When was Elizabeth born?
When was Anne Boleyn executed? Why?
When did Mary flee to England? Why?
When did Pope Pius V excommunicate Elizabeth? Why then?

How many wives did Henry VIII have? How many children?
Did the children get along well together?
Why did Henry VIII ask Pope Clement VII for an annulment?
Why didnÕt Clement VII grant his request?

Who were the next three monarchs after Henry VIII?
Who was Francois II?

Who persecuted Protestants?
Was Elizabeth a Catholic? Mary I? Mary Queen of Scots?
Why werenÕt they Protestants?

Who was confined in the Tower of London?
Who was executed there?
Why were they executed?

Who was Mary?
Why did Elizabeth feel threatened by her?

Who was nice to Elizabeth? Who was mean to her? Why?
Who wanted to assassinate her? Why?

Who did Elizabeth marry?
How many children did she have?

Why did Elizabeth license pirate ships?
Was the Armada invincible?

What important policy decisions did Elizabeth make?

When did Shakespeare first publish his work?
Did Shakespeare perform in his own plays? direct them?

1

Julius Caesar invaded the British Isles in 55 BC, but Claudius Caesar actually managed to subdue most of the island. Roman rule, however, didn't spread to Scotland, Ireland, or the northern part of Britain. When German tribes attacked the Western Roman Empire, the Romans pulled out and Anglo-Saxons from Germany settled in.

2A

French culture strongly influenced England.

2B

The various kingdoms were reorganized and unified. Relations between France and England were very complicated. England developed a national identity after the Hundred Years War.

2C

From the 5th to the 8th century the Picts were joined in Scotland, by other groups: Vikings from Scandinavia, Irish people, and Anglo-Saxons from England. Various reaces came over to Scotland f.

2D

Edward I was called upon to decide who should be king of Scotland. He used it as an opportunity to rule over that king and his country. S o Scotland came under English rule for a while, but got indepenence again by the beginning of the 14th century and allied itself with France.

2E

Prince of Wales Llywelyn ap Gruffydd tried to unify Wales in 1282 in rebellion against England. But Edward I (the fourth Edward, but first with a numeral) invaded, conquered, and killed the prince. The king gave the future King Edward II, who was born in Wales, the title "Prince of Wales". Crown princes up to the present continue to hold that title.

3A

Cultural identity ... Wales.

3B

Henry II, a great grandson of William the Conqueror, came from France and became King of England. He intervened in an internal dispute in Ireland and then declared himself Lord of Ireland, a title he passed on to his son John. Ireland escaped from English rule after the War of the Roses.

3C

The Protestant Reformation had a big effect on Britain starting at the beginning of the 15th century. Religious differences increased.

3D

Henry VIII's divorce caused the separation of the Church of England from the Catholic Church. The newly formed Church of England reinforced the power of the king.

3E

Calvinism spread to Scotland in the 16th century under the direction of John Knox. Thus the Presbyterian Church was established.

3F

Ireland continued as a Catholic country. Both being Catholic countries France and Spain develop friendly relations with Ireland.

3G/4A

Henry VII invaded Ireland with the intention of colonizing it. Then he claimed the title King of Ireland. Henry VIII invaded again in 1536. The Protestant Reformation in Scotland tried to immobilize the power of nobles and the king.

4B 4C

The King James IV of Scotland married Henry VII's daughter Margaret Tutor. He invaded England on behalf of France and died in battle.

4D

Charles I was captured and executed by Oliver Cromwell.

4E

Charles II escaped from Scotland to France.

4F 5A 5B

Scotland and England were united into Great Britain in 1707.

5C

Queen Ann became the first monarch in 1707.

5D 5E 5F 5G 6A 6B

Britain became a colonial power in North America and India, but this plunged it into wars. Britain took Canada from France and got all the land east of the Mississippi River.

6C 6D 6E

Catherine II insisted upon the rights of neutral countries to continue trading with France and the colonies.

6F

Thirteen British colonies get their independence and the Lousiana Territory east of the Mississippi River.

        Britain was part of the continent of Europe until about 6,000 B.C., but migration of peoples across the English Channel continued long afterward. Celts arrived 2,500 to 3,000 years ago. Their language survives in communities that speak Welsh and Gaelic. They left no written records, but they did leave the ruins at Stonehenge (Eckersley and Isted, 1996).

