- Ice Age, ending in 8000 BC, led Neanderthals and Cro-Magnon to Britain; melting ice caused England to become an island
- 3000 BC, Iberians (Long Skulls) farmed in the south and in 2500 BC, Beaker Folk began work on Stone Henge
- Beaker People are noted for their beaker shaped pots and bronze tools
- 1000 BC, Celts invaded England from the mainland with iron weapons and two-wheeled chariots
- Celtic Druids imposed their religion upon all of Great Britain
- England was visited by Julius Caesar in 55 BC after his conquest of Gaul; he temporally took over the place until he returned to Rome for a decisive battle against Pompey
- Emperor Claudius I began an invasion of England in 43 AD; c. 60 AD, Anglesy (capital city of the Druids) was finally captured and put down the quick revolt of Boudicca, queen of the Iceni
- the Roman governor Gnaeus Julius Agricola defeated the Druids at the Battle of Mons Graupius in 84 AD, but could not maintain order in that region
- deciding that the northern Celts were too rebellious to subdue, Emperor Hadrian put up a wall in 123 AD that is 117 km long, from Solway Firth to Tyne River
- England became a popular resort due to it’s military significance; soon, some of the largest public baths and amphitheaters sprung up in English communities
- the Romans also founded the cities of London, York, and numerous others with ending with caster or cester
- in the 300s, s count of the Saxon Shore was hired by the Romans to prevent Saxon raids on the Northern, Briton coasts; however, Roman Emperors moved their soldiers away from Britain to protect Rome and altogether abandoned Briton in 410 AD
- Christian, British warlords occupied feudal communities in the name of Christ; they soon copied the Roman mercenary ideas and hired Germans to prevent invasions from the mainland and from the Picts to the north
- the Germans soon revolted and took over England by the 600s
- legends speak of a mid-500s hero, King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table; with the aid of Merlin, perhaps the last wizard, Arthur used the sword Excalibur to defend England against Angles, Saxons, Jutes, and Franks
- however, by the early 7^th century, the German Angles and Saxons had conquered Northumbria, Bernicia, Deira, Lindsay, Mercia, East Anglia, Essex, Sussex, and Kent
- the Anglo-Saxons imposed polytheism and brought along the dark ages by ending education; they focused on the European, feudal system, agriculture, and hunting
- 596, Pope Gregory I sends a monk, Augustine, to Kent where he baptizes the Anglo-Saxon, British king, King Ethelbert and partially restores Britain to Christianity; Augustine is named as the first Archbishop of Canterbury
- Northumbria was given Irish Christianity by the preachings of Saint Aidan from Scotland
- 664, at the Synod of Whitby, the Northumbrian King Oswy declared that all of England should use Roman Christianity; the new churches structure was made by the Archbishop of Canterbury in 668: Theodore of Tarsus
- the Ecclesiastical History of the English People was written by the Northumbrian monk, Venerable Bede; it made the terms BC and AD in common terms
- a Northumbrian monk, Alcuin of York, was selected by Charlemagne to head his the school in his palace
- the first true king of England was Egbert of Wessex, who defeated the Mercians at Ellendun in 825 AD to earn the throne
- by the time Egbert’s grandson, Alfred, came to the throne, Danish Vikings had taken London and most of England; Alfred defeated the Danish at Edington in 878, and forced the Danish king to be baptized
- Alfred allowed his soldiers to spend a week fighting, then a week farming, and so on to keep his men fresh; he soon recaptured London
- he also converted many Latin literature works into Old English, earning him the title of Alfred the Great
-Alfred’s son, Edward the Elder, conquered Danelaw, the last Danish territory in England; his grandson, Athelstan, defeated the Vikings at the battle of Brunaburh in 937 to free Britain from invaders
- 960, Saint Dunstan, archbishop of Canterbury, finally restored the English Church to it’s grandeur before the Danish invasions
- the king ruled along with the witenagemot, a council of wise men who helped make dooms (laws) and select the new kings
- 40 shires (counties) were formed, each governed by a alderman (later called an earl) and by a shire reeve (sheriff); this government was the first to be able to assess and collect a land tax known as Dangeld
- King Ethelred II, during the time period known as the redeless, developed the Dangeld and tried to kill every Dane in England
- 1014, Ethlered fled from the throne when King Sweyn I of Denmark took over England in response; Ethelred returned that same year after Sweyn died
- Canute II, son of Sweyn, conquered England and made it part of his empire of Denmark and Norway
