List of wars in Great Britain
Table:
Year ( s )	Conflict	Location ( modern )	Notes	Result

55-54 B.C	Caesar 's invasions of Britain	England	Roman Tributaries set up in a limited area

49-96 [ A.D . ]	Roman conquest of Britain	Great Britain	Roman Empire conquers Britain from the native Celts

208-10	Severan invasion of Caledonia	Scotland	Part of the Roman occupation of Britain	Roman failure- withdrawal to Hadrian 's Wall

286-96	Carausian Revolt	England	Part of the Roman occupation of Britain	Roman Victory- rebellion crushed

367-68	Great Conspiracy	Great Britain	Part of the Roman occupation of Britain	Roman Victory

410-927	Anglo-Saxon invasions and creation of England	Great Britain	Anglo Saxon victory : Celts hold out in Cumbria and Cornwall

865-78	Invasion of the Great Heathen Army	England	Part of the Norse invasions of Britain	Danelaw established- Most of Northern and Eastern England under Norse control

1015-16	Cnut 's invasion of England	England	Part of the Norse invasions of Britain	Norse victory- Cnut becomes King of England

1066-71	Norman conquest of England	England	Norman Victory- William the Bastard becomes King of England

1067-1194	Norman invasion of Wales	Wales	Welsh Victory- Normans forced out of Wales

1075	Revolt of the Earls	England	Civil war	Norman Victory

1088	Rebellion of 1088	England	Civil war	Failure of Rebellion

1135-54	The Anarchy	England	Civil war	Treaty of Wallingford

1173-74	Revolt of 1173-74	England	Civil war	Rebellion crushed

1211	Welsh uprising of 1211	Wales	Part of the Anglo-Welsh Wars	Peace signed- rebellion nominally defeated but Wales enjoys greater autonomy

1215-17	First Barons ' War	England	Civil war	Angevin Victory

1262-66	Scottish-Norwegian War	Scotland	Scottish Victory- Hebrides and Isle of Man occupied by Scotland

1264-67	Second Barons ' War	England	Civil war	Royalist Victory

1277 ; 1282-83	Edwardian conquest of Wales	Wales	Part of the Anglo-Welsh Wars	English Victory- Wales conquered by Edward I

1296-1328	First War of Scottish Independence	Scotland ; England ; Ireland	Part of the Anglo-Scottish Wars	Scottish Victory- Scotland gains independence

From the accompanying table and the context paragraphs listed.

Provide an answer to this question: Which Welshman masterminded the warfare that occurred in Britain starting in 1211 ? Provide just your answer in a JSON object {"answer": "YOUR ANSWER"}. Avoid adding external knowledge.

