title: History of England

text: Henry's successor, Richard I "the Lion Heart" (also known as "the absent king"), was preoccupied with foreign wars, taking part in the Third Crusade, being captured while returning and pledging fealty to the Holy Roman Empire as part of his ransom, and defending his French territories against Philip II of France. His successor, his younger brother John, lost much of those territories including Normandy following the disastrous Battle of Bouvines in 1214, despite having in 1212 made the Kingdom of England a tribute-paying vassal of the Holy See, which it remained until the 14th century when the Kingdom rejected the overlordship of the Holy See and re-established its sovereignty.


title: History of England

text: From 1212 onwards, John had a constant policy of maintaining close relations with the Pope, which partially explains how he persuaded the Pope to reject the legitimacy of "Magna Carta".


title: History of England

text: Over the course of his reign, a combination of higher taxes, unsuccessful wars and conflict with the Pope made King John unpopular with his barons. In 1215, some of the most important barons rebelled against him. He met their leaders along with their French and Scot allies at Runnymede, near London on 15 June 1215 to seal the Great Charter ("Magna Carta" in Latin), which imposed legal limits on the king's personal powers. But as soon as hostilities ceased, John received approval from the Pope to break his word because he had made it under duress. This provoked the First Barons' War and a French invasion by Prince Louis of France invited by a majority of the English barons to replace John as king in London in May 1216. John travelled around the country to oppose the rebel forces, directing, among other operations, a two-month siege of the rebel-held Rochester Castle.


title: History of England

text: John's son, Henry III, was only 9 years old when he became king (1216–1272). He spent much of his reign fighting the barons over "Magna Carta" and the royal rights, and was eventually forced to call the first "parliament" in 1264. He was also unsuccessful on the continent, where he endeavoured to re-establish English control over Normandy, Anjou, and Aquitaine.


title: History of England

text: His reign was punctuated by many rebellions and civil wars, often provoked by incompetence and mismanagement in government and Henry's perceived over-reliance on French courtiers (thus restricting the influence of the English nobility). One of these rebellions—led by a disaffected courtier, Simon de Montfort—was notable for its assembly of one of the earliest precursors to Parliament. In addition to fighting the Second Barons' War, Henry III made war against Louis IX and was defeated during the Saintonge War, yet Louis did not capitalise on his victory, respecting his opponent's rights.


title: History of England

text: Henry III's policies towards Jews began with relative tolerance, but became gradually more restrictive. In 1253 the Statute of Jewry, reinforced physical segregation and demanded a previously notional requirement to wear square white badges. Henry III also backed an accusation of child murder in Lincoln, ordering a Jew Copin to be executed and 91 Jews to be arrested for trial; 18 were killed. Popular superstitious fears were fuelled, and Catholic theological hostility combined with Baronial abuse of loan arrangements, resulting in Simon de Montfort's supporters targeting of Jewish communities in their revolt. This hostility, violence and controversy was the background to the increasingly oppressive measures that followed under Edward I.


title: History of England

text: The reign of Edward I (reigned 1272–1307) was rather more successful. Edward enacted numerous laws strengthening the powers of his government, and he summoned the first officially sanctioned Parliaments of England (such as his Model Parliament). He conquered Wales and attempted to use a succession dispute to gain control of the Kingdom of Scotland, though this developed into a costly and drawn-out military campaign.


title: History of England

text: Edward I is also known for his policies first persecuting Jews, particularly the 1275 Statute of the Jewry. This banned Jews from their previous role in making loans, and demanded that they work as merchants, farmers, craftsmen or soldiers. This was unrealistic, and failed. Edward's solution was to expel Jews from England.


title: History of England

text: His son, Edward II, proved a disaster. A weak man who preferred to engage in activities like thatching and ditch-digging rather than jousting, hunting, or the usual entertainments of kings, he spent most of his reign trying in vain to control the nobility, who in return showed continual hostility to him. Meanwhile, the Scottish leader Robert Bruce began retaking all the territory conquered by Edward I. In 1314, the English army was disastrously defeated by the Scots at the Battle of Bannockburn. Edward also showered favours on his companion Piers Gaveston, a knight of humble birth. While it has been widely believed that Edward was a homosexual because of his closeness to Gaveston, there is no concrete evidence of this. The king's enemies, including his cousin Thomas of Lancaster, captured and murdered Gaveston in 1312.


title: History of England

text: Edward's downfall came in 1326 when his wife, Queen Isabella, travelled to her native France and, with her lover Roger Mortimer, invaded England. Despite their tiny force, they quickly rallied support for their cause. The king fled London, and his companion since Piers Gaveston's death, Hugh Despenser, was publicly tried and executed. Edward was captured, charged with breaking his coronation oath, deposed and imprisoned in Gloucestershire until he was murdered some time in the autumn of 1327, presumably by agents of Isabella and Mortimer.


title: History of England

text: In 1315-1317, the Great Famine may have resulted in half a million deaths in England due to hunger and disease, more than 10 per cent of the population.


title: History of England

text: Edward III, son of Edward II, was crowned at age 14 after his father was deposed by his mother and her consort Roger Mortimer. At age 17, he led a successful coup against Mortimer, the "de facto" ruler of the country, and began his personal reign. Edward III reigned 1327–1377, restored royal authority and went on to transform England into the most efficient military power in Europe. His reign saw vital developments in legislature and government—in particular the evolution of the English parliament—as well as the ravages of the Black Death. After defeating, but not subjugating, the Kingdom of Scotland, he declared himself rightful heir to the French throne in 1338, but his claim was denied due to the Salic law. This started what would become known as the Hundred Years' War. Following some initial setbacks, the war went exceptionally well for England; victories at Crécy and Poitiers led to the highly favourable Treaty of Brétigny. Edward's later years were marked by international failure and domestic strife, largely as a result of his inactivity and poor health.


title: History of England

text: For many years, trouble had been brewing with Castile—a Spanish kingdom whose navy had taken to raiding English merchant ships in the Channel. Edward won a major naval victory against a Castilian fleet off Winchelsea in 1350. Although the Castilian crossbowmen killed many of the enemy, the English gradually got the better of the encounter. In spite of Edward's success, however, Winchelsea was only a flash in a conflict that raged between the English and the Spanish for over 200 years, coming to a head with the defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588.


title: History of England

text: In 1373, England signed an alliance with the Kingdom of Portugal, which is claimed to be the oldest alliance in the world still in force.


title: History of England

text: Edward III died of a stroke on 21 June 1377, and was succeeded by his ten-year-old grandson, Richard II. He married Anne of Bohemia, daughter of Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor in 1382, and ruled until he was deposed by his first cousin Henry IV in 1399.


title: History of England

text: In 1381, a Peasants' Revolt led by Wat Tyler spread across large parts of England. It was suppressed by Richard II, with the death of 1500 rebels.


title: History of England

text: The Black Death, an epidemic of bubonic plague that spread all over Europe, arrived in England in 1348 and killed as much as a third to half the population. Military conflicts during this period were usually with domestic neighbours such as the Welsh, Irish, and Scots, and included the Hundred Years' War against the French and their Scottish allies. Notable English victories in the Hundred Years' War included Crécy and Agincourt. The final defeat of the uprising led by the Welsh prince, Owain Glyndŵr, in 1412 by Prince Henry (who later became Henry V) represents the last major armed attempt by the Welsh to throw off English rule.


title: History of England

text: Edward III gave land to powerful noble families, including many people of royal lineage. Because land was equivalent to power, these powerful men could try to claim the crown. When Edward III died in 1376, he was succeeded by his grandson, Richard II. Richard's autocratic and arrogant methods only served to alienate the nobility more, and his forceful dispossession in 1399 by Henry IV increased the turmoil.


title: History of England

text: Henry spent much of his reign defending himself against plots, rebellions and assassination attempts.


title: History of England

text: Rebellions continued throughout the first ten years of Henry's reign, including the revolt of Owain Glyndŵr, who declared himself Prince of Wales in 1400, and the rebellion of Henry Percy, 1st Earl of Northumberland. The king's success in putting down these rebellions was due partly to the military ability of his eldest son, Henry of Monmouth, who later became king (though the son managed to seize much effective power from his father in 1410).


title: History of England

text: Henry V succeeded to the throne in 1413. He renewed hostilities with France and began a set of military campaigns which are considered a new phase of the Hundred Years' War, referred to as the Lancastrian War. He won several notable victories over the French, including the Battle of Agincourt. In the Treaty of Troyes, Henry V was given the power to succeed the current ruler of France, Charles VI of France. The Treaty also provided that he would marry Charles VI's daughter, Catherine of Valois. They married in 1421. Henry died of dysentery in 1422, leaving a number of unfulfilled plans, including his plan to take over as King of France and to lead a crusade to retake Jerusalem from the Muslims.


title: History of England

text: Henry V's son, Henry VI, became king in 1422 as an infant. His reign was marked by constant turmoil due to his political weaknesses. While he was growing up, England was ruled by the Regency government.


title: History of England

text: The Regency Council tried to install Henry VI as the King of France, as provided by the Treaty of Troyes signed by his father, and led English forces to take over areas of France. It appeared they might succeed due to the poor political position of the son of Charles VI, who had claimed to be the rightful king as Charles VII of France. However, in 1429, Joan of Arc began a military effort to prevent the English from gaining control of France. The French forces regained control of French territory.


title: History of England

text: In 1437, Henry VI came of age and began to actively rule as king. To forge peace, he married French noblewoman Margaret of Anjou in 1445, as provided in the Treaty of Tours. Hostilities with France resumed in 1449. When England lost the Hundred Years' War in August 1453, Henry fell into mental breakdown until Christmas 1454.


title: History of England

text: Henry could not control the feuding nobles, and a series of civil wars known as the Wars of the Roses began, lasting from 1455 to 1485. Although the fighting was very sporadic and small, there was a general breakdown in the power of the Crown. The royal court and Parliament moved to Coventry, in the Lancastrian heartlands, which thus became the capital of England until 1461. Henry's cousin Edward, Duke of York, deposed Henry in 1461 to become Edward IV following a Lancastrian defeat at the Battle of Mortimer's Cross. Edward was later briefly expelled from the throne in 1470–1471 when Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick, brought Henry back to power. Six months later, Edward defeated and killed Warwick in battle and reclaimed the throne. Henry was imprisoned in the Tower of London and died there.


