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GRADUATION EXAM IN ENGLISH
THE MILESTONES OF BRITISH HISTORY, FAMOUS BRITISH MONARCHS,
AND OTHERS RULERS
THE MILESTONES OF BRITISH HISTORY
British history → eventful, the beginning → quite bloody ( colonization of the British Isles, several
successive “waves“ of newcoming invaders relieved (vystřídalo se) there, forming the “British nation” )
x since the end of the 17th century – continuous period of political stability and economic prosperity with
spreading the English influence and language all over the world.
Major periods of Britain´s early history (since primeval times through ancient times until the end of the
Middle Ages) :
● since 3 500 – 3 000 until 1 000 (the 10th century) B.C. : the Iberians = the first people to settle in and
inhabit the British Isles → farming, pottery, stone tools → in the south in England; megalithic constructions
→ Stonehenge (a circle of huge stones = very probably an ancient observatory); the Iberian period lasted
approximately (appr.) 2,000 – 2,500 yrs
● from the 10th century B.C. : tribes of the Celts from Europe started to invade Britain → hardy, warlike
people ( painted their bodies ) : first the Gaels, then the Britons → kept cattle, made pottery; their priests =
druids → the “pure” Celtic period lasted appr. 1,000 yrs; they brought the Gaelic language (GAELIC) to
the British Isles
● in 55 B.C. → Julius Caesar, the Roman Emperor landed on the British Isles; in 43 A.D. → Emperor
Claudius started the Roman occupation of Britain →
→ 55 B.C. – the 5th century (450) A.D. : the Roman period ( in fact only about 400 yrs) → the Romans
→ they brought the Latin language (LATIN) to the British Isles; forts, paved roads, camps (= castra);
Hadrian´s Wall against the Picts living in the north ( where Scotland is now ); the country was wellorganized; Romans gave the name to London (Londonium) and the country ( Britannia ); prosperity, trade;
one of the Roman provinces
● the 5th– 11th century (450 - 1066) – the Anglo-Saxon period (appr. 600 yrs) :
in the 5th century – the Germanic tribes of Angles, Saxons and Jutes started to come from Germany,
Denmark, and the Netherlands → later formed the Heptarchy (= seven kingdoms); they brought the AngloSaxon language = the Old German language (ANGLO-SAXON) to the British Isles
in the 5th or 6th century – the famous legendary Celtic ruler (Briton) – King Arthur fought the AngloSaxons → the Britons held out ( but were pushed further to the west where Wales is today ); England got its
name then ( Angle-land )
● the 9th century – the Vikings (= Danes) from Scandinavia invaded Britain; stopped by the famous AngloSaxon King of Wesex, Alfred the Great → the Danelaw ( the northern part of England ruled over by the
Vikings = Danes ) → the short Viking or Danish period ( less than 200 yrs ); they brought the Old Norse
language (OLD NORSE) (starou severštinu) to the British Isles; during the Anglo-Saxon and Viking periods
: Old English (= in fact Anglo-Saxon); Christianity
● the 11th century : the Danish King Canute ruled England; later Edward the Confessor (died in 1066 )
followed by King Harold; in 1066 : the famous Battle of Hastings – the Normans invaded from France :
William, Duke of Normandy killed King Harold → became King William I (= William the Conqueror)
→ the victorious Norman conquest of Britain ( the last successful one in British history! ) → they brought
the Norman French language (NORMAN FRENCH) to the British Isles → the Norman period started :
the country well-organized; the Domesday Book ( all owners of land registred in it ), feudalism established
: the King → bishops and barons ( vassals ) → serfs; Old English slowly changed into Middle English
(spoken from about 1150 to about 1500)
● the 12th century : King Henry II of Anjou → the Norman Conquest of Ireland → the British rule started
there
● the 13th century – in 1215 – the Magna Charta = the Great Charter (of Liberties) → the barons
significantly limited King John Lackland´s power (= the very beginning of later democracy in this country)
