British History - Key events before Victorian era

Earliest evidence of human activity in Britain (stone tools found).

250,000 BC

Britain becomes an island due to rising sea levels.

5000 BC

Neolithic people construct Stonehenge, a major ceremonial site.

3000 BC

Arrival of the Beaker people from Europe, bringing early metalworking skills.

2500–2000 BC

Celtic migration into Britain from central Europe; introduction of iron tools and weapons.

700 BC

Julius Caesar attempts to invade Britain but does not establish Roman control.

55 & 54 BC

Emperor Claudius orders the Roman conquest of Britain; major towns like Londinium (London) founded.

AD 43

Boudica’s Revolt against Roman rule; her forces destroy Roman settlements before being crushed.

AD 61

Emperor Hadrian orders the construction of Hadrian’s Wall to defend against northern tribes.

AD 122

Romans campaign in Scotland, briefly controlling some areas.

AD 209

Coordinated attacks by Picts, Irish, and Saxons weaken Roman control.

AD 367

Emperor Honorius withdraws Roman troops from Britain; end of Roman rule.

AD 410

the arrival of the Anglo-Saxons (Angles, Saxons, and Jutes).

449

Britons under an unknown leader defeated the Angles and Saxons at Mount Badon

516

Irish monk Columba founds a monastery on the Scottish island of Iona => spreading of Christianity to pagan AngloSaxons

565

St. Augustine arrives in Kent; conversion of the Anglo-Saxons to Christianity begins.

Ethelbert became the first Anglo-Saxon king and is successfully converted to Christianity

597

Synod of Whitby is held to settle differences between Roman and Celtic churches

→ it was decided to follow the practice of Rome

664

reign of king Offa – one of the most powerful of Anglo-Saxon kings

757 – 796

“Anglo-Saxon Chronicle”

the oldest surviving piece of narrative prose in English

The Scandinavians

Vikings (meaning ‘sea raiders’) are divided into Swedes, Danes and Norwegians

Danes led the invasion of England, Norwegians led the invasions of Ireland and Scotland

first recorded Viking attack happens in Dorset

789

Vikings raid the monastery at Lindisfarne, marking the beginning of Norse invasions.

793

Vikings attack the island monastery on Iona, Sc. – they took with them the gospel book “Book of Kells

795

first Viking raid on Ireland
“Heptarchy” – kingdoms further divided into small land, which is called heptarchy (Mercia, East Anglia, Essex, Sussex, Wessex, Northumbria)

795

Alfred of Wessex expelled Scandinavians from Wessex and became a first king of the people of England

836

his enlarged Wessex coexisted with the east which was Vikings territory

later known as the “Danelaw” were English and (Danish) Vikings were equal in law

King Alfred the Great defeats the Vikings at the Battle of Edington and begins the reconquest.

878

Death of Alfred the Great, who promoted education, law, and military reforms.

899

Cnut (Canute), the Danish king, seizes the English throne and rules until 1035.

1016

Edward the Confessor becomes king, restoring Anglo-Saxon rule.

1042

Norman Conquest:

• January – Edward the Confessor dies; Harold Godwinson becomes king.

• September – Harold defeats a Norwegian army at the Battle of Stamford Bridge.

• 14 October – William, Duke of Normandy, defeats Harold at the Battle of Hastings.

• 25 December – William the Conqueror is crowned King of England.

1066

Domesday Book compiled, surveying England’s land and wealth.

1086

Bayeux tapestry illustrating the Battle of Hastings

1077

Henry I. married his daughter Matilda to the German emperor (she was 8 yo)

1110

Civil war between Stephen and Matilda over the English throne.

1135–1154 – The Anarchy

nine religious wars waged from 1095 to liberate Jerusalem and the Holy Land from Islamic rule.
=> Richard I (son of Henry II) raised taxes, sold assets and emptied the treasury to raise funds

Crusades

Henry II becomes king; establishes common law and strengthens royal authority.

1154

Murder of Archbishop Thomas Becket by Henry II’s knights, creating a rift with the Church.