title: History of England

text: Edward died in 1483, only 40 years old, his reign having gone a little way to restoring the power of the Crown. His eldest son and heir Edward V, aged 12, could not succeed him because the king's brother, Richard III, Duke of Gloucester, declared Edward IV's marriage bigamous, making all his children illegitimate. Richard III was then declared king, and Edward V and his 10-year-old brother Richard were imprisoned in the Tower of London. The two were never seen again. It was widely believed that Richard III had them murdered and he was reviled as a treacherous fiend, which limited his ability to govern during his brief reign. In summer 1485, Henry Tudor, the last Lancastrian male, returned from exile in France and landed in Wales. Henry then defeated and killed Richard III at Bosworth Field on 22 August, and was crowned Henry VII.


title: History of England

text: With Henry VII's accession to the throne in 1485, the Wars of the Roses came to an end, and Tudors would continue to rule England for 118 years. Traditionally, the Battle of Bosworth Field is considered to mark the end of the Middle Ages in England, although Henry did not introduce any new concept of monarchy, and for most of his reign his hold on power was tenuous. He claimed the throne by conquest and God's judgement in battle. Parliament quickly recognized him as king, but the Yorkists were far from defeated. Nonetheless, he married Edward IV's eldest daughter Elizabeth in January 1486, thereby uniting the houses of York and Lancaster.


title: History of England

text: Most of the European rulers did not believe Henry would survive long, and were thus willing to shelter claimants against him. The first plot against him was the Stafford and Lovell rebellion of 1486, which presented no serious threat. But Richard III's nephew John de la Pole, Earl of Lincoln, hatched another attempt the following year. Using a peasant boy named Lambert Simnel, who posed as Edward, Earl of Warwick (the real Warwick was locked up in the Tower of London), he led an army of 2,000 German mercenaries paid for by Margaret of Burgundy into England. They were defeated and de la Pole was killed at the difficult Battle of Stoke, where the loyalty of some of the royal troops to Henry was questionable. The king, realizing that Simnel was a dupe, employed him in the royal kitchen.


title: History of England

text: A more serious threat was Perkin Warbeck, a Flemish youth who posed as Edward IV's son Richard. Again with support from Margaret of Burgundy, he invaded England four times from 1495 to 1497 before he was captured and imprisoned in the Tower of London. Both Warbeck and the Earl of Warwick were dangerous even in captivity, and Henry executed them in 1499 before Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain would allow their daughter Catherine to come to England and marry his son Arthur.


title: History of England

text: In 1497, Henry defeated Cornish rebels marching on London. The rest of his reign was relatively peaceful, despite worries about succession after the death of his wife Elizabeth of York in 1503.


title: History of England

text: Henry VII's foreign policy was peaceful. He had made an alliance with Spain and the Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I, but in 1493, when they went to war with France, England was dragged into the conflict. Impoverished and his hold on power insecure, Henry had no desire for war. He quickly reached an understanding with the French and renounced all claims to their territory except the port of Calais, realizing also that he could not stop them from incorporating the Duchy of Brittany. In return, the French agreed to recognize him as king and stop sheltering pretenders. Shortly afterwards, they became preoccupied with adventures in Italy. Henry also reached an understanding with Scotland, agreeing to marry his daughter Margaret to that country's king James IV.


title: History of England

text: Upon becoming king, Henry inherited a government severely weakened and degraded by the Wars of the Roses. The treasury was empty, having been drained by Edward IV's Woodville in-laws after his death. Through a tight fiscal policy and sometimes ruthless tax collection and confiscations, Henry refilled the treasury by the time of his death. He also effectively rebuilt the machinery of government.


title: History of England

text: In 1501, the king's son Arthur, having married Catherine of Aragon, died of illness at age 15, leaving his younger brother Henry, Duke of York as heir. When the king himself died in 1509, the position of the Tudors was secure at last, and his son succeeded him unopposed.


title: History of England

text: Henry VIII began his reign with much optimism. The handsome, athletic young king stood in sharp contrast to his wary, miserly father. Henry's lavish court quickly drained the treasury of the fortune he inherited. He married the widowed Catherine of Aragon, and they had several children, but none survived infancy except a daughter, Mary.


title: History of England

text: In 1512, the young king started a war in France. Although England was an ally of Spain, one of France's principal enemies, the war was mostly about Henry's desire for personal glory, despite his sister Mary being married to the French king Louis XII. The war accomplished little. The English army suffered badly from disease, and Henry was not even present at the one notable victory, the Battle of the Spurs. Meanwhile, James IV of Scotland (despite being Henry's other brother-in-law), activated his alliance with the French and declared war on England. While Henry was dallying in France, Catherine, who was serving as regent in his absence, and his advisers were left to deal with this threat. At the Battle of Flodden on 9 September 1513, the Scots were completely defeated. James and most of the Scottish nobles were killed. When Henry returned from France, he was given credit for the victory.


title: History of England

text: Eventually, Catherine was no longer able to have any more children. The king became increasingly nervous about the possibility of his daughter Mary inheriting the throne, as England's one experience with a female sovereign, Matilda in the 12th century, had been a catastrophe. He eventually decided that it was necessary to divorce Catherine and find a new queen. To persuade the Church to allow this, Henry cited the passage in the Book of Leviticus: "If a man taketh his brother's wife, he hath committed adultery; they shall be childless". However, Catherine insisted that she and Arthur never consummated their brief marriage and that the prohibition did not apply here. The timing of Henry's case was very unfortunate; it was 1527 and the Pope had been imprisoned by emperor Charles V, Catherine's nephew and the most powerful man in Europe, for siding with his archenemy Francis I of France. Because he could not divorce in these circumstances, Henry seceded from the Church, in what became known as the English Reformation.


title: History of England

text: The newly established Church of England amounted to little more than the existing Catholic Church, but led by the king rather than the Pope. It took a number of years for the separation from Rome to be completed, and many were executed for resisting the king's religious policies.


title: History of England

text: In 1530, Catherine was banished from court and spent the rest of her life (until her death in 1536) alone in an isolated manor home, barred from contact with Mary. Secret correspondence continued thanks to her ladies-in-waiting. Their marriage was declared invalid, making Mary an illegitimate child. Henry married Anne Boleyn secretly in January 1533, just as his divorce from Catherine was finalised. They had a second, public wedding. Anne soon became pregnant and may have already been when they wed. But on 7 September 1533, she gave birth to a daughter, Elizabeth. The king was devastated at his failure to obtain a son after all the effort it had taken to remarry. Gradually, he came to develop a disliking of his new queen for her strange behaviour. In 1536, when Anne was pregnant again, Henry was badly injured in a jousting accident. Shaken by this, the queen gave birth prematurely to a stillborn boy. By now, the king was convinced that his marriage was hexed, and having already found a new queen, Jane Seymour, he put Anne in the Tower of London on charges of witchcraft. Afterwards, she was beheaded along with five men (her brother included) accused of adultery with her. The marriage was then declared invalid, so that Elizabeth, just like her half sister, became a bastard.


title: History of England

text: Henry immediately married Jane Seymour, who became pregnant almost as quickly. On 12 October 1537, she gave birth to a healthy boy, Edward, which was greeted with huge celebrations. However, the queen died of puerperal sepsis ten days later. Henry genuinely mourned her death, and at his own passing nine years later, he was buried next to her.


title: History of England

text: The king married a fourth time in 1540, to the German Anne of Cleves for a political alliance with her Protestant brother, the Duke of Cleves. He also hoped to obtain another son in case something should happen to Edward. Anne proved a dull, unattractive woman and Henry did not consummate the marriage. He quickly divorced her, and she remained in England as a kind of adopted sister to him. He married again, to a 19-year-old named Catherine Howard. But when it became known that she was neither a virgin at the wedding, nor a faithful wife afterwards, she ended up on the scaffold and the marriage declared invalid. His sixth and last marriage was to Catherine Parr, who was more his nursemaid than anything else, as his health was failing since his jousting accident in 1536.


title: History of England

text: In 1542, the king started a new campaign in France, but unlike in 1512, he only managed with great difficulty. He only conquered the city of Boulogne, which France retook in 1549. Scotland also declared war and at Solway Moss was again totally defeated.


title: History of England

text: Henry's paranoia and suspicion worsened in his last years. The number of executions during his 38-year reign numbered tens of thousands. His domestic policies had strengthened royal authority to the detriment of the aristocracy, and led to a safer realm, but his foreign policy adventures did not increase England's prestige abroad and wrecked royal finances and the national economy, and embittered the Irish. He died in January 1547 at age 55 and was succeeded by his son, Edward VI.


title: History of England

text: Although he showed piety and intelligence, Edward VI was only nine years old when he became king in 1547. His uncle, Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset tampered with Henry VIII's will and obtained letters patent giving him much of the power of a monarch by March 1547. He took the title of Protector. While some see him as a high-minded idealist, his stay in power culminated in a crisis in 1549 when many counties of the realm were up in protest. Kett's Rebellion in Norfolk and the Prayer Book Rebellion in Devon and Cornwall simultaneously created a crisis while invasion from Scotland and France were feared. Somerset, disliked by the Regency Council for being autocratic, was removed from power by John Dudley, who is known as Lord President Northumberland. Northumberland proceeded to adopt the power for himself, but he was more conciliatory and the Council accepted him. During Edward's reign England changed from being a Catholic nation to a Protestant one, in schism from Rome.


title: History of England

text: Edward showed great promise but fell violently ill of tuberculosis in 1553 and died that August, two months before his 16th birthday.


