History of England/Timelines
(Sources in addition to those shown: Bernard Grun The Timetables of History, Simon & Schuster, 1991; Norman Davies: The Isles, A History, Appendix 42, Macmillan 1999; Key Dates of Parliament, House of Commons, 2008.[[1]]; .Chris Scarre (ed) The Human Past, Thames and Hudson, 2005. James Ingham's translation of the Anglo Saxon Chronicle [2])
For population estimates see the addendum subpage[3]
For further detail see the Channel 4 timeline[4]
Prehistory
- Star Carr [c 8770 BC] - a mesolithic campsite in Yorkshire, inhabited by hunter-gatherer toolmakers.
- Cheddar Man [5][6] [c 7,000 BC] - a stone-age dweller in a Somerset cave who had DNA in common with a 20th century Somerset man.
- The Sleeve (La Manche) - The English Channel[7] first separates Britain from the European mainland [c 6000 to 4000 BC].
- Farmers in Britain and Ireland [from c 4000 BC]
- The Beaker people [8] [c 2500 to 1600] - pottery-making settlers from the European mainland in what is now the London area.
- Megalith builders [9]
- - Stonehenge[10].[c 3000 to 1500 BC] - a Neolithic/Bronze Age circle of standing stones, aligned on the midsummer and midwinter solstices.
600 BC to 48 AD
- Goidals reach Ireland and Brythons reach Britain - and two branches their language evolve from the Celtic language of central Europea [13]
49 to 410 AD
Roman occupation 43 - 410 AD
- Invasion[16] the Romans conquer the South of England by 47 AD, and the rest of England during the next 30 years.
- Rebellion[17] the "client kingdom" of the Iceni, led by Queen Boadicea, attack their Roman allies in Colchester and London and are then overwhelmed and massacred[61 AD]
- Agricola[18][78 AD] - extends Roman control into North Wales and Scotland.
- Hadrian's wall[19] - a fortification guarding the northern border of Roman Britain[122 AD]
- Christianity reaches Britain [200+]
- Septimus Severus' Caledonian campaign[22] [208-211}
- Edict of Caracalla - all free men eligible for Roman citizenship [212]
- Constantius' Caledonian campaign[23][306]
- Edict of Milan - the tolerance of Christianity[24] [313]
- Council of Nicea[25] - the Church rejects Arianism and adopts the Nicene Creed[[26]]
- Theodosius' campaign against Picts and Scots [367]
- Christianity becomes Rome's state religion - Emperor Theodosius forbids other forms of worship [27] (391).
- Withdrawal of the legions [401]
- The end of Britain's allegiance to Rome [410]
400 to 800
Celtic Ireland
- Saint Palladius[28] becomes first Bishop of Ireland - having been sent to Ireland by Pope Celestine [431].
- Saint Patrick(432-c459)[29] returns to Ireland and helps to spread Christianity there. [432]
- - becomes Bishop of Ireland following the transfer of Palladius to Ireland.
- Scotti from the Irish kingdom of Dal Riada settle on Argyll in Scotland.
- Saint Ninian[30] [31] founds a monastery in Scotland [400?].
Saxon Britain (the term Saxon is used in this article to refer to people from Northern Germany that are sometimes known as Angles, Saxons and Jutes)
- King Vortigern(c425-c459)[32] of Kent invites a force of Saxon mercenaries under Hengist(?) [33] to help him defeat his enemies. [449]
- Ambrosius Aurelanius (c460-c475) leads resistance to the Saxons
- King Arthur(?)(c475-c515)[34] takes over leadership of resistence the Saxons.
- Saxons defeated at Mount Badon[35] [500?]
- Gradual disintegration of the British state following death of Arthur followed by local rule by various warlords.
- Aethelferth of Northumbria and Aethelbert of Kent share total control of England (605?) completing the Saxon takeover of England.
