# Timeline of English history

This is a timeline of English history, comprising important legal and territorial changes and political events in England and its predecessor states. To read about the background to these events, see History of England.

## 1st century BC

| Year | Date | Event |
| 55 BC | | Roman General Julius Caesar invades Great Britain for the first time, gaining a beachhead on the coast of Kent. |
| 54 BC | | Caesar invades for the second time, gaining a third of the country. These two invasions are known as Caesar's invasions of Britain. |

## 1st century

| Year | Event |
| c.10–c.40 | Reign of Cunobelinus, an influential king of southern England before the Roman occupation; son of Tasciovanus |
| 43 | Aulus Plautius leads an army of forty thousand to invade Great Britain; Emperor Claudius makes Britain a part of the Roman Empire |
| C. 47 – 50 | London settled by the Romans, known as Londinium |

## 2nd century

| Year | Date | Event |
| 122 – 128 | | Emperor Hadrian orders a 73-mile (117 km) wall to mark the Northern Roman Empire's province on the British Isle. Hadrian's Wall, as it comes to be known, is intended to keep the Caledonians, Picts, and other tribes at bay. |

## 3rd century

| Year | Date | Event |
| c. 213 | | Britain becomes divided into two provinces called Britannia Inferior and Britannia Superior. This was likely due to the Roman emperor at the time, Caracalla. |
| 286 | | Marcus Aurelius Mausaeus Carausius, a Roman military commander at the time, usurps power during the Carausian Revolt. |

## 4th century

| Year | Date | Event |
| 367 | | The Great Conspiracy begins, starting a year-long period of disorder and war in Britain. |

## 5th century

| Year | Date | Event |
| 401 | | Romans begin their withdrawal from Britain.$^{:129–131}$ |
| 449 | | The Angles begin their invasion of England and establish tribal kingdoms on the east coast. |

## 6th century

| Year | Date | Event |
| 597 | | Christianisation of the Kingdom of Kent and its leader King Æthelberht by Saint Augustine. |

## 7th century

| Year | Date | Event |
| 616 | 24 February | King Æthelberht of Kent dies and is then succeeded by his son Eadbald of Kent. |

## 8th century

| Year | Date | Event |
| 740-756 | | Reign of Cuthred, King of Wessex. |
| 757 | | Offa becomes King of Mercia. |
| 793 | 8 June | Viking raid on a monastery in Lindisfarne, often taken as the beginning of the Viking age. |
| 796 | 29 July | Offa of Mercia dies. |

## 9th century

| Year | Date | Event |
| 802 | | Ecgberht of Wessex is enthroned. |
| 849 | | Alfred the Great, the future king of Wessex (r. 871-899), is born to parents Aethelwulf of Wessex and Osburh. |
| 865 | | Arrival of the Great Heathen Army. |
| 871 | April | Alfred the Great succeeds his brother Æthelred as King of the West Saxons. |
| 874 | | Edward the Elder, the future king of England (r. 899-924), is born to parents Alfred the Great and Ealhswith. |
| 894 | | Æthelstan the Glorious, the future king of England (r. 927-939), is born to parents Edward the Elder and Ecgwynn. |

## 10th century

| Year | Date | Event |
| 921 | | Edmund the Magnificent, the future king of England (r. 939-946), is born to parents Edward the Elder and Eadgifu of Kent. |
| 923 | | Eadred, the future king of England (r. 946-955), is born to parents Edward the Elder and Eadgifu of Kent. |
| 924 AD | | Æthelstan becomes king of England |
| 940 | | Eadwig All-Fair, the future king of England (r. 955-959), is born to parents Edmund I and Ælfgifu of Shaftesbury. |
| 943 | | Edgar the Peaceful, the future king of England (r. 959-975), is born to parents Edmund I and Ælfgifu of Shaftesbury. |
| 962 | | Edward the Martyr, the future king of England (r. 975-978) is born to parents Edgar the Peaceful and Æthelflæd. |
| 963 | 17 April | Sweyn Forkbeard, the future king of England (r. 1013-1014), is born in Denmark to parents Harald Bluetooth and either Tove or Gunhild. |
| 966 | | Æthelred the Unready, the future king of England (r. 978~1013), is born to parents Edgar the Peaceful and Ælfthryth. |
| 990 | | Edmund Ironside, the future king of England (r. 1016-1016), is born to parents Æthelred and Ælfgifu of York. |
| 995 | | Cnut the Great, the future king of England (r.1016-1035), is born to parents Sweyn Forkbeard and Gunhilda of Poland. |
| 992 AD | | Earl Byrhtnoth and his thegns led the English against a Viking invasion in the Battle of Maldon in Essex. |