title: History of England

text: Northumberland made plans to place Lady Jane Grey on the throne and marry her to his son, so that he could remain the power behind the throne. His plot failed in a matter of days, Jane Grey was beheaded, and Mary I (1516–1558) took the throne amidst popular demonstration in her favour in London, which contemporaries described as the largest show of affection for a Tudor monarch. Mary had never been expected to hold the throne, at least not since Edward was born. She was a devoted Catholic who believed that she could reverse the Reformation.


title: History of England

text: Returning England to Catholicism led to the burnings of 274 Protestants, which are recorded especially in John Foxe's "Book of Martyrs". Mary then married her cousin Philip, son of Emperor Charles V, and King of Spain when Charles abdicated in 1556. The union was difficult because Mary was already in her late 30s and Philip was a Catholic and a foreigner, and so not very welcome in England. This wedding also provoked hostility from France, already at war with Spain and now fearing being encircled by the Habsburgs. Calais, the last English outpost on the Continent, was then taken by France. King Philip (1527–1598) had very little power, although he did protect Elizabeth. He was not popular in England, and spent little time there. Mary eventually became pregnant, or at least believed herself to be. In reality, she may have had uterine cancer. Her death in November 1558 was greeted with huge celebrations in the streets of London.


title: History of England

text: After Mary I died in 1558, Elizabeth I came to the throne. Her reign restored a sort of order to the realm after the turbulent reigns of Edward VI and Mary I. The religious issue which had divided the country since Henry VIII was in a way put to rest by the Elizabethan Religious Settlement, which re-established the Church of England. Much of Elizabeth's success was in balancing the interests of the Puritans and Catholics; historian Robert Bucholz paraphrasing historian Conrad Russell, suggested that the genius of the Church of England was that it "thinks Protestant but looks Catholic." She managed to offend neither to a large extent, although she clamped down on Catholics towards the end of her reign as war with Catholic Spain loomed.


title: History of England

text: Despite the need for an heir, Elizabeth declined to marry, despite offers from a number of suitors across Europe, including the Swedish king Erik XIV. This created endless worries over her succession, especially in the 1560s when she nearly died of smallpox. It has been often rumoured that she had a number of lovers (including Francis Drake), but there is no hard evidence.


title: History of England

text: Elizabeth maintained relative government stability. Apart from the Revolt of the Northern Earls in 1569, she was effective in reducing the power of the old nobility and expanding the power of her government. Elizabeth's government did much to consolidate the work begun under Thomas Cromwell in the reign of Henry VIII, that is, expanding the role of the government and effecting common law and administration throughout England. During the reign of Elizabeth and shortly afterwards, the population grew significantly: from three million in 1564 to nearly five million in 1616.


title: History of England

text: The queen ran afoul of her cousin Mary, Queen of Scots, who was a devoted Catholic and so was forced to abdicate her throne (Scotland had recently become Protestant). She fled to England, where Elizabeth immediately had her arrested. Mary spent the next 19 years in confinement, but proved too dangerous to keep alive, as the Catholic powers in Europe considered her the legitimate ruler of England. She was eventually tried for treason, sentenced to death, and beheaded in February 1587.


title: History of England

text: The Elizabethan era was the epoch in English history of Queen Elizabeth I's reign (1558–1603). Historians often depict it as the golden age in English history. The symbol of Britannia was first used in 1572 and often thereafter to mark the Elizabethan age as a renaissance that inspired national pride through classical ideals, international expansion, and naval triumph over the hated Spanish foe. In terms of the entire century, the historian John Guy (1988) argues that "England was economically healthier, more expansive, and more optimistic under the Tudors" than at any time in a thousand years.


title: History of England

text: This "golden age" represented the apogee of the English Renaissance and saw the flowering of poetry, music and literature. The era is most famous for theatre, as William Shakespeare and many others composed plays that broke free of England's past style of theatre. It was an age of exploration and expansion abroad, while back at home, the Protestant Reformation became more acceptable to the people, most certainly after the Spanish Armada was repulsed. It was also the end of the period when England was a separate realm before its royal union with Scotland.


title: History of England

text: The Elizabethan Age is viewed so highly largely because of the periods before and after. It was a brief period of largely internal peace after the horrible violence and disorder of the Wars of the Roses, and battles between Catholics and Protestants during the English Reformation; and it preceded the violent turmoil of the English Civil War and battles between parliament and the monarchy during the 17th century. The Protestant/Catholic divide was settled, for a time, by the Elizabethan Religious Settlement, and parliament was not yet strong enough to challenge royal absolutism.


title: History of England

text: England was also well off compared to the other nations of Europe. The Italian Renaissance had ended due to foreign domination of the peninsula. France was embroiled in religious battles until the Edict of Nantes in 1598. Also, the English had been expelled from their last outposts on the continent. Due to these reasons, the centuries long conflict with France was largely suspended for most of Elizabeth's reign. England during this period had a centralised, organised and effective government, largely due to the reforms of Henry VII and Henry VIII. Economically, the country began to benefit greatly from the new era of trans-Atlantic trade.


title: History of England

text: In 1585 worsening relations between Philip II of Spain and Elizabeth erupted into war. Elizabeth signed the Treaty of Nonsuch with the Dutch and permitted Francis Drake to maraud in response to a Spanish embargo. Drake surprised Vigo, Spain, in October, then proceeded to the Caribbean and sacked Santo Domingo (the capital of Spain's American empire and the present-day capital of the Dominican Republic) and Cartagena (a large and wealthy port on the north coast of Colombia that was the centre of the silver trade). Philip II tried to invade England with the Spanish Armada in 1588 but was famously defeated.


title: History of England

text: The Armada was not just a naval campaign. The build-up of land forces to resist a Spanish invasion has been described as an administrative feat of massive scope. A survey taken in November and December 1587 showed 130,000 men in the militia, of whom 44,000 were members of the trained bands, being drilled and led by experienced captains and sergeants. By May 1588 the London bands were drilling weekly. To give warning of the enemy's approach, beacons were built, manned twenty-four hours a day by four men. Once the beacons were lit, 72,000 men could be mobilised on the south coast, with another 46,000 protecting London. For the many Englishmen caught up in the Armada the experience must have been very profound and frightening. Some shared the intimacy of beacon watching, hoping for the best, but ready to light their warning fires in case of the worst. Deloney, a London silkweaver, played on their fears in his (1588). The political philosopher Thomas Hobbes recalled that his mother was so frightened that she prematurely gave birth to twins, of whom he was one. All were terrified about what might happen if the Spanish invaded. Stories of the Sack of Antwerp in 1576, in which the Spanish led by Sancho d'Avila raped, tortured and murdered as many as 17,000 civilians, were grist for playwrights and pamphleteers such as George Gascoigne and Shakespeare. The former remembered seeing civilians at Antwerp drowned, burned, or with guts hanging out as if they had been used for an anatomy lesson. Few Englishmen, women and children doubted they faced similar fates had the Armada landed.


title: History of England

text: In foreign policy, Elizabeth played against each other the major powers France and Spain, as well as the papacy and Scotland. These were all Catholic and each wanted to end Protestantism in England. Elizabeth was cautious in foreign affairs and only half-heartedly supported a number of ineffective, poorly resourced military campaigns in the Netherlands, France and Ireland. She risked war with Spain by supporting the "Sea Dogs", such as Walter Raleigh, John Hawkins and Sir Francis Drake, who preyed on Spanish merchant ships carrying gold and silver from the New World. Drake himself became a hero—being the first Englishman to circumnavigate the world between 1577 and 1580, having plundered Spanish settlements and treasure ships. The major war came with Spain, 1585–1603. When Spain tried to invade and conquer England it was a fiasco, and the defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588 associated Elizabeth's name with what is popularly viewed as one of the greatest victories in English history. Her enemies failed to combine and Elizabeth's foreign policy successfully navigated all the dangers.


title: History of England

text: In all, the Tudor period is seen as a decisive one which set up many important questions which would have to be answered in the next century and during the English Civil War. These were questions of the relative power of the monarch and Parliament and to what extent one should control the other. Some historians think that Thomas Cromwell affected a "Tudor Revolution" in government, and it is certain that Parliament became more important during his chancellorship. Other historians argue that the "Tudor Revolution" extended to the end of Elizabeth's reign, when the work was all consolidated. Although the Privy Council declined after Elizabeth's death, it was very effective while she was alive.


title: History of England

text: When Elizabeth died, her closest male Protestant relative was the King of Scots, James VI, of the House of Stuart, who became King James I of England in a Union of the Crowns, called James I and VI. He was the first monarch to rule the entire island of Britain, but the countries remained separate politically. Upon taking power, James made peace with Spain, and for the first half of the 17th century, England remained largely inactive in European politics. Several assassination attempts were made on James, notably the Main Plot and Bye Plots of 1603, and most famously, on 5 November 1605, the Gunpowder Plot, by a group of Catholic conspirators, led by Robert Catesby, which caused more antipathy in England towards Catholicism.


title: History of England

text: In 1607 England built an establishment at Jamestown. This was the beginning of colonialism by England in North America. Many English settled then in North America for religious or economic reasons. Approximately 70% of English immigrants to North America who came between 1630 and 1660 were indentured servants. By 1700, Chesapeake planters transported about 100,000 indentured servants, who accounted for more than 75% of all European immigrants to Virginia and Maryland.


title: History of England

text: The First English Civil War broke out in 1642, largely due to ongoing conflicts between James' son, Charles I, and Parliament. The defeat of the Royalist army by the New Model Army of Parliament at the Battle of Naseby in June 1645 effectively destroyed the king's forces. Charles surrendered to the Scottish army at Newark. He was eventually handed over to the English Parliament in early 1647. He escaped, and the Second English Civil War began, but the New Model Army quickly secured the country. The capture and trial of Charles led to the execution of Charles I in January 1649 at Whitehall Gate in London, making England a republic. This shocked the rest of Europe. The king argued to the end that only God could judge him.


title: History of England

text: The New Model Army, commanded by Oliver Cromwell, then scored decisive victories against Royalist armies in Ireland and Scotland. Cromwell was given the title Lord Protector in 1653, making him 'king in all but name' to his critics. After he died in 1658, his son Richard Cromwell succeeded him in the office but he was forced to abdicate within a year. For a while it seemed as if a new civil war would begin as the New Model Army split into factions. Troops stationed in Scotland under the command of George Monck eventually marched on London to restore order.


