England: Military History and Notable Events

937 - Battle of Brunanburh (All Facts)

• Battle in which King Athelstan and his Anglo-Saxon forces defeated the combined invading forces of the Kingdom of Strathclyde including Olaf and the Irish Vikings, Constantine and the Scots, and the Britons

• Battle in which both sides suffered severe losses but in which the invaders were eventually forced to flee

• Battle which allowed King Athelstan to call himself “King of the English and ruler of all Britain”

991 - Battle of Maldon (All Facts)

• Battle in which the English were defeated by Olaf Tryggvason, the Norwegians, and the Vikings, who overcame the heroic English defense and after which they continued to advance deep into England until they were bought off by English King Aethelred II “The Unready”

1002 - St. Brice’s Day Massacre (All Facts)

• Massacre in which at least 37 Danes were killed, including Sweyn Forkbeard’s (the King of Denmark at the time) sister Gunnhild, on the orders of King Aethelred II “The Unready” of England

• Massacre which fueled Sweyn Forkbeard and the Danes to invade England

1016 - Battle of Ashingdon (All Facts)

• Battle in which King Canute of Denmark defeated Edmund Ironside of England in which they agreed to split England in half between the two

1030 - Battle of Stiklestad (All Facts)

• Battle in which Canute the Great and his “Farmer Army” forces defeated Olaf Haraldsson and his forces to become King of Norway as well as King of Denmark and King of England

  • Olaf Haraldsson becomes a hero and saint after his death

1054 - Battle of Dunsinane (All Facts)

• Battle in which Earl Siward of Northumberland and his English forces supported Malcolm Canmore’s right to the Scottish throne after his father had been killed by Macbeth, who was then defeated, along with his Scottish forces, in the battle

1066 - Battle of Stamford Bridge (All Facts)

• Battle in which Harold II and his English forces defeated King Harald Hardrada and his Norwegian forces, successfully preventing a Norwegian invasion of England

1066 - Battle of Hastings (All Facts)

• Battle in which William the Conqueror and his Norman-French forces, defeated Harold II and his Anglo-Saxon forces, completing the Norman-French Conquest of England and initiating the reign of William as King of England and the founding of the House of Normandy Dynasty of England

• Battle in which William commanded a mixed force of around 7K Norman-French, Breton, and mercenary soldiers and crushed the army of his rival for the English throne, King Harold, on windswept Sussex

  • Battle after which the Norman-French claimed William was the rightful heir to the English throne and that King Harold II had conceded this

• Battle which saw a struggle between two opposed styles of combat, including

  • Mobile Norman-French archers

  • Stoical, close-packed ranks of English infantry armed with lances and axes

• Battle which saw Harold II and his Anglo-Saxon forces dominate for much of the battle

• Battle in which

  • William and his Norman-French forces approached through a wood near the top of Sandlake Hill, eight miles inland, and dismounted and formed up in tight formation on the high ground

  • William’s Norman-French troops attacked with archers in front followed by armor-clad infantry

  • William and his Norman-French forces rolled uphill in human waves which boke time and again

  • William, on horseback, stayed close and kept control as a conspicuous target who had three horses killed under him

  • William dismounted, removed his helmet in order to be recognized, and, spear in hand, ordered back into the battle the French front ranks who had at last panicked and fled, their own knights having cut them down

  • The Anglo-Saxon English then, observing the beginning of a rout, freed at last from their role as bowmen’s targets, ran forward in hot pursuit

  • The English, however, were hit on both flanks by French cavalry, which was probably the most decisive moment in the battle

  • William and his Norman-French forces, turned near-disaster to their advantage, using the ploy to encourage the Anglo-Saxon English to break ranks

  • In such confusion, the Anglo-Saxon English leaders were exposed as ready targets and Harold II’s two brothers were killed in a hail of arrows and spears

  • William and his Norman-French forces continued to squeeze the core of Harold II’s army until only a few dozen remained standing

  • Those survivors, knowing all was lost, retreated in good order to make a last stand on ground which gave them the best chance to sell their lives dearly, in a steep valley cut by ditches and unsuitable for the Norman-French cavalry

  • However, William, his lance broken, led a party of men from Boulogne into the enemy at this position

• Battle in which Harold II, despite having lost one eye, fought on magnificently against William and his invading Norman-French forces so much so that when his body was recovered it was virtually unidentifiable

1070 - 1071 - Harrying of the North (All Facts)

• Series of military campaigns waged by William the Conqueror to subjugate Northern England, whose Northumbrians, Anglo-Scandinavians and Danes had been rebelling against him

• William the Conqueror paid the Danes to go home, ending Hereward “The Wake’s” rebellion against him, but the remaining rebels refused to meet him in battle

• So he decided to starve them out by laying waste to the northern shires using scorched earth tactics, especially in Yorkshire in York in Northumbria

• Afterwards, he relieved the English aristocracy of their positions, and installed Norman aristocrats throughout the region

1106 - Battle of Tinchebrai (All Facts)

• Battle in which Henry and his English forces defeated his brother Robert Curthose and his Norman forces

• Battle which reunified England and Normandy, or in which England took control of Normandy

1138 - 1153 - The Anarchy (All Facts)

• Term used to refer to an English Civil War of Succession which resulted in a widespread breakdown in law and order and was precipitated by the accidental death of William Adelin, the only legitimate son of King Henry of England, who drowned in the White Ship disaster during his reign

