The Entire History of England

[Music] [Music] England is one of the four nations that make up the modern United Kingdom alongside Wales Scotland and Northern Ireland being by far the largest in terms of land mass and population England has for centuries been the most powerful and developed Nation within the British Isles having exerted its influence over its immediate neighbors through economic and Military might however it may come as a surprise to know that for much of its early history England itself was influenced by many other neighboring cultures and languages from as far back as prehistoric times England has played host to successive waves of migration and Conquest which over the subsequent Millennia and centuries have coalesced into a unique mixture of language culture and Heritage that is unlike anywhere else in the world but how did this relatively small nation go on to mold not only the future Destiny of the British Isles but also shape much of the modern world in which we live today this is the history of England the nation of England has been shaped by countless political upheavals Wars and invasions over the past several Centuries with perhaps the most iconic and defining of these being World War II we all know that the Allies were ultimately Victorious however if youve ever wondered how this conflict could have played out differently you can now Envision this for yourself by playing Call of War who have kindly sponsored this video you can fight up to 100 other players in this free-to-play online realtime PVP strategy game that can take weeks to fully complete which is great if you're a fan of long-term strategic based games like we are you can recruit many different units to build out your army including tanks planes and the nuclear bomb as well as Forge alliances with other players as part of your chosen Grand strategy call of War can be played on both PC and mobile with the same account and if you sign up with a link in the video description you'll receive an exclusive gift of 13,000 gold and one month premium subscription for free this offer is only available for 30 days after this video goes live so don't miss out the land that would one day become the nation of England looked very different to the first humans who settled there during the prehistoric Stone Age back then the wider British Isles weren't even Islands at all but were instead connected to Continental Europe by a land bridge as the last glacial period came to an end around 11,000 years ago the melting ice sheets caused the sea levels to rise which subsequently flooded the low-lying land bridge called doggerland thereby permanently cutting Britain off from Europe despite being separated from the Continental Mainland communication and cultural exchanges continued to occur between the peoples of Europe and those inhabiting what would eventually become England the practice of farming which originated in the Middle East was introduced around 4,000 BC and the first permanent settlements which possessed Monumental tombs and ceremonial Stone circles such as Stonehenge were also so built around this time as the Stone Age turned into the Bronze Age England for the most part remained alike to the rest of Britain and indeed the rest of Europe similar cultural and linguistic practices were introduced as a result of successive waves of migration from the continent which eventually morphed into the Celtic culture which had become widespread over much of Western Europe by the 12th century BC life for the Celtic peoples of England continued in much the same way for the next several Cent centuries that was until the year 55 BC when an invasion Force unlike any seen before landed on the southern coast the Roman Republic which would soon become the Roman Empire was the uncontested superpower of the ancient world having expanded across the Mediterranean as well as more recently further northwards into what is now modern France the Roman general who had led the recent conquest of what was then termed ghoul was none other than Julius Caesar whose Ambitions soon turned to Conquering the the lands across the English Channel Caesar's initial Invasion achieved little more than Landing his army on the coast and so a second largest scale Invasion followed the next year in 54 BC this Invasion saw Roman Legions Advance as far as the Northern Bank of the river temps despite this relative success the Romans could not establish a permanent foothold on the island during this time and so withdrew back across the channel the Romans nevertheless remained convinced that the island could and should be conquered and so almost a century later the Roman Emperor Claudius ordered that a properly planned and maintained Invasion attempt be carried out in the year 43 ad over the following decades Rome's Legions Advanced across the land and brought almost all of what is now England under Roman rule founding many settlements like London Chester and York in the process although Rome's Authority was occasionally challenged by local revolts such as the one led by Queen budika in 60 AD England remained an integral part of the Roman Empire for the next several centuries and had its northernmost border fixed in place with the construction of Hadrian's Wall like all empires in history however Rome's rise and fall was inevitable and by the beginning of the fth century its power and influence had been significantly reduced the