An Introduction into English History

Date

Who ...

... did what?

- already trading with the Roman Empire (sold: lead, tin, gold, wheat, cattle, hunting dogs, pearls, slaves)
- blue tattoos from dye called "woad"
- believed in many gods and may have sacrificed not only animals but also humans by druids and priests

- tribe revolt defeated after they burned the Roman cities of Colchester, St Albans & London;
- destruction of a whole legion
- The Brigantes tribe conquered
- Wales conquered, many forts built
- existing tribes: Brigantes, Coritani, Ordorvices, Catuvellauni, Trinovantes, Dumnonii, Atrebates, Cantriaci, Iceni

Romans

- first invasions of Scotland,
- Romans won some battles but could not conquer Scotland

- 1 legion = 10 cohorts = 60 centuries = 4800 soldiers
- 1 cohort = 6 centuries = about 480 soldiers
- 1 century = 80 soldiers
- per century 1 centurion + 1 standard bearer

- rebuilt Hadrian's wall and attack Scotland
- Scots surrender
- Britain devided into 2 provinces

December

- originally the 10th month, from Latin decem = 10

Date

Who ...

... did what?

Romans
Saxons
St Patrick

- leave Britain

- increasingly raid Britain

- goes to Ireland

- son of Cerdic

- an ex-royal Christian missionary from Ireland came to Britain via Islay/Jura/Colonsay, settled on Iona from where he could not see Ireland anymore

- son off Cynric

the 7 Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms

Britons

- son of Ceolric

634

- son of Cynegils

- Celtic Christians followed Columban from Ireland,
- southern Christians followed St Augustine from Rom;
- Whitby (in Yorkshire) was to settle the many arguments and resulted in the unification into the Roman Catholic Church

- Vikings do little harm, but came back later with more raiders and attacked Lindisfarne, Jarrow (stealing cattle, killing monks, selling captives as slaves elsewhere)

- son of Egbert,
- A. had 4 sons himself

- almost annual raids
- a fleet 350 long ships attacked South England and,
- for the 1st time, they spent the Winter in Kent

- son of Aethelwulf

- son of Aethelwulf

- son of Aethelwulf

- born 870
- crowned Kingston upon Thames
- buried in Winchester
- conquest of the Danelaw

- son of Edward the Elder (3rd mar.)
- born 922
- crowned in Kingston upon Thames
- buried in Glastonbury
- Defeat of Danes raiding from Ireland
- brought 5 towns of Danelaw back to obidience (Derby, Leicester, Lincoln. Nottingham, Stamford)

- brother of Edward
- born 925
- crowned in Kingston upon Thames
- buried in Winchester

- born 945
- crowned Bath
- buried Glastonbury
- the first coronation

- born 968
- crowned in Kingston upon Thames
- buried St Paul's
- Danish raids begin again,
- Danegeld (paid in order to make the Danes go away)
- 1013 fled to Normandy after Mercian Danes attacked
- 1015 back after Danish King Sweyn died in 1014

Edmund Ironside

- son of Ethelred Unready
. (1st mar., 3rd kid, 3rd son out of 11!)
- born 993
- crowned St. Pauls
- buried Göastonbury
- Peace between Danes and England

- son of Harald Bluetooth &
- father of Canute = father of Harold I & Hardecanute

- 1st Haouse of Denmark
- son of Sweyn
- born 995
- crowned St Pauls
- buried Winchester

- son of Cnut (1st mar.)
- born 1017
- crowned in Oxford
- buried Westminster, re-buried Southwark

- son of Cnut (2nd mar., wife of Ethelread Unready)
- born 1018
- crowned Canterbury
- buried Winchester

- son of Ethelred Unready
- born 1004
- crowned Westminster
- buried Westminster
- Westminster Abbey begun
- Battle of Stamford Bridge

- House of Godwin
- son of Gytha = son of Torkils = son of Thyra = son of Harald Bluetooth (like Sweyn)
- born 1022
- crowned Westminster
- buried near Hastings, re-buried Waltham Abbey

William the Conquerer,

Hereward the Wake

- born 1028
- crowned Westminster
- buried Caen
- married daughter of Edgar Atheling = 6th desc. of Alfred the Great
- father of William Rufus and Henry I
- many castles built (Tower of London 1087)
- opposes William in the open fen country

William send Copmmissioners into every corner of his country to evaluate the areas's economic potential with regard to how much tax can be raised from it

- Who holds the land?
- How many ploughs are there?
- How much land is good for growing crops?
- How much land is just wasteland?
- How much is the land worth?

