Download Overview of the British history

TALLINN FRENCH SCHOOL
Overview of the British history
Project task
Aap Korp
XB
TALLINN 2011
Pre-historic Britain
6000 BC the English Channel was formed -> early settlers on the isles.
Iberians - about 3000 BC, first inhabitation. From the Iberian peninsula.
Stone age - they used stone axes and made antlers and bones into leatherworking tools.
Little is known about them, but some burial
chambers and dwellings have been found. Other
archaeological excavations also reveal something
about their Stonehenge - a megalithic monument
on Salisbury Plain. Built in several stages from
about 3000 BC. Nobody knows how they were
built. The purpose might be connected so some
rituals, especially about the sun. Consists of two
stone circles and two stone horseshoes.
Bronze age - 2100 - 1650 BC. Gold was mined and the items found from the
graves show the wealth of the tribes.
Celts came in two waves: Gaels around 600 BC and Cymri or around 300 BC.
Brought the technique of smelting
iron. Lived in villages, built wellprotected forts. Had no private
property, were agricultural, caught
fish, tamed animals. Warriors and
Druids were the most improtant
people. Lived in clans and were
excellent warriors. Created largescale artwork.
Their celtic language is the
ancestor of the Irish, Welsh and
Gaelic languages.
Roman Britain
Julius Caesar reached the English Channel in 55 BC and made
two successful raids in 55 BC and 54 BC. Had to withdraw his
forces due to a rebellion in Gaul.
Emperor Claudius in 43 AD successfully invaded Britain and during the 350year occupation, Britain was only a colony. The free Celts were now slaves and
had to pay heavy taxes and work for the conquerors.
Queen Boudicca was the leader of the Iceni tribe, which first
joined forces with the Romans but later, as the Romans
betrayed her she led a revolt against them in AD 61.
Romans created new and important towns (York, London, St
Albans, Bath), which were connected with a new system of
paved roads, the most important one, Watling Street, ran across
England from Dover to Wales. Former military camps can now
be distinguished by
their names, which
end in -caster or chester. Even some
villas were built,
for example the Roman baths in
Bath around a natural hot spring.
Hadrian's wall in the north was built
in 122 to keep out the raiding Picts
and Scots.
Roman soldiers and traders brought
Christianity, the Christian Church in
Britain was established in the 4th
century.
Anglo-Saxon Britain
After the Romans left Britain in 410, the Angles, Saxons and Jutes soon began
raiding Britain. Within 100 years Saxon kingdoms like Wessex, Mercia and The
new settlers disliked town and destroyed Roman villas, living in small farming
communities. By the 7th century, they too started to establish towns. Towns
from that period can be recognized by the ending 'ham' which means 'home'.
The Celts were absorbed or driven away so that the new Saxon settlers started
the language, which is the ancestor of English. Angles gave the name to the land.
They were agricultural, had self-sufficient villages, no shops and little trading. In
the 6th century, the conversion of the
Anglo-Saxons into Christianity began. St
Augustine from Rome became the
Archbishop of Canterbury.
Christianity
also
brought
about
important changes in the life of the
Anglo-Saxons. Roman culture was
spread across the country, bishops and
monasteries were granted much land;
libraries and schools for the clergy were
established. The most important writer
from this period is a monk called The Venerable Bede who wrote "Ecclesiastical
History of the English People", a book on Anglo-Saxon history. Another
important writing is the heroic epic poem "Beowulf", which gives us an
overview of the Anglo-Saxon everyday life.
From this period also come the legends of King Arthur and his Knights of the
Round Table.
The strongest Anglo-Saxon state was Wessex.
As more and more Vikings invaded Britain, they mixed their culture with the
Anglo-Saxon one. The Vikings came from Denmark, Norway and Sweden.
In 871 the Danes invaded Wessex, which lead to the resistance of the local
people who under Alfred the Great stopped the invasion.
Danelaw was founded in the northern part
with York as the capital.
Alfred the Great could read and write, wanted
his people to be educated and translate books
so that people could understand them. Ordered
the history of England to be written - the AngloSaxon Chronicle.
Canute was a strong Danish King who in the
11th century conquered England and divided
England into territorial lordships, provided a
unified government and ended the paying of the
tax Danegeld.
After Canute, the throne soon passed to Edward
the Confessor who restored the Saxon line of
kings.
