CHAPTER I:
A VERY BRIEF HISTORY OF BRITAIN
Tom Toremans
English: Langauge, KU Leuven
Society and Culture
Campus
Ice Age
(115,000 – c. 11,700 years ago)
Ice Age
Gradual formation of Dover
Straight
White cliffs of Dover Cap Blanc Nez (near Calais)
The geological separation of the
UK from Europe has had major
political impact throughout
history:
• Roman invasion (43 AD)
• Anglo-Saxon invasion (ca. 5th cent.)
• Norman invasion (1066)
• Hundred Years’ War between
England and France (1337–1453)
• Reformation and break with the
Roman Catholic Church (16th cent.)
• Wars with France and Spain,
ending in the Battle of Waterloo
(1815)
• crucial involvement in WW I (1914-
18) and II (1940-45)
White cliffs of Dover • joins the EU (1973)
• 43-410: Roman period
• 410-1066: Anglo-Saxon
Period
• 1066-1485: Norman
Period
• 1485-1603: Tudor Period
• 1603-1714: Stuart Period
• 1714-1837: Georgian
Period
• 1837-1901: Victorian
Period
White cliffs of Dover
43-410: ROMAN
PERIOD
•43 AD – The Romans invade England and make it a Roman
province called Britannia, named after the Britons (the Celtic
people who lived on the island).
•47 AD – The Romans establish Londinium (modern-day
London) as a major harbor city and build a network of roads to
connect important settlements.
•122 AD – The Romans complete Hadrian’s Wall, a massive
defensive structure marking the northern boundary of Roman-
controlled Britain, separating it from Scotland
•.
•Roman Rule and Influence
• The Romans annex all of England and bring it fully under
their control.
• They conquer, assimilate, and intermarry with the local
Celtic tribes, including the Britons (in England) and the
Gauls (in parts of Europe).
• The Celts were a non-Germanic, Indo-European people
who spoke Gaelic, a language that is still an official
language in parts of the British Isles today.
White cliffs of Dover
410-1066: ANGLO-SAXON PERIOD
410–1066: Anglo-Saxon Period
1.5th century – Germanic Anglo-Saxon tribes
migrate from Northern Europe to the British Isles,
marking the beginning of the Anglo-Saxon era.
[Link] Shift – They speak Germanic languages,
which differ from the Gaelic spoken by the native
Celtic Britons.
[Link] Changes – The Anglo-Saxons push the
Celtic Britons to the north and west of the island,
into regions like Cornwall, Wales, and southern
Scotland.
[Link] Patterns
1. The Angles settle in the mid-east of England,
giving rise to the name "East Anglia."
2. The Saxons settle in the southeast,
establishing regions later known as:
1. Wessex ("West Saxons")
2. Sussex ("South Saxons")
3. Essex ("East Saxons")
410-1066: ANGLO – SAXON
PERIOD
• converted to Christianity in 5th and
6th centuries
• Saint Patrick: patron saint of
Ireland (Saint Patrick’s Day 17
March)
• Saint Augustine of Canterbury:
first archbishop of Canterbury in
597
• Saint Columba: travels to
Scotland in 563
• different kingdoms, first unification
under Alfred the Great (House of
Wessex, 871-899), who introduces an
efficient administration, military
reform and a new law code.
1066-1485: NORMAN PERIOD
1066–1485: NORMAN
PERIOD
• 1066: Battle of Hastings
• Norman Conquest led by William
of Normandy
• Normans:
• Germanic tribes (‘Norsemen’)
• took northern France at
beginning of 10th century
• adopted French language
• Christian religion
• massive cultural impact: French-
speaking nobility (‘mutton’,
‘beef’, ‘fork’, …)
• depicted in the Bayeux Tapestry
1066–1485: NORMAN PERIOD
Multi-lingual and intercultural society:
They established an multi-lingual and
intercultural society:
FRENCH (aristocracy)
LATIN (international language for science
and religion)
ENGLISH (native Englishmen)
CELTIC (Scotland, Ireland, Wales)
1066–1485: NORMAN
PERIOD
• Domesday Book (1086)
• inventory of all the land in
England: feudal system (social
system based on land
ownership)
• written in Latin
• sign of strong central
administration
• currently held at The National
Archives at Kew (London)
1066–1485: NORMAN
PERIOD
• Magna Carta (1215)
• ‘Great Charter’
• forced upon king John of England
by his barons, in an attempt to
limit his power and protect their
privileges
• foundation of the freedom of the
individual against the arbitrary
authority of the despot:
protection of church rights,
protection from illegal
imprisonment, limitations
on feudal payments to the Crown
1066–1485: NORMAN
PERIOD
• Hundred Years’ War (1337-
1454)
• 1154: Henry II + Eleanor of
Aquitaine
• England and parts of France
under Plantagenets
1066–1485: NORMAN
PERIOD
• Hundred Years’ War (1337-
1454)
• series of battles between
England and France
• rivaling dynasties fight over
the throne of France
(English House of
Plantagenet vs. French
House of Valois)
• ends in French victory The Morning of the Battle of Agincourt, 1415 by
John Gilbert (1884)
1485-1603: TUDOR PERIOD
1485 - 1603: TUDOR PERIOD
• establishment of a powerful monarchy
• Age of Reformation and Counter-
Reformation
• Henry VIII (1509-1547):
• breaks with Roman Catholic Church
and establishes Protestant Anglican
Church
• conflict with pope Clement VII, after he
wants to divorce Catherine of Aragon
and wants to marry Anne Boleyn
• Act of Supremacy (1534):
establishment of the Anglican Church
1485 - 1603: TUDOR
PERIOD
• Queen Elizabeth (1558-1603)
• daughter of Henry VIII, last
Tudor monarch
• ‘Virgin Queen’ (never got
married)
• early beginnings of
exploration, but Britain small
player next to Spain and
Portugal (cfr. Columbus 1492)
The Armada Portrait • beginning of strong Navy:
defeats the Spanish Armada
1485 - 1603: TUDOR PERIOD
• ‘Renaissance’
• period in European history marking the
transition from the Middle
Ages to modernity
• 15th-17th cent.
