9th century 800-899 CE
Winston Churchill said of Alfred the Great;
'We discern across the centuries a commanding and versatile intelligence wielding with equal force the sword of war and the sword of justice'
The 9th century gave England one of her greatest leaders, King Alfred the Great, who ascended to the throne of the Kingdom of Wessex in 871. He came from a line of powerful rulers whose rule in the Kingdom of Wessex was shadowed by the Viking raiders from the north. It was the century when the Vikings raided Ireland, sacked London and captured York.
The Vikings were not only expanding their territories, they continued to expand their art and culture and this became a unifying aspect of this period.
Islamic science and mathematical and literary advancements were immense. Without it, many great works would have been lost to the world including Ptolemy's work on cosmology.
The 9th century was a century of literature
The Islamic House of Wisdom with it's 400,000 books, the development of the Cyrillic script, translating the Bible into Slavic (later Cyrillic) and the oldest surviving printed book from China, the Diamond Sutra.
The Diamond Sutra
In Britain the Anglo Saxon Chronicle was begun that today still gives us the best and sometimes only insight into the history of this dark period of British history. King Alfred encouraged scholars to read and translate great works. In his reign the scriptorium at Winchester is thought to have been established.
Viking Chess Pieces
Search the global timeline for events from the C9th. Type 9th into the search bar to find out some intriguing events from the century.
| Year | EVENT TITLE | NARRATIVE | PERIODS | CENTURY |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 | Catuvellauni tribe tribe arrive in Southern England | The Celtic tribe of the Catuvellauni emerged in the late first century BC to become one of the most powerful tribes in southern Britain. Their leader or king, was Cunobelinius. The main territory of the Catuvellauni lay on the northern bank of the Thames. The tribe's early capital was at Wheathampstead. Under Cassivellaunus they expanded outwards to dominate Cambridgeshire, Northamptonshire, Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire east of the Cherwell, Middlesex and north-east Surrey. | roman | 1st |
| 43 | Romans invade from Gallia to Cantiaci East coast to English Midlands and Home Counties and South West England | They were one of the most prominent Celtic tribes of their time, and also one of the richest. | Roman | 1st |
| 47 | Romans occupy Wales | Romans expand and occupy Wales | Roman | 1st |
| 60 | Iceni Pagan Revolt - Boudica burns Roman Temple in Essex | Iceni attack Londinium (London) (Verulamium (St Albans) and Camulodunum (Colchester) is burnt some 80k killed by Iceni.Eventually revenged as revolt is surpressed | Roman | 1st |
| 70 | Romans absorbed Atrebates tribe Hampshire | Hampshire absorbed by Romans as Atrebates between Roman named Noviomagus on East, Hengistbury on west and Calleva on Northern boundary | Roman | 1st |
| 79 | Roman legions occupy and control Scotland | The Romans march north to conquer Scotland but they are met with fierce opposition and their presence here would be short lived as they were forced to pull southwards. | Roman | 1st |
| 79 | Vesuvius eruption | Marker of state of Roman Empire | roman | 1st |
| 122 | Hadrians Wall built | The wall was named following visit of Emperor Hadrian. | Roman | 2nd |
| 139 | British Roman frontier moves north to Antoinine Wall | The Antoinine wal runs from the Firth of Forth to the Clyde | Roman | 2nd |
| 166 | First Christian Church in Britain | First evidence of Christianity in Roman Britain occurs around this time. | roman | 2nd |
| 208 | Emperor Septimus Severus campaigns drives back Scots | Emperor Severus dies from illness in York which is known as Eboracum. On his death new Emperor Caracalla terminates the war | Roman | 3rd |
| 213 | Britannia as a Roman Province is divided into 2 parts | Britannia Superior and Inferior (North) | Roman | 3rd |
| 260 | Saxon Shore Forts built | The Saxon Shore Forts were built by the Romans as the Southern coast had become the frontline for defense against potential Saxon invasions. Subsequently some of these forts, which were very well built, were also used by the Saxons and refortified after the Norman Invasion. Portchester and Pevsney Castles being prime examples. | Roman | 3rd |
| 300 | Mildenhall suffolk Treasure finds in British Museum | The Mildenhall hoard is one of the most important collections of late-Roman silver tableware from the Roman Empire. The objects were found during ploughing near Mildenhall in Suffolk, eastern England, in 1942 and were declared Treasure Trove in 1946. | roman | 4th |
| 306 | Contantine the Great | Constantine was proclaimed Roman Emperor at York. One of the greatest Roman Emperors he made Christianity the empire's preferred religion and built the new capital of Constantinople. He probably did not revisit England after 314 due to breadth of his responsibilities. His rise to emperor from General in Britain shows the importance of the Roman's British dominions but the use of local troops and ability to influence succession contributed to the long-term disruption, causing Roman Civil war and illustrating how personal ambition could be furthered by weilding personal and empire funded power. His father was Constantius Chlorus who was a co-emperor with special responsibilities for the western Roman provinces. | roman | 4th |
| 313 | Edict of Milan | Key event that puts the Church at the centre as sponsor of the arts | Roman | 4th |
| 325 | Emperor Constantine calls Council of Nicaea to form single christian docterine | Single christian docterine over whole Roman Empire | Roman | 4th |
| 367 | Great Barbarian Conspiracy' Picts, Scots, and Saxons attack Britain. | Major force of change and migration | Roman | 4th |
| 368 | Revolt and invasion of Britain by Picts Scots and Saxons put down | Defeated invaders by Count Theodosius | roman | 4th |
| 383 | Magnus Maximus Roman General in Britain declares himself Emperor | Magnus Maximus takes many legions from Britain to confront and gain control of Gaul and Spain, which he does.During his reign Romans extensively withdraw from Wales. It is debatable how much taking the legions to Gaul weakened the Roman grip on Britain and accelerated the Roman Empires collapse and withdrawal from Britain. He was not the only Roman General stationed in Britain to declare himself emporer, others included Carausius, Clodius Albinus, Constantine I and Constantine III. He was eventually defeated by the Eastern Roman Emperor Theodosius I. | roman | 4th |
| 390 | Emperor Theodosius imposes Christianity as sole religion in the Roman Empire | This single act has massive repercussions for the future of Christianity with far reaching social political and cultural consequences | roman | 4th |
| 395 | Death of Theodosius creates definitive split and weakening of the Roman Empire into East and West | Division not only poltical but with deep cultural significance | roman | 4th |
| 400 | Winchester becomes a Royal and ecclesiastical city, the centre of Wessex and England | The first reference to the land including Weeke parish is in a Saxon Charter in 636 when King Cynegils granted to the church land within a seven mile circle of the city. The first Church had been built in Winchester. When the kingdom was united in 837 by Egbert he was crowned as the first king of England in Winchester. It remained the capital until the time of William the conqueror when William was crowned in both Winchester and London. This lead to a period of two capitals and this came to an end when London superceded Winchester as the capital in the twelfth century. | Roman | 5th |