1141 - Battle of Lincoln (All Facts)

• Battle in which Matilda and her forces, led by the earl of Chester, defeated and captured Stephen of Blois and his forces

• Battle in which Matilda and her forces imprisoned Stephen of Blois while her forces slaughtered many of the citizens of the namesake city

• Battle after which King Stephen of Blois was temporarily deposed by Matilda, who assumed the throne in his place

1190 - Massacre at York Castle / Massacre at Clifford’s Tower (All Facts)

• Massacre in which 500 Jews including men, women, and children were killed after they took refuge in the namesake location after being chased by a mob, the culmination of six months of increasing anti-Semitic agitation

• Massacre which began after a three-day siege of the namesake location by groups of young men that were about to depart on the Crusade and who were backed by a number of people who were deeply in debt to Jewish moneylenders

• Massacre in which some Jews preferred to kill their families and then themselves rather than surrender to the mob

• Massacre in which some Jews promised to accept baptism if their lives were spared, however they were also killed as soon as they left their sanctuary

• Massacre in which some Jews attempted to enter the palace of Richard Lionheart and offer him gifts, only to be attacked by the London mob, with their houses being burned and their house’s inhabitants being killed

1191 - Battle of Arsuf (All Facts)

• Battle in which Richard of England and Hugh of Burgundy of France defeated Saladin and the Ayyubid Sultanate during the Third Crusade

1192 - Battle of Jaffa (All Facts)

• Battle in which Richard of England and his forces seized the namesake city but were defeated at Jerusalem by Saladin and the Ayyubid Sultanate during the Third Crusade

1194 - Battle of Freteval (All Facts)

• Battle in which Richard of England and his forces defeated Philip II / Philip of Augustus of France and his forces, reconquering the previously lost French territory of England called the Vexin

• Battle after which the truce of Verneuil is signed between the two belligerents

1214 - Battle of Bouvines (All Facts)

• Battle in which John of England and his forces were defeated by Philip II / Philip Augustus and his forces

• Battle whose disastrous outcome enraged the English barons, who revolted against King John of England in response in the First Barons’ War

1215 - 1217 - First Barons’ War (All Facts)

• Civil War in which the English barons revolted against King John of England for his annulment of the Magna Carta

1259 - Treaty of Paris / Treaty of Abbeville (All Facts)

• Treaty signed between King Henry III of England and King Louis IX of France

• In it, King Henry III of England received the Agenais, Saintonge, and parts of Quercy, Limousin, and Perigord from King Louis IX of France

  • In return, King Henry III of England gave all claims to the Plantagenet fiefs of Normandy, Anjou, Touraine, Maine, and Poitou to King Louis IX of France

• This treaty marked a turning point in European politics; leading to new political dynamics, cultural exchanges, and social changes

1264 - 1267 - Second Barons’ War (All Facts)

• Civil War in which Simon de Montfort and the English barons revolted against King Henry III and his royalist forces

• Rebellion of the English barons against King Henry III which was triggered by

  • King Henry III’s reneging and annulling the “Provisions of Oxford” via King Louis IX of France as well as King Henry III’s

    • being increasingly influenced by foreigners like King Louis IX

    • his extravagance of his foreign dependents

    • his heavy papal taxation of the church

• Rebellion in which Simon de Montfort and the English barons defeated and captured King Henry III and his son and successor Edward in the Battle of Lewes

  • However, the English barons eventually mistrusted Simon de Montfort’s efforts to grain broader popular support and deserted him, allowing Edward to escape

• Rebellion which ended when Simon de Montfort and the English barons were defeated by Edward and the royalist forces in the Battle of Evesham

1264 - Battle of Lewes (All Facts)

• Battle in which Simon de Montfort and the English barons defeated the royalist forces and captured King Henry III and his son and successor Edward during the Second Barons’ War

1265 - Battle of Evesham (All Facts)

• Battle in which Edward and the royalist forces defeated Simon de Montfort and the English barons, ending the Second Barons’ War

1282 - Battle of Orewin Bridge (All Facts)

• Battle in which Edward and his English forces defeated Llywelyn ap Gruffudd and his Welsh forces during the Conquest of Wales by Edward

• Battle in which Llywelyn ap Gruffudd was killed, it effectively ended the autonomy of Wales

1294 - 1303 - Gascon War (All Facts)

• War in which King Edward and his English forces fought against King Philip IV and his French forces over the namesake territory

• England is ultimately able to keep the namesake territory after the Treaty of Paris which ended the War

1296 - 1328 - First War of Scottish Independence (All Facts)

1296 - Battle of Dunbar (All Facts)

• Battle in which King Edward and his English forces defeated John Balliol and his Scottish forces during the First War of Scottish Independence

1297 - Battle of Stirling Bridge (All Facts)

• Battle in which King Edward and his English forces were defeated by William Wallace and his Scottish forces during the First War of Scottish Independence

1303 - Treaty of Paris (All Facts)

• Treaty signed between King Edward of England and King Philip IV of France that ended the Gascony War which

  • Settled the pre-Gascony War position of Gascony, in which it remained under English control

1314 - Battle of Bannockburn (All Facts)

• Battle in which King Edward II and his English forces were defeated by Robert the Bruce and his Scottish forces during the First Scottish War of Independence

• Battle which effectively made Scotland independent from England and confirmed Robert the Bruce to be the leader of and wielder of power in Scotland

1315 - 1317 - Great Famine (All Facts)

