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What is the history of Britain?
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England, which had subsumed Wales in the 16th century under Henry VIII, united with Scotland in 1707 to form a new sovereign state called Great Britain. [8] [9] [10] Following the Industrial Revolution, which started in England, Great Britain ruled a colonial Empire, the largest in recorded history.
- Prehistory & Antiquity
- The Anglo-Saxons
- The Vikings
- The Normans
- 12th & 13th Centuries : Royal Intrigues & Troubled Successions
- 14th & 15th Centuries : Hundred Years' War & War of The Roses
- The 16th Century Renaissance
- The 17th Century : Religious Troubles & Civil War
- The House of Hanover
- The British Empire & Victorian England
England was settled by humans for at least 500,000 years. The first modern humans (homo sapiens) arrived during the Ice Age (about 35,000 to 10,000 years ago), when the sea levels were lower and Britain was connected to the European mainland. It is these people who built the ancient megalithic monuments of Stonehengeand Avebury. Between 1,500 and 5...
The Romans progressively abandoned Britannia in the 5th century as their Empire was falling apart and legions were needed to protect Rome. With the Romans gone, the Celtic tribes started fighting with each others again, and one of the local chieftain had the not so brilliant idea to request help from the some Germanic tribes from the North of prese...
From the second half of the 9th century, the Norse from Scandinavia started invading Europe, the Swedes taking up Eastern Europe, Russia (which they founded as a country) and the Byzantine Empire, the Norwegians raiding Scotland and Ireland, discovering and settling in the Faroe Islands, Iceland and Greenland (and were in fact the first Europeans t...
After having settled in their newly acquired land, the Normans, adopted the French feudal system and French as official language. During that time, the Kings of Wessex had resisted and eventually vanquished the Danes in England in the 10th century. But the powerful Canute the Great (995-1035), king of the newly unified Denmark and Norway and overlo...
The English royals after William I had the infamous habit to contend for the throne. William's son, William II was killed while hunting, and it is believed that he was in fact murdered, so that William's second son, Henry, could become king. Henry I's succession was also agitated, with his daughter Matilda and her cousin Stephen (grandson of Willia...
Edward III (1312-1377) succeeded his father at the age of 15 and reigned for 50 years (the second longest reign in English history after Henry III, queens excluded). His reign was marked by the beginning of the Hundred Years' War(1337-1416) and epidemics of bubonic plague ("Black Death"), which killed one third of England (and Europe's) population....
Henry VIII
Henry VIII is remembered in history as one of the most powerful kings of England. Except for getting married six times, desperate for a male heir, Henry changed the face of England, passing the Acts of Union with Wales(1536-1543), thus becoming the first English King of Wales, then changing his title of Lord of Ireland into that of (also first) King of Ireland (1541). In 1533, Henry divorced his first wife, Catherine of Aragon (Queen Mary's mother, see Peterborough) to remarry Anne Boleyn (Qu...
Henry VIII's children
The 10-year old Edward VI inherited the throne at his father's death in 1547, but died 6 years later and was succeeded by his elder half-daughter Mary. Mary I (1516-1558), a staunch Catholic, intended to restore Roman Catholicism to England, executing over 300 religious dissenters in her 5-year reign (which owned her the nickname of Bloody Mary). She married the powerful King Philip II of Spain, who also ruled over the Netherlands, the Spanish Americas and the Philippines (named after him), a...
James I (1566-1625) was a Protestant, like Elizabeth, and aimed at improving relations with the Catholics. But 2 years after he was crowned, a group of Catholic extremists led by Guy Fawkes attempted to place a bomb at the parliament's state opening, when the king and his entourage would be present, so as to get rid of all the Protestant aristocrac...
German Georges
When George I(1660-1727) arrived in England, he couldn't speak a word of English, and the legend has it that he was mistakenly arrested while strolling around his palace's garden when questioned by his staff who weren't familiar with his appearance. The king's inability to communicate well with his government and subjects led him to appoint a de facto Prime Minister in the person of Robert Walpole(1676-1745). This marked a turning point in British politics, as future monarchs were also to rem...
George III : American, French & Industrial Revolutions
The first Hanoverian king to be born in England with English as his native language, George III (1738-1820) had one of the most troubled and interesting reign in British history. He ascended the throne during the Seven Years' War (1756-1763) opposing almost all the major Western powers in two teams, chiefly British against French, and ended in a de factovictory for the UK, which acquired New France (Quebec), Florida, and most of French India in the process. However, 13 years later, the Americ...
Regency & Reforms
During George III's insanity (1811-1820), the Prince of Wales was appointed as Regent, then became King George IV (1762-1830) at his father's death. The Regent was known for his extravagance and liking for women. He was more often diverting himself in his magnificent Oriental-style pavilion in Brighton than worrying about the affairs of state in London, leaving the power to the Prime Minister, Lord Liverpool(1770-1828), during most of his reign. George IV notoriously had poor relationships wi...
In 1837, William IV died of liver disease and the throne passed to the next in line, his 18-year old niece Victoria(1819-1901), although she did not inherit the Kingdom of Hanover, where the Salic Law forbid women to rule. Victoria didn't expect to become queen, was still unmarried and inexperienced in politics, and had to rely on her Prime Ministe...
- Prehistory (Before AD 43) Prehistory is the time before written records. It’s the period of human history we know the least about, but it’s also the longest by far.
- Romans (AD 43–c.410) In 55–54 BC, Julius Caesar arrived on the shores of Britain, but thanks to guerrilla resistance and bad weather, his conquest was not successful.
- Early Medieval (c.410–1066) The six and a half centuries between the end of Roman rule and the Norman Conquest are among the most important in English history.
- Medieval (1066–1485) Duke William of Normandy’s resounding triumph over King Harold at the Battle of Hastings in 1066 marked the dawn of a new era. The overthrow of the Saxon kingdom of England was to transform the country the Normans conquered, from how it was organised and governed to its language and customs – and perhaps most visibly today, its architecture.
4 days ago · England, predominant constituent unit of the United Kingdom, occupying more than half of the island of Great Britain. Outside the British Isles, England is often erroneously considered synonymous with the island of Great Britain (England, Scotland, and Wales) and even with the entire United Kingdom. Despite the political, economic, and cultural ...
Jan 2, 2022 · Home Stories. British History: The Formation of Great Britain and the United Kingdom. British history is 1000+ years in the making. It starts with England in the 800’s and leads a thousand years later to today’s United Kingdom. Jan 2, 2022 • By Thomas Willoughby, BA (Hons) Politics.
- Thomas Willoughby
British History. World Wars. Historic Figures. Family History. Hands on History. History for Kids. On This Day. Britain has been shaped by turmoil between its nations, and tension between...
Learn about the history of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the reign of Elizabeth I, and U.K. entry in WW I and WW II. Written and fact-checked by. The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica.
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