THE BRITISH HISTORY - Late Medieval

The Battle of Agincourt and English claims to the French Crown 1415 - 1422

Although he had to withstand early conspiracies by dissident parties, Henry V's accession was chiefly notable for the reactivation of the English claim to the French throne. France was vulnerable because of a civil war between the Dukes of Orleans and Burgundy, and Henry was able to capture the port of Harfleur in 1415. He then marched a small army through France but was caught by a considerably larger French army at Agincourt. Henry defeated the French against the odds and it ended it in a massacre with Henry capturing key French nobles (including the Duke of Orleans). The victory assured Henry of the reputation and finances to continue the war. In 1417, Henry V again landed in France and besieged and took Caen. In January 1419, Rouen fell to English forces and with that the whole of Normandy - perhaps the richest province in France - was under English control

.The King of France, Charles VI, had fallen under the control of the Burgundians, who negotiated the Peace of Troyes with Henry in 1420. The English king married Charles's daughter Katherine, and was recognised as Regent and heir to the French kingdom in Paris. Henry died in 1422, still trying to implement the treaty by conquering the rest of France.

Henry VI and the Dual Monarchy of England and France 1422

Succeeding both his father, Henry V, and his grandfather Charles VI, Henry VI (1422-61) became king of both England and France in 1422 - while still under one year of age. England was ruled effectively by a Regency Council, while in France, the king's uncle, John, Duke of Bedford, continued the conquest begun by Henry V. Scots armies played a key role in maintaining French resistance south of the Loire, despite Bedford's great victory at Verneuil in 1424. Following the raising of the siege of Orleans by Joan of Arc in 1429, and the Burgundian desertion of the Dual Monarchy in 1435, the English were forced back into Normandy.

James I, King of Scotland 1424
In 1406, Prince James of Scotland had been sent to France for his own safety (principally from his uncle, the Duke of Albany, who had already murdered James's elder brother, David). James never reached France as he was captured by English shipping off King's Lynn. James spent the next eighteen years of his life in the Tower of London, at the English court and in English military service in France.On the death of Henry V, the king's ransom was negotiated and James returned to Scotland (with an English wife, Joan Beaufort). Over the next seven years, the king reformed Scottish administrative practice and engaged in a massive blood-letting exercise against the relations of Albany.Neither the reforms nor the vendetta endeared the king to his (extremely depleted) nobility. The situation was made worse by the fact that, after 1431, James became increasingly lazy in terms of government. In 1437, at the Blackfriars Monastery in Perth, James was surprised by a group of discontented lords (led by the king's uncle - thus brother of Albany - the Earl of Atholl) and brutally stabbed to death in a blocked up sewer.

Henry VI's personal rule, end of the Hundred Years' War 1436

Even after Henry VI came of age in 1436, he was uninterested in the conventional business of government. Thus although he founded Eton School and King's College, Cambridge, he refused to take a personal hand in the French war. Increasingly, a narrow court faction led by the Earl (later Duke) of Suffolk dominated the young king (though an unpopular peace policy with France was probably Henry's own initiative). The English resolutely held Normandy until 1444, when Henry sought a twenty-year truce and a French wife. As a result of this initiative, Henry married the French king's niece, Margaret of Anjou, and signed the Truce of Tours. However, in 1449, the English sacked the Breton town of Fougeres. This was a flagrant breach of the French truce, and the English had neither the men nor the money to fight the general war which resumed. Normandy was lost by 1450, and the English were finally driven out of Bordeaux in 1453. These victories effectively decided the Hundred Years' War.

James II, King of Scotland, and the Douglases 1437 - 1460

Following James I's murder, the regency was accepted by Archibald, fifth Earl Douglas, the leader of the most powerful family in Scotland. Since the days of Robert I, the Douglases had been extremely prominent and, at times, had rivalled the authority of the Stewart crown. James I, while attacking his own extended family, had relied on the Douglases as a counter-balance to his aims. James II (1437-60), however, perceived the authority of the Douglases as a threat. On the death of the fifth earl, in 1439, the sixth earl (a young boy) and his brother were invited to Edinburgh Castle whereupon, following the 'Black Dinner' - when they were served a black bull's head (a symbol of impending death) they were murdered by supporters of the King. Although the seventh earl died naturally in 1450, the eighth earl was invited by the King to dine at Stirling Castle (under the protection of a safe-conduct). During the meal, James II lent over and stabbed the earl.The king's supporters ensured the earl did not survive. From then until 1455 (and the forfeiture of the ninth and final Earl Douglas), the crown undertook a series of military expeditions to overpower the family and acquire their lands and strongholds. James II's militarism was not only directed at his own subjects.In 1460, he undertook a seige of Roxburgh Castle (one of only two Scottish Castle - with Berwick - still in English hands. Although the seige was successful, a cannon being fired in celebration exploded and a wedge of wood severed the King's leg. James II bled to death.

Notwithstanding English reluctance to shoulder the financial burden of defending Normandy and Guyenne, public opinion regarded their loss as completely unnecessary. Henry VI's regime never recovered from the loss of credit. In 1450, Kent rebels under Jack Cade seized London and overthrew the ministry of the Duke of Suffolk (who was murdered while fleeing). In 1450 and 1452, Richard, Duke of York, challenged the government but he only managed to take control after Henry went mad in 1453.

Henry VI's servants rallied under Queen Margaret and the Duke of Somerset, and moved against the Duke of York and his allies (after the king recovered his sanity). York resisted and defeated the Lancastrians at St Albans in 1455 as the struggle becameincreasingly embittered. In 1459, the Yorkists were forced to flee when their army would not fight Henry VI at Ludford Bridge.

The Yorkist assumption of power 1460 - 1461

The Yorkist Earl of Warwick re-took London in 1460 and captured Henry VI. Subsequently the Duke of York returned to claim the throne in Parliament but was recognised only as Protector and heir to the throne. Weeks later he marched north to enforce this settlement, but was killed at Wakefield. A large Lancastrian army swarmed south, overwhelming Warwick at Northampton and liberating the mad-again Henry. Fearful Londoners would not admit the Lancastrian troops, and the Duke of York's son, Edward, earl of March, arrived to support the capital just in time. With littleto lose, the Yorkists acclaimed March as Edward IV (1461-83), and he cemented his accession by annihilating the Lancastrian army at Towton (outside York) in April 1461 - perhaps the most vicious battle ever fought on English soil. Henry VI and the other Lancastrian leaders were fugitives.

Edward IV suffered the same problems of consolidation as Henry IV. In 1463-64 he crushed Lancastrian challenges and in 1464 Henry VI was recaptured and sent to the Tower. Edward owed his throne to his own military prowess in 1460 and 1461, rather than to his chief ally, his uncle the Earl of Warwick.
However, Warwick was a great magnate and major figure in the government, and when he became alienated after 1464, serious problems developed. The initial cause of the rupture was Edward's secret marriage with a widow of Lancastrian background and little political importance, Elizabeth Wydeville. Warwick could not be excluded easily from the regime and the breakdown of trust between him and the king came to dominate politics.

The 'readeption' of Henry VI 1470 - 1471

After several conspiracies and rebellions, Warwick and Edward's brother, the Duke of Clarence, fled to France where Louis XI brokered an agreement between them and the Lancastrian exiles, led by Queen Margaret. Backed by Louis, Warwick returned, took London and ruled in Henry VI's name with his uneasy Lancastrian allies. Edward IV fled to Holland and prepared his counterstroke. Henry VI's second reign is known as the 'Readeption'. When Edward IV returned in 1471 he was able to rally the Yorkist party and defeat first Warwick at Barnet, and then the Lancastrians at Tewkesbury. All the Lancastrian leaders of any significance were now dead, most notably Henry VI's son, Edward, Prince of Wales. Henry himself was soon murdered in the Tower.

Edward IV's second reign 1471 - 1483

After regaining the crown, Edward decentralised considerable power to regional councils organised around his most loyal supporters. Thus his brother, Richard, Duke of Gloucester, became Edward's lieutenant in the north. Edward resumed the French war in 1475, only to allow himself to be bought off with a large French pension. In the 1470s, William Caxton began printing in English at Bruges, and later brought printing to London. Sir John Fortescue wrote The Governance of England, William Worcester wrote Itineraries, and Sir Thomas Mallory wrote the Morte d'Arthur.

Richard III and the Princes in the Tower 1483

When Edward IV died suddenly in April 1483, the Yorkists expected his brother Richard, Duke of Gloucester, to assume the regency as Protector until the young Edward V (1483) came of age. However, Richard took them by surprise when he seized the young king at Stoney Stratford and executed his companions. He wooed the remainder of his brother's servants by telling them that he was only against the family of his brother's widow, the Wydevilles. But soon after several of the most important were summarily executed in their turn (probably for refusing to support Richard's bid for the throne). Richard III (1483-85) was crowned on 26 June, and, soon after, he probably had his young nephews murdered in the Tower of London.

The Battle of Bosworth Field 1485

After the murder of the young princes in 1483, loyal Yorkists began to look for a focus of opposition. A rebellion under Richard's former ally, the Duke of Buckingham, failed in 1483 and, after his execution, many older Yorkists fled abroad. Anti-Richard support gradually gravitated to the last Lancastrian claimant, Henry Tudor - hitherto largely unimportant. Richard's support narrowed, so when he faced a small invasion force at Bosworth Field in 1485, few magnates would fight for him.

Tudors Henry Tudor crowned 1485

In August 1485, Henry Tudor landed at Milford Haven in Wales (from exile in France) and, with the help of French troops, invaded England. He marched unopposed into central England where, on 22 August, he met Richard III at Bosworth Field. Richard was defeated and killed and Henry was proclaimed King as Henry VII (1485-1509). Henry marched on London and, on 30 October, was crowned king. A matter of months later, in January 1486, Henry VII married Elizabeth of York, the daughter of Edward IV, helping to unify the two factions of York and Lancaster

The Tudors 1485 - 1602

The early modern period of British history is dominated by the Tudors in England and the Stewarts in Scotland. In both realms, as the century progressed, there were new ways of approaching old problems. Henry VIII and James IV were both bellicose, cultured, educated Renaissance princes with a love of learning and architectural splendour. As contemporaries and brothers-in-law, they treated the problems of the Reformation in different ways - James remained staunchly Catholic while Henry broke away from the Catholic Church to form the Church of England (of which he had himself proclaimed Head).By the turn of the century, both realms were strongly Protestant and under the control of two long reigning monarchs - Elizabeth and James VI. The early modern period was definitely an era where women exercised more influence. Despite the odd voice to the contrary, such as John Knox, Catherine de Medici in France, Elizabeth and Mary in England and Mary in Scotland ruled as their male counterparts had done before them - all intent on securing the best political, military and diplomatic outcomes for their respective realms.

Lambert Simnel and the end of the Wars of the Roses 1487

Henry VII was not unopposed as king. In May 1487, Lambert Simnel - claiming to be Edward, Earl of Warwick, the nephew of Edward IV - was crowned as King Edward VI of England in Dublin. Formally recognised as the real Warwick by Margaret of Anjou (wife of Henry VI) and backed by Irish troops and German mercenaries, Simnel invaded England but was defeated at the Battle of Stoke in June 1487. Henry considered him harmless and, instead of being executed, he was allowed to live out his life in the royal kitchens.

Battle of Sauchieburn 1488
James III, King of Scots, was an unpopular monarch. Despite his reign seeing the addition of the Orkney and Shetland Isles to the Scottish kingdom (as mortgaged lands by the Danish king instead of a dowry for his daughter), by 1488, James III had survived several attempts to limit his authority by discontented members of his nobility.On 11 June 1488, however, the discontented nobles united behind the king's son (later IV) and met James III in battle. The king's army was defeated and James III fled the field. Resting in a mill adjacent to the battlefield, he was stabbed to death by an opponent disguised as a priest.James IV (1488-1513) was proclaimed king but regretted the action he had taken against his father - for the rest of his adult life, he wore an iron chain around his waist as penance for his deed.

Perkin Warbeck and the English throne 1491 - 1499
In November 1491, a second claimant to Henry VII's throne arrived in Ireland. Perkin Warbeck (possibly an illegitimate son of Edward IV) initially claimed to be Edward, Earl of Warwick (as Lambert Simnel had before him) but soon changed his story and claimed to be Richard, Duke of York - the brother of Edward V and the younger Prince in the Tower.Various European monarchs - Charles VIII of France, Margaret of Burgundy, Maximillian I of the Holy Roman Empire and James IV of Scotland - accepted Warbeck's claims in order to pursue diplomatic objectives against Henry VII. In 1495, 1496 and 1497, Warbeck attempted to invade England (in 1497 trying to maximise discontent from Cornwall where some local men had rebelled earlier in the year against high taxes) but, in October 1497, he was captured and taken to the king at Taunton.In November 1499 both Warbeck and the real Edward, Earl of Warwick (who had been imprisoned by Henry VII in 1485) were executed for treason.

Royal patronage of John Cabot 1496

The later fifteenth century was an age of maritime discovery. In 1488, the Portuguese Bartholemew Diaz had rounded the Cape of Good Hope (southern Africa); and in 1492, Christopher Columbus, in the service of the King of Spain, had discovered the Caribbean islands of the New World. Not wishing to miss out on any new land (and wealth), Henry VII supported John Cabot in a bid to sail across the Atlantic. Although driven back by poor weather in 1496, Cabot (with his son Sebastian) sailed from Bristol to Cape Breton, Newfoundland, in 1497. In 1498, John Cabot and his fleet of five ships set out on a further voyage but were never heard of again. The following year, Sebastian Cabot, led a search expedition and extensively explored the North American coast from Labrador to the Grand Banks off Carolina.

The Renaissance in Britain c.1500

The Renaissance ('new birth') began in the Mediterranean countries and spread across Europe during the course of the fifteenth century. By the sixteenth century, - as well as heralding a burgeoning of art and culture - it represented the rebirth of learning and of free enquiry, the exaltation of the individual (both in mind and body) and a focus on 'life', instead of the medieval preoccupation with the soul and death. It is arguable how much of this physical and spiritual expansion had immediate effect on the great majority of the population of Britain. However, the Renaissance certainly influenced court life, courtly manners and architectural building, and Henry VII and Henry VIII in England, and James IV, James V and Mary in Scotland, were, in their own ways, Renaissance monarchs.