| 407 | Constantine III was Roman Emperor 407-411 was proclaimed by the Roman Army in Britain and was the last to be so. | Constantine III removed more troops to fight his rivals from Britain and effectively left the Britons to fend for themselves.Roman colonists abandoned in Britain to fight Saxons | roman | 5th |
| 410 | Rome sacked by Visigoths under Alaric | Power of Rome dwindling. This is evidenced in the abandonment of Britain and the onslaught they are facing from the Sxons and other Germanic tribes. | Roman | 5th |
| 410 | British local leaders with reduction in Roman Troops and collapse rise up and expel remaining Roman Officals from the towns. | There were dwindling troop numbers to back-up the officials, they were in effect defenceless. | Roman | 5th |
| 410 | Roman Emperor Honorius proclaims that inhabitants of Britain must fend for themselves. | The Emperor is under attack and fighting on all sides he probably saw this as a temporary requirement but Rome would never regain enough power or resources to restore it's supremacy in Britain. | Roman | 5th |
| 423 | c.423 - Birth of St. Patrick | Some of the facts around the birth of St Patrick remain vague, including the exact year of his birth but it is believed he was born at Banna Venta Burniae, which is thought to be near Birdoswald. | Anglo Saxon | 5th |
| 425 | Vortigern usurps Roman Imperial power | Vortigern was a British warlord, a leading ruler of the Britons | Anglo Saxon | 5th |
| 425 | King Conomor flourishes in Dumnonia, | His capital is probably at Castle Dore. | Anglo Saxon | 5th |
| 428 | Vortigern consolidates power in Britain | Vortigern invited a number of Germanic warriors to aid him in consolidating his position in Britain. This appears to have been an early use of German mercenaries, who probably settled in the Dorchester-upon-Thames area. | Anglo Saxon | 5th |
| 429 | Germanus visits Britain to combat heresy of Pelagius | Palladius, a British deacon requested and Pope Celestine I dispatched, Bishops Germanus of Auxerre and Lupus of Troyes to Britain to combat the Pelagian heresy. While in Britain, Germanus, a former military man, leads the Britons in their 'Hallelujah' victory at Maes Garmom. | Anglo Saxon | 5th |
| 432 | St Patrick arrives in Ireland to begin his mission | Patrick was living in Scotland and had travelled in Europe before going to Ireland. His parents were Calpurnius and Conchessa, who were Romans living in Britian in charge of the colonies. | Anglo Saxon | 5th |
| 441 | Britons defeated | The first Saxon revolt against native Britons took place in 441 A.D. It was led by two brothers, Hengst and Horsa. | Anglo Saxon | 5th |
| 443 | Death of King Constantine Corneu of Dumnonia. | His kingdom is divided between his two sons as Dumnonia and Cerniw. | Anglo Saxon | 5th |
| 446 | Saxons and Jutes arrive in Hampshire | The Jutes of Hampshire may have been a breakaway part of the colony of Jutes who invaded Kent. They sailed around the coast and entered Hampshire by traveling up Southampton Water and then up the River Meon. This tribe of Jutes was called the Meonwara. Another possibility is that they were 'left over' from the' foederata', whom the Romans hired to protect the southern shores from attack. | Anglo Saxon | 5th |
| 449 | Angles Saxons and Jute invaders arrive Hengist and Horsa in Kent | AD 449 This year Marcian and Valentinian assumed the empire,and reigned seven winters. In their days Hengest and Horsa,invited by Wurtgern, king of the Britons to his assistance, landed in Britain in a place that is called Ipwinesfleet; first of all to support the Britons, but they afterwards fought against them. The king directed them to fight against the Picts; and they did so; and obtained the victory wheresoever they came. Bede. | Anglo Saxon | 5th |
| 449 | Vortigern invites Horsa and Hengst to meet | And in their days Vortigern invited the Angles thither, and they came to Britain in three ceols, at the place called Wippidsfleet. Bede | Anglo Saxon | 5th |
| 451 | Adventus Saxonum - the coming of the Saxons | Bede wrote about the coming of the Saxons for this year but it is quite probable that they arrived some time between AD 425 - 450 | Anglo Saxon | 5th |
| 455 | Battle of Rithergabail (Aylesford) achieves no decisive outcome | A.D. 455. This year Hengest and Horsa fought with Wurtgern the king on the spot that is called Aylesford. His brother Horsa being there slain, Hengest afterwards took to the kingdom with his son Esc. Bede. | Anglo Saxon | 5th |
| 456 | Stonehenge Peace Conference called by the Saxons with British Nobles | The Anglo-Saxons call the British nobles to a peace conference at Stonehenge but turned on them and massacre almost everyone | Anglo Saxon | 5th |
| 457 | Vortigerns son Vortimer rebels against his father's pro saxon policies but is defeated at Battle ofBattle of Derguentid (Crayford). | A.D. 457. This year Hengest and Esc fought with the Britons on the spot that is called Crayford, and there slew four thousand men.The Britons then forsook the land of Kent, and in great consternation fled to London. Bede. | Anglo Saxon | 5th |
| 459 | Vortigern killed burnt to death | There are many theories about how Vortigern met his end, if he even existed at all. His death by fire in a wooden fortress in Dyfed is one of many being promulagated | Anglo Saxon | 5th |
| 460 | Abrosius Aurelanius takes control of Britain. | Following the destructive assault of the Saxons, the survivors gathered together under the leadership of Ambrosius, who is described as a gentleman. | Anglo Saxon | 5th |
| 465 | Battle Of Lapis Tituli | A.D. 465. This year Hengest and Esc fought with the Welsh, nigh Wippedfleet; and there slew twelve leaders, all Welsh. On their side a thane was there slain, whose name was Wipped. Bede. | Anglo Saxon | 5th |
| 473 | The men of Kent, under Hengest, move westward, driving the Britons back. | A.D. 473. This year Hengest and Esc fought with the Welsh, and took immense Booty. And the Welsh fled from the English like fire. Bede. | Anglo Saxon | 5th |
| 476 | Deposition of Romulus Augustus | His deposition by Odoacer traditionally marks the end of the Western Roman Empire, the fall of ancient Rome, and the beginning of the Middle Ages in Western Europe. | Anglo Saxon | 5th |
| 477 | Sussex founded as a Saxon kingdom conqueror is Aelle | Aelle (Ella) is recorded in early sources as the first king of the South Saxons, reigning in what is now called Sussex | Anglo Saxon | 5th |
| 477 | Saxon coastal holdings are gradually expanded in Sussex. | The Saxon chieftain, Aelle, lands on the Sussex coast with his sons. The Britons engage him upon landing but his superior force besieges them at Caer-Anderida (Pevensey) and drives them into the Weald. | Anglo Saxon | 5th |
| 485 | Aelle fought Welsh | AD 485 This year Ella fought with the Welsh nigh Mecred's-Burnsted. Bede. | Anglo Saxon | 5th |
| 488 | Esc King of the Kingdom of Kent for 24 Winters | AD 488 This year Esc succeeded to the kingdom; and was king of the men of Kent twenty-four winters. Bede. | Anglo Saxon | 5th |
| 490 | Ella and Cissa | AD 490 This year Ella and Cissa besieged the city of Andred and slew all that were therein; nor was one Briten left there afterwards. Bede. | Anglo Saxon | 5th |
| 494 | Jutes conquer Kent | The leaders of the Jutes were two brothers, | Anglo Saxon | 5th |
| 495 | Cerdic invades Hampshire | AD 495 This year came two leaders into Britain, Cerdic and Cynric his son, with five ships, at a place that is called Cerdic's-ore. Bede. | Anglo Saxon | 5th |
| 498 | Saxon Advance halted following Mount Badon | Woden arose all our royal kindred, and that of the Southumbrians. Bede | anglo Saxon | 5th |
