly used privately as a home language, in religion or for traditional purposes. Such languages are extremely numerous and include those from the Commonwealth of Nations as well as outside it.
Ever since the break with the Roman Catholic Church in the sixteenth century, the English have been predominantly a Protestant people. Today, most English people practising organized religion are affiliated to the Church of England or other Christian denominations such as Roman Catholicism and Methodism. At the 2001 Census, a little over 37 million people in England & Wales professed themselves to be Christian.
Irish immigration during the nineteenth and twentieth century enlarged the Roman Catholic minority.
Jewish immigration since the seventeenth century means that there is a relatively assimilated Jewish English minority mostly in urban areas. 252,000 Jews were recorded in England & Wales in the 2001 Census; however this represents a decline of about 50% over the previous 50 years, caused by emigration and intermarriage, and the long-term future of the community is a matter of some concern to community leaders.
The 2001 census also revealed that 7,171,332 (15%) of the population of England claim no religion.
There are many sports invented by the English, which then spread worldwide predominantly via trading partners and the British Empire.
England, like the other nations of the United Kingdom, competes as a separate nation in many international sporting events. The English Football, Cricket and Rugby teams have contributed to an increasing sense of English identity. Supporters today (2006) are more likely to carry the St George's Cross whereas twenty years ago the British Union Jack would have been the more prominent.
The English flag is a red cross on a white background, commonly called the St George's Cross adopted after the crusades. Saint George, famed as a dragon-slayer, is also the patron saint of England. The three golden lions or leopards on a red background was the banner of the kings of England derived from their status as Duke of Normandy and is now used to represent the English national football team and the English national cricket team. The Tudor rose and the English oak are also English symbols. "God Save The Queen" is widely regarded as England's unofficial national anthem; however, other songs are sometimes used, including "Land of hope and glory" (used as England's anthem in the Commonwealth Games), "Jerusalem" and "I Vow to Thee, My Country."
England and Wales were united in the Acts of Unionin1536 and 1543, in 1707 England and Wales formed a union with Scotland, and in 1800 Ireland was joined to the existing union to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, although most of Ireland broke away from the union in 1922 as the Irish Free State. A new 'British' identity was developed through the nineteenth century, to some extent overlaying regional identities. The English, along with the other peoples of the British Isles found their old identities undermined in favour of a new British national identity.
The 1990s saw the beginning of a gradual reclamation and reformation of English identity in reaction to the assertion of Celtic identity by Scots, Irish, Welsh, Manx, and Cornish nationalist movements who sought autonomy or independence from, in their view, the English-dominated British State. The political developments that led to the establishment of a Northern Ireland assembly were followed by referenda that enacted the Welsh assembly and the Scottish Parliament. Partly in response to devolution to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and the rise in general of nationalism in the "Celtic" fringe some English people now question what it is to be English and its relationship with being British. Some English nationalist parties have been formed, their following remains small, but they are growing as some English people begin to feel their loss of an identity and what some perceive as a reduction in democratic rule for England itself. see English nationalism.
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by
Geoff Boxell
