Anglo-Saxon England and the Norman Conquest

By Grincheux
  • Period: 800 BCE to 50 BCE

    The Celts

    Presence of the Celts during the era corresponding to the Iron Age.
  • 387 BCE

    The Romans and Gauls met at the battlefield.

    The Ancient Romans saw the Celts, especially the Gauls, as barbarians. They have such a negative opinion of them because there was a big cultural gap.
    But it is mainly because they were at war with each other for centuries
  • Period: 100 BCE to 1 BCE

    Caesar tried to take over the British Isles.

    In the 1st century, there is a systematic campaign against them. The Celtic people managed to establish their homeland on the British Isles, lands.
  • 55 BCE

    Roman invasion

    Britain became the Roman province of Britannia.
  • Period: 112 to 128

    Hadrian's Wall

    Built by the Romans to push back the Picts.
  • Period: 383 to 410

    The Romans left

    The Romans began to suffer heavy losses and their Empire started to decline – they left Britain and were replaced by another group of people, the Anglo-Saxons (people from Germany and Scandinavia) - We saw a rise on the English shores of Anglo-Saxons.
  • 450

    The Anglo-Saxons arrived / Vortigern

    Historians disagree over how the Anglo-Saxons arrived on the British shores –one hypothesis – they were invited/hired by a Welsh king – Vortigern – as mercenaries because he needed them to help him fight the Picts.
    Apparently, they took advantage of the Roman retreat to seize power over the Celtic kingdoms.
  • Period: 500 to 600

    The Anglo-Saxons adopt Christian faith

  • Period: 600 to 850

    14 Anglo-Saxon wars

  • Period: 700 to 900

    Viking invasions

    The invasions of the Vikings were ruthless, they took place between the 8th and 9th century (looting, plundering, killing). Britain was attacked by these Vikings and sea people (pirates). Their job was to travel and raid territories around the world.
    They were people from Scandinavia (Norway, Denmark). They went to the European continent and the British Isles.
  • Jun 8, 793

    Viking attack of the monastery of Lindisfarne

    This attack is very symbolic. It became an example of how brutal Vikings can be. The monastery was held in the highest regards and respect by everyone, the event was a great shock. It was seen as something unprecedented. It was so unheard of that the people thought that it was a kind of sign, of god’s anger. That God had sent out the Vikings to raid the place because people were not Christian enough. A retribution for sinning. This perception was later spread by the Clergy.
  • 886

    Peace Treaty btw Guthrum and Alfred the Great

    If we look at where they managed to establish their rule, we see that it represented a large chunk of territory until they were pushed back to the North by King Alfred the Great. The southern border of Viking territory was established following a Peace treaty by King Alfred the Great (of Wessex) and the Danish leader/chief, Guthrum.
  • Period: 924 to 939

    AEthelstan tries unitng the major tribes

  • 975

    “The peace of god movement” / Church reform

    (first proclaimed in 989)
    In the decades around the millennium, a powerful church reform movement began to take root. And its representatives took an increasingly negative view of such practices as concubinage, slavery, etc.
    The emergence of this reform movement coincides with the consensus to regulate war-fair: “the peace of god movement”. It urged for the protection of civilian life. As a result of these changes inside the church, the people were no longer targets during war.
  • Period: 1016 to 1042

    Cnut the Great on the throne of England

    The king of Denmark, Cnut the Great, managed to seize the throne of England. His descendants ruled over the country until 1042 when Edward the Confessor (very faithful Christian) re-established Anglo-Saxon rule.
  • 1066

    Norman Conquest / Battle of Hastings

    Harold was killed at this battle by William on October 14th 1066, and after that, William became the king of England. The most powerful Anglo-Saxon noblemen gave him the crown at Westminster Abbey (build by Edward the Confessor), so this coronation is very strategic → to show that they were related – designed to establish a dynastic continuity.
  • Jan 5, 1066