- Saint Columba[36] lands on Iona in Western Scotland, founds a monastery there [563] and converts the Scotti of Dal Riada to Christianity
- The Book of Kells[37][38] illuminated manuscript thought to have been the work of the monks of Iona.
- Saint David(c550-589) [39]helps to spread Christianity among the pagan Celtic tribes of Western Britain and becomes Archbishop of Wales
- Saint Augustine(597-604) [40] becomes Archbishop of Canterbury, having been sent to Britain by Pope Gregory with 40 other monks (597).
- Saint Aidan travels from the monastery of Iona to Northumbria, becomes Bishop of Lindisfarne (634-51) and helps convert Northumbria to Christianity[41].
- Synod of Whitby (664)[42] - Augustine persuades representatives of the indigenous Christian church to accept Roman practice.
- Adam Bede's [43]History of the English Church and People(731).
801 to 1066
- Viking and Danish invasions
- Viking settlements at Dublin[44], Waterford and Limerick [914-920]
- First wave of Danish invasions of England
- Danes occupy York
- Alfred the Great, King of Wessex [45](871-899)
- Alfred takes refuge from his enemies in the Somerset marshes[46] (878)
- Danish armies take control of all of England except the kingdom of Wessex (865-879)
- Alfred commissions the writing of the Anglo Saxon Chronicle [47]
- Alfred recaptures London (885)
- Second Danish invasion (890)
- Massacre of Danes on St Brice's day[48] (1002)
- Danish Conquest of England (1013)
- Brian Boru, High King of Ireland, (reigned 1002-14), defeated the Vikings at Battle of Clontarf[49], Co.Dublin, (1014)
- Canute the Great[50], King of Denmark and England (1016-1035), and the Danish conversion to Christianity
- Edward the Confessor made King (1042)
- Harold (1035 - 1066) becomes King of England (1066)
- Battle of Dunsinane [51](1054) - Malcolm Canmore defeats of MacBeth at Dunsinane with the help of Edward the Confessor and becomes Malcolm III King of Scotland
- Harold subdues Wales[52] (1063)
1066-1154
Norman Conquest
- Battle of Hastings
- William I (1066 - 1087)
- Treaty of Abernethy (1072) - Malcolm III of Scotland swears allegiance to William the Conquerer[53] (and later to Rufus[54] (1091)).
- Domesday Book (1086)[55]
- William II (1087 - 1100)
- First Crusade (1096)
- Feudal system [56].
- Henry I (1100 - 1135)
- David I of Scotland invites Norman barons to establish estates in Scotland (1124)
- Stephen (1135 - 1154)
- The Anarchy (1135 - 1154)- an armed dispute over the succession between Stephen and Matilda
- Treaty of Winchester[57] -an agreement that Matilda's son Henry was to be Stephen's successor.
- The Welsh Marches [58]
1154- 1216
- Henry II[59] (1154-1189)
- Thomas à Becket Archbishop of Canterbury (1162 -1170)
- Rory O'Connor, High King of Ireland [1166-1175]
- Richard I (1189 - 1199)
- Norman invasion of Ireland[60]
- Irish kings do homage to Henry II (1171)
- Third Crusade 1189
- King John(1199 - 1216)
- Ireland is formally designated a part of the Kingdom of England
- Magna Carta[61][62] (1215) - the founding document of the British constitution.
13th century
- Henry III (1216 - 1272)
- The Provisions of Oxford[63] - Simon de Monfort's parliamentary reforms. (The Great Council is now referred to as a "parliament")
- Edward I (1272 - 1307)
- "Model Parliament" (1295)[64] - summoned by Edward I with extended representation compared with earlier parliaments.