## 11th century

| Year | Event |
| 1003 | Edward the Confessor, the future king of England (r. 1042-1066), is born to parents Æthelred the Unready and Emma of Normandy. |
| 1016 | Harold Harefoot, the future king of England (r.1035-1040), is born to parents Cnut the Great and Ælfgifu of Northhampton. |
| 1016 | Cnut the Great of Denmark becomes king of all England |
| 1018 | Harthacnut, the future king of England, (r. 1040-1042), is born to parents Cnut the Great and Emma of Normandy. |
| 1022 | Harold II, the future king of England (r. 1066-1066), is born to parents Godwin of Wessex and Gytha Thorkelsdóttir. |
| 1028 | William the Conqueror, the future king of England (r.1066-1087), is born to parents Robert the Magnificent and Herleva. |
| 1043 | Edward the Confessor becomes king of all England |
| 1055 | The Great Schism; culmination of theological and political differences between Eastern and Western Christianity |
| 1056 | William II, the future king of England (r. 1087-1100), is born to parents William the Conqueror and Matilda of Flanders. |
| 1066 | Battle of Fulford: English forces were defeated by Norse invaders in northeastern England. |
| 1066 | Battle of Stamford Bridge: the remaining Norse under Harald Hardrada defeated by the bulk of England's army under the command of its king |
| 1066 | Battle of Hastings: England's remaining forces defeated by invaders from Normandy, known as the Norman Conquest; William the Conqueror crowned king of England |
| 1068 | Henry I, the future king of England (r.1100-1135), is born to parents William the Conqueror and Matilda of Flanders. |
| 1086 | Work commenced on the Domesday Book |
| 1096 | Stephen of Blois, the future king of England (r. 1135-1154), is born to parents Stephen, Count of Blois, and Adela of Normandy. |

## 12th century

| Year | Date | Event |
| 1133 | 5 March | Henry II, the future king of England (r. 1154-1189), is born in Le Mans, France, to parents Geoffrey V of Anjou and Matilda. |
| 1135 | | The Anarchy began, a civil war resulting from a dispute over succession to the throne that lasted until 1153. |
| 1138 | | The Battle of the Standard, an engagement in which the English defeated an invading Scottish army led by King David I. |
| 1157 | 8 September | Richard the Lionheart, the future king of England (r. 1189-1199), is born to parents Henry II and Elanor of Aquitaine. |
| 1164 | | The Constitutions of Clarendon, a set of laws which governed the trial of members of the Catholic Church in England, were issued. |
| 1166 | 24 December | John Lackland, the future king of England (r. 1199-1216), is born to parents Henry II and Elanor of Aquitaine. |
| 1170 | | Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Becket was assassinated. |
| 1192 | | Crusades: King Richard I was captured by Austrian Duke Leopold V, Duke of Austria while returning from the Holy Land. |
| 1194 | | Richard was ransomed and returned to England. |

## 13th century

| Year | Date | Event |
| 1207 | 1 October | Henry III, the future king of England (r. 1216-1272), is born to John and Isabella of Angoulême. |
| 1209 | | King John was excommunicated from the Catholic Church by Pope Innocent III. |
| 1214 | | The English defeated in Battle of Bouvinnes. |
| 1215 | | The Magna Carta was signed. |
| 1237 | | The Treaty of York was signed, fixing the border between Scotland and England. |
| 1239 | 17 June | Edward I, the future king of England (r. 1272-1307), is born to Henry III and Elanor of Provence. |
| 1264 | | Battle of Lewes: Rebel English barons led by Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester defeated King Henry III. |
| 1267 | | Henry recognised the authority of Llywelyn ap Gruffudd in Gwynedd. |
| 1277 | | England annexed Gwynedd. |
| 1279 | | The Statute of Mortmain was issued. |
| 1284 | 25 April | Edward II, the future king of England (r. 1307-1327), is born to Edward I and Elanor of Castile. |
| 1287 | | Rhys ap Maredudd led a revolt against English rule in Wales. |
| 1294 | | Madog ap Llywelyn led a revolt against English rule in Wales. |
| 1297 | | Battle of Stirling Bridge: The Scots, led by William Wallace, defeated the English. |