Marriage of the Thistle and the Rose 1503

In August 1503, James IV, King of Scots, married Margaret Tudor, the daughter of Henry VII of England. Celebrated in poetry as the union of the Thistle and the Rose, the event was to lead the accession of James VI, King of Scots, to the English throne in 1603 as the senior living descendent of Henry VII.

Accession of Henry VIII 1509
Henry VIII is one of the best known English monarchs. Although a great athlete, strong soldier and accomplished Renaissance prince in his youth, it is mainly for his marital exploits that he is remembered.
Henry married six times in an increasingly desperate bid to produce a male heir to secure the English throne for the Tudor dynasty. His first wife, Katherine of Aragon (June 1509-May 1533) had previously been married to Henry's elder brother (Arthur, Prince of Wales) and although she produced a son for the king in January 1511, he only survived seven weeks.By 1533, Katherine had given Henry a daughter, Mary, but no further male offspring. In January 1533, before his divorce from Katherine was formalised, Henry secretly married his second wife, Anne Boleyn (January 1533-May 1536). She gave birth to Elizabeth in September 1533 but was beheaded in May 1536, accused of adultery.Henry's third wife, Jane Seymour (May 1536-October 1537), produced the longed for male heir - the future Edward VI - but died following complications brought on by the birth. Anne of Cleves (January 1540-July 1540), a Protestant German princess, was not the bride Henry had hoped for and was divorced quickly - shortly before his marriage to his fifth wife, Catherine Howard, the niece of the Duke of Norfolk (Henry's chief minister).As Henry grew older, he became more and more overweight and more and more diseased. By the end of his reign, it is highly unlikely that Henry would have been able to produce any children by his wives.Catherine Howard (July 1540-February 1542) was also beheaded for adultery and Henry's final wife, Catherine Parr (July 1542-January 1547) was more of a nursemaid for the king than a bedding partner. She survived Henry.

James IV, King of Scots, and the Battle of Flodden 1513

While Henry was campaigning on the continent in 1513, the Scottish king broke a Treaty of Perpetual Peace with his uncle, Henry VIII, and invaded England (in French interests). James IV was a popular monarch and took a sizeable army into Northumberland. He was met by English troops under the leadership of the Earl of Surrey. In the ensuing battle, on 9 September 1513, James IV deployed his resources poorly. The Scots were massacred with the king, the Archbishop of St Andrews (James IV's son), eight earls and over twenty lords among the dead.

Thomas Wolsey, Cardinal Archbishop of York 1515
The son of an Ipswich butcher, in the early 1500s, Wolsey established himself as an indispensable administrator both for the crown and the English church. A court chaplain from 1507, in 1509 he was made royal almoner and, effectively, royal secretary.In 1514, Wolsey was created Archbishop of York and, a year later, he was made a cardinal by the Pope and Lord Chancellor by Henry VIII. By 1518 he held legatine powers in England but in 1522 (when Adrian VI was elected) and 1523 (Clement VII) he was passed over for Pope. He spent lavishly and built palatial residences at York House (Whitehall) and Hampton Court. Wolsey dominated Henrician court and patronage and took an active interest in judicial and financial review.This caused his downfall as, when he was unable to accomplish Henry's divorce from Katherine of Aragon, there was no one else to blame. On 4 November 1530, Wolsey was arrested at Cawood Castle, Selby, near York. He died at Leicester, en route to London to be tried for treason

Field of the Cloth of Gold 1520

Wolsey and Henry VIII pursued an aggressive continental foreign policy. Although at war in the early 1510s, by later that same decade a grand alliance between England, France, Spain, the Papacy and the Empire was envisaged. Although the diplomacy ultimately foundered, one of the high points in discussion was the meeting of Henry VIII and Francis I of France at the Field of the Cloth of Gold outside Calais in 1520. The meeting lasted over two weeks, with temporary pavilions and sumptuous tents bedecked in cloth of gold material. Tilts, jousts and other chivalric entertainment occurred daily and temporary fountains were plumbed to flow with red wine for the duration of the meeting.

Henry made 'Defender of the Faith' 1521

On 23 October 1516, at Wittenberg (in modern Germany), Martin Luther nailed ninety-five theses condemning papal indulgences to the door of a church. Later, this was considered the pivotal action marking the start of the religious reformation in Europe. England and Scotland both rejected Luther's ideas and remained supporters of the Catholic church. In 1521, as a reward for attacking Lutheran ideas, Pope Leo X conferred the title of fidei defensor (defender of the faith) on Henry VIII. Although the title relates to the Catholic Church, it is still held by current British monarchs and can be seen as the abbreviation FD on current coinage. Lutheran ideas could not be kept out of a continental trading nation like England very easily and, from 1526, German-printed vernacular versions of the Bible (produced by William Tynedale) were circulating extensively.

The Reformation of Parliament 1529 - 1536

A non-contemporary description of the parliament which met throughout the Reformation crisis of the early 1530s. In its first session (November-December 1529), the parliament petitioned Henry to take action against Cardinal Wolsey. Subsequently, the parliament passed acts which defined the nature of the break with Rome and the foundation of the Church of England. In 1532 (a year after Henry VIII had been recognised as Supreme Head of the Church in England), the Commons openly opposed the authority of Church courts and stated that no ecclesiastical laws could be promulgated without the authority of the King.A year later, in the Restraint of Appeals, they codified the legal independence of the realm of England from Rome. As Henry's 'great matter' (his marriage to his brother's widow, Katherine of Aragon) became more problematic, parliament continued to support the wishes of their king over the Pope in Rome.

Henry VIII and the Act of Supremacy 1534
Henry wished to divorce Katherine of Aragon as he was conscious that the Old Testament forbade a man from lying with his brother's wife. Henry saw his lack of male heir by Katherine as a judgement from God as to his sinfulness.The first discussions concerning the subject had taken place in secret in May 1527 but, by July 1529, the Pope had declared that the matter could only be settled in Rome. After further inquiries, Clement VII refused to grant permission for divorce, so Henry began the process of a split with the Catholic Church.In May 1533, his marriage to Katherine was annulled - although, the previous January, he had bigamously (and secretly) married Anne Boleyn. Aided by his new chief administrator, Thomas Cromwell, Henry was confirmed as 'Supreme Head of the Church of England'following a parliamentary Act of Supremacy in November 1534.

Wales incorporated into England 1536
An act of parliament in 1536 (followed by a second in 1543) attempted to regularise the relationship between Wales and England. The Marcher Lordships - on the border of England and Wales - were abolished; new counties were established; and Justices of the Peace (on the English model) were empowered to undertake judicial roles. Although a Council of Wales (with enhanced powers) was retained, English was made the official language of administration and daily use.

The Dissolution of the Monasteries 1536 - 1540

Between 1536 and 1540, Henry dissolved all the monasteries that had not previously been dissolved. This proved very unpopular, as despite individual abuses, monasteries still played a major role both in the spiritual life of the population and in local economies. Furthermore, it led to exaggerated rumours that Henry intended to despoil the parish churches and to tax cattle and sheep. As a result, in 1536 there were major risings in Lincolnshire and Yorkshire (30,000 strong) and, in 1537, a further rising in Norfolk. The rebels called for an end to the dissolution of the monasteries, for the removal of Cromwell, for the restoration of papal authority and for the Catholic Mary Tudor to be named as successor. Henry's promise of pardon and concessions led the rebels to disband, but the king reneged on his promise and the rebel leaders were executed in 1537. Waltham Abbey was the last monastery to be dissolved in March 1540.

David Beaton, Cardinal Archbishop of St Andrews 1538

Despite urging from his brother-in-law, James V did not follow the same path as Henry VIII in splitting with the Catholic Church. Indeed, if anything, James V drew himself closer to Rome. With England on the verge of breaking away, James was able to extract financial and religious concessions from the Pope which meant that James was, in his own way, as powerful a leader in terms of the Scottish Church as Henry was in terms of the English.James was certainly open to the same abuses - appointing various of his illegitimate offspring to positions of authority within the Church so that the Crown could extract the annual rentals and income from the benefices.One of the major achievements in the Reformation period was the appointment, in December 1538, of James's chief counsellor, David Beaton (later Archbishop of St Andrews), as a cardinal. Beaton was a cruel persecutor of Lutheran supporters and had personally witnessed several being burned at the stake. Following James's death, Beaton exercised considerable political influence in Scotland but was, almost universally, hated.On March 1 1546, the noted Scottish reformer, George Wishart was burnt at the stake in front of the episcopal palace. Three months later, religious reformers within St Andrews stormed the palace and, in revenge for Wishart's death, killed the cardinal.

Henry VIII, King of Ireland 1541

The Tudors had always been concerned with the Irish situation. In 1494, Henry VII had sent Edward Poynings to Ireland as deputy in order to strengthen links with England. Within a matter of weeks the Irish Parliament, meeting at Drogheda, had passed Poyning's Law which stated that Irish legislation was only valid when confirmed by the English Privy Council.Despite this, Ireland continued to be a cause of some concern. In the aftermath of the English Reformation, the Irish parliament recognised Henry VIII not as 'Lord of Ireland' (the traditional style) but as 'King of Ireland' and, also, Head of the Irish Church.

Battle of Solway Moss and the 'Rough Wooing' 1542

In November 1542, a Scottish army entered the border marshes of Scotland and England. They were met by an English force led by Sir Thomas Wharton, and routed. James V was ill at Falkland Palace, and the news of the defeat, coupled with the birth of a daughter, Mary, rather than the son the king longed for, is traditionally said to have led him to turn his face to the wall and die.Peace between the two countries was agreed in the 1543 Treaty of Greenwich. This allowed for the one-year-old Mary to be married to Edward, Prince of Wales. Before the year was out, the Scottish parliament, under Beaton's direction, changed policy and repudiated the Treaty of Greenwich.Henry and, after his death, Somerset, then undertook a series of military invasions into southern Scotland - an operation that subsequently came to be known as the 'Rough Wooing'.

Edward VI and the Act of Uniformity 1547 - 1553

Edward VI (1547-53) was the son of Henry VIII and Jane Seymour (Henry's third wife). He became king on Henry's death in 1547, at the age of nine, and the government was entrusted to his uncle, the Duke of Somerset. Somerset fell from power in 1549 and was replaced by the Earl of Warwick, later created Duke of Northumberland. Northumberland was primarily concerned with the enforcement of the Act of Uniformity which imposed the First Book of Common Prayer on English worshippers. Hostility to this book and the Protestantism it represented caused rioting in the south-west.

Jane Grey, 'The Nine Day Queen' 1553
In regards to the succession, Edward had dismissed the claims of his half sisters, Mary and Elizabeth, arguing that they were both illegitimate. Instead he nominated Lady Jane Grey - Henry VIII's Protestant great-niece - as his successor. She was married to one of Northumberland's sons and was proclaimed Queen when Edward died - after horrendous illness - in 1553 (aged fifteen). However, Mary simultaneously proclaimed herself Queen in Norfolk and began raising troops. Northumberland set out to defeat her but, as support rallied to Mary, he surrendered and was executed (as eventually were Lady Jane and her husband).

Mary I and Philip II 1553

Daughter of the Katherine of Aragon, Mary (1553-58) became queen in 1553. Determined to return the country to its religious position at the beginning of her father's reign, Mary agreed to marry Philip II of Spain. By the end of 1554, and despite protest, England had a Spanish king, and was once again subject to the Pope. Some 300 people were burnt for heresy including several leading churchmen and even Archbishop Cranmer of Canterbury (who was burnt at the stake in Oxford).Mary undertook military action on the continent in support of Spanish ambition. Although the English forces came close to capturing Paris in August 1557, within six months they had been forced back and, on 7 January 1558, Calais - the last English continental possession - fell to the French

Accession of Elizabeth I 1558

Elizabeth (1558-1603), the Protestant daughter of Anne Boleyn, acceded to the throne on Mary's death in 1558. After she was crowned, her first task was to bring about a broad religious settlement, accepting those aspects of Protestant doctrine which were consistent with order, and rejecting those which were not. It was not until the 1580s that the Reformation gained general acceptance. Elizabeth did not condemn the contemporary stereotype of women as inferior to men - in 1558, John Knox (a Scottish minister) had published the wonderfully titled 'First Blast of the Trumpet against the Monstrous Regiment of Women' (Monstrous Regiment meaning unnatural rule) - but instead claimed that she was an exceptional woman, chosen by God as his instrument.

Personal rule of Mary, Queen of France, and Queen of Scots 1559 - 1565

Mary had been married to Francis, dauphin of France (son of Henry II) in 1558. Although Francis became King (and Mary Queen) of France in 1559, he ruled for a little over a year before dying from an ear infection.Mary, dowager of France, was no match to the political influence of Henry II's dowager queen, Catherine de Medici. Before the marriage ceremony in Notre Dame, Mary had secretly signed away Scotland's sovereignty and declared that, if she died before her husband, Scotland would become subject to the French crown.Faced with the death of Francis in 1560, Mary now had to return to her kingdom - a realm she had not seen since she was five. On her return to Scotland (landing at Leith on 19 August 1561), Mary was faced with a problem concerning the religion of the nation.For the next four years, while actively Catholic in private, she did little to oppose the Protestant religion in public. Indeed, in October 1562, she placed an army in the field to combat her leading Catholic nobleman, George Gordon, Earl of Huntly. Only with her marriage to Henry, Lord Darnley, in 1565, can Mary's policies be seen to be going wrong.

Scottish Reformation Parliament 1560
Meeting without the sanction of the Crown, a group of noblemen and burgh representatives met in Edinburgh in August 1560 to enact bills to define the Reformation in Scotland. Tensions had been mounting since the mid 1550s with an active civil war being undertaken by Mary of Guise (the dowager queen and regent) backed by French forces and the Lords of Congregation (Protestants) backed by English forces. The confrontation had been settled (with a broadly neutral result) by the Treaty of Berwick in February 1560 but the death of Guise four months later effectively left the field clear for the reformers.In August, the parliament abolished Papal jurisdiction over Scotland and Approved a Calvinist Confession of Faith. Because the parliament met without the authority of the Crown, Mary, Queen of Scots, refused to ratify the acts on her return to the kingdom. Only on Mary's deposition in 1567 were the acts really implemented.

