English History - A summary

Period ruler significant events overseas, significant general events in Britain & Ireland
(years) landmark events; notes on ruler; specific notes on period of reign

Old & Middle c. 5 000 000BC earliest hominids emerge in Africa; 120 000BC Homo sapiens sapiens emerges in Africa
stone ages c. 700 000BC Homo erectus present, hunter-gatherers, burial; 500 000BC Boxgrove Man, Homo
(700 000BC - heidelbergensis present, descendant of erectus; various Ice Ages drive out all hominids; 60 000BC
4500BC) Homo neanderthalensis, descendant of heidelbergensis, reoccupies Britain; 30 000BC modern humans
active, Homo sapiens sapiens, descendant of heidelbergensis but not neanderthalensis; cave art;
probably driven out by further Ice Ages; largely treeless tundra, 6500BC Britain separates from
Continental Europe, climate warms
New stone c. 3600BC Sumerians invent the wheel; 3500BC Egyptian copper smelting, Mesopotamian bronze alloys;
age 3200BC Sumerian cuneiform writing

(4500BC – 3200BC houses built at Skara Brae, Orkney Isles; agriculture, settlements, cleared land; burial
2300BC) monuments; henges; sophisticated stone tools; agriculture roughly differentiated into lowland (SE of line
from Tees to Exe – denser settlements & larger farms) & highland (sparse smallholdings & wideranging
livestock), economic development remains differentiated until mid-Industrial era; development of
pathways & droveways late in period

Bronze age 1700BC-500BC Nordic Bornze Age, origin of proto-Germanic culture; 1400BC Hittites develop iron
artifacts; 1300BC Celts appear in upper Danube area; 1150BC Phoenician maritime power grows

(2300BC – Beaker people – pottery, use of bronze; mixed farming; weaving, brewing; single burial; most impressive
700BC) stone circles; cultural & trading links to Mediterranean, especially tin from Cornwall via Phoenecians;
900BC proto-Celtic Urnfield culture develops/ spreads/ invades?; climate cools near end
Iron age 700BC-500BC Celtic Hallstatt culture develops in Austria, uses iron
(650BC – AD43) hill forts, thriving economy along Atlantic coast; Celtic La Tène culture reaches Britain (clan; inter-clan
warfare; warrior culture; farmers with ploughing; wealth by cattle herd size, king/ druid/ warrior/
commoner/ slave, kingship elective; oral culture – bards, metalwork art; religion partly nature worship -
druids; developed legal system; light chariot; prominent female leaders); genetic evidence suggests
indigenous population adopts the new culture; Brythonic Celts across Britain, Gaelic Celts further W;
Picts N of Firth of Forth in Scotland – might be Celts or older culture; 330BC-320BC Pytheas explores &
circumnavigates Britain & Ireland; 55BC Julius Caesar abortive Roman invasion; under pressure from
Romans, Belgae Celts migrate into S England from Belgium
Roman AD43 Claudius conquers most of Britain, further development of towns, founding of Londinium, building
(AD43 – AD410) of national road network, introduction of writing; population only partially Romanised, loss of Celtic
religion but not language

AD60-61 Iceni rebellion led by Boudicca; all England & Wales conquered; AD79 Battle of Olympus Mons
temporarily crushes Caledonian resistance; mass production industry, based mostly in rural villas; 122
Hadrian's Wall begun; c. 200 building of London wall; c. 200 Ogham writing developed by Irish Celts

AD98? Tacitus writes Germania, refers to Angles; 140? Ptolemy writes Geography, refers to Angles &
Saxons; c. 200 Germanic runes in use in Scandinavia; c. 300 incursions of Turkic Huns cause migrations
of Germanic peoples, Völkerwanderung

313 Constantine the Great declares toleration of Christianity; some Saxon settlement in S as Roman
mercenaries?; 367 temporarily overrun by Saxons, Picts & Irish; 406 Rhine frontier collapses, invasions
of Germanic peoples into Roman Empire; 406 British troops proclaim Constantine III emperor,
commands NW provinces, fails to protect Britain; 409 revolt as land-owning aristocracy reject fiscal and
manpower costs of Roman military & administrative organisation
Early medieval

5th c 410 Rome sacked; larger-scale migrations of Angles, Saxons & Jutes (& others) from S Denmark, NW
Germany & N Denmark, eventual foundation of their new kingdoms (Northumbria, East Anglia, Mercia;
Essex, Sussex, Wessex; Kent, Hampshire), starting with Kent; illiterate, pagan, Germanic culture similar
to pre-Roman Celtic (tribe; inter-tribal warfare; warrior culture; farmers with ploughing; status by
landholding, king/ thegn/ ceorl/ slave, kingship elective by war leadership; oral culture, gold &
semiprecious stone inlay art; religion partly nature worship for material gain; developed legal system;
axe); Old English language develops, very restricted use of Futhorc runes

slow spread (contrast with Roman conquest, or Franks in France), Romano-Celts remain further W;
collapse of monetary economy, some local maintenance and development of Romano-British culture;
Gaelic Dal Riata settle in Argyll from N Ireland, expand as Scots; 476 Western Roman Emperor deposed,
no replacement; 481 Clovis I becomes Christian king of Franks