## 14th century

| Year | Date | Event |
| 1305 | 23 August | William Wallace was executed by the English on a charge of treason. |
| 1312 | 13 November | Edward III, the future king of England (r. 1327-1377), is born to Edward II and Isabella of France. |
| 1314 | 23 – 24 June | Battle of Bannockburn: Scotland won a decisive victory over England. |
| 1328 | 1 May | The Treaty of Edinburgh–Northampton, under which England recognised Scottish independence, was signed. |
| 1348 | | The Black Death arrived in England. |
| 1356 | 19 September | Battle of Poitiers: Second of the three major battles of the Hundred Years' War took place near Poitiers, France. |
| 1367 | 6 January | Richard II, the future king of England (r. 1377-1399), is born to parents Edward the Black Prince and Joan of Kent. |
| 1367 | April | Henry IV, the future king of England (r. 1399-1413), is born to parents John of Gaunt and Blanche of Lancaster. |
| 1373 | 16 June | The Anglo-Portuguese Treaty of 1373 is signed, forming an alliance between England and Portugal; it remains an active treaty, most recently invoked in the Falklands War (see 1982) |
| 1381 | May – June | Peasants' Revolt: Also called Wat Tyler's Rebellion or the Great Rising, was a major uprising across large parts of England led by Wat Tyler. |
| 1386 | 16 September | Henry V, the future king of England (r. 1413-1422), is born to parents Henry IV and Mary de Bohun. |
| 1395 | | The Statute of Praemunire was issued. |

## 15th century

| Year | Date | Event |
| 1403 | 21 July | Battle of Shrewsbury was a battle waged between an army led by the Lancastrian King, Henry IV, and a rebel army led by Henry "Harry Hotspur" Percy from Northumberland. |
| 1415 | 25 October | Battle of Agincourt was a major English victory in the Hundred Years' Warthat occurred on Saint Crispin's Day, near modern-day Azincourt, in northern France. |
| 1421 | 6 December | Henry VI, the future king of England (r. 1422~1471), is born to parents Henry V and Catherine of Valois. |
| 1442 | 28 April | Edward IV, the future king of England (r. 1461~1470), is born to parents Richard of York and Cecily Neville. |
| 1452 | 2 October | Richard III, the future king of England (r. 1483-1485), is born to parents Richard of York and Cecily Neville. |
| 1455 | 22 May | The start of the Wars of the Roses a civil war for control of the throne of England between the House of York in Yorkshire and House of Lancaster in Lancashire. |
| 1457 | 28 January | Henry VII, the future king of England (r. 1485-1509), is born to parents Edmund Tudor and Margaret Beaufort. |
| 1485 | 22 August | Battle of Bosworth Field (Battle of Bosworth): the last significant battle of the Wars of the Roses, the civil war between the Houses of Lancaster and York. Richard III, the last Plantagenet king was killed, succeeded by Henry VII. |
| 1487 | 16 June | Battle of Stoke was the decisive engagement in an attempt by leading Yorkists to unseat Henry VII of England in favour of the pretender Lambert Simnel. |
| 1470 | 2 November | Edward V, the future king of England (r. 1483-1483), is born to parents Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville. |
| 1491 | 28 June | Henry VIII, the future king of England (r. 1509-1547), is born to parents Henry VII and Elizabeth of York. |