        England was added to the Roman Empire in 43 AD. After Roman troops left in 410, waves of Jutes, Angles, and Saxons arrived from German lands. Their kind of German became what is now called Old English. They fought with Danish raiders from the 8th through 11th centuries. The last successful invasion was when William, Duke of Normandy defeated King Harold in 1066. William united the country with his domains in France. These Normans brought their French dialect with them (Duborg and Isted, 1996) and much of it entered the English language (Eckersley and Isted, 1996) becoming [2a] Middle English.

        In 1152, after giving birth to two daughters but no son, Eleanor of Aquitaine's [1122-1204] 15-year marriage to Louis VII of France was annulled. Within six weeks, she married Henry II (future king of England). They had five sons and three daughters. Young Henry married with French royalty and attacked his father in 1173 and again in 1183. He failed, but his mother was imprisoned for those ten years. She was closely watched until her husband was injured in a jousting match and died. Then her son Richard became King of England and was followed by his brother John. She ruled while Richard the Lion-Hearted went off on the Third Crusade and, according to legend, Robin Hood and his band of outlaws fought with Prince John. Nobles forced King John in 1215 to sign the Magna Carta, which guaranteed them rights and that the country would be ruled by law. Cambridge University was founded in 1217. University College of Oxford University was founded in 1249. Geoffrey Chaucer [1342-1400] became the first major writer in the English language (Dougill, 1997).

Henry VI reign 1422-1461

Edward IV reign 1461-1470

Henry VI again reign 1470-1471

Edward IV again reign 1471-1483

Edward V reign 1483

Richard III reign 1483-1485

Henry VII reign 1485-1509

        English claims to large parts of France led to the Hundred Years War [1338-1453] with the help of Joan of Arc the French defeated England. In 1453 a mental breakdown by Henry VI allowed the Duke of York to take control as "Protector" (Stultz, 1997). When Henry regained his sanity, he was urged by his wife and her favorites to throw York and his allies out of the government. Thus began the struggle for power that led to a long civil war, the Wars of the Roses [1455-85]. In 1461 the Duke of York was tricked into leaving his castle. He and his forces were slaughtered, but his son Edward IV was taken to Parliament and crowned king. When he died and Edward V was too young to rule for himself, his uncle Richard III took control, first as "Protector". Edward V and his brother were kept prisoner in the Tower of London, never to be seen again. In 1485, at the battle of Bosworth Field, Richard III was defeated and killed by the army of Henry VII, who married Elizabeth of York, Edward IV's daughter. He thereby united the two houses of York (the white rose) and Lancaster (the red rose) and established the powerful Tudor monarchy. A distinct English civilization flourished. The economy prospered over long periods of domestic peace unmatched in continental Europe.

        With William Caxton's [1422-1491] printing press in 1476 and the [2b] Great Vowel Shift, Middle English slowly evolved into the [2c] Early Modern English. When, in 1534, the Pope refused to grant Henry VIII a divorce, he separated the Church of England from the Catholic Church (Eckersley and Isted, 1996). Under Queen Elizabeth I [1533-1603], England became a major naval power, leading to the founding of colonies in the new world and the expansion of trade with Europe and the Orient.

        The Bubonic plague swept through England from 1539-1640. It was during this time that William Shakespeare [1564-1616] wrote poetry and plays (Dougill, 1997).

        Scotland was united with England when James VI of Scotland was crowned James I of England in 1603 (Eckersley and Isted, 1996). Four years later three ships sailed from England to America with 150 men. Under the leadership of Christopher Newport, Edward Wingfield, and John Smith [1580-1631] they established Jamestown on the James River. This was the beginning of the Colony of Virginia. In 1611, after 7 years of effort by English scholars, the King James version of the Bible was published for the Church of England. Pocahontas [1594-1617], her husband John Rolfe [1585-1622], and their son Thomas visited London in 1616 (Vicary, 1998). While there she met King James, Queen Anne, and John Smith. The daughter of Algonquin Chief Powhatan had saved the life of John Smith 10 years earlier when he was about to be executed. She had fallen in love with Smith, but thought that he was dead after he had a bad accident.

        A struggle between Parliament and the Stuart kings led to a bloody civil war (1642-51), the execution of Charles I, and the establishment of a republic under Oliver Cromwell [1599-1658]. A blind John Milton [1608-1674] composed the epic poem Paradise Lost (1667) about the Fall of Man in the Garden of Eden. It expresses his despair at the failure of the rebellion after Cromwell's death. The monarchy was restored under Charles II in 1660, but the "Glorious Revolution" of 1688 confirmed the power of Parliament, and a Bill of Rights was granted the next year. England and Scotland united in May 1707 to form the United Kingdom. The new flag combined the cross of St. George and the cross of St. Andrew into the now famous Union Jack.