6th c c. 500 resettlement of Brittany by Brythonic Celts; 503? Battle of Mount Badon, Celts defeat Anglo-
Saxons; continued expansion by Anglo-Saxons, mixed evidence (including genetic) seems to indicate
assimilation & displacement; most towns decline; 597 Augustine sent to convert Anglo-Saxons

7th c c. 600 Anglo-Saxons established along whole of East English coast; c. 601 Kentish king codifies laws; c.
600 Lundenwic established; 625? Sutton Hoo burial; Northumbrian ascendancy; 664 Synod of Whitby
establishes supremacy of Catholic over Celtic Church; 670?-735 Bede, monk at Jarrow, writes history

8th c c.700 Beowulf composed; Mercian ascendancy (including Offa), Welsh & Cornish borders largely
established, Angles settle as far as SE Scotland; development of monastic art, fusion of local cultures;
789 first recorded Norse Viking raid, at Portland; 793 Norse sack of Lindisfarne

800 Charlemagne crowned Holy Roman Emperor, culmination of mixed Roman-German cultural
inheritance; c. 800 cultural height of Abassid Islamic empire in Iraq

House of Wessex
Egbert breaks Mercian power, recognised as Anglo-Saxon overlord; Norse & Danish raids continue all around
(*802-39) coasts; 811? N Pictish king Constantine mac Fergus defeats Dal Riata Gaels and becomes overlord of
Scotland, opposing the Vikings
Aethelwulf Son of Egbert; c. 843 Cinaed (Kenneth) Mac Ailpin (of mixed blood?) unites Scots & Picts into single
(839-55) kingdom, Pictish culture disappears; 850 Danes take London, begin to over-Winter
Aethelbald (855-60) First son of Aethelwulf

Aethelbert (860-6) Second son of Aethelwulf

Aethelred I Third son of Aethelwulf; 870 Danes overthrow all Anglo-Saxon kingdoms except Wessex, but little
(866-71) population movement

Alfred, the Fourth son of Aethelwulf; 853 visits Pope Leo IV in Rome; seems to have looked beyond his personal
Great (871-99) glory to the future well-being of the nation he ruled; exercise of power conditional on possessing
knowledge

878 came out of the Athelney marshes and defeated Guthrum; accepted baptism; Danes retreated to
East Anglia; 886 king of the free Anglo-Saxons – unifies country; formation of fortified towns, organised
defence in depth; formation of Danelaw N of line between Mersey & Thames; established schools

Edward, the Son of Alfred; extends Wessex power; 911 Rollo, a Viking, becomes first duke of Normandy
Elder (899-925)
Athelstan Eldest son of Edward; 927 crowned first "King of the English"; English control to the Tweed, temporarily
(925-40) claimed overlordship of all English, Danish, Welsh (possibly including Strathclyde & Cornish) & Scottish;
Danelaw has considerable autonomy, Vikings being assimilated into English, with some cultural
exchange; effective use of military - axe, shieldwall and mounted infantry
Edmund, the Brother of Athelstan
Magnificent (940-6)
Eadred (946-55) Brother of Edmund

Eadwig (Edwy), All- First son of Edmund

Fair (955-59)

Edgar, the Second son of Edmund; consolidated England as a single polity; cultural height of Anglo-Saxon England
Peaceable
(959-75)
Edward, the Martyr Son of Edgar
(†975-78)

Aethelred II, Half-brother of Edward; “aethelred” means “well advised”, “unraed” means “without counsel”; c. 990
the Unready second wave of Danish raids; Saxon Godwine raids S coast while central authority decays; 1002 orders
(*978-1016) massacre of Danes living in England; 1013 temporarily flees before Svein's attacks; jury trials formalised

Edmund, Eldest son of Ethelred; treaty with Danes to retain Wessex, but died unexpectedly; succession
Ironside agreement with Canute
(†1016)
Danish Line
Svein (Sweyn?), By conquest; Danish rule largely based on English government, most developed in NW Europe; defeated
Forkbeard Norse rival; died unexpectedly
(†1014)
Canute, the by conquest and election, son of Svein; part of Danish-Baltic empire; reign marked by justice and peace,
Great (1016- united English & Danish, substantial support from English nobility; London largest city in Britain
35)
Harald, Son of Canute; claimed throne against half-brother; 1036 Alfred of Wessex returns from Norman exile to
Harefoot (1035- claim throne, captured by Godwine, killed
40)
Hardicanute Another son of Canute; fought successor war in Scandinavia; made succession agreement with Norse
(†1040-42) king Magnus I

House of Wessex, Restored

Edward, son of Aethelred II, half-brother of Hardicanute; essentially Norman in outlook, following 25 year exile
the Confessor there; childless; established Westminster; had authority but little power; rivalry against Godwine;
(1042-66) Godwinesons successfully fight partisan war against Welsh uprising

