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2000 BCE
The Iberians
About 2000 years B.C. pre-Celtic people had already settled in Great Britain. These were called the Iberians. Probably they came from Spain. They lived during the Bronze age and the Iron age. Physically speaking, they had dark hair and a strong body. They lived in wooden
huts (capanne di legno) and were artisans. They were also farmers. They built Stonehenge in the south of England, on Salisbury plain, a group of huge blue stone slabs placed in concentric circles. -
700 BCE
The Celts
Around 700 B.C. the blond-haired Celts began to arrive from Northern Europe.The Welsh comes from their language. They were organized into tribes. They worshipped the natural elements and the Druids were their priests; their temples were groves in the forest.
At times, they performed human sacrifices. They believed in the immortality and in the transmigration of the soul from one person to another -
Period: 55 BCE to 43
The Romans
Julius Caesar invaded Britain in 55 B.C. He didn’t want to subdue the land but only to obtain tributes and slaves in order to strengthen his position against his enemies in Rome. The Country was actually conquered by the romans in 43 A.D., under Emperor Claudius. They subdued Wales but they couldn’t conquer Scotland and to defend roman Britain the Emperor Hadrian erected a wall in 121 A.D. from Solway to the mouth of the tyne. -
Period: 410 to 1066
The Anglo-Saxon
The Anglo-Saxon age in Britain was from around 410 to 1066. They were a mix of tribes from Germany, Denmark and the Netherlands. The three biggest were the Angles, the Saxons and the Jutes. The land they settled in was 'Angle-land', or England. If we use the modern names for the countries they came from, the Saxons were German-Dutch, the Angles were southern Danish, and the Jutes were northern Danish. The most important Anglo-Saxon kings were Alfred the Great, Edward the Confessor and Harold. -
1000
New wawe of Vikings
At the end of the year one thousand a new wave of Vikings (Danes) attacked Britain under the leadership of Canute the Great. King Alfred beat the Viking army in battle but wasn't able to drive the Vikings out of Britain. After years of fighting the Vikings and Alfredmade a peace agreement. The Anglo-Saxon lands were to the westand the Viking lands, known as the Danelaw, were roughly to the east. -
Oct 14, 1066
The Norman Conquest
After the death of Edward the Confessor, William, duke of Normandy claimed the throne of England on the basis of a promise made by the late. On October 14 1066 William attacked and defeated Harold of Wessex (the last of the Anglo-Saxon Kings) near Hastings. The Normans introduced the feudal system and the Domesday Book which showed all the land and their owners. William’s wife made the Bayeau Tapestry to tell the story of hr husband’s success. -
Period: 1154 to 1485
The Plantagenet’s
The Plantagenet’s were a huge powerful family not just in England but throughout Europe and ruled England and half of France from 1154 to 1485. The dynasty produced such varied characters as the energetic Henry II (Thomas à Becket’s murder) his legendary son, Richard the Lionheart, who lead the Third Crusade against Saladin into the Holy Land. King John (was forced to sign the Magna Charta) the powerful Edward I, who conquered Wales and also tried to conquer Scotland but it resisted. -
Period: 1455 to 1485
War of the Roses
For thirty years, a bitter struggle for the English throne was waged between the House of York and the House of Lancaster, both descended from Edward III. Each house was represented by a rose. The House of York used a white rose. The House of Lancaster used a red rose.
The War of the Roses ended when Henry Tudor, a Lancastrian, defeated King Richard III, a Yorkist at the battle of Bosworth Field on 22 August 1485. After the battle, Henry Tudor became King Henry Vll of England and Wales. -
Period: 1485 to
The Tudor
The Tudor ruled England from 1485 to 1603. They marked the end of the medieval system and the rise of the modern age. The two most famous Tudor monarch were Henry VIII and Elizabeth I. Henry the Eighth was married to a Spanish princess called Catherine of Aragon, but only had one daughter in 18 years of marriage. He married Anne Boleyn, but she produced another daughter . He accused her of having a love affair and she was killed . He married Jane Seymour and had a son , but she died. -
The Tudor
When Edward died, Mary the First became Queen and tried to convert the country back to the Catholic Church, killing many people who refused: for this reason she is often known as Bloody Mary. She was married to the Spanish King Philip the Second. -
Period: to
The Stuart dynasty
When she died, James I became King of England. This started the Stuart dynasty. He tried to force Catholics to go to Protestant churches. A group of Catholics planned to blow up the Houses of Parliament when James was there : this was known as the Gunpowder Plot. But the plan was discovered and one of the group called Guy Fawkes was caught and burnt alive. -
Period: to
The Georgian Era
Queen Anne the last of the Stuart dynasty had 17 children but they all died as babies or children. Her nearest Protestant relative was George from the House of Hanover, in northern Germany. During this time the Parliament in Westminster became increasingly powerful. The first and longest serving Prime Minister was Walpole. The two main political parties during the Georgian period were the Tories and the Whigs . It was the time of the industrial revolution and colonization -
Period: to
The Windsor Dinasty
The House of Windsor has produced four British sovereigns, George V (1910-1936), his son Edward VIII (1936), Queen, Elizabeth II. (21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022). After a historic 70 years on the throne as the longest-serving monarch, Queen Elizabeth II died at the age of 96, at her home at Balmoral Castle, on Sept. 8, 2022. Immediately after, her eldest son, Prince Charles, became the new king.