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600 BCE
THE UNITED KINGDOM
The UK is located at the northwestern coast of continental Europe and it´s formed by the Island of Great Britain and the northeastern part of the island of Ireland -
Period: 600 BCE to 1066
Old English Period
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500 BCE
The Celts
They were the first group of Indo European speakers to move across Europe. Towards the end of the 5th century they began to spread and reached the Black Sea, south-west Spain and central Italy, the whole of Britain and Ireland. -
43
The Roman Invasion
The Romans Invated Britain and they remained there for around 400 years -
122
Hadrian’s Wall
It was built by the Roman army on the orders of the emperor Hadrian following his visit to Britain and it represents the borderline between the Roman Empire and the Celtic territory -
410
Roman legions were withdrawn from Britain
The Romans went to Britain looking for riches, land, slaves and most of Britain's metal. They were angry with Britain for helping the French battle against strong and mighty emperor Julius Caesar -
410
The Romans left Britain
The Romans had invaded England and ruled over England for 400 years but in 410, the Romans left England because their homes in Italy were being attacked by fierce tribes and every soldier was needed back in Rome -
450
Anglo-Saxon invasion to the Britain
The Anglo-Saxon invasions of the British Isles in the 5th century AD pushed the British Celts to the west and to the north which caused the Celtic dialects to become separate languages. -
597
The spread of Christianity
St. Agustine and a group of monks arrived in Kent from Rome to teach the Anglo-Saxon about Christianity. As a result, the Anglo-Saxons borrowed about 450 Latin words from the Roman Christians -
600
The Anglo-Saxon kingdoms
The five main Anglo-Saxon kingdoms were Northumbria, Mercia, Wessex, Kent and Anglia -
787
The Vikings "Danes"
They arrived from Denmark and Norway and made many small attacks on England -
850
A large Viking army took London and Canterbury; most eastern England was controlled by Vikings
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871
King Alfred the Great
Rebirth of religious and scholarly activity, his reign exhibits military skill innovation, the ability to plan for the future, commitment to the support of religion, promotion of education -
878
Danelaw
He made an agreement with the Vikings to divide England in two: the northern and the eastern part, known as Danelaw was controlled by the Vikings and the rest of England by King Alfred -
900
The Anglo Saxon Chronicle
King Alfred started a history of England in English: The Anglo Saxon Chronicle, which was a diary of events, written by monks in different parts of the country and it is important because it started in the year 1 AD with the birth of Christ and it was the first book of its kind in western Europe. -
1000
Beowulf
The greatest piece of literature in Old English was probably created in the 8th century but not written until 250 years later. It´s about a brave Scandinavian man called Beowulf who fights and kills the terrible creature called Grendel. -
Period: 1066 to 1204
English in decline
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Period: 1066 to 1509
Middle English Period
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Oct 14, 1066
Result of the Norman Conquest
William, duke of Normandy, defeated the forces of Harold II, king of England, and then was himself crowned king as William I, leading to profound political, administrative, and social changes in the British Isles as result of the Norman Conquest -
Dec 25, 1066
William of Normandy
He was the King of England and was crowned on Christmas eve and French became the official language of England -
1070
William of Normandy conquered England and Wales
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1171
Henry II declared himself overlord of Ireland, introducing Norman French and English to the country
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1204
The turning point
King John “Lackland” lost his English possessions in France, leading to a gradual decline of French -
Period: 1204 to 1348
English in ascent
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1215
Magna Carta
King John signed the Magna Carta, a critical document in the long historical processes leading to the rule of constitutional law un the English-speaking world. -
1300
Under Edward I, royal authority was consolidated in England and Wales. English became the dominant language of all classes
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Period: 1348 to 1509
English triumphant
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1350
The 100 years war, The Black Death and English as official Language
The Hundred Years War between England and France leaded to the loss of almost all of England´s French possessions. The Black Death killed roughly 1/3 of England´s population. English became the official language of the law courts and replaces Latin as the medium of instruction at most schools -
1455
The wars of the Roses
Right after the 100 years war, a long power struggle began for the English Crown between two families: The House of Lancaster and The House of York. It´s called like this because both families used a rose as their symbol (Lancaster: red, York: white and Tudor: both) -
1476
The printing press and The Canterbury Tales
William Caxton brought to Westminster the first printing press and published Chaucer´s The Canterbury Tales. Literacy rates increased significantly and printers began to standardize English spelling -
1485
The Tudor Dinasty
They were Welsh-English family that ruled England and Wales starting in 1485 with the first monarch King Henry VII. It saw two of the strongest monarchs ever to sit on the English throne: King Henry VIII and his daughter Queen Elizabeth I -
1485
The last battle in The War of the Roses
Henry VII from the House of Lancaster, defeated Richard II from the House of York in the battle of Bosworth -
1486
Origin of the Tudor Dinasty
Henry VII married Elizabeth of York and they united the two rival Houses -
1509
King Henry VIII
After Henry VII died, Henry VIII acceded to the throne and two months later married his brother´s widow: Catherine of Aragon -
Period: 1509 to
Modern English Period
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1558
Isabel I
She was queen of England and Ireland from the 17th of November in 1558 until her dead on March 24 1603. Also called the Virgin Queen, she was the last of the five monarchs of the Tudor Dinasty -
The Union of Wales and England
Henry VIII passed the Laws in Wales Acts aiming to fully incorporate Wales into the Kingdom of England -
James I
When Elizabeth died and left no inheritor, her cousin James VI of Scotland became King James I of England, Wales, Ireland and Scotland -
Translation of the Bible into English
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Original Union Flag
Mix between the England flag and the Scotland flag -
The English Civil Wars
They comprised three wars, which were fought between Charles I and Parliament between 1642 and 1651. The wars were part of a wider conflict involving Wales, Scotland and Ireland, known as the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. The human cost of the wars was devastating -
End of the revolution
It enden with the execution of King Charles on January 30th at the Palace of Whitehall -
Oliver Cromwell
Oliver Cromwell replaced King Charles after his execution, the monarchy ended and the republic rises -
The Great Fire
The Great Fire of London was a major conflagration that swept through the central parts of London from Sunday, 2 September to Thursday, 6 September 1666. -
Current Union Flag
The Original Union Flag plus the Ireland flag -
Victorian Era the Age of the Empire
The effects of the industrial revolution accelerated the migration of the population from the country to the city on Victorian society. The Victorian age saw advances in medicine, science and technology, as well as huge population growth, inventions include the light bulb, typewriters, sewing machines, radios and the toilet, Bicycles, cars, steam powered boats and trains -
End of the Victorian´s Era
Queen Victoria dies on the Isle of Wight at 81yo with the Victorian Era. Edward VII, her eldest son. The Windsor family ascendent to the throne. -
The current Commonwealth of Nations
It was formed based on a shared commitment to values such as liberty, human rights, trade and good governance.
It was formed in the first half of the 20th century. It was originally created as the British Commonwealth of Nations in 1926. In the11th of December, 1931 it was formalized and the current Commonwealth of Nations was formally constituted by the London Declaration in 1949