last Roman Legions were withdrawn from England in the year 407 to defend the more valuable parts of the Empire on the continent which were being threatened by numerous migrating Barbarian tribes a handful of these tribes soon turned their attention towards England which set in motion a series of events that would establish and ultimately shape the very language culture and history of the English people these Germanic tribes collectively referred to in history as the Anglo saxin first migrated to England sometime during the 4th Century probably serving as mercenaries in the Roman army however by the mid fifth century a significant number of these peoples had settled in the Eastern portion of the country the precise nature of this process is still a matter of debate amongst historians with some advocating for a large scale Invasion and violent displacement of the Native Celtic population While others argue for a more peaceful and gradual process of acculturation in either case the Anglo-Saxons replace the Romano British language culture and people with their own Germanic customs and ways of life the language that they introduced would one day evolve into the English language that we speak today although the Anglo-Saxons were United in tongue culture and religion they were politically separate having established their own independent kingdoms across the land by the 7th Century the native Britains had withdrawn themselves to the Far Western parts of the island such as Wales and Cornwall leaving the seven Anglo-Saxon Petty kingdoms of East Ang Anglia Essex Kent Sussex meria North Umbria and Wessex to form the basis of a distinct but as yet disunited English Nation over time the Anglo-Saxons converted from their old Germanic Pagan beliefs to Christianity and set about consolidating power for themselves Often by fighting one another as well as the neighboring British kingdoms to the west and PS to the north by the late 8th Century the feuding Anglo-Saxons had Amalgamated into four larger kingdoms North Umbria meria East Anglia and Wessex however the very survival of anglo-saxon England would soon be called into question when fleets of longboats suddenly began to appear off the coastline in the late 8th Century the Viking age in England is widely attested to have begun with the well documented raid on the North umbrian Monastery of lindes fan in the year 793 although other smaller raids had been carried out in England before this time as well as in other parts of the British Isles what began as sporadic attacks on isolated treasure Laden monasteries continued well into the following Century but in the year 865 however the Vikings adopted a change in strategy from Hit and Run raiding to one of conquest and occupation late that year a vast Viking Army landed in southeast England with the intention of taking the land of the four Anglo-Saxon kingdoms for themselves this great heathen Army as the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle referred to the Viking Force first marched northwards and took control of the kingdom of North Umbria in 867 followed by East Anglia in 869 and then meria in 874 leaving only the kingdom of wessix as the last independent Anglo-Saxon Kingdom led by King Alfred wesix had thus far evaded the marauding Vikings either by fighting them in battle or paying them off however by 878 the Vikings had overrun the greater parts of wessix and forced Alfred into hiding with the threat to his kingdom and the future of England hanging in the balance King Alfred was able to muster an army for a last stand against the Vikings at the Battle of Edington in May of that year ultimately proving Victorious King Alfred earned himself the epithet of the Great by successfully driving the Vikings back eastwards to the lands which remained under their own rule of Dane law with Anglo-Saxon do now restored the kings of wesex gradually began to reconquer the remaining English lands under Viking occupation Alfred's grandson ethelon successfully conquered the kingdom of York in 927 and adopted the title King of the English for the first time the emergence of a now unified and Powerful Kingdom of England greatly alarmed the neighboring rulers within the British is who subsequently formed an alliance of Vikings and Scots to challenge ethon's dominance in the in the year 934 the resulting Battle of brunen bur one of the most decisive ever fought in the history of the British Isles saw ethon's Army win the day and secure the independence and supremacy of England which was to last for the best part of a century by the dawning of the New Millennium however England's Kings had become complacent and the threat posed by marauding Danish Vikings had reemerged over the following decades the Throne of England passed between Anglo-Saxon and danish rulers and at one point the kingdom was ruled as part of the wider Scandinavian North Sea empire under King gut by the year 1042 the house of wesix had been restored to the throne under King Edward the Confessor however his failure to produce an air meant the future of England was once again thrown into question by numerous competing claims to be his successor when Edward died in 1066 the powerful English nobleman Harold godwinson took to the throne much to the outrage of Duke William of Normandy King Harold had Radder of Norway and King Swain II of Denmark who all asserted claims to the throne themselves the events of