Harold II brother-in-law of Edward; visit to William's court, swears to be his vassal within Normandy; succession
(†1066) claimed by Harold Godwineson, William Duke of Normandy, Harald Hardrada, son of Magnus I of
Norway; Godwinesons win due to good politics
 conquest; Harold prepares against William's invasion; delayed by poor weather; march N to defeat
Hardrada; march S to block William's advance out of Sussex with 7000 troops; killed at Senlac Hill when
English break ranks to pursue rout; Norman superior adaptation to weapons technology (stirrups);

Norman Line
William I, feudalism greatly extended; second cousin to Edward the Confessor, by conquest; spoke Norman-
the Conqueror French, Old English remains language of working class; Anglo-Saxon nobility disinherited, very little
(1066-87) population movement; 1069 scourging of Yorkshire; building of castles to repress, including Tower of
London; 1072 Malcolm of Scotland swears fealty; inherited Anglo-Saxon government, which delivers
Domesday Book; children rebelled

William II, Third son of William I, designated heir; poor political skill; died in hunting accident
Rufus (1087-
1100)
Henry I, Youngest son of William I, who seized opportunity; married into Saxon bloodline; died of a “surfeit of
Beauclerc lampreys”; no legitimate, male heirs
(*1100-35)
Stephen civil war; nephew of Henry I; disputed succession; accepted in London; civil war; central authority
(1135-54) corroded as barons seize control, accepted by warring claimants

Empress civil war; daughter of Henry I, uncrowned; spoke German, widow of German Holy Roman Emperor, wife
Matilda (†1141) to Count of Anjou; poor politics

Plantagenet, Angevin Line

Henry II, son of Matilda; ruled Gascony, Loire, Seine, Normandy, to Welsh hills and Cumbria; economy developing
Curtmantle – markets, watermills; not uniform empire – local languages and capitals retained; centralised authority;
(*1154-89) pushed borders in Wales, Ireland & Scotland, English control limited to Pale around Dublin; challenged
legal independence of Church; Thomas Becket, commoner from London, Chancellor, Archbishop of
Canterbury; killed after long dispute; codified laws; sons rebelled
Richard I the Eldest surviving son of Henry; in Britain for one year; massacres of Jews, including York; challenged King
Lionheart of France; led 3rd Crusade, able general, battled Saladin, took Acre, killed 2700 hostages; captured,
(1189-99) ransomed by swearing fealty to Holy Roman Emperor

John, Lackland end of despotism?; youngest son of Henry II; partial usurpation of throne; killed 28 Welsh hostages;
(1199-1216) swore fealty to Pope to end dispute over Church appointments; disloyal, alienated support; lost Norman
lands; Magna Carta imposed by barons to limit royal abuses & authority; 1216 Louis of France takes
London, offered crown, lost support on John's death

c. 1200 guilds grow in importance as towns develop; 1214 Oxford University founded

Henry III rise of English identity; eldest son of John; English nobility unite against French, loss of Norman lands
(*1216-72) strengthens English links; 1258 Provisions of Oxford, Simon de Montfort leads movement to limit royal
authority and supposedly free king from foreign influence; nepotism undermines when it might have
succeeded - 1264 de Montfort victory at Lewes against larger enemy but 1265 defeat & death at
Evesham

Edward I, Welsh incorporated under English throne; eldest son of Henry, 1271 led 9th Crusade; 1276-7, 1282-3
Longshanks suppresses Wales, new castles & colonies; war with France; 1290 Jews expelled; 1290 death of wife
(*1272-1307) Eleanor of Castile – memorial crosses; 1295 punitive expedition into Scotland; 1297 William Wallace,
Scots noble & outlaw, fights conventional war, mainly S lowlands; Andrew Murray in N fights successful
guerilla war; 1305 Scotland subdued but Robert Bruce soon starts successful guerilla war; c. 1300
Norman control of most of Ireland, but little English authority; c. 1300 wool is largest export

Edward II eldest surviving son of Edward; 1314 loses battle of Bannockburn to Robert; corruption leads to his
(1307-27) overthrow

Edward III Hundred Years War; eldest son of Edward; 1333 attempts to conquer Scotland; 1337-1360 Hundred
(*1327-77) Years War begins successfully, disputes French succession, 1346 Crecy victory, first certain use of
cannon; 1360-1396 France regains much territory; 1376 House of Commons asserts independence;
eldest son Edward the Black Prince dies; 4th son, John of Gaunt, is virtual ruler during dotage
 Black Death; British population triple pre-Conquest levels; land & grain prices rising, wages dropping;
heavy war taxes; packed cities; June 1348 Black Death (bubonic plague) arrives in Melcombe Regis, kills
third to half of European population; returns in 20-25 year cycles; 1351 Statute of Labourers pegs wages
at pre-plague levels (limited effectiveness)