1170

Magna Carta is signed by King John and his barons at Runnymede on the River Themes

15th June 1215

Designed to stop the king’s abuses, established tight aristocratic control over central government, new taxes could be imposed only with consent of council, rights to trial to all freemen

Magna Carta

antisemitism in England, Jews expelled out of England

1290

Braveheart – Edward I. invades Scotland, and takes the stone of Destiny from Scone to Westminster (important governmental symbol)

1296

millions die in the Great European Famine

1315 – 1322

• The English had some success at Crecy (1346), Poitiers (1356), and Agincourt (1415)

• After more than one hundred years of fighting, the French were eventually able to declare victory over the English 

• The Hundred Years War greatly strengthened France, while weakening England

• Following the war, England would enter a period of turmoil and civil war

The Hundred Years War -1337–1453

The Black Death kills a third of England’s population.

1348–1350

Peasants’ Revolt against high taxes and feudal oppression, led by Wat Tyler.

1381

• Grandson of Edward III

• Become King at 10 - Court controlled by his uncle: John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster 

• Believed in his divine right and absolute power

• Faced rebellions (peasants in 1381)

• While on military campaign in Ireland, Richard’s cousin, Henry Bollingbroke seized the throne, and Richard was eventually forced to surrender to Henry

• Richard was imprisoned in the tower .of London and die within a few months (by Feb 1400)

Richard II (1377 -1399)

Wars of the Roses: Civil war between the houses of Lancaster (red rose) and York (white rose).

because powerful nobles (magnates) were now able to build personal armies → struggle for predominance

ended with the marriage of Henry to Elizabeth of York

1455–1485

• By the reign of the relatively weak Henry VI, civil war broke out between rival claimants to the throne- dating back to the sons of Edward III

• Although Richard , the last king of the York, did usurp the throne, little doubts exist that his unscrupulousness has been overemphasized by his enemies and by Tudor historians seeking to strengthen the Lancastrian position

• His immortality is strongly exaggerated in Shakespear’s play Richard III

Wars of the Roses:

Battle of Bosworth: Henry Tudor (Henry VII) defeats Richard III and founds the Tudor dynasty.

1485

Henry V defeats the French at the Battle of Agincourt

1415

Henry VIII breaks from the Catholic Church, establishing the Church of England.

1534

• created the Royal Navy, which played an important role in the English expansionism 

Henry VIII

• Defender of the Faith (FD - Fidel Defensor )

• Breaking with Rome

• Dissolution of the monasteries

• Establishing the Anglican Church (Protestant)

• Act of Supremacy (1534) - English Monarch as Head of Anglican Church

=> Protestant England vs. papacy & Catholic Europe (France, Spain)

Henry VIII & the English Reformation:

9 yo when he came to the throne, died at 15

Edward VI

queen in attempt to keep England a Protestant country, after 9 days, Mary took the throne, Jane was beheaded

Lady Jane Grey (1553) – the 9 days queen

She was a strong Catholic => brought England back to the old religion => burned nearly 300 protestants => Bloody Mary

Mary I = Bloody Mary (1553-58)

• Mary died childless => Her half-sister Elizabeth became Queen Elizabeth I

1558

• Virgin Queen, Gloriana, Good Queen Bess
  

• intelligent, courageous and determined => “The heart of a king”

Elizabeth I (1558-1603)

• a remarkable age for English culture, particularly literature and theatre

• Foreign relations: war with Spain 

• Exploration & trade: the discovery of North America

=> Elizabethan Age - the 1st golden age in British history

England under Elizabeth I:

The Spanish Armada is defeated, securing England’s naval dominance.

1588

Elizabeth I dies; James VI of Scotland becomes James I of England, uniting the crowns.

1603

• wanted absolute power when he inherited the throne from Queen Elizabeth I => the Divine Right of Kings 

• Always conflict between the royalty and parliament over taxes 

• “The wisest fool in Christendom”

James I:

• The Catholics were angry with James as he would not allow them to worship as they pleased 

• Guy Fawkes: a Catholic soldier, together with other nobles, he planned to blow up Westminster Palace

• He was later arrested & hanged => Guy Fawkes’ Night (Nov 5)

The Gun Powder Plot 

• The Puritans: Protestants wanted to “purify” the Church of all Roman Catholic influence

• They dressed very simply & believed that all pleasures were wicked 

• During the reign of King James I, some of them decided to leave England to find religious freedom in a new country

• They sailed from Plymouth in 1620 in the Mayflower 

• They were called the Pilgrim Fathers

=> The traditional annual festival in America, Thanksgiving (4th Thursday of November)

The Puritans

Rising tensions between King Charles I and Parliament over royal authority and taxation.

