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
Prehistory
- Canyon Cave Man [c 8980 BCE]
- Cheddar Man [3][4] [c 7,000 BCE]
- The Sleeve (La Manche) The English Channel[5] separates Britain from the European mainland [c 6000 to 4000 BCE].
- Farmers in Britain and Ireland [from c 4000 BCE]
- The Beaker people [6] [c 2500 to 1600].
- Megalith builders [7]
- - Stonehenge[8].[c 3000 to 1500 BCE]
600 BCE to 48 CE
Celtic immigration[9]
- Goidals reach Ireland and Brythons reach Britain[10]
- Bell Beaker, Halstatt and La Tené cultures.
49 to 410 CE
Roman occupation 49 - 410 CE
- Claudius begins the conquest [49 CE]
- Rebellion of the Iceni - led by Queen Boudica [11] [61 AD]
- Agricola[12][78 AD]
- Hadrian's wall[13] [122 CE]
- Christianity reaches Britain [200+]
- St Alban's martrydom[14]
- Septimus Severus' campaign [208-211}
- Edict of Caracalla - all free men eligible for Roman citizenship [212]
- Constantius' Caledonian campaign[15][306]
- Edict of Milan - the tolerance of Christianity[16] [313]
- Council of Arles - attended by 3 British bishops[17] [314]
- Council of Nicea[18]
- Theodosius' campaign against Picts and Scots [367]
- Christianity becomes Rome's state religion - Emperor Theodosius forbids other forms of worship [19] (391).
- Withdrawal of the legions [401]
- The end of Britain's allegiance to Rome [410]
400 to 800
Celtic Ireland
- Saint Palladius[20] becomes first Bishop of Ireland - having been sent to Ireland by Pope Celestine [431].
- Saint Patrick(432-c459)[21] returns to Ireland and helps to spread Christianity there. [432]
- - becomes Bishop of Ireland following the transfer of Palladius to Ireland.
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)
- Scotti from the Irish kingdom of Dal Riada settle on Argyll in Scotland.
- Saint Ninian[22] [23] founds a monastery in Scotland [400?].
- King Vortigern(c425-c459)[24] of Kent invites a force of Saxon mercenaries under Hengist(?) [25] to help him defeat his enemies. [449]
- Ambrosius Aurelanius (c460-c475) leads resistance to the Saxons
- King Arthur(?)(c475-c515)[26] takes over leadership of resistence the Saxons.
- Saxons defeated at Mount Badon[27] [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[28] lands on Iona in Western Scotland, founds a monastery there [563] and converts the Scotti of Dal Riada to Christianity
- The Book of Kells[29][30] illuminated manuscript thought to have been the work of the monks of Iona.
- Saint David(c550-589) [31]helps to spread Christianity among the pagan Celtic tribes of Western Britain and becomes Archbishop of Wales
- Saint Augustine(597-604) [32] 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[33].
- Synod of Whitby (664)[34] - Augustine persuades representatives of the indigenous Christian church to accept Roman practice.
- Adam Bede's [35]History of the English Church and People(731).
801 to 1066
- Viking and Danish invasions
- Viking settlements at Dublin[36], Waterford and Limerick [914-920]
- First wave of Danish invasions of England
- Danes occupy York
- Alfred the Great, King of Wessex [37](871-899)
- Alfred takes refuge from his enemies in the Somerset marshes[38] (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 [39]
- Alfred recaptures London (885)
- Second Danish invasion (890)
- Massacre of Danes on St Brice's day[40] (1002)
- Danish Conquest of England (1013)
- Brian Boru, High King of Ireland, (reigned 1002-14), defeated the Vikings at Battle of Clontarf[41], Co.Dublin, (1014)
- Canute the Great[42], 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 [43](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[44] (1063)
1066-1154
Norman Conquest
- Feudal system [48].
- 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[49] -an agreement that Matilda's son Henry was to be Stephen's successor.
- The Welsh Marches [50]
1154- 1216
- Henry II[51] (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[52]
- Irish kings do homage to Henry II (1171)
- Third Crusade 1189
- John (1199 - 1216)
- Ireland is formally designated a part of the Kingdom of England
- Magna Carta[53] (1215) - the founding principles of the British constitution.
13th century
- Henry III (1216 - 1272)
- The Provisions of Oxford[54] - Simon de Monfort's parliamentary reforms. (The Great Council is now referred to as a "parliament")
- Edward I (1272 - 1307)
- "Model Parliament" (1295)[55] - summoned by Edward I with extended representation compared with earlier parliaments.
- "The Auld Alliance"[56] 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)
1320 Declaration of Arbroath[57] - a plea to the Pope for Scotland's independence.
1327 Edward III (1327 - 1377)
1337 Beginning of Hundred Years War[58]
1348-50 The Black Death[59] reduces the population by about 1/3
1366 Statutes of Kilkenny [60]
1377 Richard II (1377-1399)
1381 Peasant's Revolt [61].- against taxes and serfdom.
1390 Richard III's Irish expedition
1399 Henry IV (1399 -1413)
15th century
1413 Henry V (1413-22)
1415 Agincourt
1422 Henry VI (1422-61)
1453 End of Hundred Years War - leaving England with no French possessions except Calais.
1455 -1485 The Wars of the Roses[62]
- 1460 Statute of Drogheda - proclaims Ireland's separate status.