| 499 | Germanic King Cerdic and son Cynic Land on South coast | The Germanic King Cerdic and his son, Cynric, land somewhere on the south coast, probably near the Hampshire-Dorset border. Their followers establish the beginnings of the Kingdom of Wessex. | Anglo Saxon | 5th |
| 501 | Porta arrived in Britain | AD 501 This year Porta and his two sons, Beda and Mela, came into Britain, with two ships, at a place called Portsmouth.They soon landed, and slew on the spot a young Briton of very high rank. Bede | Anglo Saxon | 6th |
| 504 | Gildas, British monk born | Gildas, De Excidio Britanniae The Ruin of Britain account of the English invasions of the 5th and 6th centuries. | Anglo Saxon | 6th |
| 508 | King Cerdic of Wessex begins to move inland. | Defeats British king, Nudd-Lludd (Natanleod), at the Battle of Netley AD 508 This year Cerdic and Cynric slew a British king, whose name was Natanleod, and five thousand men with him. After this was the land named Netley, from him, as far as Charford. Bede. | Anglo Saxon | 6th |
| 509 | St Benedict Died | This year St. Benedict, the abbot, father of all the monks, (16) ascended to heaven. Bede. | Anglo Saxon | 6th |
| 510 | Battle of Llongborth (possibly Langport/Landport, Portsmouth) | Where King Gaireint Llyngesoc of Dumnonia, was killed. | Anglo Saxon | 6th |
| 514 | Stuff and Whitgar fight Britons | AD 514 This year came the West-Saxons into Britain, with three ships, at the place that is called Cerdic's-ore. And Stuff and Wihtgar fought with the Britons, and put them to flight. Bede | Anglo Saxon | 6th |
| 519 | Kingdom of wessex founded by Cerdic | AD 519 This year Cerdic and Cynric undertook the government of the West-Saxons; the same year they fought with the Britons at a place now called Charford. From that day have reigned the children of the West Saxon kings. Bede | Anglo Saxon | 6th |
| 527 | Cerdic fought Britons at Cerdic's-ley | AD 527 This year Cerdic and Cynric fought with the Britons in the place that is called Cerdic's-ley. Bede | Anglo Saxon | 6th |
| 530 | Cerdic invades Isle of Wight | Cerdic and Cynric took the Isle of Wight and slew many men at Caribrook (Carisbrooke). In ASC , AD 530 This year Cerdic and Cynric took the isle of Wight,and slew many men in Carisbrook. Bede | Anglo Saxon | 6th |
| 533 | Justinian Eastern Roman Emperor launches reconquest of western Empire | Attempt to reunite the roman empire and cultures | Anglo Saxon | 6th |
| 534 | Death of King Cerdic | AD 534 This year died Cerdic, the first king of the West-Saxons. Cynric his son succeeded to the government, and reigned afterwards twenty-six winters. And they gave to their two nephews, Stuff and Wihtgar, the whole of the Isle of Wight. Bede | Anglo Saxon | 6th |
| 544 | Whitgar of Isle of Wight died | AD 544 This year died Wihtgar; and men buried him at Carisbrook. Bede | Anglo Saxon | 6th |
| 547 | Ruin of Britain' written by Gildas | “The Ruin of Britain” written by Gildas, a British monk. Gildas surveyed the conflict between the Britons and Saxons, and recorded that a British victory in the Battle of Badon Hill, which took place in the year of his birth, led to a peace which was maintained at the time of his writing, forty four years later. | anglo Saxon | 6th |
| 547 | Bernicia founded as a Kingdom by King Ida (Northumbria from River Tees to Scottish lowlands.) | Archaeolgical evidence shows that King Ida and his successors were Angles ruling over the British population. An Ida successor Ethelfirth absorbed the southerly kingdon of Deira early in the 7th century. The inclusion and exclusion would change on several occassions. ASC-AD 547 This year Ida began his reign; from whom first arose the royal kindred of the Northumbrians. Ida was the son of Eoppa, Eoppa of Esa, Esa of Ingwy, Ingwy of Angenwit, Angenwit of Alloc, Alloc of Bennoc, Bennoc of Brand, Brand of Balday, Balday of Woden. Woden of Fritholaf, Fritholaf of Frithowulf, Frithowulf of Finn, Finn of Godolph, Godolph of Geata. Ida reigned twelve years. He built Bamburgh-Castle, which was first surrounded with a hedge, and afterwards with a wall. | anglo Saxon | 6th |
| 552 | King Ethelbert baptised | The first of all the kings in Britain to be baptised | Anglo Saxon | 6th |
| 552 | Cynric fights at Old Sarum, Ethelbert 1st Bretwalda baptised | AD 552 This year Cynric fought with the Britons on the spot that is called Sarum, and put them to flight. Cerdic was the father of Cynric, Cerdic was the son of Elesa, Elesa of Esla, Esla of Gewis, Gewis of Wye, Wye of Frewin, Frewin of Frithgar, Frithgar of Brand, Brand of Balday, Balday of Woden. In this year Ethelbert, the son of Ermenric, was born, who on the two and thirtieth year of his reign received the rite of baptism, the first of all the kings in Britain. Bede. | Anglo Saxon | 6th |
| 555 | Italy and south west Iberia conquered by Byzantine empire | Politically and culturally significant event as Romans continue to influence Italian culture and in particular in Rome | Anglo Saxon | 6th |
| 556 | Battle of Beranbury | AD 556 This year Cynric and Ceawlin fought with the Britons at Beranbury. Bede | Anglo Saxon | 6th |
| 560 | Ethelberts Written Laws as system of Fines. | The Dooms of Ethelbert a link to transcription of the actual Laws | Anglo Saxon | 6th |
| 560 | Ceawlin became King of Wessex | AD 560 This year Ceawlin undertook the government of the West-Saxons; and Ella, on the death of Ida, that of the Northumbrians; each of whom reigned thirty winters. Ella was the son of Iff, Iff of Usfrey, Usfrey of Wilgis, Wilgis of Westerfalcon, Westerfalcon of Seafowl, Seafowl of Sebbald,Sebbald of Sigeat, Sigeat of Swaddy, Swaddy of Seagirt, Seagar of Waddy, Waddy of Woden, Woden of Frithowulf. This year Ethelbert came to the kingdom of the Cantuarians, and held it fifty-three winters. In his days the holy Pope Gregory sent us baptism.That was in the two and thirtieth year of his reign. And Columba, the mass-priest, came to the Picts, and converted them to the belief of Christ. They are the dwellers by the northern moors. And their king gave him the island of Hii, consisting of five hides, as they say, where Columba built a monastary. There he was abbot two and thirty winters; and there he died, when he was seventy-seven years old. The place his successors yet have. The Southern Picts were long before baptized by Bishop Ninnia, who was taught at Rome.His church or monastery is at Hwiterne, hallowed in the name of St. Martin, where he resteth with many holy men.Now, therefore, shall there be ever in Hii an abbot, and no bishop; and to him shall be subject all the bishops of the Scots; because Columba was an abbot -- no bishop. Bede | Anglo Saxon | 6th |
| 563 | St Columba founds community at Iona | St Columba and his followers came here from Ireland and founded a monastery which became a pilgrimage site. The island also served as a burial ground for important and holy people from near and far. These included kings of Scotland, among them Macbeth (died 1057). | Anglo Saxon | 6th |
| 565 | Columba founded Monastery at Iona | AD 565 This year Columba the presbyter came from the Scots among the Britons, to instruct the Picts, and he built a monastery in the island of Hii. | Anglo Saxon | 6th |
| 570 | Life of Mohamed the Prophet | MOHAMMED (Arab. "the Praised"), the name taken at a later period by the founder of Islam. He was originally called Halabi. He was born about the year 570, A.D., at Mecca, and was the son of Abdallah, of the family of Hashini; and of Amina, of the family of Zuhra | Peo Religious leaders | 6th |
| 577 | Battle of Dyrham | First recorded battle in Anglo Saxon period.AD 577 This year Cuthwin and Ceawlin fought with the Britons, and slew three kings, Commail, and Condida, and Farinmail, on the spot that is called Derham, and took from them three cities, Gloucester, Cirencester, and Bath. Bede | Anglo Saxon | 6th |