Norman Conquest
There were three claimants to the
throne: Harold Godwin, who claimed
that Edward the Confessor had promised
him the throne on his deathbed; William,
the Duke of Normandy, who said that
Edward had promised him the throne,
too, when he visited England in 1051 and
Harald Hardraada, the King of Norway,
who tried to take the throne by force. In
1066, a battle started between Normans
and Anglo-Saxons near Hastings, King
Harold died.
William marched into London and was
crowned in Westminster Abbey as
William the Conqueror.
The battle is depicted on the Bayeux Tapestry.
The Normans had a feudal system which
treated the native Anglo-Saxons as serfs. In
1086 the Domesday Book was created to
collect taxes.
French became the language of the
aristocracy while English became the
language of the peasants.
Today, some castles of Norman England
have remained, for example White Tower
in London.
William had three sons: Robert,
William and Henry. William died in a
hunting accident and while Robert
was on a crusade, Henry seized the
power. He was followed by his
daughter Matilda who married
Geoffrey Plantagenet and by giving
birth to Henry II, started the
Plantagenet dynasty.
The Plantagenets
Henry II inherited the English kingdom
and Normandy from his mother Matilda;
Anjou, Maine and Touraine from his father
Geoffrey and vast areas of central and
south-western France through his wife
Eleanor of Aquitaine.
He was a strong and majestic ruler.
Struggle between the Church and the state
for ultimate control and let to the murder
of Thomas Becket.
Followed by son Richard (Lionheart) who
spent a lot of time in the crusades.
John I (Lackland) lost almost all of the
areas of the nobles in France while he had
been raising the taxes.
Lost the quarrel with the Church and was also forced to sign the Magna Carta, the
predecessor of the Constitution. It limited the king’s power and made way to
giving freedom to the people.
Henry III reigned for a long time, not successful as a ruler and failed to get back
the French areas.
Improved Westminster Abbey, built Salisbury Cathedral, patronized arts.
The first parliament was summoned in 1265.
Edward I annexed Wales in 1282 and also Scotland for some time.
Married his son Edward II to Philip IV’s daughter Isabella.
Marriage was unsuccessful and Edward II abdicated in favour of his son Edward
III who soon seized power from his mother.
Edward III was very successful as he restored royal authority and developed the
parliament.
During his reign, the 100 Years' War was held because Edward III believed he
was the rightful claimant to the French throne. Another horrible event was The
Black Death.
During the war, the English language spread and Geoffrey Chaucer wrote the
“Canterbury Tales”. John Wycliffe translated the Bible.
Lay education was started with Winchester College.
Edward and his son the Black Prince were admired and symbolized the code of
chivalry. He also founded the order of the garter.
Richard II was not popular because as a child, his advisers governed for him,
making bad decisions like the taxation of everyone over 15, which lead to the
Peasant’s Revolt.
The Wars of the Roses were the quarrels
between Lancastrians and Yorkists to gain
control of the throne. After the Yorkist
kings Edward IV, Edward V and Richard
III, Henry VII was crowned the King of
England. He married Edward IV’s daughter
and thus united the rival houses.
The Tudors
Henry VII (1457-1509) founded the Tudor dynasty and
united the Lancastrians and Yorkists.
As a wise man, he gathered riches and made England a
wealthy and powerful monarchy. Made important alliances
through marriages and kept England out of wars.
Henry VIII (1491-1547) spent his father’s wealth and led a
lustful life.
Formed the Anglican Church and declared himself as the
head of Church.
Had six wives and only one legitimate son – Edward VI who
was also his descendant to the throne but died at a young
age.
His cousin Jane Gray ruled for only 9 days because the
Privy Council changed it’s mind.
Mary Tudor (1516-1558) or Bloody Mary tried to restore
Catholicism in England and used very violent methods –
she enacted a policy of persecution against Protestants.
Married King Philip of Spain.
Elizabeth I (1533-1603) tried to bring England together in
religious problems and made England a very powerful
country.
Defeated the Spanish Armada, culturally prosperous period
– many great writers like Shakespeare and Marlow.
Successful era of discovering the world and creating
important business routes; first colony in North America –
Virginia – was established.
The Stuarts
Mary Stuart (1542-1567) was the Queen of Scotland.
She married Francis II, Dauphin of France but after his
death returned to Scotland.
Married her first cousin Lord Darnley who was also the
father of her son James I.
