<P> An English cultural identity first emerged from the interaction of the Germanic immigrants of the 5th and 6th centuries and the indigenous Romano - British inhabitants . Although early medieval chroniclers described the immigrants as Angles and Saxons, they came from a much wider area across Northern Europe, and represented a range of different ethnic groups . Over the 6th century, however, these different groups began to coalesce into stratified societies across England, roughly corresponding to the later Angle and Saxon kingdoms recorded by Bede in the 8th century . By the 9th century, the term the Angelcynn was being officially used to refer to a single English people, and promoted for propaganda purposes by chroniclers and kings to inspire resistance to the Danish invasions . </P> <P> The Normans and French who arrived after the conquest saw themselves as different from the English . They had close family and economic links to the Duchy of Normandy, spoke Norman French and had their own distinctive culture . For many years, to be English was to be associated with military failure and serfdom . During the 12th century, the divisions between the English and Normans began to dissolve as a result of intermarriage and cohabitation . By the end of the 12th century, and possibly as early as the 1150, contemporary commentators believed the two peoples to be blending, and the loss of the Duchy in 1204 reinforced this trend . The resulting society still prized wider French cultural values, however, and French remained the language of the court, business and international affairs, even if Parisians mocked the English for their poor pronunciation . By the 14th century, however, French was increasingly having to be formally taught, rather than being learnt naturally in the home, although the aristocracy would typically spend many years of their lives in France and remained entirely comfortable working in French . </P> <P> During the 12th and 13th centuries, the English began to consider themselves superior to the Welsh, Scots and Bretons . The English perceived themselves as civilised, economically prosperous and properly Christian, while the Celtic fringe was considered lazy, barbarous and backward . Following the invasion of Ireland in the late 12th century, similar feelings were expressed about the Irish, with the distinctions clarified and reinforced in 14th - century English legislation . The English also felt strongly about the foreign traders who lived in the special enclaves in London in the Late Middle Ages; the position of the Jews is described below, but Italian and Baltic traders were also regarded as aliens and were frequently the targets of violence during economic downturns . Even within England, different identities abounded, each with their own sense of status and importance . Regional identities could be important - men and women from Yorkshire, for example, had a clear identity within English society, and professional groups with a distinct identity, such as lawyers, engaged in open fighting with others in cities such as London . </P> <P> The Jewish community played an important role in England throughout much of the period . The first Jews arrived in England in the aftermath of the Norman invasion, when William the Conqueror brought over wealthy members of the Rouen community in Normandy to settle in London . The Jewish community expanded out across England and provided essential money - lending and banking services that were otherwise banned by the usury laws . During the 12th century, the Jewish financial community grew richer still, operating under royal protection and providing the king with a source of ready credit . All major towns had Jewish centres, and even the smaller towns saw visits by travelling Jewish merchants . Towards the end of Henry II's reign, however, the king ceased to borrow from the Jewish community and instead turned to extracting money from them through arbitrary taxation and fines . The Jews became vilified and accusations were made that they conducted ritual child murder, encouraging the pogroms carried out against Jewish communities in the reign of Richard I. After an initially peaceful start to John's reign, the king again began to extort money from the Jewish community and, with the breakdown in order in 1215, the Jews were subject to fresh attacks . Henry III restored some protection and Jewish money - lending began to recover . Despite this, the Jewish community became increasingly impoverished and was finally expelled from England in 1290 by Edward I, being replaced by foreign merchants . </P>

During the middle ages in great britain the chancery courts