250000 to 55BC

The first inhabitants may have come to Britain 250000 years ago throughout the land bridge that
connected Britain to the European continent that time.

Iberians reached Britain in 3500-3000BC, it’s believed that they came from Iberian Peninsula, they and
Beaker people (2000BC, they are named after the beaker-shaped pots they made) settled in south
England. Beaker people broth the knowledge of bronze to Britain.

The Iberians used stone and bones tools, their settlements were based on “henges”, great circles on
earth banks and big standing stones.

in 700-100, Celts reached Britain, they were warlike people and strong warriors, they conquered almost
the whole of Britain and established tribal kingdoms that were frequently at war with each other.

55BC to 5th Century.

Romans became interested in Britain since the 1st century BC, Julius Caesar attempted to conquer Britain
twice (55BC and 54BC) but he failed. The actual Roman conquest of Britain took place in 43BC by The
Emperor Claudius.

By 80 AD, Romans conquered England, Wales and southern Scotland, but problems in their empire
made them withdraw behind Hadrian’s Wall in the first half of the 2nd century. They crushed Britons’
resistance and Romanized the southern areas (they imposed their civilization and the way of life on
native people) and put Wales and the northern areas under military control, the natives were allowed to
carry on with their own way of life.

Romans rule reduced towards the end of the 4th century, as the whole Roman Empire was falling apart,
last Roman legions withdrawn from Britain at the 5th century.

Romans constructed a system of roads throughout Britain.

5th Century to 11th

After Romans left, new Germanic tribal came England, they are called Anglo-Saxons (Angles, Saxons and
Jutes). Anglo-Saxons already started attacking the south coasts of England in the 3rd century, but in the
5th they conquered and settled the whole England. They destroyed the Romano-British civilization and
established their agricultural one. In the course of the 6th century, a number of unstable kingdoms arose
and only four of them successively held to supremacy Kent, Northumbria, Mercia, Wessex. In the end of
the 6th century, Christianity reached Britain from Ireland and Rome, it played high important role in
establishing the Medieval society and in developing the statehood in the country.

In 878-975, the Danish Vikings (from Norway and Denmark) conquered a large part in the north-east of
England and created a confederation of Scandinavian communities called Danelaw. Alfred The Great
(871-900) defeated the Danes, However, they returned in 978, and his successors reconquered the
Danelaw in the 10th century and England is finally united.

Canut (1016-1035), king of Denmark and Norway, became the first king of the fully united England.
However, his Scandinavian empire collapsed after his death under his incompetent successors.
 1042 and England is without a king, the last king Harthacnut didn’t have an heir, so the nobles choose a
Saxon’s heir Edward the Confessor (1042-1066). Edward unwittingly prepared for Norman conquest:
when the archbishop of the Canterbury died, he appointed a Norman called Robert and left behind a
disputed succession. However, for Robert to become an archbishop, he had to go to Rome and collect
what called Pallium, a symbol of his office, by himself. On his way he stopped in Normandy and talked to
William, the duke of Normandy, he told him that Edward doesn’t have an heir and he wishes for William
to become a king.

Edward the confessor died, and Harold Godwinson was crowned king Harold I, but there was no
guarantee he will stay king, what was guarantied is that there will be a battle for claimants to the
throne, his rivals were two, William the king of Normandy, and Harold the king of Norway. Harold I
defeated the king of Norway, but he was killed by William of Normandy in the battle of Hastings 1066.

The Norman conquest completed in 1069.

Consequences:

- England was given a new Norman King and ruling class.

- The Relations of England with Scandinavia were cut off and the country became under French
Cultural influence, tree languages were spoken: Norman-French, Latin, English.
- England was recognized into a strong feudal state protected by English channels, as result, no
conquest occurred since then.

11th Century – 13th, From the Norman Conquest to the Hundred Years War.
The gradual character of the conquest and the support of the church enabled William the Conqueror
(1066-1087) to establish a strong centralized state (strong feudal state) which was in a sharp conflict
with the anarchy of political feudalism prevailing on the continent. He revived Saxon’s system of shires
and placed a royal officer on the head of each; besides he prevented the creation of great baronies
independent of royal control. Moreover, he established fiscal basis of the state.

The process of strengthening the sate was continued by his son Henry I (1100-1135), especially by
Henry II (1154-1189), he ascended the throne after the war of successions (1135-1154). Henry II ruled
over a vast empire comprising England, Normandy, and large part of France. He restored the rights of
king, and tightened control over sheriffs, also tried to bring all courts under royal control (but he failed
to bring them all). Moreover, Henry II started the English conquest of Ireland, which was never
completed.

Henry’s sons were weak, Richard I (1189-99) – Lionheart, spent most of his regime fighting in Palestine
(The Third Crusade) and France. John (1199- 1216) because of his misrule alienated his barons who later
in 1215 forced him to grant them Magna Carta which limited the royal power and laid to the foundation
of the Parliamentary monarchy.