• Brought on by the depression of the farming economy by prolonged rainy spells which had ruined the harvests

  • The bad harvests there brought on the namesake event, thus slowing population growth considerably

• 10% of the population died of malnutrition and / or disease

• Only the West Country escaped disaster

• On the Bolton Priory estates in the north, wheat yields were 20% of their normal yield

• On top of bad harvests, there was now a shortage of salt, as salt pans had failed to evaporate

• Moreover, livestock had been hit by disease

• On the Clipstone estate in Nottinghamshire, half of the sheep there died

• In Berdwick, the infantry garrison there mutinied after experiencing prolonged starvation

• In Sandwich, a mob attacked a wheat ship

• During this difficult time

  • taxes were heavy, due to the necessity of financing royal campaigns against the Scots

  • the rise in wheat prices hit the poor the hardest

  • almsgiving was cut

• The Churches in England considered this event to be the result of divine retribution for the English and Europeans’ misdeeds

1332 - 1357 - Second Scottish War of Independence (All Facts)

1333 - Battle of Halidon Hill (All Facts)

• Battle in which King Edward III and his English forces defeated the Scots during the Second War of Scottish Independence

1337 - 1453 - Hundred Years’ War (All Facts)

• Series of conflicts with France that included the

  • Battle of Sluys

  • War of the Breton Succession

  • Crecy Campaign

    • Battle of Crecy

  • Siege of Calais

  • Battle of Poitiers

  • Battle of La Rochelle

  • Battle of Agincourt

  • Siege of Orleans (turning point)

  • Battle of Formigny

  • Battle of Castillon

• Series of conflicts with France ended by

  • Truce of Esplechin

  • First Treaty of London

  • Treaty of Bretigny

  • Treaty of La Bruges

  • Treaty of Troyes

  • Congress of Arras

    • Treaty of Arras

  • Treaty of Picquigny

• War caused by

  • Disputes over the French feudal sovereignty over Aquitaine and the English claims over the French royal title

  • The rival claims to the French throne that broke out between King Edward III of England and King Philip VI of France

• England’s archers armed with longbows helped win several early victories

• War in which England profited from pillage and the ransom of captives of France

• By the end of the conflict, England was only able to retain the port of Calais from France

• As a result of the war,

  • serving under a monarch fostered a sense of unit among English soldiers who spoke distinct languages or dialects

  • the people of England identified themselves more so as “English” rather than from the particular region in which they lived

  • the use of gunpowder weapons developed and spread in Europe, having already been invented by the Chinese and used by the Mongols

1340 - Battle of Sluys (All Facts)

• Battle in which King Edward III of England and his forces defeated the French off the Flemish coast during the Hundred Years’ War

• Battle in which King Edward III of England and his forces completely destroyed the French naval fleet and gained control of the sea

1340 - Truce of Esplechin (All Facts)

• Treaty signed between King Edward III of England and Philip VI of France

• Treaty signed due to the inability by either party to pay their troops

1341 - 1365 - War of the Breton Succession (All Facts)

• War caused by a succession crisis caused by the death of the Duke of Brittany in which

  • Edward III of England supported John de Montfort, the half-brother of the dead duke, to succeed him

  • Philip VI of France supported Charles de Blois, the stepfather of the dead duke, to succeed him

• War that occurred during the Hundred Years’ War between England and France

1346 - 1347 - Crecy Campaign (All Facts)

• Military Campaign consisting of a series of large-scale raids conducted under the reign of King Edward III of England throughout northern France that devastated the French countryside on a wide front and that ended in the Battle of Crecy during the Hundred Years’ War

1346 - Battle of Crecy (All Facts)

• Battle in which King Edward III and his English forces defeated Philip VI and his French forces during the namesake campaign during the Hundred Years’ War

• Battle in which King Edward III and his English forces were outnumbered by Philip VI and his French and Genoese forces, despite killing 1,500 French troops and forcing Philip VI of France to flee

• Battle in which two factors contributed to King Edward III’s victory, in which

  • The first was French pride and vanity, with Philip VI’s knights having ignored orders and having vied with each other to be first to confront the English invaders

    • Thus, confusion reigned in the darkness and when the first ranks finally came across the English, they turned and ran into their own allies

  • The second was the invention and implementation of the English longbow and negative effect of the weather on the Genoese mercenaries of the French

    • Philip VI had relied on 15K Genoese crossbowmen and ordered them to attack while he was still sorting out his divisions from their inner turmoil

    • After an all-night march, the Genoese were fatigued and at first refused to advance onto the English troops

    • When they finally made their move it was during a heavy rainstorm, which rendered their weapons useless as their bow-strings were soaked

    • Only then did the English longbowmen take one step forward and then began a rain of arrows on the helpless Genoese who fled into the swords of their allied French troops

    • In the melee, that followed, the French presented a perfect target for the English longbowmen

  • By the time the French began hand-to-hand combat against the well-prepared English knights and their bands of infantrymen, they were exhausted and were decimated by the English

    • From there, the English troops silenced and pillaged the French with their swords and battle-axes

• Battle after which King Edward III and his English forces proceeded to besiege the Norman port city of Calais during the Hundred Years’ War

1347 - Siege of Calais (All Facts)

• Battle in which Edward III and his English forces defeated and captured the French and the namesake city, ending the Crecy Campaign

  • In so doing, many of the namesake city’s citizens died of hunger

  • Sir Jean Vienne, governor of the city, offered to surrender to the namesake so long as King Edward III of England spared their lives

