Englamd Medieval

409 End of Roman rule in Britain.
c.477 Saxons settle in Sussex, Wessex, and Essex.
597 Saint Augustine’s mission arrives in Kent from Rome.
793-795 Danish raids on Lindisfarne, Jarrow and Iona.
878 Pence of Edington determines the boundary between the Saxon and Danish-controlled sectors of England.
919 Norse kingdom of York is founded by Raegnald.
1016 Cnut becomes king ofEngland.
1017 Cnut divides England into four earldoms.
1086 Domesday survey.
1106 Henry I takes Normandy.
1139-1153 Civil war in England.
1169-1172 English conquest of Ireland begins.
1170 Murder of Archbishop Thomas à Becket.
1215 Magna Carta; civil war in England.
1259 Treaty of Paris between England and France.
1294 War with France begins.
1296 Edward I invadesScotland.
1315-1316 Great famine.
1321-1322 Civil war in England.
1337 The Hundred Years’ War begins.
1346 English victory over Crecy.
1347 English capture of Calais.
1348 First occurrence of the ‘Black Death’ (plague) in England.
1356 English victory at Poitiers.
1361 Second major occurrence of the Black Death.
1381 The Peasants’ Revolt.
1382 Condemnation of JohnWycliffe’s works.
1396 Anglo-French treaty.
1412 St Andrews University founded in Scotland.
1420 Anglo-French treaty of Troyes.
1449-1450 French overrunning of Normady.
1477 William Caxton’s first printed book in England.
1483 Death of Richard II at Bosworth; accession of Henry VII.
1512 War with France and Scotland.
1528 War with Spain.
1533 Henry VIII marries Ann Boleyn; birth ofPrincess Elizabeth.
1534 Act of Supremacy; the King becomes Supreme Head of the English Church.
1536 Dissolution of the Monasteries; union of England and Wales.
1543 War with France.
1549 First Book of Common Prayer.
1570 Papal bull excommunicating Queen Elizabeth I.
1580 Sir Francis drake becomes the first Englishman to circumnavigate the world.
1587 War with Spain.
1588Defeat of the Spanish Armada.


Historically, indigenous British people were thought to be descended that settled there before the 11th century: the Celts, Romans, Anglo-Saxons, Norse and the Normans. Welsh people could be the oldest ethnic group in the UK.

At the head of English government stood the king. The machinery of government existed in order to put his decisions and policies intopractice. The king's ministers were just that - servants who ministered to his will.
The feudal system was based on grants of land in exchange for military service, however the duty to send knights was soon commutated to a money payment - scutage. King John used this money to hire mercenary soldiers. Edward I tried to introduce more substantial reforms. He continued to require all the feudaltenants-in-chief to provide military service or scutage, and to employ the Assize of Arms to raise local militias. But Edward I went further by obliging all substantial landowners to be knighted and serve as or provide men-at-arms. He also employed Commissions of Array to levy more humble subjects for service as infantry.






Central governmentHousehold: Law Courts: Military:
Chamberlain
Chancellor
Treasurer
Keeper of the Privy Seal
Lord High Steward
Wardrobe
Admiralty
Chancery
Common Pleas
Exchequer
King's Bench
Marshal
Constable
Admiral


Local government

Sheriffs
Justices of the Peace
Shire Courts
Coroners
Assize Courts



Particular Jurisdictions

Palatinate of Durham
Welsh Marches
County of ChesterEgbert, King of Wessex - 802-839
Egbert was king of the West Saxons who gradually forced his dominance over the other Saxon kingdoms. He defeated the Mercians at the Battle of Ellandune (near Swindon) in 825 and was acknowledged as 'Bretwalda' - an Anglo-Saxon term meaning a ruler with overall superiority to other rulers - by the other Saxon kingdoms, after the decline of...