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History

Until 1707, this section deals primarily with English history. England and Wales

were

formally

united

in

1536.

In

1707,

when

Great

Britain

was

created

by

the

Act

of

Union

between Scotland and England, English history became part of British history. For the

early history of Scotland and Wales, see separate articles. See also Ireland; Ireland,

Northern;

and

the

tables

entitled

Rulers

of

England

and

Great

Britain

and

Prime

Ministers

of Great Britain.

Early Period to the Norman Conquest

Little

is

known

about

the

earliest

inhabitants

of

Britain,

but

the

remains

of

their

dolmens and barrows and the great stone circles at Stonehenge and Avebury are evidence

of the developed culture of the prehistoric Britons. They had developed a Bronze Age

culture by the time the first Celtic invaders (early 5th cent. B.C.) brought their

energetic Iron Age culture to Britain. It is believed that Julius Caesar's successful

military campaign in Britain in 54 B.C. was aimed at preventing incursions into Gaul

from the island.

In A.D. 43 the emperor Claudius began the Roman conquest of Britain, establishing

bases at present- day London and Colchester. By A.D. 85, Rome controlled Britain south

of the Clyde River. There were a number of revolts in the early years of the conquest,

the most famous being that of Boadicea. In the 2d cent. A.D., Hadrian's Wall was

constructed

as

a

northern

defense

line.

Under

the

Roman

occupation

towns

developed,

and

roads

were

built

to

ensure

the

success

of

the

military

occupation.

These

roads

were

the

most

lasting

Roman

achievement

in

Britain

(see

Watling

Street),

long

serving

as

the

basic

arteries

of

overland

transportation

in

England.

Colchester,

Lincoln,

and

Gloucester

were

founded by the Romans as colonia, settlements of ex-legionaries.

Trade contributed to town prosperity;

wine, olive oil, plate, and furnishings were

imported, and lead, tin, iron, wheat, and wool were exported. This trade declined with

the economic dislocation of the late Roman Empire and the withdrawal of Roman troops

to meet barbarian threats elsewhere. The garrisons had been consumers of the products

of local artisans as well as of imports; as they were disbanded, the towns decayed.

Barbarian incursions became frequent. In 410 an appeal to Rome for military aid was

refused, and Roman officials subsequently were withdrawn.

As Rome withdrew its legions from Britain, Germanic peoples

〞

the Anglo-Saxons and

the Jutes

〞

began raids that turned into great waves of invasion and settlement in the

later

5th

cent.

The

Celts

fell

back

into

Wales

and

Cornwall

and

across

the

English

Channel

to Brittany, and the loosely knit tribes of the newcomers gradually coalesced into a

heptarchy of kingdoms (see Kent, Sussex, Essex, Wessex, East Anglia, Mercia, and

Northumbria).

Late

in

the

8th

cent.,

and

with

increasing

severity

until

the

middle

of

the

9th

cent.,

raiding

Vikings

(known

in

English

history

as

Danes)

harassed

coastal

England

and

finally,

in 865, launched a full-scale invasion. They were first effectively checked by King

Alfred of Wessex and were with great difficulty confined to the Danelaw, where their

leaders divided land among the soldiers for settlement. Alfred's successors conquered

the Danelaw to form a united England, but new Danish invasions late in the 10th cent.

overcame

ineffective

resistance

(see

?thelred,

965?

——

1016).

The

Dane

Canute

ruled

all

England

by

1016.

At

the

expiration

of

the

Scandinavian

line

in

1042,

the

Wessex

dynasty

(see Edward the Confessor) regained the throne. The conquest of England in 1066 by

William, duke of Normandy (William I of England), ended the Anglo- Saxon period.

The

freeman

(ceorl)

of

the

early

Germanic

invaders

had

been

responsible

to

the

king

and

superior

to

the

serf.