- "The Auld Alliance"[65] between Scotland and France (1295)
- Battle of Stirling Bridge - at which a Scottish army led by William Wallace defeated the English
- John Baliol yields Scottish throne to Edward I who thus becomes King of Scotland (1296 -1306)
14th century
1300 Edward I invades Scotland.
1307 Edward II (1307-1327)
1314 Battle of Bannockburn - and the establishment of Scottish independence.
1320 Declaration of Arbroath[66] - a plea to the Pope for Scotland's independence.
1323 William of Occam's Summa Logicae[67] (logic handbook) - rejects the Church's contention that theology is a science.
1327 Edward III (1327 - 1377)
1337 Beginning of Hundred Years War[68]
1348-50 The Black Death[69] reduces the population by about a third.
1366 Statutes of Kilkenny [70]
1377 Richard II (1377-1399)
1381 Peasant's Revolt [71].- against taxes and serfdom.
1382 John Wycliffe's Confession Concerning the Eucharist[72] - challenges the doctrine of the Church.
1390 Richard III's Irish expedition
1397 The Twelve Conclusions of the Lollards[73] - an attack on the doctrines and conduct of the Church.
1399 Henry IV (1399 -1413)
15th century
1401 De Heretico Comburendo[74] - legislation enacting death by burning as the penalty for heresy.
1413 Henry V (1413-22)
1415 Agincourt
1422 Henry VI (1422-61)
1429 Franchise Act [75] - restricted voting in elections to freeholders of land worth more than 40 shillings.
1453 End of Hundred Years War - leaving England with no French possessions except Calais.
1455 -1485 The Wars of the Roses[76] - small-scale fighting that causes heavy casualties among the aristocracy and results in the victory of the House of Lancaster over the House of York.
1460 Statute of Drogheda[77] (Poyning's Law) - under which Ireland adopts the entire body of English law.
1461 Edward IV (1461-83)
1476 Caxton's printing press[78]
1483 Richard III (1483-85)
Tudor Era 1485-1605
1485 Henry VII (1485-1509)
16th century
1503 Marriage of Margaret, daughter of Henry VII to James IV of Scotland.
1509 Henry VIII (1509-47)
1511 England joins Holy League[79] - against France.
1513 Battle of Flodden [80] - major defeat of Scots army and death of James IV.
1526 William Tyndale's[81] translation of the New Testament.
1534 The Act of Supremacy[82] - makes Henry VIII the head of the new Anglican Church, legalising the break with Rome.
1535 Dissolution of the monasteries[83]
1535 Thomas More[84], Lord Chancellor, executed for refusing to recognise the break with Rome.
1536 Pilgrimage of Grace[85] - a popular uprising against the closure of the monasteries.
1541 Henry VIII is declared King of Ireland[86]
1542 Battle of Solway Moss[87] - minor defeat of James V'sScottish raiders.
- James V of Scotland dies and is succeeded by Mary Queen of Scots [88]
1542 Great Debasement[89] - reduces the silver content of the coinage from 75% to 25% by 1551.
1547 Edward VI (1547-53)
1549 Cranmer's English Prayer Book[90] (revised 1552).
1553 Mary I[91] becomes Queen, reimposes Cathoiicism and crushes Wyatt's rebellion[92].
1558 Elizabeth I [93](1559-1603) - restores Anglicanism[94].
1559 The Armada [95] - an unsuccessful attempt at invasion.
1560 Scots Confession of Faith[96] - a rejection of Scottish allegiance to the Roman Catholic Church and the founding document of the Church of Scotland, drafted by John Knox and others and approved by the Scottish Parliament.
1562 The 39 Articles[97] - the beliefs to be practised by the Anglican church.
1567 Abdication of Mary Queen of Scots[98] and succession of James VI.
1570 Gunpowder Plot[99]
1586 Treaty of Berwick[100] - between Elizabeth 1 and James VI of Scotland.
1587 Franchise Act (Scotland)[101] sets a land ownership-based entitlement to vote as in England.
1593 William Shakespeare's Venus and Adonis
17th century
1600 The British East India Company is founded and is granted the monopoly of trade with "the Indies"[102].
1601 Poor Law[103][104] - created a national system to provide for the poor, replacing the parish-based systems of the Acts of 1552, 1563, 1572, 1576 and 1597.