title: History of England

text: According to Derek Hirst, outside of politics and religion, the 1640s and 1650s saw a revived economy characterized by growth in manufacturing, the elaboration of financial and credit instruments, and the commercialization of communication. The gentry found time for leisure activities, such as horse racing and bowling. In the high culture important innovations included the development of a mass market for music, increased scientific research, and an expansion of publishing. All the trends were discussed in depth at the newly established coffee houses.


title: History of England

text: The monarchy was restored in 1660, with King Charles II returning to London. However, the power of the crown was less than before the Civil War. By the 18th century, England rivaled the Netherlands as one of the freest countries in Europe.


title: History of England

text: In 1665, London was swept by the plague, and in 1666 by the Great Fire for 5 days which destroyed about 15,000 buildings.


title: History of England

text: In 1680, the Exclusion Crisis consisted of attempts to prevent accession of James, heir to Charles II, because he was Catholic. After Charles II died in 1685 and his younger brother, James II and VII was crowned, various factions pressed for his Protestant daughter Mary and her husband Prince William III of Orange to replace him in what became known as the Glorious Revolution.


title: History of England

text: In November 1688, William invaded England and succeeded in being crowned. James tried to retake the throne in the Williamite War, but was defeated at the Battle of the Boyne in 1690.


title: History of England

text: In December 1689, one of the most important constitutional documents in English history, the Bill of Rights, was passed. The Bill, which restated and confirmed many provisions of the earlier Declaration of Right, established restrictions on the royal prerogative. For example, the Sovereign could not suspend laws passed by Parliament, levy taxes without parliamentary consent, infringe the right to petition, raise a standing army during peacetime without parliamentary consent, deny the right to bear arms to Protestant subjects, unduly interfere with parliamentary elections, punish members of either House of Parliament for anything said during debates, require excessive bail or inflict cruel and unusual punishments. William was opposed to such constraints, but chose to avoid conflict with Parliament and agreed to the statute.


title: History of England

text: In parts of Scotland and Ireland, Catholics loyal to James remained determined to see him restored to the throne, and staged a series of bloody uprisings. As a result, any failure to pledge loyalty to the victorious King William was severely dealt with. The most infamous example of this policy was the Massacre of Glencoe in 1692. Jacobite rebellions continued into the mid-18th century until the son of the last Catholic claimant to the throne, James III and VIII, mounted a final campaign in 1745. The Jacobite forces of Prince Charles Edward Stuart, the "Bonnie Prince Charlie" of legend, were defeated at the Battle of Culloden in 1746.


title: History of England

text: The Acts of Union between the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Scotland were a pair of Parliamentary Acts passed by both parliaments in 1707, which dissolved them in order to form a Kingdom of Great Britain governed by a unified Parliament of Great Britain according to the Treaty of Union. The Acts joined the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Scotland (previously separate independent states, with separate legislatures but with the same monarch, starting with James I of England (also James VI of Scotland)) into a single kingdom.


title: History of England

text: The two countries had shared a monarch since the Union of the Crowns in 1603, when King James VI of Scotland inherited the English throne from his double first cousin twice removed, Queen Elizabeth I. Although described as a Union of Crowns, until 1707 there were in fact two separate Crowns resting on the same head. There had been three attempts in 1606, 1667, and 1689 to unite the two countries by Acts of Parliament, but it was not until the early 18th century that the idea had the will of both political establishments behind them, albeit for rather different reasons.


title: History of England

text: The Acts took effect on 1 May 1707. On this date, the Scots Parliament and the English Parliament united to form the Parliament of Great Britain, based in the Palace of Westminster in London, the home of the English Parliament. Hence, the Acts are referred to as the Union of the Parliaments. On the Union, historian Simon Schama said "What began as a hostile merger, would end in a full partnership in the most powerful going concern in the world ... it was one of the most astonishing transformations in European history."


title: History of England

text: In 1714 ended the reign of Queen Anne, the last monarch of the House of Stuart. She was succeeded by her second cousin, George I, of the House of Hanover, who was a descendant of the Stuarts through his maternal grandmother, Elizabeth, daughter of James VI & I. A series of Jacobite rebellions broke out in an attempt to restore the Stuart monarchy, but failed. Several planned French invasions were attempted, also with the intention of placing the Stuarts on the throne.


title: History of England

text: The Act of Union of 1800 formally assimilated Ireland within the British political process and from 1 January 1801 created a new state called the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, which united Great Britain with the Kingdom of Ireland to form a single political entity. The English parliament at Westminster became the parliament of the Union.


title: History of England

text: Following the formation of Great Britain, the history of England is no longer the history of a sovereign nation, but rather the history of one of the countries of the United Kingdom.


title: History of England

text: In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, technological advances and mechanization resulted in the Industrial Revolution which transformed a largely agrarian society and caused considerable social upheaval. Economies of scale and increased output per worker allowed steam-based factories to undercut production of traditional cottage industries. Much of the agricultural workforce was uprooted from the countryside and moved into large urban centres of production. The consequent overcrowding into areas with little supporting infrastructure saw dramatic increases in mortality, crime, and social deprivation. (Many Sunday schools for pre-working-age children (5 or 6) had funeral clubs to pay for each other's funeral arrangements.) The process of industrialization threatened many livelihoods, which prompted some to sabotage factories. These saboteurs were known as "Luddites".


title: History of England

text: The Local Government Act 1888 was the first systematic attempt to impose a standardised system of local government in England. The system was based on the existing counties (today known as the historic counties, since the major boundary changes of 1974). Later, the Local Government Act 1894 created a second tier of local government. All administrative counties and county boroughs were divided into either rural or urban districts, allowing more localised administration.


title: History of England

text: During the 1800s, the need for local administration greatly increased, prompting piecemeal adjustments. The sanitary districts and parish councils had legal status, but were not part of the mechanism of government. They were run by volunteers; often no-one could be held responsible for the failure to undertake the required duties. Furthermore, the increased "county business" could not be handled by the quarter sessions, nor was this appropriate. Finally, there was a desire to see local administration performed by elected officials, as in the reformed municipal boroughs. By 1888, these shortcomings were clear, and the Local Government Act was the first systematic attempt to create a standardised system of local government in England.


title: History of England

text: The system was based on the existing counties (now known as the historic counties, since the major boundary changes of 1974). The counties themselves had had some boundary changes in the preceding 50 years, mainly to remove enclaves and exclaves. The act called for the creation of statutory counties, based on the ancient/historic counties, but completely corrected for enclaves and exclaves, and adjusted so that each settlement was completely within one county. These statutory counties were to be used for non-administrative functions: ""sheriff, lieutenant, custos rotulorum, justices, militia, coroner, or other"". With the advent of elected councils, the offices of lord lieutenant and sheriff became largely ceremonial.


title: History of England

text: The statutory counties formed the basis for the so-called 'administrative counties'. However, it was felt that large cities and primarily rural areas in the same county could not be well administered by the same body. Thus, 59 "counties in themselves", or 'county boroughs', were created to administer the urban centres of England. These were part of the statutory counties, but not part of the administrative counties.


title: History of England

text: In 1894, the Local Government Act created a second tier of local government. Henceforth, all administrative counties and county boroughs would be divided into either rural or urban districts, allowing more localised administration. The municipal boroughs reformed after 1835 were brought into this system as special cases of urban districts. The urban and rural districts were based on, and incorporated the sanitary districts which created in 1875 (with adjustments, so that districts did not overlap two counties).


title: History of England

text: The Act also provided for the establishment of civil parishes. The 1894 Act formed an official system of civil parishes, separated from the ecclesiastical parishes, to carry on some of these responsibilities (others being transferred to the district/county councils). However, the civil parishes were not a complete third tier of local government. Instead, they were 'community councils' for smaller, rural settlements, which did not have a local government district to themselves. Where urban parish councils had previously existed, they were absorbed into the new urban districts.


title: History of England

text: A prolonged agricultural depression in Britain at the end of the 19th century, together with the introduction in the 20th century of increasingly heavy levels of taxation on inherited wealth, put an end to agricultural land as the primary source of wealth for the upper classes. Many estates were sold or broken up, and this trend was accelerated by the introduction of protection for agricultural tenancies, encouraging outright sales, from the mid-20th century.


title: History of England

text: Following years of political and military agitation for 'Home Rule' for Ireland, the Anglo-Irish treaty of 1921 established the Irish Free State (now the Republic of Ireland) as a separate state, leaving Northern Ireland as part of the United Kingdom. The country's official name thus became "The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland".


title: History of England

text: England, as part of the UK, joined the European Economic Community in 1973, which became the European Union in 1993. The UK left the EU in 2020.


title: History of England

text: There is a movement in England to create a devolved English Parliament. This would give England a local Parliament like those already functioning for Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales. This issue is referred to as the West Lothian question.


title: History of England

text: A Local Government Commission was wound up in 1966, and replaced with a Royal Commission (known as the Redcliffe-Maud commission). In 1969 it recommended a system of single-tier unitary authorities for the whole of England, apart from three metropolitan areas of Merseyside, Selnec (Greater Manchester) and West Midlands (Birmingham and the Black Country), which were to have both a metropolitan council and district councils. This report was accepted by the Labour Party government of the time despite considerable opposition, but the Conservative Party won the June 1970 general election, and on a manifesto that committed them to a two-tier structure.


title: History of England

text: The reforms arising from the Local Government Act of 1972 resulted in the most uniform and simplified system of local government which has been used in England. They effectively wiped away everything that had gone before, and built an administrative system from scratch. All previous administrative districts—statutory counties, administrative counties, county boroughs, municipal boroughs, counties corporate, civil parishes—were abolished.


title: History of England

text: The aim of the act was to establish a uniform two tier system across the country. Onto the blank canvas, new counties were created to cover the entire country; many of these were obviously based on the historic counties, but there were some major changes, especially in the north.


