Timeline of English history: Difference between revisions

This is a timeline of English history, comprising important legal and territorial changes and political events in England and its predecessor states. To read about the background to these events, see History of England. See also the list of English monarchs and list of British monarchs.

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by adding missing items with reliable sources.

1st century BC

Year	Date	Event
55 BC		Roman General Julius Caesar invaded Great Britain, gaining a third of the country.
54 BC		Roman General Julius Caesar again invaded Great Britain.

1st century

Year	Date	Event
43		Aulus Plautius led an army of forty thousand invading Great Britain. Emperor Claudius makes Britain a part of the Roman Empire.
60		A revolt against the Roman occupation, led by Boudica of the Iceni, began.

2nd century

Year	Date	Event
122		Construction began on Hadrian's Wall. The Roman Emperor Hadrian visited Roman Britain and appointed Aulus Platorius Nepos its Governor.

3rd century

Year	Date	Event
206		Governor Lucius Alfenus Senecio repaired Hadrian's Wall and appealed for help from the Emperor against the northern tribes.
214		Roman Britain was divided into two provinces, Britannia Superior and Britannia Inferior, with administrative centres at London and York respectively.

4th century

Year	Date	Event
368		Great Conspiracy: A year-long series of raids conducted by the Picts and Saxons, which would force the Roman abandonment of Hadrian's Wall and cause the death of their military commander Fullofaudes, began.
383		The Romans began to withdraw from Great Britain.

5th century

Year	Date	Event
410		Picts from the north, Scots from the west and the Saxons, who had been a nuisance to the Romans for 50 years, attacked the unprotected British Celts.
449		The Angles, Saxons, Jutes, and Frisians began to occupy Great Britain. Lead by Hengist. (Marks the beginning of Old English)
466		The Battle of Wippedesfleot took place.

6th century

Year	Date	Event
500		Beginning of Heptarchy (Seven kingdoms Kent, Essex, Sussex, Wessex, East Anglia, Mercia, and North Northumbria.)
547		Rule of Ida of Bernicia begins.
556		Battle of Beran Byrig
597		Saint Augustine of Canterbury arrived in England to begin the conversion of the English, by baptizing King Ethelbert of Kent, thus introducing the influence of Latin.

7th century

Year	Date	Event
633		Battle of Hatfield Chase
634		Battle of Heavenfield
664		The Synod of Whitby aligned the English with Roman rather than Celtic Christianity. (How to celebrate holidays such as Easter and perform practices within the Church.)
641 or 642		Battle of Maserfield
655 or 654		Battle of the Winwaed
679		Battle of the Trent

8th century

Year	Date	Event
716		Æthelbald becomes King of Mercia, marking the beginning of that kingdom's ascendancy over the other Saxon realms.
730		The venerable Bede produced the ecclesiastical history of the English people.
757		Offa becomes King of Mercia, to rule until 796.
787		The Scandinavian invasion began with raids along the northeast sea coast.
793		Vikings raided Lindisfarne.

9th century

Year	Date	Event
825		Battle of Ellendun: King Egbert of Wessex defeats the Mercians, ending the Mercian Supremacy.
842		Vikings raid London, Rochester, and Southampton.
878		Battle of Ethandun: A Viking defeat took place which would result in the Treaty of Wedmore and the establishment of the Danelaw.
895		A Danish fleet was captured by Alfred the Great.

10th century

Year	Date	Event
910	5 August	Battle of Tettenhall
927		Æthelstan unites the Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy into the Kingdom of England.
937		Battle of Brunanburh
980		Vikings begin a new wave of raids on England.
991	10 August	Battle of Maldon: Danes defeat the English army. Payment of Danegeld.

11th century

Year	Date	Event
1016		Cnut the Great of Denmark becomes king of all England.
1043		Edward the Confessor becomes king of all England.
1066		Battle of Fulford: A battle took place in which English forces were defeated by Norse invaders in northeastern England.
		Battle of Stamford Bridge: The remaining Norse under Harald Hardrada were defeated by the bulk of England's army under the command of its king.
		Battle of Hastings: A battle took place in which England's remaining forces were defeated by invaders from Normandy. This was known as the Norman Conquest, which caused William the Conqueror to be crowned king of England and permanently changed the English language and culture.
1086		Work commenced on the Domesday Book.