  • Edward III agreed on the condition that six principal citizens or “burghers,” with heads and feet bare and halters round their necks, deliver to him the keys of the city and throw themselves upon his mercy

  • Even Edward III’s own knights appealed to him for clemency, which he rejected

  • The six burghers begged for mercy not to be killed by him and it was not until Edward III’s wife Philippa of Hainault sank to her knees and cried to her husband and king, begging him not to kill them, which moved him so deeply and softened his heart, leading him to spare their lives

1356 - Battle of Poitiers (All Facts)

• Battle in which Edward the Black Prince, son of King Edward III of England, and his forces, defeated John II of France and his forces during the Hundred Years’ War

• Battle which began with a large-scale raid and scorched earth campaign from the British base at Aquitaine into Northern France

• Battle in which the English archers used the longbow to great effect against King John II of France and his forces and the Duke of Orleans

• Battle in which Edward the Black Prince had “fought like a raging lion” all day and, hearing that victory was certain, he placed his banner on a bush to rally his army

  • He then proceeded to erect a red tent, bring drinks, and retire from the field of battle with his lords

  • At this point in the battle, a mob of English troops appeared over a hillock with John II of France in their midst

  • Edward the Black Prince and his forces systematically massacred the French until they surrendered outside the gates of the namesake city

  • Upon French surrender, in the true tradition of chivalry cultivated in England during that time, John II of France was invited into Edward the Black Prince’s tent where he two men drank wine and discussed the namesake battle

  • He held a banquet with John II of France and allowed him and his captured courts and barons to be honored guests

  • Edward the Black Prince refused to be seated in King John II’s presence, even serving at the table as a mark of humility

  • After the banquet, and after Mass, he and his captives and a mass of booty left the namesake city for London

• Battle which marked the end of the First Phase of the Hundred Years’ War

  • Battle which was the second of the three great English victories over the French in the Hundred Years’ War

1358 - First Treaty of London (All Facts)

• Treaty signed between Edward III of England and John II of France in which it was agreed that

  • Edward III would let John II of France be released if a ransom of 4M French ecus was paid unto him

  • Extensive French territories would be ceded to England

1360 - Treaty of Bretigny (All Facts)

• Treaty signed between Edward III of England and John II of France in which John II was freed from captivity by Edward III of England and upon which he returned to France

1372 - Battle of La Rochelle (All Facts)

• Battle in which a fleet of English forces were defeated by a Castilian fleet of French forces during the Hundred Years’ War

• Battle which essentially reversed the effect of the prior Battle of Sluys

1375 - Treaty of Bruges (All Facts)

• Treaty signed between the English and the French during the Hundred Years’ War in which

  • The English retained the port of Calais and a coastal strip of Gascony

1381 - Peasants Revolt (All Facts)

• Revolt by the namesake social class across large parts of England during the reign of Richard II caused by

  • socioeconomic and political tensions generated by the Black Death in the 1340s

  • high taxes resulting from the conflicts of the Hundred Years’ War with France

  • instability within the local leadership of London

• Revolt that heavily influenced the course of the Hundred Years' War by deterring later Parliaments from raising additional taxes to pay for military campaigns in France

• Revolt in which Wat Tyler and his mob

  • Took Maidstone, Rochester, and Canterbury

  • Opened the gates of the Marshalsea to free its prisoners

  • Marched to London, where hundreds of its inhabitants joined him and his followers in widespread looting

  • Marched in London through Fleet Street, where they

    • Burned shops

    • Broke into the Temple where legal documents were burnt, part of a protest against the Poll Tax which contributed to the namesake revolt

    • Beheaded a judge and beheaded 18 other leading citizens

    • Beheaded 35 members of the Flemish community in the streets of London

    • Dragged the Archbishop from the Tower Chapel and executed him on Tower Hill, setting his head up on London Bridge, his miter nailed to his skull

• Revolt in which the head of its rebel leader, Wat Tyler, was displayed on a pole in a London field after which his followers, the revolt’s participants, made their way home

  • Revolt which was thus brutally suppressed

1403 - Battle of Shrewsbury (All Facts)

• Battle in which King Henry IV of England and Richard Beauchamp, the 5th Earl of Warwick and their English forces defeated Henry “Hotspur” Percy and the Welsh and Scottish and their forces

1414 - Oldcastle Revolt (All Facts)

• Revolt in which the namesake leader and the Lollards rebelled against King Henry V of England and the Catholic Church of England

• Revolt which was foiled and in which 45 of its rebels were executed

• Revolt after which the namesake leader was burned at the stake for heresy

• Revolt which discredited the Lollardy Movement due to their linking it with social radicalism

1415 - Battle of Agincourt (All Facts)

• Battle in which King Henry V of England and his forces defeated France during the Hundred Years’ War

• Battle in which the English forces (12K) were severely outnumbered by the French forces (60K)

  • The French were so confident that they had paraded a cart in which they intended to drag the English king through Paris

  • It seems the French learned little since their previous disaster in the Battle of Crecy

• Battle before which

  • King Henry V and his army attended Mass and made confession

  • King Henry V donned his armor and a bejeweled helmet and took his position in front of his army

• Battle during which

  • The French began their advance, into a rain of English arrows

  • The French cavalry panicked, smashing their way through their own infantrymen, causing great breaches in the forward ranks

  • The English soldiers then quickly filled these breaches, wielding swords and axes