    Death of Edward the Confessor

  • Sep 25, 1066

    Harold II beats Harald Hardrada at Stamford Bridge

  • Oct 14, 1066

    William the Conqueror beats Harold II at the Battle of Hastings

  • Dec 25, 1066

    Coronation of William I at Westminster

  • 1069

    The Harrying of the North

    Rebellions during the winter of 1069, led by Edgar AEthling who was the last claimant to the English throne, he was from Wessex. He massively burned the land in Northern England and had the Danes and some Anglo-Saxons to rebel against the king. The massacring was so serious that it brought in its path a widespread hunger/famine since the lands were burned. They were called real genocide.
  • 1070

    The Conquest was secured

  • 1078

    Construction of the Tower of London

    With the arrival of the Normans, the entire country began to witness the arrival of castles (heavy networks of castles) in their landscapes. It wasn’t only about aesthetic, they had a strategic function.
    It was to keep the peace and also to serve as administrative centres. The first castles built were in Hastings and in Pevensey, port towns, to protect the harbours from attacks.
    The most famous castle of all was the tower of London.
  • 1086

    The Oath of Salisbury

    Decision of William I in 1086, which later led to the gradual implementation or adoption of the feudal system on the British Isles.
  • 1086

    The Doomsday book

    It was decided to conduct a very thorough survey in 1086, a list of all ownership of the land, how much land there was, how much he could requisition, how many soldiers he could mobilize. The survey had been a first at the time, and the people saw this list as being almost strange, supernatural. People had now a channel through which they could put out complains and demands of the people to the king(s).
  • 1087

    William I dies

  • 1100

    Henry I signs the Charter of Liberties

  • Period: 1100 to 1200

    Slavery almost no longer exists

  • 1199

    King John crowned

  • 1205

    King John is excommunicated ("interdict")

    The beginning of a clash between the Church and king John.
    Steven Langton, who had been chosen by the Church, was a strong supporter of the barons against the king; There is a start of an alliance, resistance, between the Church and the barons. King John refuses to accept Langton, and in retaliation, the pope imposed a sentence of “interdict”. He excluded, stopped all the sacraments rights in England.
  • Period: 1212 to 1215

    Rebellions against King John

    The barons/vassals of Brittany, under the jurisdiction of the English king, rebelled because they disagreed with his policies, with the support of the French king, Phillip Augustus.
  • 1214

    The pope withdraws his "interdict"

  • Jul 27, 1214

    Battle of Bouvines

    A very important battle, that King John lost.
    The loss of this major battle confirmed that the king of France was the rightful king of Brittany and Normandy. This loss was very significant because king John lost these lands.
  • 1215

    The Charter of Liberties

    A group of barons came together and invited the king to a meeting. They come with a list of complaints, and the charter of liberties
  • May 17, 1215

    Open rebellion of the barons / Over London

    The barons ask the king to acknowledge this charter of liberties, but the king refuses to hear to reason and is now faced with an open rebellion of the barons, taking over the city of London.
  • Jun 15, 1215

    The Magna Carta

    It was a charter that layed down the rights, which were granted by the king to the barons. It was a contract passed by the barons and King John. A legal precedent in terms of constitutional rights.
  • 1216

    Prince Louis sails to England

    Prince Louis mobilizes an army and sails to England despite the fact that he hasn’t got the approval of his father or the Church, and wages war on the English kingdom. He managed to take half the territory of the English kingdom. In London, he is seen as the next king. He is proclaimed as king by these rebellious barons in England, but he is never actually crowned.
  • 1216

    King John dies

  • 1217

    Battle of Lincoln / Treaty of Lambeth

    Louis’s army is finally beaten at the battle of Lincoln in 1217. As a result, Louis is obliged to make peace on English terms and signs the treaty of Lambeth, which acknowledges that he has never been the rightful king of England. It lead to the departure of the French from English territory.
  • 1217

    The Magna Carta re-issued / Charter of the Forest

  • 1236

    First use of the word "Parliament"

    It was first used in 1236, although at that time it was merely a new
    name for the King’s council.
  • 1264

    Simon de Montfort victorious vs Henry III

  • 1295

    Creation of the “model parliament”

  • Period: 1337 to 1453

    Hundred years war

    The backdrop to the Magna Carta is partly the increasing diplomatic tensions between England and France, which would lead to the hundred years war.