title: History of England

text: This uniform two-tier system lasted only 12 years. In 1986, the metropolitan county councils and Greater London were abolished. This restored autonomy (in effect the old county borough status) to the metropolitan and London boroughs. The Local Government Act (1992) established a commission (Local Government Commission for England) to examine the issues, and make recommendations on where unitary authorities should be established. It was considered too expensive to make the system entirely unitary, and also there would doubtlessly be cases where the two-tier system functioned well. The commission recommended that many counties be moved to completely unitary systems; that some cities become unitary authorities, but that the remainder of their parent counties remain two-tier; and that in some counties the "status quo" should remain.


title: History of England

text: The rate-capping rebellion was a campaign within English local councils in 1985 which aimed to force the Conservative government of Margaret Thatcher to withdraw powers to restrict the spending of councils. The campaign's tactic was that councils whose budgets were restricted would refuse to set any budget at all for the financial year 1985–86, requiring the Government to intervene directly in providing local services, or to concede. However, all 15 councils which initially refused to set a rate eventually did so, and the campaign failed to change Government policy. Powers to restrict council budgets have remained in place ever since.


title: History of England

text: In 1997, the Lieutenancies Act was passed. This firmly separated all local authority areas (whether unitary or two-tier), from the geographical concept of a county as high level spatial unit. The lieutenancies it established became known as ceremonial counties, since they were no longer administrative divisions. The counties represent a compromise between the historic counties and the counties established in 1974.


title: History of England

text: While the 1997 Labour government devolved power to Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, it refused to create a devolved Assembly or parliament for England, planning instead to introduce eight regional assemblies around England to devolve power to the regions. In the event, only a London Assembly (and directly elected Mayor) was established. Rejection in a referendum of a proposed North-East Assembly in 2004 effectively scrapped those plans. A pre-condition of having a regional assembly was for the whole area to move to unitary authority status. Since the 2005 general election the government has floated the idea of voluntary mergers of local councils, avoiding a costly reorganisation but achieving desired reform. For instance, the guiding principles of the government's "New Localism" demand levels of efficiency not present in the current over-duplicated two-tier structure.


title: History of England

text: In 2009, new changes to local government were made whereby a number of new unitary authorities were created in areas which previously had a 'two-tier' system of counties and districts. In five shire counties the functions of the county and district councils were combined into a single authority; and in two counties the powers of the county council were absorbed into a significantly reduced number of districts.


title: History of England

text: The abolition of regional development agencies and the creation of local enterprise partnerships were announced as part of the June 2010 United Kingdom budget. On 29 June 2010 a letter was sent from the Department of Communities and Local Government and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills to local authority and business leaders, inviting proposals to replace regional development agencies in their areas by 6 September 2010.


title: History of England

text: On 7 September 2010, details were released of 56 proposals for local enterprise partnerships that had been received. On 6 October 2010, during the Conservative Party Conference, it was revealed that 22 had been given the provisional 'green light' to proceed and others may later be accepted with amendments. Twenty-four bids were announced as successful on 28 October 2010.


title: History of England

text: "Note: Be sure to check the box in the upper right corner of this entry, providing a list of all notable eras within the history of England."


title: Onomatopoeia

text: Onomatopoeia is the process of creating a word that phonetically imitates, resembles, or suggests the sound that it describes. Such a word itself is also called an onomatopoeia. Common onomatopoeias include animal noises such as "oink", "meow" (or "miaow"), "roar", and "chirp". Onomatopoeia can differ between languages: it conforms to some extent to the broader linguistic system; hence the sound of a clock may be expressed as "tick tock" in English, in Spanish and Italian (shown in the picture), in Mandarin, in Japanese, or in Hindi.


title: Onomatopoeia

text: The English term comes from the Ancient Greek compound "onomatopoeia", 'name-making', composed of "onomato"- 'name' and -"poeia" 'making'. Thus, words that imitate sounds can be said to be onomatopoeic or onomatopoetic.


title: Onomatopoeia

text: In the case of a frog croaking, the spelling may vary because different frog species around the world make different sounds: Ancient Greek (only in Aristophanes' comic play "The Frogs") probably for marsh frogs; English "ribbit" for species of frog found in North America; English verb "croak" for the common frog.


title: Onomatopoeia

text: Some other very common English-language examples are "hiccup", "zoom", "bang", "beep", "moo", and "splash". Machines and their sounds are also often described with onomatopoeia: "honk" or "beep-beep" for the horn of an automobile, and "vroom" or "brum" for the engine. In speaking of a mishap involving an audible arcing of electricity, the word "zap" is often used (and its use has been extended to describe non-auditory effects of interference).


title: Onomatopoeia

text: Human sounds sometimes provide instances of onomatopoeia, as when "mwah" is used to represent a kiss.


title: Onomatopoeia

text: For animal sounds, words like "quack" (duck), "moo" (cow), "bark" or "woof" (dog), "roar" (lion), "meow"/"miaow" or "purr" (cat), "cluck" (chicken) and "baa" (sheep) are typically used in English (both as nouns and as verbs).


title: Onomatopoeia

text: Some languages flexibly integrate onomatopoeic words into their structure. This may evolve into a new word, up to the point that the process is no longer recognized as onomatopoeia. One example is the English word "bleat" for sheep noise: in medieval times it was pronounced approximately as "blairt" (but without an R-component), or "blet" with the vowel drawled, which more closely resembles a sheep noise than the modern pronunciation.


title: Onomatopoeia

text: An example of the opposite case is "cuckoo", which, due to continuous familiarity with the bird noise down the centuries, has kept approximately the same pronunciation as in Anglo-Saxon times and its vowels have not changed as they have in the word "furrow".


title: Onomatopoeia

text: "Verba dicendi" ('words of saying') are a method of integrating onomatopoeic words and ideophones into grammar.


title: Onomatopoeia

text: Sometimes, things are named from the sounds they make. In English, for example, there is the universal fastener which is named for the sound it makes: the zip (in the UK) or zipper (in the U.S.) Many birds are named after their calls, such as the bobwhite quail, the weero, the morepork, the killdeer, chickadees and jays, the cuckoo, the chiffchaff, the whooping crane, the whip-poor-will, and the kookaburra. In Tamil and Malayalam, the word for crow is . This practice is especially common in certain languages such as Māori, and so in names of animals borrowed from these languages.


title: Onomatopoeia

text: Although a particular sound is heard similarly by people of different cultures, it is often expressed through the use of different consonant strings in different languages. For example, the "snip" of a pair of scissors is ' in Italian, ' in Spanish, ' or ' in Portuguese, ' in modern Greek, ' in Albanian, and ' in Hindi. Similarly, the "honk" of a car's horn is ' (Han: ) in Mandarin, ' in French, ' in Japanese, ' in Korean, ' in Norwegian, ' in Portuguese and ' in Vietnamese.


title: Onomatopoeia

text: An onomatopoeic effect can also be produced in a phrase or word string with the help of alliteration and consonance alone, without using any onomatopoeic words. The most famous example is the phrase ""furrow followed free"" in Samuel Taylor Coleridge's "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner". The words "followed" and "free" are not onomatopoeic in themselves, but in conjunction with "furrow" they reproduce the sound of ripples following in the wake of a speeding ship. Similarly, alliteration has been used in the line ""as the surf surged up the sun swept shore..."" to recreate the sound of breaking waves in the poem "I, She and the Sea".


title: Onomatopoeia

text: Comic strips and comic books make extensive use of onomatopoeia. Popular culture historian Tim DeForest noted the impact of writer-artist Roy Crane (1901–1977), the creator of "Captain Easy" and "Buz Sawyer":


title: Onomatopoeia

text: In 2002, DC Comics introduced a villain named Onomatopoeia, an athlete, martial artist, and weapons expert, who often speaks pure sounds.


title: Onomatopoeia

text: Advertising uses onomatopoeia for mnemonic purposes, so that consumers will remember their products, as in Alka-Seltzer's "Plop, plop, fizz, fizz. Oh, what a relief it is!" jingle, recorded in two different versions (big band and rock) by Sammy Davis, Jr.


title: Onomatopoeia

text: Rice Krispies (US and UK) and Rice Bubbles (AU) make a "snap, crackle, pop" when one pours on milk. During the 1930s, the illustrator Vernon Grant developed Snap, Crackle and Pop as gnome-like mascots for the Kellogg Company.


title: Onomatopoeia

text: Sounds appear in road safety advertisements: "clunk click, every trip" (click the seatbelt on after clunking the car door closed; UK campaign) or "click, clack, front and back" (click, clack of connecting the seat belts; AU campaign) or "click it or ticket" (click of the connecting seat belt, with the implied penalty of a traffic ticket for not using a seat belt; US DOT (Department of Transportation) campaign).


title: Onomatopoeia

text: In many of the world's languages, onomatopoeic-like words are used to describe phenomena beyond the purely auditive. Japanese often uses such words to describe feelings or figurative expressions about objects or concepts. For instance, Japanese is used to reflect an object's state of disarray or separation, and is the onomatopoetic form of absolute silence (used at the time an English speaker might expect to hear the sound of crickets chirping or a pin dropping in a silent room, or someone coughing). In Albanian, is used to describe someone who is hasty. It is used in English as well with terms like "bling", which describes the glinting of light on things like gold, chrome or precious stones. In Japanese, is used for glittery things.


title: Onomatopoeia

text: A key component of language is its arbitrariness and what a word can represent, as a word is a sound created by humans with attached meaning to said sound. No one can determine the meaning of a word purely by how it sounds. However, in onomatopoeic words, these sounds are much less arbitrary; they are connected in their imitation of other objects or sounds in nature. Vocal sounds in the imitation of natural sounds doesn't necessarily gain meaning, but can gain symbolic meaning. An example of this sound symbolism in the English language is the use of words starting with "sn-". Some of these words symbolize concepts related to the nose ("sneeze", "snot", "snore"). This does not mean that all words with that sound relate to the nose, but at some level we recognize a sort of symbolism associated with the sound itself. Onomatopoeia, while a facet of language, is also in a sense outside of the confines of language.