## 16th century

| Year | Date | Event |
| 1513 | | Battle of Flodden Field: Invading England, King James IV of Scotland and thousands of other Scots were killed in a defeat at the hands of the English. |
| 1516 | 18 February | Mary I, the future queen of England (r. 1553-1558), is born to parents Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon. |
| 1521 | | Lutheran writings begin to circulate in England. |
| 1527 | 21 May | Phillip II, the future king of England (r. 1554-1558), is born to parents Charles V of the Holy Roman Empire and Isabella of Portugal. |
| 1526 | | Lord Chancellor Cardinal Thomas Wolsey ordered the burning of Lutheran books. |
| 1533 | | King Henry VIII severs ties with the Catholic Church and declared himself head of the church in England. |
| 1533 | 7 September | Elizabeth I, the future queen of England (r. 1558-1603), is born to parents Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn. |
| 1534 | | Henry VIII issued the Act of Supremacy. |
| 1534 | | Henry VIII issued the Treasons Act 1534. |
| 1535 | | Thomas More and Cardinal John Fisher were executed. |
| 1536 | | William Tyndale was executed in Antwerp. |
| 1536 | | Henry VIII issued the Dissolution of the Monasteries. |
| 1537 | 12 October | Edward VI, the future king of England (r. 1547-1553), is born to parents Henry VIII and Jane Seymour. |
| 1549 | | Prayer Book Rebellion: A rebellion occurred in the southwest. |
| 1550 | | England and France sign the Peace of Boulogne. |
| 1553 | | The Act Against Sectaries 1553 was issued. |
| 1558 | | Elizabeth I claims the throne of England and rules until 1603. |
| 1559 | | The Act of Supremacy 1559 was issued. |
| 1566 | 19 June | James I, the future king of England (r. 1603-1625), is born to parents Henry Stuart and Mary I. |
| 1571 | | The Treasons Act 1571 was issued. |
| 1571 | | The Act Prohibiting Papal Bulls from Rome 1571 was issued. |
| 1585 | | The Roanoke Colony was founded in America. |
| 1588 | 8 August | The Spanish Armada was destroyed. |
| 1589 | | The English Armada (or Counter Armada) was defeated by Spain. |
| 1593 | | The Act Against Papists 1593 was issued. |

## 17th century

| Year | Date | Event |
| 1600 | 19 November | Charles I, the future king of England (r. 1625-1649), is born to parents James I and Anne of Denmark. |
| 1601 | | Catholic plot against the Earl of Essex includes some of the plotters from the gunpowder plot. |
| 1603 | | King James VI of Scotland ascends to the English throne, becoming James I of England and uniting the crowns – but not the parliaments – of the two kingdoms. |
| 1605 | 5 November | Gunpowder Plot: A plot in which Guy Fawkes and other Catholic associates conspired to blow up King James VI and I and the Parliament of England was uncovered. |
| 1607 | 14 May | Jamestown was founded in the Virginia Colony and was the first permanent English colony in America. |
| 1611 | | Henry Hudson died. |
| 1618 | 29 October | Walter Raleigh was executed. |
| 1630 | 29 May | Charles II, the future king of England (r. 1660-1685) is born to parents Charles I and Henrietta Maria of France. |
| 1633 | 14 October | James II, the future king of England (r. 1685-1688) is born to parents Charles I and Henrietta Maria of France. |
| 1639 | | Bishops' Wars: A war with Scotland began which would last until 1640. |
| 1640 | | Long Parliament: The Parliament was convened. |
| 1642 | | The English Civil War began (see timeline of the English Civil War). |
| 1649 | January | Trial and execution of Charles I |
| 1649 | | Interregnum began with the First Commonwealth. |
| 1650 | 4 November | William III, the future king of England (r. 1689-1702), is born to parents William II of Orange and Mary of England. |
| 1653–1659 | | the Protectorate under the Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell and later (1658) his son Richard Cromwell |
| 1659 | | The Second Commonwealth brings with it a period of great political instability. |
| 1660 | | Restoration of the monarchy: After a chaotic short revival of the Commonwealth of England, the monarchy was restored in May 1660, after agreeing to the Declaration of Breda, largely through the initiative of General George Monck. |
| 1662 | 30 April | Mary II, the future queen of England (r. 1689-1694), is born to parents James II and Anne Hyde. |
| 1665 | 6 February | Anne, the future queen of England (r. 1702-1707), is born to parents James II and Anne Hyde. |
| 1666 | 2 – 5 September | Great Fire of London : A major conflagration that swept through the central parts of London. |
| 1688 | | Glorious Revolution: Also called the Revolution of 1688, was the overthrow of James II by a union of English Parliamentarians with the Dutch stadtholder William III of Orange-Nassau (William of Orange). |
| 1694 | 27 July | The Bank of England is founded. |