She soon got tired of her husband, had him murdered and
married the murderer.
Quite unpopular due to her behaviour, catholicisim and
French culture.
Was believed to have been involved in three plots against
Elizabeth I and was executed because of that.
James I (1566-1625) inherited Scotland from Mary and
united England and Scotland after Elizabeth died in
1603.
Had a bad personality: very paranoid and suspected
everyone of plotting against him. He believed in his
divine right to overrule parliament and raise money
without giving something back.
A Catholic conspiracy called the Gunpowder Plot was
organized to blow up the Parliament and the king, it
failed.
Charles I (1600-1649) dissolved Parliament three times and ruled alone.
He was very unpopular and when in 1640 he asked Parliament for money, the
English Civil War started between the supporters of the king (Cavaliers) and the
supporters of the parliament (Roundheads).
As the parliament won, Oliver Cromwell led the anti-monarchist movement. He
dissolved parliament and started his own period of dictatorship (1645-1660).
His son was a weak ruler and Charles II was invited to
return from exile.
Charles II (1630-1685) was a strong and peaceful king.
During his time, first political parties were created
(“Tories” and “Whigs”).
In 1665 was the Great Plague and in 1666 was the Great
Fire of London.
His brother James II was next to rule but his reign
proved disastrous and as the parliament elected James’
daughter Mary and her husband William of Orange to
come to the throne, the Glorious Revolution happened
– the parliament now had more power than the king.
When Mary died, Anne succeeded and during her reign, the Act of Union united
Scotland with England and Wales. Parliamentary elections actually had the more
important role.
Georgian Era
George I and George II were of little importance as they didn’t speak English
and were just the figures in front of the country. George I let the Whigs form the
government and the parliament had the true power over the country.
Robert Walpole was a strong politician who let the Cabinet and made most of
the political decisions of that time – he was the so-called Prime Minister.
George III was the first Hanoverian king who
spoke fluent English and was able to rule the
country as an English king.
He defeated France and England became the
most important power in North American
colonies and India.
During his reign, the American War of
Independence was lost and the United States
of America were established.
Some important parts of the loss of the
American colonies were the quarrel over
taxation, which lead to the Boston Tea Party, in
July 1776 the Declaration of Independence
was issued and the war ended in 1783.
He also led a series of wars against Napoleon who was finally defeated in 1815
at Waterloo. The defeat required several coalitions between England and many
other European countries.
The wars also had a devastating effect on Britain itself but after 1815 things
started to pick up and England industrialized. Many new cities such as
Manchester emerged and now the electoral system needed to be changed.
Victorian Era
Queen Victoria (1819-1901) is the longest
reigning monarch in the history of Great
Britain.
She became the ruler of many lands that
belonged to the British Empire, the largest in
the world.
During her 21 years of marriage to Prince
Albert, they had many children which mostly
married
into
different royal
families
of
Europe.
After
Albert’s
death she went
into permanent
mourning.
The empire had
many
wars
going on around the globe. In 1854 there was the
Crimean war where Florence Nightingale made
nursing a respectable profession.
In 1857 there was a mutiny in India and in 1876
Victoria became the Empress of India.
The Industrial Revolution spread throughout
Britain. Manual labour was replaced by machinery. Trade became more
important, began the building of railways.
An elementary education system was developed for children aged 5-10.
Many big inventions and discoveries: in 1851 the Great Exhibition, Charles
Darwin published his book about evolution, electric lighting, the telephone etc
were invented.
People of that time
had
very
high
standards and values.
Many
important
writers
such
as
Charles Dickens, Oscar
Wilde and Rudyard
Kipling.
Edwardian Age
Edward VII, the son of Queen Victoria, became
king at the age of 59.
He was successful, travelled in Europe and tried to
keep good relationships.
The Edwardian Age was a period of art and
fashion, it corresponds to the French “Belle
Époque” period. Art nouveau was an important
influence for the culture and the role of the Church
became smaller.
Some noteworthy writers are Galsworthy and
Shaw.
Although Edward VII died in 1910 and George V
came to the throne, the Edwardian era extends
until the end of the First World War, including
such events as the sinking of the Titanic, the World
War itself and the signing of the Treaty of
Versailles in 1919, also the fight for women’s suffrage which led to the gain of the
women’s right to vote in 1918.
The dominions of Great Britain were given complete independence from Britain
in 1931.