GCSE history dates

1003

Edward the Confessor is born

1013

The Danish king Sweyn Forkbeard invades England, Edward flees to Normandy with his father Aethelred

1014

Returns with his father, when Sweyn dies

1016

Aethelred died, Cnut invades, Edward returns to Normandy with his mother Emma

1042

After the reigns of Cnut, Harold I and Harthacnut, Edward becomes king

1045

Edward married Earl Godwin’s daughter Edith

1051

Edward named William of Normandy as his heir & Earl Godwin is sent into exile

1052

Earl Godwin returned from exile

1053

Earl Godwin died and is succeeded as Earl of Wessex by his son Harold Godwinson

1064

Harold went to Normandy on an embassy mission

1065

Northumbria revolts against Earl Tostig

1066

Edward the Confessor died aged 63

1066

William’s coronation in London. Godwinsons’ land forfeited

1067

William returns to Normandy. Marcher earldoms created

1068

Revolt of Edwin and Morcar. Siege of Exeter

1069

Rebellion in the North. Harrying of the North starts

1070

Harrying of the North ends. Morcar’s land forfeited

1071

Rebellion of Hereward the Wake. Edwin’s land forfeited

1075

Revolt of the Earls

1076

Waltheof executed and his lands forfeited

1078

Tower of London began construction

1087

500 castles built by the time of King William’s death

1066

Feudal system begins

1067

William returns to Normandy

1070

Lanfranc replaces stigand. All english bishops replaced ecept Wulfstan

1071

Most English shire reeves replaced with Norman sherifs

1076

Enquiry into Bishop Odo's land grabs. Church council creates courts for clergy

1077

Robert Curthose's rebellion againsthis father begins

1079

Robert Curthose fights against his father in battle. reconciled the following year

1082

Bishop Odo imprisoned for attempting to take knights out of England with him to Italy

1083

Death of Matilda, Wiliam I's wife

1084

Heavy geld tax levied

1085

Threat of Danish invasion. Mercenaries arrive. Domesday survey ordered

1086

William meets his tenants-in-chief at Salisbury. Domesday survey completed

1087

William I dies. Domesday book left incomplete. Succeeded by 3rd son, Wiliam Rufus. Odo freed

1088

Odo's rebellion against William II ends

1066

Feudal laws and courts introduced by William I

1070

Murdrum fine introduced by William I to protect the invading Normans from Anglo-Saxon attack.

1072

Forest laws introduced by William I. Repealed in 1217 due to the economic misery they caused.

1164

Constitutions of Clarendon introduce the Courts of Assize, which meet twice per year.

1194

Coroners introduced by Richard I

1215

Trial by ordeal banned by Pope Innocent III

1351

Statute of Labourers. Workers demand a higher wage. Nobles ask king to make high wages illegal

1352

Treason Act defines high treason and introduces hung, drawn and quartering for it

1361

Quarterly court sessions overseen by Justices of the Peace introduced

1404

Burning at the stake introduced for heresy

"1470-71

& 1483-85"

Yorkist Elizabeth Woodville seeks sanctuary from the Lancastrians in Westminster Abbey (twice).

1534

Henry VIII breaks from the Catholic Church declaring himself Supreme Head of the Church of England.

1536

Henry VIII begins to close the monasteries, which were the main source of charity for the poorest.

1542

The first Witchcraft Act is passed which makes witchcraft punishable by death.

1559

Elizabeth passes her Act of Uniformity

1601

The Elizabethan Poor Law is passed.

1605

Catholic plotters, led by Robert Catesby, aim to kill the king and those close to him at the state opening of Parliament in 1605. It would become known as the Gunpowder Plot.

1606

In response to the Gunpowder Plot, James passes the Popish Recusants Act which forces Catholics to swear loyalty to the king.

1642

The English Civil War begins between the Parliamentarians and Royalists.

1645

Matthew Hopkins begins the witch craze in Essex.

1671

Game Act passed made poaching illegal again

1713

Stealing more than 40 shillings (c.£200 today) becomes a capital crime.

1714

Riot Act - Made it illegal for more than 12 people to gather in a public place w/o permission

1716

Last execution for witchcraft - Mary and Elizabeth Hicks

1723

The Black Act - makes poaching or damaging forest a capital crime

1735

Witchcraft Act - made it a crime to claim someone was a witch, so ends witch hunting.

1748

The Fielding brothers set up the Bow Street Runners

1778

Transportation to Australia introduced

1810

222 offences are capital crimes

1814

Last hanging under the Black Act (repealed in 1827)

1823

Judgement of Death Act gives judges the power to reduce death sentences to transportation

1829

Metropolitan police act

1832

Punishment of Death Act reduces capital crimes to 60 offences

1850

Import taxes cut - large scale smuggling reduced

1839

Prison Act encourages rehabilitation through the use of the separate and silent systems

1856

Police Act makes it compulsory for all towns and counties to setup a professional police service

1865

Prisons Act introduces a harsh and uniform system of hard labour, fare and board

1868

Capital Punishment Amendment Act ends public execution.

1869

Transportation ends.

1900

First ‘borstal’ opens to male prisoners aged 16-21 in Bedford

1901

Fingerprint branch set up in Met police

1902

Hard labour ends in prisons with a ban on treadmills

1907

Probationary release introduced

1908

Children’s Act bans hanging of under-16s

1916

Military Service Act introduces conscription

1925

Illegal to drive a car while drunk

1933

First ‘open prison‘ opens at New Hall in Sheffield

1933

Age of criminal responsibility raised to 8

1946

Fraud Squad set up in the Met Police

1948

Criminal Justice Act & British Nationality Act

1950

Timothy Evans case

1953

Derek Bentley case

1955

Ruth Ellis case

1957

Homicide Act introduced ‘capital murder’

1963

Age of criminal responsibility raised to 10

1965

Murder Act pauses capital punishment

1967

Sexual Offences Act legalises homosexual sex

1967

Breathalysers introduced

1967

Abortion Act legalises abortion

1968

Race Relations Act bans discrimination in the supply of housing and jobs

1969

Specialised juvenile courts open

1971

Misuse of Drugs Act criminalised use of many drugs

1971

Bomb Squad set up in the Met Police