| 584 | Ceawlin and Cutha fought the Britons ar 'Fretherne' | AD 584 This year Ceawlin and Cutha fought with the Britons on the spot that is called Fretherne. There Cutha was slain. And Ceawlin took many towns, as well as immense booty and wealth. He then retreated to his own people. Bede | Anglo Saxon | 6th |
| 588 | King Ella died and Ethelric ruled after him for 5 years | AD 588 This year died King Ella; and Ethelric reigned after him five years. Bede | Anglo Saxon | 6th |
| 591 | Saxons fought Britons at Wanborough Ceolric usurped Ceawlin and reigned for 6 years | AD 591 This year there was a great slaughter of Britons at Wanborough; Ceawlin was driven from his kingdom, and Ceolric reigned six years. Bede | Anglo Saxon | 6th |
| 592 | Gregory becomes Pope of Rome | This year Gregory succeeded to the papacy at Rome. | Anglo Saxon | 6th |
| 593 | Ethelfrith succeeds Ceawlin as King of Northumbrians | This year died Ceawlin, and Cwichelm, and Cryda; and Ethelfrith succeeded to the kingdom of the Northumbrians. He was the son of Ethelric; Ethelric of Ida. | anglo Saxon | 6th |
| 597 | Augustine's Roman Missionaries arrive in England | Pope Gregory I sent mission following pagan invasions of 5th and early 6th centuries they arrived in Kent where Bertha wife of King Aethelberht of Kent he was baptised and Augustine establishes church in Cantebury | Anglo Saxon | 6th |
| 597 | King Saebert of Essex converted to Christianity | Essex was dependent on Kent this may have influenced the conversion | anglo Saxon | 6th |
| 597 | Ceowulf King of West Saxons constant battles with Angles, welsh Picts or scots. | 597 This year began Ceolwulf to reign over the West-Saxons; and he constantly fought and conquered, either with the Angles, or the Welsh, or the Picts, or the Scots. He was the son of Cutha, Cutha of Cynric, Cynric of Cerdic, Cerdic of Elesa, Elesa of Gewis, Gewis of Wye, Wye of Frewin, Frewin of Frithgar, Frithgar of Brand, Brand of Balday, and Balday of Woden. This year came Augustine and his companions to England. Bede | anglo Saxon | 6th |
| 598 | First Grammar school established in Canterbury | This is based on the fact that St. Augustine founded an abbey (within the current school's grounds) where it is known that teaching took place. When the dissolution of the monasteries occurred in the reign of Henry VIII, the school was refounded as The King's School, Canterbury. | Anglo Saxon | 6th |
| 601 | Gregory sends the Pall to Augustine and Edwin of Northumbrians is baptised. | 601 This year Pope Gregory sent the pall to Archbishop Augustine in Britain, with very many learned doctors to assist him; and Bishop Paulinus converted Edwin, king of the Northumbrians, to baptism. | Anglo Saxon | 7th |
| 602 | Canterbury Cathedral Founded | St Augustine founded an episcopal see in the city and became the first Archbishop of Canterbury. The original Anglo Saxon building was rebuilt in the Norman period | Anglo Saxon | 7th |
| 603 | Ethelfrith becomes King of Northumbria | Bede tells of Æthelfrith's great successes over the Britons, while also noting his paganism (the conversion of Northumbria did not begin until a decade after his death): he "ravaged the Britons more than all the great men of the English | Anglo Saxon | 7th |
| 604 | Augustine consecrates 2 Bishops Mellitus and Justus | Melitus was sent to preach to the East saxons and was given the Bishopric of London. Justus given the Bishopric of Rochester. Both were endowed by Ethelbert. | Anglo Saxon | 7th |
| 604 | First St Pauls Church built in London | The first cathedral dedicated to St Paul's is built on the site by Mellitus, Bishop of the East Saxons. | anglo Saxon | 7th |
| 606 | Pope Gregory Died | He was the driver behind the Augustine led mission to England. | anglo Saxon | 7th |
| 607 | Ethelfrith defeated and slaughtered his Welsh Army at Chester. | Augustine was said to have predicted as a prohesy that "If the Welsh will not have peace with us, they shall perish at the hands of the Saxons" 200 priests who came to pray for the Welsh army were also slaughtered. | anglo Saxon | 7th |
| 611 | Death of King Ceolwulf of Wessex | Ceolwulf is succeeded by his nephew, Cynegils. King Cynegils shares power to some extent with his eldest son, Cwichelm, who may have been given Upper Wessex. | anglo Saxon | 7th |
| 611 | Cynegils became king of Wessex for 31 years. | According to the Chronicle Cyngils was the son of Ceol, his father was Cutha of Cynric. | anglo Saxon | 7th |
| 614 | Cynegils and Cwichelm fought at Bampton and defeated the welsh | According to the Chronicles 2046 Welshmen were slaughtered. | anglo Saxon | 7th |
| 616 | Eadbald becomes King of Kent | He was the son and successor of Ethelbert and briefly abandoned his father's support for Christiantity and may have failed to continue as overlord, like his father. He is not mentioned in list of Overlord Kings in Bede | anglo Saxon | 7th |
| 617 | Redwalk killed Ethelfrith King of the Northumbrians | Redwald was King of the East Angles (East Anglians) and Edwin as son of Ella 'subdued all Britain except the men of Kent.' | anglo Saxon | 7th |
| 632 | Death of Muhammad | Death of Muhammad in Medina Saudi Arabia | Islam | 7th |
| 633 | Battle of Hatfield | Edwin of Northumbria killed by Cadwallon of Gwnedd | Anglo Saxon | 7th |
| 634 | King Oswald of Northumbria | Son of Ethelfrith of Northumbria established himself as Bretwaldas as well as regional King., he was slain by Penda in 642, king of the Southumbrians. Oswald was succeeded by his brother Oswy who went on to reign for 28 years. | Anglo Saxon | 7th |
| 634 | St Wilfred born in Northumberland | Born to a wealthy family in Northumberland, Wilfrid was second generation Christian. | Anglo Saxon | 7th |
| 635 | Lindisfarne Monestery founded | The monastery of Lindisfarne was founded by Irish monk Saint Aidan, who had been sent from Iona off the west coast of Scotland to Northumbria at the request of King Oswald. It became the base for Christian evangelising in the North of England | Anglo Saxon | 7th |
| 635 | King Cynegils brings Christianity to Winchester | The Italian missionary, Birinus, preached to the Royal court but Cynegils was not immediately convinced of the truth of Christianity. The following year, however, the regime in Northumbria changed and the new ruler, King Oswald, wished to restore relations with Wessex. He travelled south and persuaded Cynegils to accept Christianity | Anglo Saxon | 7th |
| 635 | Beginning of Muslim expansion | The move of Arabs from the Arab Peninsula in the 630s resulted in the rapid loss of Byzantium's southern provinces. Over the next fifty years, the Muslims would launch repeated raids into Byzantine Asia Minor, threaten Constantinople, with conquest, and outright conquer the Byzantine Exarchate of Africa | Anglo Saxon | 7th |
| 638 | Muslim Arabs capture Jerusalem | Muslim Arab armies capture Jerusalem from the Christian Byzantine Emperor. | Islam | 7th |
| 641 | Sutton Hoo burial | The finds included a mix of pagan and christian artefacts suggesting the period of transition to christianity | Anglo Saxon | 7th |
| 642 | Death of King Oswald of Northumbria | He was killed by the pagan King Penda of Mercia showing that christianity still in transition | Anglo Saxon | 7th |
| 643 | Cenwalh became King of West Saxons (Wessex) | He ruled for 31 years and ordered the old church at Winchester to be built in the name of St Peter. Cenwalh was the son of Cynegils | Anglo Saxon | 7th |
| 646 | King Cenwalh baptised. | Baptised while in exile by St Birinus | Anglo Saxon | 7th |