the year 1066 would undoubtedly be the most pivotal in English History and would irreversibly change the very Fabric and nature of the country the Battle of Stanford Bridge fought in September of that year saw King Harold godwinson defeat an invasion Force led by his Norwegian counterpart however just a few weeks later his exhausted Army was forced to make a long rapid March South to face another Invasion Force led by dukee William the Battle of Hastings which was fought on the 14th of October 1066 is perhaps the most infamous date in English history with King Harold being killed in action supposedly by taking an arrow to the eye the end result was the extinguishment of the Anglo-Saxon line of Kings and its replacement with the new Norman French Dynasty which was established by William who had himself crowned as the new king of England on Christmas day of that year the Norman Conquest brought about a profound change to the governance of England after fighting off countless English revolts and asserting dominance over the neighboring Kingdoms in Wales and Scotland King William I commissioned the Doomsday Book to survey the land people and monetary value of his kingdom the completed work showed that practically the entire Anglo-Saxon nobility had been replaced with Normans who had introduced French as the language of the ruling aristocratic Elite from this point onwards England's future would be irrevocably intertwined with that of France as many of England's Lords now also held feudal lands across the channel the Norman Dynasty lasted only about 80 years in England when yet another succession crisis triggered open civil war between Henry First's legitimate successor Empress Matilda and the favored candidate chosen by the nobility Steven of blis the result was that Steven ruled as king until his death in 1154 and was to be succeeded by Matilda's son Henry II as a descendant of both the noble houses of Normandy and plantagenet as well as through a subsequent marriage to Elanor of aquatain Henry II ruled not only over England and parts of Wales and Ireland but also over an enormous sthe of Western France under what would later be termed the Anin Empire England was ruled by the plantagenet Kings for most of the medieval period but experienced a great deal of mixed fortunes the late 12th century through the mid- 13th centuries for example was marked by calamities and political turmoil as their territories on the continent were greatly reduced owing to conflict with the kingdom of France the resulting Fallout amongst the powerful English Barons led to a uction in the king's absolute power with the signing of Magna cataa in 1215 by King John despite these measures civil war between the king and the Barons continued throughout much of the century and only came to an end with the accession of king Edward the first to the throne in 1272 Edward strengthened the power of His government with the opening of the first Parliament and significantly expanded the English influence within the British Isles by conquering Wales and attempting to do the same same to Scotland as the 14th century dawned England continued to engage in expansionist wars with its neighbors particularly against France which began the long and protracted series of conflicts collectively referred to as the Hundred Years War during the reign of king Edward III England achieved great success at the battles of pry and poier however military actions soon came to a halt as an altogether different and more deadly enemy was about to land on England's Shores the black death which originated in Asia and spread throughout Europe during the second half of the 1340s arrived in England aboard a ship that had sailed from English controlled gany in 1348 within less than 2 years the plague had spread over the entire country and is estimated to have killed as much as half of the population not only did this reduce the Manpower for England's armies but it also led to dramatic socioeconomic change changes within the country itself the surviving peasantry faced ever increasing taxes to pay for the costly Wars and were not being paid high enough wages for their labor which was now in even greater demand these tensions eventually boiled over into the peasants Revolt of 1381 which saw widespread disturbances across the country but were most concentrated in the Southeast where Rebels marched on London and killed many government officials whom they blamed for causing their grievances order was eventually restored but the situation in England remained volatile the unpopular King Richard II was deposed in 1399 by his cousin who became King Henry IV further crises and revolts plagued his Reign but they were successfully put down largely due to the military actions of his son and successor Henry V who ascended the throne in 1413 under King Henry V England witnessed some of the most most defining events in its history such as the renewal of the Hundred Years War with France and the stunning Victory gained at the Battle of aenor in 1415 which thereafter became enshrined in English Legend however Henry's untimely death in 1422 initiated a reversal in England's fortunes his infant son Henry V 6 inherited the throne but his Reign was marked by overall defeats of France in the ongoing conflict culminating in the English being driven out of virtually the entire territory by 1453 Henry the 6 position worsened in the following years with