Richard II end of feudalism?; son of the Black Prince, crowned aged 10, uncle John of Gaunt regent; early
(1377-99) Renaissance prince who enjoyed genteel pursuits, baths, handkerchiefs & spoons; 1381 Peasants'
Revolt in Kent & Essex, burning of tax and feudal records, meeting with king at Smithfield, Wat Tyler
killed by London mayor, 14-year old king faces down crowd, promises mercy, but beheads leaders;
partly driven by new economic independence of agricultural labour and 1380 Poll Tax, leaders are
largely economic beneficiaries of Black Death, early rural middle class

egotism & poor politics (little war booty to nobles) leads to conflict, crushes any hint of disloyalty,
confiscates largest inheritance in the country from Bolingbroke (John of Gaunt's son); 1399 invades
Ireland with insufficient force; unwisely flees Bolingbroke's army instead of holding Welsh Marches
against him; captured & forced to abdicate

1384 John Wycliffe dies, challenged need for organized religion, Lollards distribute Bibles in English;
1387 Chaucer writes Canterbury Tales

Plantagenet, Lancastrian Line

Henry IV, Son of John of Gaunt, 4th son of Edward III, not legitimate by laws of succession; first monarch to have
Bolingbroke English as mother-tongue, London dialect emerges as Middle English, simplified inflections compared to
(1399-1413) Old English, Norman French vocabulary; Duke of Lancaster; invades and takes most of SE with French
army in 1399 to reclaim inheritance, given Richard's untrustworthiness, takes throne; insecure, possibly
over deposition; 1401 Owen Glendower rebels in Wales

Henry V eldest son of Henry; politically, succeeds where Richard II failed, raising war taxes; 1415 revives
(1413-22) illegitimate claims to French throne, victory at Agincourt using Welsh longbow men against far larger
army of knights, he and sons recognised as heirs to French throne; premature death

Henry VI 1453 Constantinople falls to Turks, closing Eastern trade routes, shifting economic focus N from
(*1422-61, Mediterranean, Italian Renaissance accelerates from beginnings in 14th c.; 1441 Portuguese bring back
1470-1) gold & slaves from African coast; 1446 King's College chapel begun, splendid architecture
 civil war; only son of Henry, 10 months old at accession; 1422-1453 loses all French territory except
Calais (1557) and Channel Islands, 1429 Joan of Arc leads successful French army; Wars of the Roses,
cause chaos in government but most of country largely without direct effects; bouts of insanity;
deposed by Edward, reinstated by Warwick the Kingmaker; starved to death in Tower of London

Plantagenet, Yorkist Line

Edward IV civil war; great great grandson of Edward III; son of Duke of York; 1470 briefly deposed by Warwick the
(1461-70, 1471- Kingmaker, then himself defeated & killed; 1474 Caxton prints first book in English
83)
Edward V civil war; eldest son of Edward, uncrowned; deposed by uncle; imprisoned, probably murdered
(†1483)
Richard III, civil war; end of mediaeval; younger brother of Edward IV; probably murdered own young nephews;
Crookback claimed that Edward IV had perverted government
(†1483-85)
House of Tudor
Henry VII, recognisably modern institutions exist after; son of Edmund, eldest son of Owen Tudor, by Katharine,
Tudor widow of Henry V; mother was great-granddaughter of John of Gaunt; Welsh family origins; invaded
(1485-1509) England & defeated Richard at Bosworth; married Elizabeth of York, uniting the two houses, ending the
Wars of the Roses; strong administrator

1497 John Cabot, royal agent, rediscovers Newfoundland; c. 1500 English (& Lowland Scots) majority
language in Britain & Ireland, alongside Gaelic (Irish, Scots & Manx), Welsh (& Cornish), Norman French,
Norn; 1505 first records of Romany in England

Henry VIII start of English Reformation & English Renaissance; only surviving son of Henry; England strongly,
(*1509-47) traditionally Catholic at start of reign; 1513 defeats Scottish invasion at Flodden; 1517 Luther challenges
early modern papal authority; married to Catherine of Aragon (brother's widow), no male heir
 1525 wants Anne Boleyn as mistress, but she wants marriage; 1526 William Tyndale prints English
Bible; Thomas More & Wolsey (Chancellor) burn them; 1527 Wolsey fails to obtain annulment, More new
Chancellor; Tyndale argues against dividing authority between Church and State; 1530-2 treason
proceedings against English bishops, Henry recognised as legal head, no fundamental change, divorce
obtained

Cranmer new Archbishop of Canterbury, secretly married, reformer; Cromwell, new Chancellor, prepares
for papal reaction by novel appeals to patriotism; Cranmer and Cromwell push beyond nominal change;
1535 dissolution of monasteries; no male heir, Cromwell invents treason charges for Boleyn, who is
executed; 1535 More refuses to recognise Henry's supremacy, is himself executed; 1536 Pilgrimage of
Grace, rebel Catholic army of 10 000 in N, Henry concedes then reneges; Henry tries to retain Catholic
custom, Cromwell tries to quell it, removed in coup & executed; Bibles in English, but only legal for
upper classes; Henry remarries three more times, reinstates Mary & Elizabeth to succession, only one
son