Subsequent

centuries

of

war

and

subsistence

farming,

however,

had forced the majority of freemen into serfdom, or dependence on the aristocracy of

lords and thanes, who came to enjoy a large measure of autonomous control over manors

granted them by the king (see manorial system). The central government evolved from

tribal chieftainships to become a monarchy in which executive and judicial powers were

usually vested in the king. The aristocracy made up his witan, or council of advisers

(see witenagemot). The king set up shires as units of local government ruled by

earldormen.

In

some

instances

these

earldormen

became

powerful

hereditary

earls,

ruling

several

shires.

Subdivisions

of

shires

were

called

hundreds.

There

were

shire

and

hundred

courts, the former headed by sheriffs, the latter by reeves. Agriculture was the

principal industry, but the Danes were aggressive traders, and towns increased in

importance starting in the 9th cent.

The

Anglo-Saxons

had

been

Christianized

by

missionaries

from

Rome

and

from

Ireland,

and

the

influence

of

Christianity

became

strongly

manifest

in

all

phases

of

culture

(see

Anglo-Saxon literature). Differences between Irish and continental religious customs

were decided in favor of the Roman forms at the Synod of Whitby (663). Monastic

communities, outstanding in the later 7th and in the 8th cent. and strongly revived in

the

10th,

developed

great

proficiency

in

manuscript

illumination.

Church

scholars,

such

as Bede, Alcuin, and Aelfric

〞

as well as King Alfred himself

〞

preserved and advanced

learning.

Medieval England

A new era in English history began with the Norman Conquest. William I introduced

Norman-style political and military feudalism. He used the feudal system to collect

taxes,

employed

the

bureaucracy

of

the

church

to

strengthen

the

central

government,

and

made the administration of royal justice more efficient.

After the death of William's second son, Henry I, the country was subjected to a

period

of civil war that ended

one year before the accession of Henry

II in 1154. Henry

II's

reign

was

marked

by

the

sharp

conflict

between

king

and

church

that

led

to

the

murder

of Thomas

角

Becket. Henry carried

out great

judicial reforms that increased the power

and scope of the royal courts. During his reign, in 1171, began the English conquest

of Ireland. As part of his inheritance he brought to the throne Anjou, Normandy, and

Aquitaine.

The

defense

and

enlargement

of

these

French

territories

engaged

the

energies

of successive English kings. In their need for money the kings stimulated the growth

of English towns by selling them charters of liberties.

Conflict between kings and nobles, which had begun under Richard I, came to a head

under John, who made unprecedented financial demands and whose foreign and church

policies were unsuccessful. A temporary victory of the nobles bore fruit in the most

noted of all English constitutional documents, the Magna Carta (1215). The recurring

baronial

wars

of

the

13th

cent.

(see

Barons'

War;

Montfort,

Simon

de,

earl

of

Leicester)

were roughly contemporaneous with the first steps in the development of Parliament.

Edward

I

began

the

conquest

of

Wales

and

Scotland.

He

also

carried

out

an

elaborate

reform and expansion of the central courts and of other aspects of the legal system.

The Hundred Years War with France began (1337) in the reign of Edward III. The Black

Death (see plague) first arrived in 1348 and had a tremendous effect on economic life,

hastening the breakdown (long since under way) of the manorial and feudal systems,

including

the

institution

of

serfdom.

At

the

same

time

the

fast-growing

towns

and

trades

gave new prominence to the burgess and artisan classes.

In the 14th cent. the English began exporting their wool, rather than depending on

foreign traders of English wool. Later in the century, trade in woolen cloth began to

gain

on

the

raw

wool

trade.

The

confusion

resulting

from

such

rapid

social

and

economic

change

fostered

radical

thought,

typified

in

the

teachings

of

John

Wyclif

(or

Wycliffe;

see also Lollardry, and the revolt led by Wat Tyler. Dynastic wars (see Roses, Wars of

the), which weakened both the nobility and the monarchy in the 15th cent., ended with

the accession of the Tudor family in 1485.