1605 Francis Bacon's "The Advancement of Learning" [105] - makes the case for the inductive method of reasoning.
Stuart Era 1605-1688
1605 James I (1603-25).
1609 The Ulster plantation[106] - of thousands of Scottish and English Protestant settlers.
1620 The voyage of the Mayflower[107].
1625 Charles I (1625-49)
1639 "Bishops Wars" [108] between England and Scotland over English attempt to reform Scottish church.
1641 Parliament's "Grand Remonstrance"[109] [110] is rejected by the King.
1642 Parliament's "Nineteen Propositions"[111] ultimatum is rejected by the King.
1644 John Milton's Areopagitica[112] - a tract in favour of the freedom of the press.
1643-46 Civil War[113].
1648 Execution of Charles I.
1649 - 60 The Interregnum
1649 The Agreement of the People[114] - the demand by the Levellers for rule by a representative assembly elected by universal male suffrage.
1649 Oliver Cromwell declares England to be a Commonwealth.
Cromwell invades Ireland.
1651 Thomas Hobbes' Leviathan[115] - defines government as, a social contract by which power is irrevocably delegated to an absolute sovereign.
1652 Act for the Settlement of Ireland [116]
1660 The Restoration. Charles II (1660-85)
1661-5 The Clarendon Code[117] - used to persecute "dissenters" (from Anglicanism) but fell into disuse after the Revolution.
1665 Great Plague [118]
1666 Fire of London [119]
1673 Test Act[120]. Catholics excluded from office.
1685 James II (1685-88)
Monmouth Rebellion.
1687 Isaac Newton's Principia[121] - the founding document of the "scientific revolution" in thinking about the universe.
1688 "The Glorious Revolution" and Bill of Rights [122] - severely limited the power of the king over Parliament.
1689 William and Mary.
1690 John Locke's Treatise on Government [123] - the people's delegation of power to a sovereign is conditional upon their continued consent.
1690 The Battle of the Boyne[124]
1694 The Bank of England [125]
18th century
1701-14 War of Spanish Succession[126]
1707 Act of Union - with Scotland [127].
1714 Hanoverian succession.
George I (1714-27)
1717 The Gold standard - the £ is linked to gold at £3.89/oz[128]
1727 Geoge II (1727-1760)
1715 First Jacobite Rising
1745 Second Jacobite Rising - "the '45"
1746 Battle of Culloden.
1760 George III (1760-1820).
1763 Treaty of Paris[129] - French possessions in America and India are ceded to Britain.
1768 Cast iron production at the Coalbrookdale foundry[130].
1764 James Hargreaves builds the first "spinning jenny"[131] - a major improvement on the spinning wheel.
1769 James Watt's patent for a steam engine [132] - a major improvement of Newcomen's "atmospheric engine".
War of American Independence[133] 1775 -81 - and the creation of the United States of America.
1776 Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations - advocacy of "laisser-faire" on the grounds that the only legitimate goal of government is growth of national income.
1788 The colonisation of Australia [134]
1792 Thomas Paine's The Rights of Man[135]
1799 Combination Acts - outlawed trades unions.
Napoleonic Wars[136] 1789 - 1815.
19th century
1801 Act of Union[137] - making Ireland a part of the "United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland" with representation in the kingdom's parliament.
1805 Battle of Trafalgar.
1807 Abolition of the Slave Trade[138].
1815 Battle of Waterloo.
1820 George IV (1820-30).
1829 Catholic Emancipation Act [139] enables Catholics to be Members of Parliament.
1830 William IV (1830-37).
1832 Reform Act - raised the proportion of adult English males entitled to vote to 20 per cent.
Crimean War 1833 - 36.
1833 Abolition of slavery[140].
1834 The Tamworth Manifesto [141] - Robert Peel's election manifesto (sometimes considered to be the founding document of the Conservative Party).