The terms anno Domini [ note 1 ] ( AD ) and before Christ [ note 2 ] ( BC ) are used to label or number years in the Julian and Gregorian calendars . The term anno Domini is Medieval Latin and means in the year of the Lord , but is often presented using our Lord instead of the Lord , taken from the full original phrase anno Domini nostri Jesu Christi , which translates to in the year of our Lord Jesus Christ . This calendar era is based on the traditionally reckoned year of the conception or birth of Jesus of Nazareth , with AD counting years from the start of this epoch , and BC denoting years before the start of the era . There is no year zero in this scheme , so the year AD 1 immediately follows the year 1 BC . This dating system was devised in 525 by Dionysius Exiguus of Scythia Minor , but was not widely used until after 800 . The Gregorian calendar is the most widely used calendar in the world today . For decades , it has been the unofficial global standard , adopted in the pragmatic interests of international communication , transportation , and commercial integration , and recognized by international institutions such as the United Nations . Traditionally , English followed Latin usage by placing the AD abbreviation before the year number . [ note 3 ] However , BC is placed after the year number ( for example : AD 2020 , but 68 BC ) , which also preserves syntactic order . The abbreviation is also widely used after the number of a century or millennium , as in fourth century AD or second millennium AD ( although conservative usage formerly rejected such expressions ) . Because BC is the English abbreviation for Before Christ , it is sometimes incorrectly concluded that AD means After Death , i.e. , after the death of Jesus . However , this would mean that the approximate 33 years commonly associated with the life of Jesus would neither be included in the BC nor the AD time scales .
In the course of his Gallic Wars , Julius Caesar invaded Britain twice : in 55 and 54 BC . On the first occasion Caesar took with him only two legions , and achieved little beyond a landing on the coast of Kent . The second invasion consisted of 628 ships , five legions and 2,000 cavalry . The force was so imposing that the Britons did not dare contest Caesar 's landing in Kent , waiting instead until he began to move inland . Caesar now penetrated into Middlesex and crossed the Thames , forcing the British warlord Cassivellaunus to surrender as a tributary to Rome and setting up Mandubracius of the Trinovantes as client king .
The Roman conquest of Britain was a gradual process , beginning in AD 43 under Emperor Claudius and being largely completed by 87 when the Stanegate was established as the northern frontier . The Roman army was generally recruited in Italia , Hispania , and Gaul . To cross the English Channel they used the newly-formed Classis Britannica fleet equipped with Mediterranean war galleys , [ citation needed ] which were much thicker in wood and more stable on rough waters . The Romans under their general Aulus Plautius first forced their way inland in several battles against British tribes , including the Battle of the Medway , the Battle of the Thames , and in later years the Battle of Caer Caradoc against Caratacus and the Battle of Mona in Anglesey . Following a general uprising in AD 60 in which Boudicca sacked Camulodunum , Verulamium and Londinium , the Romans suppressed the rebellion in the Battle of Watling Street . They went on eventually to push as far north as central Caledonia in the Battle of Mons Graupius . Even after Hadrian 's Wall was established as the border , tribes in Scotland and northern England repeatedly rebelled against Roman rule and forts continued to be maintained across northern Britain to protect against these attacks .
The Roman invasion of Caledonia was launched in 208 by the Roman emperor Septimius Severus . The invasion lasted until late 210 when the emperor became ill and died at Eboracum ( York ) on 4 February 211 . The war started well for the Romans with Severus managing to quickly reach the Antonine Wall , but when Severus pushed north into the highlands he became bogged down in a guerrilla war and he was never able to fully subjugate Caledonia . He reoccupied many forts built by Agricola over 100 years earlier , following the Battle of Mons Graupius , and crippled the ability of the Caledonians to raid Roman Britain . The invasion was abandoned by Severus ' son Caracalla and Roman forces once again withdrew to Hadrian 's Wall .
Roman Britain ( Latin : Britannia or , later , Britanniae , the Britains ) was the area of the island of Great Britain that was governed by the Roman Empire , from 43 to 410 AD . :129-131 It comprised almost the whole of England and Wales and , for a short period , southern Scotland . Julius Caesar invaded Britain in 55 and 54 BC as part of his Gallic Wars . According to Caesar , the Britons had been overrun or culturally assimilated by other Celtic tribes during the British Iron Age and had been aiding Caesar 's enemies . He received tribute , installed the friendly king Mandubracius over the Trinovantes , and returned to Gaul . Planned invasions under Augustus were called off in 34 , 27 , and 25 BC . In 40 AD , Caligula assembled 200,000 men at the Channel on the continent , only to have them gather seashells ( musculi ) according to Suetonius , perhaps as a symbolic gesture to proclaim Caligula 's victory over the sea . Three years later , Claudius directed four legions to invade Britain and restore the exiled king Verica over the Atrebates . The Romans defeated the Catuvellauni , and then organized their conquests as the Province of Britain ( Latin : Provincia Britannia ) . By the year 47 , the Romans held the lands southeast of the Fosse Way . Control over Wales was delayed by reverses and the effects of Boudica 's uprising , but the Romans expanded steadily northward . The conquest of Britain continued under command of Gnaeus Julius Agricola ( 77-84 ) , who expanded the Roman Empire as far as Caledonia .
