UNIT 3: SOME IMPORTANT EVENTS IN BRITISH HISTORY

 55 and 54 BC: Julius Caesar’s expeditions to Britain

(55 và 54 TCN: Các cuộc thám hiểm của Julius Caesar đến Anh)
 AD 43: Roman conquest begins under Claudius
(Năm 43 sau Công nguyên: Cuộc chinh phục của người La Mã bắt đầu dưới thời Claudius)
 122–38: Hadrian’s Wall built
(122–38: Tường thành Hadrian được xây dựng)
 c.409: Roman army withdraws from Britain
(c.409: Quân đội La Mã rút khỏi nước Anh)
 450s onwards: foundation of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms
(Những năm 450 trở đi: nền tảng của các vương quốc Anglo-Saxon)
 597: arrival of St Augustine to preach Christianity to the Anglo-Saxons
 664: Synod of Whitby opts for Roman Catholic rather than Celtic church
 789–95: first Viking raids
 832–60: Scots and Picts merge under Kenneth Macalpin to form what is to become the kingdom of
Scotland
 860s: Danes overrun East Anglia, Northumbria and eastern Mercia
 871–99: reign of Alfred the Great in Wessex
 1066: William the Conqueror defeats Harold Godwinson at Hastings and takes the throne
 1086: Domesday Book completed: a survey of English landholdings undertaken on the orders of
William I
 1215: King John signs Magna Carta to protect feudal rights against royal abuse
 13th century: first Oxford and Cambridge colleges founded
 1301: Edward of Caernarvon (later Edward II) created Prince of Wales
 1314: Battle of Bannockburn ensures survival of separate Scottish kingdom
 1337: Hundred Years War between England and France begins
 1348–49: Black Death (bubonic plague) wipes out a third of England’s population
 1381: Peasants’ Revolt in England, the most significant popular rebellion in English history
 1400–c.1406: Owain Glyndwˆ r (Owen Glendower) leads the last major Welsh revolt against English
rule
 1411: St Andrews University founded, the first university in Scotland
 1455–87: Wars of the Roses between Yorkists and Lancastrians
 1477: first book to be printed in England, by William Caxton
 1534–40: English Reformation; Henry VIII breaks with the Papacy
 1536–42: Acts of Union integrate England and Wales administratively and legally, and give Wales
representation in Parliament
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 1547–53: Protestantism becomes official religion in England under Edward VI
 1553–58: Catholicism restored by Mary I
 1558: loss of Calais, last English possession in France
 1558–1603: reign of Elizabeth I; moderate Protestantism established
 1588: defeat of Spanish Armada
 1603: union of the crowns of Scotland and England under James VI of Scotland
 1642–51: Civil Wars between King and Parliament
 1649: execution of Charles I
 1653–58: Oliver Cromwell rules as Lord Protector
 1660: monarchy restored under Charles II
 1660: founding of the Royal Society for the Promotion of Natural Knowledge
 1665: the Great Plague, the last major epidemic of plague in England
 1666: the Great Fire of London
 1686: Isaac Newton sets out his laws of motion and the idea of universal gravitation
 1688: Glorious Revolution; accession of William and Mary
 1707: Acts of Union unite the English and Scottish Parliaments
 1721–42: Robert Walpole, first British Prime Minister
 1745–46: Bonnie Prince Charlie’s failed attempt to retake the British throne for the Stuarts
 c.1750–c.1850: Industrial Revolution
 1761: opening of the Bridgewater Canal ushers in Canal Age
 1775–83: American War of Independence leads to loss of the Thirteen Colonies
 1800: Act of Union unites Great Britain and Ireland
 1805: Battle of Trafalgar, the decisive naval battle of the Napoleonic Wars
 1815: Battle of Waterloo, the final defeat of Napoleon
 1825: opening of the Stockton and Darlington Railway, the world’s first passenger railway
 1829: Catholic emancipation
 1832: first Reform Act extends the franchise (increasing the number of those entitled to vote by about 50
per cent)
 1833: abolition of slavery in the British Empire (the slave trade having been abolished in 1807)
 1837–1901: reign of Queen Victoria
 1868: founding of the Trades Union Congress (TUC)
 1910–36: during the reign of George V, the British Empire reaches its territorial zenith
 1914–18: First World War
 1918: the vote given to women over 30
 1921: Anglo-Irish Treaty establishes the Irish Free State; Northern Ireland remains part of the United
Kingdom
 1928: voting age for women reduced to 21, on equal terms with men
 1936: King Edward VIII abdicates
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  1936: Jarrow Crusade, the most famous of the hunger marches in the 1930s
 1939–45: Second World War
 1947: independence for India and Pakistan: the United Kingdom begins to dismantle its imperial
structure
 1948: the National Health Service begins to offer free medical care to the whole population
 1952: accession of Elizabeth II
 1965: first commercial natural gas discovery in the North Sea
 1969: first notable discovery of offshore oil in the North Sea
 1969: the vote is extended to all over the age of 18
 1971: decimal currency is introduced
 1973: the United Kingdom enters the European
 Community (now the European Union)
 1979–90: Margaret Thatcher is the first UK woman Prime Minister
 1994: Channel Tunnel opens to rail traffic
 1999: Scottish Parliament, National Assembly for Wales and Northern Ireland Assembly assume
devolved powers
(from UK 2005, pp 496-497)
Question: What happened on these dates? Complete the table with major events from UK history. KEY:
DATE EVENT
1066 William the Conqueror defeats Harold Godwinson at Hastings and takes the throne.
1215 King John signs Magna Carta to protect feudal rights against royal abuse.
1337 Hundred Years War between England and France begins
1381 Peasants’ Revolt in England, the most significant popular rebellion in English history
1455 Wars of the Roses between Yorkists and Lancastrians starts.
1534 English Reformation; Henry VIII breaks with the Papacy
1588 Defeat of Spanish Armada
1750 Industrial Revolution starts.
1800 Act of Union unites Great Britain and Ireland.
1948 The National Health Service begins to offer free medical care to the whole population.
Slide Unit 3
https://hoctructuyen.udn.vn/files/2020/2020_5_27_36_39_490_topic_3_-_some_important_events.pptx
3.1. MEDIEVAL ENGLAND
After defeating the Anglo-Saxon king Harold at the Battle of
Hastings in 1066, William of Normandy introduced the
Norman feudal system, rewarding his French-speaking
followers with land in return for their continued support, and
French remained the language of the upper classes and
administration until the 14th century.
(Sau khi đánh bại vua Anglo-Saxon Harold trong Trận chiến
Hastings năm 1066, William xứ Normandy đã giới thiệu hệ
thống phong kiến Norman, thưởng cho những người nói
tiếng Pháp của mình đất đai để đổi lấy sự ủng hộ liên tục của
họ, và tiếng Pháp vẫn là ngôn ngữ của tầng lớp thượng lưu và
chánh phủ cho đến thế kỷ 14.)

