Henry II (1154-89) |
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King John's loss of his French lands separated England from the continent. Income tax first collected by sheriffs (or shire reeves) | ||
| Eastern and western Christian churches split ..... | ||
| King John signs the Magna Carta at Runnymede. Whilst defining the limits of authority of the king in relation to the barons, it set in writing for the first time the concept of "human rights". | ||
| The King expels Jews from the realm. Money lending gradually becomes a domestic business, setting the scene for Britain's future role as a financial centre. | ||
| "Model Parliament" representing 'commoners' (knights, burgers and citizens) is summoned to advise the King. Generally regarded as the first representative assembly, becoming known as the House of Commons. | ||
| Start of the Hundred Years War (1337 - 1453) | ||
| Birth of Geoffrey Chaucer | ||
| The Black Death spreads itself across the land killing one third of the population of England (and Europe) in less than five years. | ||
A period of revolutionary changes: The loss of population from the Black Death results in dramatic changes to society - manpower becomes scarce, causing a dramatic increase in the cost of labour. Feudal lords lose their hold over their serfs who are able to escape to find freedom and high wages elsewhere. The feudal regime of lords and serfs slowly gives way to a new three tier society with the lords at the top, a new middle class of Yeoman farmers who take over lands that are vacated as a result of the plague, and landless labourers at the bottom. | ||
| State of Labourers passed by Act of Parliament (the Commons as it was then). | ||
| The "Peasants Revolt" against the Statute of Labourers - the first act of "unionised" labour. | ||
William of Wykeham founds Winchester College for the education of the secular clergy - the first grammar school, later to become a famous "public" school. [See separate page relating to secular clergy, Winchester college and Oxford University in the 14th century] John Wyclif is driven out of Oxford university. | ||
| King Richard is deposed and murdered in prison - the first victim of what later became the 'Wars of the Roses'. | ||
The English language (in the form of many local dialects) is now in common use, displacing French as the language of the nobility. Ahead of France, England begins to develop a sense of its own nationhood. Courtly dress becomes more attuded to fashion, long black cloaks and gowns gradually giving way to coloured hose (stockings), fancy shirts and pointed shoes. The royal court is now firmly established in the palaces at Westminster, a small village two miles outside London's west wall.The City of London (which by then had spread only a few hundred metres outside the 'one-mile square' Roman wall) remains outside the royal domain and retains its independence to control its own affairs. | ||
| Death of Geoffrey Chaucer | ||
| French forces defeated at the Battle of Agincourt. | ||
| Birth of William Caxton, inventor of the printing press. | ||
(1422-61, 1470-1) |
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| Eton College founded by King Henry VI | ||
A period of stagnation: Very little changes in English society. The revolutionary changes of the 14th Century peter out. In particular the Church remains stagnant and corrupt. Corruption remains endemic and not just in the Church but in the courts too. Disorder reigns; terrorizing and intimidation by lords' retainers is exaccerbated by the return of soldiers from France at the end of the 'Hundred Years War'. | ||
| The end of the Hundred Years War (1337 - 1453) and the start of the War of the Roses. | ||
| Gutenberg produces the first printed version of the Latin Bible. | ||
Yorkists Edward IV (1461-70, 1471-83) |
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| Caxton publishes La Morte d'Arthur by Sir Thomas Malory and Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, and in so doing brings about the formalization of the English language. | ||
| Death of Caxton | ||
| Christopher Columbus discovers the West Indies. | ||
The Tudors are welcomed for controlling the fighting amongst the barons that has caused so much disorder under previous weaker monarchs. The advent of the Tudors brings enormous change, the greatest being the Reformation of the Church under King Henry VIII. Some regard the beginning of the Tidor era as marking the end of the Middle Ages, however Trevelyan disputes this assertion (see his commentary on the coming of the Tudors) | ||
| The begining of the Reformation. King Henry is made Supreme Head of the Church by an Act of Parliament thereby establishing the Church of England. | ||
| William Tyndale publishes and distributes the first English edition of the Bible, making its contents known for the first time to literate 'common' people. | ||