Hadrian 's Wall ( Latin : Vallum Aelium ) , also called the Roman Wall , Picts ' Wall , or Vallum Hadriani in Latin , was a defensive fortification in the Roman province of Britannia , begun in AD 122 in the reign of the emperor Hadrian . It ran from the banks of the River Tyne near the North Sea to the Solway Firth on the Irish Sea , and was the northern limit of the Roman Empire , immediately north of which were the lands of the northern Ancient Britons , including the Picts . It had a stone base and a stone wall . There were milecastles with two turrets in between . There was a fort about every five Roman miles . From north to south , the wall comprised a ditch , wall , military way and vallum , another ditch with adjoining mounds . It is thought the milecastles were staffed with static garrisons , whereas the forts had fighting garrisons of infantry and cavalry . In addition to the wall 's defensive military role , its gates may have been customs posts . A significant portion of the wall still stands and can be followed on foot along the adjoining Hadrian 's Wall Path . The largest Roman archaeological feature in Britain , it runs a total of 73 miles ( 117.5 kilometres ) in northern England . Regarded as a British cultural icon , Hadrian 's Wall is one of Britain 's major ancient tourist attractions . It was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987 .
The Carausian Revolt ( AD 286-296 ) was an episode in Roman history , during which a Roman naval commander , Carausius , declared himself emperor over Britain and northern Gaul . His Gallic territories were retaken by the western Caesar Constantius Chlorus in 293 , after which Carausius was assassinated by his subordinate Allectus . Britain was regained by Constantius and his subordinate Asclepiodotus in 296 .
The Great Conspiracy was a year-long state of war and disorder that occurred in Roman Britain near the end of the Roman rule of the island . The historian Ammianus Marcellinus described it as a barbarica conspiratio that capitalized on a depleted military force in the province brought about by Magnentius ' losses at the Battle of Mursa Major after his unsuccessful bid to become emperor . It is difficult to ascertain the exact chronology of the events because the main source - Ammianus - was living in Antioch at that time ; his information looks second-hand and confused and , in addition , inconsistent with that produced by other sources . As a consequence there are several different views of what happened .
The Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain is the process which changed the language and culture of most of what became England from Romano-British to Germanic . The Germanic-speakers in Britain , themselves of diverse origins , eventually developed a common cultural identity as Anglo-Saxons . This process occurred from the mid-fifth to early seventh centuries , following the end of Roman rule in Britain around the year 410 . The settlement was followed by the establishment of Anglo-Saxon kingdoms in the south and east of Britain , later followed by the rest of modern England . The available evidence includes the scant contemporary and near-contemporary written record , and archaeological and genetic information . [ a ] The few literary sources tell of hostility between incomers and natives . They describe violence , destruction , massacre , and the flight of the Romano-British population . Moreover , there is little clear evidence for the influence of British Celtic or British Latin on Old English . These factors have suggested a very large-scale invasion by various Germanic peoples . In this view , held by the majority of historians and archaeologists until the mid- to late 20th century , much of what is now England was cleared of its prior inhabitants . If this traditional viewpoint were to be correct , the genes of the later English people would have been overwhelmingly inherited from Germanic migrants . However , another view , the most widely accepted among 21st century scholars , is that the migrants were fewer , possibly centred on a warrior elite .
Cumbria ( /ˈkʌmbriə/ KUM-bree-ə ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in North West England . The county and Cumbria County Council , its local government , came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972 . Cumbria 's county town is Carlisle , in the north of the county , and the only other major urban area is Barrow-in-Furness on the southwestern tip of the county . The county of Cumbria consists of six districts ( Allerdale , Barrow-in-Furness , Carlisle , Copeland , Eden , and South Lakeland ) and in 2008 had a population of just under 500,000 people . Cumbria is one of the most sparsely populated counties in England , with 73.4 people per km2 ( 190/sq mi ) . Cumbria is the third largest county in England by area , and is bounded to the north by the Scottish council areas of Dumfries and Galloway and Scottish Borders , to the west by the Irish Sea , to the south by Lancashire , to the southeast by North Yorkshire , and to the east by County Durham and Northumberland . Cumbria is predominantly rural and contains the