1835 Joseph Whitworth's machine tools[142]
1837 Queen Victoria (1837-1901)/
1838 Maiden voyage of the Great Western - Brunel's ocean-going screw-propelled iron steamship.
Irish Famine 1845-1850.
1846 Repeal of Corn Laws.
1848 Peoples' Charter [143] - a petition for male suffrage, secret ballots, equal constituencies, no property qualification, payment for MPs, annual elections.
Indian Mutiny 1857-8.
1858 The Government of India Act[144] - transfers the military and administrative functions of the East India Company to the Crown.
1859 The formation of the Liberal Party[145]- an alliance Whigs, Peelites and Radicals, formed to provide an opposition to the Conservative Party.
1861 John Stuart Mill's Representative Government[146] - argues the case for a qualified extension of the suffrage.
1867 Reform Act[147] - gave the vote to every male adult householder living in a borough constituency, and to male lodgers paying £10 for unfurnished rooms.
1867 The British North America Act[148] establishes the Dominion of Canada.
1868 Trades Union Congress [149]- created
1870 Education Act[150] - created publicly-funded elementary schools for children (attendance was made compulsory in 1880).
1871 Trade Union Act[151] - recognised trades unions as legal corporations.
1874 Charles Darwin's The Origin of Species
1874 Disraeli's First Conservative Government (1874-80).
1880 Gladstone's Liberal Government.
1898 Battle of Omdurman
1899-1902 Boer War.
20th century
1900 The Labour Representation Committee is formed[152] - (the forerunner of the Labour Party) and makes an electoral pact with the Liberal Party.
1902 Treaty of Vereeniging[153] marking the surrender of South Africa to Britain.
1902-05 Balfour's Conservative Government.
1902 Edward VII (1902-10).
1903 Women's Social and Political Union[154]- "suffragettes" launch a "votes for women" campaign.
1905-08 Campbell-Bannerman's Liberal Government.
1908-1915 Asquith's Liberal Government (Lloyd George Chancellor of the Exchequer)
1911 George V (1911-36)
1911 National Insurance Act[155] - enacts publicly-financed health insurance, and unemployment insurance for workers in the building, engineering and shipbuilding industries.
First World War. 1914-18
1915-16 Asquith's Coalition Government.
1916 Easter Rising[156] - an Irish rebellion is violently suppressed.
1917 The Balfour Declaration[157] - in favour of a Jewish home in Palestine.
The inter-war years
1918 Representation of the People Act - gave the vote to men over 21 and women over 30 - increasing the electorate from 8 million to 21 million.
1919 Treaty of Versailles
1919 League of Nations mandates [158]- Palestine, Transjordan, Iraq, and Tanganyika are mandated to Britain.
1919-22 Irish War of Independence
1920-22 Unemployment Insurance Acts[159] - extended coverage to most males earning less than £250 a year and introduced "seeking work" and means tests.
1922 Anglo-Irish Treaty [160] - The Irish Free State
1922-23 Irish Civil War[161]
1925 Britain returns to the gold standard
1926 General Strike [162] - involved over 1.5 million workers and the closure of mines, transport, newspapers, docks and power stations..
1926 Baird's television system.
1928 Representation of the People Act - gave women the right to vote on the same terms as men.
1928 Fleming discovers penicillin
1929-31 Slump (the Great Depression in Britain)
1931 Statute of Westminster[163] - independence for the Dominions of Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the Union of South Africa .
1931 Britain leaves the gold standard.
1936 Abdication of Edward VIII.
1936 John Maynard Keynes The General Theory of Employnent, Interest and Money"[164]
1936 Alan Turing's On Computable Numbers[165] - includes the "Turing Machine" (the first specification of a computer)
1937 George VI (1937-52}
1937 The Irish Free State becomes Éire[166]
1938 Munich Pact with Germany.
Second World War
1939
- September: evacuation of children from London
1940
- June: Fall of France - Germany takes control of every country on the European mainland except Spain, Portugal, Switzerland and Sweden.