1521 Cortés conquers Mexico; 1534 Jacques Cartier explores St Lawrence R; London undergoes rapid
expansion; c.1550-c.1850 Little Ice Age cools W European climate considerably

Edward VI English Reformation deepens; son of Henry by Jane Seymour, 9-years old at accession; Cranmer
(1547-53) unleashes a true Reformation - cults, decorations, paintings destroyed, Bibles in English legal for all,
priests allowed to marry; widespread rebellions (no Catholics burned at stake); ill with respiratory
infection, conspires with Earl of Northumberland to deny Mary throne

Jane Grey granddaughter of Henry VIII's younger sister Mary; Mary not under arrest during coup, troops flock to
(†1553) Mary, reign lasts 9 days

Mary I, counter-Reformation; daughter of Henry VIII by Katharine of Aragon, 38 years old; raises large army,
Tudor enters London; repeals all Edward's religious legislation; marries Philip of Spain to produce heir –
(1553-58) marrying outside England damages public standing, agrees not to become king; Protestantism &
patriotism linked; 1555-8, 220 men & 60 women burned at stake; 1557 loss of Calais, severe inflation,
unemployment; no heir
Elizabeth I end of English Reformation; England becomes major European power; daughter of Henry VIII by Anne
(*1558-1603) Boleyn, fraught early life, mother and step-mothers killed, Mary's misrule; 1559 Act of Uniformity allows
(Elizabethan) some freedom of conscience, but within established Church; considered marriage, but couldn't find
match that suited Protestant political needs; possible lover of Robert Dudley, and others; political links
with Scottish Protestants

1567 Mary, Catholic Queen of Scots, cousin, makes poor political decisions, flees to England & held
prisoner, abdicates to her infant son, James VI; Francis Walsingham, Machiavellian Secretary of State;
1569 pro-Mary rebellions, like Pilgrimage of Grace, massive retaliation; 1566-1684 Spanish-Dutch war;
1572 St Bartholomew's Day Massacre in Paris; refugees & displaced trade fuel large industrial &
population expansion, overall wage deflation & loss of self-sufficient farming; uses emblems of Virgin
Mary; excommunication of Elizabeth; 1587 execution of Mary after long procrastination; 1570s-80s
Francis Drake & John Hawkins privateering against Spanish Peruvian silver shipments; 1588 Spanish
launch Armada with insufficient might, defeated by weather

start of English Empire; c.1560 start of continuous black presence in England; 1562-1603 war in Ireland,
reconquest by English; 1584-9 Walter Raleigh unsuccessfully settles Roanoke, Virginia; 1600 British East
India Company formed; 1596 failing economy; 1564-1616 William Shakespeare; no heir

House of Stuart
James I unification of English & Scottish crowns; Scottish king invited to take English crown, great great
(1603-25) grandson of Henry VII; 1605 Gunpowder Plot; 1607 Jamestown, Virginia successfully settled; 1611
Plantation of Ulster by English & Scottish Protestants, collapse of Gaelic political structures (English
control until 1922); 1618-48 Thirty Years' War in central Europe prevents Hapsburgs making Germany a
centralised, Catholic, absolute monarchy; 1620 Mayflower Puritans reach America

Charles I only surviving son of James; 1627 failed attempt to relieve Huguenots at La Rochelle; 1628 forced to
(1625-49) accept Parliament's petition for rights in return for tax revenue; 1629-40 dismisses Parliament, personal
rule, return to ancient privileges; 1638 Scottish Presbytarian Covenanters reject imposition of
Anglicanism; 1640 Parliament recalled to raise taxes to suppress Scottish rebellion, dissolved over
disputes about personal rule; 1641 loses against Scots, recalls Parliament and gives many concessions;
Irish Catholic revolt; 1642 rumours that Parliament will impeach Catholic queen, Charles enters with
armed force, but is resisted and flees London
 civil war; 1642-8 Civil War involving England, Scotland, Wales & Ireland, first conflict for 40 years; Oliver
Cromwell (2nd to Fairfax) forms New Model Army, victories at Marston Moor & Naseby, capture of
Charles, refuses to recognise changed realities, rejects lenient political terms; differences widening
between allies (Parliament, Army, Scots), exploited by Charles who offers imposition of Presbytarianism

1647 Putney debates within Army; Charles escapes, 2nd war with Scottish support; defeat & capture;
Parliament seeks final deal to impose Presbytarianism; 1648 Army purges Parliament of Presbytarian
sympathisers, Rump Parliament pressured to approve Charles's execution, increasing Puritan
extremism, radicals such as Levellers suppressed; 1649 Charles executed

The Commonwealth
Oliver Cromwell 1649 republic declared, Rump Parliament holds all executive power, Cromwell power base within Army;
(1649-58) suppresses Catholic Irish rebellion, including massacres of many caught carrying arms, widespread
confiscations of land; 1650-1 Charles II lands in Scotland, declares, invades England, defeated;
parliaments dismissed for disagreeing with senior officials, no new constitution developed; 1653
becomes Lord Protector with executive powers; 1655 Protectorate fails to provide for any core
constituency – Puritanism and taxation without representation imposed; 1659 dies