1625–1642

• Great landowners

• Catholics

• People in the North and West of the country

• Those who thought Parliament had gone too far in challenging the king’s power

The English Civil War (1642 - 1651)

Supporters of the king

• Centers of trade & wealth, such as London

• Large towns & seaports, whose people hated the king’s taxes

• Puritans & those who feared the King would bring back the Church

The English Civil War (1642 - 1651)

Supporters of Parliament

English Civil War between Royalists (Cavaliers) and Parliamentarians (Roundheads).

1642–1651

1629 dissolved Parliament and ruled without it for 11 years

Charles I

• Parliamentary general from East Anglia
  led the New Model Army → Parliamentarians won the Civil War

• Charles I’s execution (1649)

• Cromwell established a republican form of government - the Commonwealth with himself as Lord Protector 

• Eventually established a military dictatorship
  

Oliver Cromwell

Restoration of the monarchy: Charles II becomes king.

1660

• James II (Charles II’s younger brother) inherited the throne after Charles II died

• He was a Catholic & put many Catholics in positions of power in the army & government 

• Leading Protestants in the government were worried so they forced him to abdicate

• James had to flee to France

James II

• Parliament then offered the crown to Mary, James’s Protestant daughter & her husband William, the Dutch Protestant leader

The Glorious Revolution

• When William & Mary came to the throne in 1689, Parliament drew up a list of rules to control their power

Political changes

Bill of Rights

• No suspension of Parliament’s laws

• No taxes without Parliament’s consent

• Freedom of speech in Parliament

• The monarch must be Protestant 

=> Parliament’s victory over the king in the fight to decide who was more powerful

=> First Constitutional Monarchy where laws limited the ruler’s power

1689

New national flag – Union Jack

1713

• James II’s younger daughter

• Treaty of Union (1707), Scottish Parliament dissolved => Great Britain established

• Emergence of political parties in Parliament - Conservative (Tories) & Liberal (Whigs)

Queen Anne

Act of Union creates Great Britain (England and Scotland unite).

1707

American Revolution: Britain loses its American colonies.

1776

• In 1628 a doctor named William Harvey discovered and explained how blood is pumped and circulated around the body by the heart

• In 1665, Sir Issac Newton discovered the law of gravity

England under the Stuarts 

1. Science:

British settlements along the eastern coast of America & the West Indies 

England under the Stuarts 

Colonies & Trade:

The introduction of tea, coffee, chocolate, bananas, pineapples & sugar – “white gold”

England under the Stuarts 

• Established a Cabinet

• Cabinet was a link between the majority party in Parliament and the King

• Become center of power and policymaking

• Still exists today

• Leader of Cabinet = Prime Minister 

• Robert Walpole: Britain‘s 1st Prime Minister (1721 - 1742)

George I (1714 - 1727)

• His interest in agriculture => “Farmer George”

• Loss of American colonies - the USA (1776)

• Napoleonic wars:

• Admiral Horatio Nelson & Trafalgar (1805)

• Duke of Wellington & Waterloo (1815)

George III (1760 -1820)

• Extravagant lifestyle - “the 1st gentleman of England”

• Not well-liked by many people

George IV (1820 - 1830)

• George IV’s younger brother

• The “Sailor King”

• Passed on the throne to his niece Victoria

William IV (1830- 1837)

Between 1650 and 1860, approximately 10 to 15 million enslaved people were transported from western Africa to America. Most were shipped to the West Indies, Central America and South America

The Slave Trade

Farms were modernized & farming methods improved => Improve in food supply=> Increase in population => Surplus labor for the factories

England under the Georgians

1. The Agricultural Revolution:

1. the steam engine & other machines, railroad, etc.

(1 + 2) => 3. The Industrial Revolution

England under the Georgians

Technological developments:

• The rise of Capitalism: a free market with restricted governmental intervention

• The growth of population & cities => urbanism 

• Social classes: the nobility, the middle class and the working class

=> Britain was ready to enter the greatest period of its history

England under the Georgians

Impacts: 

Sever Year War with France

1756

Seven Years’ War ends: Britain becomes a dominant global power.

1763

James Cook ‘discovers’ New Zealand and Australia

1769

The Factory Age begins, first cotton mill opens

1771

The Boston Tea Party in the colonies

1773

American Revolution begins; British colonies declare independence.

1776

Britain recognizes American independence (Treaty of Paris).

1783

French Revolution begins; Britain fears similar uprisings.

1789

Act of Union with Ireland forms the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland

1801