| 648 | King Cenwalh of wessex gave 3,000 Hides of land to Cuthred at Ashdown | This large tract of land was granted to Cuthred the son of Cwichhelm of Cynegils | Anglo Saxon | 7th |
| 648 | Old Minster, Winchester founded | First Christian church in Winchester founded | Anglo Saxon | 7th |
| 660 | St Wilfred shipwrecked in Sussex | Wilfred was returning to England when he was shipwrecked by a storm. The ship was attacked by Saxon pirates but after fierce fighting the tide and wind changed and the ship pitched up at Sandwich Kent | Anglo Saxon | 7th |
| 661 | King Cenwalh of Wessex fought at Pontesbury | He was pursued as far as Ahsdown Berkshire by Wulfere son of Penda. Wulfere penetrated the Isle of Wight and transferred it's dominions to the South Saxons (Sussex) under King Ethelwald of the South Saxons who Wulfere had adopted in baptism. Eoppa the priest was then the first to bring Baptism to the Isle of Wight. | Anglo Saxon | 7th |
| 664 | Synod of Whitby | The Synod of Whitby was convened at Saint Hilda's monastery at Saint Streaneschalch (Whitby) to determine the practices of the Church in England. English Church opts for Rome date of Easter and other customs | Anglo Saxon | 7th |
| 664 | Yellow fever epidemic throughout country | This plague begun in Europe was to devastate the population of southern Britain and Northumbria and is relayed in many chronicles, including Bede.The yellow fever referred to in Anglo Saxon texts could very well have been malaria | Anglo Saxon | 7th |
| 669 | Reform of English Church begun | Theodore of Tarsus as Archbishop of Cantebury restructuring of its diocesan system and in the canon laws which he established. | Anglo Saxon | 7th |
| 672 | King Cenwalh died | King Cenwalth was one of the last Pagan Kings of Wessex who adopted Christianity and it is during his reign that Christianity spread through Hampshire | Anglo Saxon | 7th |
| 673 | Synod at Hertford | The Synod of Hertford can be regarded as the beginning of the Church of England as a structural entity. | Anglo Saxon | 7th |
| 673 | St Etheldritha began Monastery at Ely | The first Christian building on the site was founded by St. Æthelthryth, daughter of the Anglo-Saxon King Anna of East Anglia. She may have acquired land at Ely from her first husband. After the end of her second marriage to Ecgfrith, a prince of Northumbria, she set up and ruled a monastery at Ely. When she died, a shrine was built there to her memory. | Anglo Saxon | 7th |
| 674 | Constantinople beseiged by Arabs | This gave unity to a Church in tension between its British, English and Roman members, | Islam | 7th |
| 676 | Æscwine of Wessex dies | Source Bede: (HE, iv.12 also entioned in the Anglo Saxon Chronicles. Also known as Escwin was the son of Cenferth, son of respectively, Cuthgils,Ceowulf,Cynric and Cerdic | Anglo Saxon | 7th |
| 676 | Centwine, son of Cynegils, succeeds to Wessex | The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle notes that Centwine was a son of Cynegils, which makes him a brother of Cenwealh. Stephen notes that Bishop Wilfrid paused at King Centwine's court in his exile, but did not stay long because Centwine's queen was the sister of the Northumbrian queen Iurminburg, and so Iurmingburg's hatred pursued him there. | Anglo Saxon | 7th |
| 679 | Battle of the Trent | Ecgfrith of Northumbria fights Æthelred of Mercia | Anglo Saxon | 7th |
| 681 | St Wilfred converts Meonwara tribes | St Wilfred converts the Meonwara tribes, Jutes and Saxons to Christianity and establishes churches throughout the Meon Valley | Anglo Saxon | 7th |
| 682 | Founding of the church at Warnford | The Church of Our Lady at Warnford established by St Wilfred and thought maybe to be his headquarters in the Meon Valley | Anglo Saxon | 7th |
| 684 | Ecgfrith of Northumbria sends an army under Ealdorman Berhtred to Ireland | Bede (HE, iv.26) records this as a vicious and unprovoked attack, and sees in the curses of the Irish as they were slain the direct causes of Ecgfrith's death in battle the following year against the Picts. | Anglo Saxon | 7th |
| 685 | Law of Hlothhere and Eadric | The Law of Æthelberht is a set of legal provisions written in Old English, probably dating to the early 7th century. It originates in the kingdom of Kent, and is the first Germanic-language law code. It is also thought to be the earliest example of a document written in English, though extant only in an early 12th-century manuscript, Textus Roffensis. | Anglo Saxon | 7th |
| 685 | Cædwalla emerges as king of Wessex | Bede mentions Cædwalla becoming king of the West Saxons after time spent in exile (HE, iv.15-16) | Anglo Saxon | 7th |
| 686 | Eadric of Kent dies | Frankish annal records his death. A law code, the Law of Hlothhere and Eadric, is jointly attributed to him and his predecessor Hlothhere. | Anglo Saxon | 7th |
| 686 | Cædwalla of Wessex and Mul ravage Kent and Isle of Wight | He conquered the Isle Of Wight, engaging in genocide and extinguishing the ruling dynasty there and forcing the population of the island at sword point to renounce their faith for Christianity. He gained control of Surrey and the kingdom of Kent, and in 686 he installed his brother, Mul, as king of Kent. Mul was burned in a Kentish revolt a year later, and Cædwalla returned, possibly ruling Kent directly for a period. | Anglo Saxon | 7th |
| 688 | Cædwalla of Wessex abdicates, goes to Rome | Cædwalla was wounded during the conquest of the Isle of Wight, and perhaps for this reason he abdicated in 688 to travel to Rome for baptism. | anglo Saxon | 7th |
| 689 | Cædwalla died | He reached Rome in April 689, and was baptised on the Saturday before Easter, dying ten days later on 20 April 689. He was buried in St Peter's church Rome. | anglo Saxon | 7th |
| 689 | Ine becomes King of Wessex | Ine was the son of Cenred | anglo Saxon | 7th |
| 689 | King Ine of Wessex gives the Kingdom it's 1st Law Code | The laws dealt with land, cattle and military obligations as they apply to the common man. Ine’s laws survive only because Alfred the Great appended them to his own code of laws.The oldest surviving manuscript, is in Corpus Christi College, Cambridge which contains both Alfred’s and Ine’s law codes. | Anglo Saxon | 7th |
| 701 | Lindisfarne Gospels | Written at the priory on Holy Island in North Eastern England | Anglo Saxon | 8th |
| 716 | Aethelbald becomes King of Mercia | Alternative spelling Ethelbald, 1st to dominate all of the kingdoms south of the Humber, little is known of his reign. He was criticised by ST Boniface for his dealings with the Church and his sexual mores or lack of them. He was eventually turned on by his own followers suggesting there were serious political division within. | anglo saxon | 8th |
| 721 | St Willibald departs for Germany | St Willibald departed from nearby Hamblemouth on his mission to Germany. | anglo Saxon | 8th |
| 725 | Bede Disseminates Anno domiini Data System across Europe | Bede, began the practice of counting years backward from A.D. 1. In this system, the year A.D. 1 is preceded by the year 1 B.C., without an intervening year 0. | Anglo Saxon | 8th |
| 731 | Bede's Church History Completed - Ecclesiastical History | The Ecclesiastical History of England examines the religious and political history of the Anglo-Saxons from the fifth century to 731 AD. St. Bede's historical survey opens with a broad outline of Roman Britain's geography and history. St. Bede pays special attention to the disagreement between Roman and Celtic Christians, the dates and locations of significant events in the Christian calendar, and political upheaval during the 600's. St. Bede collected information from a variety of monasteries, early Church and government writings, and the oral histories of Rome and Britain. | Anglo Saxon | 8th |
