The history of England

Pre-Celtic Britain

3000 BCE

Six thousand years old the land called "Britain" was inhabited. The population began to burn and cut down the forests to grow cereals. About 3000 BC they built the ritual sites such as Stonehenge.

The Celts begin to arrive in Britain

700 BCE

In Iron Age there is evidence for extensive networks of fields associated with small farming settlements. A mixed farming economy is suggested by cattle, sheep and pig remains and the processing of cereals including wheat, barley and oats. Improved cereal crops and breeds of domestic animal were developed and introduced during the Iron Age.

Julius Caesar's expedition to Britain

55 BCE

After conquering Gaul, Julius Caesar crossed the Channel with two legions - about 10,000 men - probably to carry out reconnaissance and send a warning to the British allies of Gaulish tribes. Local tribes contested his landing on the beach at Deal near Dover, but their war chariots were driven back and they subsequently sought a truce. Caesar returned to the continent for the winter after bad weather damaged his fleet and prevented cavalry reinforcements arriving.

Roman occupation begins

43

An army of four legions and approximately 20,000 auxiliaries, commanded by senator Aulus Plautius, landed at Richborough, Kent. The Romans met a large army of Britons, under the Catuvellauni kings Caratacus and his brother Togodumnus, on the River Medway, Kent. The Britons were defeated in a two-day battle, then again shortly afterwards on the Thames. Togodumnus died and Caratacus withdrew to more defensible terrain to the west.

Construction of Hadrian's Wall begins

122

Hadrian was a gifted administrator who set in place a policy of creating natural or man-made barriers at the empire's outer limits. Inside he envisaged a commonwealth of peoples set apart from the 'barbarians'. A 73-mile-long stone wall was built by Roman soldiers, stretching from modern Newcastle to Carlisle. It marked the northernmost boundary of the empire,serving as a 'porous' border control for the movement of people and goods, or as a strong defensive fortification in times of strife.

The Romans start to leave Britain

368

Appointed to an emergency military command, Theodosius hurried to Britain to restore Roman control following a massive 'barbarian' incursion. He drove the raiders from southern Britain and restored the frontier defences. Invasions continued, such that by 400, three non-Roman kingdoms were established north of Hadrian's Wall: Strathclyde (south central Scotland), Gododdin (modern Lothian) and Galloway. By now, the Romans had effectively abandoned attempts to control Scotland.

The Angles,Saxons and Jutes begin the conquest and settlement of Britain

450

During the third and fourth centuries, Germanic tribes, pushed westward by the Huns in the east, began settling on the boundaries of the Roman empire. According to Sidonius Apollinaris, the fifth century landowner, poet and bishop, the raids on the coast of Aquitoine were particularly brutal. The Saxons were at home on the sea and led unexpected attacks.

The Christian missionary Augustine arrives in Kent

597

At the instigation of by Pope Gregory I, Augustine led a mission to England in 596 AD, probably as the result of a request of Æthelberht, king of Kent whose wife was Christian. He arrived In 597 AD and Æthelberht gave him land in Canterbury to build a church. Æthelberht became the first Anglo-Saxon king to turn his back on paganism and become Christian. Augustine was made a saint, sometimes termed 'Augustine the Less' to distinguish him from the first St Augustine.

Viking attack on the monastery of Lindisfarne

793

One surviving contemporary record of the attack comes from Alcuin of York, an Anglo-Saxon scholar at the court of the Holy Roman Emperor Charlemagne. He heard about the attack on the monastery in his native Northumbria and wrote: 'Never before has such an atrocity been seen.' He said it was God's punishment on the kingdom for its fornication, adultery, incest and greed.

King Alfred of Wessex defeats the Vikings

878

In January, the Vikings succeeded in taking Wessex. Alfred, king of Wessex, took refuge in the marshes of Athelney (Somerset). After Easter, he called up his troops and defeated the Viking king Guthrum, who he persuaded to be baptised. He later brought Guthrum to terms and created a settlement that divided England.

Norman invasion and conquest of Britain

1066

Harold II met William of Normandy near Hastings. The two armies were evenly matched in numbers, but Harold's men were exhausted after a long march back from the hard-fought Battle of Stamford Bridge. Nonetheless, the battle lasted the whole day. The English defensive shield wall was finally broken by the Norman tactic of using feigned retreats to lure Harold's troops into charging then cutting them down with cavalry. The Norman triumph was total. Harold was killed along with many Saxon nobles.

Henry II, the first Plantagenet king

1154

When Henry II came to the throne in 1154, he was the most powerful monarch in Europe. His kingdom stretched from the Scottish border to the south of France. Henry II was a warrior king and chivalric hero.During his reign his main concerns were the insecurities of his French territories and the desire to re-establish the legal order in England.

Murder of Thomas Becket

1170

Thomas Becket was an Archbishop of Canterbury. Thomas tried to assert the independence of Church. But in 1164 Henry had the Constitutions of Clarendon written: these stated that the king was supreme and that all people in England,including the clergy, were subject to the Crown. Becket refused to accept the Constitutions. This conflict between Becket and Henry continued until 29th December 1170, when Becket was murdered in Canterbury Cathedral, by four knights claiming to have been sent by Henry.

King John signs Magna Carta

1215

In order to get more money to wage wars to defend his French possessione, King John collected higher taxes. He seized lands without process of law, imposed arbitrary taxes. The barons, knights, clergy organised a ribellion and asked the king to sign Magna Carta, a charter demanding specific liberties.The king signed it at Runnymede in 1215.

Edward I summons the Model Parliament

1295

Edward I in 1295 summoned a council made up barons,clergy, knights andare representatives of the towns. This was known as the "Model Parliament", England's first Parliament.

Hundred Years' War

1337

In 1337 Edward III claimed the crown of France because his Mother was the French king's sister. This was the beginning of the Hundred Years' War. The Hundred Years' War was interrupted in 1348 by a terrible plague which spread through Europe and killed more than one third of Britain's population.

Black death

1348

The Hundred Years' War was interrupted in 1348 by a terrible plague which spread through Europe and killed more than one third of Britain's population called black death.

Peasants' Revolt

1381

During the first years of Richard II's reign, England was actually ruled by his un le, John of Gaunt, who became very unpopular when,in 1381, he introduced the "pool tax".It was a tax imposed on every adult, without reference to their income. Riots broke out alla over the land: it was the beginning of the Peasants' Revolt.