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55 BCE
Julius Caesar conquers the Celts
Julius Caesar conquered a people in the British Isles known then as the Celts about 50 years from Christ's birth around 55 BC. -
871
Alfred the Great
Alfred the Great came to the throne in 871 at the age of twenty-four. He was wise and a great leader, and therefore, he was known as the first great king of England. He led England against Danish invaders and won by 878. He died in 899. -
1016
Canute the Dane
Canute the Dane became king of England after he conquered it in 1016. He had ruled England, Denmark, and Norway as an empire. -
1066
Battle of Hastings
William the Conqueror was given his name after winning the Battle of Hastings in 1066. William was fighting against Harold Godwin for the title of the king of England and his victory was known as the Norman Conquest. -
1086
Domesday Book Completed
The Domesday Book recorded the census of England that was taken by William the Conqueror for taxation purposes. The Domesday Book was completed in 1086. -
1337
Hundred Years' War
The Hundred Years' War was a war between England and France battling over lands that were once owned by France but now by England. The war started in 1337 and ended in 1453 with the French being victorious. -
1455
Wars of the Roses
The Lancaster and York families began fighting over power and which family would reign as the king of England again. The Wars of the Roses began in 1455 and ended in 1485 when Henry Tudor defeated Richard III (York). It was known as the Wars of the Roses because the York family emblem was a white rose and the Lancaster's was a red rose. -
1485
Henry VII
Henry VII became the first Tudor king of England in 1485 and reigned until 1509. -
1509
Henry VIII
Henry VIII became king of England in 1509 and ruled until 1547. After marriage problems with Catherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn, and the pope, Henry VIII forced the English clergy to recognize him as the supreme head of the Church by the Parliament in 1534. Therefore, he started the Church of England. -
1531
The Convocation
In 1531, Henry VIII forced the English clergy to assemble in the Convocation to recognize him as "the single protector, the only supreme lord, and as far as is permitted by the law of Christ even supreme head". -
1542
Mary Queen of Scots
Mary Stuart became queen of Scotland when her father died in 1542. Her mother wanted her to marry someone in France instead of uniting in England to keep the country Catholic. After many scandals with Britain and Scotland, the Scottish forced Mary to abdicate the throne in 1561 and give it to her son James VI. -
1547
Edward VI
Edward VI was only nine-years-old when he came to the throne in 1547. Since his mother was protestant, the regents who ruled for him were protestants as well. Thomas Cranmer ruled and led the English Reformation during this time. Edward VI died in 1553. -
1553
Mary I
Mary I became queen of England when when Edward VI died in 1553. Mary was Catholic and wished to return England to the Roman Church. She was known as Bloody Mary because she executed about 300 persons who refused to change their religion. Mary I died in 1558. -
1558
Elizabeth I
Elizabeth I came to the throne when Mary I died in 1558. She was a very wise and intelligent queen. She did not marry any man and was known as the Virgin Queen. Another title she was given by the people for her wonderful leadership was Good Queen Bess. Elizabeth I died in 1603 after many years of caring for her country. -
Defeat of Spanish Armada
The Defeat of the Spanish Armada occurred in 1588. The country of Spain had created a fleet for war against England called the Armada. The plan was for the Armada to pick up troops from the Netherlands and invade England. The Armada chose not to trap the English fleet in Plymouth harbor on July 19th and 20th due to strong winds and continued to the Netherlands. On the way to the Netherlands, the English caught up to the Armada and destroyed it after ten days of fighting. -
James I
James I came to the throne of Scotland and England to unite them as the first Stuart monarch in 1603 when Elizabeth I died. His reign ended in 1625 after many issues against the laws of England, the Parliament, and the Puritans. -
Charles I
Charles I came to the throne in 1625 and was much like his father, James I. He did not obey the Parliament and only wished for money from it. He broke many laws in abuse of his power as king. He dissolved the Parliament in 1629, and began a time span known as the "Eleven Years' Tyranny". His reign ended in the year of 1649. -
The English Civil War
The English Civil War officially started on August 22, 1642, when the king raised his banner in Nottingham. In the first part of the English Civil War, Oliver Cromwell built a trained army and reputation for being a military genius. His troops were called the Ironsides, and by June 1646, the king's forces surrendered, and the king fled the country. But in 1648, the king had come back with the English royalists and the Scots. Either way, Cromwell's Ironsides won the war by the end of 1648. -
1662
In the year of 1662, England was recovering from the civil war and wanted a monarchy again instead of Cromwell's form of government. Charles II arrived in May 1660, but by 1662, the monarchy was fully restored. -
The Plague
In 1665, the Plague, which had started from the East, had arrived in London and had wiped out over half the population. About 100,000 people died in London alone. The plague also killed around 60 percent of Europe's population. -
The Great Fire of London
In 1666, a massive fire broke out in London and destroyed the entire city. The flames lasted for three days and made thousands of people homeless while living in open fields on the outskirts of London. Although, the fire did much good for the people of London as it cleared the streets and city of the terrible plague that infested it. Then the city was eventually rebuilt though no one knows the origin of the great fire. -
The Glorious Revolution
In 1688, as king Charles II and James II were trying to impose Romanism back on England, seven leaders of the Parliament (which was dissolved by Oliver Cromwell in 1653) wrote a letter to William of Orange, the ruler of the Netherlands, offering him the throne of England. When William arrived, James II fled England, and now, William III and his wife Mary II became king and queen of England under the English Bill of Rights. Therefore, the Glorious Revolution was known as the Bloodless Revolution.