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 The power of these Norman Barons gradually increased and during the reign of the Plantagenets began,
together with the Church, to challenge the King’s absolute power, which resulted in King John being
forced to sign the Magna Carta at Runnymede in 1215. This document contained a long list of
limitations to the King’s power and these rights obtained by the Barons were eventually extended to the
entire population.
(Quyền lực của những Nam tước Norman này dần dần tăng lên và trong thời kỳ trị vì của Plantagenets,
cùng với Nhà thờ, bắt đầu thách thức quyền lực tuyệt đối của Nhà vua, dẫn đến việc Vua John buộc phải ký
Magna Carta tại Runnymede vào năm 1215. Tài liệu này chứa đựng một danh sách dài các hạn chế đối với
quyền lực của Nhà vua và những quyền này mà các Nam tước có được cuối cùng đã được mở rộng cho toàn
bộ dân chúng.)
The origins of Parliament are to be found in the reign of John’s successor, Henry III. It was a meeting
of the King and his Barons and servants at which various administrative and financial problems were
discussed. In order to make it easier to put the decisions taken into practice, each Shire had to elect a
number of knights to attend these meetings and report the decisions to their Shires. Edward I continued this
experiment and in 1295 called a parliament that became known as the Model Parliament, at which
barons, earls and the high clergy (bishop and abbots) were present, together with the knights and burgesses
representing the shires and boroughs. The ‘House of Commons’ as a separate Chamber resulted from the
unofficial meeting of these knights and burgesses. The person chosen to ‘speak’ for these ‘commoners’ in
Parliament became known as the Speaker.
The Hundred Years’ War fought between France and England had a devastating effect on the English
economy. This high taxation necessary to finance the war and the Black Death (a plague in 1348 that
killed a third of the population of England) led to such extreme hardship for the peasant class that there was a
revolt in 1381. Although the Peasants’ Revolt was soon put down, it led to greatly improved conditions
for the peasant class and was the first step towards the ending of the feudal system in England.