1461 Edward IV (1461-83)
1476 Caxton's printing press[63]
1483 Richard III (1483-85)
Tudor Era 1485-1605
1485 Henry VII (1485-1509)
1494 Poynings Law -
16th century
1509 Henry VIII (1509-47)
1541 Henry VIII King of Ireland
1547 Edward VI (1547-53)
1549 Cranmer's English Prayer Book.
1553 Mary I (1553-58)
1558 Elizabeth I [64](1559-1603)
1559 The Armada [65]
1570 Gunpowder Plot
17th century
Stuart Era 1605-1688
1605 James I (1603-25).
1625 Charles I (1625-49)
1642 Charles I enters the Commons to arrest dissidents and is defied by the Speaker.
1643-46 Civil War[66].
- 1644 Marston Moor
- 1645 Naseby
- 1646 Surrender of the King's army at Oxford and capture of the King
- 1648 Execution of the King after his escape and recapture
1649 Oliver Cromwell declares England to be a Commonwealth.
Cromwell invades Ireland.
1660 Restoration. Charles II (1660-85)
1665 Great Plague [67]
1666 Fire of London [68]
1673 Test Act. Catholics excluded from office.
1685 James II (1685-88)
Monmouth Rebellion.
1688 "The Glorious Revolution" and Bill of Rights [69] - limited the power of the king over Parliament.
1689 William and Mary.
1690 The Battle of the Boyne[70]
1694 The Bank of England [71]
18th century
1707 Act of Union - with Scotland [72].
1713 Treaty of Utrecht.
1714 Hanoverian succession.
George I (1714-27)
1727 Geoge II (1727-1760)
1715 First Jacobite Rising
1739-48 War of Jenkins Ear - with Spain.
1744-8 War of the Austrian Succession.
1745 Second Jacobite Rising - "the '45"
1746 Battle of Culloden.
Industrial Revolution[73] 1715-1815
1756-63 Seven Years War - acquisition of India and Canada.
1760 George III (1760-1820).
War of American Independence[74] 1775 -81
- the creation of the United States of America.
1783 Rotunda Parliament
1787 Kingdom of Ireland granted autonomy.
Napoleonic Wars 1789 - 1815.
19th century
1801 Act of Union - with Ireland.
1805 Battle of Trafalgar.
1815 Battle of Waterloo.
1820 George IV (1820-30).
1830 William IV (1830-37).
1832 Reform Act Raised the proportion of adult English males entitled to vote to 20 per cent.
1837 Queen Victoria (1837-1901)/
Irish Famine 1845-1850.
1846 Repeal of Corn Laws.
Crimean War 1833 - 36.
Indian Mutiny 1857 - 8.
1874 Disraeli's First Conservative Government (1874-80).
1880 Gladstone's Liberal Government.
1898 Battle of Omdurman
1899-1902 Boer War.
20th century
1902-05 Balfour's Conservative Government.
1902 Edward VII (1902-10).
1905-08 Campbell-Bannerman's Liberal Government.
1908-1915 Asquith's Liberal Government (Lloyd George Chancellor of the Exchequer)
1911 George V (1911-36).
Lloyd George's National Insurance Bill.
First World War. 1914-18
1915-16 Asquith's Coalition Government.
1916 Easter Rising
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.
1919-23 Lloyd George's Coalition Governments.
1920 Ireland gets Home Rule.
1922-23 Bonar Law's Conservative Government.
1923-24 Baldwin's First Conservative Government
1924 Macdonald's First Labour Government.
1924-29 Baldwin's Second Conservative Government.
1926 General Strike.
Baird's television system.
1928 Fleming discovers penicillin
1929-31 Macdonald's Second Labour Government.
1931 Britain leaves the gold standard.
1931-35 Macdonald's National Government.
1935-37 Baldwin's National Government.
1936 Abdication of Edward VII.
1937 George VI (1937-52}
1937-40 Chamberlain's Conservative Government.
1938 Munich Pact with Germany.
Second World War 1939-45
1940-45 Churchill's Wartime Coalition Government.
Post-war Britain
1945 Churchill's First Conservative Government.
1945-51 Clement Atlee's Labour Government
1948 National Health Service.
1951-55 Winston Churchill's Second Conservative Government.
1953 Elizabeth II.
Crick and Watson establish the structure of DNA.
1955-57 Anthony Eden's Conservative Government.
1956 Suez war.
1957-63 Harold MacMillan's Conservative Government.
1963-70 Home's Conservative Government.
1970-79 Edward Heath's Conservative Governments.
1973 Britain joins the European Community. European Communities Act[75] makes EC law enforceable in the UK.
1979-1990 Thatcher's Conservative Governments.
1986 Single European Act - introduced Qualified Majority Voting to most European Union decisions [76].
1982 Falklands war.
1990 Major's Conservative Government
1997 - 2007 Tony Blair's New Labour Government[77]
21st century
Iraq War (2003 - 09)
- Gordon Brown's Labour Government (2007 - )