Beginnings of the Slave Trade 1562
On a voyage to West Africa in 1562, Captain John Hawkins, an English trader and naval commander, began English involvement in the Slave Trade. From West Africa, Hawkins proceeded to the Caribbean where he sold a number of people he had either captured or purchased while trading in Africa

Deposition of Mary, Queen of Scots, and Scottish Civil War 1567

In May 1565, Mary, Queen of Scots, married her cousin, Henry Stewart, Lord Darnley. This antagonised not only Elizabeth of England but also a group of Scottish noblemen. Although a son, Charles James (the future James VI), was born of the marriage in July 1566, circumstances soon escalated. Darnley was an unpopular, disease-riddled, drunk. Since her return to Scotland, Mary had relied heavily on a group of continental servants and this provoked a reaction from the discontented noblemen (using Darnley as a figurehead). On 9 March 1566 (with Mary five months pregnant), the lords broke into the Queen's chamber at Holyrood and stabbed her Italian secretary, David Rizzio, to death. Although Mary recovered and attempted to reconcile the discontented factions - notably at Prince Charles's baptismal ceremony at Stirling in December 1566 - by early 1567 the situation had only deteriorated. On 10 February 1567, Henry, King of Scots, was strangled and blown up in a house on the outskirts of Edinburgh.Although the Queen claimed innocence, her position was not helped when, three months later, she married the unpopular James, fourth Earl Bothwell - the man widely suspected of killing her former husband. Forces were raised and at Carberry Hill, a month after her marriage, Mary surrendered to the discontented lords. As Bothwell escaped to exile (and imprisonment) in Denmark, Mary was imprisoned in Lochleven Castle, where on 24 July 1567 - the day after she miscarried twins - she was forced to abdicate.

The queen's opponents crowned her one-year old son as James VI (1567-1625). Mary was in prison for eleven months whereupon she escaped and again raised forces. These were decisively beaten at the Battle of Langside (13 May 1568) and Mary fled south.Although she may have been trying to reach France, in the end Mary threw herself on the mercy of Elizabeth of England. Elizabeth imprisoned her for the next nineteen years. Meanwhile in Scotland, the forces still backing Mary and those backing James undertook a frenetic civil war which lasted until the Pacification of Perth and the fall of Edinburgh Castle in 1573.

Although Elizabeth was the last of the Tudor monarchs, she was occasionally under threat from dissident factions who sought to depose her and place an alternative monarch (usually, Mary, Queen of Scots), in her place. In 1569, the Duke of Norfolk was imprisoned in the Tower for plotting to marry himself to Mary, Queen of Scots, and thus provide a strong Catholic phalanx within England. A month later, Durham was seized by the Catholic earls of Westmorland and Northumberland, thus giving substance to the idea of Catholic plotting. In September 1571, the Ridolfi plot - to depose Elizabeth, replace her with Mary and restore Catholicism - was revealed; in 1583, the Throckmorton plot (with similar aims but the backing of the King of Spain and the Duke of Guise) was exposed.In 1586, the Babington Plot, which ultimately led to the execution of Mary, was 'discovered' by Walsingham, only a matter of weeks after the Scots had signed the Treaty of Berwick.

Drake circumnavigates the globe 1578 - 1580
On 13 December 1577, Francis Drake, on board his ship the Pelican, left Plymouth on a voyage that would take him round the world. In August 1578, Drake passed through the Magellan Strait (the south of South America) and entered the Pacific Ocean. By June 1579, Drake had landed on the coast of modern California (which he claimed for England as 'New Albion'). On 26 September 1580, the navigator returned to Plymouth in his ship, renamed as the Golden Hind. The following April, Drake was knighted by Elizabeth on board ship.

Elizabeth I and the Low Countries 1584

From 1584, Elizabeth played an active role in assisting the Protestant Dutch rebels of the Low Countries (modern Netherlands and Belgium) to oppose their monarch, Philip II of Spain. A treaty of alliance with the Dutch, under William of Orange, had been signed as early as 1579, but it was not until 1584 that English troops were dispatched. In 1585, Elizabeth formally took the Netherlands under her protection (following the assassination in July 1584 of Protestant leader, William of Orange), ten years after she had refused an offer of full sovereignty. Beside the official English troops under leaders such as the Earl of Leicester, there were also a number of English, Irish and Scottish mercenaries who fought in the Dutch wars both on the Protestant side and the Catholic side (and when the situation merited, both sides!).

Roanoke 1585

In 1585, 600 English colonists, under the guidance of Walter Raleigh, were established on Roanoke Island on the Carolina Outer Banks. The colony lasted less than a year and, although a further colony was established in Virginia in 1587 (of 110 people), the threat of the Spanish Armada meant that they could not be resupplied. In 1590, when an expedition did attempt to find the settlers, they found the colony had vanished.

Treaty of Berwick 1586 On 6 July 1586, Thomas Manners, Earl of Rutland (for England), and Francis Stewart, Earl Bothwell (for Scotland) secured a mutual defensive alliance between the two countries guaranteeing aide and support should either be invaded.Seen by some as a forerunner to the execution of Mary, Queen of Scots - only after the treaty was signed did Walsingham 'discover' a plot by Anthony Babington against Elizabeth - its more important purpose was to secure the English succession.
Although nothing is said in the treaty concerning this, an appendix was agreed whereby James VI, King of Scots, would receive an annual pension of £4,000 from the English state. James, rightly or wrongly, perceived this 'pension' as recognition of his rights in England.

Execution of Mary, Queen of Scots 1587
On 8 February 1587, at Fotheringhay Castle, Elizabeth's heir, Mary, Queen of Scots, was executed for treason after becoming involved in the Babington Plot. Mary had been in English custody since her escape from Scotland in 1568. At the age of forty-four, she was no longer the dazzling beauty she had once been - disease had filled out her frame and she had lost her strong auburn hair.As Mary went to the block, she revealed that she was wearing a scarlet smock - the colour symbolised Catholic martyrdom.

The Spanish Armada 1588
Elizabeth's support for the largely Protestant Dutch rebellion against her former half-brother-in law, Philip of Spain, and her apparent connivance in raids on Spanish colonies and trade, led to war with Spain from 1585. In 1588, Philip sent an Armada - a massive force of 130 ships and 19,000 troops - from Lisbon to Calais.The English (under the admiral, Howard of Effingham and his lieutenants, Francis Drake and John Hawkins) mounted a night-time attack with fireships against the fleet at Calais and then inflicted considerable damage in a battle off Gravelines. However, weather conditions forced the Armada back to Spain, round the north of Scotland and the west coast of Ireland - suffering heavy looses from storms and shipwrecks on the way. Further fleets were sent in 1596 and 1597, but both were stopped by storms

First known London performance of Shakespeare plays 1590
Originally from Stratford-upon-Avon, England's 'greatest playwright' flourished at the end of Elizabeth I's reign and the beginning of James I's reign. Not only did Shakespeare write plays but he also acted in them and part-owned some of the theatres in which they were produced. In 1590, there are known performances of Henry VI and Titus Andronicus.

Poor Relief Act 1598

Building on an act from the reign of Edward IV, the Poor Relief Act gave Justices of the Peace responsibility for the administration of poor relief on a local level. Local poor rates were defined. Although preference was given to assisting people within their own homes, the act of 1598 allowed for the setting up of work houses in urban areas. Along with a further act of 1601, the provisions of 1598 remained the only provision for the poor in England until the Poor Law Amendment Act of 1834.

Foundation of the East India Company 1600

On 31 December 1600, the East India Company was founded to challenge Dutch and Portuguese dominance in the spice trade. The major force behind British Imperial expansion throughout the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, it was not really until the establishment of voyages made on a joint-stock basis and the granting of factory concessions, in the early seventeenth century, that the company began to boom.

Essex Rebellion 1601

Robert Devereux, second Earl of Essex was a dazzling courtier who captivated Elizabeth. The step-son of the Earl of Leicester (one of Elizabeth's earlier favourites), and the husband of Sir Philip Sidney's widow, he tried to draw on the legacies of those around him to increase his favour. Throughout the 1590s, Essex had played on his favour with the Queen and had risen quickly through military ranks to be appointed Lord Lieutenant of Ireland in 1599. Essex was unable to deploy successfully the fullest and best equipped Tudor army ever sent to Ireland and, in September 1599, he signed an unauthorised truce with the leading Irish rebel, the Earl of Tyrone. Elizabeth was furious, ordered his arrest and stripped him of his titles. In January 1601, the rebel earl led an abortive raid against the Queen and London but was captured and, on 25 February, executed for treason.

Death of Elizabeth 1603
On 24 March 1603, at Richmond Palace, Elizabeth I died. To the end, she had resolutely refused to name her heir. The administrators around her, however, were in no doubt as to her intended successor and James VI, King of Scots, was proclaimed as James I, King of England.

Stuarts

The accession of James I and the end of the war with Spain

Upon the death of Elizabeth I, James VI, King of Scots (son of Mary, Queen of Scots), succeeded as James I, King of England, thereupon uniting the crowns but not the governments of England and Scotland. To mark the union of the crowns, a new ensign was designed superimposing the red cross of St George on the white cross of St Andrew. Closer union of the nations parliaments, for example, was rejected by the commons and abandoned after 1607.One of James I's first acts of foreign policy was to bring the long war with Spain to an end. Although this greatly helped the depleted English treasury (and helped enforce James's reputation as rex pacificus), the policy was, in part, unpopular because peace meant that both the English and the Dutch had to acknowledge the Spanish claim to a monopoly of trade between their own South American colonies and the rest of the world.

The Stuarts 1603 - 1713

Charles I, unable to work with Parliament, attempted to rule without it. Eventually he was to raise his standard against the parliamentary forces, leading to civil war and his eventual judicial murder. England was to be a republic until the collapse of Cromwell's Commonwealth and the restoration of Charles II in 1660. Shortly afterwards, a devastating plague swept through the country followed by the Great Fire of London. Compromise between the crown and Parliament finally achieved a balanced government and the two kingdoms of England and Scotland became joined in the 1707 Act of Union.

The Gunpowder Plot 1605
On 5 November 1605, a plot was discovered to blow up parliament, at its opening, with a stash of gunpowder stored in the cellars below the House of Lords. Although the event is closely linked to the name of Guy (or Guido) Fawkes, he was not the leader of the group of conspirators. Instead, Robert Catesby was acknowledged as the foremost of the Catholic conspirators.James, who had already escaped assassination attempts in Scotland (such as the 1600 Gowrie conspiracy), declared 5 November a day of national celebration. Guy Fawkes Day is still celebrated today (although the symbolic figure initially burned was the Pope rather than the plot's agent).

New colonies and trading posts 1607
Royal favour was shown to those companies and individuals seeking to establish settlements in North America. The first permanent British colony in North America was Jamestown, Virginia, established by Captain John Smith in 1607 with 105 pioneers. This was known as a 'tobacco' colony. Another tobacco colony was founded in Maryland in 1632. The first British trading post in Africa was acquired in the Gambia in 1686, during the brief reign of James VII and II.

Plantation of Ulster 1609 - 1613

The defeat of rebel Irish earls in the early 1600s, convinced James I that the only way to solve the Irish problem (which had plagued England for over three centuries) was to replace Gaelic culture with English and Scottish protestant culture. Previous attempts at plantation had largely been unsuccessful, so James organised not only settlers (from England and Scotland) but also new government administrators. Land was reserved for the Protestant Church of Ireland, Trinity College, Dublin, and - in Derry - the City of London livery companies (who renamed their chief settlement, Londonderry).Throughout James's reign plantation spread from Ulster further into the south of Ireland, encompassing Leinster and Leitrim.

King James' Bible 1611

The 'Authorised Version' of the Bible (or King James Bible) was guaranteed to be found in almost all Protestant British homes from its initial publication until the nineteenth century. Copies can still be purchased today. The version was commissioned following the 1604 Hampton Court Conference between Anglicans and Puritans and took seven years to complete.

James in Scotland and the Five Articles of Perth 1617 - 1618
When James left Edinburgh in 1603, he guaranteed the Scots that he would return every three years. He did not. Instead, he returned only once, between 13 May and 4 August 1617. The visit (a large part of which was spent hunting and carousing) was overshadowed by James's insistence on attempting to pass the 'Five Articles of Perth' through both the Scottish Parliament and the Kirk General Assembly.These articles were seen by the strongly Presbyterian Kirk as an attempt to introduce Anglicanism/Popery to the pure Scottish Church. The articles were eventually forced through a General Assembly in Perth in 1618 and parliament in 1621. The circumstances helped to convince various Scots that James had lost touch with his northern kingdom.

Sailing of the Mayflower 1620

In August 1620, a group that became known as the Pilgrim Fathers and that were attempting to escape religious persecution in England, sailed from Southampton for the New World. They landed at Plymouth Rock, Massachusetts (although they had been aiming for Virginia). Often portrayed as the founders of the modern United States, they were far from the first British settlers on the North American continent. Indeed, only a year before at Jamestown, a colonial assembly had met - the first of its kind.

Charles I was a great patron of the Arts and Sciences. A great breakthrough in the research of physiology came in 1628, when a correct explanation of how blood circulated was supplied by William Harvey (1578-1657). During the Civil War, Harvey had been supplied with animals for his research by Charles I, who had taken an intense interest in his work. Harvey became a tutor for Charles's sons and probably made substantial contribution to Charles II's life-long interest in scientific affairs. Charles II was a patron of the arts and science, and both flourished following his succession to the throne. A group of Oxford men formed the nucleus of the Royal Society, founded under royal patronage. These men included Robert Boyle, (1627-1691), who demonstrated that the volume of gases varied in precisely inverse proportion to the pressure upon them.Other scientists of this century included Isaac Newton (1642-1727), who laid the foundations of physics as a modern discipline, making many discoveries (including the law of gravity) and Edmund Halley, the Astronomer Royal, (1656-1742).