  • The French pushed one final time, only to have the English cut the throats of some 1K French prisoners

1420 - Treaty of Troyes (All Facts)

• Treaty of “perpetual peace” signed between King Henry V of England and Philip of Burgundy in which

  • They brought England and France under one crown, following King Henry V’s victory in the Battle of Agincourt

  • King Henry V was to marry Catherine of Valois, the daughter of the King of France at the time

  • King Henry V believed the agreement would bring “perpetual peace” between the two kingdoms despite the customs and kingdoms being completely separate, the union of the two crowns was to be personal

  • King Henry V and Philip of Burgundy failed to tackle the question of succession as no woman could succeed to the French throne

• Treaty which ended the second and final phase of English dominance during the Hundred Years’ War

1428 - 1429 - Siege of Orleans (All Facts)

• Battle in which the Earl of Salisbury Thomas Montagu and his English forces were defeated by Joan of Arc and her French forces during the Hundred Years’ War

• Battle which marked the turning point in the Hundred Years’ War, in which the French began to win more victories and regain territories they lost to England

• Battle in which the English army of 5K had initially sought to established a foothold on the Loire River and open up Anjou to occupation

  • However, they clearly failed to reckon with a revitalized, well-disciplined French army, spiritually transformed by Joan of Arc’s voices

1435 - Congress / Treaty of Arras (All Facts)

• Peace Conference between England, France, and Burgundy, in which

  • Philip III of Burgundy broke with the English and recognized King Charles VII as the only King of France

• Its namesake treaty led to the expulsion of the English from France

• It thus ended the Armagnac-Burgundian Civil War in France

1450 - Battle of Formigny (All Facts)

• Battle in which the English were defeated by the French during the Hundred Years’ War

• Battle in which the English lost their control of Normandy to the French, who regained control of Normandy entirely

• Battle in which field artillery was recorded to have been used for the first time

1450 - Jack Cade’s Rebellion (All Facts)

• Rebellion led by the namesake figure against King Henry VI of England and his government that stemmed from local grievances regarding

  • the corruption, maladministration and abuse of power of the King Henry VI’s closest advisors and local officials

  • the recent military losses in France during the Hundred Years' War

• Rebellion in which several of King Henry VI’s advisors were murdered

1453 - Battle of Castillon (All Facts)

• Battle in which John Talbot and the English were defeated by Jean Bureau and the French during the Hundred Years’ War

• Battle which ended the Hundred Years’ War, in which the English were defeated by the French

• Battle in which

  • Bordeaux and the namesake walled city were threatened with siege

  • a reluctant John Talbot had planned to take on all three French armies that approached Bordeaux upon Talbot and his English expeditionary forces being welcomed into Bordeaux

  • Jean Bureau and the French succeeded in drawing John Talbot and the English between Bureau’s artillery and the Dordogne River

  • the French had brought 600 cannons with them, producing firepower with which John Talbot and the English could not reckon

• Battle after which

  • only Calais remained under English control

  • French troops rounded up English survivors

1455 - 1487 - Wars of the Roses (All Facts)

• Series of conflicts in which the House of Lancaster and House of York fought over the English throne following the Hundred Years’ War

• Series of conflicts named after the emblems of the two Houses

  • the white namesake flower for the House of York

  • the red namesake flower for the House of Lancaster

• Series of conflicts after which the House of Tudor was established, through which a union of the two houses was formed via marriage

• Series of conflicts that included

  • The Battle of St. Albans

  • The Battle of Wakefield

  • The Battle of Towton

  • The Battle of Barnet

  • The Battle of Tewkesbury

  • The Battle of Bosworth Field

1455 - Battle of St. Albans (All Facts)

• Battle in which Richard Plantagenet and his forces defeated the royalist forces of King Henry VI of England, which marked the beginning of the Wars of the Roses

• Battle after which Richard Plantagenet seized power in his name for the English throne

1460 - Battle of Wakefield (All Facts)

• Battle in which Richard Plantagenet and his forces were defeated by the forces of the House of Lancaster and in which Richard was killed during the Wars of the Roses

1461 - Battle of Towton (All Facts)

• Battle in which King Edward IV and the forces of the House of York defeated the forces of the House of Lancaster (the royalist forces of King Henry VI) during the Wars of the Roses

• Battle which thus secured the English throne for Edward IV, the House of York successor to King Henry VI of the House of Lancaster

• Battle which was fought for ten hours, it was one of the largest and bloodiest battles in English history

1471 - Battle of Barnet (All Facts)

• Battle in which King Edward IV of England and the forces of the House of York defeated the Earl of Warwick and the forces of the House of Lancaster during the Wars of the Roses

• Battle in which the Earl of Warwick was killed

• Battle which secured the English throne for Edward IV and the House of York

1471 - Battle of Tewkesbury (All Facts)

• Battle in which King Edward IV of England and the forces of the House of York defeated Prince Edward and the forces of the House of Lancaster during the Wars of the Roses

• Battle in which Prince Edward was killed

• Battle which secured the English throne for Edward IV and the House of York

1474 - Treaty of Utrecht (All Facts)

• Treaty which gave the Hanseatic League generous trading privileges within England

1475 - Treaty of Picquigny (All Facts)

• Treaty signed between King Edward IV of England and King Louis XI of France, which formally ended the Hundred Years’ War

• Treaty which was signed due to Edward IV of England having been bought off by Louis XI of France and the French