3.2. TUDOR ENGLAND

No sooner was the Hundred Years’ War over than a long power struggle (1455-85) began for the
English Crown between two families: the House of Lancaster and the House of York. The Wars of the
Roses (so called because both families used a rose as their symbol) ended when Henry VII (Henry of
Tudor) united the two rival houses, giving origin to the Tudor dynasty.
During Henry‘s reign the medieval period came to a close. Men was no longer tied to manors and
estates in the country; the power of the towns, with their educated and industrious middle classes, began
to make itself felt; and there was a revival, or Renaissance, of learning, partly as a result of the printing
press, which ended the Church’s monopoly of learning.
Henry’s son and heir, Henry VIII (1509-1547), was a typical
renaissance prince; handsome, learned, ambition and unscrupulous. He
also had an instinctive understanding of his times. It was his creation of
the Royal Navy that enabled England to realised her imperialistic
ambitions under Elizabeth and defy the Pope and the Catholic power of
Europe.
Henry used Parliament to establish himself as the head of the Protestant
Church of England with the Act of Supremacy in 1534. his decision to
act through Parliament greatly strengthen this institution, which had lost
virtually all its authority under Henry VII. There was general support
on the part of the English people, who was resentful of papal
interference in national affairs. His Reformation led to the creation of
the religiously distinct Anglican Church. The dissolution of monasteries
(and the confiscation of their large estates) served to destroy papal
authority in England and at the same time provide Henry with much
needed wealth.

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 Elizabeth I (1558-1603) was an outstanding ruler. She restored national unity, opposing extremist
doctrines and supporting a moderate form of Protestantism similar to that of her father’s. Her reign is
considered by many as the Golden Age of English history, producing not only poets of the stature of
Shakespeare and Spenser, but also prosperity for the entire nation. The discovery of America placed
Britain at the centre of the world’s trading routes and brilliant naval commanders (especially Sir Francis
Drake and Sir Walter Raleigh) enabled England to dominate these trade routes. During this period great
trading companies, like the East India Company, were also established. Parliament was regularly called
and consulted, while Justices of the Peace administered justice and carried out all the ordinary functions of
local government.

3.3. THE CONFLICT BETWEEN KING AND PARLIAMENT

3.3.1. The Civil War
Convinced of the divine right of kings, the Stuart kings James I and Charles I followed the medieval
notion of monarchy, ignoring Parliament. Charles I raised taxes without its permission and prevented it
from meeting for 11 years until he needed its help to raise the money to fight the war against Scotland.
Relations between King and Parliament became so bad that civil war eventually broke out (1642).
The majority of the nobles supported Charles and the majority of the gentry supported Parliament in this
fight over who should have sovereign power. After Oliver Cromwell had led the Parliamentarian
Roundheads to victory (1648), Charles I was executed for treason and Cromwell became Lord Protector.
England was now a Republic.