Prayer Book riots, National Covenant and Bishops' Wars 1637 - 1638<

On 23 July, in St Giles Cathedral in Edinburgh, the first readings from a Book of Common Prayer prepared to Anglican ideals by Scottish Bishops provoked a riot. Within months, a petition (the National Covenant) advocating Scottish Presbyterianism as opposed to Episcopalianism had been circulated throughout Scotland and signed by much of the political community.The General Assembly of the Kirk declared Episcopacy abolished and Charles I sent troops into Scotland to restore order. By June 1639, this had been achieved and the sides had been reconciled by the Treaty of Berwick. On reflection (and with English prompting) Charles decided to renege on his promises and launched a fresh mobilisation against his opponents.He was not only defeated but humiliated and, further, he was forced to pay a considerable indemnity to the Scots. Not only did this mean his reputation in Scotland decreased, but also it left Charles with fewer Loyalists in England (as they saw the level of his competence demonstrated).

Irish rebellion 1641

The plantation of Ireland under James I and Charles I had not proved popular with the indigenous Irish population and with the generations of 'Old English' - families who had been in the country for generations. Unlike Scotland and England, those who rose against the King's authority in Ireland tended to be Catholic. News reached Charles I of the Irish rebellion late in 1641 - at a period of high tension in England (where the populace was already worried concerning Popish conspiracies). The rebellion continued throughout the period of the English Civil War - causing the rebellion to be considered as part of 'The War in Three Kingdoms'. It was only finally subdued during Cromwell's oppressive campaigns in Ireland.

English Civil War 1642

In 1641/2, parliament was increasing worried concerning the prospects of Charles controlling military action against his Irish rebels. Charles, on the other hand, was confident that he had substantial support (especially among those who felt that parliament was becoming too radical and zealous). In January 1642, the king entered the House of Commons and attempted to arrest five of his staunchest opponents. The Commons stood firm and, in June 1642, presented Charles with Nineteen Propositions seeking to control his authority. The King withdrew from London, and in August 1642, declared war on parliament by raising his standard at Nottingham. The impending conflict caused parliament to split (royal loyalists set up a parliament in Oxford) and families to declare their allegiances. In the first conflicts of the Civil War, Charles's forces (under the command of the King's nephew, Rupert of the Rhine) were largely successful - at Powick Bridge and Edgehill. As time moved on, the confrontation first became more balanced and then swung decisively in favour of the parliamentary forces. However, not until the defeat at Naseby in 1645 was all hope of a royalist victory ended. In 1646, Charles surrendered at Newark, to a Scots army that had been camped in northern England for most of the war. They, in return for £400,000 backpay, agreed to hand him over to parliamentary commissioners on 30 January 1647.On 3 June 1647, George Joyce of the (more republican) army seized the king and carried him off to Newmarket, then Hampton Court, then, from November 1647, Carisbrooke Castle on the Isle of Wight.

Charles I's surrender and execution 1649

In November 1647, after intriguing for a Scottish invasion, Charles escaped from imprisonment, and with the assistance of a Scots invasion force took up the Civil War again. Throughout the summer of 1648, Charles attempted to regain some initiative but, despite limited successes with the capture of Pembroke, Berwick and Carlisle, his ambitions were ultimately thwarted at Preston in August 1648. In January 1649, the House of Commons set up a high court of justice, which condemned the King to death by beheading. On 30 January, outside Banqueting House in Whitehall, Charles I was executed.

Cromwell and the Commonwealth 1649 - 1660

Oliver Cromwell, Puritan leader of the Parliamentary side of the Civil War, declared England a republic, or the 'Commonwealth', in 1649. As Lord Protector, (he refused the title, 'King'), from 1653, Cromwell established greater religious toleration and raised England's prestige in Europe on the basis of an alliance with France against Spain. He was quick to curb any opposition, and in 1649, he executed the leaders of the Levellers, (an influential democratic party in the English Civil War), following their demand for radical reform. Cromwell also crushed Irish resistance in 1649-50, and defeated the Scots - who had acknowledged Charles I's son as king - at Dunbar in 1650, and in Worcester in 1651. The Scottish parliament was suspended and Scottish representatives attended a united parliament in Westminster.Cromwell's response to opposition became increasingly similar to Charles I's: he tended to expel any member (and dissolve any parliament) which challenged his views. After a period of military dictatorship, his last parliament offered him the crown; he refused because he feared the army's republicanism.When Cromwell died in 1658, he was succeeded as Lord Protector by his son, Richard. As the Commonwealth collapsed into financial chaos and disputes between the military and administration increased, parliament was dissolved and Richard Cromwell was overthrown.

Charles II and the restoration of the monarchy 1660

In 1660, parliament accepted the restoration of the monarchy after the collapse of the Commonwealth (along with Charles II's promise in the form of the 'Declaration of Breda' to establish a general amnesty and freedom of conscience). Already King in Scotland since 1651, Charles (1660-85) was proclaimed King of England on 8 May 1660. When a new Westminster parliament was elected, no representatives from Scotland were requested - the Cromwellian Union lapsed. Charles's desire to become absolute caused him to favour Catholicism for his subjects as most consistent with absolute monarchy. In 1672, he issued the Declaration of Indulgence, suspending all penal laws against Catholics and Dissenters. His plans to restore Catholicism in Britain led to war with the Netherlands between 1672-74, in support of Louis XIV of France.In 1673, parliament forced Charles to withdraw the Indulgence and accept a Test Act excluding all Catholics from office, and in 1684 to end the Dutch war. Charles dissolved parliament again in 1681, and Louis XIV then supported Charles financially.

Pentland Rising 1666
In Scotland, a group of over a thousand discontented religious radicals marched on Edinburgh to protest concerning the Restoration government's favourable policy towards Episcopalianism. The rebels were met in the Pentland Hills by a force of government troops and defeated. The rising caused the government to reconsider its views and, under John Maitland, Duke of Lauderdale, they began a policy of granting concessions to the discontented groups.

Plague, population and economy 1665

In spring 1665, parishes began to report deaths attributable to the bubonic plague, which had already attacked London several times early in the century (the population would already have been weakened by an exceptionally hard winter during which the River Thames had frozen). By November 1665, when the epidemic ceased in the cold weather, the lives of over 100,000 people had been lost. Read more about the plague in 1665. This contributed to what was arguably the most influential change of the seventeenth century - that of population. For the first half of the century the population continued to grow, reaching a peak of about six to seven million. This put pressure on food resources, land and jobs, and increased price inflation.By contrast, the late seventeenth century saw the easing, if not the disappearance of these problems. Research has placed the most emphasis on family-planning habits as the cause of this change, but new methods of farming, which dramatically increased the yield per acre and the extension of the acreage under plough also played a significant part.From the 1670s, England became an exporter as opposed to a net importer of grain. The seventeenth century is also probably the first in English history in which more people emigrated than immigrated, although there was a massive influx of the Protestant Huguenots in 1685, following persecution in France. (It is thought that over 20,000 Huguenots settled in London, forming five per cent of the population).

The Great Fire of London and Christopher Wren 1666
In September 1666, a fire broke out at night in a baker's shop in Pudding Lane, near the Billingsgate fish market in London. Fanned by a high wind, the fire quickly became uncontrollable and in four days the heritage of centuries was reduced to ashes. Two thirds of the city within the walls was destroyed although the slums outside remained untouched. Within three weeks of the fire, a young architect named Christopher Wren had presented plans for rebuilding much of the city. Strongly influenced by the Italian Renaissance style, Wren became responsible for the rebuilding of over fifty of London's churches, including St Paul's Cathedral, plus a Palace for Charles II at Greenwich and the Royal Hospital at Chelsea.

The Test Acts, Titus Oates and the Popish Plot 1673 - 1681
In 1673, a Test Act was passed to try to help differentiate between Anglicans and Catholics. Public officeholders were required to swear an oath of allegiance (which recognised the monarch as the head of the Church of England) and accept communion by Protestant form. The intention of the Act was to exclude Catholics from public office. James, Duke of York (Charles II's brother and the future James VII and II), being Catholic, was forced to surrender his public office as admiral, as he would not take the oath.
In 1678, Titus Oates, an anti-Catholic protester, swore in court that he knew of a Catholic and French plot to murder the King and his Protestant supporters and place a Catholic government in their place. Opponents of the Duke of York exaggerated the fears and many Catholics were arrested and tried. The plot was little more than an invention but, during the height of the furore concerning it, a second Test Act was passed which required all members of the Houses of Commons and Lords to swear the oath and make an anti-Catholic declaration.This time, the Duke of York was specifically exempted from the scope of the act. In Scotland, in 1681, Lauderdale's government imposed similar legislation but, on this occasion, not in regard to Anglicanism but in regard to the 1560 Presbyterian Settlement.

James VII and II and the Monmouth rising 1685 - 1688
The second son of Charles I, James VII (0f Scotland) and II (Of England, 1685-88) became a Catholic in 1671, leading to the first attempts to exclude him from succession. Attempts continued when the Whig opposition tried unsuccessfully to use the Exclusion Bill to secure the succession for the Duke of Monmouth, an illegitimate son of Charles II.In 1685, Monmouth's rebellion - a Protestant rising against James - was crushed at Sedgemoor in Somerset. Monmouth (an illegitimate son of Charles II) and 320 of his accomplices were executed. Despite James becoming king in 1685, the Whigs continued to exclude him, and in 1688, seven Whig and Tory peers invited William of Orange to 'defend the liberties of England'. James fled to France.

'Glorious' Revolution 1688
William of Orange landed in Britain on 5 November 1688. Although he claimed he was only there to support parliament, it soon became clear that a different agenda was operating. William marched unopposed to London as James fled (dumping the Great Seal of the realm in the Thames as he went). By the end of 1688, it was clear that William would accept nothing less than the English crown, if parliament wished for him to remain and defend Protestantism. Although the revolution was long considered 'Glorious' and bloodless, this was only from a narrow English point of view. Catholics and Jacobite Protestants in Scotland and Ireland, who died for King James between 1688 and 1690 would have considered the revolution neither Glorious nor bloodless.

William of Orange, Mary II and the Declaration of Rights 1689

William II (Of Scotland) and III (Of England, 1688-1702), a Dutch prince, became joint sovereign with his wife Mary II (1688-94) - the daughter of King James - in 1689. When offered the English crown on 13 February 1689 (Scotland was not consulted), they were presented with a Declaration of Rights drafted by parliament. It stated that parliaments had to meet frequently, that elections should be free and fair, that the debates in parliament should be subject to freedom of speech and that parliamentary consent was required to levy taxation and maintain standing armies.Both monarchs accepted the terms and were subsequently crowned (similar provisions were later made for the Scottish parliament). William spent much of his reign campaigning in Ireland and later against the French at Flanders, and during his absences, Mary took charge of the government. However, she died in 1694, leaving William to continue his reign alone until his death in 1702, when he was succeeded by Anne.

Battle of the Boyne 1690
Despite the situation in England and Scotland, King James was still relatively popular, and militarily strong, in Ireland. In July 1690, however, James's army was outflanked by a force led by William (who forced his way over the River Boyne near Drogheda). Defeated, James decided to flee to France.

Massacre of Glencoe 1692

William II and III's policy in Scotland was to force clan chieftains to subscribe an oath of loyalty to the crown. MacIain of Glencoe (a sept of the MacDonald's) was slow in doing so and eventually missed the deadline by a matter of days (he was still willing to swear the oath). Government forces consisting, in part, of the MacDonald's bitterest enemies, the Campbells, billeted themselves upon the Glencoe population, in February 1692, and then turned against the inhabitants, massacring thirty-eight of their number and forcing countless others into the snow-topped Scottish mountains (where many died).The attack was condemned in the Scottish parliament and led to the fall of the government of the Earl of Stair

Bank of England founded 1694
The continental wars of King William were expensive. As a result, England was forced to raise a considerable national debt. In 1694, William Paterson (a Scotsman) founded the Bank of England to assist the crown by managing the public debt.The Bank of England became the national reserve for the British Isles. In 1697, its position of prominence was secured when parliament forbade the formation of any further joint-stock banks in England (a writ that did not run in the legislatively independent Scotland - where the Bank of Scotland was established, by an Englishman, in 1695).

Darien Colony 1695
Still attempting to challenge England in terms of trade and influence, the Company of Scotland, attempted to set up colonial interests in South America. The site they chose (in Spanish territory) was a disease infested, swampy isthmus at Darien. As the Scots attempted to export bibles, wool coats and wigs to their colony, the colonists were overcome by disease, hunger, natives and Spaniards. The scheme, which struggled on through the late 1690s, was an unmitigated disaster. It has been estimated a quarter of Scotland's wealth for the period was lost supporting the scheme.

Eddystone Rock Lighthouse 1699
Ships had founded off the British coast for centuries. Although fires were used to keep ships from the shore, the foundation of the Eddystone Rock lighthouse in 1699 was the first high-seas lighthouse to be built round the British coast.

Queen Anne and the Act of Union 1707
Anne (1702-14) was the second daughter of King James, but Protestant. Events in her reign included the War of Spanish Succession, Marlborough's victories at Blenheim, Ramilies, Oudenarde and Malplaquet, and the replacement of the Tories with a Whig government in 1703. In 1707, she presided over the union of the parliaments of Scotland and England into the parliament of Great Britain - which first sat on 1 May 1707. The Scots had, controversially, been forced into the union through a variety of English measures and legislation (dating from the early 1700s) but received, in return, the 'Equivalent' - effectively a bribe, of £398,085. Anne had seventeen children during her life - not one survived to succeed her.

Jacobite rising 1708 In response to the unpopular union, a French fleet brought the son and Catholic heir of King James to the Firth of Forth in an attempt to raise a rebellion. Poor weather meant that the French forces were unable to land and the ships were driven away from shore. No 'rising' in any real sense occurred, despite the propitious timing.

The first steam engine 1712

The century which was to follow would witness the beginnings of an industrial revolution in Britain which was to change the world. Arguably the most significant invention of the Industrial Revolution was the steam engine. This was originally invented for draining mines, but was rapidly put to use in factories and later on the railways. The first successful engine was built in 1712 by Thomas Newcomen and developed over the next ninety years by James Watt and Richard Trevithick.