Tudor England

The reign of the Tudors (1485

——

1603) is one of the most fascinating periods in

English history. Henry VII restored political order and the financial solvency of the

crown, bequeathing his son, Henry VIII, a full exchequer. In 1536, Henry VIII brought

about the political union of England and Wales. Henry and his minister Thomas Cromwell

greatly expanded the central administration. During Henry's reign commerce flourished

and the New Learning of the Renaissance came to England. Several factors

〞

the revival

of

Lollardry,

anticlericalism,

the

influence

of

humanism,

and

burgeoning

nationalism

〞

climaxed by the pope's refusal to grant Henry a divorce from Katharine of Arag

车

n so

that

he

could

remarry

and

have

a

male

heir

〞

led

the

king

to

break

with

Roman

Catholicism

and establish the Church of England.

As

part

of

the

English

Reformation

(1529

——

39),

Henry

suppressed

the

orders

of

monks

and friars and

secularized their property.

Although these actions aroused some popular

opposition

(see

Pilgrimage

of

Grace),

Henry's

judicious

use

of

Parliament

helped

secure

support for his policies and set important precedents for the future of Parliament.

England

moved

farther

toward

Protestantism

under

Edward

VI;

after

a

generally

hated

Roman

Catholic revival under Mary I, the Roman tie was again cut under Elizabeth I, who

attempted without complete success to moderate the religious differences among her

people.

The

Elizabethan

age

was

one

of

great

artistic

and

intellectual

achievement,

its

most

notable figure being William Shakespeare. National pride basked in the exploits of Sir

Francis

Drake,

Sir

John

Hawkins,

and

the

other

※sea

dogs.§

Overseas

trading

compan

ies

were

formed

and

colonization

attempts

in

the

New

World

were

made

by

Sir

Humphrey

Gilbert

and Sir Walter Raleigh. A long conflict with Spain, growing partly out of commercial

and maritime rivalry and partly out of religious differences, culminated in the defeat

of the Spanish Armada (1588), although the war continued another 15 years.

Inflated

prices

(caused,

in

part,

by

an

influx

of

precious

metals

from

the

New

World)

and the reservation of land by the process of inclosure for sheep pasture (stimulated

by the expansion of the wool trade) caused great changes in the social and economic

structure

of

England.

The

enclosures

displaced

many

tenant

farmers

from

their

lands

and

produced

a

class

of

wandering,

unemployed

※sturdy

beggars.§

The

Elizabethan

poor

l

aws

were

an

attempt

to

deal

with

this

problem.

Rising

prices

affected

the

monarchy

as

well,

by

reducing

the

value

of

its

fixed

customary

and

hereditary

revenues.

The

country

gentry

were enriched by the inclosures and by their purchase of former monastic lands, which

were also used for grazing. The gentry became leaders in what, toward the end of

Elizabeth's reign, was an increasingly assertive Parliament.

The Stuarts

The

accession

in

1603

of

the

Stuart

James

I,

who

was

also

James

VI

of

Scotland,

united

the thrones of England and Scotland. The chronic need for money of both James and his

son, Charles I, which they attempted to meet by unusual and extralegal means; their

espousal

of

the

divine

right

of

kings;

their

determination

to

enforce

their

high

Anglican

preferences

in

religion;

and

their

use

of

royal

courts

such

as

Star

Chamber,

which

were

not

bound

by

the

common

law,

to

persecute

opponents,

together

produced

a

bitter

conflict

with Parliament that culminated (1642) in the English civil war.

In the war the parliamentarians, effectively led at the end by Oliver Cromwell,

defeated

the

royalists.

The

king

was

tried

for

treason

and

beheaded

(1649).

The

monarchy

was abolished, and the country was governed by the Rump Parliament, the remainder of

the last Parliament (the Long Parliament) Charles had called (1640), until 1653, when

Cromwell dissolved it and established the Protectorate. Cromwell brutally subjugated

Ireland,

made

a

single

commonwealth

of

Scotland

and

England,

and

strengthened

England's

naval

power

and

position

in

international

trade.

When

he

died

(1658),

his

son,

Richard,

succeeded as Lord Protector but governed ineffectively.