Lake District National Park , a UNESCO World Heritage Site considered one of England 's finest areas of natural beauty , serving as inspiration for artists , writers , and musicians . A large area of the southeast of the county is within the Yorkshire Dales National Park while the east of the county fringes the North Pennines AONB . Much of Cumbria is mountainous , and it contains every peak in England over 3,000 feet ( 910 m ) above sea level , with Scafell Pike at 3,209 feet ( 978 m ) being the highest point of England . An upland , coastal , and rural area , Cumbria 's history is characterised by invasions , migration , and settlement , as well as battles and skirmishes between the English and the Scots . Notable historic sites in Cumbria include Carlisle Castle , Furness Abbey , Hardknott Roman Fort , Brough Castle and Hadrian 's Wall ( also a World Heritage Site ) .
Cornwall ( /ˈkɔːrnwɔːl , -wəl/ ; Cornish : Kernow [ ˈkɛrnɔʊ ] ) is a ceremonial county in South West England , bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea , to the south by the English Channel , and to the east by Devon , the River Tamar forming the border between them . Cornwall is the westernmost part of the South West Peninsula of the island of Great Britain . The southwesternmost point is Land 's End and the southernmost Lizard Point . Cornwall has a population of 568,210 and an area of 3,563 km2 ( 1,376 sq mi ) . The county has been administered since 2009 by the unitary authority , Cornwall Council . The ceremonial county of Cornwall also includes the Isles of Scilly , which are administered separately . The administrative centre of Cornwall is Truro , its only city . Cornwall is the homeland of the Cornish people and the cultural and ethnic origin of the Cornish diaspora . It retains a distinct cultural identity that reflects its history , and is recognised as one of the Celtic nations . It was formerly a Brythonic kingdom and subsequently a royal duchy . The Cornish nationalist movement contests the present constitutional status of Cornwall and seeks greater autonomy within the United Kingdom in the form of a devolved legislative Cornish Assembly with powers similar to those in Wales and Scotland . In 2014 , Cornish people were granted minority status under the European Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities , giving them recognition as a distinct ethnic group .
The Great Danish [ a ] Army , or the Viking Great Army , known to the Anglo-Saxons as the Great Heathen Army ( Old English : mycel hæþen here ) , was a coalition of Norse warriors , originating in Denmark but including warbands from Norway and Sweden , who came together under a unified command to invade the four Anglo-Saxon kingdoms that constituted England in AD 865 . Since the late 8th century , the Vikings had primarily engaged in hit-and-run raids on centres of wealth such as monasteries . The Great Heathen Army was distinct from these raids in that it was much larger and formed to occupy and conquer large territories . The name Great Heathen Army is derived from the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle of 865 . Legend has it that the force was led by four of the five sons of Ragnar Lodbrok , including Hvitserk , Ivar the Boneless , Bjorn Ironside and possibly Ubba . [ b ] The campaign of invasion and conquest against the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms lasted 14 years . Surviving sources give no firm indication of its numbers , but it was amongst the largest forces of its kind . The invaders initially landed in East Anglia , where the king provided them with horses for their campaign in return for peace . They spent the winter of 865-66 at Thetford , before marching north to capture York in November 866 . York had been founded as the Roman legionary fortress of Eboracum and revived as the Anglo-Saxon trading port of Eoforwic . During 867 , the army marched deep into Mercia and wintered in Nottingham . The Mercians agreed to terms with the Viking army , which moved back to York for the winter of 868-69 .
Viking activity in the British Isles occurred during the Early Middle Ages , the 8th to the 10th centuries , when Norsemen from Scandinavia travelled to Great Britain and Ireland to settle , trade or raid . Those who came to the British Isles have been generally referred to as Vikings , but some scholars debate whether the term Viking [ a ] represented all Norse settlers or just those who raided . [ b ] At the start of the Early Medieval period , Norse kingdoms in Scandinavia had developed trade links reaching as far as southern Europe and the Mediterranean , giving them access to foreign imports such as silver , gold , bronze and spices . These trade links also extended westward into Ireland and Britain . In the last decade of the 8th century , Norse raiders sacked a series of Christian monasteries located in what is now the United Kingdom , beginning in 793 with a raid on the coastal monastery of Lindisfarne on the north-east coast of England . The following year they sacked the nearby Monkwearmouth-Jarrow Abbey , and in 795 they attacked again , raiding Iona Abbey on Scotland 's west coast .