- July-September: Battle of Britain[167] - a planned invasion of Britain is narrowly averted as Germany fails to achieve air supremacy.
- September: start of the Blitz.
1940-45 Battle of the Atlantic[168] - German submarines sink 3 million tons of allied shipping in a nearly-successful blockade.
1941
- March: Lend-Lease[169] - authorises the supply of defence equipment in the interests of the defence of the United States, on terms to be determined by the President.
- June: Germany invades the USSR
- July: The US bans trade with Japan
- December: Pearl Harbour, Germany declares on the US
1942 battles of the Coral Sea, Alamein, Stalingrad - the first allied victories
1942 The Beveridge Report[170] - a proposal for a system of government-managed health and unemployment insurance funded by compulsory weekly contributions.
1944 D Day landings
1944 Bretton Woods Conference [171] - created a system of fixed exchange rates linked to the $ which was to be freely convertible to gold.
1944 Employment policy White Paper - a commitment to "full employment".
1945
- February: Yalta Conference[172] - the "partition" of Europe.
- May: Surrender of Germany
- June: San Francisco Conference[173] - the making of the United Nations.
- July: Potsdam Conference[174] - the final 3-power meeting.
- August 14: Hiroshima, Nagasaki, the surrender of Japan
- August 21; Termination of Lend-Lease aid
- October: United Nations Charter is ratified.
- December: Anglo-American Loan Agreement - for a loan of $3.76 billion repayable over 50 years with 2 per cent interest.
Post-war Britain
1945-51 Clement Atlee's Labour Government - financial crisis and austerity
1947 Independence for India and Pakistan and Burma
1948 The Marshall Plan[175] - a 4-year $13 bn programme of US aid towards European Reconstruction
1948 National Health Service.
1949 North Atlantic Treaty Organisation formed
1951-55 Winston Churchill's Conservative Government.
1953 Crick and Watson establish the structure of DNA.
1954 the end of food rationing
1955-57 Anthony Eden's Conservative Government.
1956 Suez crisis.
1957-63 Harold MacMillan's Conservative Government.
1963-4 Alec Douglas-Home's Conservative Government.
1964-70, 1974-6 Harold Wilson's Labour Governments.
1970-74 Edward Heath's Conservative Government.
1971 Return to a floating exchange rate - after the USA abandons the convertibility of the $ [176]
1973 Britain joins the European Economic Community. European Communities Act[177] makes EC law enforceable in the UK.
1976-9 James Callaghan's Labour Government.
1978 Winter of Discontent
1979-1990 Margaret Thatcher's Conservative Governments.
1986 Single European Act - introduced Qualified Majority Voting to most European Union decisions [178].
1982 Falklands War.
1990-97 John Major's Conservative Government.
1992 Maastricht Treaty [179][180]
1992 Tim Berners-Lee's project for a "World wide web"[181][182]
1997 Tony Blair's "New Labour" Government.[183]
1998 Devolution
- Scotland Act [184] - set up a Scottish Executive (later "The Government of Scotland") and an independent Scottish Parliament.
- Government of Wales Act[185] - established a National Assembly for Wales.
- Good Friday Agreement[186] - a plan for the devolution of power to Northern Ireland.
1998 Bank of England Act[187] - transferred responsibility for monetary policy from the Treasury to the Bank of England.
21st century
2000 Freedom of Information Act[188]
2003 Iraq War
2005 Constitutional Reform Act, 2005[189] transfers the Lord Chancellor's legal functions to the Lord Chief Justice and creates a new, independant Supreme Court.
2008 Crash of 2008
2009 Recession of 2009
2009 Gordon Brown's Labour Government.
2009 The Supreme Court of the United Kingdom[190] inaugurated - replacing of the judicial committee of the House of Lords