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3.3.2. The Restoration of the Monarchy
The monarchy (together with the Anglican Church and the House of Lords) was restored in 1660, two
years after Cromwell’s death, when Charles II was invited to sit on the throne of a country tired of the harsh
morality of Puritan rule. The Plague, which killed almost 70,000 of London’s inhabitants, and the Great
Fire (1666), which destroyed most of the city during his reign, were considered signs of God’s wrath by the
Puritans.
Although Charles had restored some power to the monarchy by the time James II came to throne,
Parliament’s support was necessary to govern the country. Parliament was dominated by two groups: the
Whigs, who had tried to exclude Charles’ Catholic brother from the throne, and the Tories, the
conservative aristocracy that had favoured the royal prerogative. However, his filling of civil and military
posts with Catholics while the Protestants were being murdered in France so angered Parliament that the
Tories and Whigs agreed to invite the Protestant William of Orange and Mary (James II’s Daughter) to
take the Crown as joint sovereigns. This Glorious Revolution (1688, so-called because it was
bloodless) was accompanied by a Bill of Rights, which made it obligatory for the sovereign to rule
with Parliament’s assistance and outlawed Catholicism for all Englishmen, including the King.
(from Aspects of Britain and the USA, pp. 21-24)
3.4. EMPIRE AND INDUSTRY
During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, Britain itself was peaceful. Abroad, it was aggressively
expanding its empire. It became a powerful and rich country because of its empire and its industry. Cheap
raw materials, produced by badly paid or unpaid workers, were imported from the colonies. The
technological changes of the Industrial Revolution allowed Britain to manufacture products cheaply for
export back to the colonies and other countries.
The Industrial Revolution caused great social changes in Britain. Many people moved from the land to
the cities. These people worked in the factories, creating an urban working class, which was often very poor.
In Queen Victoria’s reign (1837-1901), children as young as four had jobs in factories and mines. Their
parents had no right to vote and try to change things.
The Reform Act of 1832 gave the vote to all men who owned a house, but it was not until 1918 that the
right to vote was given to all men over 21 and to women over 30. Women under 30 had to wait until 1928
for the vote.
Britain at its most powerful had colonies in every continent, but the end of the Empire came quickly, after
the Second World War (1939-1945). India, one of the most important colonies, became independent in
1948. In the 1960s, the African and Caribbean countries also became independent. British people began
realise that their country was no longer an imperial world power but just a country in Europe.

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 (from In Britain-21st Century Edition, p.13)
3.5. DID YOU KNOW?
Francis Drake (c.1540-96) an English sailor who fought against the Spanish and was the first Englishman
to sail around the world.
Walter Raleigh (also Ralegh) (c.1552-1618) an English explorer, politician and soldier. He began his
career fighting the Spanish and the Irish, and was made a knight in 1584 by Queen Elizabeth I. With her
support he made several journeys to North America (1584-9) and South America (1595), bringing back
tobacco and the potato, but failed to establish a permanent base there. After the death of Elizabeth he was
put in prison for treason for 13 years, during which he wrote his History of the World (1614). In 1616 he
was released by King James I to look for gold in South America. He was not successful in this, and when
he returned he was punished by having his head cut off. One of the most popular stories about Raleigh
describes how he spread his coat over a piece of wet ground so that Queen Elizabeth could walk over it.
Magna Carta a document that King John was forced to sign by the English barons at Runnymede in
1215. It restricted the king's power and gave new rights to the barons and the people. Some of these rights
are basic to modern British law, e.g. the right to have a trial before being put in prison. Four of the original
copies of the Magna Carta still exist, two in the British Library and one each in the cathedrals of Salisbury
and Lincoln.
John (1167-1216) the king of England from 1199 to 1216. He was the youngest son of Henry II and
became king after the death of his brother Richard I, having previously tried to take power from him. He
was not a popular or successful king. He lost most of the English land in France, quarrelled with the Church,
and was forced by his barons in 1215 to sign the Magna Carta, which limited his royal powers. He is the
subject of King John, an early play by Shakespeare.
the Model Parliament the name later given to the English parliament set up in 1295 by King Edward I. It
was the first to include not only members of the clergy and the aristocracy but also elected members to
represent ordinary people. In this way it established the pattern for future parliaments.
The Hundred Years War a war between France and England that lasted, with long periods between
battles, from the 1340s to the 1450s. The English were trying to get control of France, and won some
major battles, including Crecy (1346) and Agincourt (1415), but by the end of the war they had only gained
the area around Calais, which they kept until 1558.
The Peasants' Revolt. The Hundred Years’ War lead to a period of high taxation. In 1381 the
introduction of a poll tax led to the most significant revolt in English history. The peasants of Kent and
Essex marched to Canterbury and then to London to protest at their conditions of life and the harsh
taxes they had to pay. They occupied several major buildings, including the Tower of London. The
young king, Richard II, talked to their leader, Wat Tyler, and promised to help them. Many of them then
went home, but Tyler was killed and the Revolt ended in failure.
The Wars of the Roses. The name now used for the period of fighting (1455-85) in England between the
supporters of the two most powerful families in the country at the time, the House of Lancaster, whose
symbol was a red rose, and the House of York, whose symbol was a white rose. The aim of each side was
to make a member of their family the king of England. Each side was successful at different times and the
wars only ended when Henry Tudor (House of Lancaster) defeated Richard III (House of York) and
became King Henry VII. His marriage to Elizabeth of York united the two sides and ended the fighting.
The Golden Age. Elizabeth I's rule is remembered as the Golden Age of English history. Under her rule,
England advanced in such areas as foreign trade, exploration, literature, and the arts. During Elizabeth's
reign the age of exploration began with explorers such as Francis Drake claiming new lands for England
and introducing new materials and foods. The American State, Virginia, is named after her.
The Spanish Armada. The group of 129 ships sent by Spain in 1588 to attack England. A group of
British ships, led by Lord Howard of Effingham's Ark Royal and Francis Drake's Revenge, defeated the
Armada in the English Channel. It was the first sea battle in history involving large number.