Edward I (1272-1307), he ascended the throne after a civil war (1264-66), he summoned the Model
Parliament (1295), called so because it contains representatives of three estates of Barons, Clergy,
Commons. Edward conquered North Wales (1285) but failed to conquer Scotland. The Scottish kingdom
kept its independence from England until 1714.
This period was marked by:

- The struggle between the centralizing power of king and the growing challenge from the leading
barons.
- The development in trade and towns, which helped to disintegrate the feudal system.

14th and 15th Century: From the outbreak of The Hundred Years War to the end
of The War of the Roses:
This long war broke after Edward III (1327-1377) claimed the France throne, but its real objective was to
bring Flanders (the main English wool trade market) and Gascony (the chief supplier of wine and salt)
under English Control. However, this war is traditionally divided into 3 stages:

First stage (1337-60): was successful for England, because their soldiers were professionals and well
organized in the other hand French army were barbaric feudal host. France suffered from two crushing
defeats, Crécy (1346), and Poitiers (1356), and gained large territory in France.

Second stage (1369-1375): was successful for France, they adopted guerrilla war strategy and they
gradually reconquered the lost territory except for two ports.

Third stage (1415-1453): the war continued under Henry V (1413-1422), he also dealt France a crushing
defeat in Agincourt (1415) and expanded his territory. In 1420 he was acknowledged heir for France
throne, however he died in 1422. In 1428, France was defending their last stronghold in Orleans. In
1429, Joan of Arc led the French army and won the battel of Orleans, though she was captured and
killed, she left positive energy in French army. The war continued for more than twenty years until the
battel of Chatillon finally ended in 1453.

The war exhausted England which led to political disruption which enabled the outbreak of The War of
the Roses.

The black death (1348-1351) and the peasant revolt (1381):

In mid-14th century, an epidemic bubonic plague swept across Europe, the population was reduced
nearly by half, which cause a massive shortage in labor. As a result, serfs were being released. The free
workers were able to obtain high wages for their services. By 1370s, the population increased, and the
peasants were no longer able to demand either high wages or release from serfdom.

King Edward III’s (1327-1377) war with France was going badly, so high taxes, Poll Tax, were demanded
from any male above 16 years to support his war. Poor people were angry since the Back Death and
were still serfs. All that led to the outbreak of the Peasant Revolt (1381), people marched to London and
held the government under their mercy, Richard II (1377-1399) promised to meet all their demands. The
peasants went home, but later the king ordered to hang those who had taken part of the revolt.

- There was no return to the previous system, however, the serfdom was abolished by the end of
15th century.

The War of the Roses (1455-1485):

In that time, the house of Lancaster was ruling England. However, some people didn’t like the way they
rule and decided to stand against them and fight to claim the throne, so they formed the house of York.
Both houses belong to the same dynasty, though both lost thousands of soldiers, Lancastrians won the
war. Henry VII, the house of Lancaster, married Elizabeth of York and both houses were united. This
paved the way for the establishment of Tudor absolutism.

The Tudor Period (1485-1603):

1485 is considered to be the end of the medieval period and the beginning of early modern age.
Henry VII (1485-1509) began a move towards royal absolutism. He gained the power of nobles while
limiting their power (new nobility: the king limited the number of lords to a number he could control).
Henry managed to make peace with other sides so there was no war during his regime, and England
became richer than ever.

Henry VIII (1509-1547), his quarrel with the Pope over divorcing his first wife led to the English
Reformation (1530s) that made Henry broke from the Catholic Church in Rome and Henry was
acknowledged Head of the Church of England. He remained Catholic. Though, Protestantism penetrated
into England.

Mary I (1553-1558) tried to Catholicize England, she restored the Pope to the church, and killed 300
Protestants during her regime. Fortunately, her Protestant stepsister was nothing like her. Elizabeth I
(1558-1603) wanted free country, free from any foreign influence, so she re-established the Church of
England (Elizabethan Settlement). In 1588, Spanish wanted to overthrow Elizabeth. However, they sent
a Spanish fleet called Armada, but they were defeated by English navy and the adverse weather. That
was the end of Spanish maritime supremacy.

In 1553, Wales was incorporated into England and Ireland was treated as a colony.

Tudor economy was affected by:

- Increase in prices of goods by a rise in population.

- Vagrancy

Though, both internal and overseas trade flourished.

The Stuart era (1603-1714):

the early Stuarts, the civil war and the republican period (1603-1660)

James VI of Scotland crowned James I (1603-1625) of England after Elizabeth I. Unfortunately, his
monarch wasn’t successful in England as it was in Scotland. Moreover, his belief in “divine right of king”
along with his financial difficulties, and his unwise religious and foreign policy angered the parliament.

Besides James I, Charles I’s (1525-1549) desire of the absolute power and his unparliamentary methods
of obtaining money led to the outbreak of the Civil War (1642-1649). The two sides of the war are the
supporters of the king (Royalists or “Cavaliers”) and the supporters of the parliament (Parliamentary
Party or “Roundheads”). As for the Parliamentary Party, they won the first war, also the second under
the leadership of Oliver Cromwell (1599-1685) which resulted in the king’s execution and the
establishment of the republic regime, Common Wealth (1649-1654), which soon followed by the
Cromwell’s Protectorate (1654-1659), a Puritan military dictatorship.