British History & Literature

By jhaile
  • Period: Jan 1, 673 to May 26, 735

    The Venerable Bede

    Possibly also born in 672
    Author of A History of the English Church and People
  • Period: Dec 25, 1013 to Feb 3, 1014

    Rule of Sweyn Forkbeard

  • Period: Feb 3, 1014 to Apr 23, 1016

    Second Reign of Æthelred the Ill-Advised

  • Period: Apr 24, 1016 to Nov 30, 1016

    Edmund Ironside

  • Period: Nov 30, 1016 to Nov 12, 1035

    Rule of Canute

  • Period: Nov 13, 1035 to Mar 17, 1040

    Rule of Harold Harefoot

  • Period: Mar 17, 1040 to Jun 8, 1042

    Rule of Harthacnut

  • Period: Jun 9, 1042 to Jan 5, 1066

    Saint Edward the Confessor

  • Period: Jan 6, 1066 to Oct 14, 1066

    Rule of Harold II Godwinson

    died in battle via an arrow through the eye
  • Battle of Hastings
    Oct 14, 1066

    Battle of Hastings


    The Battle of Hastings    Duke William II of Normandy (France) defeats King of England Harold II Godwinson. Normandy now controls England.
  • Period: Oct 15, 1066 to Dec 17, 1066

    Rule of Edgar the Ætheling

    was proclaimed king but was never crowned - William the Conquerer was instead
  • Period: Dec 25, 1066 to Sep 9, 1087

    Rule of William the Conqueror

  • Period: Sep 26, 1087 to Sep 2, 1100

    Rule of William II

    Killed by an arrow
  • Oxford Unviersity
    Jan 1, 1096

    Oxford Unviersity

    Visit Oxford First record of teaching at Oxford Unviersity, the second oldest survivng university in the world (oldest in the English-speaking world)
  • Period: Jan 1, 1100 to Dec 31, 1449

    Middle English

  • Period: Aug 5, 1100 to Dec 1, 1100

    Rule of Henry I

  • Period: Dec 22, 1135 to Oct 25, 1154

    Rule of Stephen of Blois

  • Period: Dec 19, 1154 to Jul 6, 1189

    Rule of Henry II

  • Period: Jun 14, 1170 to Jun 11, 1183

    Rule of Henry the Young King (co-ruler with his father)

  • Dec 29, 1170

    Muder of Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury

    Made Canterbury Cathedral a place of pilgrimage
  • Period: Sep 3, 1189 to Apr 6, 1199

    Rule of Richard I Lionheart

  • Period: May 27, 1199 to Oct 19, 1216

    Rule of John Lackland

  • Jun 15, 1215

    Magna Carta

    The Magna Carta
  • Period: Oct 28, 1216 to Nov 16, 1272

    Rule of Henry III

  • Period: Nov 20, 1272 to Jul 7, 1307

    Rule of Edward I Longshankes

  • Jan 1, 1277

    England Conuqers Wales

  • Period: Jul 7, 1307 to Jun 25, 1327

    Rule of Edward II

  • Period: Jan 25, 1327 to Jun 21, 1377

    Rule of Edward III

  • Period: Jan 1, 1337 to Dec 31, 1453

    Hundred Years' War

    Hundred Years' WarEngland vs. France for French crown
    Three Phases:
    Edwardian War 1337-1360
    Caroline War 1369 - 1389
    Lancastrian War 1415-1429 (Joan of Arc 1412-1431)
  • Period: Jan 1, 1343 to Oct 25, 1400

    Geoffrey Chaucer

  • Period: Jan 1, 1348 to Dec 31, 1350

    Black Death

    First, and most serious, outbreak of the plague in Medieval Eurpoe.
  • Period: Jan 1, 1350 to Dec 31, 1399

    Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

    composed in latter half of 14th century by an unknown poet (who also wrote Pearl, Purity, and Patience. IAll four works are in a North West Midlands dialect of Middle English
  • Dec 31, 1368

    The Book of the Dutchess (Chaucer)

  • Period: Jun 21, 1377 to Sep 29, 1399

    Rule of Richard II

  • Jan 1, 1380

    The Legend of Good Women (Chaucer)

    Composed sometime in the 1380s
  • Jan 1, 1381

    Bible first translated to English

    see also John Wycliffe and the Lollards
  • Jan 1, 1385

    Troilus and Criseyde (Chaucer)

    Probably completed in the mid-1380s
  • The Canterbury Tales (Chaucer)
    Jan 1, 1387

    The Canterbury Tales (Chaucer)

    approximate date for Chaucer's start of the Canterbury Tales (which are incomplete, and it is not known if he finished them or not)
  • Period: Sep 30, 1399 to Mar 20, 1413

    Rule of Henry IV Bolingbroke

  • Jan 1, 1401

    De heretico comburendo

    a law passed by King Henry IV of England in 1401 punishing heretics with burning at the stake. This law was one of the strictest religious censorship statutes ever enacted in England.
  • Period: Jan 1, 1405 to Mar 14, 1471

    Sir Thomas Malory

    Born c. 1405
  • Period: Mar 20, 1413 to Aug 31, 1422

    Rule of Henry V

    died from dystentary
  • Period: Aug 31, 1422 to Mar 2, 1461

    First rule of Henry VI

  • Period: Jan 1, 1450 to

    Early Modern English

  • Period: Jan 1, 1455 to Dec 31, 1485

    War of the Roses

    War of the Roses
    Civil War in England, fought between two rival branches of the House of Plantagenet, the House of Lancaster and the House of York (the "red" and the "white" rose, respectively)
  • Period: Mar 4, 1461 to Oct 2, 1470