(his brother, King Richard I, the Lion-Heart, spent most of the time fighting in the Holy Land); in this
century Wales was brought under England´s control; Model Parliament was formed (= the pattern for
later British Parliament)
● 14 th century – a turbulent (neklidné) century; the Black Death (a plague);
the Peasants´ Revolt (suppressed) → its leader, Wat Tyler was killed;
the mid 14th – the mid 15th century = the Hundred Years´ War took place between England and France
over Normandy and some islands
● the 15th century – the War of the Roses between the House of York ( their emblem: White Rose ) and
the House of Lancaster ( their emblem: Red Rose ) = a struggle for the throne (the Lancasters won at last →
Henry VII Tudor became King as the heir of the Lancasters)
Major periods of Britain´s modern history (= of the Modern Ages) :
● 16th century = the TUDOR AGE + ELIZABETHAN AGE
King Henry VIII – started the colonization of Ulster ( = Northern Ireland ) with the Scottish settlers → the
roots of the later problems with Ireland; 1536 → Wales + England → united → BRITAIN was thus
established as a new political formation; his daughter: Queen Elizabeth I → she founded the British
Empire
● 17th century – the period of Stuart rulers ( the Scottish ruling dynasty ); after Elizabeth I died ( 1603 ) →
James I of England ( = VI of Scotland ) became King ( Catholic )
the Civil War → Charles I beheaded in 1649 → Oliver Cromwell ( later became Lord Protector ) → GB
was Republic ( 1649 – 1660 = for 11 yrs ! ), then the restauration of the Stuarts again → Kingdom
renewed again
King William III of Orange → oppression and religious persecution increased in Ireland;
1689 – the Bill of Rights : this document definitively put the power into the hands of the Parliament (the
Crown = King or Queen can never suspend (dočasně zrušit) any laws)
● 18th century : 1707 – England and Scotland united in one Union → GREAT BRITAIN was founded
as a new political formation
1770 – 1780 the Industrial Revolution began in GB → the working class was slowly formed
George III (of the House of Hannover → lost his American colonies in the War of Independence of the
13 American Colonies (the USA was formed – in 1776)
In 1800 – GB united with Ireland → with this THE UNITED KINGDOM (UK) was formed (= with the
whole of Ireland)
● 19th century : growing industrial cities → poverty among working class people → strikes, the Luddites
movement (a secret organization; they attacked factories at night and destroyed some new machines); later
some reforms made the social situation better;
Queen Victoria: since 1937 - the VICTORIAN AGE → the country flourished and prospered, the empire
expanded into Asia and Africa
● 20th century :
1922 – the Irish Free state was created, but without Ulster (= Northern Ireland) → THE UNITED
KINGDOM OF GREAT BRITAIN AND NORTHERN IRELAND
(= THE UK) came to an existence;
WW I – the UK involved, it was one of the Allies (ælaiz) together with France, Russia, later Japan, Italy,
and the USA, they fought against the Central Powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Turkey) → a war
over overseas colonies; the Allies won WW I
in the 1920s – the British Empire reached its greatest importance x the colonial system started to break
up due to the national liberation movement in the colonies → a series of crises → in 1926: the British
Commonwealth of Nations ( BCN ) was founded / declared within the former British Empire → the former
British colonies formed a free association of equal states under one formal head – one sovereign;
WW II – 1940 – 41 – the victorious aviation Battle of Britain (Winston Churchill – the Prime Minister);
the heroic pilots saved GB from the German invasion ( helped by many Czechoslovak pilots as well !! )
The Western Allies (the USA – President Roosevelt + the UK – Prime Minister Churchill) later
cooperated with the former USSR (Soviet Union – headed by Joseph
Stalin); they fought together the Axis Powers = the Fascist Germany (Hitler), Italy
(Mussolini) and Japan (Emperor Hirohito).