- born 1056
- crowned Westminster
- buried Winchester
- Jerusalem captured by the Turks

- led the First Crusade

- born 1070
- crowned Westminster
- buried Reading
- strong rule
- wreck of the White Ship, Henry's son William drowned

- born 1104
- crowned Westminster
- buried Faversham
- fight for control of the throne with his cousin Matilda (daughter of Henry I)
- barons started to build strong castles

- Second Crusade failed to capture Damascus

- Oxford Uni founded

England begins to colonize Ireland

Henry II marries Eleonore of Aquitaine

- born 1133
- crowned Westminster
- buried Fontevraud
- grandson of Henry I,
- son of Matilda + Geoffrey of Anjou
- new French land added to the english possesion
- ruled the biggest empire ever: England, Wales, Ireland, Normandy, Anjou, Brittany, Acquitaine
- new law courts, reconstruction of legal system

- quarrel with his Chancellor Thomas Becket = Archbishop of Canterbury:
Rights of Church vs Powers of the State
- Henry had Becket murdered in his own Cathedral

- later he quarrelled with Eleonor and his sons
- his last days he spend in Civil War,
- his death preventing the empire from near collapse

- born 1157
- crowned Westminster
- buried Fontevraud
- Third Crusade (attanded by King Richie)
- Acre captured, Battle of Arsouf, Richard captured in Austria
- died fighting in France a few years later

1199-1216

John Lackland

- born 1167
- crowned Westminster
- buried Worcester
- War with France
- Loss of Normandy (1204)
- Magna Charta
- war with the Barons

- Cambride Uni founded

- 1st Parliament 1265:
Simon de Montfort vs. John Lackland

- born 1207
- crowned Gloucester
- buried Westminster
- The Oxford Parliament

Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday

named after TIW - the god of the battle
named after Woden - the Chief god
named after Thor - god of the thunder
named after Frey - goddess of the crops

land

language

- Deer Wolves, Eagles and Boar (eofor = wild boar) were very commen, i.e. Derby = village with many deer nearby, Everton = wild boar (eofor) that lived in the forest

- Norfolk = North folk, Suffolk = South folk
- worth = enclosure, farm
- ham = home, village
- ton = town, village, farm
- ing = place of a family
- ford = river crossing
- chipping = market (to sell is 'chipping')
- by = village
- thorpe = small village
- burh = fortified town

Date

Who ...

... did what?

- born 1239
- crowned Westminster
- buried Westminster
- choose John Balliol for the Scottish throne
- went North to show him (Balliol) who was boss

Conquest of Wales (Eisteddfod banned)
War in Scotland

- born 1285
- crowned Westminster
- buried Gloucester
- Uprising in Scotland,
- Robert is proclaimed King od Scotland ...

- older brother (Robert Bruce 1210-95 desc. of a younger brother of William the Lion) des 1. Earl of Carrick transferred to him the claim of the throne (1292, when John de Balliol became King of Scots)
- supported Edward I against Balliol in1296
- in 1298 Wallace and John 'Red' Comyn replaced him as joint Guardians
- on 10th Feb. 1306 Bruce stabbed his rival Comyn in GreyFriar's Church, Dumfries > was therefore outlawed by Edward I and excommunicated by Clement V.
- Not accepting his life as a fugitive he claimed the throne as great-great-son David I and was crowned at Scone on 25 March 1306
- restoring independence to Scotland was made easier when Edward II (whose affair with Piers Gaveston consumed much of his time) replaced Edward I in 1307
- at his 1st Parliament Bruce was fortified by declarations of loyalty and started clearing the English out of Scottish castles
- 1314 only Stirling held out
- Bruce wins the Battle of Bannockburn 24th June 1314 against Edward II
- Declaration of Arbroath (Scottish declaration of independence) sent to Pope John XXII who waited 4 years before recognising the rightful King of Scotland
- 1327 Bruce harrassed the English until Edward III acknowledged his sovereignty and accepted his heirs as Scottish kings- treaty of Northampton 4th May 1328
- Bruce burried in Dunfermline Abbey
- his heart taken to the Holy Land by Sir James Dougles (killed at Granada, Spain) returned to Scotland and burried in Melrose Abbey