- he was succeeded by two quickly overthrown sons, and then by his son, Edward the Confessor (who was in Normandy due to exile)
- Edward the Confessor is most famous for his building of Westminister Abbey, which was completed at nearly at the same time of his death in January 1066
- Westminister is the most famous Church in England; is in London and is officially named the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter in Westminister
- construction had begun in 1050 on a site of an older, Roman church; its Gothic style architecture was adding in 1245
- most monarchs since William the Conqueror have been crowned in Westminister Abbey; the majority of kings and queens have also been buried there until 1760 with King George II
- Westminister also houses the bodies of such famous Englishmen as Geoffrey Chaucer, Isaac Newton, and Charles Darwin; it also contains tributes to political heroes and poets, including Shakespeare

- in 1066, England was conquered by the Norman, William I the Conqueror; he blessed England with Norman feudalism and French social and political structure
- William disciplined the English with an iron fist; he created the Domesday Survey (census for taxes), and the Salisbury Oath of allegiance, which all feudal lords had to swear to him
- he named the Italian Lanfranc as the archbishop of Canterbury
- after William I’s death in 1087, his third son, Henry I, took control of England in 1100 and Normandy through conquest in 1106
- Henry I founded the exchequer (royal treasury); he wanted his daughter, Matilda, to succeed him, but after his death in 1135, Stephen of Blois had other plans
- civil war struck England until 1154; the Church took sides at times in return for more power
- the next king was Henry II Plantaganet (1133-1189), son of Matilda, in 1154 ; he took the throne through a banishment of all mainland mercenaries
- he was the first monarch of the House of Anjou/Plantagenet; he was born in March 5 in Le Mans, France; he inherited Normandy and Angevin in France in 1151 and 1152; he was give the throne of England by his mother, Matlida, in 1154
- Henry I regained the northern lands lost to the Scots, and conquered Northern Wales; 1171, Henry I invaded Ireland; 1174, Henry conquers William the Lion and all of Scotland
- 1164, Henry I argues against Thomas a Becket, archbishop of Canterbury; Henry I argued that priests should be tried in Royal courts while Thomas argued that they should be tried by the Church; Thomas was eventually assassinated in 1170 by 4 knights without consent from the king
- Henry I invented common law for all freemen; it is the system used today consisting of judges and courtrooms
- Henry died in Chinon, France on July 6, 1189 after battles with the French king Louis VII, surpressing numerous rebellions led by his sons and wife, Eleanor of Aquitaine, and attacks by the next French king, Philip II
- Henry’s empire by his death included Ireland, Scotland, and half of France
- his successor, King Richard I, the Lion-Hearted spent most of his days in the Crusades and the last of his days in a German prison
- his brother, King John, lost Normandy in 1204; over a dispute to name Stephen Langton as archbishop of Canterbury in 1213, and a threat of revolt of his barons who did not want to reinvade Normandy, and after possible duels with Robin Hood, Pope Innocent III forced John into signing the Magna Carta in 1215 in which he admits error and to respect his barons; he died in 1216
- he was succeeded by his 9 year old son, King Henry III; he confirmed the Magna Carta in 1225 to gain total kingship from his barons, thus beginning a royal tradition of initiation
- because of the loss of Normandy, King Henry III did not bother to spend money outside of the British Isles; sheep and wool went into demand, London became one out of many towns to become prosperous, local self-government was issued, the universities of Oxford and Cambridge were established, and the population doubled from 1.5 million to 3 million
- Cistercian monasteries expanded throughout the rural communities; 1220s, Franciscans and Dominicans arrived and proved to be the best teachers of the Church in England
- 1258, the Provisions of Oxford attempted to take control of England away from Henry III and give it to his barons; he refused, and civil war broke out in 1264; Henry III reclaimed the throne in 1265 at the Battle of Evesham where he kills the temporary king, Simon de Montfort
- he was succeeded by King Edward I; he limited the barons’ rights to hold their own court of law, and polished off the common law system
- he is most famous for his creation of the parliament system; the Model Parliament of 1295 was made of great barons, bishops, abbots, and representatives from counties