The Allies won but the war substantially weakened Britain´s world position ( huge debts, being the super
power no more ) x the USA came out of the war as the new richest and strongest super power.
in 1947 – the former British colony India, led by Mahátma Gándhí (with those Hindu believing in /
professing Hinduism), and Pakistan (formerly part of India with the majority of the Hindu believing in /
professing Islam) were granted independence (Gándhí reached it by means of non-violent resistance to the
British power)
Since 1952 → Queen Elizabeth II – long stabile (steibail) rule until now
the 1980s → the Conservative Party lead by Margaret Thatcher (the first woman Premiere in GB = “Iron
Lady”) → the victorious Battle over the Falklands; Thatcherizm → extensive privatization, the power of
the Trade Unions significantly limited; later replaced by John Major (another conservative Prime
Minister)
Now – the Labor Party has the political power – Tony Blair – the Prime Minister since the 1990s – a
very successful GB and European politician, the UK – the closest ally of the USA under Blair´s rule
(participates in nearly all war actions of the USA !!).
FAMOUS BRITISH MONARCHS, AND OTHERS RULERS
The perhaps most famous and important British sovereigns (kings and queens) include :
1 KING HENRY VIII (of the House of Tudor) – the 1st half of the 16th century
- well educated, had the mind of a stateman
- had six wives ( had two of them executed / beheaded for unfaithfulness ) :
1 Catherine of Aragon (Spanish Catholic → daughter: “Bloody” Mary I → Catholicism)
2 Anne Boleyn (†!) → daughter Elizabeth I → Protestantism
3 Jane Seymour → son Edward VI – died quite young (see the novel: “The Prince and the Pauper”)
4 Anna de Cleves
5 Catherine Howard (†!)
6 Catherine Paar → the only wife who survived Henry VIII
- wanted to divorce Catherine of Aragon→ a quarrel with the Pope → Henry rejected the authority of
Rome and married Anne Boleyn as his second wife → was excommunicated out of the Catholic Church
→ as a result: Henry VIII became the head of the newly established Church of England (independent of
the Catholic Church !)
2 QUEEN ELIZABETH I (of the House of Tudor) – in the 2nd half of the 16th century
- an outstanding Queen of England (reigned after Edward VI, Jane Grey and Mary I) → supported
Protestantism
- Anne Boleyn´s and Henry VIII ´s daughter
- had her cousin, Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots, executed because all Catholics in Britain considered Mary
the legitimate heir (= successor – následník) to the English Crown (the Throne)
- ruled by clever female diplomacy – she remained unmarried → the “Virgin Queen” → managed to keep
peace with other countries x 1588 : Spanish Armada (= a fleet of ships) attempted to invade England:
crushed and defeated by the British navy led by Sir Francis Drake → England became the most
powerful country at sea
- great voyages of discoveries of some outstanding English explorers and navigators opened the world to
English trade and conquest during Elizabeth´s reign:
Sir Francis Drake: at first as a buccaneer, he sank many Spanish ships at the Queen´s “secret service”,
circumnavigated the world in his ship “Golden Hind” later died of dysentry at sea near Panama
Sir Walter Raleigh – founded the first English colony in America ( called it Virginia in honour of the
Queen ) – the first settlement there was called Jamestown, but didn´t prosper at all; (later, under James I,
Raleigh was charged of conspiracy and beheaded)
The result of Elizabeth´s policy → the foundation of the British Empire → Britain became the colonial
power → her era is now called the Elizabethan age = the Golden Age
3 QUEEN VICTORIA (of the House of Hannover) - in the 19th century
- still remains the British sovereign who reigned for the logest time in Britain´s history (64 yrs!;
1837 – 1903 )
- came to the throne quite young ( at the age of 18 )
- after her husband, Prince Albert, died → she withdrew into seclusion although reigning for another 40yrs
- the first monarch to live in Buckingham Palace
- under her rule → the British Empire grew rapidly → the queen became the dignified symbol of the
continuity and stability of the British way of life