| 735 | Alcuin of York born | This famous scholar is one of our best sources of information for the later eighth century. He was educated in the cathedral school at York, and became a monk and teacher there | Anglo Saxon | 8th |
| 755 | Sigebert King of Wessex for a year | King Sigeberht of Wessex acts unjustly and is removed from power by a council of nobles, in favour of his distant kinsman, Cynewulf. Sigeberht is given control of Hampshire, probably as ealdorman; but he murders one of his own men and is driven out and eventually suffers the same fate. | Anglo Saxon | 8th |
| 755 | Cynewulf reigns as King of Wessex | Cynewulf was made King of West Saxon territory, except the home province of Hampshire until the death of Sigebert | Anglo Saxon | 8th |
| 757 | Offa becomes King of Mercia | Offa seizes the Kingdom Mercia after the murder of his cousin Aethelbald. The 1st annointed coronation and minting silver pennies were some of his still visible achievements. | Anglo Saxon | 8th |
| 783 | King Offa's Dyke marks England's border with Wales | The dyke was originally 27m wide and 8m high although it's purpose is not fully understood and quite possibly it fell into disuse soon after it's completion, it does mark the boundary between Wales and England. | Anglo Saxon | 8th |
| 786 | Cynewulf murdered | In 786, Cynewulf, king of Wessex, was killed by the exiled noble Cyneheard, brother of the former King Sigeberht | Anglo Saxon | 8th |
| 786 | Beorhtric rules Wessex | Beorhtric's successful bid for the throne was supported by Offa, king of the Mercians against Egbert. It is not entirely clear why Offa intervened in Beorhtric's favour, though it seems likely that the opportunity to influence West Saxon politics, and thus preserve the Mercian Ascendancy, were important factors. | Anglo Saxon | 8th |
| 786 | Haroun al-Rashid acceded to the caliphate in Baghdad | The Islamic world flowered at this time both intellectually and culturally. Books were transcribed into Arabic and beautiful gold art work was produced | Anglo Saxon | 8th |
| 793 | Lindisfarne sacked by Vikings | This brutal attack on the Monastery at Lindisfarne had far reaching consequences and is considered to be the first of the Viking raids on Britain. It is written about in spectacular language in the Anglo Saxon Chronicle | Anglo Saxon | 8th |
| 794 | Iona attacked by Vikings | When the Vikings brutally attacked the little island society in 794 AD, and set fire to the premises, the monks fled to the monastery in Kells in Ireland. | Anglo Saxon | 8th |
| 800 | Book of Kells written with exquisite decoration | Created by Celtic monks the Book of Kells is an illuminated manuscript Gospel book in Latin, containing the four Gospels of the New Testament together with various prefatory texts and tables. | Anglo Saxon | 9th |
| 800 | Charlemagne, king of the Franks, crowned Holy Roman Emperor by Pope Leo III | Height of Frankish power in Europe. Wessex kings seeking to unite Britain under the one crown, the Wessex crown. | Anglo Saxon | 9th |
| 800 | Sundial at Corhampton Church | Built into the wall of Corhampton church, is the 8 tide Saxon sundial. Each 'tide' was around 3hrs long | Anglo Saxon | 9th |
| 802 | Egbert lands at Southampton | After his exile at the court of Charlemagne, Egbert returns to England landing at Southampton | Anglo Saxon | 9th |
| 802 | Egbert reign begins. | He was the son of a Kentish noble but claimed descent from Cerdic (reigned 519-34), founder of Wessex, the kingdom of the West Saxons in southern England. and lays the foundations for Alfred to unify England | Anglo Saxon | 9th |
| 825 | King Egbert defeats Beornwulf at Ellandun | Wessex becomes the dominant kingdom. Following his conquest of Mercia, Egbert controls all of England south of the Humber | Anglo Saxon | 9th |
| 826 | Monks from Titchfield serve the Meon Valley | St Wilfred sent monks from the Abbey at Titchfield to convert the heathen Meonwara tribes of the Meon Valley | Anglo Saxon | 9th |
| 829 | Egbert made Overlord of England | Egbert made rigorous efforts to bring the native Britons (Celts) into subjection. He overthrew the Welsh, then the Mercians and eventually the Northumbrians making himself overlord of England | Anglo Saxon | 9th |
| 836 | Vikings raid inland in Ireland | The Vikings continue to penetrate further inland in Ireland | Anglo Saxon | 9th |
| 839 | Aethelwulf reign begins | He consolidated the power of Wessex and re-asserted the supremacy over Mercia. An alliance was formed by marrying his daughter to the Mercian King, which was to prove of lasting value to the House of Wessex. | Anglo Saxon | 9th |
| 840 | Viking incursions onto mainland Britain grow | Large organized groups set up permanent encampments on English soil. Kill kings of Northumbria and East Anglia, subjugate king of Mercia. Storm York and set up a Viking kingdom (Jorvik). Wessex stands alone as the last Anglo-Saxon kingdom in Britain. | Anglo Saxon | 9th |
| 847 | Charter for 'Hamtun' Southampton | Aethelwulf dated a charter for 'The Royal Town of Hamtun' | Anglo Saxon | 9th |
| 849 | Alfred the Great born in Wantage | From the Opening of Asser's Life of Alfred we learn "In the year of our Lord's incarnation 849, was born Alfred, king of the Anglo-Saxons, at the royal village of Wanating, in Berkshire, w | Anglo Saxon | 9th |
| 850 | Kenneth McAlpin becomes 1st King of Scotia | Kenneth MacAlpin, son of Alpin, 34th King of Dalriada, asserted himself as the first King of the Picts and Scots | Anglo Saxon | 9th |
| 856 | Aethelwulf dies at Steyning in Sussex | Aethelwulf died at Steyning his tombstone can be seen in the porch of Steyning church. His body was later removed to Old Minster Winchester. | Anglo Saxon | 9th |
| 856 | Aethelbald reign begins | Aethalbald tried to snatch the crown from his father by plotting against him but did not succeed. Crowned after the death of his father | Anglo Saxon | 9th |
| 860 | Aethelbert reign begins | Became king of Wessex on the death of his brother Aethelbald. During his reign the Danes returned and soon after his accession a Danish army landed either via the Thames or on the south coast and advanced as far as Winchester | Anglo Saxon | 9th |
| 861 | Bishop Swithun, confidant and advisor to Alfred dies | Swithun was a Saxon Bishop of Winchester in Hampshire, England Under Æthelwulf, Swithun was appointed bishop of Winchester, to which see he was consecrated by Archbishop Ceolnoth. In his new office he was known for his piety and his zeal in building new churches or restoring old ones. | Anglo Saxon | 9th |
| 864 | Diamond Sutra the earliest dated book block printed | Buddhist text found in cave in Dunhuang China | Anglo Saxon | 9th |
| 865 | Aethelred I reign begins | Succeeded his brother Aethelbert. Aethelred's reign was one long struggle against the Danes | Anglo Saxon | 9th |
| 865 | Major invasion by Danes | Leaders are Boneless Haldfan and Ubbi | Anglo Saxon | 9th |
| 866 | Vikings take York establish Kingdom Northern England | The Vikings attacked York on 1 November 866 which was All Saints Day | Anglo Saxon | 9th |
| 869 | Vikings conquer East Anglia | Unlike the previous raiding parties, many Viking leaders had combined their forces with the intention of conquering England, or at least taking one or more of the four main Anglo Saxon kingdoms (Northumberland in the North, Mercia in the Midlands, Wessex in the South and East Anglia in the East). King Edmund, the Anglo Saxon king of the kingdom of East Anglia, dared not fight them and bought peace, but the Vikings had bigger plans and their army marched on York. | Anglo Saxon | 9th |