The threat of anarchy led to an invitation by a newly elected Parliament (the

Convention Parliament) to Charles, son of Charles I, to become king, ushering in the

Restoration (1660). It was significant that Parliament had summoned the king, rather

than the reverse; it was now clear that to be successful the king had

to cooperate with

Parliament. The Whig and Tory parties developed in the Restoration period. Although

Charles II was personally popular, the old issues of religion, money, and the royal

prerogative came to the fore again. Parliament revived official Anglicanism (see

Clarendon Code), but Charles's private sympathies lay with Catholicism. He attempted

to bypass Parliament in the matter of revenue by receiving subsidies from Louis XIV of

France.

Charles's brother and successor, James II, was an avowed Catholic. James tried to

strengthen

his

position

in

Parliament

by

tampering

with

the

methods

of

selecting

members;

he put Catholics in high university positions, maintained a standing army (which later

deserted him), and claimed the right to suspend laws. The birth (1688) of a male heir,

who, it was assumed, would be raised as a Catholic, precipitated a crisis.

In the Glorious Revolution, Whig and Tory leaders offered the throne to William of

Orange (William III), whose Protestant wife, Mary, was James's daughter. William and

Mary

were

proclaimed

king

and

queen

by

Parliament

in

1689.

The

Bill

of

Rights

confirmed

that

sovereignty

resided

in

Parliament.

The

Act

of

Toleration

(1689)

extended

religious

liberty to all Protestant sects; in subsequent years, religious passions slowly

subsided.

By

the

Act

of

Settlement

(1701)

the

succession

to

the

English

throne

was

determined.

Since 1603, with the exception of the 1654

——

60 portion of the interregnum, Scotland

and England had remained two kingdoms united only in the person of the monarch. When

it appeared that William's successor, Queen Anne, Mary's Protestant sister, would not

have an heir, the Scottish succession became of concern, since the Scottish Parliament

had not passed legislation corresponding to the Act of Settlement. England feared that

under

a

separate

monarch

Scotland

might

ally

itself

with

France,

or

worse

still,

permit

a restoration of the Catholic heirs of James II

〞

although a non-Protestant succession

had been barred by the Scottish Parliament. On its part, Scotland wished to achieve

economic equality with England. The result was the Act of Union (1707), by which the

two kingdoms became one. Scotland obtained representation in (what then became) the

British Parliament at Westminster, and the Scottish Parliament was abolished.

The Growth of Empire and Eighteenth-Century Political Developments

The beginnings of Britain's national debt (1692) and the founding of the Bank of

England (1694) were closely tied with the nation's more active role in world affairs.

Britain's overseas possessions (see British Empire) were augmented by the victorious

outcome of the War of the Spanish Succession, ratified in the Peace of Utrecht (1713).

Britain emerged from the War of the Austrian Succession and from the Seven Years War

as the possessor of the world's greatest empire. The peace of 1763 (see Paris, Treaty

of) confirmed British predominance in India and North America. Settlements were made

in Australia toward the end of the 18th cent.; however, a serious loss was sustained

when 13 North American colonies broke away in the American Revolution. Additional

colonies were won in the wars against Napoleon I, notable for the victories of Horatio

Nelson and Arthur Wellesley, duke of Wellington.

In

Ireland,

the

Irish

Parliament

was

granted

independence

in

1782,

but

in

1798

there

was

an

Irish

rebellion.

A

vain

attempt

to

solve

the

centuries-old

Irish

problem

was

the

abrogation of the Irish Parliament and the union (1801) of Great Britain and Ireland,

with Ireland represented in the British Parliament.

Domestically

the

long

ministry

of

Sir

Robert

Walpole

(1721

——

42),

during

the

reigns

of George I and George II, was a period of relative stability that saw the beginnings

of the development of the cabinet as the chief executive organ of government.

The 18th cent. was a time of transition in the growth of the British parliamentary

system. The monarch still played a very active role in government, choosing and

dismissing ministers as he wished. Occasionally, sentiment in Parliament might force

an

unwanted

minister

on

him,

as

when

George

III

was

forced

to

choose

Rockingham

in

1782,

but

the

king

could

dissolve

Parliament

and

use

his

considerable

patronage

power

to

secure

a new one more amenable to his views.