The Danelaw ( /ˈdeɪnˌlɔː/ , also known as the Danelagh ; Old English : Dena lagu ; Danish : Danelagen ) , as recorded in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle , is a historical name given to the part of England in which the laws of the Danes held sway and dominated those of the Anglo-Saxons . Danelaw contrasts with West Saxon law and Mercian law . The term is first recorded in the early 11th century as Dena lage . Modern historians have extended the term to a geographical designation . The areas that constituted the Danelaw lie in northern and eastern England . The Danelaw originated from the Viking expansion of the 9th century , although the term was not used to describe a geographic area until the 11th century . With the increase in population and productivity in Scandinavia , Viking warriors , having sought treasure and glory in the nearby British Isles , proceeded to plough and support themselves , in the words of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle for the year 876 . Danelaw can describe the set of legal terms and definitions created in the treaties between the King of Wessex , Alfred the Great , and the Danish warlord , Guthrum , written following Guthrum 's defeat at the Battle of Edington in 878 . In 886 , the Treaty of Alfred and Guthrum was formalised , defining the boundaries of their kingdoms , with provisions for peaceful relations between the English and the Vikings . The language spoken in England was also affected by this clash of cultures with the emergence of Anglo-Norse dialects . The Danelaw roughly comprised 15 shires : Leicester , York , Nottingham , Derby , Lincoln , Essex , Cambridge , Suffolk , Norfolk , Northampton , Huntingdon , Bedford , Hertford , Middlesex , and Buckingham .
Cnut Sweynsson ( /kəˈnjuːt/ ; Old English : Cnut cyng ; Old Norse : Knútr inn ríki ; died 12 November 1035 ) , known as Cnut the Great or Canute , was king of Denmark , England and Norway ; together often referred to as the North Sea Empire . Yet after the deaths of his heirs within a decade of his own , and the Norman conquest of England in 1066 , this legacy was lost . He is popularly invoked in the context of the legend of King Canute and the tide , which often misrepresents him as a deluded monarch believing he has supernatural powers , contrary to the original legend which portrays a wise king who rebuked his courtiers for their fawning behaviour . As a Danish prince , Cnut won the throne of England in 1016 in the wake of centuries of Viking activity in northwestern Europe . Scotland submitted to him in 1017 . His later accession to the Danish throne in 1018 brought the crowns of England and Denmark together . Cnut sought to keep this power-base by uniting Danes and English under cultural bonds of wealth and custom , as well as through sheer brutality . After a decade of conflict with opponents in Scandinavia , Cnut claimed the crown of Norway in Trondheim in 1028 . The Swedish city Sigtuna was held by Cnut ( he had coins struck there that called him king , but there is no narrative record of his occupation ) . Dominion of England lent the Danes an important link to the maritime zone between the islands of Great Britain and Ireland , where Cnut , like his father before him , had a strong interest and wielded much influence among the Norse-Gaels . Cnut 's possession of England 's dioceses and the continental Diocese of Denmark - with a claim laid upon it by the Holy Roman Empire 's Archdiocese of Hamburg-Bremen - was a source of great prestige and leverage within the Catholic Church and among the magnates of Christendom ( gaining notable concessions such as one on the price of the pallium of his bishops , though they still had to travel to obtain the pallium , as well as on the tolls his people had to pay on the way to Rome ) . After his 1026 victory against Norway and Sweden , and on his way back from Rome where he attended the coronation of the Holy Roman Emperor , Cnut , in a letter written for the benefit of his subjects , deemed himself King of all England and Denmark and the Norwegians and of some of the Swedes .
The Norman conquest of England ( in Britain , often called the Norman Conquest or the Conquest ) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army of Norman , Breton , Flemish , and French soldiers led by the Duke of Normandy , later styled William the Conqueror . William 's claim to the English throne derived from his familial relationship with the childless Anglo-Saxon king Edward the Confessor , who may have encouraged William 's hopes for the throne . Edward died in January 1066 and was succeeded by his brother-in-law Harold Godwinson . The Norwegian king Harald Hardrada invaded northern England in September 1066 and was victorious at the Battle of Fulford , but Godwinson 's army defeated and killed Hardrada at the Battle of Stamford Bridge on 25 September . Within days , William landed in southern England . Harold marched south to oppose him , leaving a significant portion of his army in the north . Harold 's army confronted William 's invaders on 14 October at the Battle of Hastings ; William 's force defeated Harold , who was killed in the engagement . Although William 's main rivals were gone , he still faced rebellions over the following years and was not secure on his throne until after 1072 . The lands of the resisting English elite were confiscated ; some of the elite fled into exile . To control his new kingdom , William granted lands to his followers and built castles commanding military strongpoints throughout the land with the Domesday Book , a manuscript record of the Great Survey of much of England and parts of Wales being completed by 1086 . Other effects of the conquest included the court and government , the introduction of the Norman language as the language of the elites , and changes in the composition of the upper classes , as William enfeoffed lands to be held directly from the king . More gradual changes affected the agricultural classes and village life : the main change appears to have been the formal elimination of slavery , which may or may not have been linked to the invasion .