- born 1312
- crowned Westminster
- buried Westminster
- won sea battles against France at Sluys (1340) and Castile off Winchelsea (1350)
- defeated Scots at Halidon Hill (1333) and Neville's Cross (1345)
- greatest English battle Honours: Crécy (1346) and Poitiers (1356)
- founded the Order of the Knights of the Garter (Hosenbandorden)
- Black Death (plague) killed 1/3 popuation within 10 Jears

100 Years' War between France and England began

- Black Prince = son Edward III

English win battles
1) Battle of Crécy
- English Archers
- Calais taken (again in 56, 62, 69)
2) Battle near Neville's Cross (near Durham) 17th Oct 1346
- David II defeatd and captured by English forces
- thereby ending the Scots involvement in the 100 Years' War as allies of the French

- Order of the Garter
- (Middle) English wird Schulsprache
- Black Death
- growth of wool trade
- Old English Aliterative Revival

- Statute of Praemunire (Limitation of the pope's powers over England)

treaty of Brétigny (the english king gave up claiming the French throne)

Canterbury Tales = 1st Middle English Literature (unfinished)

- born 1367
- crowned Westminster
- buried Langley, re-buried Westminster
- grandson of Edward III, son of Black Prince

Peasants' revolt

- 1st complete translation of the Bible in to English

- Winchester school founded

- Scots win battle against the English near Otterburn

- born 1367
- crowned Westminster
- buried Canterbury
- Cousin of Richard II
- forced Richie to give up the throne
- barons grew powerful
- battle of Shrewsbury
- leading rebels' names thanks to Shakespeare:
Owen Glyndowr & Henry Percy (Harry Hotspur)

- son of Henry IV
- born 1387
- crowned Westminster
- buried Westminster

Battle of Agincourt 25th Oct 1415,
- Henry V with archers and disciplined soldiers wins against the French >> 6000 (d.:1600) : 20.000 (d.:6000)

Henry VI

- son of Henry V
- born 1421
- crowned Westminster
- buried Chertsey (murdered in Tower), re-buried Windsor
- change of alliances in the continent
- Eton founded
- Henry marries Margaret of Anjou

- Normandy lost
- Gascony lost

- 100 Years War ends with loss of France
- Battle of Castillion (Dordonnie)- France kills John Talbot = fam. brit. General

- War of the Roses begins between Lancastrians (Henry VI) and Yorkists (Richard, Duke of York)

- Joan of Arc = Jungfrau von Orléans (1429 Orleans befreit)
- peasant's daughter from Lothringen
- Während des 100jährigen Kieges stellt sie sich im Glauben an eine göttliche Berufung an die Spitze einer nationalen Streitmacht und erringt eine Reihe von Siegen gegen die Engländer
- forced the crowning of Karl VII in Reims
- durch Verrat an die Engländer gefallen
- von kirchlich frz. Gericht der Ketzerei beschuldigt, als Hexe verbrannt, 1456 rehabilitiert, 1920 heilig gesprochen

- born 1441
- crowned Westminster
- buried Windsor
- Cousin of Henry VI
- triumph of the Yorkists

- Merchant Adventures founded (?)

