Roman achievements: A network of paved roads Many cities and towns Aquae Sulis, between 1st and 4th Hadrian’s Wall, in 122 to keep raiding Picts and Scots out, 70 miles long Christianity Anglo-Saxon Britain Romans left in 410 Angles, Saxons started raiding Within 100 years Mercia, Wessex are founded Disliked towns, destroyed Roman villas, preferred small farming communities By the 7th century trade increased, town sprang up. The Celts were driven away to Wales, Scottish Highlands, other remote areas. English descended from the language used by the Saxon invaders. Anglo-Saxons were agricultural, no shops, self-sufficient. The conversion of in the 6th. St. Augustine became the Archbishop of Canterbury The Venerable Bede, father of English history, „Ecclesiastical History of the English People“ „Beowulf“ Wessex and king Egbert at the beginning of the 9th century were the strongest, united England under one rule. Danelaw During the 9th and 10th Vikings first came to plunder, then decided to stay The Invasion was successful, Saxons didn’t have a navy nor a standing army In 871 Danes invaded Wessex, King Alfred the Great led resistance Danelaw was founded in the northern boundary, York was the capital Alfred the Great Could write and read. Many books translated. Translated „Eccle... Ordered a history of England „The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle“.
The Norman Invasion In 1042 Edward the Confessor became king. favoured the ducal house of Normandy, Norwegian royal house was displeased. Claimants: Harold Godwin claimed that Edward had promised him the throne on his deathbead. Duke William of Normandy argued that he had been promised the throne in 1051. William of Normandy Harold Hardraada (King of Norway) also claimed. Battle of Hastings: 1066 Harold marched to meet the forces of Harald, won him at Stamford Bridge. Duke William landed on the south coast near Hastings. Harold collected a new army and marched to Hastings Battle was won through deceit: Normans prentended to be retreating. King Harold mortally wounded. The last successful invasion of Britain Depicted on Bayeux Tapestry William of Normandy the new ruler, brought French culture, Anglo-Saxons treated as serfs, built White Tower (domination of London) Rebellion Domesday Book William Rufus, Henry, Robert Henry married Matilda to Geoffrey Plantagenet. The Early Middle Ages / The Plantagenets Henry II The first unquestioned ruler for a hundred years. Adopted son of Stephen of inherited the English kingdom, Anjou, Maine, Touraine and other vast areas in France through wife Eleanor of Aquitane. The struggle between church and king led to the murder of Thomas Becket.
Richard II was forced from the throne. Many Battles were fought between the two houses. In 1485 Henry VII defeated Richard III. Henry Tudor was crowned king as Henry VII, married Edward’s IV daughter, united the two houses. Henry VII 1457 – 1509 founder of the Tudor dynasty United the Lancasters and Yorks Married Elizabeth of York Henry VIII 1491 – 1547 Formed the Anglican Church the Act of Supremacy in 1534 Had six wives Henry VIII Mary Tudor 1516 - 1558 Tried to restore Catholicism Married to Felipe II Daughter of Henry VIII and Isabella Elizabeth I 1533 – 1603 England became a superpower the English Renaissance Establishment of Virginia The victory over Armada William Shakespeare, culture and literature fluorishes. Elizabeth I The Stuarts Mary Stuart 1542 – 1567 Queen of Scotland Was Catholic Married to Francis II, Henry Darnley Suspected of treason against Elizabeth I 1566 – 1625 First king of England and Scotland the Gunpowder plot Paranoid Charles I 1600 – 1649 English Civil War Executed by the Parliament Charles I
Oliver Cromwell 1599 – 1658 Civil War Lord Protector of England The English Republic, The Commonwealth Oliver Cromwell Charles II 1630 - 1685 Son of Charles I The Declaration of Breda in 1660 The Great Plague in 1665 The Great Fire in 1666 James II and the Glorious Revolution Georgian Era George I 1660 – 1727 of the Hanoverian dynasty A figure-head, didn’t speak English, Parliament truly governed instead of him George III 1760 – 1820 Spoke English without an accent Loss of American colonies Napoleonic wars Went insane George III Robert Walpole 1676 - 1745 First Prime Minister of England Led the political cabinet and made most of the decisions A Whig Robert Walpole Politics Tories vs The Cabinet, the economy New colonies The Jacobite Rebellions 1688 – 1746 To restore the Stuart dynasty. Organized by Jacobite movement. Was crushed at the battle of Culloden The Napoleonic Wars 1803 – 1815 One of the greatest military conflicts New revolutionary tactics and weapons
Ended with the banishment of Napoleon and the restoration of the Bourbon dynasty Victorian Era Queen Victoria 1819 – 1901 Longest reigning British monarch Mother of many children, „The Grandmother of Europe“ The last Hanover Monarch Albert 1819 – 1861 Beloved husband Profound influence on politics The Industrial Revolution Began in Britain Manual labor was replaced Beginning of the railways Trade expansion Had a profound effect on society Scientific, cultural and economical achievements „Origin of Species“ The Great Exhibition in 1851 Antiseptic surgery The rise of family values electrical lighting Charles Dickens, brought about a revolution of social ideas The Edwardian Age, World War I and the Post-War Years The Edwardian Age 1901 – 1910 British social class system was very rigid 1/3 of the population was poverty stricken characterised by great and ostentatious displays of wealth, great optimism The church no longer played a vital role Edward VII World War I 1914-1918