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 The Civil War. a war (1642-51) between the King of England, Charles I, and his parliament. Its causes
were both political and religious. It divided the people of England and caused great suffering. Charles I's
soldiers (the Cavaliers) were defeated by those of parliament (the Roundheads) at the battles of Marston
Moor (1644) and Naseby (1645). The Roundhead soldiers were very well organized, in the New Model
Army, under Thomas Fairfax and Oliver Cromwell. Charles I was held prisoner for more than two years,
and was then executed, in January 1649. The Commonwealth was declared. For 11 years England had no
king or queen, although for much of this time it had a strong leader in Oliver Cromwell. The
Commonwealth did not last long after Cromwell's death, however, and in 1660 Charles's son took his
place as King Charles II at the Restoration.
Whig. A member of a British political party established in the late 17th century. The Whigs believed that
Parliament should have more power than the king or queen, and supported the Hanoverian kings and
queens against the Stuarts. They believed in religious freedom and political reforms. The Whigs, who were
mainly rich businessmen and people who owned land in the country, were in power for the first half of the
18th century. In the 19th century they changed into the Liberal Party.
Tory. A member of one of the two main political parties in Britain from the 1670s until the 1830s. The
Tories were originally a group of politicians who wanted the Roman Catholic James, Duke of York (later
James II) to be allowed to become king of England. They were powerful for various periods during the
18th and 19th centuries. In the 1830s, the Tories developed into the Conservative Party and the name is
widely used as an informal alternative name for the Conservative Party.
The Glorious Revolution (the Bloodless Revolution). The events in Britain in 1688 when the Roman
Catholic James II was removed as king and replaced by his daughter Mary and her husband William III
(William of Orange). So many of James's Protestant officers joined William's side that there was no
fighting, and James escaped to France with his family. These events are also called the Glorious Revolution
because constitutional monarchy was introduced at the same time.
The Bill of Rights. The informal name of the Act Declaring the Rights and Liberties of the Subject, which
was passed by Parliament in 1689. This Act dealt with the relationship between the king or queen and
Parliament, not with the rights of individuals. The earlier Declaration of Right had greatly reduced the
power of the king or queen, and the new Act helped make Britain a constitutional monarchy, in which real
power lies with Parliament, not with the monarch. The Act also prevented a Roman Catholic from becoming
king or queen.
The Industrial Revolution. The phrase used to describe Britain's progress in the 18th and 19th century
from being largely an agricultural country to being an industrial one. Britain was the first country to
change in this way. During this time, many important machines were invented. These were mostly made
possible by the discovery of steam power and the invention of the steam engine, which allowed one worker
to do what before had required many workers. As a result, big factories were built which could produce a
wide variety of goods in large quantities. New methods of transport, in particular canals and railways, were
developed for transporting these goods from place to place. During the Industrial Revolution, the
populations of cities grew rapidly as people moved from the countryside to work in factories. The same
kind of development soon began in other countries in Europe and in the US.
(from Oxford Guide to British and American Culture)
3.6. Review
3.7. Exercise:
Click here to view exercise of Unit 3.

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