- England's 1st printed Book
- produced nearly 100 titles before his death in 1491
- Johannes Gensfleisch zum Gutenberg (1394/9-1468)
- Gutenberg bible (in Mainz)

- son of Edward IV
- born 1470
- never crowned
- murdered (with brother Richard) in the Tower

- uncle of Edward V
- born 1452
- crowned Westminster
- buried Leicester
- controverse ruler: bloodstained mosnter, tragically maligned, prototype of a Renaissance ruler
- 1483 revolt checked
- 1485 Battle of Bosworth, Leicestershire (Richard III = last Plantagenet fell fighting)
- crown passed on to Henry Tudor (earl of Richmond) on the battlefield by Lord Stanley (who picked it from a Hawthorne bush :-)

Date

Who ...

... did what?

- born 1457
- crowned Westminster
- buried Westminster
- 1485 Battle of Bosworth (wars of the Roses)

- born 1491
- crowned Westminster
- buried Windsor
- 1534 Parliament declares Henry Head of the Church of England
- Begin of the dissolution of the monasteries
- finally slammed the door of the Middle Ages

- War with France and Scotland
- Act of Union (with Wales)

- Ireland to Britain

- Norfolk rising against enclosures

Cardinal Wolsley

Sir Thomas More

- born 1537
- crowned Westminster
- buried Westminster
- English Prayer Book introduced

- Moscow Company founded

- born 1516
- crowned Westminster
- buried Westminster
- Protestant Lady Jane Grey queen for 9 days (arrested and executed)
- Persecution of Protestants (Bishops Ridley and Latimer and 300 )
- Alliance with Spain (married Phillip II)
- 1558 Loss of Calais to French army

1558-1603




1559

- born 1533
- crowned Westminster
- buried Westminster
- Mary Queen of Scots flees to England
- Catholics plot against Elizabeth
- Church of England established

- English Ships attack Spannish treasure ships (Drake, Raleigh, Cavendish, ...)
- 1587 Mary executed
- 1588 Armada defeated
- war in Ireland
- Poor Laws passed

- London Stock Exchange

- Poor Rate introduced

- sails round the world

- cousin to Elizabeth
- rival to the Throne
- heir of the throne if Elizabeth died without having children
- M. fled to E. in 1568 after the rebellion of the Scottish lords
- for 19 Years imprisoned in various castles
- became foolishly involved in plots against E. and with this being proven executed at Fotheringay Castle in 1587

- East India Company founded

Date

Who ...

... did what?

- son of Mary queen of Scots
- born 1566
- crowned Westminster
- buried Westminster
- well educated, clever, but unpopular with his Scottish accent, clumsy: fell down at his own coronation
- quarrels with Parliament
- wrote a book against smoking
- 1607 Union with Scotland rejected by the English
- repeal uf mutually hostile laws
- reluctantla flown Union Jack, 1634 withdrawn
- 2 independent parliaments remained

- invention of the microscope

- Settlement in Viriginia

- King James Bible, translation ordered by the King

Gunpowder Plot:
- Roman Catholics were angry because James had ordered all Catholic Priests to leave the Country
- so they plotted to blow up Parliament when all were there (King, Queen, Church leaders, Protestant nobles)
- historians suspect the king's minister Robert Cecil to have known about the plot
- Nov 5th 1605 a Catholic soldier was arrested in a cellar under the House of Lords carrying matches, 36 barrels gunpowder, more plotters were arrested later, they were tortured to confess with a shaky signature, hung, drawn and quartered

- like the Catholics they were forbidden to worship as they wished
- 100 men, women and children sailed 67 stormy days across the Atlantic on the Mayflower to set up a new home in New Plymouth, North America, and kearned farming from the local Indians
- 1/2 of them died during the hard winter, the rest survived and began building a town and farms

- wrote a book about how the heart functions as a blood pump ... people thought he was mad

1625-1649

1640
1642

1642
1645
1646


Jan. 1649

- born 1600
- crowned Westminster
- buried Windsor
- attempt to rule without Parliament 1629-40
- Quarrels with Parliament, believed he was King by god's will
- money needed to fight the Scots > Parliament (under John Pym) passed laws to control the King
- Civil War (King's landowning Cavaliers from the North and West vs Parlamentarian Protestant Roundheads from the cities, Puritans and all who hated taxes)
- attempted arrest of 5 leading Parliamentarians > escaped
- Battle of Naseby (Cromwell/Parliament crushed King's men)
- Charles I captured
- pro king MPs driven out of Parliament, king's trial prepared by the others
- Execution of Charles I

