History of Great Britain

History of Great Britain

Pre – Celtic Period – (before 800 BC)

• Stonehenge

Celtic Period (800 BC – AD 43)

• Iron Age
• Brythons (indigenous peoples inhabiting the island of Great Britain south of the river Forth) – the name Britain

Roman Period (AD 43 – 410)

• network of roads
• Hadrian’s Wall

Anglo – Saxon Period (410 – 1066)

• 7th century – 7 kingdoms (Heptarchy) Northumbria, Mercia, Kent, East Anglia, Essex, Sussex and Wessex– various dialects of English
• 829 – Egbert – King of Wessex united them -> 1st English King
• 9th century – Vikings

Norman Period (1066 – 1154)

• 1066 – the Battle of Hastings – Normans led by William, Duke of Normandy (William the Conqueror) defeated the Saxon King Harold
• French nobility – influence on language
• William was crowned king on Christmas Day, 1066 at Westminster Abbey

Magna Carta

• signed by King John in 1215
• guarantee of rights and rule of law
• accept that King‘s will could be bound by the law

the Hundred’s Year War

• 1338 – 1453
• conflict between two royal houses for the French throne
• England (House of Plantagenet) defeated

the Wars of the Roses

• 1455 – 1485
• series of dynastic civil wars
• the House of Lancaster (red rose) X the House of York (white rose)
• Henry Tudor (Lanc.) defeated Richard III (York) -> Henry VII , he married Elizabeth of York -> end of fighting

Other important events

• 1543 – the Church of England separated from the authority of the Pope
• 1558 – 1603 - Queen Elizabeth I – Britain – major sea power
• 1642 – 1649 – Civil War (Charles I against supporters of Parliament) -> Oliver Cromwell established a republic; 1660 – monarchy restored

• 1688 – Glorious Revolution – confirmation of the sovereignty of Parliament
• 1760s – 1850s – the Industrial Revolution – industrialisation and urbanisation (technological innovations, extension of the right to vote, formation of trade unions, development of universal public education)
• 1815 – defeat of Napoleon – Britain’s role strengthened its position as the leading world power

1837 – 1901 – reign of Queen Victoria

• 63 years and seven months, longer than that of any other British monarch
• Victorian era, a time of industrial, political, and military progress within the United Kingdom
• great expansion of the British Empire; large parts of Africa and Asia added
• married her first cousin, Prince Albert (became favourite)

• World War I – huge casualties and economic losses
• 1921 – independence of Ireland
• 1927 – the formal name of the UK changed to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
• World War II – great bombing damage, the Battle of Britain (mainly 1940)