    First rule of Edward IV

  • Period: Oct 30, 1470 to Apr 11, 1471

    Second rule of Henry VI

  • Period: Apr 11, 1471 to Apr 9, 1483

    Second rule of Edward IV

  • Period: Apr 9, 1483 to Jun 25, 1483

    Rule of Edward V

    Probably smothered
  • Period: Jun 26, 1483 to Aug 22, 1485

    Rule of Richard III

    killed in battle
  • Jan 1, 1485

    Le Morte d'Arthur first published

    published by William Caxton
  • Period: Aug 22, 1485 to Apr 21, 1509

    Rule of Henry VII

  • Period: Apr 21, 1509 to Jan 28, 1547

    Rule of Henry VIII

  • Nov 1, 1534

    First Act of Supremacy

    Acts of Supremacy Allows for the creation of the Church of England by granting the king (Henry VIII) royal supremacy
  • Period: Jan 28, 1547 to Jul 6, 1553

    Rule of Edward VI

  • Period: Jan 28, 1547 to Jul 6, 1553

    Rule of Edward VI

  • Period: Jan 28, 1547 to Jul 6, 1553

    Rule of Edward VI

  • Jan 1, 1549

    The Book of Common Prayer - first publication

    The Book of Common Prayer Prayer book for the Church of England
  • Period: Jan 1, 1552 to

    Edmund Spenser

    Spenserborn c. 1552
  • Period: Jul 10, 1553 to Jul 19, 1553

    Disputed Rule of Jane, the Nine Days Queen

    Title disputed
  • Period: Jul 19, 1553 to Nov 17, 1558

    Rule of Mary I (Bloody Mary)

  • Period: Jan 1, 1554 to

    Sir Walter Raleigh

    Raleigh Was born c. 1554
  • Period: Jul 25, 1554 to Nov 17, 1558

    Rule of Philip, in the right of his wife

    Philip ruled in right of his wife - he enjoyed all of Mary I's titles and honors (and was granted the title of king) for the length of their marriage.
  • Period: Nov 30, 1554 to

    Sir Philip Sydney

    Sydney
  • Period: Nov 17, 1558 to

    Rule of Elizabeth I

  • Period: Feb 26, 1564 to

    Christopher Marlowe

    Marlowe
    Marlowe was baptised on Feb 26, 1564
    He was stabbed to death
  • Period: Apr 23, 1564 to

    William Shakespeare

    Shakespeare's Works First known record is his baptism on April 26, 1564; was probably born on April 23.
  • Astrophel and Stella (Sydney)

    Astrophel and Stella (Sydney)

    Likely composed in the 1580s

  • English Navy defeats Spanish Armada

    More about the battle

  • The Faerie Queen, part 1 published

  • Romeo and Juliet (Shakespeare)

    Written between 1591 - 1595

  • The Faerie Queen, part 2 published

  • "The Passionate Shepherd to His Love" (Marlowe) first published

    Probably written 1580s, because it is referred to in his plays.

  • Globe Theatre opens

    The Globe Theatre Probably opens in the summer

  • Hamlet (Shakespeare)

    Written between 1599-1601
  • Period: to

    Rule of James I

  • Doctor Faustus (Marlowe) first published

    Doctor Faustus (Marlowe) first published

    Note that this is a posthumous date

  • Macbeth (Shakespeare)

    Written between 1603-1607

  • King James Bible completed

  • Shakespeare's First Folio published

    Shakespeare's First Folio published

    First Folio
  • Period: to

    Rule of Charles I

    beheaded
  • Period: to

    Modern English

  • Anglo-Saxon Invasion Begins

    Anglo-Saxon Invasion Begins

    Includes Angles, Saxons, Jutes from northern Germany and Denmark. They bring their languages (Old English)

  • Augustine founds Christian monastery at Canterbury, Kent

    Brings Christianity to England
    First Archbishop of Canterbury
  • Period: to

    Scandinavian Invasion

    Late 700s - end of 900s
    at its peak, Scandinavians control eastern England
  • Period: to Dec 31, 1100

    Old English

  • Period: to

    Beowulf composed

    Approximate range of dates for the events in Beowulf. It survives only in the Nowell Codex, composed sometime in the 1000s.
  • Period: to

    The Exeter Book

    Probable range of compilation for the Exeter Book (Exeter Cathedral Library MS 3501), which contains the only known versions of "The Seafarer", "The Wanderer", and "The Wife's Lament"
  • Period: to

    Rule of Egbert (Bretwalda)

  • Period: to

    Rule of Æthelwulf

  • Period: to

    Rule of Æthelbald

  • Period: to

    Rule of Æthelbehrt

  • Period: to

    Rule of Æthelred

  • Period: to

    Rule of Alfred the Great

  • Period: to

    Rule of Edward the Elder

  • Period: to

    Rule of Æthelstan the Glorious

  • Period: to

    Rule of Edmund the Magnificent

    murdered
  • Period: to

    Rule of Eadred

  • Period: to

    Rule of Eadwig

  • Period: to

    Rule of Edgar the Peaceful

  • Period: to

    Rule of Saint Edward the Martyr

    Assassinated
  • Period: to Jan 1, 1013

    First Reign of Æthelred the Unready