British historyFrom ancient history

to middles-ages

Timeline House of Plantagenet (extract)

Magna Carta (the Great Charter)

Ressourceshttp://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/launch_ani_population.shtmlhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angevinhttp://www.timetrek.org/jpg/Magna%20Carta.jpghttp://www.micheline.ca/doc-1215-ang-magna-carta.htmhttp://www.aidh.org/Biblio/Text_fondat/HP_TF.htm

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Britain was populated by a number of Celtic tribes such as the Caledonii who lived in the North of scotland, the Iceni from East Anglia and the Brignates who lived in the North of England. The inhabitants of Britain largely spoke Brittonic from which modern day Cornish, Welsh and Breton have developed.The celtic tribes worshipped deities asociated with nature and had sacred groves and streams. The inhabitant of Britain had arrived in a series of migrations – the last of which had been by the Belgic tribes who arrived in the first century BC and were noted by Julius Ceasar in his history, De Bello Gallica (The Gallic War).

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Celtic Britain

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Romain BritainThe Romans under the command of the Emperor Claudius invaded Britain in 43AD and, by 82AD, had conquered much of the island. By 300AD, there were around one and a half million British inhabitants under the control of the Empire, of wich approximately 125 000 were soldiers and their families. Londinium (present London) was the largest town with a population of about 30 000. From around the third century, the south and east coasts of England were attacked by raiding Saxons and other continental tribes. As the Roman Empire started to weaken and fragment – the last imperial troops were withdrawn in 410AD – the Romano British were left to defend themselves from the invaders who overran the local population later in the first century.

Romain Britain

Celtic Britain

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Romain Britain

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Following the End of Roman Rule, the British urban population went into declines as towns and their defences fell into disrepair. Angles, Saxons and Jutes from modern day Germany an Denmark settled on the south and east coast of England. As local settlement moved inland along river valleys, the native population was either displaced wetswards or became vassals of the dominant Anglo-Saxons.

The Anglo-Saxons

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Romain Britain

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By the ninth century, the Anglo-Saxons were masters of much of England and, by the early tenth century, they had moved into the eastern lowland regions of Scotland. Scandinavian raids on Britain began in 789 when three ships attacked Portland. In 793, the famous monastery of Lindisfarne (on an island off the Northumbrian coast) was ransacked and, a few years later, its sister monastery at Iona (on the west coast of Scotland) was also pillaged. By the tenth century, Scandinavians from modern Norway, Sweden and Denmark had settled in a large part of the British Isles from the Shetland Isles in the North to East Anglia and parts of the Midlands in the South.

The Anglo-Saxons

The Vikings

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The Anglo-Saxons

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William was born in around 1028, in Falaise, Normandy the illegitimate son of Robert I, Duke of Normandy. He was thus known as « William the Bastard » to his contemporaries. On his father's death in 1035, William was recognised as heir, with his great uncle serving as regent. In 1042 he began to take more personal control. From 1046 until 1055 he dealt with a series of baronial rebellions. William's political and military successes helped him in negotiations to marry Matilda, daughter of Count Baldwin of Flanders in 1053.Early in 1066, Edward, king of England died and Harold, Earl of Wessex was crowned king. William was furious, claiming that in 1051 Edward, a distant cousin, had promised him the throne and that Harold had later sworn to support that claim.William landed in England on 28 September 1066, establishing a camp near Hastings.its defeat at Hastings may seem to have been a surprising one. In fact, the invasion of 1066 was achieved by a very small army. William the Conqueror invaded England with fewer than 10,000 troops, perhaps as few as 7 or 8,000 initially.At the end of his reign, they only ever had, as an army of occupation, 20,000 men holding down a nation of one and a half or even two million souls. It's a bit like the British in India with 350,000 troops and administrators holding down 350 million people. And yet the Normans turned the country upside down. In part this was due to their own undoubted military skills. But they were also very lucky.

The Normans

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Normans knights, depicted in the Bayeux Tapestry, charging to victory at Hastings

Richard was born on 8 September 1157, two years after his brother Henri, in Oxford, son of Henri II (he was born on 1133) and Eleanor of Aquitaine (1122-1204). He possessed considerable political and military ability. However, like his brothers, he fought with his

family, joining them in the great rebellion against their father in 1173. In 1183 his brother Henri died, leaving Richard heir to the throne. We can notice that a another brother died

in 1186. His name was Geoffrey, duke of Brittany and he was born in 1158. Henri II wanted to give Aquitaine to his youngest son, John (1166-1216). Richard refused and, in

1189, joined forces with Philip II of France against his father, hounding him to a premature death in July 1189. Richard was fatally wounded and died on 6 April 1199. He was succeeded by his younger brother John, who had spent the years of Richard's absence scheming against him. To complete the familie, Richard had got two sisters (Leonora of

England who was born in 1161 and died in 1214 ; Joan of England 1165-1199). Henri III was born on 1 October 1207 in Winchester, the son of King John and Isabella of

Angoulême. Henri was nine when his father died and he became king.

House of Plantagenet

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Magna Carta

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1°…that the English Church shall be free, and shall have its rights undiminished, and its liberties unimpaired. (…) To all free men of our kingdom we have also granted, for us and our heirs for ever, all the liberties written out below, to have and to keep for them and their heirs, of us and our heirs.12° No scutage or aid may be levied in our kingdom without its general consent, unless it is for the ransom of our person, to make our eldest son a knight, and (once) to marry our eldest daughter.30° No sheriff, royal official, or other person shall take horses or carts for transport from any free man, without his consent.31° Neither we nor any royal official will take wood for our castle, or for any other purpose, without the consent of the owner.39° No free man shall be seized or imprisoned, or stripped of his rights or possessions, or outlawed or exiled, or deprived of his standing in any other way, nor will we proceed with force against him, or send others to do so, except by the lawful judgement of his equals or by the law of the land.61° … we desire that they shall be enjoyed in their entirety, with lasting strength, for ever, we give and grant to the barons the following security:The barons shall elect twenty-five of their number to keep, and cause to be observed with all their might, the peace and liberties granted and confirmed to them by this charter. (…)The twenty-five barons shall swear to obey all the above articles faithfully, and shall cause them to be obeyed by others to the best of their power.We will not seek to procure from anyone, either by our own efforts or those of a third party, anything by which any part of these concessions or liberties might be revoked or diminished.