→ the Victorian age : remarkable for the expansion (rozšíření) in wealth and power in Britain; the country
flourished, the industrial revolution went on → industry was replacing agriculture, lots of engineering
innovations were introduced into life → the old aristocracy lost their power, the new middle class of traders
and manufactures became rich and thus more powerful, the British becoming urban people, many schools
were built, education developed x Victorian England also had its “dark sides”: appalling slums, the
exploitation and poverty of the working class including shameful children´s work under horrible working
conditions; false hypocritical Victorian morality
4 QUEEN ELIZABETH II ( of the House of Windsor )
- the Head of the present-day Royal Family; the second longest reigning British sovereign : in 2002 for 50
yrs already
- came to the throne in 1952 after her father, George VI, had died
- 1947 – she married, as Elizabeth Bowes – Lyon, Lieutenant /le´tenant/ Philip Mountbatten (a Royal Navy
Officer), who now bears the title of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburg; their four children are Charles,
Prince of Wales; Anne, Princess Royal; Andrew, Duke of York, and Prince Edward
- the Queen strictly observes the traditions and respects the values of the life of a British sovereign and their
family, thus representing well the UK → is quite popular and beloved by the people, especially the English,
still being one of the most important symbols of state, her mother, Queen Elizabeth, called the Queen
Mother, was as much popular as her daughter (mainly due to the fact, that she refused to leave London under
the Germans´ bombing during WW II wanting to share the hard fate with the ordinary Londoners), she died
in 2002 in her 101, being quite fit nearly up to her death)
- now the prestige of the Royal Family has been shocked and disturbed by some affairs of the private lives
of some of its members (there have been some divorces)
- the heir to the British throne is Prince Charles, the Queen´s oldest son and rather “ naughty child “ of
hers: he married Lady Diana Spencer in 1981, who hadn´t come from a royal family, she became the
Princes of Wales; → two sons : Prince William and Prince Henry; the marriage, despite being happy at
first, failed;
Princes Diana loved ordinary people, she wanted to live quite normal, modern life but she couldn´t stand /
bear the strictness and “stiffness” of the life in the royal family; moreover, she found out Charles was
unfaithful to her with Camilla, his long-term close friend ) → in 1993 Charles and Diana were separated,
and divorced in 1996; later (in 1997) she died tragically with her new close friend and lover, Dodi al Fayed,
in a car crash in Paris, France.
Diana, unlike Charles, was really beloved by all people in Britain and even abroad, because she was goodminded, friendly to everybody, modest and showing compassion for suffering people all over the world,
never boasting or showing arrogance to anybody.
That´s why she was considered the People´s Princess and her burial became a day of unpretending national
grief / sorrow.
In April 2005 Prince Charles married Camilla, but she can´t bear the title of the Princess of Wales (British
Parliament rejected this).
HISTORY OF ENGLAND
Iberians – Stonehenge
600 B.C. – the Celts (Gaels, Britons) began to invade the country
43 A.D. – the Romans Emperor Claudius conquered Britain; Hadrian´s Wall
450 – Angles, Saxons and Jutes began making settlements
800 – the Danes, Vikings or Northmen began attacking the island – Alfred the Great, the king of Wessex, stopped them
in the beginning of the 11th c. – the Danish king Canute – ruler of England – lasted over 20 years
Edward the Confessor – the last great Anglo-Saxon ruler of England
1066 – William the Conqueror (a Norman duke) defeated Harold at the Battle of Hastings – became king – Domesday Book
the 1st king of the House of Plantagenet – Henry II – tried to assume the title of King of Ireland; struggle between the Church and the
State – wanted to give authority to the royal courts only – the murder of Thomas Becket – Archbishop of Canterbury
1215 – Barons forced King John to grant the Magna Carta