Georgians

George I and Robert Walpole 1714

The son of the first elector of Hanover, Ernest Augustus, and great grandson of James I, George I (1714-27) became king on the death of Queen Anne. He spent most of his reign in Hanover, Germany, never having learned English. However, George did leave competent administrators to control affairs in his absence and his reign witnessed the development of the role of prime minister.Sir Robert Walpole, a member of the House of Commons, played a key role in the Whig ranks, continuously making and losing vast sums of money for himself and for the country (in particular out of the slave traffic of South America). His success made him the most powerful of the Whigs and it became natural for him to preside over the meetings of the ministers.

Although the description was not yet applied, from now on there would invariably be a prime or first minister, surrounding himself with an entourage that was to develop into the Cabinet. The term 'Prime Minister' was first applied as an insult by opponents - indicating someone too closely in touch with royal wishes.

The Georgians 1714 - 1836

The Georgian period was a one of change. There was a new dynasty on the throne and, before long, the very infrastructure of Britain was changing. Agricultural developments were followed by industrial innovation and this, in turn, led to urbanisation and the need for better communications. Britain became the world's first modern society. With these changes came increased population and increased wealth (for some). Politically, the Georgian period was a period of confrontation. This came, initially, at home with the Jacobite rebellions but, as the eighteenth century progressed, the theatres of war expanded and Britain became involved in conflicts with India, her American colonies and continental Europe. Because of its financial, naval and military strength, the British government tended to prevail.

The '15 and the 'Old Pretender' 1715

In 1715, the Earl of Mar (an ousted government minister) raised a royal standard on the Braes of Mar in favour of James Stuart, the son of James VII and II, and also known as James VIII and III or the 'Old Pretender'. Mar led his supporters - the Jacobites - south in an attempt to seize Edinburgh Castle, the government's main arsenal in Scotland. A simultaneous rising occurred in the north of England but was defeated at Preston. The Scottish Jacobites reached as far as Sheriffmuir in Perthshire where they fought with government troops. Although the battle was indecisive, the Jacobites withdrew.In reality, the revolt failed abysmally - principally because of Mar's indecisive leadership - and James (who had landed on the Scottish coast after the battle) fled back to France. Further rebellions were attempted in 1719 (defeated at Glenshiel) and throughout the 1720s. Eventually, however, James settled peacefully in Rome.

The South Sea Bubble 1720
When the South Sea Company had been set up in 1711, it was hoped that it would one day challenge the financial strength of the Bank of England and the East India Company when it came to providing loans for the government to support the national debt. The company had a monopoly on trade with all Spanish territories, South America and the west coast of North America.In 1713, the Company received the right to supply slaves to the Spanish colonies. In 1720, the government encouraged investors to trade governments stocks for South Sea Company shares and as these boomed, more and more people speculated in them (forcing the share price higher). In July 1720, with company shares at a vastly inflated, unrealistic and unsustainable level, confidence collapsed (as did the share price).Investors lost considerable amounts and some even committed suicide. Despite the Bubble bursting, the company survived into the 1850s.

Accession of George II 1727
George II (1727-60) succeeded his father, George I, on his death in 1727. The accession of the new king excited hopes amongst Walpole's opponents that he might be replaced. The first minister had acquired many enemies due to his powerful position and his policies. The king did not care for Walpole but Queen Caroline thought him sound, and persuaded her husband to retain him in government.Spain was becoming increasingly angry over the expansion of British trade and had been protesting repeatedly over Britain's supposed semi-piratical exploits. In 1731, a Captain Jenkins who had been carrying out illegal trade in the Spanish Colonies reversed the charge, claiming to have had his ear cut off by Spaniards at sea. He later produced this ear in the House of Commons.Captain Jenkins may or may not have contributed to its outbreak, but by 1739, Britain was at war with Spain, and the conflict soon spread until Britain, Hanover and Austria were lined up against Spain and France. Walpole, incapable of coping with a conflict of this scale, resigned.Also during his reign, George II was victorious at the Battle of Dettingen, in 1743, during the War of the Austrian Succession. This was the last battle commanded by a British king. George II died in 1760 and was succeeded by his grandson, also George.

The Flying Shuttle and cotton 1733
Prior to the later eighteenth century, the cotton industry was organised on a domestic structure with most workers undertaking various processes at home. During the course of the eighteenth century, a variety of inventions allowed for greater mechanisation to be applied to the industry and this led in turn to the industrial structure changing to a factory-based system. In 1733, John Kay invented the Flying Shuttle (which meant that broader cloth could be woven and at a quicker rate); in 1764, James Hargreaves invented the Spinning Jenny (which meant that more than one thread could be produced at a time). Five years later in 1769, Richard Arkwright invented the water frame (which allowed cotton to be spun for the first time); in 1779, Samuel Compton's Mule allowed the spinning of finer cloths, and Edmund Cartwright's Power Loom (1786) completed the mechanisation of the weaving process.These inventions were the basis for the increased productivity of the textile industry throughout Britain.

Transport and the Turnpikes 1735

The Turnpike Trusts, originally set up in 1706 and extended in 1735, led to serious outbreaks of rioting in 1735 and again in 1750, in which toll-gates and houses were destroyed - largely because the population objected to paying tolls for travel on roads which had previously been free. Nevertheless, the Turnpike Trusts were a success, and the money raised was used in part to finance the building of new and better roads. The designs of coaches and wagons were also improved by the new steel spring, and although accidents on corners were frequent, speeds increased. Between 1750 and 1800, the average time for a journey from London to Edinburgh was reduced from twelve to four days.Due to the high cost of horse-drawn road transport, the numerous slow-flowing rivers of England had been the main transport for heavy goods. To increase the capacity of the water system, new canals were designed and built, such as the Bridgewater Canal (1759-61); the Grand Trunk Canal (1766-77); and the Grand Junction Canal between London and Birmingham (1805).Throughout the nineteenth century, the British canal network was expanded until the building of the Manchester Ship Canal (1894).

The '45 and the 'Young Pretender' 1745 - 1746
1745 witnessed another Jacobite uprising aimed at restoring James Stuart to the throne. This was led by James's son, Charles Edward Stuart (the 'Young Pretender' or 'Bonnie Prince Charlie'). After several failed attempts to cross from France, Charles finally landed in Scotland - albeit without the French support that he had hoped for - on 23 July 1745. Charles raised Stuart supporting clans - with the cry of 'For King James and No Union' - and marched to Edinburgh to proclaim his father as King. After a victory over the British General Sir John Cope at Prestonpans, he penetrated England as far as Derby. However, support in Northern England was smaller than was hoped for, and Charles decided to retreat to avoid being caught in a pincer movement as he attempted to take London(where George II was rumoured to be packing his bags).Meanwhile, the government had called back troops from the continent and attempted to follow the Stuart supporters back into Scotland. Charles' army stood and fought government forces for a second time at Falkirk - and was again victorious.

The Battle of Culloden and its aftermath 1746
On 16 April 1746, an army under Prince Charles Stuart met an army of his cousin, William, Duke of Cumberland, on a moor outside Inverness. The last battle fought on British mainland soil was not, as is commonly understood, between the English and the Scots, but between the British government and their rebels. More Scots fought on the government side than fought for the 'romantic' Stuart cause. The battle proved rather one sided as the experience government troops out-thought and out-fought the tired Highland clansmen. In the aftermath of Culloden, severe repressive measure were taken by the government against Highland society - tartan and bagpipes were banned and the Gaelic language was not encouraged; traditional heritable jurisdictions were also terminated; and, at various strategic points, strong stone forts were built to help subdue the local population.

The beginning of the Industrial Revolution 1750
The sudden acceleration of technical and economic development that begun in Britain in the second half of the eighteenth century had changed the lives of a large proportion of the population by the nineteenth century. Machinery and manufacturing made possible by technical advances such as the steam engine came to dominate the traditional agrarian economy.Exploitation of new, rich coal and ore reserves kept raw material costs down and the repositioning of factories near these reserves (and near population centres) slowly transferred the balance of political power from the landowner to the industrial capitalist (while creating an urban working class).

Calendar reform 1752
In Scotland, 1 January 1600 had been recognised as New Year's Day after a decree from James VI. Until 1753, this was not the case in England. Because calendrical reform in the sixteenth century had been advocated by the Pope, Protestant England had refused to comply. Only in 1752 were the Gregorian reforms of 1582 fully accepted in Britain (and the American colonies). As a result, New Year's Day was decreed to be 1 January and not 25 March and eleven days were removed from the calendar (3-13 September 1752) to ensure that Britain was co-ordinated with most of the rest of Europe.

British Museum 1753
On 5 April, a foundation charter was issued to create a British Museum. The Museum houses a number of important and varied collections, the first of which were donated in the 1750s. The Museum was instituted in 1759 and expanded to include the Royal Library (the basis for the collection of the British Library) in 1822. Now housed in Bloomsbury, the Museum continues to be free to the public and houses the national collection of treasures such as the Elgin Marbles as well as a National Copyright Library at St Pancras.

Seven Years' War 1756 - 1763

to £133,000,000 - it meant, for almost the first time, that Britain was truly a 'world power'. Unfortunately, in the next decade, it was not the heightened status but the depleted finances that proved crucial: as the British government attempted to cover its losses, by acts such as the Stamp Act of 1763, colonial tensions simply increased further.France and England/Britain had always had an uneasy relationship. In the mid-1750s, tensions continued to build between the two countries, specifically in relation to their dealings with the colonies. Britain declared war in May 1756 and the French retaliated by seizing British colonial bases. The conflict took place in a number of spheres - America, India, the Mediterranean and northern Europe.Notable events during the course of the war were Clive's victory at Plessey, India (1757), Wolfe's capture of Quebec, Canada (1759) and Hawkes's naval victory at Quiberon Bay (1759).

Cook in the Pacific 1768

British interests in the wider world expanded through the eighteenth century. In 1768, James Cook undertook the first of three voyages to the Pacific, surveying New Zealand, modern Australia (where he named Botany Bay), Tahiti and Hawaii. His second voyage (1773) made him the first Britain to chart Antarctica, and his third (1778/9) led him to discover and name island groups in the South Pacific, such as the Sandwich Islands. On 14 February 1779, Cook was killed on Hawaii.

The War of American Independence 1775 - 1783

In 1775, during George III's reign, the British North American colonies revolted - due mainly to their opposition to British economic exploitation and also their unwillingness to pay for a standing army. Anti-monarchist sentiment was strong, as the colonists wanted to participate in the politics affecting them. On 4 July 1776, a Declaration of Independence was signed. Initial confrontations were mixed - the British being successful at Brandywine but suffering badly at Saratoga - but the situation improved for the colonists when France (1778), Spain (1779) and the Netherlands (1780) all utilised the opportunity caused by the confrontation to declare war on Britain as well. By 1782, the British campaign was crumbling. Parliament demanded an end to the war, largely due to its expense. The Prime Minister, now Lord North, resigned and, on 3 September 1783, treaties were signed at Versailles. Britain retained Canada and the West Indian Islands but the thirteen rebellious states were formally recognised as the United States of America. France retained their West Indian Islands and were given Tobago in addition; Spain recovered Florida after twenty years of British control (but later sold it to the U.S.A.).

Gordon Riots 1780
In 1778, parliament had passed the Relief Act which repealed harsh anti-Catholic legislation from the seventeenth century. In June 1780, violent anti-Catholic riots broke out in London as Lord George Gordon marched on parliament to present a petition requesting the repeal of the Relief Act and a return to Catholic repression. (Edinburgh and Glasgow had already seen similar riots).Chapels, known Catholic houses, prisons, public buildings and even Catholics in the street were attacked. There were running battles between the demonstrators and the authorities.It took the government and London authorities ten days to restore order in the capital. By that time, 12,000 troops had been deployed and over 700 had been killed. Gordon was tried for high treason but acquitted. The Lord Mayor of London was fined £1,000 for negligence of his duties.

East India Company Board of Control 1784
Following the loss of the American colonies, there was an increasing interest in the British Empire in the east. The East India Company had long been the main agent of Imperial expansion in southern Asia and exercised many governmental functions. Under the India Act of 1784, although the company maintained sole responsibility for trade and patronage, a Board of Control was established to oversee the revenue, administration and diplomatic functions of the company as well as the aspects of its military expansion.

Colonisation of the Antipodes - penal colonies 1788

The colonisation of Australia and New Zealand began with the desire to find a place for penal settlement after the loss of the original American colonies. The first shipload of British convicts landed in Australia in 1788, on the site of the future city of Sydney. The majority of these convicts were young men, many of whom had committed only petty crimes. New South Wales opened to free settlers in 1819. By 1858, transportation of convicts was abolished.

First £1 banknotes 1797

Prior to 1797, the Bank of England was obliged to exchange banknotes, on demand, for gold. As a result, banknotes tended to be of relatively high denominations. The suspension of this obligation in February 1797 (until 1821) led to the issuing of the first £1 banknotes.

Georgian literature, art and music c.1800
The eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries saw a mushrooming of scholarly and popular works that we still consider 'classics', for example, Defoe's Robinson Crusoe (1719), Hume's Treatise on Human Nature (1739), Johnson's Dictionary (1755), Smith's Wealth of Nations (1776), Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (1776), Austen's Sense and Sensibility (1811), Scott's Waverley Novels (1814 onwards), Shelley's Frankenstein (1818) and Tennyson's Lady of Shalot (1832).The turn of the century saw artists such as Turner and Constable and, in 1824, George IV encouraged the government to create a National Gallery.Musically, the period started with Handel regularly composing and performing in London and ended with Mendelsson's Fingal's Cave likewise being performed to a metropolitan audience. Other works such as Rule Britannia, God save the King and Auld Lang Syne also date from this period. In 1823, the Royal Academy of Music opened in London.

Highland clearances 1800
In the aftermath of Culloden, many Highland chieftains either sold their ancestral lands or looked for new ways to exploit the land to earn more money. The local populations - no longer required for warfare - were 'cleared'. On some occasions, this process was amicable and peaceful but, on others, considerable violence was used with houses being burned above people's heads and ill members of families being left to die.Some landlords provided alternative employment for the population - fishing as opposed to crofting; other landlords assisted emigration to the New World; while others still did nothing. Previosly populous estates were turned over to sheep and deer. The most notorious clearances of the early eighteenth century occurred on the estates of the Duke of Sutherland, under his factor, Patrick Sellar.