- 1297, Edward accepts the Confirmation of Charters, which forced kings to get Parliament’s approval before raising taxes; Parliament soon split into two houses: Lords and Commons
- Edward I conquered northwest Wales and adopted its longbow technology; he also tried to reconquer Scotland during the revolts by Sir William Wallace and Robert Bruce, but died in 1307 without fully retaking the lost kingdom
- Edward II attempted to retake Scotland, but was beaten at the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314; 1322, he resigned from the throne due to a plot to overthrow him by his barons
- the first thing King Edward III did was to send his barons to France for an invasion (to make sure they don’t overthrow him back in England)
- 1337, Edward III began the Hundred Years War; he defeated the French first at Crecy in 1346 and at Poitiers in 1356 using the Longbow against outnumbering French hordes; however, the French retook these lands by 1396
- the bubonic plague struck in 1349; the Statute of Labourers in 1351 tried to prevent serfs from raising their wages due to the worker shortage and resulted it the Peasants’ Revolt/ Tyler’s Rebellion in 1381
- the Babylonian captivity from 1309-1376, and the second Great Schism from 1378 to 1417 lost respect for the papacy in England; the Statutes of Provisors in 1351 and the Statutes of Praemunire in 1353 limited the Pope’s ability to appoint Church offices in Britain
- the Oxford professor, John Wycliffe, protested against the failing Church; he was killed in 1382 as a heretic, but was succeeded by his disciples, the Lollards
- Richard II came to the throne when he was just 10 years old; he resigned in 1397 when he lost a feud against his cousin, Henry IV Bolingbroke in 1399
- civil wars ensured since Henry IV of Lancaster as not the rightful heir (he was not the first son of a former king)
- he was succeeded by his son, Henry V, who concentrated his efforts onto the Hundred Years’ War; he defeated the French at Agincourt in 1415, forced the French into the Treaty of Troyes in 1420, and married the daughter of the mad French King Charles VI to inherit the French throne
- 1422, both Henry V and Charles VI die, leaving the 9 month old Henry VI in charge of both countries (though his uncles John of Lancaster and Humphrey of Gloucester did most of the political work at first)
- 1429, Joan of Arc retakes Orleans and much of France, crowns Charles VII as the true king of France, but is burned as a heretic in Rouen in 1431; nevertheless, the damage had been done and England had already lost more land than it gained during the war
- Normandy was lost in 1450, and by 1453, all of France but the port of Calais once again belonged to France

- the anger against the corrupt and inept government and the hurt pride of losing to France caused the Wars of the Roses (1455 to 1485) to break out
- initially, the war was fought between Henry VI (and his wife, Margaret of Anjou) and the House of Lancaster, versus Richard Plantagenet of the House of York
- the Wars of the Roses was named so because the badge of the House of Lancaster was a red rose, and the badge of the House of York was a white rose
- after victory against Lancaster at St. Albans in 1455 and Northampton in 1460, York claimed the throne in 1460
- although defeated in 1460 at Wakefield (Richard of York dies here), York proclaimed their Edward IV as king; Edward defeated Henry and Margaret soon afterwards, and they fled from England; 1465, Henry was captured and imprisoned in the Tower of London
- 1470, Richard Neville of Warwick and Margaret make an alliance, push Edward out of England, and put Henry back onto the throne; 1471, Edward returns and defeats Lancaster in the Battles of Barnet and Tewkesbury; Henry was murdered in the Tower of London
- Edward IV died in 1483; he was succeeded by his brother Richard III; 1485, the Lancasters, led by Henry Tudor, won the Wars of the Roses in 1485 at the Battle of Bosworth field; Richard III was killed, King Henry VII of Tudor came to the throne, and married Edward IV’s daughter, Elizabeth, to unite the two houses
- he was the only Tudor to have a plentiful amount of healthy babies; he also forced Spain into submission in 1489 by the Treaty of Medina del Campo
- Henry VII made England rich through promotion of trade with the mainland, taxed every trade, avoided war, and even saved money; he died in 1509, and was succeeded by King Henry VIII
- Henry VIII was born in London on June 28, 1491; he married first his brother’s widow, Catherine of Aragon
- as the English king during the Renaissance, he employed various scholars and artists, including the German painter Hans Holbein the Younger
- 1511, Henry VIII joined the Holy League and led them to victory in France in 1513; he then married his sister Mary with Louis XII of France to form an alliance