• attempted to revive the ideas and
achievements of classical antiquity
Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) • great achievements in art,
Michelangelo, Ceiling of the Sistine Chapel (1508-12)
Michelangelo, Ceiling of the Sistine Chapel (1508-12)
1485 - 1603: TUDOR
PERIOD
• Renaissance England
• playwrights: William
Shakespeare, Christopher
Marlowe, Ben Jonson
• poets: Edmund Spencer
• philosophers: Thomas More
(Utopia, 1515), Francis Bacon
(Scientific Revolution)
• explorers: Francis Drake,
Walter Raleigh
1603-1714: STUART PERIOD
1603 – 1714: STUART PERIOD
• 1603: James VI (king of Scotland and
cousin of Elizabeth I) takes the throne as
James I
• ‘Union of the Crowns’, but England
and Scotland remained separate
kingdoms
• First Union Flag: the ‘Union Jack’ (Jack
is an abbreviation of James) Scottish flag (Cross of St Andrew) English flag (Cross of St George)
First ‘Union Jack’(1606)
1603 – 1714: STUART PERIOD
• Civil War (1642-1651)
• bloody conflict between
Parliamentarians and Royalists,
fought all over England
• also religious conflict between anti-
Catholic Puritans and more moderate
Anglicans
• execution of king Charles I in 1649
• Protectorate under Oliver Cromwell
(1651-1660)
• England becomes a republic
• Puritan dictator: theatres closed,
censorship, …
• Restoration (1660)
1603 – 1714: STUART PERIOD
• The ‘Glorious Revolution’ (1688)
• resistance against Catholic king
James II
• Mary II (Protestant and daughter of
James II) marries Protestant William
III of Orange
• ‘Bill of Rights’
• limits the powers of the monarch
• bars Roman Catholics from the
throne
• major political impact
• more power to parliament
• establishment of constitutional
monarchy
1603 – 1714: STUART PERIOD
• The Treaty of Union (1707)
• establishment of ‘Great Britain’
• Article 1: kingdoms of Scotland and
England will, from 1 May 1707, be
united into one kingdom
named Great Britain, with its
own royal coat of arms and
a flag combining the crosses of St
Andrew and St George.