William I [ a ] ( c. 1028 - 9 September 1087 ) , usually known as William the Conqueror and sometimes William the Bastard , [ b ] was the first Norman King of England , reigning from 1066 until his death in 1087 . He was a descendant of Rollo and was Duke of Normandy from 1035 onward . His hold was secure on Normandy by 1060 , following a long struggle to establish his throne , and he launched the Norman conquest of England six years later . The rest of his life was marked by struggles to consolidate his hold over England and his continental lands and by difficulties with his eldest son , Robert Curthose . William was the son of the unmarried Robert I , Duke of Normandy , by his mistress Herleva . His illegitimate status and his youth caused some difficulties for him after he succeeded his father , as did the anarchy which plagued the first years of his rule . During his childhood and adolescence , members of the Norman aristocracy battled each other , both for control of the child duke and for their own ends . In 1047 , William was able to quash a rebellion and begin to establish his authority over the duchy , a process that was not complete until about 1060 . His marriage in the 1050s to Matilda of Flanders provided him with a powerful ally in the neighbouring county of Flanders . By the time of his marriage , William was able to arrange the appointment of his supporters as bishops and abbots in the Norman church . His consolidation of power allowed him to expand his horizons , and he secured control of the neighbouring county of Maine by 1062 . In the 1050s and early 1060s , William became a contender for the throne of England held by the childless Edward the Confessor , his first cousin once removed .
The Norman invasion of Wales began shortly after the Norman conquest of England under William the Conqueror , who believed England to be his birthright . Initially ( 1067-1081 ) , the invasion of Wales was not undertaken with the fervour and purpose of the invasion of England . However , a much stronger Norman invasion began in 1081 and by 1094 most of Wales was under the control of William 's eldest son , King William II of England . The Welsh greatly disliked the gratuitously cruel Normans and by 1101 had regained control of the greater part of their country under the long reign of King Gruffudd ap Cynan , who had been imprisoned by the Normans for twelve years before his escape . Gruffudd had some indirect help from King Magnus III of Norway ( Magnus Barefoot ) who attacked the Normans briefly off the Isle of Anglesey in northwest Wales near Ynys Seiriol , killing Hugh of Montgomery , 2nd Earl of Shrewsbury and leaving the Normans depleted and demoralized . Magnus went on to take the Orkney Islands , the Hebrides , and the Isle of Man , islands north of Wales and west and north of Scotland and England , in 1098 . Under William 's fourth son , King Henry I of England , the Normans , now well established in England , responded by pushing west into Wales . This time , both the Welsh and the Normans were more interested in making peace than fighting bloody battles , and a relatively stable situation developed , although the Normans fared worse in southeast Wales than in the west of the country . The standoff continued from 1135 to 1154 under Stephen , King of the English , nephew of Henry and a maternal grandson of William , who became locked in a power struggle and civil war with Empress Matilda , Henry 's daughter and only surviving legitimate child . By the 1150s , Matilda 's son King Henry II of England had set upon fighting back , leading his first expedition into Wales in 1157 . He met with heavy and humiliating defeat , particularly in the Battle of Ewloe at Coleshill / Coed Eulo , where Henry was entirely unsuccessful and was almost killed in the fighting , his army routed and fleeing . He moved against his British adversaries again in 1163 .
The Revolt of the Earls in 1075 was a rebellion of three earls against William I of England ( William the Conqueror ) . It was the last serious act of resistance against William in the Norman Conquest .
The Rebellion of 1088 occurred after the death of William the Conqueror and concerned the division of lands in the Kingdom of England and the Duchy of Normandy between his two sons William Rufus and Robert Curthose . Hostilities lasted from 3 to 6 months starting around Easter of 1088 .
The Anarchy was a civil war in England and Normandy between 1135 and 1153 , which resulted in a widespread breakdown in law and order . The conflict was a succession crisis precipitated by the accidental death by drowning of William Adelin , the only legitimate son of Henry I , in the sinking of the White Ship in 1120 . Henry 's attempts to install his daughter , the Empress Matilda , as his successor were unsuccessful and on Henry 's death in 1135 , his nephew Stephen of Blois seized the throne with the help of Stephen 's brother , Henry of Blois , the Bishop of Winchester . Stephen 's early reign was marked by fierce fighting with English barons , rebellious Welsh leaders and Scottish invaders . Following a major rebellion in the south-west of England , Matilda invaded in 1139 with the help of her half-brother Robert of Gloucester . Neither side was able to achieve a decisive advantage during the first years of the war ; the Empress came to control the south-west of England and much of the Thames Valley , while Stephen remained in control of the south-east . The castles of the period were easily