The union with Ireland and adoption of the Union Flag 1801

During the American fight for independence, the Irish had raised a force of United Volunteers, announcing their loyalty to the Crown, and their influence was used to win an independent Irish Parliament. However, this caused bloody clashes between Catholics and Protestants, and the Prime Minister of the time, William Pitt, concluded that direct rule form London was the only solution. After bribery of the Commons and gentry, Britain and Ireland were formally united, with seats for 100 Irish members in the Commons and thirty-two peers in the Lords. The red saltire of St Patrick was incorporated in the Union flag to give the present flag of the United Kingdom (only properly called the Union Jack when used aboard ship).

First British Census 1801

In Britain, the census was introduced to help the government understand the country and better utilise the population in times of war. In 1801, in England and Wales, the population was nearly nine million while, in Scotland, the figure was a little over 1,600,000. (Ireland was not included until 1821, when her population was over 6,800,000). The census has been taken in the first year of the decade ever since (with the exception of 1941).

The Napoleonic wars 1803 - 1815

Following the French Revolution, Napoleon I of France began a series of European wars. His aim was the conquest of Europe. In 1803, Britain resumed war against France, following an appeal from the Maltese (objecting to Napoleon's seizure of the island in 1798). In 1805, Napoleon's planned invasion of Britain from Boulogne ended with Nelson's victory at Trafalgar, and in 1806, Napoleon instituted an attempted blockade - 'the Continental System' - to isolate Britain from Europe. This finally collapsed after its rejection by Russia. Napoleon then made the fatal decision to invade Russia and was defeated by the Russian resistance, losing some 380,000 men. Britain, Prussia, Russia, Austria and Sweden formed a new coalition, which defeated Napoleon at the Battle of the Nations at Leipzig, Germany. Napoleon abdicated and was exiled to the island of Elba.He returned to Paris in 1815, but was finally defeated at Waterloo by Wellington and his Prussian allies, on 18 June that year.

The Battle of Trafalgar 1805
For much of the 1780s, 1790s and early 1800s, the British fleet was involved in actions against the French and Spanish in the Mediterranean, Atlantic and Caribbean. Admirals such as Rodney and Hood established British superiority but it was Horatio Nelson who secured British naval dominance. Successful at the Battle of the Nile in 1798 and Copenhagen in 1801, his most famous encounter occurred off the Spanish coast at Trafalgar in October 1805. It proved to be the decisive naval battle of the Napoleonic Wars, with Nelson defeating the combined Spanish and French fleets without loss of any British ship. Unfortunately, it was not without personal cost - Nelson was killed on his flagship, Victory, during the battle, by a sniper's bullet.

Abolition of the Slave Trade 1807
Since 1772, it had been legally recognised that individuals could not be slaves in Britain. Despite this, in the later eighteenth century, Britain dominated the international trade in slaves. Between 1782 and 1807, it is estimated that Britain traded in over 1,000,000 human lives.There was little public discontent in Britain concerning the traffic before the early nineteenth century but, in 1807, the slave trade was abolished within the British Empire.A concerted campaign, led by William Wilberforce and Thomas Clarkson, then followed and, in 1833, slavery itself was abolished within the British Empire (though not within British protectorates, such as Sierra Leone). £20,000,000 in compensation had to be paid to the plantation owners in the Caribbean.

Luddites 1811 - 1817
In the face of industrial revolution, traditional home workers were threatened by new machines and industrial practices. In Nottingham, in March 1811, organised machine breaking began - associated with Ned Ludd.Despite government attempt to limit spread, the machine breaking soon broke out across the Midlands and north of England. Mills and property were attacked and, occasionally, people were killed. In 1813, seventeen Luddites were executed in York and this caused the movement to diminish.The last significant Luddite attack took place at a Loughborough lace factory in February 1817.

The Regency 1811 - 1820
From 1811 to 1820, George III's son acted as Regent, due to his father's illness. He was an unpopular figure, overweight and regarded as extravagant. He also lost public favour for his treatment of his wife, Princess Caroline of Brunswick. However, he was a supporter of the arts, and the period of his regency and monarchy were years of adventure and achievement in all the arts and sciences
Corn Laws and agriculture 1815
Following the end of the Napoleonic Wars in 1815, legislation was introduced to regulate the import of cereals in an attempt to maintain an adequate supply for consumers while providing a secure price for the producers. Cereals could not be imported into Britain until the domestic price reached eighty shillings a quarter. This price meant that cereals and bread were more expensive than they needed to be and this caused considerable agitation.Other aspects of agricultural production also caused popular concern - in 1834, six Dorset farmworkers - The Tolpuddle Martyrs - were transported to the colonies for seven years because they had taken an illegal oath to a labourers' union.

Peterloo Massacre 1819
On 16 August 1819, a crowd of over 50,000 gathered in St Peter's Fields in Manchester to hear a speech on parliamentary reform by Henry Hunt. The crowds were well behaved but the local authorities panicked and attempted to arrest Hunt and disperse the crowd. Eleven people were killed and around 400 injured in the melee.

Cato Street Conspiracy 1820
In February 1820 (only eight years after the shooting of Prime Minister, Spencer Perceval), a Jacobite plot was discovered to assassinate the entire cabinet. The leader, Arthur Thistlewood, was betrayed and arrested at a house in Cato Street. He, and other conspirators, were hung from the gallows.

University reform 1822
In the early nineteenth century, Britain had eight universities. Oxford and Cambridge were by far the most significant but other medieval foundations had survived at St Andrews (the oldest in Scotland, dating from c.1411), Glasgow and Aberdeen (two separate universities - King's and Marischal).Later foundations in Edinburgh (1582) and Dublin (1592) were also active, although other universities such as at London, Durham, Peterhead and Kirkwall had failed to survive more than a few years.In 1822, St David's College, Lampeter, was founded and, in 1828, University College, London. Durham was revived in 1832 and from then until the present day, university expansion was a popular political subject. Considerable booms in numbers occurred in the early 1900s, the 1950s, the 1960s (following the Robbins Report) and the 1990s.

Stockton to Darlington Railway 1825
Following the work of the British steam pioneers, George Stephenson built the first public steam railway which ran from Stockton to Darlington in 1825. This heralded extensive railway building in Britain, providing a fast and economical means of transport and communication. Stephenson's next locomotive, the 'Rocket' of 1829, achieved speeds of 50kph/30mph.

William IV and the First Reform Act 1832
William, Duke of Clarence, became William IV (1830-37) following the death of his brother, George, in 1830. In 1832, he secured the passage of the first Reform Bill by agreeing to create new peers to overcome the hostile majority in the House of Lords.

Also known as the 'Representation of the People Act', the Reform Act aimed to extend the voting rights and redistribute Parliamentary seats. 'Pocket' and 'Rotten' boroughs were abolished, as they had formed unrepresentative constituencies, and seats were redistributed on a more equitable basis in the counties.

Victorians

The accession of Queen Victoria; the foundation of the Chartist movement 1837

Victoria (1837-1901) succeeded her uncle, William IV in 1837, aged eighteen. Her reign would dominate the rest of the century and she would go on to be the longest reigning British monarch. In 1840, Victoria married her first cousin, Albert of Saxe-Coburg Gotha and for the next twenty years they instituted several constitutional changes. Some of these changes - such as the move (in the 1840s and 1850s) to a more constitutional monarchy above party faction - caught the spirit of the age. On 1 May 1838, a people's charter was published which constituted six demands: a demand for universal manhood suffrage (but not votes for women); secret ballot; annual parliamentary elections; equal electoral districts; the abolition of the property qualification for MPs; and the payment of MPs (to allow working-class representatives to sit in parliament).A public campaign was mounted to back the charter and over 1,250,000 people signed up to its aspirations. It was presented to parliament in June 1839 but rejected by a majority of almost five to one. The Chartist Movement continued to agitate and expand and, in 1848 (a year of revolutions across Europe) had over 5,000,000 signatures. This marked the high-water mark of the movement - the petition was again rejected. Although Chartist conferences continued for a further decade, the movement slipped into decline.Ironically, in 1999, all but the annual election of MPs are accepted parts of the British constitution.

The Victorians 1837 - 1901

During Victoria's reign, the revolution in industrial practices continued to change British life. With it came increased urbanisation and a burgeoning communications network. The industrial expansion also brought wealth and, in the nineteenth century, Britain became a champion of Free Trade across her massive Empire. Both industrialisation and trade were glorified in the Great Exhibitions, however by the turn of the century, Britain's industrial advantage was being challenged successfully by other nations such as the USA and Germany. The Empire too witnessed renewed conflict, although Victoria' reign can be seen as the imperial Golden Age

Penny Black Stamp 1840
In Britain, the Post Office had been founded as early as 1635. With improved communication routes in the seventeenth and eighteen centuries, services improved. This largely matched an increase in popular literacy. The modern postal service dates from 1840 when Sir Rowland Hill achieved parliament's backing for a 'Penny Post'. This involved adhesive, pre-paid penny stamps for all letters (of a certain weight). The first stamps were printed with black ink and so became known as 'Penny Blacks'. From 1846 until 1864, Rowland Hill held office as postmaster-general and implemented a series of expansions to the scheme.

Disruption of the Scottish Kirk 1843
The Scottish Church had been split between Moderate and Evangelical ministers - encompassing differences in social matters as well as ecclesiastical differences - for a considerable part of the early nineteenth century. Situations came to a head at a session of the General Assembly of the Kirk in Edinburgh in 1843. Around forty per cent of the ministry of the Kirk and nearly sixty per cent of their entire population left to form the independent Free Church of Scotland.

Irish famine 1845 - 1850

With the serial failure of the potato crop (a staple of the Irish diet), over 1,000,000 Irish citizens died. A further 1-2,000,000 emigrated (mainly to Britain and the United States). The potato famine was not confined to Ireland but, because of a massive population explosion in the previous fifty years, her rural economy had come to rely on the potato too heavily as a cheap and available source of food. The crisis was not helped by poor weather, epidemic disease and a slow response from the British government

Repeal of the Corn Laws 1846

The Corn Law Act had been passed in 1815 as a measure to protect the interests of landowners who looked as if they were about to lose out when highly inflated prices for coorn ceased with the ending of the Napoleonic Wars. This kept the price of not only corn but also bread artificially high. Although an Anti-Corn Law League formed to oppose the legislation, it was not until the potato famine in Ireland that repeal was enacted in a belated attempt to alleviate some of the suffering. The repeal marked an end to protectionist policies and can be seen as a major stepping stone in turning Britain into a free trading nation.

Public health acts 1848 - 1875

As a result of a growing Sanitary Reform Movement, parliament passed a series of acts in an attempt to improve sanitary conditions in the thriving urban areas. The act of 1848 (the first of its kind) provided for a Central Board of Health with powers to supervise street cleaning, refuse collection, water supply and sewerage disposal. The later acts passed responsibility to local boards of health and extended their powers to include drainage and sanitation.

Factory Act and industrial growth 1850

Factory legislation had first passed parliament in 1819 - limiting those aged nine and above to a twelve hour day. Further legislation in 1833 prohibited the employment of under nines in mills and further restricted the time over nines could work. An act of 1844 moved the position further but, in 1850, the Factory Act restricted all women and young people to no more than ten-and-a-half hours work a day.From the 1850s, Britain was the leading industrial power in the world. Superseding the early dominance of textiles, railway, construction, iron- and steel-working soon gave new impetus to the British economy.

The Great Exhibition 1851
Conceived by prince Albert, this celebration of British imperial and industrial might was held in Hyde Park in London in the specially constructed Crystal Palace. Over 13,000 exhibits were viewed by over 6,200,000 visitors to the exhibition. The profits from the event allowed for the foundation of public works such as the Albert Hall, the Science Museum, the National History Museum and the Victoria and Albert Museum.

The Crimean War 1854 - 1856
In 1853, Russia sent troops to defend Christians within the Ottoman Empire. Within months, Russian troops had occupied parts of the Ottoman Empire and the Turks declared war. On 28 March 1854, looking to prevent Russian expansion, Britain and France (with Austrian backing) also declared war on Russia. In September 1854, Allied troops invaded the Crimea and within a month were besieging the Russian held city of Sebastopol.On 25 October 1854, the Russians were driven back at the Battle of Balaclava (including the foolhardy Charge of the Light Brigade). Eleven days later, the Battle of Inkerman was also fought (with high casualties on both sides). Poorly supplied and with little medical assistance (despite the self-publicity of Florence Nightingale), the British troops suffered immense casualties - 4,600 died in battle; 13,000 were wounded; and 17,500 died of disease.The French and British forced the fall of Sebastopol on 11 September 1855 and peace was subsequently concluded at Paris. Within fifteen years, the Russian were back in Sebastopol and rearming.

Limited Liabilities Act 1855
This allowed companies to limit the liability of their individual investors to the value of their shares. Prior to this, investors in a company stood to lose all their wealth if economic circumstances forced the company they had invested in out of business. The curtailing of risk as a result of the act is credited with being the basis for the increased investment in trade and industry, although most of the evidence for this is apocryphal.

The Second Reform Act 1867

The 1867 Reform Act attempted to redistribute parliamentary seats in a more equitable manner. Virtually all men living in urban areas were enfranchised (renting or owning property valued over £10) and some males with long leases in the countryside were also included in the reform. Reform of the franchise was not the only social change in the Victorian era. The last public hangings took place in 1868; Elizabeth Garrett Anderson became the first licensed female doctor in 1865, part of the increased visibility of women in society; and there was a growth in both leisure time and leisure activities - seaside holidays, football, rugby, cricket and golf all boomed

Foundation of Trades Union Congress 1868
In May 1868, thirty-four union representatives from the north and midlands of England met in Manchester for the first Trades Union Congress. At their second annual meeting a year later, also in Manchester, forty representatives attended - speaking for over a quarter of a million workers.

Education Act 1870
A watershed in education provision, this act provided for genuine mass education on a scale not seen before. The State became more interventionist and encouraged voluntary action assisted by local authorities. Elected school boards were permitted to levy money for fees and given powers to enforce attendance of most children below the age of thirteen. By 1874, over 5,000 new schools had been founded.