1282 – Edward I brought Wales under English control – 1295 summoned the Model Parliament
1337 – 1453 – the Hundred Years´ War
1349 – the Black Death epidemic – plague
1381 – the Peasants´ Revolt was suppressed – Wat Tyler led the revolt (was killed)
1485 – the Wars of the Roses – resulted in the succession of King Henry VII (Henry Tudor) (Lancaster) (York – white, Lancaster –
red) (Richard III was defeated and killed – York) – Henry VIII (ordered Parliament to declare that the king, not the Pope, was the
supreme head of the Catholic Church in England)
Tudor Age – House of Tudor – Henry VII, Henry VIII, Edward VI, Mary I, Elizabeth I – after this House – House of Stuart (James I,
Charles I)
1558 – Queen Elizabeth I came to the throne - ´´The Golden Age´´
1588 – the Spanish Armada was defeated
1605 – James I – Guy Fawkes made an unsuccessful attempt to blow up the king and Parliament
1607 – English colonists founded Jamestown in Virginia – to escape from James – one group of Protestants – the ´´Pilgrim Fathers´´ sailed to America in 1620
1628 – Charles I was forced to agree to the Petition of Right
1642 – the Civil War broke out in England – Oliver Cromwell = one of the principal Parliamentary leaders – 2 political parties: Tories,
Whigs
1688 – the Glorious Revolution in England
1689 – Parliament passed the Bill of Right
´´Augustian Age´´ - the reign of the last Stuart, Queen Anne
1707 – Parliament passed the Act of Union – joining Scotland to England and Wales – Great Britain
HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
1714 – Georg I – Whig party
1756 – 1763 – the Seven Years´ War. The principal clauses of the Treaty of Paris (1763) were: GB received Canada, Florida (from
Spain in exchange for Havana), Dominica, Tobago, Grenada, Minorca, and some African settlements; France got back Martinique, St.
Lucia, and some other places; Spain got Havana and Manila; and France was given fishing rights off the Newfoundland coast
1760 – 1770 – the Industrial Revolution
1775 – 1783 – GB lost the 13 American colonies
1800 – The Act of Union joined Ireland to GB
1803 – 1815 – GB fought Napoleon and won the Battle of Waterloo
1805 – Admiral Nelson won a great victory over the French fleet at Trafalgar
the Era of Reform – unemployment spread – one of the secret organizations was the Luddites – attacked factories
1837 – 1901 – Queen Victoria´s reign brought prosperity and expanding empire in Asia and Africa
1854 – 1856 – the Crimean War – britain and France fought against Russia
WWI (1914 – 1918) – 1914 the assassination of the Archduke Ferdinand at Sarajevo; Britain declared war on Germany, AustriaHungary and Turkey = the Central Powers; the Allies = Britain, France, Russia, later Japan, Italy, the USA (1917)
1918 – Germany surrendered
1921 – the Irish Free State was creted, but Ulster was excluded
1931 – the British Empire became the British Commonwealth of Nations
WWII (1939 – 1945) – 1939 WWII began in Europe on September i, when Germany invaded Poland; GB and France declared war on
Germany; Winston Churchill became Prime Minister (the leader of the British people throughout the whole war- confidence in
victory)
1940 – 1941 – German air raids damaged many British cities in the Battle of Britain; the Big Three – Churchill, Roosvelt, Stalin –
became allies; Germany attacked the Soviet Union and Japan attacked the USA (Pearl Harbour) – 1941 – both countries entered the war
1945 – on May 8, Germany surrendered
1949 – Ireland left the Commonwealth; Britain has been a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) – in 1949 it was
founded
1950s – there were disputes over the Suez Canal Zone with Egypt and the oil industry with Iran; Britain was forced to give up control
of the Suez Canal Zone; British troops fought in the Korean War
1952 – Elizabeth II came to the throne
1960s – the death penalty was abolished; theatre censorship was removed; the Open University was founded
1973 – GB – a member of the European Community
1979 – Margaret Thatcher became Britain´s first womane Prime Minister
1990 – the new conservative leader, John Major, replaced Thatcher; now Prime Minister: Anthony Blair (from 1997)
Northern Ireland continued to be a source of trouble in the 1990s – in September 1994 the IRA and Sinn Fein