defensible , and so the fighting was mostly attrition warfare , comprising sieges , raiding and skirmishing between armies of knights and footsoldiers , many of them mercenaries . In 1141 Stephen was captured following the Battle of Lincoln , causing a collapse in his authority over most of the country . However , on the verge of being crowned queen , Empress Matilda was forced to retreat from London by hostile crowds ; shortly afterwards , Robert of Gloucester was captured at the rout of Winchester and the two sides agreed to swap their respective captives . Stephen then almost seized Matilda in 1142 during the Siege of Oxford , but the Empress escaped from Oxford Castle across the frozen River Thames to safety . The war dragged on for many more years . Empress Matilda 's husband , Geoffrey V of Anjou , conquered Normandy , but in England neither side could achieve victory .
The Treaty of Wallingford , also known as the Treaty of Winchester or the Treaty of Westminster , was an agreement reached in England in the summer of 1153 . It effectively ended a civil war known as the Anarchy ( 1135-54 ) , caused by a dispute between Empress Matilda and her cousin Stephen of Blois over the English crown . The Treaty of Wallingford allowed Stephen to keep the throne until his death ( which was to come in October 1154 ) , but ensured that he would be succeeded by Matilda 's son , Henry II .
The Revolt of 1173-74 was a rebellion against King Henry II of England by three of his sons , his wife Eleanor of Aquitaine , and their rebel supporters . The revolt ended in failure after eighteen months ; Henry 's rebellious family members had to resign themselves to his continuing rule and were reconciled to him .
The Welsh uprising of 1211 was a rebellion by several Welsh princes , orchestrated by Llywelyn ap Iorwerth with primary support from Gwenwynwyn of Powys , Maelgwn ap Rhys , Madog ap Gruffydd Maelor and Maredudd ap Robert against King John of England . Although technically defeated , this uprising resulted in increased independence from England for the Welsh .
This is an incomplete list of the wars and battles between the Anglo-Saxons who later formed into the Kingdom of England and the Britons ; the pre-existing Brythonic population of Britain south of the Antonine Wall who came to be known later by the English as the Welsh . The list begins after the Adventus Saxonum in c. AD 446 ( when the Anglo-Saxons are said to have arrived in Britain ) to the late Middle Ages when Wales was eventually subdued and annexed by England . The list is not exhaustive but seeks to note the significant campaigns and the major battles .
The First Barons ' War ( 1215-1217 ) was a civil war in the Kingdom of England in which a group of rebellious major landowners ( commonly referred to as barons ) led by Robert Fitzwalter with a French army under the future Louis VIII of France , waged war against King John of England . The war resulted from King John 's refusal to accept and abide by Magna Carta , which he had sealed on 15 June 1215 . After John 's death the ambitions of the French crown prince Louis to be King of England meant that many of the rebels switched sides and the war dragged on . The war ended after French defeats at Lincoln and Sandwich in 1217 and Louis was forced to sign the Treaty of Lambeth . This formalised the end of the civil war and the departure of the French from England .
The Scottish-Norwegian War was a conflict from 1262 to 1266 . The conflict arose because of disagreement over the ownership of the Hebrides . The war contained only skirmishes and feuds between the kings . The only major battle was the indecisive Battle of Largs .
The Hebrides ( /ˈhɛbrɪdiːz/ ; Scottish Gaelic : Innse Gall , pronounced [ ˈĩːʃə ˈkaul̪ˠ ] ; Old Norse : Suðreyjar ) comprise a widespread and diverse archipelago off the west coast of mainland Scotland . There are two main groups : the Inner and Outer Hebrides . These islands have a long history of occupation dating back to the Mesolithic , and the culture of the residents has been affected by the successive influences of Celtic- , Norse- , and English-speaking peoples . This diversity is reflected in the names given to the islands , which are derived from the languages that have been spoken there in historic and perhaps prehistoric times . The Hebrides are the source of much of Scottish Gaelic literature and Gaelic music . Today the economy of the islands is dependent on crofting , fishing , tourism , the oil industry , and renewable energy . The Hebrides have lower biodiversity than mainland Scotland , but there is a significant presence of seals and seabirds .
The Isle of Man ( Manx : Mannin [ ˈmanɪnʲ ] , also Manx : Ellan Vannin [ ˈɛlʲan ˈvanɪnʲ ] ) , sometimes referred to simply as Mann /mæn/ , is a self-governing British Crown dependency in the Irish Sea between Great Britain and Ireland . The head of state , Queen Elizabeth II , holds the title of Lord of Mann and is represented by a lieutenant governor . Defence is the responsibility of the United Kingdom . Humans have lived on the island since before 6500 BC . Gaelic cultural influence began in the 5th century AD , and the Manx language , a branch of the Gaelic languages , emerged . In 627 Edwin of Northumbria conquered the Isle of Man along with most of Mercia . In the 9th century , Norsemen established the Kingdom of the Isles , which included the Isle of Man . Magnus III , King of Norway from 1093 to 1103 , reigned also as King of Mann and the Isles between 1099 and 1103 . In 1266 the island became part of Scotland under the Treaty of Perth , after being ruled by Norway . After a period of alternating rule by the kings of Scotland and England , the island came under the feudal lordship of the English Crown in 1399 . The lordship revested into the British Crown in 1765 , but the island never became part of the 18th century kingdom of Great Britain or its successors ( the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and the present-day United Kingdom ) . It retained its internal self-government .