| 870 | Vikings move against Wessex | In six battles the English struggle to hols there own and in the last battle the king is killed. Alfred his brother takes command | Anglo Saxon | 9th |
| 870 | Alfred defeated the Danes at the Battle of Ashdown in Berkshire. | The Danes attacked Wessex, whose forces were commanded by King Aethelred and his younger brother Alfred. At the battle of Ashdown in, Alfred routed the Viking army in a fiercely fought uphill assault. | Anglo Saxon | 9th |
| 871 | King Alfred The Great's written Law (Dooms) | Written codification of Law, building on Ethelbert's Law | Anglo Saxon | 9th |
| 871 | King Alfred I crowned | There is no record of Alfred's coronation, despite the claim that he was crowned at Kingston upon Thames it is from this point that Alfred commences resistance against the Vikings | Anglo Saxon | 9th |
| 871 | King Alfred begins to build a navy | Alfred realizes that Wessex is going to be under severe threat from the Danes and the Norwegians and wants to be prepared for the attack | Anglo Saxon | 9th |
| 876 | Vikingsattack Wessex | The Vikings launch an attack upon Alfred's Royal fortress at Chippenham | Anglo Saxon | 9th |
| 878 | King Alfred of wessex defeats Dane Guthrum at Battle of Edington | King Alfred defeats the Danes at Edington, encouraging further Anglo-Saxon resistance against Viking invasion and establishing the foundation for his transition from king of Wessex to king of the English. | Anglo Saxon | 9th |
| 881 | Anglo Saxon Chronicle begun by Alfred | The chronicle, begun by Alfred was a record of events, politics, war, society , even the weather. Probably written in the Scriptorium in Winchester | Anglo Saxon | 9th |
| 881 | Law of Alfred Guthrum and Edward the Elder | This Old English agreement between King Alfred of Wessex and Guthrum, the viking king of east Anglia, cannot be dated with certainty. It established the boundary between their kingdoms and regulated relations between the English and Danish subjects of the two kings in criminal matters and procedures and warranty. | Anglo Saxon | 9th |
| 881 | Peace of Wedmore | Alfred and Guthrum agreed division of country, this was basis of danelaw. Guthrum also converted to Christianity agrees to land between Thames and Lea Rivers North, Alfred keeps South and London | Anglo Saxon | 9th |
| 896 | New Danish invasion defeated by King Alfred the Great | Alfred the Great fitted out the first British Fleet possibly on the River Itchen close to Southampton. Battle was given to the Danes in the waters of the Solent, and they were completely routed. | Anglo Saxon | 9th |
| 899 | King Alfred the Great died | It is not known what King Alfred the Great died of at the age of fifty years but he had suffered from an illness for much of his life that is thought maybe to have been Chrohn's disease. His final resting place was Hyde Abbey Winchester | Anglo Saxon | 9th |
| 899 | Edward the Elder reign begins | He succeeded his father Alfred the Great in 899. He reconquered southeast England and the Midlands from the Danes, uniting Wessex and Mercia with the help of his sister Aethelflaed. Edward dies at Farndon-on-Dee near Chester leading an army against the Welsh. He is buried in Winchester. | Anglo Saxon | 9th |
| 907 | Romsey Abbey founded | Founded by Edward the Elder as a house for Benedictine nuns | Anglo Saxon | 10th |
| 909 | Edward the Elder of Wessex defeats Vikings at Tetenhall | The Danes sailed up the River Severn, raiding all of Mercia as far south as the Bristol Avon but were surprised by the combined forces of Mercia and Wessex. It was a decisive victory for the Englishand opened the way for the expansion of Wessex into the Danish east Mercia & East Anglia, the Northumbrian Danes effectively subdued, never to recover. | Anglo Saxon | 10th |
| 910 | Benedictine Abbey of Cluny founded | Cluny, Burgundy France, would later be the place of learning and influence on Henry de Blois Norman the Conquerors grandson and an important influence on Romanesque Art and architecture. | Anglo Saxon | 10th |
| 910 | Reconquest of Danelaw lands begins. | The last great Viking army sent to ravage England is defeated by an army of Wessex and Mercia. | Anglo Saxon | 10th |
| 911 | The Treaty Of St. Clair-sur-Epte | Under the terms of the treaty, the Kingdom of Normandy was established, Rollo the Viking became the first ruler, and he converted to Christianity. | Anglo Saxon | 10th |
| 914 | King Edward the Elder begins English reconquest of Danelaw | Edward the Elder recaptures Essex from the Danes | Anglo Saxon | 10th |
| 916 | Vikings establish settlements at Dublin and Waterford in Ireland | By the first decades of the tenth century opportunities for Vikings in Britain and the Europe were limited. It is not surprising that they chose to attack Ireland again. From 914 large fleets again began to attack Ireland, these Vikings came from those already settled elsewhere in Britain. | Anglo Saxon | 10th |
| 916 | Aethlfleda conquers Wales | Edward's sister Aethlfleda of Mercia attacks and conquers most of Wales | Anglo Saxon | 10th |
| 924 | King Athelstan reign begins. | Athelstan grandson of Alfred acceded to Wessex and Mercia Athelstan was second son to Edward the Elder. Athelstan continues the Alfred's mission to educate, govern and establish social codes for the people to live under | Anglo Saxon | 10th |
| 927 | Athelstan Established direct rule over Northumbria. | This effectively created the Kingdom of England | Anglo Saxon | 10th |
| 937 | Battle of Brunanburh | Constantine II of Scotland, Vikings and Strathclyde Britons defeated by Athelstan of Wessex | Anglo Saxon | 10th |
| 939 | Athelstan died | Death of Athelstan leads to resurgence of the Viking Kingdom of York | Anglo Saxon | 10th |
| 939 | Edmund I reign begins | The son of Edward the Elder, he succeeded his half-brother, Athelstan. He succeeded in regaining control of Mercia, which on his accession had fallen to the Norse inhabitants of Northumbria, and of the Five Boroughs, an independent confederation within the Danelaw. | Anglo Saxon | 10th |
| 946 | Eadred reign begins | King Edred was a son of King Edward the Elder by his third marriage. He succeeded his brother, King Edmund I, in 946. Like both his elder brothers, Edred enjoyed military success over the Vikings. | Anglo Saxon | 10th |
| 955 | Eadwig reign begins | Son of Edmund I Reportedly murdered by Canute. He ran foul of the influential Bishop Dunstan early in his reign. | Anglo Saxon | 10th |
| 959 | Edgar I reign begins | Son of Edmund I. King of all England from 959. He was the younger son of Edmund I, and strove successfully to unite English and Danes as fellow subjects. | Anglo Saxon | 10th |
| 965 | Westminster Abbey founded | Benedictine monks first came to this site in the middle of the tenth century, establishing a tradition of daily worship which continues to this day. | Anglo Saxon | 10th |
| 966 | Edgar gives new charter to the New Minster at Winchester | The closeness between church and crown at this time is shown by the importance Edgar places on refounding and establishing a charter for the New Minster Winchester. | Anglo Saxon | 10th |
| 971 | Opening of Bishop Swithun's grave | Various visions are said to have led Bishop Aethelwold, to successfully transfer St Swithun's body inside the Old Minster. St. Swithun was exhumed, the bishop himself taking up the spade. His grave became a shrine. | Anglo Saxon | 10th |
| 972 | Crowning of King Edgar in Bath | A new form of coronation ceremony takes place uniting the English Kingdoms ST Dunstan establishes the ideal of the servant king in the coronation service and Edgar promises to rule people justly in the first coronation oath taken by a king of all England | Anglo Saxon | 10th |
| 973 | Edgar introduces a new coinage | The royal portrait becomes a regular feature on coins | Anglo Saxon | 10th |
