History of England

Introduccion

England, a nation with a rich and complex history, is characterized by long period of development, from its origins in the Stone Age to its transformation into a global power. Its history is marked by invasions, settlements, unifications, and expansions, with a significant impact on culture, language, and law worldwide. Here are some of its main periods through history.

Prehistory (before AD 43)

is the time before written records. It’s the period of human history we know the least about, but it’s also the longest by far.

The earliest known humans arrived in these lands around 900,000 years ago. Prehistory stretches from then until the Roman invasion in AD 43. In the hundreds of thousands of years before history began, these lands underwent huge climactic, societal, political, technological and geological changes. 

Ages and ages

Archaeologists are using some of the most cutting-edge technology to find out more about our distant past. Recent archaeological finds, as well as new scientific techniques, have overturned old certainties. Isotopic and DNA analysis of animal and human remains, chemical analysis of stone tools and pottery, and new ways of interpreting radiocarbon dating are all helping to challenge long-held ideas and raise new questions about this fascinating opening chapter of England’s story.

Standing on the edge of Bodmin Moor, Trethevy Quoit (3500–2500 BC) is a well-preserved example of a portal dolmen, a type of monument specific to Cornwall. Its upright stones support a massive capstone, showing the considerable engineering skills needed to construct prehistoric stone monuments.

The earliest humans 

In 2010 archaeologists working near Happisburgh in Norfolk uncovered flint tools dated to about 900,000 years ago. The people who used them were early humans (known as hominoids) who periodically visited Britain in warmer eras between Ice Ages.

During this time Britain wasn’t an island, but a peninsula of the European continent. What is now the river Thames ran into the North Sea at Happisburgh.

The oldest human remains so far found in England date from about 500,000 years ago, and belonged to a six-foot tall man of the species Homo heidelbergensis. Shorter, stockier Neanderthals visited Britain between 300,000 and 35,000 years ago, followed by the direct ancestors of modern humans.

Ice Age humans created the earliest known cave art in England at Creswell Crags in Derbyshire about 13,000 years ago.

Romans (AD 43-C.410)

In 55-54, Julius Caesar arrived on the shores of Britain, but thanks to guerrilla resistance and bad weather, his conquest was not successful. Almost 100 years later, in AD 43 the emperor Claudius launched a full-scale invasion, and Britain’s Roman er began.

The Romans stayed in Britain for almost four centuries. In some parts of the country they were met with rebellion and resistance, but in more peaceful areas cities were founded, villas constructed and network of roads developed that can still be traced today. And in AD 122, the emperor Hadrian, visiting Britain, ordered the building of famous wall.

Early medieval (C.410-1066)

The six and a half centuries between the end of Roman rule and the Norman Conquest are among the most important in English history. This long period is also one of the most challenging to understand – which is why it has traditionally been labelled the ‘Dark Ages’.

Historic England (illustration by Philip Corke)

New arrivals

At first, the chief enemies of an independent Britain were Irish raiders from the west and Picts from the north. Later, Angles, Saxons and Jutes arrived from across the North Sea. We don’t know exactly how they invaded or settled in England, but by AD 500 Germanic speakers seem to have settled deep into Britain.

The Britons successfully counter-attacked, however, at first under Ambrosius Aurelianus, ‘the last of the Romans’. It’s during this early period that the figure of Arthur – possibly completely legendary – emerges. A record made three centuries later credits him with 12 battles, from Scotland to the south coast. Only the last, in about 500, is confirmed in earlier sources – but it makes no mention of Arthur. This British victory halted the Saxon advance for half a century.

In independent kingdoms across the north and west, the British also resisted the repeated onslaughts of the peoples who were later called ‘English’. But by the 650s, almost all the lowlands were under English control.

Medieval (1066-1485)

Duke William of Normandy’s resounding triumph over King Harold at the Battle of Hastings in 1066 marked the dawn of a new era. The overthrow of the Saxon kingdom of England was to transform the country the Normans conquered, from how it was organised and governed to its language and customs – and perhaps most visibly today, its architecture.

This was also a period of upheaval and change, a time of revolt, civil war, devastating plague and royal unrest.

Monasteries and churches flourished in the 12th and 13th centuries. New religious foundations such as almshouses and hospitals cared for the poor and sick.

Towns grew in size and autonomy, as the old divisions between Normans and the English began to break down. English began to replace Norman French as the dominant language. Commerce developed, helped by better coinage and the growth of the wool trade. But the growth of a money-based economy began to put the old feudal order under pressure.