The Second Barons ' War ( 1264-1267 ) was a civil war in England between the forces of a number of barons led by Simon de Montfort against the royalist forces of King Henry III , led initially by the king himself and later by his son , the future King Edward I . The war featured a series of massacres of Jews by Montfort 's supporters including his sons Henry and Simon , in attacks aimed at seizing and destroying evidence of Baronial debts . After a rule of just over a year , Montfort was killed by forces loyal to the King in the Battle of Evesham .
The conquest of Wales by Edward I , sometimes referred to as the Edwardian Conquest of Wales , [ note 1 ] took place between 1277 and 1283 . It resulted in the defeat and annexation of the Principality of Wales , and the other last remaining independent Welsh principalities , by Edward I , King of England . By the 13th century Wales was divided between native Welsh principalities and the territories of the Anglo-Norman Marcher lords . The leading principality was Gwynedd whose princes had gained control of the greater part of the country , making the other remaining Welsh princes their vassals , and had taken the title Prince of Wales . Although English monarchs had made several attempts to seize control of the native Welsh territories , it was not until Edward 's war of conquest against Llywelyn ap Gruffudd ( Llywelyn the Last ) of 1277 to 1283 that this was achieved on a lasting basis . In two campaigns , in 1277 and 1282/1283 respectively , Edward first significantly reduced the territory of the Principality of Wales and then completely overran it , as well as the other remaining Welsh principalities . Most of the conquered territory was retained as a royal fief , and these lands subsequently became , by custom , the territorial endowment of the heir to the English throne with the title Prince of Wales . The remainder would be granted to Edward 's supporters as new Marcher lordships . Although the territories would not be effectively incorporated into the Kingdom of England until the Laws in Wales Acts 1535-1542 , Edward 's conquest marked the end of Welsh independence .
Edward I ( 17/18 June 1239 - 7 July 1307 ) , also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots ( Latin : Malleus Scotorum ) , was King of England from 1272 to 1307 . He was the fifth king of the House of Plantagenet . Before his accession to the throne , he was commonly referred to as Lord Edward . The first son of Henry III , Edward was involved from an early age in the political intrigues of his father 's reign , which included an outright rebellion by the English barons . In 1259 , he briefly sided with a baronial reform movement , supporting the Provisions of Oxford . After reconciliation with his father , however , he remained loyal throughout the subsequent armed conflict , known as the Second Barons ' War . After the Battle of Lewes , Edward was hostage to the rebellious barons , but escaped after a few months and defeated the baronial leader Simon de Montfort at the Battle of Evesham in 1265 . Within two years the rebellion was extinguished and , with England pacified , Edward joined the Ninth Crusade to the Holy Land . He was on his way home in 1272 when he was informed that his father had died . Making a slow return , he reached England in 1274 and was crowned at Westminster Abbey . Edward spent much of his reign reforming royal administration and common law . Through an extensive legal inquiry , he investigated the tenure of various feudal liberties , while the law was reformed through a series of statutes regulating criminal and property law .
The First War of Scottish Independence was the initial chapter of engagements in a series of warring periods between English and Scottish forces lasting from the invasion by England in 1296 until the de jure restoration of Scottish independence with the Treaty of Edinburgh-Northampton in 1328 . De facto independence was established in 1314 at the Battle of Bannockburn . England attempted to establish its authority over Scotland while the Scots fought to keep English rule and authority out of Scotland . The term War of Independence did not exist at the time . The war was given that name retroactively many centuries later , after the American War of Independence made the term popular .
The Wars of Scottish Independence were a series of military campaigns fought between the Kingdom of Scotland and the Kingdom of England in the late 13th and early 14th centuries . The First War ( 1296-1328 ) began with the English invasion of Scotland in 1296 , and ended with the signing of the Treaty of Edinburgh-Northampton in 1328 . The Second War ( 1332-1357 ) began with the English-supported invasion by Edward Balliol and the 'Disinherited ' in 1332 , and ended in 1357 with the signing of the Treaty of Berwick . The wars were part of a great crisis for Scotland and the period became one of the most defining times in its history . At the end of both wars , Scotland retained its status as an independent state . The wars were important for other reasons , such as the emergence of the longbow as a key weapon in medieval warfare .