title: Onomatopoeia

text: In linguistics, onomatopoeia is described as the connection, or symbolism, of a sound that is interpreted and reproduced within the context of a language, usually out of mimicry of a sound. It is a figure of speech, in a sense. Considered a vague term on its own, there are a few varying defining factors in classifying onomatopoeia. In one manner, it is defined simply as the imitation of some kind of non-vocal sound using the vocal sounds of a language, like the hum of a bee being imitated with a "buzz" sound. In another sense, it is described as the phenomena of making a new word entirely.


title: Onomatopoeia

text: Onomatopoeia works in the sense of symbolizing an idea in a phonological context, not necessarily constituting a direct meaningful word in the process. The symbolic properties of a sound in a word, or a phoneme, is related to a sound in an environment, and are restricted in part by a language's own phonetic inventory, hence why many languages can have distinct onomatopoeia for the same natural sound. Depending on a language's connection to a sound's meaning, that language's onomatopoeia inventory can differ proportionally. For example, a language like English generally holds little symbolic representation when it comes to sounds, which is the reason English tends to have a smaller representation of sound mimicry then a language like Japanese that overall has a much higher amount of symbolism related to the sounds of the language.


title: Onomatopoeia

text: In ancient Greek philosophy, onomatopoeia was used as evidence for how natural a language was: it was theorized that language itself was derived from natural sounds in the world around us. Symbolism in sounds was seen as deriving from this. Some linguists hold that onomatopoeia may have been the first form of human language.


title: Onomatopoeia

text: When first exposed to sound and communication, humans are biologically inclined to mimic the sounds they hear, whether they are actual pieces of language or other natural sounds. Early on in development, an infant will vary his/her utterances between sounds that are well established within the phonetic range of the language(s) most heavily spoken in their environment, which may be called "tame" onomatopoeia, and the full range of sounds that the vocal tract can produce, or "wild" onomatopoeia. As one begins to acquire one's first language, the proportion of "wild" onomatopoeia reduces in favor of sounds which are congruent with those of the language they are acquiring.


title: Onomatopoeia

text: During the native language acquisition period, it has been documented that infants may react strongly to the more wild-speech features to which they are exposed, compared to more tame and familiar speech features. But the results of such tests are inconclusive.


title: Onomatopoeia

text: In the context of language acquisition, sound symbolism has been shown to play an important role. The association of foreign words to subjects and how they relate to general objects, such as the association of the words takete and baluma with either a round or angular shape, has been tested to see how languages symbolize sounds.


title: Onomatopoeia

text: The Japanese language has a large inventory of ideophone words that are symbolic sounds. These are used in contexts ranging from day to day conversation to serious news. These words fall into four categories:


title: Onomatopoeia

text: The two former correspond directly to the concept of onomatopoeia, while the two latter are similar to onomatopoeia in that they are intended to represent a concept mimetically and performatively rather than referentially, but different from onomatopoeia in that they aren't just imitative of sounds. For example, represents something being silent, just as how an anglophone might say "clatter, crash, bang!" to represent something being noisy. That "representative" or "performative" aspect is the similarity to onomatopoeia.


title: Onomatopoeia

text: There is a documented correlation within the Malay language of onomatopoeia that begin with the sound bu- and the implication of something that is rounded, as well as with the sound of -lok within a word conveying curvature in such words like , and ('locomotive', 'cove', and 'curve' respectively).


title: Onomatopoeia

text: The Qur'an, written in Arabic, documents instances of onomatopoeia. Of about 77,701 words, there are nine words that are onomatopoeic: three are animal sounds (e.g., "mooing"), two are sounds of nature (e.g.; "thunder"), and four that are human sounds (e.g., "whisper" or "groan").


title: Onomatopoeia

text: There is wide array of objects and animals in the Albanian language that have been named after the sound they produce. Such onomatopoeic words are (matches), named after the distinct sound of friction and ignition of the match head; (ashtray) mimicking the sound it makes when placed on a table; (rain) resembling the continuous sound of pouring rain; (Little owl) after its "cuckoo" hoot; (brush) for its rustling sound; (slippers and flip-flops); (loud flatulence) and (silent flatulence).


title: Onomatopoeia

text: In Hindi and Urdu, onomatopoeic words like are used to indicate silly talk. Other examples of onomatopoeic words being used to represent actions are (to do something fast), (to represent fear with the sound of fast beating heart), (to signify a leaky tap) etc. Movement of animals or objects is also sometimes represented with onomatopoeic words like (for a housefly) and (the sound of a cloth being dragged on or off a piece of furniture). refers to whispering. means bark.


title: Honda HR-V

text: The Honda HR-V is a subcompact crossover SUV (B-segment) manufactured and marketed by Honda over three generations.


title: Honda HR-V

text: The first generation HR-V was based on the Honda Logo. It was marketed from 1999 to 2006 in Europe, Japan and select Asia-Pacific markets – and featured three doors (1999–2003) or five doors (1999–2006). The two configurations were internally designated GH2 and GH4 respectively.


title: Honda HR-V

text: After a hiatus between 2006 and 2013, Honda reintroduced the nameplate for the second generation HR-V, based on the third-generation Honda Fit. Production began in late 2013 for the Japanese domestic market as the , while production started in 2015 for North America, Australia, Brazil and select Asian markets as the HR-V. Apart from Japan, the model is also sold as the Vezel in China.


title: Honda HR-V

text: For the third-generation model, the nameplate is split between two different vehicles, one for the global market (sold as the Vezel in Japan), and a larger model based on the eleventh-generation Civic destined for North America and China. The latter will also be sold in other markets as the Honda ZR-V.


title: Honda HR-V

text: According to Honda, the name "HR-V" stands for "Hi-rider Revolutionary Vehicle", while the name "Vezel" is coined from "bezel", the oblique faces of a cut gem, with the "V" for "vehicle".


title: Honda HR-V

text: The HR-V debuted as the "J-WJ" concept, one of the four concepts in Honda's "J-Mover Series" unveiled at the 1997 Tokyo Motor Show and the 1998 Geneva Motor Show. With minimal changes from the concept, the HR-V was marketed exclusively in Japan via Honda's Verno dealership network, aimed at a young demographic. The HR-V was subsequently marketed in Europe with either a Honda "D16W1" type 1.6-litre SOHC (FWD or 4WD) or a SOHC VTEC Honda "D16W5" type engine (exclusively 4WD). A continuously variable transmission was optional.


title: Honda HR-V

text: The HR-V shared its platform with the Honda Logo, and was manufactured in Suzuka, Japan. The all-wheel drive configuration was initially available in a three-door body in February 1999 and was internally designated the GH2. In September 1999, Honda introduced a front-wheel drive, three door variant. Five door models were designated GH4 and were introduced in March 2000. At this time, Honda offered a VTEC engine option for both the three and five-door four-wheel drive models. Neither a five-door front-wheel drive, or a front-wheel drive model with the VTEC engine were marketed.


title: Honda HR-V

text: The five-door was 110 mm longer overall, with a 100 mm longer wheelbase (2,460 mm). Suspension on all models was via MacPherson strut front suspension and a five-link De Dion-type rear suspension.


title: Honda HR-V

text: In advance of European pedestrian protection legislation, the HR-V was designed to minimize pedestrian injuries in the event of an impact. Equipment featured ABS brakes with EBD (electronic brakeforce distribution), dual SRS (supplemental restraint system) airbags, as well as folding power mirrors, power windows, folding rear seats, power steering, heat absorbing glazing, air conditioning, front fog lights and a rear spoiler with an LED center high-mounted brake light. A 285-litre cargo area was equipped with cargo hooks, a subdivided underfloor compartment, and 50:50 split-fold rear seats. Options included body colour roof rails and a large rear roof spoiler.


title: Honda HR-V

text: The Real Time 4WD system, shared with the CR-V, uses a dual hydraulic pump rear differential where the 4WD system is hydraulically activated when the front wheels lose traction. The HR-V was noted for its low nitrous oxide emissions.


title: Honda HR-V

text: The second generation HR-V was previewed as the Urban SUV Concept which was unveiled at the 2013 North American International Auto Show. The concept version was said to be based on Honda's Global Compact Series, which includes the Honda Fit subcompact and the Honda City subcompact sedan.


title: Honda HR-V

text: The vehicle was unveiled in November 2013 at the Tokyo Motor Show as the Vezel. Based on the Honda Fit platform, at the time of its introduction it was the smallest SUV from Honda, below the CR-V. The exterior design of the crossover is inspired by coupés with its sloping roof, and a unique design element like hidden rear door handles.


title: Honda HR-V

text: In terms of practicality, at its release in Europe, Honda claimed the HR-V offers of boot space with the rear seats up and with the rear seats down. While in the North America, the HR-V is said to have with the rear seats up, and with the rear seats folded. Honda has described its cabin as “exceptionally versatile,” due to the inclusion the Magic Seats system carried over from the Fit which enables the lower part of the rear seat to be folded up to carry tall items.


title: Honda HR-V

text: The HR-V's body uses 27% ultra-high-strength steel grades, of either of 780, 980 or 1,500 MPa yield strength.


title: Honda HR-V

text: The Japanese Vezel models went on sale on 20 December 2013. The Vezel was available with two powertrains, as a conventional gasoline-powered and as hybrid electric vehicle. In Japan, the hybrid version was expected to account for 90 percent of the Vezel sales. Its width dimension exceeds Japanese government dimension regulations (1,700 mm) which means Japanese buyers are liable for extra yearly taxes as a result.


title: Honda HR-V

text: The conventional Vezel is equipped with a 1.5-litre direct-injection DOHC i-VTEC inline-four engine coupled to a continuously variable transmission (CVT7), and it is available in front-wheel and all-wheel drive versions.


title: Honda HR-V

text: The Vezel hybrid version is equipped with Honda's next-generation sport hybrid i-DCD system that combines a , 1.5-litre direct injection engine with a , electric motor, Honda's Real Time AWD, Reactive Force Pedal. The hybrid version fuel economy is (3.7 L/100 km) in the Japanese JC08 cycle, while the gasoline version has a fuel economy of (4.9 L/100 km) in the JC08 cycle.