1485 - Battle of Bosworth Field (All Facts)

• Battle in which Henry Tudor, prior to becoming Henry VII of England, and his combined forces of the House of Lancaster and those from the House of York that opposed his opponent, defeated Richard III and his forces

  • Battle which established the House of Tudor / Tudor Dynasty in England, thus seen as a decisive turning point in English history

• Battle which marked the end of

  • The reign of Richard III

  • The Wars of the Roses

  • The House of York

  • The House of Plantagenet

  • The Middle Ages in England

• Battle which marked the beginning of

  • The reign of Henry Tudor (Henry VII)

  • The House of Tudor and “Tudor Period”

• Battle in which the odds were stacked in favor of Richard III and the forces of the House of York, due to

  • Henry Tudor being a complete novice in battle

  • Henry Tudor’s forces numbering 5K men, while Richard III’s forces amounted to more than double that number

  • Richard III’s forces boasting a distinguished class of commanders of the caliber of the Duke of Norfolk

• Battle in which Henry Tudor still had certain advantages, such as

  • His army being led by the Earl of Oxford

  • His army being lighter and more maneuverable than Richard III’s army

  • His army containing many expert Welsh, Scottish, and French soldiers

  • Richard III’s army having been divided as he was beset by men of wavering loyalty, such as the earl of Northumberland and Lord Stanley, who initially had held back his troops

• Battle in which the Earl of Oxford held his own against the Duke of Norfolk

• Battle in which Richard III decided to enter the fray in person at the head of a stupendous cavalry charge

  • When Henry Tudor stood his ground defiantly, Lord Stanley, initially on Richard III’s side, joined the melee on Henry Tudor’s side

• Battle which ended when Richard III was forced into a swamp, unhorsed, and hacked to death by Welsh pike-men

  • Battle after which Richard III’s coronet was received and placed on the head of Henry Tudor

1492 - Peace of Etaples (All Facts)

• Treaty signed between King Henry VII of England and King Charles VIII of France in which

  • Charles VIII of France agreed to pay the money due to England via the Treaty of Picquigny

  • Charles VIII of France agreed to not aid any rebels against Henry VII of England

• Treaty prompted by King Henry VII of England’s preparations for an invasion of France

1513 - Battle of the Spurs (All Facts)

• Battle in which Henry VIII of England and Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian and their forces defeated the French during the War of the Holy League during the Italian Wars

1513 - Battle of Flodden (All Facts)

• Battle in which the English defeated James IV of Scotland and his forces during the War of the Holy League during the Italian Wars

1520 - The Field of the Cloth of Gold (All Facts)

• Summit meeting between King Henry VIII of England and King Francis of France in which they

  • swore to build a chapel dedicated to Our Lady of Friendship on the spot where they met

  • were attended only by their ministers, Wolsey and Bonivet, respectively

  • talked in a pitched tent between their two luxurious camps for several hours

  • knew King Francis owed King Henry VII two millions crowns because he was the guarantor of the French debt to England at the time

  • displayed their opulence, in which the French pavilions were made of the namesake materials and King Henry VIII spent a seventh of his annual income on the meeting

• Summit meeting between King Henry VIII of England and King Francis of France in which

  • Henry VIII appeared as Hercules while his knights jousted and fought on foot

  • There were banquets and dances as chivalry ruled the namesake

1527 - Treaty of Westminster (All Facts)

• Treaty signed between King Henry VIII of England and King Francis of France in which they agreed to ally themselves against Holy Roman Emperor Charles V and the Holy Roman Empire

1529 - 1536 - English Reformation Parliament (All Facts)

• Parliament in which the House of Commons put forth bills against abuses amongst the clergy and in the church courts of England

• Parliament which was the first to last for five years

• Parliament which passed the

  • Submission of the Clergy Act

  • Supremacy Act

  • Succession Act

  • Suppression of Religious Houses Act

1536 - 1537 - Pilgrimage of Grace (All Facts)

• Revolt in which Robert Aske and the English Catholics of Northern England revolted against King Henry VIII and his English Reformation, particularly concerning Henry VIII’s and Thomas Cromwell’s administration’s

  • Dissolution of the Monasteries via the “Suppression of Religious Houses Act”

  • causing increasing clerical unemployment

  • causing political, economic, and social grievances amongst the people; including the ceasing of the distribution of the Church’s alms to the poor due to the dissolution of Monasteries and “Suppression of Religious Houses Act”

• Revolt brutally suppressed by King Henry VIII and his administration

1542 - 1546 - Italian War (All Facts)

• War fought between Tudor King Henry VIII of England alongside Habsburg Holy Roman Emperor Charles V of Germany and Italy and their combined forces; and Valois King Francis of France and Suleiman of the Ottoman Empire and their combined forces

1542 - Battle of Solway Moss (All Facts)

• Battle in which English forces defeated Scottish forces during the reign of King Henry VIII

• Battle which was provoked by King Henry VIII of England’s desire to control Scotland

1543 - Treaty of Greenwich (All Facts)

• Peace Treaty proposed by England’s Parliament to Scotland’s Parliament after Scotland’s defeat in the Battle of Solway Moss, which was promptly rejected by Scotland’s Parliament and thus initiated the “Rough Wooing”

1543 - 1551 - Rough Wooing (All Facts)

• Eight-year War between England and Scotland prompted by Scotland’s rejection of the Treaty of Greenwich proposed by England as a result of Scotland’s defeat in the previous Battle of Solway Moss