1652-4 First Anglo-Dutch War, partly due to rise of mercantilism, religious toleration extended to Jews
for first time since 1290, partly for economic reasons

Richard Third son of Oliver; without power base, regime in financial crisis due to large standing army, fails to
Cromwell control Army or Parliament, resigns
(†1658-59)
Interregnum 1660 General Monck marches into London and forces first general election for nearly 20 years, Royalist
(1659-1660) Parliament votes to restore monarchy

House of Stuart, Restored (Restoration)

Charles II Eldest son of Charles I, invited to take throne; 1664 English seize New Amsterdam (York); 1665 Great
(1660-85) Plague in London; 1666 Great Fire destroys 80% of London, rebuilt by Christopher Wren; 1665-7 Second
Anglo-Dutch War; 1670 Hudson Bay Company formed; 1672-4 Third Anglo-Dutch War; 1673 Test Act
allows only Protestants to hold public office; 1679 Act of habeas corpus forbids imprisonment without
trial
James II Second son of Charles I; Catholic; 1687 toleration of all religions declared; 1687 Isaac Newton publishes
(†1685-88) Principia Mathematica

House of Orange and Stuart

William III, Agricultural Revolution begins; Dutch son of William, Prince of Orange, by Mary, daughter of Charles I,
Mary II married eldest daughter of James II; 1689 “Glorious Revolution”, William invited to "save" country from
(1689-1702) Catholicism, James flees, accepts Bill of Rights, limiting his power; 1690 Battle of Boyne, James II
defeated; no heirs

1690 establish settlement at Calcutta; 1689 John Locke publishes political theories; 1701 Jethro Tull
invents seed drill – agricultural revolution prerequisite for industrial revolution

House of Stuart

Anne Second daughter of James II; 1707 Act of Union unites England & Scotland as Great Britain, particularly
(1702-14) their parliaments, arguments at time that it would be good for trade, but Scotland would be dominated;
1713 Peace of Utrecht following War of Spanish Succession, gains Gibraltar; no heirs

House of Brunswick, Hanover Line (Georgian)

George I German son of Elector of Hanover, by Sophia, daughter of Elizabeth, daughter of James I, safe
(1714-27) Protestant choice, against closer Stuart relatives, speaks German; cunning rise to power by obscure
Lower Saxony noble family; left most power in hands of Parliament; 1720 South Sea Bubble, stock
market crash

George II Only son of George; 1735 expansion of turnpike trusts, met by rioting; 1758 Bridgwater Canal built,
(1727-60) expansion of network to 1802; 1740-48 British-French war in Canada establishes British imperial pre-
eminence; 1745-6 last invasion by Stuart claimant to throne, Battle of Culloden; c. 1750 triangular
Atlantic slave trade reaches peak – slaves from W coast of Africa to Carribean, raw goods (sugar) to
England, finished goods (rum) to Africa; all sons died
George III Enlightenment, Industrial Revolution; 1762 Rousseau's Social Contract, 1776 Adam Smith's Wealth of
(*1760-1820) Nations; 1764 spinning jenny raises spinners' productivity many-fold – rising food production frees
workers from land; 1760s Highland Clearances remove smallholders for more profitable sheep farming,
encourages emigration to American colonies; 1760-1840 Enclosure Acts accelerate loss of common land
(began 15th c.), smallholders replaced by capitalist, large landowners; 1765 James Watt improves
steam engine; 1816 John MacAdam originates crushed stone roads; 1768 foundation of Royal Academy

grandson of George II; ruled more actively than George I and II; 1763 Canada won by British; 1774-83
American Revolution; 1780 anti-Catholic Gordon Riots in London; 1788 first convicts shipment to
Australia; 1789 French Revolution; 1791 Thomas Paine publishes Rights of Man; 1795 Napoleon's rise
ends Revolution; Britain retains naval superiority to defend Empire, early industrialisation allows Britain
to survive economic warfare; 1809-11 Duke of Wellington commands in Peninsular War, successful
guerilla campaign forces out French, attacks periphery; 1815 Napoleon defeated at Waterloo; 1801 Act
of Union unites England, Scotland & Ireland as UK; 1811 disease porphyria leads to mental
derangement, Regency of son George; 1815 economic depression; 1819 Peterloo massacre of unarmed
reform demonstrators in Manchester

George IV eldest son of George; 1825 Stockton-Darlington railway is first in world to carry passengers; 1825
(1820-30) London largest city in world; no male heirs

William IV third son of George III; 1833 slavery outlawed throughout British Empire; 1834 Tolpuddle Martyrs form
(1830-37) trade union, deported to Australia; no heirs

Victoria Daughter of Edward, 4th son of George III; married Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, many children married
(*1837-1901) into European dynasties, longest reign in English history