Execution (by burning) of William Tyndale (translator and publisher of the first English Bible.) The dissolution of the monestries in full swing, being completed in 1840. | ||
| The King recognizes and distributes Tyndale's English Bible to all English churches. | ||
| English Book of Common Prayer first issued | ||
| Birth of William Shakespeare | ||
The old Queen is near death, and with no heir apparent. William Shakespeare is in his prime. | ||
James I (1603-25) |
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| First edition of the King James Bible | ||
| Death of William Shakespeare | ||
| The Mayflower sets sail across the Atlantic taking 102 pilgrims to begin a new life, and a new era in world history. | ||
Oliver Cromwell (1649-58) |
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England has just executed its king and faces a period of uncertainty and change, which not result in the popular restitution of the monarchy, but the English Renaissance bringing with it great advances in scientific knowledge and understanding. | ||
| Battle of Worcester | ||
| The Plague kills thousands | ||
| The Great Fire destroys the city of London, and ends the Plague | ||
| The Dutch Fleet sails up the Medway, challenging England's naval supremicy | ||
(1689-1702) |
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Anne (1702-14) |
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George I (1714-27) |
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| Parliament passes the Longitude Act. | ||
| John Harrison presents his first sea-going chronometer for evaluation in the determination of positions of longitude at sea. | ||
Religious dogma still rule people's lives. But dramatic changes are afoot as the Industrial Revolution gets underway in an England whose landscape starts to change with the gradual enclosure of "common" lands. America is still a colony and Australia remains undiscovered. | ||
| Birth of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart | ||
| First inland canal built in Britain by Duke of Bridgewater, starting the canal mania that lasted until the railway age | ||
| First iron railway line (laid in a coal mine) | ||
| James Watt takes out patent for first condensing steam engine | ||
| Captain Cook discovers Australia | ||
| 36 years late, Harrison receives his reward for solving the "longitude problem". | ||
| "United States of America" declares independence from Britain, marking the beginning of the War of Independence. | ||
| Defeat of British forces in America - end of War of Independence | ||
| First convicts arrive in Australia marking the beginning of settlement there | ||
| June 14: Storming of the Bastille in Paris marks beginning of the French Revolution. | ||
| Parliament outlaws the burning of women for High or Petty Treason (bill introduced by Sir Benjamin Hammet, MP for Taunton Somerset). | ||
| William Smith begins work in Somerset a coal mine which leads to the formalization of the discipline of Geology. Death of Mozart | ||
| End of French Revolution; Napoleon Bonaparte comes to power in France | ||
| England and France go to war. | ||
| Nelson defeats the French navy at the Battle of Trafalgar | ||
| Duke of Wellington defeats Napoleon's armies at the Battle of Waterloo | ||
| Operation of the first commercial steam locomotive on the Stockton and Darlington Railway begins the 'Railway Era' | ||
| Rainhill trials won by Stephenson's "Rocket" on Liverpool and Manchester Railway | ||
(1837-1901) |
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| Crimean War started | ||
| Charles Darwin publishes "The Origin of Species"; Isambard Kingdom Brunel dies; | ||
| American Civil War begins | ||
| American Civil War ends | ||
| Brunel's S.S. Great Eastern lays the first telegraph cable across the Atlantic Ocean, bringing the "Old" and "New" worlds together in time. | ||
The century begins with the ending of the Boar War and the death of the old Queen. This is followed by an idyllic decade of unusual peace and prosperity during which people believe that civilization has at last advanced to a state where war is a thing of the past, and that the world is heading for a new beginning, an era of peace, knowledge and understanding. The next 50 years will prove just how terribly misplaced those beliefs were. | ||
| Start of First World War | ||
| Russian Revolution | ||
| 11th November "Armistice Day" - End of fighting in First World War | ||
| Paris Peace Conference to negotiate the Peace Terms between Allied and Axis powers | ||
| World War 2 commences; Graf Spee sunk at Montevedeo; | ||
| Olympic Games held in London | ||
| Chinese Communist Party comes to power | ||
| Festival of Britain celebrates the dawning of a new era. | ||