discontent among the feuding nobility sparking another civil war in 1455 named the wars of the Roses in reference to the emblems of the two branches of the plantagenet dynasty the white rose of York and the red rose of Lancaster the fighting continued radically for the next 30 years until Henry chuda the last last surviving male of the lancastrian line returned from Exile in France and defeated the yorkist King Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth field in 1485 England then transitioned into a period of relative peace owing to the houses of Lancaster and York uniting under King Henry II's marriage to Elizabeth of York which ushered in the establishment of the chuda dynasty the war ravaged economy was gradually rebuilt and the enlightened idea which had emerged during the Renaissance in Italy made their way into English society when Henry viith died in 1509 he was succeeded by his son Henry VII whose Reign started off promisingly but later descended into tyranny and became one of the most disruptive in all of English History this was largely caused by his desire for a male Heir his first marriage to Catherine of aragan produced only one surviving daughter Mary after his grounds for divorce for rejected by the pope Henry decided to split England away from the Catholic church and establish his own Protestant Church of England this caused a great deal of religious upheaval within the country and would later give rise to a period of sectarianism which would last for the best part of 100 years Henry's subsequent marriages and hopes for a series of male successes fared little better his second wife and berin was executed after producing only one daughter named Elizabeth his third third wife Jane Seymour died from complications after giving birth to a son named Edward his fourth marriage to an of cleaves ended in divorce his fifth wife Katherine Howard was executed for being unfaithful and his sixth and final wife Katherine par was the only one to survive with her reputation and head intact owing to Henry himself dying in 1547 succeeded by his only son Edward v 6 England became radically more Protestant under his rule although it was to be shortlived for Edward died of tuberculosis in 1553 he was in turn succeeded by his Half Sister Mary who was married to King Philip II of Spain and was a devout Catholic Mary's reign as Queen witnessed the fall of the last English outpost on the continent C to the French in 1558 but her Reign was mostly defined by attempts to reverse the recent Protestant Reformation in England by severely persecuting any adherence to the faith some 280 people were burned at the stake under her oppressive rule earning her the epithet of Bloody Mary despite being married she too failed to produce an heir and so upon her death in 1558 the Throne of England passed to her half sister Elizabeth under Queen Elizabeth the England entered a golden age of prosperity the Protestant Church of England was reestablished and some degree of religious tolerance was GR granted towards Catholics the instruments of the state were greatly strengthened through new laws and proper Administration which consequently led to the population of the country growing significantly reaching some 5 million people by the early 17th century Elizabeth and England also saw an increase in the art and literature with the likes of William Shakespeare producing some of the nation's most famous works and plays which remained popular to this very day there was also a significant upshift in England's economic and accompanying military might during this time largely brought about by the expansion of English commercial interests in the Americas and Asia figures such as Sir Walter rally and Sir Francis Drake pioneered England's emergence as a powerful Maritime Nation leading expeditions to newly discovered parts of the world and successfully defending England in its most desperate hour of need against the Spanish Armada in 1588 nevertheless Elizabeth the died childless in 16003 and so the throne passed to her closest male Protestant relative King James I 6 of Scotland of the House of Stewart who subsequently became King James I of England through the union of the crowns despite being the king of both Nations and ruling over virtually the entire island of Britain the two kingdoms remained separate from one another James's early Reign faced many challenges the most notable being the Gunpowder Plot of 16005 which saw discontent English Catholics attempts to blow up the king during the state opening of parliament it was also during this time that the first permanent English colonies were established in places like America and India which would go on to form the basis for the British Empire in centuries to come the latter part of King James's Reign was marked by increasing tensions with Parliament over governance of the country these issues however would come to a dramatic head during the reign of his son Charles I disagreements over power religious Affairs and governance within the kingdom coupled with King Charles I's refusal to cooperate with Parliament led to Growing discontent between the two centers of power in England eventually in 1642 armed conflicts broke out with the English Civil War being fought between the forces loyal to the king called royalists and the parliamentarian forces called Roundheads pitched battles such as those fought at Edge Hill Maron Moore