Christopher Lee is a writer, historian and broadcaster, best-known for writing the radio history series This Sceptred Isle for the BBC. Lee was the first Quatercentenary Fellow in Contemporary History and Gomes Lecturer at Emmanuel College, Cambridge. He researched The History of Ideas at Birkbeck, University of London. He has written nearly thirty books and more than one hundred radio plays.
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First published in the UK by BBC Books, 1997
This updated edition published by Constable, an imprint of Constable & Robinson Ltd., 2012
Copyright © Christopher Lee 1997, 2012
The right of Christopher Lee to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988
Extracts from A History of the English-speaking Peoples by Sir Winston S. Churchill reproduced with permission of Curtis Brown Group Ltd © Sir Winston S. Churchill
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ISBN 978-1-84529-994-1
eISBN 978-1-84901-939-2
Printed and bound in the UK
1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2
For
Charlie, George and Elizabeth
Contents
Author’s Note
Timeline
Acknowledgements
Introduction
CHAPTER ONE 700,000 BC–AD 570
CHAPTER TWO 570–886
CHAPTER THREE 886–1065
CHAPTER FOUR 1066–87
CHAPTER FIVE 1087–1165
CHAPTER SIX 1166–89
CHAPTER SEVEN 1189–99
CHAPTER EIGHT 1199–1216
CHAPTER NINE 1217–72
CHAPTER TEN 1272–1307
CHAPTER ELEVEN 1307–30
CHAPTER TWELVE 1331–76
CHAPTER THIRTEEN 1377–99
CHAPTER FOURTEEN 1399–1454
CHAPTER FIFTEEN 1455–85
CHAPTER SIXTEEN 1485–1515
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN 1516–46
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN 1547–58
CHAPTER NINETEEN 1558–87
CHAPTER TWENTY 1588–1602
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE 1603–25
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO 1625–39
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE 1640–49
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR 1649–60
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE 1660–81
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX 1682–5
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN 1685–6
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT 1687–8
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE 1689–1702
CHAPTER THIRTY 1702–6
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE 1707–14
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO 1714–20
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE 1721–6
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR 1727–46
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE 1746–56
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX 1756–60
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN 1760–68
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT 1769–70
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE 1770–81
CHAPTER FORTY 1782–93
CHAPTER FORTY-ONE 1793–1800
CHAPTER FORTY-TWO 1800–1805
CHAPTER FORTY-THREE 1805–8
CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR 1809–19
CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE 1820–23
CHAPTER FORTY-SIX 1824–7
CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN 1828–32
CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT 1834–7
CHAPTER FORTY-NINE 1837–41
CHAPTER FIFTY 1841–53
CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE 1854–7
CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO 1857–60
CHAPTER FIFTY-THREE 1861–70
CHAPTER FIFTY-FOUR 1870–85
CHAPTER FIFTY-FIVE 1886–1901
CHAPTER FIFTY-SIX A Question of Identity
Index
Author’s Note
British Isles appears to be a late sixteenth-century phrase, sometimes attributed to John Dee. Please accept the inaccuracy of British Isles when used in the work for periods earlier than the Elizabethans. It is convenient and hopefully offends no one. I have used BC as a personal preference to BCE although some readers may prefer the latter. I have also, with acknowledgement to the Venerable Bede, used Anno Domini.
Timeline
2.4–2.1 billion years BC
Huronian Glacial (Ice) Age
850–630 million years BC
Cryogenian Ice Age
460–430 million BC
Andean-Sahara Ice Age
360–260 million BC
Karoo Ice Age
c.2 million–c.10,000 BC
Old Stone Age (Palaeolithic)
c.10,000 BC–c.5,500 BC
Middle Stone Age (Mesolithic)
c.5,500–c.2,500 BC
New Stone Age (Neolithic)
3,150 BC–1,200 BC
The Seven Bronze Ages
c.1,200 BC–c.580 BC
Iron Age
55 BC
Caesar’s first exploratory invasion
54 BC
Caesar’s second invasion opposed by Cassivellaunus
AD 43
Conquests starts and Caratacus defeated at the Medway
61
Invasion of Wales and slaughter of the Druids; rebellion of Boudicca
75–7
Julius Agricola, Roman governor of Britain
84
Battle of Mons Graupius (Romans defeat Picts led by Calgacus)
c.122–30
Hadrian’s Wall
166
The first Christian church in England
293
Division of Roman Empire
304
Martyrdom of St Alban
306–37
Constantine the Great
410
Withdrawal of Roman legions and the virtual end of Roman rule; beginning of the Dark Ages
449
Angles, Saxon and Jute invaders; Hengist and Horsa; St Patrick in Ireland
476
Defeat of last Roman Emperor Romulus Augustulus by the German, Odoacer
477
Ælle conquers Sussex
494
Jutes conquer Kent
518