1544 - The Burning of Edinburgh (All Facts)

• Event in which the English invaded Scotland and attacked the namesake city during the Rough Wooing, pillaging it but failing to gain a surrender from the Scottish

1544 - Siege of Saint-Dizier (All Facts)

• Battle in King Henry VIII and Holy Roman Emperor Charles V and their combined forces defeated and took the namesake city during the Italian War of 1542-1546, having threatened Paris at the time

1544 - 1546 - Siege of Boulogne (All Facts)

• Battle in King Henry VIII and Holy Roman Emperor Charles V and their combined forces defeated and took the namesake city during the Italian War of 1542-1546

1545 - Battle of Ancrum Moor (All Facts)

• Battle in which the Scottish defeated the English during the Rough Wooing

1546 - Treaty of Ardres (All Facts)

• Treaty signed between King Henry VIII of England and King Francis of France which ended the Italian War of 1542-1546

• Treaty which allowed England to retain the occupied French port of Boulogne for eight years, after which it would be returned to France for 2M crowns

1547 - Battle of Pinkie (All Facts)

• Battle in which the Duke of Somerset and the English defeated the Scottish during the Rough Wooing

1549 - Prayer Book Rebellion (All Facts)

• Revolt in which Catholic Englishman revolted against the enforcement of the use of the Book of Common Prayer via the Act of Uniformity as well as other social and economic problems including the rising prices

• Revolt which was suppressed by Edward Seymour, First Duke of Somerset

• Revolt which took place in Cornwall and Devon

1549 - Kett’s Rebellion (All Facts)

• Revolt against the enclosure of land and rising prices under the reign of King Edward VI of England

• Revolt which took place in Norfolk

1550 - Treaty of Boulogne (All Facts)

• Peace Treaty signed between England and France

• Peace Treaty which ended the Rough Wooing between England and Scotland

  • After the treat was signed, English troops withdrew from Scotland

• Peace Treaty in which the English surrendered the namesake French city in exchange for 400K crowns and the release of Protestant Scots including John Knox

  • These Protestant Scottish prisoners were originally captured by the French at the Siege of St. Andrews

1554 - Wyatt’s Rebellion (All Facts)

• Rebellion led by the namesake and Protestants against Queen Mary of England and her proposed marriage to King Philip II of Spain which was suppressed by Queen Mary of England

• Rebellion in which the namesake led 3,000 men from Kent to march on London, unsuccessfully, to try to stop Queen Mary’s marriage to Philip II of Spain

1557 - 1559 - Anglo-French War (All Facts)

• War in which the English were defeated by the French, during the Italian War of 1551 - 1559

• War in which Queen Mary of England, in support of King Philip II of Spain, her new husband at the time, declared war on France

• War which was provoked by Pope Paul IV, a lifelong enemy of (Habsburg) Spain

1558 - Siege of Calais (All Facts)

• Battle in which the English were defeated by the French, in which the French took the namesake town that had been the only English foothold on continental Europe in 200 years up to that point

1563 - London Plague (All Facts)

• Event from which 17K+ people, a quarter of the population of the namesake city at the time, died

• Event whose nicknames at the time included “the sweating sickness” and “the pestilence”

• Event which was the sixth attack of its kind in the past hundred years in the namesake city

• The namesake phenomenon became a fact of life in the namesake city at the time, finding itself welcome in its narrow streets of towns and cities like the namesake

• Many believed it was God’s work, being punishment for man’s sins

• Many “experts” held their own opinion as to its cause and offered their own cure

  • One general belief was that it revealed a general decline in the world given how random it occurred, how varied it was of those who perished and those who survived

  • Silver Gilt Pomanders were made in reaction to the namesake to carry perfumes to ward off the namesake

1579 - 1583 - Second Desmond Rebellion (All Facts)

• Rebellion of the county of Munster in Ireland against English and Protestant domination and potential Spanish incursion

1585 - Treaty of Nonsuch (All Facts)

• Treaty signed between Queen Elizabeth of England and the United Provinces (Dutch rebels) against Spain

• It was the first international treaty signed by what would become the Dutch Republic

• Per its terms, Queen Elizabeth of England sent Robert Dudley, the earl of Leicester, at the head of an army to support the Dutch rebels against their Spanish overlords

• Treaty which essentially initiated England’s war with Spain via the Netherlands

1585 - 1604 - Anglo-Spanish War / 1588 - Spanish Armada (All Facts)

• War in which Lord Charles Howard of Nottingham and his English forces defeated Alonso de Guzmán y Sotomayor and his Spanish forces; in which

  • In the beginning, the Spanish

    • had twice as many ships

    • had some ships that were 1,000 tons

    • had many ships packed with soldiers with great grappling irons

  • In the beginning, the English, despite being outnumbered, outsized, and outmanned;

    • had highly maneuverable ships

    • had superior long-range gunfire

    • slipped past to the Spanish rear while they had sighted the fleet approaching the English Channel during the night prior to the conflict

  • During the battle, the English

    • darted in, releasing their broadsides and escaping before the heavier Spanish cannons could be brought to bear

    • created havoc among the enemy, although they initially could make no impact on the stout Spanish hulls

    • snapped at the flanks of the Spanish ships while they pushed up the English Channel

    • used their fireships, stacked with wood, pitch, and explosives and, a mile away from the retreating Spanish, went towards them at midnight, causing panic aboard the Spanish ships as they set a raging fire