Oliver Cromwell = Lord Protector

- Britain became a republic > called: Commenwealth
- life was shaped by the Puritan who passed laws against swearing, playing cards, ... inns and theatres closed, no work on Sundays, Christmas dinner forbidden
- New Model Army
- Conquest of Ireland
- War against Dutch
- Parliament dismissed 1653
- War with Spain
- earned £100,000

- Richard quickly overthrown by General Monck and the army - General Monck asked Charles II to return

- Restauration

- born 1630
- crowned Scone 1651 and Westminster 1661
- burried Westminster
- the merry monarch, son of Charles I
- very popular, dancing, balls, theatre, banquets, ...
- founded the Royal Society for scientific exchange of knowledge
- Parliament granted him no taxes, he turned to French King Louis XIV (= Sonnenkönig) who gave him money in exchange for promissing to bring back Catholicism (which he did not)

- Great Plague killed 60,000 people
- Great Fire of London 1666 (baker's shop in Pudding Lane)

- discovery of gravitation

- born 1633
- crowned Westminster
- buried St Germain
- brother of Charles II
- Catholics given important positions in army and government
- Protestants worried about a new line of Catholic Kings (James had a son), so they invited Mary (James' Protestandt daughter) and William of Orange (Oranien)
- James flees, throwing the Great Seal in the Thames

- Protestant rebels were defeated at the battle of Sedgemore
- Judge Jeffreys condemned 200 to be hanged and 800 to be sold as slaves > ('Bloody Assizes')
- Monmouth was executed

William & Mary

- born 1650/1662
- both crowned Westminster
- both buried Westminster
- W.: Dutch Protestant leader
- M.: Protestant daughter of James II
- Bill of Rights: toleration Act
- Immigration of Hugenotts
- Battle of Boyne
- Bank of England founded
- Mary dies

- born 1665
- crowned Westminster
- buried Westminster
- 2nd daughter of James II
- war with France
- British victories at Blenheim and Ramilies
- British Parliament started to devide into Whigs & Tories

Act of Union (with Scotland)

- coffee houses became popular with scholars and merchants to discuss business
- chocolate and expensive tea from India introduced

witchcraft, trials

Date

Who ...

... did what?

- born 1660
- crowned Westminster
- died 1727
- buried Hannover
- heir to throne due to 1701 Act of Settlement > nearest Protestant in line (great grandson of James I), wholly German in language and culture and preferences, but apart from a Scottish pro Stuart revolt in 1715 he imposed new hardship on his new subjects
- introduced in effect the office of the prime minister by entrusting his interests to a chosen minister who had to be able to undertake to deliver a favourable Parliamentory vote on the matter of the royal salary

- 1st Prime Minister (1715-17/1721-42)
- Whig-leader
- influencial Chancellor of the Exchecker

- born 1683
- crowned Westminster
- buried Westminster
- courageous and last King to lead troops into battle at Dettingen in 1743 defeating the French

- 7 years war

- born 1738
- crowned Westminster
- buried Windsor
- English King unlike 2 predecessors
- worked hard at the problems of the French and American revolutions
- loss of American colonies 1783 Treaty of Versailles
> was unrightfully blamed on him
- 1793 war with France
> G became symbol of national pride
- increasing illness for the last 10 years of his reign
> tragically insane

Hargraves
Watt
USA
USA/Brit.

- Industrial Revolution begins
- Spinning Jenny
- Steam Engine
- declaration of Independence
- Independence of USA officially recognized
- The Times founded
- French Revolution
- War with France
- Combination Act
- Act of Union (with Ireland)
- Battle of Trafalgar
- slave trade ended
- Battle of Waterloo (Napoleon)
- Peterloo
- repeal of Combination Act
- Stockton-Darlington Railway
- Manchester-Liverpool Railway

- more reliable than George's trusted ministers Bute & North

- born 1962
- crowned Westmisnter
- buried Windsor
- son of George III
- acted as Regent during his father's illness
- eroded all his father's achievements

- Poor Law Act
- 1st Opium war with China
- Coal Mines Act
- Repeal of Corn Laws
- 10 h Act
- Crimean War
- 2nd Opium war with China
- economic crisis
- revolt in India
- American Civil War

- 2nd Reform Act
- Great Depression began
- Egypt occupied
- 3rd Reform Act
- Home Rule Bill
- Sudan annexed
- Education Act
- Old Age Pension introduced
- Payment for MPs
- WW II began
- Treaty of Versailles (End off WW II)
- Ireland devided > Free State of Ireland founded

Date

Who ...