- 1525, riots break out in England when Henry tried to raise taxes for further campaigns; in response, Henry chose to not partake in mainland war
- 1527, Henry VIII demands to divorce Catherine because she has not produced any male heirs to the throne (Mary was her only surviving child); also, Henry was in love with Anne Boleyn, a lady-in-waiting of his wife
- Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, Catherine’s nephew, opposed the divorce; Pope Clement VII could not agree to the divorce since he was held prisoner in Charles’ prison and would not be released if Charles became displeased
- the Pope sent Thomas Wolsey and Lorenzo Campeggio to settle the case in England; 1529, with the Pope finally released, the proceeding was summoned to Rome; Henry soon grew impatient and appointed his dear friend, Thomas More, to be Chancellor and to approve of the divorce
- 1532, Parliament agrees to take control of the clergy from the Church and give it to England
- 1533, Henry secretly married Anne Boleyn by Thomas Cranmer, his loyal archbishop of Canterbury who also finished Henry’s divorce
- 1534, Henry VIII is excommunicated from the Church, but he declares himself the head of the Church of England
- Sir Thomas More and John Fisher refused to sign the oath of Henry’s supremacy over the Church; they were tried and executed without consent by the king
- 1536, Henry executed Anne on the charges of incest and adultery; just days later, he married Jane Seymour, who died while giving birth to Henry’s only son, Edward
- 1540, Henry VIII married Anne of Cleves of Protestant Germany to make an alliance; however, she was so unattractive that he divorced her after a few moths, and married Catherine Howard that same year; Catherine was executed for adultery, and in 1542, Henry married his sixth and final wife, Catherine Parr
- Henry VIII also reconquered much of Scotland with his victory at Solway Moss in 1542; he died in London on January 28, 1547
- Henry VIII never truly changed the Church of England during his lifetime; it stood for all the same principles and values that it had before the Protestant Reformation; he merely kicked out the Pope and executed all who did not declare him as the absolute ruler of the Church
- he was immediately succeeded by his only son, King Edward VI, who converted England to Protestantism and enforced the Book of Common Prayer; after his death at the age of 16, Northumbria tried to remain Protestant by preventing the Catholic heir, Queen Mary, from coming to the throne
- Mary I (or Bloody Mary, as she was known as) restored the Catholic Church and married Philip II of Spain; she burned nearly 300 Protestants during her reign, and went to war with France, resulting in the loss of the port of Calais; she died in November 1558
- Queen Elizabeth I was born in London on September 7, 1533 to Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn; she was last of the Tudor line to rule over England; it was disputed whether she was a true heir to the throne because Henry’s marriage to Anne was not official
- Elizabeth spent her youth with scholars such as Roger Ascham; after Henry’s death, Catherine Parr took Elizabeth under her wing and shielded her from politics during Edward VI’s reign; however, Elizabeth was seen and treated as a threat by Bloody Mary since Elizabeth was a devout Protestant; 1554, Elizabeth was imprisoned by Mary on the false charge of Elizabeth helping in Sir Thomas Wyatts’ rebellion
- after Mary I’s death, Elizabeth came to the throne during religious civil war, crumbling economy, and a terrible war with France
- Elizabeth was a vain but wise Queen; for instance, she wisely chose advisors such as Sir Francis Walsingham and William Cecil
- Elizabeth switched England to Protestantism in 1558; by 1559, the majority of the Parliament was Protestant; 1559, Elizabeth passed the Elizabethan Compromise which established the Church of England having supremacy over Roman Catholicism, and laid the foundation for her persecution of Catholics and Puritans to come
- 1559, Elizabeth signs the Treaty of Cateau-Cambresis to end the war against France on a good note for England, allowing England to concentrate on its economy and navy
- England became both a military and exploration presence on the seas, with mariners such as Sir Francis Drake and Sir Martine Frobisher; Elizabeth replaced the failing silver coins of the old age with new currency to stabilize its value
- trade with the mainland flourished; 1566, Royal Exchange of London is established; 1660, East India Company is formed
- Elizabeth did not have an heir because she wanted to die as a virgin; however, she did have affairs with Robert Dudley (1^st earl of Leicester), Sir Walter Releigh, and Robert Devereux (2^nd earl of Essex)