title: Honda HR-V

text: The facelifted model was unveiled on 25 January 2018 in Japan and released later on 15 February 2018. It features a revised chrome bar grille and LED headlamps both being similar to Honda Civic, thin chrome garnish strip on the rear trunk and updated front bumper.


title: Honda HR-V

text: The second-generation Honda HR-V debuted at the 2014 New York International Auto Show as a concept car, with the production model unveiled later at the 2014 LA Auto Show. The HR-V was introduced in the United States in 2015 as a 2016 model. It shares the same platform as the third-generation Fit and is largely identical to the Vezel, which went on sale in Japan in December 2013. The HR-V is smaller than both CR-V and Pilot, again (after the demise of Element) giving Honda a model range with three crossover SUVs.


title: Honda HR-V

text: The US-market HR-V is manufactured at Honda's Celaya, Mexico assembly plant alongside the related Fit and went on sale in May 2015 as a 2016 model. It is powered by a 1.8-litre SOHC i-VTEC I4 engine mated either to a CVT7 transmission similar to the Civic or a 6-speed manual transmission (FWD only).


title: Honda HR-V

text: For the 2019 model year, Honda announced the mid-cycle refresh for the HR-V. It features a revised chrome bar grille being similar to Honda Civic and new headlamp design featuring a single projector lens with DRLs or full LED headlamp similar to the Civic Touring, updated bumper design and overhead roof rails. There are now two headlight options as well; full LED headlights for the touring trim, or LED projector headlights for the other trims. On the interior, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto has been made available. The head unit is now updated and features a volume knob replacing the volume slider. Honda Sensing is standard on EX trims and higher. Although the manual transmission is no longer available, Honda tweaked the CVT7 transmission as well as the optional AWD system. Two new trim levels for the HR-V, Sport and Touring, were added to the trim lineup, now ranging from LX, Sport, EX, EX-L, and Touring.


title: Honda HR-V

text: In China, the vehicle is manufactured and marketed by two separate joint ventures with different names and cosmetic changes. Guangqi Honda revealed the vehicle with the Vezel nameplate in October 2014. It is mostly identical with the global model. Inside, the dual-tone interior features black and orange finish instead of a full grey theme.


title: Honda HR-V

text: In November 2014, Dongfeng Honda released its own version called the Honda XR-V. Previewed by the XR-V Concept in September 2014, it features a redesigned front and rear fascia and door panel sheet metals as it is positioned as a more aggressive looking vehicle. In the rear end, the taillights have been replaced with narrower, LED lights that span the entire width of the rear end. The interior is slightly different from the Vezel with the horizontal HVAC vents replaced by round vents. Both the Vezel and XR-V are powered with a 1.5-litre or 1.8-litre i-VTEC petrol engines.


title: Honda HR-V

text: Honda revealed the facelifted XR-V in February 2020 featuring an updated front fascia and rear bumper. The engine options of the facelift model includes a 1.5-litre VTEC Turbo engine and a 1.5-litre i-VTEC naturally aspirated engine.


title: Honda HR-V

text: The first battery electric version of the Honda Vezel was marketed by Guangqi Honda as the Everus VE-1 in China, based on the Everus EV concept. The production model debuted in November 2019. The electric version of the Honda XR-V was marketed by Dongfeng Honda as the Ciimo XN-V, based on the XN-V Concept. Production began in October 2019. Another electric version released by Dongfeng Honda is the Ciimo M-NV which was revealed in November 2020 which sports a new front and rear fascia design, and a completely redesigned interior with a 12.3-inch TFT instrument cluster and push-button gear selector.


title: Honda HR-V

text: The HR-V was unveiled in the European market in September 2014 as the HR-V Prototype. The specs was further detailed in February 2015, and it went on sale in September 2015.


title: Honda HR-V

text: In Thailand, the HR-V went on sale on 17 November 2014. It is powered by 1.8-litre engine with four trim levels namely S, E, E Limited and EL.


title: Honda HR-V

text: In Singapore, the official Honda distributor sells the HR-V, while the parallel imported version retains the name Vezel.


title: Honda HR-V

text: Parallel importers brought in the petrol, RS and hybrid versions, while the official Honda distributor only brought in the petrol version.


title: Honda HR-V

text: In Indonesia, the HR-V was revealed as a prototype model at the 22nd Indonesia International Motor Show on 18 September 2014 and went on sale on 24 January 2015 as a locally assembled model. It is offered with 1.5-litre and 1.8-litre engine options. The 1.5-litre option were available in the base model A with manual transmission, slightly more equipped S with either manual or CVT7, and the CVT7 only E trim. The only trim available for 1.8-litre variant is the Prestige which is equipped with LED projector headlights with daytime running lights, two-tone alloy wheels, full leather interior and panoramic roof. Mugen body kits were optional for the 1.5 E and 1.8 Prestige variants.


title: Honda HR-V

text: The facelifted HR-V was launched at the 26th Gaikindo Indonesia International Auto Show on 2 August 2018. The 1.5 S and 1.5 E trims received projector headlights, while the 1.5 E Special Edition and 1.8 Prestige received full LED headlights and LED fog lights. The 1.5 A trim was dropped.


title: Honda HR-V

text: The HR-V was launched in Malaysia in February 2015 as a locally assembled model with three trim levels: S, E and V. All variants were updated in May 2016 where the previously offered 16 inch alloy wheels were swapped for 17 inch. A limited 'Mugen' edition based on the V trim was launched in February 2018 and was limited to 1,020 units. Bookings open for the facelift version in July 2018 and in November 2018, a facelift HR-V was showcased during the 2018 Kuala Lumpur International Motor Show. In January 2019, the facelifted HR-V was launched with four trims: 1.8 E, 1.8 V, 1.8 RS and Sport Hybrid i-DCD. Malaysia became the only country outside of Japan to officially market the Vezel/HR-V hybrid. It was reported that 3,000 facelifted HR-V units was delivered with a total of 8,500 bookings. Fast forward to August 2021, Honda Malaysia announced prices for the updated HR-V Hybrid. Coming in at RM114k, it gets an updated kit list that's similar to the 1.8V model. This includes LED headlights and foglight, a seven-inch touchscreen with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto and a new colour choice.


title: Honda HR-V

text: The HR-V was launched on 9 June 2015 and it was offered in three trim levels: S, E and EL. All models are only offered with the 1.8-litre engine matted with a CVT transmission.


title: Honda HR-V

text: The facelifted HR-V was launched on 24 August 2018 and it is offered in two trim levels: 1.8 E and 1.8 RS.


title: Honda HR-V

text: The HR-V was introduced in Taiwan in October 2016 and is only available with the 1.8-litre engine. It comes in three different trims, the VTi, VTi-S and S. All models feature a CVT transmission, with the VTi featuring seven gear ratios (including L), whereas the VTi-S and S have five gear ratios. For the 2019 refresh, the VTi model was discontinued. The refresh also brought the CVT gearbox to the VTi-S model, as well as several other minor tweaks, like 17-inch alloy wheels (up from 16-inch). The S trim was updated with full LED lights, an updated entertainment system with improved reversing camera and a few other minor tweaks.


title: Honda HR-V

text: The Brazil-market HR-V, assembled locally at Honda's plant in the state of São Paulo and also imported from Argentina, went on sale in first-quarter 2015 as a 2016 model. For the first nine months of 2015, Honda's production in Brazil was reported to increase by 20 percent as a result of the launch of HR-V compared with a 20% drop for the industry.


title: Honda HR-V

text: On 21 May 2020, the last HR-V rolled out the assembly line of the Argentinian plant, marking the closure of the plant. This means Brazil is the only producer of the HR-V in South America.


title: Honda HR-V

text: The HR-V was launched in Pakistan in 2016 but was later discontinued owing to poor sales. Despite being a global model, Honda did not market the second-generation HR-V in India where it has significant operations, citing uncompetitive pricing compared to its rivals and potentially high investment for the localization of components. A Honda executive cited an example of the crossover's electric parking brake which comes standard with the vehicle that would inflate the cost, while the vehicle was not designed with a manual handbrake in mind. Honda offered the cheaper Brio-based BR-V and the Fit/Jazz-based WR-V instead. The company has started a project from late 2017 to produce and market the second-generation HR-V in India from December 2019, only to be shelved again due to low sales forecast.


title: Honda HR-V

text: Vezel Hybrid produced in Japan from July 2013 through February 2014 were recalled due to a problem with the software program controlling the 7-speed dual clutch transmission (DCT) which could cause a delay in the ability to begin driving or the inability to move at all.


title: Honda HR-V

text: Honda recalled 160,000 Fit subcompact and Vezel sport-utility vehicles, manufactured from August 2013 through February 2016 in Japan, because of defective power steering and a part that controls the electric current in the vehicles. The recall does not affect any Honda models sold abroad.


title: Honda HR-V

text: The third-generation HR-V is split into two different models for different markets. The global model (with "RV" model code) was first introduced in 2021 and has been produced in Japan, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Brazil, Taiwan, China and Pakistan while also marketed in Europe. The North American market received a different and larger model (with "RZ" model code) which is claimed to "meet the distinct needs of U.S. customers", and will be sold outside North America as the Honda ZR-V.


title: Honda HR-V

text: The second-generation Vezel/third-generation HR-V for markets outside of North America was unveiled in Japan on 18 February 2021. Sales began in Japan on 22 April 2021, with the European-spec HR-V being detailed in the same day. The Japanese market Vezel e:HEV model receives a 1.5-litre petrol engine coupled to an electric motor for a combined output of from 4,000 to 8,000 rpm. The basic Vezel G receives a regular 1.5-litre petrol engine, producing at 6,600 rpm. The European market HR-V is only available with a hybrid powertrain.


title: Honda HR-V

text: A battery electric version of the third-generation HR-V was revealed in China in October 2021 as the Honda e:NS1 and e:NP1, which will be manufactured by Dongfeng Honda and Guangqi Honda respectively. Both are based on the e:N Architecture F platform for smaller, front-wheel-drive battery electric vehicles.