King Arthur defeat Saxons at Mount Badon
c.550
St David’s Mission to Wales
563
Columba establishes the Iona community
597
St Augustine lands in Kent
c.607
The first St Paul’s Church in London
635
Lindisfarne monastery
664
Synod of Whitby
c.685
Foundation of Saxon Winchester Cathedral
731
Book of Kells
c.783
Offa’s Dyke
787
Start of Danish raids
829
Egbert, overlord of England
c.840
Dublin built by Danes
c.850
Kenneth MacAlpin, first King of Scotia
871
Alfred the Great
c. 891
The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
924
King Athelstan
939
Edmund I
959
King Edgar
978
Corfe Castl
e and Edward the Martyr
978
Æthelred (Ethelred) the Unready
991
Ælfric’s Life of the Saints
994
Danes besiege London
c.1000
Offshore and deep-sea fishing starts
1002
St Brice’s Day Massacre
1007
Danegeld
1016
Cnut
1017
England split into four earldoms
1034
Duncan I of Scotland
1035
Harold I of England
1039
Gruffudd ap Llywelyn
1040
Harthacnut
1040
Macbeth, King of Scots
1042
Edward the Confessor
1058
Malcolm III Canmore, King of Scots
1064
Earl Harold’s homage to William of Normandy
1066
Harold II and Battle of Hastings; King William I; Hereward the Wake
1067
First Marcher Lord (Hereford); Tower of London started
1079
Norman Winchester Cathedral started
1086
Domesday started
1087
William Rufus; Rhys ap Tewdwr
1093–7
Donald III Bane, King of Scots
1097
Edgar, King of Scots
1100
Henry I; marries Matilda
1107
Alexander I, King of Scots
Miracle Plays first performed (Dunstable)
1120
White Ship; death of Henry I’s son, William
1124
David I
1135–54
King Stephen
1138
David I invades England
1153
Malcolm IV, King of Scots
1154
Henry II; Adrian IV – only English Pope
1165
William, the Lion of the Scots
1166
Rory O’Connor drives Dermot MacMurrough from Ireland
c.1167
Foundation of Oxford University
1170
Strongbow lands in Ireland; murder of Becket
1177
John Lackland, titular Lord of Ireland; founding of Belfast
1179
The Grand Assize
1189
Richard I, Coeur de Lion
1190
Massacre of Jews, York
c.1191
Lord Mayor of London (Henry fitz Ailwin)
1194
Richard I ransomed
1199
King John; Wars in France over English possessions
1209
Cambridge University
1214
Alexander II of the Scots
1215
Magna Carta; First Barons’ War; Louis of France invades England
1216
Henry III; Forest Charter
1218
Llywelyn ap Iorwerth; Treaty of Worcester
1220
Salisbury Cathedral
1225
Magna and Forest Charters re-issued
1227
Henry III declared of age
1242
Battle of the Saintes
1249
Alexander III of the Scots
1258
Provisions of Oxford
1264
Second Barons’ War
1266
Treaty of Perth. Norway cedes Western Isles and Isle of Man
1267
Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, Prince of Wales
1271
Marco Polo travels to China
1272
Edward I
1278
Jews arrested for gold-clipping
1279
Statute of Mortmain limiting church landowning
1286
Margaret, Queen of Scots
1290
Expulsion of Jews
1292
John Balliol, King of Scots
1295
Model Parliament
1297
William Wallace defeats English at Stirling Bridge
1305
William Wallace executed
1306
Robert I, King of Scots
1307
Edward II
1308
Edward II weds Isabella of France
1309
Papacy to Avignon
1310
Lords Ordainers
1312
Gaveston executed
1314
Bannockburn
1318
Despensers
1325
Queen Isabella flees to France
1326
Isabella and Roger de Mortimer imprison Edward II
1327
Edward II assassinated; Edward III
1329
David II, King of Scots
1337
Hundred Years War begins
1340
Battle of Sluys
Battle of Crécy
1347
Calais
1348
Order of the Garter
1356
Poitiers
c.1362
William Langland’s Piers Plowman
1376
Death of Edward, the Black Prince
1377
Richard II
1378
The Great Schism splits Church
1381
Peasants’ Revolt
1388
Otterburn
1390
Robert III, King of Scots
c.1390
Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales
1399
Death of John of Gaunt; Bolingbroke seizes crown
1399
Henry IV
1400
Richard II murdered(?)
1401
First Lollard Martyr
1403
Percy’s Revolt; Henry Percy killed at Shrewsbury
1406
James I of Scots
1409
Owen Glyndŵr
1411
Foundation of Guildhall in London
1413
Henry V
1415
Agincourt
1420
Treaty of Troyes; Paston Letters
1422
Henry VI
1429
Joan of Arc at Orléans
1437
James II of Scots
1450
Cade’s Rebellion
1453
End of Hundred Years War; Gutenberg Bible
1455
Wars of the Roses begin
1460
James III of Scots
1461
Edward IV
c.1474
Caxton prints first book in English
1483
Richard III
1485
Henry VII; founding of the Yeomen of the Guard
1488
James IV of Scots
1492
Christopher Columbus reaches America
1509
Henry VIII marries Catherine of Aragon
1513
James V of Scots
1519
Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor
1527
Henry VIII fails in attempt to divorce Catherine of Aragon
1533
Henry VIII marries Anne Boleyn; Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury
1536
Henry VIII marries Jane Seymour; Wales annexed to England
1540
Henry VIII marries and divorces Anne of Cleves; marries Catherine Howard
1540
Henry VIII, King of Ireland
1
542
Mary, Queen of Scots
1547
Edward VI
1549
First Book of Common Prayer
1553
Mary I
1556
Cranmer executed
1558
Elizabeth I
1561
Mary, Queen of Scots returns to Scotland from France
1562
British slave trade starts
1567
James VI, King of Scotland
1571
First anti-Catholic Penal Law
1580
Drake’s circumnavigation