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55 BCE
ROMAN LEGIONS
Starting in the year 55 BC, the Romans came to subdue the British people to make them part of their empire. The Romans came to change the lifestyle of the British population. They established a slave system and introduced Christianity. -
500
ANGLOSAXONS
The Saxons participated in the Germanic settlement of Britain during and after the 5th century. About 10,000 to 200,000 settled in the eastern regions, while the Britons controlled the rest. -
Period: 750 to 100 BCE
FIRST YEARS
The first people who arrived to this land did so towards the end of the Paleolithic. This population is known as Picts and Scots.
At the end of the Bronze Age, the Celts arrived in these lands from Gaul.
While in the Iron Age it will be the British who do it. So the cultural exchange of these groups is what will define the first moments of the history of England. -
Period: 800 to 1000
VIKING ERA
Starting in the 8th century, the Viking people threatened to invade England. They developed a very advanced boat system which gave them a great military advantage over the English. -
871
ALFRED THE GREAT
He was king of Wessex from 871 until his death. He became famous for defending his kingdom against the Vikings, as a result becoming the only king of his dynasty to be called The Great. He was also the first king of Wessex to declare himself king of the Anglo-Saxons. -
1066
THE NORMANS
In the year 1066 the Normans took control of the kingdom of England. The British monarchy is unified and English feudalism begins. -
1154
HOUSE OF PLANTAGENET
The House of Plantagenet was the ruling dynasty in England between 1154 and 1399. After the last Plantagenet was forced to abdicate, the crown passed to two secondary branches of the dynasty. The dynasty finally ended in 1485 with the death of Richard III, beginning the rule of the House of Tudor. -
1215
CARTA MAGNA
Magna Carta was issued in June 1215 and was the first document to put into writing the principle that the king and his government was not above the law. It sought to prevent the king from exploiting his power, and placed limits of royal authority by establishing law as a power in itself. -
1267
HOUSE OF LANCASTER
was a cadet branch of the royal House of Plantagenet. The first house was created when King Henry III of England created the Earldom of Lancaster—from which the house was named—for his second son Edmund Crouchback in 1267. The second house of Lancaster was descended from John of Gaunt, who married the heiress of the first house, Blanche of Lancaster -
Period: 1337 to 1453
HUNDRED YEARS WAR
The Hundred Years' War (1337-1453) was a series of armed conflicts fought between the kingdoms of England and France during the late Middle Ages. It originated from the English claims to the French throne. The periodization of the war takes place over 116 years, in which the war was interrupted by several years of truces.
The war ended with the defeat of England and the consequent withdrawal of English troops from French lands. -
Period: 1455 to 1487
THE WAR OF THE ROSES
was a series of civil wars fought over control of the English throne in the mid-to-late fifteenth century. These wars were fought between supporters of two rival cadet branches of the royal House of Plantagenet: Lancaster and York. -
1509
ENRIQUE VIII
was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is known for his six marriages and his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disagreement with Pope Clement VII about such an annulment led Henry to initiate the English Reformation, separating the Church of England from papal authority. He appointed himself Supreme Head of the Church of England and dissolved convents and monasteries, for which he was excommunicated by the pope. -
Period: to
CIVIL WARS
They were armed conflicts and political machinations that took place between the Royalists and the Parliamentarians from 1642 to 1651, and particularly the first (1642-1645) and the second (1648-1649) civil wars between the followers of King Charles I of England and those who supported Parliament and the unsuccessful campaign undertaken by Charles II of England, which ended with his defeat at the Battle of Worcester on September 3, 1651. -
Period: to
INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION
Was the process of change from an agrarian and handicraft economy to one dominated by industry and machine manufacturing. These technological changes introduced novel ways of working and living and fundamentally transformed society. This process began in Britain in the 18th century and from there spread to other parts of the world -
VICTORIA I
Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and empress of India. She was the last of the house of Hanover and gave her name to an era, the Victorian Age. During her reign the British monarchy took on its modern ceremonial character. She and her husband, Prince Consort Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, had nine children, through whose marriages were descended many of the royal families of Europe. -
Period: to
WORLD WAR I
an international conflict that in 1914–18 embroiled most of the nations of Europe along with Russia, the United States, the Middle East, and other regions. The war pitted the Central Powers—mainly Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Turkey—against the Allies—mainly France, Great Britain, Russia, Italy, Japan, and, from 1917, the United States. It ended with the defeat of the Central Powers. -
Period: to
WORLD WAR II
Conflict that involved virtually every part of the world during the years 1939–45. The principal belligerents were the Axis powers—Germany, Italy, and Japan—and the Allies—France, Great Britain, the United States, the Soviet Union, and, to a lesser extent, China. -
EUROPEAN COMUNITY
On January 1, the United Kingdom joins the European Community -
BREXIT
The United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the European Union (EU), which formally occurred on January 31, 2020. The term Brexit is a portmanteau coined as shorthand for British exit. In a referendum held on June 23, 2016, some 52 percent of those British voters who participated opted to leave the EU, setting the stage for the U.K. to become the first country ever to do so.