Great political leaders of the late 18th cent., such as the earl of Chatham (see

Chatham, William Pitt, 1st earl of) and his son William Pitt, could not govern in

disregard of the crown. Important movements for political and social reform arose in

the second half of the 18th cent. George III's arrogant and somewhat anachronistic

conception

of

the

crown's

role

produced

a

movement

among

Whigs

in

Parliament

that

called

for

a

reform

and

reduction

of

the

king's

power.

Edmund

Burke

was

a

leader

of

this

group,

as

was

the

eccentric

John

Wilkes.

The

Tory

Pitt

was

also

a

reformer.

These

men

also

opposed

Britain's colonial policy in North America.

Outside

Parliament,

religious

dissenters

(who

were

excluded

from

political

office),

intellectuals, and others advocated sweeping reforms of established practices and

institutions. Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations, advocating laissez-faire, appeared in

1776, the same year as the first publication by Jeremy Bentham, the founder of

utilitarianism. The cause of reform, however, was greatly set back by the French

Revolution

and

the

ensuing

wars

with

France,

which

greatly

alarmed

British

society.

Burke

became Britain's leading intellectual opponent of the Revolution, while many British

reformers who supported (to varying degrees) the changes in France were branded by

British public opinion as extreme Jacobins.

Economic, Social, and Political Change

George III was succeeded by George IV and William IV. During the last ten years of

his reign, George III was insane, and sovereignty was exercised by the future George

IV. This was the ※Regency§ period. In the mid

-18th cent., wealth and power in Great

Britain

still

resided

in

the

aristocracy,

the

landed

gentry,

and

the

commercial

oligarchy

of

the

towns.

The

mass

of

the

population

consisted

of

agricultural

laborers,

semiliterate

and landless, governed locally (in England) by justices of the peace. The countryside

was fragmented into semi-isolated agricultural villages and provincial capitals.

However, the period of the late 18th and early 19th cent. was a time of dynamic

economic change. The factory system, the discovery and use of steam power, improved

inland transportation (canals and turnpikes), the ready supply of coal and iron, a

remarkable

series

of

inventions,

and

men

with

capital

who

were

eager

to

invest

〞

all

these

elements

came

together

to

produce

the

epochal

change

known

as

the

Industrial

Revolution.

The impact of these developments on social conditions was enormous, but the most

significant socioeconomic fact of all from 1750 to 1850 was the growth of population.

The population of Great Britain (excluding Northern Ireland) grew from an estimated

7,500,000 in 1750 to about 10,800,000 in 1801 (the year of the first national census)

and to about 23,130,000 in 1861. The growing population provided needed labor for

industrial expansion and was accompanied by rapid urbanization. Urban problems

multiplied. At the same time a new period of inclosures (1750

——

1810; this time to

increase the arable farmland) deprived small farmers of their common land. The

Speenhamland System (begun in 1795), which supplemented wages according to the size of

a man's family and the price of bread, and the Poor Law of 1834 were harsh revisions

of the relief laws.

The social unrest following these developments provided a fertile field for

Methodism, which had been begun by John Wesley in the mid-18th cent. Methodism was

especially popular in the new industrial areas, in some of which the Church of England

provided no services. It has been theorized that by pacifying social unrest Methodism

contributed to the prevention of political and social revolution in Britain.

In the 1820s the reform impulse that had been largely stifled during the French

Revolution revived. Catholic Emancipation (1829) restored to Catholics political and

civil

rights.

In

1833

slavery

in

the

British

Empire

was

abolished.

(The

slave

trade

had

been ended in 1807.) Parliamentary reform was made imperative by the new patterns of

population distribution and by the great growth during the industrial expansion in the

size and wealth of the middle class, which lacked commensurate political power. The

general

elections

that

followed

the

death

of

George

IV

brought

to

power

a

Whig

ministry