(Victorian) industrialisation accelerates; increasing variety of mass-produced goods available, largest iron producer
in world, factory life leads to severe social problems; rapid expansion of London, including sewers,
embankments & underground; 1851 Great Exhibition at Crystal Palace
 1838-48 Chartist movement to achieve electoral reform – fail to achieve immediate aims, partly as
Liberal Government buys off middle class support, but all aims achieved in next 2 generations, partly
through the Reform Acts (1832-1885); 1844 Co-operative movement begins; 1845-6 Irish potato famine
(become & remain largest foreign-born ethnic group in UK & London), repeal of Corn Laws; 1848 many
revolutions across Europe, Karl Marx publishes the Communist Manifesto; 1861-65 American Civil War,
followed by rapid industrial expansion & immigration; 1886 Irish home rule rejected; 1893 Keir Hardie
founds Labour Party
expansion of British Empire; to obtain cheap raw materials for industrialised economy, and guaranteed
markets for processed goods, protected by tariffs; each conquest (e.g. whole of India, Egypt) drives
desire to control borders, hence further attempted expansion (Afghanistan, Sudan); 1857-8 Indian
Mutiny, East India Company cedes sovereignty to British Crown; 1879 Zulu War; 1898 Hong Kong on 99
year lease, 1900 Boxer Rebellion; 1899-1902 Boer War; 1900 arms race with German navy

House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha (Edwardian)

Edward VII Son of Victoria; 1902 Sinn Féin founded; 1903 Women's Social and Political Union (suffragettes)
(1901-10) founded; 1904 Entente Cordiale with France; 1907 British-French-Russian triple entente

House of Windsor
George V First World War; son of Edward, 1917 name Windsor adopted in place of Saxe-Coburg; 1914-8 WWI,
(1910-36) balance of Great Powers intended to ensure mutual security, actually meant collapse of Ottoman Empire
& minor assassination caused major war, Germany plans fast victory to increase bargaining power to
allow imperial expansion, quickly bogs down in trench warfare with horrendous casualties; eventually
becomes clear that Germany has insufficient resources to overcome Allied enemies, surrender; war
leaves UK heavily in debt; 1918 extensive use of female labour leads to limited voting rights for women,
universal male suffrage; 1926 General strike; 1928 equal voting rights for women; 1929 economic
Depression
 height of British Empire; white-dominated colonies become dominions; 1916 Easter Rising in Dublin,
1918-21 implementation of Home Rule, Irish parliament (Dáil) declares independence, war against
British forces, 1919 IRA founded, 1922 Irish Free State founded as dominion, secession for 26 S
counties, civil war between Irish Government forces & Sinn Féin radicals; 1917 Russian Revolution;
Britain promises independence to Arabs who rise against Ottoman Empire, conflicting with this, Balfour
Declaration promises support for Jewish homeland; 1919 League of Nations makes Palestine (& Iraq) a
British Protectorate, tries unsuccessfully to limit Jewish immigration; 1919 Mahatma Ghandi begins
passive resistance campaign against British rule in India; 1925 New York largest city in world; 1927
German economy collapses, linked to war reparations

Edward VIII eldest son of George; hedonist who dislikes constraints of royal life, travelled widely as Crown Prince,
(†1936) abdicates to marry divorcee; expressed admiration for Nazi achievements

George VI Second World War; 2nd son of George V; Neville Chamberlain Prime Minister, hands Czech Sudetenland
(1936-52) border areas to Germany, appeasement policies fail; 1939-45 WWII, German invasion of Poland; 1940
Winston Churchill Prime Minister; Fall of France, Battle of Britain, Germans fail to gain air superiority, do
not invade, bombing of British cities starts; Atlantic u-boats strangle British supply lines; 1941 N Africa &
Crete campaigns, initially unsuccessfully, challenge German power at periphery; 1941 Japanese surprise
attack at Pearl Harbour brings USA into war, rapid conquests in SE Asia; 1942 Burma campaign

1943 Germans overreach themselves in Russia, siege of Stalingrad with horrendous casualties; invasion
of Italy; Bengal famine due to British imperial control; 1944 D-Day landings open second major front,
Battle of the Bulge, last German offensive, insufficient resources to overcome Allies' combined
capabilities; 1945 nuclear bombs on Hiroshima & Nagasaki force Japanese surrender; 1945 UN founded;
1946 Nuremberg war crimes trials

end of Empire; WWII cripples UK economy, politically strengthens Dominions whilst undermining UK;
1937 Irish independence achieved, 1949 Irish Republic founded; 1945-51 Clement Attlee Prime Minister,
founds NHS, strengthens welfare state; 1947 India independent; 1947 partition of Israel, following rising
Jewish terrorist attacks and British withdrawal; 1949 NATO formed; 1949 apartheid adopted in S Africa;
1950-3 N Korea invades S, UN including UK supports S
Elizabeth II decolonisation accelerates; eldest daughter of George; Malaysia, Aden, 1952 Mau Mau Kikuyu rebellion
(*1952-present) in Kenya, brutally suppressed by UK troops; 1956 Suez “Crisis” - UK, France & Israel invade Egypt after
post-war, 50s Nasser nationalises Canal, ignominious withdrawal; immigration from Commonwealth encouraged to
overcome labour shortage