and nby were pivotal in determining the war's outcome which ultimately ended in Victory for the parliamentarian New Model Army under the leadership of Oliver Cromwell for his role in allowing the country to descend into a chaotic state of Civil War King Charles I was executed in 1649 and England briefly became a republic with Cromwell as its leader the monarchy was eventually restored in 1660 however with King Charles II returning to London albeit with his power significantly reduced the country was still in a fragile state after the Civil War and two events which struck London in the mid 1660s the Great Plague of 1665 and the great fire of 1666 did great damage to the nation's capital Charles II's Reign ended with his death in 1685 and was succeeded by his brother James II however this quickly ignited another political Ferrari within the kingdom owing to James being a devout Catholic and rumors that he wished for England to return to the old Faith various political factions quickly pressed for his Protestant daughter Mary and her Dutch husband Prince William of Orange to replace him in what became known as the Glorious Revolution William landed with an invasion force on England's South Coast in November 1688 but did not wish to seek an open battle believing that James II's regime would collapse on its own this duly happened and James fled to France leaving the throne vacant for William and Mary to assume the role of king and queen under joint rule despite James's seeming abdication he did have some support in Ireland and so decided to launch a military campaign there with the hope of restoring him to the throne James was nevertheless defeated by the forces of King William III in battle and was forced to flee to France once again the continuation of the Catholic House of Stewart in Exile however would continue to threaten England's political establishment well into the next Century England returned to relative peace under the rule of William and Mary for they both accepted the Bill of Rights in 1689 which significantly reduced the power of the crown by recognizing the authority and sovereignty of parliament during the reign of Queen Anne who inherited the throne from her sister Mary the English and Scottish parliaments were formerly merged into one thereby creating the Parliament and Kingdom of Great Britain through the acts of Union in 1707 Queen Anne was the last of the Stewart Dynasty to sit on the throne and owing to a recently introduced law that allowed only Protestants to become Regent upon her death the crown passed to her distant second cousin the German Prince George of Hanover from that point onwards the history of England would no longer be that of a separate Sovereign Nation but rather that of one of the four nations that made up the United Kingdom England and for that matter Britain under the hanovarian kings of the 18th century transitioned into becoming a modern nation state growing Commerce and mercantilism propelled the country into becoming the leading Global Maritime power of the age which was backed up by the military might of the royal Navy on the high seas Britain's colonies also increased in importance during this time however the loss of America during the war of independence significantly damaged the country's prestige on the world stage the only real domestic threat to the nation was posed by the descendants of the exiled House of Stewart Living in France who unsuccessfully attempted to overthrow the British government and Georgian monarchy on two separate occasions in what became known as the Jacoby rebellions of 1715 and 1745 the 19th century would see Britain become the pre-eminent global superpower of the age thanks to the Innovations introduced by the Industrial Revolution these accelerated the nation's economic output and allowed for further expansion of the British Empire it would become the largest to have ever existed in the history of the world although the defining events of the following 20th century namely the first and second world wars would virtually bankrupt the nation and initiate the beginning of the end for Britain's dominance as a world power the past 2,000 years of history have undoubtedly left their mark on the Modern English Nation with its people being made up of the descendants of the various groups who arrived on its Shores over the centuries although the impacts of these events May no longer be all that visible to the modern eye their legacy is perhaps more noticeable in the Modern English language that we speak today whether it be the words borrowed from Latin introduced by the Romans the Germanic of the Anglo-Saxons the Old Norse of the Vikings or the French of the Normans England's language is a result of the constant Evolution and adaptability of its speakers which is perhaps why it has become the most spoken language in the world today many thanks again to call of War who have sponsored this video this free online PVP World War II strategy game allows you to engage Eng in epic battles and take over the world click the link in the video description to get 13,000 gold and 1 month of Premium subscription for free and fight your way to Victory

Channel: This Is History

Views: 25,190

Keywords: england, history, documentary, this is history, britain, british history, british empire, english history, history of england

Id: P6r_qBoeHuA

Length: 29min 10sec (1750 seconds)

Published: Wed May 29 2024