... did what?

- born 1765
- crowned Westminster
- buried Windsor
- served in the Navy
- shortcomings of tact, judgement and intellect
- 1790-1811 lived in regularf if unmarried bliss with actress Jordan (10 children)
- 1818 married German Princes for dynastic reasons (2 sickly daughters, both died early)
- obstructionist politics
- 1832 grudging acceptance of Reform Act
- Monarchy was having difficulties with coming to terms with the pressures of the early modern age

- born 1819
- crowned Westminster
- married German Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha (who died early in 1861)
- buried Frogmore
- after her 2 predecessors she rescued Monarchy from a low point where Kings were expected only to reign, not to rule anymore
- from restauration of respect and usefulness she went further to becoming the incarnate spirit of the - at that time - predominantly middle class nation by representing and living the typical values and qualities her subjects valued so much
- became loved and idolized as Elizabeth I had been
- reigned over an ever expanding empire ...

Date

Who ...

... did what?

- born 1841
- crowned Westminster
- buried Windsor
- prolonged apprenticeship
- talent of stateliness
- ruled the greatest empire
- genuine enablingen role in the diplomacy that led to the construction of the Triple Entente of England, France and Spain

- born 1865
- second son of Edward VII (the 1st son died aged 28)
- crowned Westminster
- buried Windsor
- brought up in Victorian tradition, never faltered in his devotion to duty
- reign dominated by World War II
- haunted by the death of his cousin Nicholas, Tsar of Russia
- during the 20s abd 30s the Crown stoofd for continuity and stability
- he was an institutional monarch

- born 1894
- eldest son of George V
- uncrowned
- buried Frogmore
- charming, easily moved, emotional, informal and approachable
- lacked steadiness, strength of will, sense of duty
- as Prince of Wales he showed concern for the plight of the poor and unemployed
- renounced his kingship, abdicated before marrying American divorcée Wallis Simpson
- subsequently created Duke of Windsor
- served as Governor of the Bahamas during the war
- spent rest of his life in Paris
- died 1972

- born 1895
- Duke of York, second son of George V
- crowned Westminster
- buried Windsor
- never expected nor wished to succeed to the throne
- his broter's abdication cast a heavy burden
- suffered from a speech impedimant
- but never lacked bravery or enterprise
- fought as a naval officer at Jutland
- first member of teh Royal Family to learn to fly
- strong sense of duty
- fortified by his immensely popular Queen who helped to restore the confidence in the monarchy
- King George and Queen Elizabeth stayed in London during the war showing love and care for their peole
- their daughters served in uniform and the identification of the Royals with the will of the nation was complete
- caused by the enormous effort and a fading health George died eary and suddenly in the winter 1952

Date

Who ...

... did what?

- born 1926
- crowned Westminster
- romantic marriage to Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (20.11.1947)
- after the devastation of World War II the accession of a young beautiful queen fueled the hopes of a new golden age
- not easy for for Britain to accept the loss of the empire
- even harder to adjust to the harsh economic realities
- steady growth of affection and respect of her people

- 1st heir to the throne: Prince Charles *14.11.1948, Prince of Wales married Lady Diana Spencer (29.7.1981), liason with Camilla Parker after the death of Princes Diana
- tragic death of Lady Diana during an attempt of escape from journalists by car and a fatal accident following a wild chase through the streets of Paris; world in mourning
- two sons William *21.6.1982 & Henry *15.9.1984
- Henry = most likely heir to the throne

- Queen mum's 100'th birthday
- Queen mum died shortly afterwards