The Third Reform Act 1884

The act extended the 1867 concessions from the boroughs to the countryside. All men paying an annual rental of £10 or all those holding land valued at £10 now had the vote. The British electorate now totalled over 5,500,000. An act a year later redistributed constituencies, giving more representation to urban areas (especially London).

Gordon of Khartoum 1885
Administrator of the Sudan between 1874 and 1880, General Charles Gordon was instrumental in the ending of the slave trade in the country. In 1882, Mohammed Ahmad (the Mahdi) objected to Egyptian control of Sudan and rose in revolt. His forces defeated an Egyptian army and cut off British garrisons in the central Sudan. Gordon was sent back to Sudan in 1884 to rescue the isolated garrisons but became cut off in Khartoum.After a ten month siege, the town fell and he was killed. Public opinion saw Gordon as a hero of Empire and blamed the British government under Gladstone for failing to send a relief column. Sudan remained under local control until Kitchener was successful at the Battle of Omdurman in 1898.

Irish Home Rule crisis 1886
Following the Potato Famine, a number of organisations were formed to agitate for Home Rule.In 1848, a rising led by the Young Ireland Movement was violently suppressed in Tipperary. Twenty years later, there was still strong feeling on the issue with a campaign of violence co-ordinated by the Fenian Movement. Despite efforts by the Gladstone government to allay tensions, in 1877, Charles Parnell became leader of the Irish Home Rule party and undertook a policy of deliberate obstruction in the House of Commons to stress the importance of the issue. After the General Election of November 1885, Parnell held the balance of power.Gladstone introduced a Home rule bill the following April but it was defeated in June. Ninety-three Liberals ignored Gladstone's leadership and voted against the legislation. Gladstone resigned as Prime Minister but the Liberal Party was irrevocably split.

Jack the Ripper 1888
Between 8 August and 9 November, five prostitutes were murdered in the Whitechapel area of London. The murderer was never found and has haunted the popular imagination since as 'Jack the Ripper'. Several theories abound as to the identity of the killer(including one claim that it was a member of the royal family) but, despite a plethora of evidence, the case has never been solved.

Independent Labour Party founded 1893
In 1893, Keir Hardie founded an Independent Labour Party with the intention of gaining the election of members of the working class to parliament.In 1900, the Labour Representation Committee was formed by a number of unions, the Independent Labour Party, the Fabian Society (founded 1884) and the Social Democratic Federation (founded in 1881 as a Marxist party), with the objective of promoting a separate parliamentary labour party. While these groups did not always agree on the details of policy and strategy, the LRC met with considerable success in the 1906 General Election, when twenty-nine of its fifty candidates were elected (after an electoral pact with the Liberal Party). The Labour Party, as the LRC was known from this time, entered the wartime coalition government in 1915 and was reorganised in 1918, when a modern party organisation was established and a constitution drafted. The Labour Party replaced the Liberal Party as the main party of opposition to the Conservatives over the following decade.

Victoria's Diamond Jubilee 1897

Following the death of Albert in 1861, Victoria had increasingly withdrawn from national affairs. It took until the later 1870s for her Prime Minister, Disraeli to encourage her active participation in public life. Criticism of the Queen lessened and she resumed her interest in constitutional and imperial affairs - being created Empress of India in 1877. Victoria's Golden (1887) and Diamond (1897) Jubilees were excuses for massive outpourings of public affection. The monarchy was perceived as a ceremonial necessity and her death in January 1901 was an occasion of national mourning.

The Boer War 1899 - 1902

In 1877, Britain annexed the (bankrupt) Transvaal Republic in southern Africa. This annexation was followed by successful military expansion in Natal (the Zulu War). In December 1880, the Boers of the Transvaal revolted against British rule, defeated an imperial force and forced the British government, under Gladstone, to recognise their independence. Gold was found in Transvaal in 1886 and, ten years later Cecil Rhodes backed the abortive Jameson Raid to overthrow the Transvaal government. A failure to secure rights for British citizens in Transvaal led to a second Boer War in 1899-1902. The Boers invaded Cape Colony and besieged towns such as Ladysmith, Mafeking and Kimberley. Massive British and imperial forces were deployed and, under the leadership of Kitchener, concentration camps were used to house Boer resisters and their families. In oppressive conditions, many died from disease provoking a national scandal back in Britain. The peace of Vereeniging in May 1902 annexed the Boer Republics of Transvaal and the Orange Free State to the British Empire (which, in 1910, became part of the Union of South Africa).

Early 20th Century

Science and achievement 1901 - 1939

In 1901, Marconi made his first transatlantic airwave transmission of a message in Morse code, and the subsequent development of radio led to the British Broadcasting Company being established in 1922. This became a corporation (the BBC) in 1927 and was given a Royal Charter requiring news programmes to be impartial. Television was developed by the EMI-Marconi Corporation and by John Logie Baird, with the first continuous television service started by the BBC from London in 1936. Cinema remained a popular form of entertainment as well during this period, offering newsreels as well as films and cartoons.

In medicine, one of the major advances of this period was penicillin, discovered to kill bacteria by Alexander Fleming in 1928 and isolated for clinical use during the Second World War. With other antibiotics it continues to treat a variety of diseases. During the period, physicists such as Ernest Rutherford explored the structure of the atom. Work in this area led to the first atom bombs being built in the US during the Second World War, and to the development of nuclearenergy After the First World War, air transport routes began to be set up, first from London to Paris and then around the world, with Imperial Airways offering services to Singapore and the Cape (though this took thirty-three staged 'hops' in 1932). The Second World War brought accelerated air technology, benefiting from the invention of radar in 1935, and commercial services grew rapidly afterwards, with the Comet, the first civilian jet plane, built in 1949.

The early 20th century 1901 - 1945
After a century of almost unchallenged political security, Britain perceived the aggressive militarisation of the new German state and empire as a threat. Britain (and her empire) lost a large part of a generation of young men in the First World War; Britain's civilian population found themselves under severe domestic restrictions, and occasionally bombing, during the Second World War.Conflict accelerated many social and political developments and growing nationalist movements impacted both on the British rule of Empire and on the individual nations of the British Isles. The first half of the twentieth century also saw major advances in the status of women in society so that issues of political, financial and domestic emancipation could no longer be ignored.

The campaign for women's suffrage 1903
In 1903, the campaign for women's suffrage was intensified by the founding of the Women's Social and Political Union. The WSPU, associated particularly with Mrs Emmeline Pankhurst and her daughters, Christabel and Sylvia, was far more militant than the National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies, led by Milicent Garrett Fawcett.WSPU members, known as 'suffragettes', became increasingly violent in the years before the First World War, as successive governments failed to reform the voting laws. The harsh manner in which imprisoned suffragettes were treated - including forcible feeding of women on hunger strike - contributed to the growing public sympathy for the cause of women's suffrage (in tandem with imaginative - and legal - campaigning of the moderate NUWSS).The outbreak of war in 1914 led to a political truce in the suffrage movement but the participation of British women in the war effort - in factories and the armed services as well as in the home - was a major factor in the Government's decision to give women over the age of thirty the right to vote in 1918. This right was extended to women over 21 in 1928.

Liberal reforms 1906 - 1914
After a General Election victory in 1906, the Liberals began a series of ambitious social reforms such as medical examinations for school children, free meals for the poorest students and a programme for slum clearance. Other reforms involved the setting up of Labour exchanges and the introduction of a basic old age pension scheme.Additionally, they reversed the 1901 Taff Vale judgement, which had made trade unions liable for employer's losses during strikes. The House of Lords (which did not have a Liberal majority) on several occasions refused to pass pieces of the government's social and spending legislation. Conflict between the Commons and the Lords escalated and came to a head in 1909 with the Lord's rejection of the so-called 'People's Budget' (which attempted to fund - by higher redistributive taxation - the government's social reform programme and a substantially increased military budget).A period of constitutional crisis ensued, which was concluded when King George V agreed that he would accede to the Liberal government's request for the creation of sufficient new Liberal peers to pass a parliament act which would limit the powers of the Lords to delay legislation to two years and remove their veto on any finance related bill. The Unionist majority in the House of Lords admitted defeat and in 1911 the Parliament Act was passed, which entrenched the parliamentary primacy of the Commons over the Lords.The remainder of the Liberal government's term in power before the First World War was principally occupied with troubles in Ireland, industrial unrest and difficulties over the issue of women's suffrage, although it continued in its programme of limited social reform.

World War One 1914 - 1918

On 28th June 1914, the Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the heir to the Austro-Hungarian empire, was assassinated in Sarajevo, Bosnia. One month later Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia. This was rapidly followed by other declarations of war, as the system of alliances which had formed in an effort to maintain the balance of power in Europe followed its inevitable course. Germany's decision to invade France through neutral Belgium led to the British declaration of war on Germany on the 4 August. The 'Great War' which developed between the allied powers (led by France, Russia, Britain and, from 1917, the United States) and the Central Powers (led by Germany and Austria-Hungary) lasted until 1918. On the western front, the two sides rapidly became entrenched, and the technology of warfare at the time made it difficult to overcome the ensuing stalemate.Although a variety of strategies were employed, including poison gas from 1915 and tanks from 1916, World War One was remarkable for the extraordinary loss of life in these trenches.

Because of the importance of the European empires at this time, the war was fought on a global level. Ultimately, however, the loss of life and costs of supplying troops made this a war of attrition. This became evident in 1917, when the Russian Empire collapsed in revolution. Morale was also collapsing among the people of Germany.Although the German army was not defeated in the west, the Central Powers surrendered, signing an armistice on 11 November 1918. In June 1919 the Treaty of Versailles was signed with Germany. Its harsh terms, insisted upon by the French and Lloyd George, would prove to be the source of enormous bitterness in Germany after the war. An estimated 10,000,000 lives had been lost, of which some 750,000 were British. Twice that number were wounded

The Easter Rising and Irish independence 1916

Although a Home Rule Bill, supporting the Irish Nationalist demand for independence, passed its final legislative stage in May 1914, it was not implemented as a result of the outbreak of war. Frustration over this situation led to an armed uprising in Dublin on Easter Sunday, 1916.By the following day some 2,000 supporters of the rising had taken up strategic positions around the city and nationalist leaders proclaimed Ireland a republic. The rising lasted for several days before the leaders surrendered to British forces. A total of fifteen of the nationalist leaders were subsequently executed, and some 3,000 were interned.An Irish Free State was eventually established in 1921, although six counties in the north remained part of the United Kingdom. Controversy over this settlement was the source of civil war on the island, which lasted until a ceasefire was established in 1923. Relations between the Free State (known as Eire from 1936) and the British government remained strained till after the Second World War.

The economy between the wars: the Depression 1918 - 1939
Following the conclusion of the First World War, the war-time coalition government, led by Prime Minister David Lloyd George, was returned to power, promising to build 'a land fit for heroes to live in'. However, after a brief spell of post-war prosperity, industrial profits and wages began to fall and demobilised soldiers found it difficult or impossible to find jobs.By the summer of 1921 there were over 2,000,000 people unemployed and strikes were on the increase. There was widespread suffering and deprivation. The Lloyd George coalition government collapsed after a series of scandals in 1922 and the country's economic crisis continued to worsen. A series of short-term governments attempted to cope with the crisis (including, from 1924, Britain's first Labour government under Ramsay MacDonald).In support of a strike by coal miners over the issue of threatened wage cuts, the Trades Union Congress called a General Strike in early-May 1926. The strike only involved certain key industrial sectors (docks, electricity, gas, railways) but, in the face of well-organised government emergency measures and lack of real public support, it collapsed after nine days.The miners continued to strike but returned to work in August, accepting lower wages and longer hours. Trade union membership declined after the strike. Nevertheless, it provided the excuse for retaliatory measures against trades unions and led to the passage of the 1927 Trade Disputes Act, which restricted the ability of workers to strike.The worst period of the Depression followed the crash of the Wall Street Financial Markets in 1929. In Britain, unemployment peaked just below 3,000,000 in 1932. A year before, in August, the Labour government had resigned and been replaced by a Conservative-dominated National Government. Although the British economy stabilised under the National Government and unemployment began a steady decline after 1935, it was only with re-armament in the period immediately before the outbreak of the Second World War that the worst of the Depression could be said to be over.

The problems of Empire 1918 - 1939
After the First World War the British Empire continued to grow. In addition to the self-governing Dominions of Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, it included large tracts of Africa, Asia and parts of the Caribbean. It also included territories acquired by mandate following the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire, which included Iraq and Palestine.Nationalist movements developed in strength in India, Egypt and in the Arab mandated territories. In Egypt, Britain granted a degree of independence in 1922 and full independence in 1936. Iraq gained full independence in 1932. Indian nationalism, further boosted following the 1919 Amritsar Massacre, was to remain largely frustrated until 1947, when independence was achieved.Additionally, the Dominions wished to re-define the relationship between themselves and Britain. The 1931 Statue of Westminster established that the Dominions and the Irish Free State had formal legislative independence from Britain. The resultant relationship is sometimes thought to have been a precursor to the post-war British Commonwealth.

The Munich Agreement and Appeasement 1938
In September 1938 British Prime Minister, Neville Chamberlain, met German Chancellor Adolf Hitler in Munich to settle the future of the Sudetenland. Hitler's demand that this Czechoslovak land be ceded to Germany was agreed because it was settled by Germans and would therefore be in line with the principle of national self-determination.Since coming to power in January 1933, Hitler had systematically sought to revise the terms of the Treaty of Versailles which had deprived Germany of territory, and imposed disarmament and swingeing reparations. Agreeing to Hitler's demands became known as Appeasement.At the time Chamberlain was accused of weakness in not standing up to Hitler. When the government archives were opened it became apparent that Britain's run down defence capability left few alternatives. Later historians have concluded that, while Britain had few alternatives, Chamberlain had misread Hitler's intentions.

