The Earliest Times

1. Why were the Celts important in British history?

They are important for bringing iron plounge to Britain which caused agricultural
revolution during these ages. Also many people from today’s Highland Scotland, Wales,
Ireland and Cornwall descend from ancient Celtic tribes.

2. Why were the Romans important in British history?

Romans were important because they brought latin language, culture and civilization to
Britain; one of the consequences were that reading and writing skills had been introduced
to people in Britain. We can thank Romans for island’s name as they mispronounced the
old celtic Pretani with Bretani – Britannia.

3. Where did the Germanic tribes come from and what were their names?
Those were the Angles, Saxons and Jutes. They started invading Britain in 5th century
from today’s Denmark and northern parts of Germany.

4. VENERABLEEE BEDE blyat

Venerable Bede is famous and significant for leaving a very important historical source –
Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum. Ecclesiastic history of the English people tells us
in details about three powerful Germanic tribes that qonquered British isles (Angles,
Jutes, Saxons). He helped with popularizing the practice of dating forward from the birth
of Christ (AD – Anno domini = in the year of our Lord)

5. What was the Witan?

Witan or King’s council was one of the first political bodies to ever be formed in history
of Britain. It probably grew out of informal groups of senior warriors and churchmen to
whom kings like Offa had turned for advice or support on difficult matters. It was not
democratic and the king could choose to ignore Witan’s advice if he wanted to.

6. Who was the king Alfred?

He was the first king who made most use of the church. He used the literate men of the
Church to help establish a system of law, to educate the vast masses and to write down
important matters. During his reign, in 9th century, a very important historical source was
written – Anglo-Saxon Chronicle that tells us about the history of the Anglo-Saxons.

7. What was the “Danish money”?

One of the Wessex kings, Ethelred firmly decided to keep Vikings off his lands. In this
regard, he had taxed his own citizens and the money that he collected i.e Danegeld, he
was paying to Vikings as a tribute so they stopped invading his lands. It was the
beginning of a regular tax system of the people
which would provide money for armies.

8. Describe the invasion of the Vikings and their contribution to the British history.
Vikings invaded Anglo-Saxon shores from today’s Norway, Sweden and Denmark in
mid 9th century. One of their contribution to Britain’s history is building new town
centres. Dublin, today’s capital of Ireland is one of them.
 9. Who was the StPatrick?
He was a British slave that spread the message of Christianity in Ireland. Known as the
“Apostle of Ireland” he was the primary patron saint of Ireland.

10. Describe four groups of people that inhabited Scotland.

Picts that lived mostly in the north and northeast. Scots, the Celtic settlers who inhabited
western Highlands. Britons who inhabited the Lowlands had been part of the Romano-
British world. +Angles that broke in to Scotland from Northumbria
11. Who was Columba?
He was a Christian missionary who got famous as a slayer of monster in Lochness. He
lived in 6th

The early Middle ages

12. What happened in 1066?
Wiliam of Normandy successfully beats the English army and their king Harold II who
was killed in decisive battle of Hastings. Afterwards Wiliam I earns his nickname the
“Qonqueror”, and through successful, but bloody coronation in London he becomes the
king and rightful ruler of the English.

13. Summarise the rule of Henry II

Henry II was an English king from house of Plantagenets, ruling in 12th century. As count
of Anjou he added his father’s lands to the family empire. He was ruler of far more land
than any previous king and his empire stretched from the Scottish border to the Pyrenees.

14. Who was Richard the Lionheart?

He was the son of Henry II. Richard I was one of the most popular English kings, despite
having spent hardly any time in England. He went to the Holy Land during the Third
crusade to fight the Muslims and he fought with skill, courage and valor, earning the
nickname Lionheart.

15. Who was King John?

He was brother of Richard I and heir to the throne. He was an unpopular king thanks to
his greediness. He quarreled with the pope over who should be the bishop of Centerbury;
in 1214 he gave in and accepted the pope’s choice of archbishop. He is famous for
signing the Magna Carta (the Great Charter), agreement that was an important symbol of
political freedom.

16. Who was Simon de Montfort?

John had the son Henry III whose heavy spending upset the English nobility. Nobles
acted once again as a class and under leadership of Simon de Montfort, the earl of
Leicester they overthrew the government and elected the council of nobles. De Montfort
called it parliament, parlement which is a French word for a “discussion meeting”.