1714-1837: GEORGIAN PERIOD
1714-1837: GEORGIAN PERIOD
• dynasty of the German Protestant House of
Hanover
• kings mainly resided in Germany and no
longer governs directly; the government
was led by a ‘Prime Minister’
• first Prime Minister: Robert Walpole
(1721-1742)
• Seven Years’ War (1756 – 1763)
• global military conflict between Great
Britain on the one hand and France and
Spain on the other
• also over colonies in the Americas
• Treaty of Paris (1763): British victory
establishes Great Britain as global
power
Washington Crossing the Delaware by Emanuel Leutze (1851)
• American War of Independence (1775–
1783)
1714-1837: GEORGIAN PERIOD 700
600
500
• Industrial Revolution (late 18th 400
300
cent.) 200
100
0
• start of ever-accelerating economic 0 400 800 1200 1400 1600 1700 1800 1850 1900 1945 2000
expansion and technological
Number of inhabtitants of UK territory (x
development that we still consider as 100.000)
the hallmark of the modern age
today 90
80
70
• unprecedented demographic shifts 60
50 % of rural population
% of urban population
40
• emergence of working classes 30
20
10
• heavy industries, pollution 0
1801 1851 1901 1951
Rural versus urban population (% of total
population)
1714-1837: GEORGIAN PERIOD
• Acts of Union (1801)
• unites the Kingdom of Great
Britain and the Kingdom of Ireland into
The United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland
1714-1837: GEORGIAN PERIOD
• Battle of Waterloo (1815)
• Wellington beats Napoleon in the Battle of
Waterloo
• restoration of monarchies across Europe (against
revolutionary ideals of French Revolution)
• establishes Great Britain as dominant European
power
The Battle of Waterloo by William Sadler II (1815)
1837-1901: VICTORIAN PERIOD
1837-1901: VICTORIAN PERIOD
• Queen Victoria
• inherited the throne when she was only 18,
first queen to be photographed
• Britain becomes dominant global power
• great expansion and climax of the British
Empire (25% of earth’s surface)
• population growth and massive emigration
• relative peace (‘Pax Britannica’), except for
Russia
• age of liberalism (women’s rights, workers’
rights)
• British Empire had an enormous impact on
global politics until today (Palestine, Syria,
India, Central Africa)
1901-1945: THE WORLD WARS
1901-1910: EDWARD VII
• decadent times for the rich
• rise of socialism
• suffragette movement (‘Votes for Women; Emmeline
Pankhurst)
• (partial) voting rights for women in 1918
1910-1936: GEORGE V
• World War I: major impact on British society
• destroys British economy
• 1 million killed, 2 million permanently disabled
(health care)
Irish War of independence (1919-1921)
• revolutionary war between IRA and British troops
• leads to independent Republic of Ireland in 1921
• 1822: Northern Ireland decides to remain in the
UK
• The United Kingdom of Britain and Northern
Ireland
1940-45: World War II
• Winston Churchill: “Never in the field of human
conflict was so much owed by so many to so
few.”
• leaves Britain bankrupt
• definitive end of British Empire
1945: THE
AFTERMATH OF WW
II
After 1945:
• decolonization
• colonies emancipate themselves and become
independent (India in 1947, Sudan in 1956,
Ghana in 1957, Jamaica in 1962, …)
• ‘Commonwealth of Nations’ (52 members, ex-
colonies)
• rising migration and development of multicultural
society
• continued imperialist attitudes (racism,
nationalism, …) and persistent problems (e.g.
Palestine/Israel)
After 1945:
• establishment of the Welfare State under Clement Attlee (Labour
Prime Minister, 1945-51)
• increased expenditure and widening of state's responsibility:
education, health, unemployment allowances, safety regulations, …
• foundation of the National Health Service (NHS): nationalisation of
medical care
After 1945:
• 1979-1990: Thatcherism
• Conservative PM
• neoliberal policy: decisive dismantling of the post-war Welfare
State
• emphasis on free markets, restricted government interference,
tax cuts, and British nationalism
• social unrest, strikes
After 1945:
• European relations
• UK joins the European Community (later EU) in 1973, referendum: 67%
votes Yes
• continuously strenuous relationship over agricultural policies
• Brexit: UK leaves the EU in 2020, referendum: 51.9% votes Leave in
2016
• economic crisis in UK + critical situation in Northern Ireland
• rise of nationalism
Conclusions:
1. The United Kingdom is and has always
been an ethnically and religiously
diverse nation (Celtic, Anglo-Saxon,
Norman, postcolonial).
2. The United Kingdom has always had a
strenuous relationship with the
European Continent (invasions, wars,
Brexit).
3. The British Empire, which reached its
climax in the 19th century and declined in
the 20th century, has had a major
geopolitical impact, which is still very
much with us today.
4. To understand the United Kingdom today,
we need to understand its historical
Key terms
Roman invasion Renaissance Acts of Union
Britannia James I The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
Hadrian’s Wall Union of the Crowns Battle of Waterloo
Londinium Union Jack Queen Victoria
Celts Civil War British Empire
Anglo-Saxons Oliver Cromwell Pax Britannica
Saint Patrick Restoration suffragette movement
Saint Augustine of Canterbury Charles I Emmeline Pankhurst
Saint Columba Charles II Irish War of independence
Alfred the Great Glorious Revolution The United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Viking invasions Bill of Rights Northern Ireland
Battle of Hastings Constitutional monarchy Winston Churchill
Norman Conquest Mary II ‘Commonwealth of Nations’
William of Normandy William III of Orange decolonization
The Bayeux Tapestry The Treaty of Union Welfare State
Domesday Book Robert Walpole Clement Attlee
Magna Carta Seven Years’ War National Health Service (NHS)
Hundred Years’ War Treaty of Paris (1763) Thatcherism
Henry VIII Treaty of Paris (1783) Neoliberalism
Act of Supremacy American War of Independence Brexit
Reformation George Washington
Queen Elizabeth Industrial Revolution