Then, in 1348–9, the established order and the population were struck a devastating blow by the Black Death, which killed between a third and a half of England’s population.

The most immediate of its many effects was an acute labour shortage. Survivors demanded higher wages and bond men refused to do unpaid ‘service’ for feudal masters. Attempts to fix wages and prices at pre-plague rates only increased resentment.

Tudors (1485-1603)

Henry VII’s victory against Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth ended the turbulent Wars of the Roses and began the Tudor dynasty – possibly the most famous royal family in English history. 

The country underwent huge changes during the reigns of three generations of Tudor monarchs. Henry VIII ushered in a new state religion, and the increasing confidence of the state coincided with the growth of a distinctively English culture.

From the mid-1520s Henry’s reign was overshadowed by his need for a legitimate male heir. His first wife, Katherine of Aragon, gave birth to a daughter, but no son. Desperate for a boy, Henry sought to marry Anne Boleyn, but long negotiations to obtain papal consent to a divorce failed. Henry made the decision to break with Rome. In 1533 he declared that he, not the Pope, was the head of the Church in England.

His decision initiated the Reformation of English religion, the most crucial event of the Tudor period. It shaped English history for centuries to come.

Dangerous times 

Breaking with Rome brought the danger of invasion from Catholic Europe. But the money plundered from the monasteries was put towards building a system of coastal artillery forts (1538–47). Designed for heavy cannon, these reflected the triumph of firearms in warfare.

A suspicious and increasingly tyrannical Henry still sought to secure his dynasty’s future. His marriage to Anne Boleyn produced a girl, Elizabeth, but ended in Anne’s execution.

Jane Seymour died bearing the longed-for boy, Edward. Then Anne of Cleves was rejected shortly after marrying Henry and his next wife, Katherine Howard, was beheaded for treasonous adultery. Henry’s sixth and final wife, Katherine Parr, helped to establish his daughters, Mary and Elizabeth, in the line of succession. Even she only narrowly escaped condemnation for supporting the Protestants – Henry was still a Catholic at heart, and continued to burn Protestants for heresy. 

Stuards (1603-1714)

The Stuart era began when James I, who was also James VI of Scotland, succeded Elizabeth I. She had died childless in 1603. James's ascention to the throne brought together the the two long-warring nations of England and Scotland.

The Stuart period witnessed intense religious and political conflicts, which shifted power from the monarchy to parliament. Meanwhile, discoveries and innovations transformed science, architecture and everyday life.

A new dynasty

The shrewd James I (r.1603–25), who was also James VI of Scotland (and the son of Elizabeth I’s cousin Mary, Queen of Scots), successfully conjoined the two long-warring nations of England and Scotland. Despite threats to his reign, including the Gunpowder Plot (1605), he maintained peace at home and abroad. James’s glamorous elder son Prince Henry died in 1612, leaving his younger son, Charles I (r.1625–49), to succeed.

This sober, ceremonious monarch was devoted to the arts and to the Anglican Church, and acutely conscious of his divine right to rule.

King Charles I, painted in 1631

A king condemned

By 1647 Parliament’s New Model Army, commanded by Sir Thomas Fairfax and Oliver Cromwell, had defeated King Charles. He was imprisoned at Carisbrooke Castle on the Isle of Wight, but under the cover of peace negotiations, he secretly worked to provoke a Second Civil War, which broke out 1648. Parliament was again victorious, and this time the army accordingly insisted (despite moderate protests) on his trial, condemnation and execution in 1649.

The unprecedented public beheading of a monarch sent shockwaves through Britain and Europe. In 1651, with Scots support, the future Charles II mounted a hopeless invasion of what was now a republic, the English Commonwealth (1649–53). Defeated, he escaped to France after famously hiding in an oak tree at Boscobel in Shropshire. 

Georgians (1714-1837)

When Queen Anne died in 1714 with no surviving children, the German Hanoverians were brought in to succeed her. This began the Georgian age – named after the first four Hanovarian kings, all called George.

This period saw Britain establish itself as an international power at the centre of an expanding empire, and accelerating change from the 1770s onwards made it the world’s first industrialised nation.

Victorians (1837-1901)

Queen Victoria came to the throne when she was just 18 years old. She would rule Britain for over 60 years. During this long reign, the country acquired unprecedented power and wealth. Britain’s reach extended across the globe because of its empire, political stability, and revolutionary developments in transport and communication. Many of the intellectual and cultural achievements of this period are still with us today.