    • struck repeatedly into the next day following the midnight

  • During the battle, the Spanish

    • pushed up the English Channel

    • expected a rendezvous with reinforcements and landing craft from the Spanish Netherlands, but neither ever came due to rebel Dutch “sea beggars”

    • anchored off Calais

    • collided and sank as anchors were abandoned and cables were severed

  • In the end, the English

    • lost

      • zero ships

      • fewer than 100 men

  • In the end, the Spanish

    • lost

      • 65 ships

      • 10K men

    • were

      • outgunned by the English

      • panicked by their fireships

      • battered by a ragging southwesterly wind

      • sailing north, scattered and seeking to escape into the Atlantic around the Orkneys and Shetlands

      • completely scattered, sunk, or fleeing

• War which was prompted by Philip II’s wanting to teach England a lesson after Queen Elizabeth and the explorers and privateers under her such as Francis Drake and John Hawkins, had thoroughly raided and were unimpeded / encouraged by the Queen to continue the raids on various Spanish ships

  • War in which Queen Elizabeth allowed Francis Drake to launch a spoiling operation on Spanish ships after she had received a report detailing that Philip II was building up a huge fleet of ships

• War which was one of the most humiliating naval defeats in Spain’s history

  • It would have been even worse had the English ships pursuing the Spanish ships not have turned back when they ran out of food and ammunition

• War involving a number of battles aside from the latter namesake including

  • Battle of Zutphen

  • The Singeing of the King of Spain’s beard

  • Battle of Flores

1586 - Battle of Zutphen (All Facts)

• Battle in which Philip Sydney and his English forces were defeated by the Spanish during the Anglo-Spanish War in the Netherlands during the Eighty Years’ War

• Battle in which Philip Sydney

  • charged recklessly with 500 English horsemen against 3,000 Spanish cavalry

  • was struck in the thigh by a bullet, and managed to ride back to camp where he called for water

    • When he saw a dying foot-soldier brought in, however, he handed him the bottle of water saying “thy necessity is yet greater than mine”

1586 - Babington Plot (All Facts)

• Failed attempt by the namesake and his associates to assassinate Queen Elizabeth

1587 - The Singeing of the King of Spain’s Beard (All Facts)

• Series of attacks by Francis Drake on the Spanish fleet during the Anglo-Spanish War

  • They were commissioned by Queen Elizabeth of England, whom had sent Drake to launch the namesake operation of spoiling the Spanish ships

  • She did this after having received a report that Philip II of Spain was building up a huge fleet of ships to fight against the English

• Series of attacks that began with Francis Drake’s having pillaged Cadiz and ravaged the Spanish coast

  • He did this with 23 warships that descended with guns blazing onto Cadiz, having captured or destroyed 80 Spanish ships

1591 - Battle of Flores (All Facts)

• Battle in which the Spanish defeated Richard Grenville and the English during the Anglo-Spanish War

• Battle in which Richard Grenville was killed and the ship, the Revenge, was destroyed

1593 - 1603 - Nine Years’ War (All Facts)

• War which began when Hugh O’Neill and Ireland rebelled against Queen Elizabeth and England for advancing into Ireland during the Anglo-Spanish War

• War which began due to Hugh O’Neill and the Irish being angered by

  • The introduction of English Protestantism into Catholic Ireland

  • The immigration into Ulster of anti-Catholic Scottish Calvinists

• War in which Hugh O’Neill and the Irish

  • Captured Enniskillen and Monaghan Castles in England

  • Appealed to Philip II of Spain for help

• War in which the English

  • Blocked Hugh O’Neill’s request to Spain and fought him and his forces to a stalemate

• War during which the English opened and founded schools like Trinity College in the hope that education will pacify the Irish

1594 - Siege of Crozon (All Facts)

• Battle in which the English, along with the French, defeated the Spanish at the namesake, near the French port of Brest during the Anglo-Spanish War

1596 - Capture of Cadiz (All Facts)

• Battle in which Robert Devereux, Charles Howard, Francis Vere, Walter Raleigh, and their combined English and Dutch forces defeated Alonzo Perez de Guzman and his forces and raided and captured the namesake Spanish city during the Anglo-Spanish War and Eighty Years’ War

1596 - Triple Alliance (All Facts)

• Pact established between England, France, and the Netherlands against Spain

1598 - Battle of the Yellow Ford (All Facts)

• Battle in which Hugh O’Neill and Hugh O’Donnell and their Irish forces defeated the English forces during the Nine Years’ War

• Battle in which the Irish finally scored a decisive victory after years of skirmishes and truces between them and the English soldiers

• Battle which took place on the namesake on the Callan River near Armagh in Ulster in Ireland

• Battle before which the English planned a threefold attack on the Irish rebels from Sligo to Westmeath until all three were repulsed and a truce was arranged

• Battle during which

  • Hugh O’Neill and Hugh O’Donnell led a small garrison on the Blackwater River against the English and set out from Newry with a relief force of 4K troops

  • Hugh O’Neill’s men, armed with muskets, sniped at the English flanks until the English force became too scattered for the leading regiment to be given effective support and was broken up and cut to pieces by the Irish cavalry

  • A rout was avoided, but only 1,500 of the 4K men reached back to the safety of Armagh

• Battle which enraged Queen Elizabeth of England

1603 - London Plague (All Facts)

• Incident in which around 20% of the namesake city’s population died