17. House of Commons?

King Edward I was the first king to create a representative institution that could provide
the money he needed. This is how House of Commons was created. Edward commanded
each shire and borough to send 2 officials that would represent their local communities.
This was the beginning of the idea that there should “no taxation without representation”,
 later claimed by the American colonists of the 18th century.

18. Describe legend about Robin Hood

He was a wanted criminal in Yorkshire around 1230. Legend says he was an
extraordinary warrior and excellent archer who stole from the rich and helped the poor,
so no wonder his story caught many people’s imagination.

19. What is a guild?

Guild is an association of craftsmen and merchants formed for purpose of mutual aid and
protection and for the furthering of their professional interests. The word comes from
Saxon “gildan” which means to pay, because members paid towards the cost of the
brotherhood.

20. What 2 higher schools were established at the end of 12th century?
2 schools of higher education that were established by the end of 12th century were first at
Oxford and second at Cambridge. Soon after these two universities were the intellectual
centres of the country.

The Tudors
21. Summarise the rule of Henry VII
He may be less known than Henry VIII and Elizabeth I, but Henry VII established the
main pillars, the very foundation of newly formed monarchy upon which his successors
acquired fame and glory. Under the firm belief that war is bad for bussines and that
business is good for the state, Henry VII avoided further conflicts with Scotland in the
north and France in the south.

22. Summarise the rule of Henry VIII

Unlike his father, Henry VIII was a ruthless and cruel type of ruler, interested in pleasing
his own needs. Perhaps most famous for having 6 marriages and 2 wives beheaded,
Henry VIII disagreed with the Pope regarding the marital annulment which led him to
initiate the English reformation, separating the church of England from Papal authority.

23. Summarise the rule of Eli I

During her reign, Elizabeth I established Protestantism in England, defeated powerful
foreign threat – Armada the Spanish fleet and maintained peace inside her previously
divided country. This period is often called the Elizabethan Age, when England asserted
itself vigorously as a major European power in politics, commerce and arts. People
sometimes called her the Virgin Queen as she never got married.

24. Who were the most important playwrights during the Tudor period?
During the Tudor period, literature was England’s greatest art form. Playwrights like
Christopher Marlowe, Ben Jonson and Wiliam Shakespeare warmed people’s hearts by
filling the theatres with their exhilerating new plays.

The late Middle ages

25. What was the code of chivalry?
Edward III was the king who ivented this practice. “Code of chivalry” represents a
honourable way in which a perfect knight should behave. According to the code, the
perfect knight fought for his good name, served Lord and the king as well any lady in
need.

26. What was the Black death?

The year 1348 brought an event of far more importance than anything else that had
happened some time before. It was the terrible plague, known as Black Death that
reached almost every city of British isles during 1348-9.
Probably more than 1/3 of entire populaton of Britain died, and fewer than one person in
ten who caught the plague managed to survive it.

27. What were the causes and the consequences of the War of Roses?
Main reasons for initial outbreak of the War of Roses were: incompetent reign of Henry
VI, who was simple-minded and book-loving, tending to avoid any type of conflict at all
cost; discontent amongst the nobility due to previously having lost war in France, king
being bad at picking advisers and economy impoverishing; the ambition and desire for
power of Richard II, the duke of York and later his son Edward IV
Some of the most important consequences of the war were: an increase in the power of
nobles compared to the Crown during the war; half of the lords of the sixty noble families
losing lives in horrors of war; ending the war and taking over the throne by Henry VII,
the founder of House of Tudor

28. Who were the writers that helped in rebirth of English literature and what are their
famous works?
Two writers, above all others, helped in rebirth of English literature. One was William
Langland, a mid-14th century priest who wrote Piers Plowman, the poem which plainly
describes the times in which he lived. The other, Geoffrey Chaucer who became much
more famous, wrote The Centerbury Tales at the end of the same century.

29. Who was William Caxton?

William Caxton was an English merchant, who brought the technology of printing to
England in 1475. Before his discovery, books in England had been copied out by hands,
by scribes. Caxton’s press provided books for the newly educated people of 15th century
and greatly encouraged literacy.