Although the Victorian era was a period of extreme social inequality, industrialization brought about rapid changes in everyday life. In the Victorian period the growth of the railways made it possible to transport food to markets. But there was still no cure for most diseases and life expectancy remained low. The Victorian era saw the Church of England become increasingly only one part of vibrant and often competitive religious culture. 

During the Victorian era, the government of the British Empire took the form of a bicameral parliamentary monarchy, which included the House of Lords and the House of Commons. The monarchs who ruled the Empire during this period were George IV (1820–1830), William IV (1830–1837), Victoria I (1837–1901), Edward VII (1901–1910), and George V (1910–1936). Victoria I had the second longest reign in British history, and hence gives this period its name. 

20th century (1901-2000)

The Britain of the year 2000 was unimaginable at the end of the Victorian era in 1901.

The 20th century saw two world wars catalyse enormous social change across the country, including dramatic enhancements in health and education. The motor car stormed through town and country, transforming both, and Britain no longer ruled a third of the planet.

The First World War (1914-1918)

The First World War brought the front line to the civilian population. Zeppelin and aircraft raids targeted London and other towns on the east coast. Both Whitby Abbey and Scarborough Castle in North Yorkshire were hit.

The wartime state extended its control over peoples’ lives in an unprecedented way, with conscription, increased taxation and censorship. Over 1.6 million women replaced conscripted men in the workplace. Country houses such as Wrest Park, Bedfordshire, and Osborne on the Isle of Wight were used as hospitals and convalescent homes for wounded soldiers.

While the old order was changing and monarchies toppled throughout Europe, George V (r.1910–36) proved remarkably adept, bolstering the royal family’s popularity in war and peacetime.

Second World War (1939-1945)

In 1939, Britain found itself at war with Germany for the second time in a generation. After the defeat-turned-propaganda-triumph ‘miracle of Dunkirk’ (planned inDover Castle's Secret Wartime Tunnels) in 1940 Britain stood alone, unified behind Churchill. Victory in the Battle of Britain greatly raised morale, and subsequent blitz air raids on London, Coventry and many other towns failed to significantly lower it.

By 1943, Britain had become a junior partner in an alliance dominated by the USA and the Soviet Union. Allied bombing from British bases and the 1944 D-Day landings hastened Germany’s drawn-out defeat. The bombing of Japanese cities Hiroshima and Nagasaki ended the war in the Far East, and ushered in the atomic age.

Immigration and privatization

By the 1960s, Commonwealth immigration from the West Indies, India and Pakistan had begun to change the racial mix, although nothing like as much as its opponents believed. Heavy industry was in decline. University education expanded significantly, and new institutions  flourished.

The post-war consensus by which both parties broadly accepted the role of the state in the economy and the centrality of the Welfare State was broken by Margaret Thatcher. After the ‘Falklands Factor’ gave her a second term in office in 1983–7, her Conservatives began to privatise national industries, starting with British Telecom.

The miners’ strike was suppressed in 1984–5, breaking the power of the unions. And though she was overthrown by her own party in 1990, the pronounced rightward swing she initiated still holds.

A third way 

Tony Blair led a significantly remodelled Labour Party back into power in 1997- the first of an unprecedented three terms in office. His post- 9/11 I alignment with the USA and subsequent War on Terror defined perceptions of his administrations in Wales and Scotland, and oversaw an uneasy peace in Northern Ireland after 30 years of violence. Britain had entered a new millennium looking forward as well as back.

Tony Blair

Conclusion 

In conclusion, the history of England is a compelling narrative of transformation and enduring influence. From its ancient roots and the shaping forces of Anglo-Saxon kingdoms and the Norman Conquest, England navigated a complex medieval period marked by evolving monarchy and significant social and political milestones. The Tudor era brought religious upheaval and powerful figures, paving the way for a tumultuous 17th century that ultimately established a constitutional framework. England's pivotal role in the Industrial Revolution and the subsequent rise of the British Empire cemented its global significance. Today, as a key component of the United Kingdom, England continues to contribute to the world stage, its present deeply intertwined with the legacies of its rich and multifaceted past. Understanding this historical journey provides crucial insight into the cultural, political, and social fabric of not only England but also the broader global landscape.

Which historical figures do you think had the greatest impact on English history, both positively and negatively? Why?

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Bibliography

English Heritage. (s. f.). Story of England. https://www-english--heritage-org-uk.translate.goog/learn/story-of-england/?_x_tr_sl=en&_x_tr_tl=es&_x_tr_hl=es&_x_tr_pto=s 
English Heritage. (s. f.). Story of England. https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/learn/story-of-england/