title: Honda HR-V

text: The petrol models were unveiled in 2022, starting with the XR-V in July which adopted the exterior styling of the HR-V RS marketed in Southeast Asia, and later followed by Vezel in October which adopted the exterior styling of regular HR-V model.


title: Honda HR-V

text: The Thai market HR-V was unveiled on 5 November 2021. Assembled locally, it is only available with a hybrid powertrain. Trim levels offered are E, EL, and RS.


title: Honda HR-V

text: The third-generation HR-V was launched in Indonesia on 23 March 2022. It is offered with either a 1.5-litre DOHC i-VTEC or a 1.5-litre VTEC Turbo engine, both mated to a CVT. The former is available on S, E, and SE trim levels, while the latter is exclusively available on RS trim. Honda Sensing is standard across all trim levels.


title: Honda HR-V

text: The third-generation HR-V was launched in the Philippines on 19 April 2022 in S and V Turbo grades, while the HR-V RS Turbo grade was launched during the 8th Philippine International Motor Show on 15 September 2022. It is offered in either a 1.5-litre DOHC i-VTEC or a 1.5-litre VTEC Turbo engine, both mated to a CVT transmission, with the former being offered on the S grade, while the latter is offered on V and RS grades. Honda Sensing is standard across all models.


title: Honda HR-V

text: The third-generation HR-V was launched in Australia on 12 May 2022. It is offered with either a 1.5-litre DOHC i-VTEC engine or a 1.5-litre DOHC i-MMD engine with a hybrid powertrain, both mated to a CVT transmission, with the former being offered on the Vi X grade, while the latter is offered on e:HEV L grade. Honda Sensing is standard across all models.


title: Honda HR-V

text: The third-generation HR-V was launched in Vietnam on 15 June 2022. It is offered only with one engine option, which is the 1.5-litre VTEC Turbo engine mated to a CVT. The grade levels offered are L and RS. Honda Sensing is standard across all models.


title: Honda HR-V

text: The third-generation HR-V was launched in Malaysia on 14 July 2022, and it became available on retail sales by August 2022. It is offered in three engines: a 1.5-litre DOHC i-VTEC engine, a 1.5-litre VTEC Turbo engine, or a 1.5-litre DOHC i-MMD engine with a hybrid powertrain, all mated to a CVT transmission. The DOHC i-VTEC engine is offered on the S grade, while the VTEC Turbo engine are offered on both E and V grades, and the DOHC i-MMD engine is offered on the RS grade. Honda Sensing is standard across all models.


title: Honda HR-V

text: The Brazilian market third generation HR-V was introduced on 1 July 2022. It will offered with either a 1.5-litre DOHC i-VTEC or a 1.5-litre VTEC Turbo engine, both mated to a CVT. The former will be available on EX and EXL trim levels, while the latter will be available on Advance and Touring trim levels, Honda Sensing is standard across all trim levels. The all-new HR-V became available in August 2022 for 1.5-litre naturally aspirated engine models and it become available in October 2022 for 1.5-litre turbo models.


title: Honda HR-V

text: A separate North American HR-V model was unveiled on 4 April 2022 and has been sold since 7 June 2022 for the 2023 model year. Based on the eleventh-generation Civic and categorised as a C-segment SUV, it will also be sold outside of North America, such as in China (as the ZR-V and HR-V) and Europe (as the ZR-V) to slot between the global HR-V model and the CR-V. Chinese models are produced by both Guangqi Honda (ZR-V) and Dongfeng Honda (HR-V) respectively. European models will use full hybrid powertrain as standard.


title: Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carrier

text: The "Queen Elizabeth" class is a class of two aircraft carriers of the United Kingdom's Royal Navy which are the central components of the UK Carrier Strike Group. The lead ship, , was named on 4 July 2014, in honour of Elizabeth I. She was commissioned on 7 December 2017. The second, , was launched on 21 December 2017, and was commissioned on 10 December 2019.


title: Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carrier

text: The contract for the vessels was announced in July 2007, ending several years of delay over cost issues and British naval shipbuilding restructuring. The contracts were signed one year later on 3 July 2008, with the Aircraft Carrier Alliance, a partnership formed with Babcock International, Thales Group, A&P Group, the UK Ministry of Defence and BAE Systems. In 2014 the UK Government announced that the second carrier would be brought into service, ending years of uncertainty surrounding its future. This was confirmed by the Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015, with at least one carrier being available at any time.


title: Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carrier

text: The vessels have displacement of approximately , are long and are the largest warships ever constructed for the Royal Navy. The Carrier Air Wing (CVW) will vary depending on the type and location of deployment, but will consist of a maximum of 24 F-35Bs under normal circumstances (or 36 in extreme cases) and Merlin helicopters in both utility and Airborne Early Warning roles. The projected cost of the programme is £6.2 billion.


title: Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carrier

text: The 2010 Strategic Defence and Security Review announced the intention to purchase the Lockheed Martin F-35C "carrier variant" and to build "Prince of Wales" in a Catapult Assisted Take-Off Barrier Arrested Recovery (CATOBAR) configuration. However, in 2012, after projected costs of the CATOBAR system rose to around twice the original estimate, the government announced that it would revert to the original design deploying F-35Bs from Short Take-Off and Vertical Landing (STOVL) configured carriers.


title: Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carrier

text: In May 1997, the newly elected Labour government led by Tony Blair launched the Strategic Defence Review, which re-evaluated every weapon system, then active or in procurement, with the exception of the Eurofighter Typhoon and the ballistic missile submarines. The report, published in July 1998, stated that aircraft carriers offer:


title: Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carrier

text: The report concluded: "the emphasis is now on increased offensive airpower, and an ability to operate the largest possible range of aircraft in the widest possible range of roles. When the current carrier force reaches the end of its planned life, we plan to replace it with two larger vessels. Work will now begin to refine our requirements but present thinking suggests that they might be of the order of 30,000–40,000 tonnes and capable of deploying up to 50 aircraft, including helicopters."


title: Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carrier

text: Initial Ministry of Defence (MoD) design studies for what was then the "Invincible" class replacement were conducted in the mid-1990s. Options considered at this early stage included the possibilities of lengthening the hulls and extending the life of the existing "Invincible" class ships, converting commercial ships to carriers, and the construction of purpose-built new aircraft carriers.


title: Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carrier

text: On 25 January 1999, six companies were invited to tender for the assessment phase of the project – Boeing, British Aerospace (BAe), Lockheed Martin, Marconi Electronic Systems, Raytheon and Thomson-CSF. On 23 November 1999, the MoD awarded detailed assessment studies to two consortia, one led by BAe (renamed BAE Systems on 30 November 1999) and one led by Thomson-CSF (renamed Thales Group in 2000). The brief required up to six designs from each consortium with air-groups of thirty to forty Future Joint Combat Aircraft (FJCA). The contracts were split into phases; the first £5.9 million phase was for design assessment which would form part of the aircraft selection, while the second £23.5 million phase involved "risk reduction on the preferred carrier design option".


title: Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carrier

text: In 2005 BMT announced it has tested 4 different CVF hull form models and assessed them for propulsion efficiency, maneuverability, seakeeping and noise signatures. It also investigated skeg length, rudder size, transom stern flaps and bulbous bow designs. The basic Delta concept went through many further iterations and development before the design was considered sufficiently mature by late 2006 for detailed cost estimates to be drawn up prior to ordering long-lead items.


title: Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carrier

text: The vessels, described as "supercarriers" by the media, legislators and sometimes by the Royal Navy, displace approximately each, almost three times the displacement of its predecessor, the . They are the largest warships ever built in the United Kingdom. The last large carriers proposed for the Royal Navy, the CVA-01 programme, were cancelled by the Labour government in the 1966 Defence White Paper. In November 2004 First Sea Lord Admiral Sir Alan West explained that the sortie rate and interoperability with the United States Navy were factors in deciding on the size of the carriers and the composition of the carriers' air-wings:


title: Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carrier

text: On 17 January 2001, the UK signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the United States Department of Defense (DoD) for full participation in the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) programme, confirming the JSF as the FJCA. This gave the UK input into aircraft design and the choice between the Lockheed Martin X-35 and Boeing X-32. On 26 October 2001, the DoD announced that Lockheed Martin had won the JSF contract.


title: Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carrier

text: On 30 September 2002, the MoD announced that the Royal Navy and Royal Air Force would operate the STOVL F-35B variant and that the carriers would take the form of large, conventional carriers, initially adapted for STOVL operations. The carriers, expected to remain in service for fifty years, were designed for but not with catapults and arrestor wires. The carriers were thus planned to be "future proof", allowing them to operate a generation of CATOBAR aircraft beyond the F-35. The contract specified that any conversion would use US C-13 steam catapults and Mark 7 Arresting gear as used by the American carriers. Four months later on 30 January 2003, the Defence Secretary, Geoff Hoon, announced that the Thales Group design had won the competition but that BAE Systems would operate as prime contractor.


title: Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carrier

text: The Secretary of State for Defence announced the intention to proceed with the procurement of the carriers in July 2007. The contracts were officially signed one year later on 3 July 2008, after the creation of BVT Surface Fleet through the merger of BAE Systems Surface Fleet Solutions and VT Group's VT Shipbuilding which was a requirement of the UK Government.


title: Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carrier

text: On 19 October 2010, the government announced the results of its Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR). The review stated that only one carrier was certain to be commissioned; the fate of the other was left undecided. The second ship of the class could be placed in "extended readiness" to provide a continuous single carrier strike capability when the other was in refit or provide the option to regenerate more quickly to a two carrier strike ability. Alternatively, the second ship could be sold in "cooperation with a close ally to provide continuous carrier-strike capability".


title: Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carrier

text: It was also announced that the operational carrier would have catapult and arrestor gear (CATOBAR) installed to accommodate the carrier variant of the F-35 rather than the short-take off and vertical-landing version. It was decided to use the next-generation Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS) catapult and Advanced Arresting Gear (AAG) instead of the more conventional systems which the design had originally been specified to be compatible with.