- Elizabeth imprisoned her cousin, Mary Queen of Scots because Mary was Catholic, and because the Catholic members of Parliament were bent on branding Elizabeth as an illegitimate heir and putting Mary of Scots on the throne
- 1586, Elizabeth learns from Walsingham of a plot to assassinate Elizabeth and free Mary of Scots; Elizabeth reluctantly executed Mary afterwards
- the Catholic Philip II of Spain invaded England in response in 1588; they were slaughtered, and England established itself as the naval power of the world; also, the loss of the battle to Protestants began to convert many counties on the mainland to Protestantism
- near the end of her reign, Elizabeth no longer had her wise advisors to aid her; a revolt against her was led by the Irish Hugh O’Neill, and later by Robert Devereux who was executed in 1601
- Elizabeth died alone and lonely in London on March 23, 1603; she died in a age full of English artists and writers, such as Edmund Spenser, Christopher Marlowe, and William Shakespeare
- she had reconquered Scotland by helping a Protestant uprising by King James against Mary of Scots, and was the first monarch to fully conquer Ireland in 1603; her era with forever be known as the Elizabethan Golden Age

- Elisabeth was succeeded by her cousin, King James I of Scots, which united Scotland with England; he was the first Stuart king
- Puritans became dissatisfied with Protestantism because they felt it was too much like Catholicism; 1630s, William Laud became the archbishop of Canterbury and launched an anti-puritan campaign
- 1605, James I learns of the Gunpowder plot by Roman Catholics to blow up Parliament
- James also quarreled with Parliament of whether the monarchy or Parliament should have more power; Chief Justice Sir Edward Coke helped to create the Petition of Rights in 1628, which was a new Magna Carta that Charles I, successor to James, was forced to sign
- Charles, however, became notorious for his attempts to raise taxes and take control of England without the consent of Parliament, 1637, Charles fails to impose English-style religion in Scotland, which in turn leads to another rebellion, forcing Charles to run back to Parliament in 1640 for help
- Long Parliament was formed, in which the Parliament used Charles’ desperation to get far more power; Parliament executed Charles’ advisors of Archbishop Laud and Sir Thomas Wentworth, and limited further the king’s ability to control taxes
- the Parliament was divided religious-wise when deciding whether to abolish bishops from the Church of England; Charles I left Parliament with his supports, the Cavaliers; the Puritans in Parliament, known as Roundheads, declared war on Charles’ Protestant forces
- the first battle was fought at Edgehill in October 1642; because of the brilliant leadership of Oliver Cromwell, the Roundheads eventually won the civil war
- 1646, Charles surrenders to the Scots; 1647, Scots try to turn Charles over to the Roundheads but instead start a war against the Puritans; 1648, Charles escapes from both sides and starts a new civil war against the Roundheads
- Cromwell and the Roundheads won both wars, and executed Charles on January 30, 1649; the Roundheads abolished the monarchy and the House of Lords, and declared England to be a commonwealth (with the House of Commons)
- Oliver Cronwell ruled the "Rump" Parliament (Parliament under control of the military), conquered Ireland and Scotland in 1649 and 1653, and dissolved the Rump Parliament in 1653
- December 1653, Oliver accepted the Instrument of Government, the only written constitution of England; it created the Protectorate (England ruled by House of Commons and Cromwell was Lord Protector)
- Cromwell later accepted a second house of Parliament and gave himself the right to name his successor, although he did not approve of the title of king
- 1655, royalists revolt against Puritans; Cromwell then divides England into 11 military districts
- 1651, Navigation Act begins Dutch War from 1652 to 1654; Cromwell defeats Spain at Jamaica in 1655; 1658, Cromwell defeats French at the Battle of Dunes and is given Dunkerque
- Cromwell died in September 1658; his son, Richard, could not earn the respect of the Long Parliament and the Protectorate collapsed
- May 1660, General George Monck brought Charles II (son of Charles I) back to London after a lifetime in exile; out of an act of kindness, Charles only killed 12 people associated with Cromwell
- 1622, Charles creates the Royal Society to promote natural science; 1665, last outbreak of bubonic plague occurs; 1666, London burns down and is rebuilt by Christopher Wren
- bishops returned to Churches and Puritans were expelled or limited in power; 1673, Test Act removed Catholics from Parliament; 1678, Popish plot was to remove Charles’ Catholic brother, James, from the line of succession; the Whigs of Parliament wanted James expelled, while the Tories opposed it