## 18th century

| Year | Date | Event |
| 1701 | | The Act of Settlement 1701, which required the English monarch to be Protestant, was passed. |
| 1702 | 8 March | William III died and was succeeded by Anne. |
| 1704 | 4 August | Gibraltar was captured by a combined Dutch and English fleet under the command of Admiral of the Fleet George Rooke. |
| 1704 | 13 August | Battle of Blenheim: A combined English and Dutch army under the command of John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough defeated the French army in Bavaria. |
| 1706 | 22 July | The Treaty of Union was agreed between representatives of the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland. |
| 1707 | | The Acts of Union 1707 were passed in the Parliament of England and Parliament of Scotland, ratifying the Treaty of Union. |
| 1716 | | The Old Dock, originally known as Thomas Steers' dock, was the world's first commercial wet dock. |
| 1744 | | An attempted French invasion of southern England was stopped by storms. |
| 1756 | | Following the start of the French and Indian War 2 years prior, the Seven Years' War begins. |
| 1763 | 10 Feb | The Treaty of Paris (1763) is signed, formally ending the Seven Years' War. France renounces a large portion of North American land to Great Britain. |
| 1765 | | William Blackstone published his first volume of Commentaries on the Laws of England. |
| 1775 | 19 April | War of American Independence officially starts with the Battles of Lexington and Concord. Lasts until 1789. |
| 1790s | | Canal Mania, an intense period of canal building in England and Wales. |
| 1797 | 22–25 July | Admiral Horatio Nelson suffer his worst defeat in Battle of Santa Cruz de Tenerife (1797) and loses most of his right arm from a musket ball whilst fighting against canarian militias. |

## 19th century

| Year | Date | Event |
| 1805 | | Battle of Trafalgar: Horatio Nelson defeats the French at Trafalgar, establishing British naval supremacy over the world's oceans for approximately 140 years. |
| 1819 | 16 August | Peterloo Massacre: about 18 people killed and several hundred injured in Manchester when a large cavalry charge demonstration demanding parliamentary representation reform broke out. |
| 1830 | 15 September | The Liverpool and Manchester Railway (L&MR) was the first inter-city railway in the world. It opened on 15 September 1830 between the Lancashire towns of Liverpool and Manchester in England. |
| 1837 | 20 June | Queen Victoria becomes queen of England, she will reign until January 22, 1901. The Victorian era starts. |
| 1859 | 24 November | On the Origin of Species by Charles Darwin is published |
| 1863 | 10 January | The first underground train goes into operation in London |
| 1878 | | Women first admitted to the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge |
* ↑ The Stockton and Darlington Railway opened in 1825, but sections of this line employed cable haulage, and only the coal trains were hauled by locomotives. The Canterbury and Whitstable Railway, opened in May 1830, was also mostly cable hauled. Horse-drawn traffic, including passenger services, used the railway upon payment of a toll.

## 20th century

| Year | Date | Event |
| 1912 | August | Harry Brearley invents Stainless Steel in Sheffield, Yorkshire |
| 1914 | 28 July | World War 1 begins |
| 1918 | 11 November | World War 1 ends |
| 1939 | 3 September | Britain declares war on Nazi Germany and enters World War 2 |
| 1945 | 8 May | Germany surrenders and World War 2 ends in Europe |
| 1948 | 5 July | The National Health Service is founded |
| 1973 | 1 January | UK joins the European Communities (predecessor of the European Union). |
| 1982 | 11 October | The Mary Rose is raised from the seabed of the Solent, where she had sunk in 1545 |

## 21st century

| Year | Date | Event |
| 2004 | June | The population of England reaches fifty million. |
| 2019 | 14 July | ICC Cricket World Cup: England win a thriller at Lords and clinch their maiden ODI World Cup led by Eoin Morgan. |
| 2020 | 31 January | Brexit takes place. The UK officially withdraws from the European Union three years after it voted to leave during a referendum in 2016. |
| 2020 | 31 January | The first patient with COVID-19 is confirmed in York. |
| 2022 | 8 September | Queen Elizabeth II dies of after a reign of 70 years and 214 days. She is succeeded by King Charles III. |