World War Two 1939 - 1945

World War Two in Europe began on 3 September 1939 when Britain and France declared war on Germany after Hitler had refused to abort his invasion of Poland, the territorial integrity of which had been guaranteed by Britain and France in March 1939. Following several months of 'phoney war', Hitler invaded France and the BeNeLux countries, which fell to him in June 1940. Britain endured the Blitz and feared invasion until the Battle of Britain in September 1940 secured superiority of the skies. In June 1941, Hitler extended the war to the east by invading the Soviet Union, thereby making war on two fronts. The war further escalated on 7 December 1941 when America declared war on the Japanese after they bombed the American naval base at Pearl Harbour. Hitler's declaration of war on America proved to be his undoing. With American entry into the war, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill felt certain of ultimate victory.During 1942 Britain fought the Germans and the Italians in North Africa for control of the Eastern Mediterranean, oil and the Suez canal, achieving victory at El Alamein in October 1942. Thereafter, the British and Americans fought their way through Italy and drove the Germans out of the Balkans.On 6 June 1944, a second Western front was opened with the invasion of Normandy - D-day. Soon the Russians had control of Eastern Europe and were on the outskirts of Berlin and the Western Allies had driven the Germans back into Germany. The war in Europe ended on 8 May 1945 when Admiral Doenitz surrendered (Hitler having committed suicide a week earlier on 30 April). In August 1945 the Japanese surrendered after atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The losses of World War Two were as horrendous as its earlier counterpart - out of a total of 60,000,000 dead - at least 20,000,000 Soviet citizens alone - Britain and her Empire escaped relatively lightly with less than 500,000 Imperial troops killed (of which 144,000 were from the United Kingdom).

Post WWII

Labour in power 1945 - 51

industries including coal in 1946,electricity in 1947 and the railways in 1948. Consumer choice remained limited, however, as the rationing of food, petrol and many other items had to continue after the war had ended.A series of economic crises, including the failed attempt to make the pound convertible with the dollar in 1947, and the drastic devaluation of the pound against the dollar (from $4.03 to $2.80) in 1949, was sombre evidence of Britain's economic decline and her new relationship of dependence on the USA.

Post World War Two: 1945 onwards

The end of the Second World War brought a new Labour government and the expansion of the welfare state including the establishment of a National Health Service. The creation of an independent India and Pakistan heightened the desire for independence on behalf of almost all of Britain's colonies - although most retained ties with Britain through the Commonwealth.

Britain's economic position relative to many other industrialised countries continued to decline, although external trade remained extremely important to the country (signified by the entering of the European Community in 1973). Although Britain's political and economic history in the latter half of the twentieth century has been somewhat mixed, in some areas, the country and its population have continued to lead the world. The 1960s are, perhaps, the totem decade for modern Britain with a more permissive society, increased consumer confidence, radical political protest and a blossoming of popular music which spread across the world, principally the Beatles and the Rolling Stones.

The 1970s saw a number of firsts - Concorde (an Anglo-French collaborative supersonic aeroplane); test tube babies (Joy Brown, the first, was born 25 July 1978); the Open University (a university mainly carried out through television broadcasts); electronic technology; and commercial radio.The 1980s witnessed a number of notable events - IRA hunger strikes in Northern Ireland; a Papal visit (1982); Sunday football for the first time; a popular fitness craze with major events such as the London Marathon proving successful; the completion of the Thames Barrier; the beginning of the Channel Tunnel; the spread of personal computers; and satellite television.

Foreign and defence policy from 1945

By the end of the Second World War, Britain had seen her pre-war status as a global superpower eroded. Britain, with her Imperial interests, remained a power, but not a superpower. Britain also emerged from the Second World War deeply in debt to the Americans, with rebuilding after the was and aspirations for social reform to be funded. Although Anglo-Americcan research had produced the atomic bombs which devastated Nagasaki and Hiroshima, the US McMahon Act of 1946 had precluded Britain from further participation in the research. Foreign Secretary Ernest Bevin resolved that Britain would build her own bomb, correctly perceiving that nuclear capability would secure Britain a place 'at the top table' in international affairs. This bomb was tested on 3 October 1952.The Communisation of Eastern Europe increased post-war tensions and rivalry between the Soviet Union and the United States, generally referred to as the Cold War.

Fear of Soviet domination of Europe induced the Americans to join with Britain, France, Italy and the BeNeLux countries in setting up the North Atlantic Treaty (NATO) for the defence of Europe (Germany became a member in 1955). Thereafter, UK-American co-operation and nuclear deterrence have underpinned Britain's foreign and defence policies.

India and Pakistan gain independence 1947
India had traditionally been regarded as the most valuable component of the British Empire, and its possession as proof of British world power. Yet the war had strained Britain's capacity to direct a global empire and this helps explain Britain's agreement to Indian self-government after the war.However the transition to independence was not smooth and Britain failed to achieve a constitutional settlement which both the Indian National Congress and the Muslim League could accept. As a result, Imperial India was divided into the modern states of India and Pakistan. Communal tensions between Hindus and Muslims erupted into violence which the British could not quell and in which many thousands died. Indian independence initiated a wave of decolonisation, first in Asia and later in Africa. Many of the newly independent countries chose to remain in the Commonwealth, which came after the war to be seen as a flexible, multiracial community and as a vital means through which Britain could maintain its influence in the world

Conservatives in power 1951 - 1964
The Conservative Party was returned to power with a small majority. It remained in office for thirteen years - increasing its majority when Anthony Eden replaced Churchill as prime minister in 1955. In 1957, Harold Macmillan replaced Eden following the Suez Crisis. 'Supermac' as he was subsequently nicknamed, went on to win the election of 1959, and was briefly succeeded by Alec Douglas-Home in 1963. The early 1960s are remembered as an age of economic affluence and continued full employment. The standard of living improved steadily throughout the decade, as the global economy enjoyed boom conditions.

The British economy, however, continued to decline in relative terms. By the end of this period there was widespread pessimism about Britain's 'stagnant' economic performance.

Queen Elizabeth and the role of the monarchy from 1952
George V (1910-36) was succeed by his eldest son, Edward VIII (1936). However, Edward wished to marry the twice-divorced American, Wallis Simpson, and this precipitated a constitutional crisis where the king was forced to abdicate in favour of his brother, George VI (1936-52). Upon George's death in 1952, his eldest daughter Elizabeth (1952-present) became Queen.

Nevertheless, the actual powers of the reigning monarch have been falling into disuse, with the government of the day exercising the powers of the Crown on the monarch's behalf. Now, the monarch is expected to be politically neutral and act only on the advice of political ministers. Even so, the monarch is entitled to advise, warn and encourage ministers (both in Britain and in countries which acknowledge the British monarch as head of state, such as Canada, New Zealand and Australia).The monarchy under Elizabeth balances between traditional and modernising trends and the British public continues to support the system of constitutional monarchy (a worldwide television audience of 750,000,000 watched the Prince of Wales marry lady Diana Spencer in 1981), even though the role of the monarch and the behaviour of some of the younger members of the Royal Family has been known to attract criticism.

The Suez crisis 1956

Considered to be the most significant turning point in post-war British foreign policy, the Suez Crisis refers to the British decision to join with France and Israel in a military intervention to attempt to prevent General Nasser from nationalising the Suez Canal in the autumn of 1956. Nasser was promoting Arab nationalism throughout the Middle East and had become an increasing source of irritation to the British and the French. The Anglo-French assault upon Egypt, which began on 31 October 1956, provoked a furious response from the USA. President Eisenhower's condemnation of the attack triggered a sterling crisis which forced the government to withdraw from the venture. This angered the French, and further revealed Britain's growing dependence on the support of the US.

European Union from 1957

United States (although it thought it would clearly benefit from closer trade with Western Europe). In response, in 1959, Britain formed the European Free Trade Area (consisting of seven members, including the Scandinavian countries and Switzerland). Britain attempted to join the EEC in 1961 and 1967, but both applications were vetoed by French President Charles de Gaulle. Following the election of a Conservative government in 1970, Prime Minister Edward Heath re-opened negotiations with the EEC and, in 1973, Britain became a member of the Community, along with the Irish Republic and Denmark. The drive for deeper integration has continued and the Maastricht Treaty of 1991 - which promotes closer economic and political union through the establishment of a European currency and central bank, and harmonisation of defence, foreign and social policies - has resulted in the transformation of the EEC to the European Union (EU).

Harold Wilson and Labour 1964 - 1970

Labour came back to power in 1964 under the leadership of Harold Wilson, whose government was re-elected in 1966. The Wilson Governments instituted a series of permissive measures, broadly reflecting the changing social climate at home. These include the 1967 Sexual Offences Act which decriminalised homosexual practices above the age of consent; the 1967 Abortion Act, which legalised abortion under certain conditions; and the 1969 Divorce Reform Act, which relaxed the conditions surrounding the ending of marriage. The Wilson years are also remembered for the deteriorating relations between the trades unions and the government and for the failure of the Government's determination not to devalue the pound. When devaluation came, in 1967, it was accompanied by sharp deflation and public spending cuts.

Civil Rights campaign in Northern Ireland 1968

Government resigned after prime minister Edward Heath announced the commencement of direct rule from Westminster. In 1973, at the Sunningdale Conference, representatives from Britain, the Irish Republic and Northern Ireland agreed that the constitutional status of the North should only be changed with the consent of the majority of the people. It was not until 1985 that further developments were evident, when the Anglo-Irish Agreement was signed - providing for increased cross border co-operation and greater consultation between the British and Irish governments.

The 'British Disease' 1970 - 1979

Between 1970 and 1979 Britain was led by three prime ministers: Edward Heath (1970-74); Harold Wilson (1974-76); and James Callaghan (1976-79). The period was one of increasing unrest and discontent, as the economy continued to decline, and inflation seemed, at times, to be spiralling out of control. In December 1973, Heath introduced a three-day working week to attempt to restrict energy use during a period of acute power crisis (industrial output remained virtually unaffected). By the end of the summer of 1976, the economy had become so weakened that the Labour Government was forced to seek a loan from the International Monetary Fund. This was accompanied by harsh conditions which included deep cuts in public spending. By August 1977, unemployment levels had surpassed 1,600,000. Labour unrest reached a peak in the 'Winter of Discontent' in 1978/9 when a number of key trade unions went on strike.

Thatcherism 1979 - 1990

Following the 1979 general election, the Conservative Party gained power and Margaret Thatcher became Britain's first woman Prime Minister. During her period in office, which lasted until 1990, her style of leadership and the policies she promoted came to be known as Thatcherism. This was a loose concept which encompassed her policies of strengthening the powers of central government, curbing the powers of trades unions and local government, and the active promotion of individualism and private enterprise.

The Falklands conflict 1982
The British dependency of the Falkland Islands in the South Atlantic had been a subject of dispute between the UK and Argentina since Britain occupied the territory in the early nineteenth century. In April 1982, Argentina invaded and occupied the Falkland Islands. The invasion was condemned by the United Nations Security Council, which passed a resolution for Argentina to withdraw.Although the British Foreign Office was caught by surprise, the UK quickly despatched a task force to the South Atlantic to re-establish British control. In the ensuing conflict 250 British and around 750 Argentinian lives were lost. The conflict was an expensive one: it cost over £1.6 billion - and, although Britain re-established her control over the islands, Argentina continues to lay claim to them.

John Major and the Conservative Party 1990 - 1997
John Major succeeded Margaret Thatcher as prime minister in 1990. Although Major's leadership of the Conservative Party and Cabinet was criticised in many quarters as weak, his administration was punctuated by a series of significant policy initiatives. Within months of taking office he successfully steered the government through conflict in the Gulf.In December 1991, he negotiated an opt-out for Britain at the later stages of the European Monetary Union and rejected the social chapter at the Maastricht Summit meeting of the European Council. In December 1993 he signed the Downing Street Declaration with the Irish Taoiseach, committing Britain and Ireland to seeking a joint solution to the Northern Irish problem. His administration is likely to be remembered at least as much for its failures, however. In particular, this included the stock market crisis known as 'Black Wednesday' on 16 September 1992, when Britain was forced to pull out of the European Exchange Rate Mechanism.

The Gulf War 1991

Iraq has laid claims to Kuwait, a small oil-rich state in the Persian Gulf, ever since its creation in the late 1950s, when Britain granted it independence. Mounting war debts incurred by an internecine war with neighbouring Iran, the falling world price of oil, and the arguable provocation of a build-up of American troops in Saudi Arabia, led Iraq to invade and annex Kuwait on 2 August 1990. A coalition of 28 nations, led by the USA and including Britain, France and Egypt, embarked upon an air offensive lasting six weeks. During a 100-hour ground war the 200,000 strong Iraqi army holding Kuwait was driven back. The conflict was to create between two and three million refugees and resulted in severe environmental damage as the retreating Iraqi army blew up oil wells and allowed them to burn, and oil spills affected large areas of the region.Despite the result, the conflict (like the Falklands before) is a further example of Britain 'punching above her weight' in international politics due to belligerent governments, heavy reliance on US foreign policy decisions and her nuclear capability.

Tony Blair and New Labour 1997 onwards

Tony Blair became prime minister in May 1997. The Labour landslide gave the party a greater opportunity than at any time since 1945. Blair's Chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordon Brown, proved to be fiscally conservative, and the generally favourable economic conditions inherited from the previous administration helped to ensure that the Government did not experience the economic difficulties which had challenged previous Labour administrations. Blair was far from constitutionally conservative, however. As a result of manifesto promises (and subsequent referenda) both Scotland and Wales were granted forms of administrative and political devolution as the millennium closed.

Peace negotiations in Northern Ireland 1998 onwards

The Good Friday agreement of 1998 resulted from negotiations between representatives of a broad cross-section of political groups in Northern Ireland. It provided for no change in the status of the North except by majority consent; the devolution of a variety of powers to a Northern Ireland Assembly; a North-South Ministerial Council; and a British-Irish Council, which would also include representatives from other parts of the British Isles. The constitution of the Irish Republic was to be be altered to renounce its territorial claim to Northern Ireland. A referendum held in both the north and the south of the island on 22 May 1998 endorsed this agreement.

The conflict over Kosovo 1999

In early 1998 large-scale fighting broke out in Kosovo, formerly an autonomous region within Serbia, between the Serbian government and Kosovar Albanians seeking independence. Although a ceasefire was agreed in October 1998 to allow refugees to find shelter and a European verification mission was deployed, violence continued. A peace conference, held in Paris, broke up on 19 March 1999 with the refusal of the Serbian delegation to accept the proposed settlement. On 24 March, NATO forces led by Britain and the United States began air attacks on Serbia - transforming NATO from a defensive to an offensive alliance.