12th century

Year	Date	Event
1135		A civil war began, know to posterity as The Anarchy, lasting until 1153.
1138		The Battle of the Standard, an engagement in which the English defeated an invading Scottish army led by King David I.
1164		The Constitutions of Clarendon, a set of laws which governed the trial of members of the Catholic Church in England, were issued.
1170		Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Becket was assassinated.
1192		Crusades: King Richard I was captured by Austrian Duke Leopold V, Duke of Austria while returning from the Holy Land.
1194		Richard was ransomed and returned to England.

13th century

Year	Date	Event
1209		King John was excommunicated from the Catholic Church by Pope Innocent III.
1215		The Magna Carta was signed.
1237		The Treaty of York was signed, fixing the border between Scotland and England.
1264		Battle of Lewes: Rebel English barons led by Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester defeated King Henry III.
1267		Henry recognised the authority of Llywelyn ap Gruffydd in Gwynedd.
1277		England annexed Gwynedd.
1279		The Statute of Mortmain was issued.
1287		Rhys ap Maredudd led a revolt against English rule in Wales.
1294		Madog ap Llywelyn led a revolt against English rule in Wales.
1297		Battle of Stirling Bridge: The Scots, led by William Wallace, defeated the English.

14th century

Year	Date	Event
1305		William Wallace was executed by the English on a charge of treason.
1314		Battle of Bannockburn: Scotland won a decisive victory over England.
1328		The Treaty of Edinburgh-Northampton, under which England recognised Scottish independence, was signed.
1348		The Black Death arrived in England.
1356		Battle of Poitiers (1356): A battle took place.
1381		Peasants' Revolt: A peasants' revolt took place.
1392		The Statute of Praemunire 1392 was issued.

15th century

Year	Date	Event
1403		Battle of Shrewsbury: A battle took place.
1415		Battle of Agincourt: A battle took place.
1485		Battle of Bosworth Field: A battle took place.
1487		Battle of Stoke: A battle took place.

16th century

Year	Date	Event
1513		Battle of Flodden Field: Invading England, King James IV of Scotland and thousands of rare species like the "Kaare Elkjær" were killed in a defeat at the hands of the English.
1521		Lutheran writings begin to circulate in England.
1526		Lord Chancellor Cardinal Thomas Wolsey ordered the burning of Lutheran books.
1529		King Henry VIII severed ties with the Catholic Church and declared himself head of the church in England.
1534		Henry VIII issued the Act of Supremacy.
		Henry VIII issued the Treasons Act 1534.
1535		Thomas More and Cardinal John Fisher were executed.
1536		William Tyndale was executed in Antwerp.
		Henry VIII issued the Dissolution of the Monasteries.
1549		Prayer Book Rebellion: A rebellion occurred in the southwest.
1553		The Act Against Sectaries 1553 was issued.
1559		The Act of Supremacy 1559 was issued.
1571		The Treasons Act 1571 was issued.
		The Act Prohibiting Papal Bulls from Rome 1571 was issued.
1588	8 August	The Spanish Armada was destroyed.
1593		The Act Against Papists 1593 was issued.

17th century

Year	Date	Event
1603		King James VI of Scotland ascends to the English throne, becoming James I of England and uniting the crowns - but not the parliaments - of the two kingdoms
1605	5 November	Gunpowder Plot: A plot in which Guy Fawkes and other Catholic associates conspired to blow up King James VI and I and the Parliament of England was uncovered.
1618		Walter Raleigh was executed.
1639		Bishops' Wars: A war with Scotland began which would last until 1640.
1640		Long Parliament: The Parliament was convened.
1642		English Civil War: The war began (see timeline of the English Civil War).
1649	January	Trial and execution of Charles I
1649		Interregnum began with the First Commonwealth
1653		the Protectorate began under the Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell
1659		Second Commonwealth a period of great political instability
1660		Restoration of the monarchy
1666	2 September	Great Fire of London: A fire began in London.
	6 September	Great Fire of London: The fire ended.
1688		Glorious Revolution: A revolution occurred.