- Charles ignore Parliament and through his death in 1685, passed the throne to his brother, King James II
- James lost support after his harsh suppression of a revolt by James Scott (an illegitimate son of Charles II); 1685, he put Catholics back into the government, army, and universities; 1688, the Declaration of Indulgence allowed all Christians, including Catholics, to worship freely
- James gave birth to a Catholic son, so James’ enemies welcomed William of Orange, a Protestant of the Netherlands and the husband of Mary, James’ Protestant daughter, back to England so that he would inherit the throne
- the English army betrayed James and sided with William, forcing James into exile; 1689, the Toleration Act gave the throne to Mary and William, and gave freedom of worship to only Protestants; this is known as the Glorious Revolution because it was done without blood
- John Locke’s Two Treatises of Government in 1690 celebrated and defended England’s new sovereign Parliament
- Jacobites (Catholics who follow James II) were silenced by the Massacre of Glencoe in Scotland and the Battle of the Boyne
- William led England into his war with King Louis XIV of France, the War of the League of Augsburg (1689-1697), and the War of Spanish Succession (1701-1713)
- in the War of the League, the Battle of Blenheim solidified British territory on the mainland
- 1694, the Bank of England is founded; its stock exchange brought England to the richest country in the world
- 1687, Isaac Newton’s laws of motion and universal gravitation made England into the world’s foremost centre of research and science
- Anne, another daughter of James II, came to the throne but did not have any surviving children; 1701, Parliament passed Act of Settlement, which decided that the next throne should go to the Protestant Sophia of Hannover in order to prevent the return of Catholicism
- the mostly Catholic Scotland refused such an act, and in 1707, Scotland was forced to unite with England to form the kingdom of Great Britain in order for England to have complete control over its northern neighbour

More English vs. French History

-William I, the Conqueror, believed that the Anglo-Saxon Church was superior to the Catholic Church; William replaced Catholic bishops with his own friends from Normandy, he removed all Catholic-saint holidays from the year, and built huge Anglo-Saxon cathedrals on Catholic ground
-both William II and King Stephen imprisoned Catholic bishops when the bishops began rebellions and revolts against the monarchy
-King Henry II took control of the Church away from the Pope and gave it to the British monarchy; he placed his close friend, Thomas Beckett, as the Chancellor of England, but Thomas resigned quickly because he believed power judicial power should lie in the hands of God’s church on earth
-Thomas was exiled to France where he became allies with the Catholic French and their Pope, Alexander III; when Thomas returned to England, he was assassinated for treason of conspiring with the French Catholics and for excommunicating several of King Henry’s loyal bishops
-miracles occurred by Thomas’ tomb and despite England’s resistance, the Pope soon named Thomas a saint
-King John of robin-hood times was excommunicated from the Church for his tax raises and for disproving the Pope’s choice for an archbishop of Canterbury
-as soon as an English clerk became a Pope in the early 1300s, a furious and Catholic France captured the Pope and locked him up in Avignon, France; this is known as the Babylonian captivity
-France elected their own Pope and would not respect any orders from a Anglo-Saxon Pope
-Edward III began the Hundred Years War because he believed he deserved the throne as the grandson of a French king, and he was furious that France had chained England’s first ever Pope
-Henry IV replaced many of the Catholic bishops in England with his friends to gain support for the anti-Catholic crusade against the French
-Henry V claimed that he was chosen by God to humble the French; he led the English to believe that he was a prophet of God who was meant to conquer all of France and to use their forces alongside his own to re-conquer the Holy Land in a new Crusade
-the people of England believed he was chosen by God because Henry was able to prevent an assassination attempt on his life
-his most famous battle involved over 60 000 French knights mounted on horse while on the defensive, versus just 5000 English who were on the offensive; in a matter of hours, tens of thousands of French were slaughtered by the new English longbow and between 3500 and 4000 English soldiers watched the rest of the French retreat into Armagnac territory
-Henry V took his first step in uniting Europe for a new Crusade by making an alliance with Burgundy and the Holy Roman Empire to conquer the Armagnacs