60s Questioning of traditional authority, late 60s liberalisation, feminism; 1960-80 most London docks close;
1963 Beatles' first number one; 1964 white Rhodesia declares independence; 1964-74 Cyprus conflict;
1967 homosexuality legalised; 1969 UK troops into N Ireland to quell rioting

70s 1971 first microprocessor produced; 1972 Bloody Sunday, UK troops kill peaceful N Irish protesters;
1973 joins EEC; IRA terrorist campaign in England; 1974 coal strike, 3-day week to conserve electricity;
1979 Margaret Thatcher Prime Minister

80s post-industrial economy; 1981 inner city rioting; 1982 unemployment over 3 million, de-industrialisation
& expansion of service economy; Falklands War, UK response to Argentine military regime's invasion;
1984-5 Miners' Strike fails to prevent widespread coal pit closures, extensive privatisation; IRA bomb
Conservative Party conference; 1987 Liberal Democrats founded, merger of SDP & most Liberals

90s 1990 Poll Tax Riot, Thatcher resigns; 1990-1 First Persian Gulf War; 1991 IRA mortar attack on Downing
St; 1992 Rio Earth Summit; withdrawal from ERM, heavy economic losses, recession; 1993 M3 begins
series of road protests; IRA bomb City of London, Downing St Declaration establishes meaningful
political peace process; 1994 IRA ceasefire; 1995 privatisation of British Rail; Tory sleaze scandals; 1997
Tony Blair Prime Minister

00s c. 2000 personal computers in most homes, Internet, Human Genome Project; 2001 Al Qaeda attack on
World Trade Centre; invasion of Afghanistan; ongoing suspension of habeas corpus, support for torture;
2003-present Second Gulf War, occupation of Iraq; 2005 Islamist bombings in London
* longest fifth of reigns (>33 years, mean 14.5 years).
† shortest fifth of reigns (<4 years, mean 14.5 years).
Common Royal Names
number Edward George Henry Richard William
1 conquers Wales Saxony Norman Lionheart conqueror
2 son, loses Scotland son, wins Canada Plantagenet empire Peasants' Revolt son, Rufus
3 son, Crecy lost America de Montfort Bosworth Orange
4 Duke of York son, first railway Bolingbroke - slavery outlawed
5 son, killed by uncle WWI son, Agincourt - -
Reformation WWII son, Wars of the - -
6 Roses
7 Entente Cordiale - Tudor - -
8 abdicates - Reformation - -
Ethnic Groups
Probably settled in significant numbers in Britain & Ireland up to early modern period: aboriginal (Pictish?, Q-Celts
[Gaels]?, P-Celts [Welsh]?), Belgae P-Celts, Romans, Saxons, Angles, Jutes, Norse, Danes, Normans, Romany, French
Huguenots, Ghanaians (Gold Coast), Morrocans

English Reform Movements

(nostalgic language, respect for monarch) – Magna Carta & de Montfort, Peasants' Revolt, Pilgrimage of Grace, start of
Civil War, Chartists

English Revolutionary Movements

Levellers & late Civil War, 18th c Radicals, 19th c Anarchists, 20th c Communists

Reign Lengths
Mathematically, n, the number of reigns of length, L (in years), fits a power-law probability distribution function, rather
than any two-tailed distribution: n is proportional to L raised to the power of -0.7. There are many more short reigns than
there are long ones. This implies that length of reign a) depends on only one or a few significant factors (e.g. competition
for throne), b) that these are inter-dependent (e.g. illness encourages challenges), and c) that they are more significant
than any normalising factors (e.g. natural lifespan). Refer to spreadsheet history-data-v2.ods. (It might be interesting to
contrast this with the lengths of Prime Ministers' administrations: modern democratic constraints may give normalising
factors and a two-tailed distribution.)

Develop / Include
post-Roman attitudes to "barbarians", e.g. Goths & Visigoths
References
Main
A History of Britain Simon Schama events before modern era
Larousse Desk Reference James Hughes general timeline
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page many details
http://www.britannia.com/history/h6f.html list of monarchs

Details
http://www.ancientscripts.com/futhark.html Futhark runes
http://www.bfbs.org.uk/britishisles/britishlanguages.ht British languages
ml
http://www.britainexpress.com/History/ details about Middle Ages
http://www.factmonster.com/ce6/bus/A0858519.html Guilds
http://www.hpl.hp.com/research/idl/papers/ranking/ran statistical analysis
king.html
http://www.llp.armstrong.edu/5800/histno.html history of English language
http://www.nhm.ac.uk/hosted_sites/ahob/overview_tim Ice Ages
e_chart.gif
http://www.sciencedaily.com/encyclopedia/celt details of Celts
http://www.yorkist.com/e3-h7/tree.html details of monarchs' family trees
Y Chromosome Evidence for Anglo-Saxon Mass Michael E. Weale et al
Migration
A Y Chromosome Census of the British Isles Cristian Capelli et al