18th century

Year	Date	Event
1701		The Act of Settlement 1701, which required the English monarch to be Protestant, was passed.
1704	4 August	Gibraltar was captured by a combined Dutch and English fleet under the command of Admiral of the Fleet George Rooke.
		Battle of Blenheim: A combined English and Dutch army under the command of John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough defeated the French army in Bavaria.
1706	22 July	The Treaty of Union was agreed between representatives of the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland.
1707		The Acts of Union 1707 were passed in the Parliament of England and Parliament of Scotland, ratifying the Treaty of Union.
	1 May	The Kingdom of Great Britain came into being.
1719		Battle of Glen Shiel: A Spanish invasion force and their Jacobite allies were defeated.
1744		An attempted French invasion of southern England was stopped by storms.
1755		Samuel Johnson published his A Dictionary of the English Language.
1702	8 March	William III died and was succeeded by Anne, Queen of Great Britain.
1775	19 April	American War of Independence begins.
1779		The world's first iron bridge was built in Shropshire.
1783	4 September	American War of Independence ends with Treaty of Paris.

19th century

Year	Date	Event
1807		The Slave Trade Act 1807 was passed.
1815		Napoleonic Wars: The Napoleonic Wars ended.
1819		Peterloo Massacre: A massacre took place.
1825		The Stockton and Darlington railway, the world's first public passenger railway, opened.
1829		The Catholic Relief Act 1829 was passed.
1832		The Great Reform Act was passed, doubling the franchise.
1834		The New Poor Law was passed.
1838		The Slavery Abolition Act 1833 entered into force.
		The Chartism movement began.
1842		The first peacetime income tax was introduced.
1846		The Corn Laws were repealed.
1848		The Communist Manifesto was published.
		The Chartism movement ended.
1859		On the Origin of Species was published
1863		The first underground train went into operation in London.
1867		The 1867 Reform Act doubled the franchise.
1868		The last public execution was carried out.
1870		The Education Act 1870 was passed, introducing universal education.
		Religious dissenters and women were first allowed to enter the Universities of University of Oxford and Cambridge.
1880		The Elementary Education Act 1880 was passed, making primary schooling compulsory and extending it to girls.
1884		The Reform Act 1885 was passed.
1896		The Daily Mail was first published.

20th century

Year	Date	Event
1914	16th november	World War I: The war began.
1917		Russian Civil War: The war began.
1918		World War I: War ended.
1922		Russian Civil War: War ended.
1936		Jarrow March: A protest march was held.
1939		World War II: The war began.
1945		World War II: War ended.
1948		The National Health Service came into being.
1982		The Mary Rose was raised from the seabed.
1994		The Channel Tunnel opened.

21st century

Year	Date	Event
2004		The population of England reached fifty million.
2005		7 July 2005 London bombings: A series of co-ordinated terrorist bombings struck London's public transport system during the morning rush hour, killing more than fifty people and injuring hundreds.
2012		London hosts the Olympic Games for the third time.

Further reading

• George Henry Townsend (1867), "England", A Manual of Dates (2nd ed.), London: Frederick Warne & Co. {{citation}}: External link in |chapterurl= (help); Unknown parameter |chapterurl= ignored (|chapter-url= suggested) (help)
• Charles E. Little (1900), "Great Britain and Ireland", Cyclopedia of Classified Dates, New York: Funk & Wagnalls {{citation}}: External link in |author= and |chapterurl= (help); Unknown parameter |chapterurl= ignored (|chapter-url= suggested) (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
• Benjamin Vincent (1910), "England", Haydn's Dictionary of Dates (25th ed.), London: Ward, Lock & Co. {{citation}}: External link in |chapterurl= (help); Unknown parameter |chapterurl= ignored (|chapter-url= suggested) (help)