| 973 | King Edgar of Wessex receives submission of six kings | By the submission of six kings Edgar achieves supremacy over the 6 kingdoms | Anglo Saxon | 10th |
| 975 | Edward I (The Martyr) reign begins | Son of Edgar I born in 962 and assassinated at the age of 16 years | Anglo Saxon | 10th |
| 978 | Edward the Martyr murdered at Corfe Castle | Thought to have been murdered by his own people, whilst out hunting, possibly by his step mother, he was only 16 years old and a kindly young boy. Miracles were reported at his grave. People considered him saintly, hence the martyr appendage to his name | Anglo Saxon | 10th |
| 978 | Ethelred (The Unready) reign begins | Born 968 son of Edgar. He is just 11 years old when he takes the crown | Anglo Saxon | 10th |
| 980 | Danes renew their raids on England | The Danes attacked Chester and Southampton | Anglo Saxon | 10th |
| 986 | Wherwell Abbey founded | The nunnery was founded about 986 by Ælfthryth, the widow of King Edgar. She retired there to live out her life and was buried there | Anglo Saxon | 10th |
| 991 | Ethelred pays Danegeld to Vikings | Ethelred is a weak king who struggles to keep the Vikings at bay. After a major incursion at Essex, Ethelred pays them in silver 48,000 pounds to depart but the Danes are aware of this and further troubles begin. King Sveinn prepares to invade | Anglo Saxon | 10th |
| 994 | Olaf of Norway and Swein of Denmark wintered in 'Hamtun' Southampton | The shelter of the Southampton water gave the invading forces of Olaf and Swein time to gather themselves through the winter before pushing inland | Anglo Saxon | 10th |
| 994 | The beginning of twenty years of battle with the Danish King Sveinn | Following weak leadership under Ethelred, the English capitulate to king Sveinn of Denmark. Sveinn sets up a Norse court at the new capital of Viking England, Jorvik. Aethelred flees to Normandy. | Anglo Saxon | 10th |
| 1000 | Easter Island statues | Erected by the inhabitants of Easter Island, these statues are thought to represent their ancestors but may ultimately have brought the island to ecological collapse | Anglo Saxon | 11th |
| 1000 | Parish boundaries set out | At about this time administrative areas developed maybe based on the Saxon manors with their attendant church. | Anglo Saxon | 11th |
| 1001 | Danes destroy attack Bishops Waltham and Alton | The Danes attacked a number of towns in Wessex and it is recorded in the Anglo Saxon Chronicle that they met with fierce fighting at Alton and then went on to burn the town of Waltham, now Bishops Waltham | Anglo Saxon | 11th |
| 1002 | St Brice's Day Massacre | Aethelred orders the massacre during which many Danes living in england are put to death | Anglo Saxon | 11th |
| 1007 | Danegeld enforced | Danegeld was the money paid to avert Viking attacks | Anglo Saxon | 11th |
| 1012 | The Danes raid Kent | The Danes set fire to Canterbury Cathedral and murdered Archbishop Alphege | Anglo Saxon | 11th |
| 1013 | Svein Forkbeard | Father of Cnut, takes control of the kingdom | Anglo Saxon | 11th |
| 1013 | Aethelred flees to Normandy | His son Edmund Ironside continues the Anti-Danish resistance. | Anglo Saxon | 11th |
| 1013 | Stone church built at Corhampton | An important Saxon church remaining almost unaltered since it was built. The church is built on a mound within a circular enclosure, suggesting a very ancient place of pre-Christian worship. Associated with the ministry of St Wilfred. | Anglo Saxon | 11th |
| 1014 | Battle of Clontarf | Army of Brian Boru and Mael Sechnaill defeats the Dublin Vikings and their allies Brian Boru was high king of the irish fighting for power amongst 11th century kings. Vikings and |Irish on both sides.Brian killed in later stages robbed of victory and Mael resumes as High King. | Anglo Saxon | 11th |
| 1014 | Aethelred recaptures the throne | After Svein died in February 1014, Ethelred’s council of advisers invited him to return to the throne on condition that he agree to satisfy their grievances. | Anglo Saxon | 11th |
| 1014 | Cnut invades with army of 20,000 | There follows a year of Military War with Ethelreds effective son Edmund Ironside | Anglo Saxon | 11th |
| 1016 | Cnut establishes education for boys | Cnut wishes to continue the task of educating his people that was begun by Alfred. His aim was for a peaceful and prosperous kingdom. | Anglo Saxon | 11th |
| 1016 | Edmund Ironside reign begins | After the death of Aethelred II, the Saxons choose Edmund Ironside to succeed. , son of Aethelred II the Unready of England, becomes KingThe Danes however choose Canute | Anglo Saxon | 11th |
| 1016 | Canute defeats Edmund at Ashingdon Essex | At the battle of Ashingdon, in Essex, King Cnut II of Denmark defeats Edmund. They meet on the Isle of Alney in the Severn and agree to divide the kingdom into two. Cnut takes the land North of the Thames and Edmund the South. Edmund is assassinated within a few months and Canute becomes king | Anglo Saxon | 11th |
| 1016 | King Cnut reign begins | Cnut born 995, son of Swegn Forkbeard King of Denmark. Married Elfgifu of Northampton and widow Emma of Ethelred the Unready. | Anglo Saxon | 11th |
| 1017 | England Split into 4 Earldoms | Cnut divided England into 4 earldoms on the Scandinavian model: Wessex he governed directly, and of his allies Thorkell the Tall became Earl of East Anglia, Erik retained Northumbria, which Cnut had already given him, and Eadric Streona became Earl of Mercia | Anglo Saxon | 11th |
| 1023 | Godwine made Earl of Wessex | Under King Cnut, Godwine rapidly ascends to power and by 1023 has been made Earl of Wessex | Anglo Saxon | 11th |
| 1027 | Canute makes a pilgrimage to Rome | Cnut travels to Rome to demonstrate his alliance with the Church, and attends the coronation of the Pope | Anglo Saxon | 11th |
| 1035 | King Canute died | Cnut dies at the age of 40, and his huge Northern European empire disintegrates. | Anglo Saxon | 11th |
| 1035 | Harold I (Harefoot) reign begins | Son of Cnut by Aelfgifu. In 1035 recognized as regent for himself and his brother Harthacanute represented in England by his mother Emma of Normandy. By 1037 recognized as King | Anglo Saxon | 11th |
| 1039 | Gruffydd ap LLywelyn becomes King of Gwnedd | Established as ruler of Powys, Lllwelyn claims the throne of North Wales | Anglo Saxon | 11th |
| 1040 | Hathacnut titular King of Denmark from 1028 | Acknowledged King of England from 1025-1037 with Harold I as regent. Effective King after Harold's death but continued bickering between Canutes sons is destabilizing. | Anglo Saxon | 11th |
| 1040 | Macbeth becomes King of Scots | Having deposed Malcolm he is mormaer of Moray. | Anglo Saxon | 11th |
| 1042 | Edward II (The Confessor) reign begins | Canute's sons die without issue and Edward, son of Ethelred The Unready becomes king and power swings back to the Kingdom of Wessex. He married Eadgyth daughter of Godwine Earl Of Wessex | Anglo Saxon | 11th |
| 1053 | Earl Godwin(e), Earl of Wessex died | Died at the King's table, which was thought to be a fitting end to his life as he was suspected of killing Alfred, the Kings brother. He choked after uttering these words 'May this crumb choke me if I killed your brother' and it did | Anglo Saxon | 11th |
| 1054 | Schism between Roman and Orthodox Chuches | Huge ramifications separating the church and focusing in europe on Roman church | Anglo Saxon | 11th |
| 1056 | Welsh attack England | The attack was led by Gruffydd ap Llywelyn with the objective to attack England and burn Hereford Cathedral | Anglo Saxon | 11th |
| 1062 | Lorcan O'Tuathail becomes 2nd Archbishop of Dublin | Introduces Roman customs. | Anglo Saxon | 11th |
| 1063 | Harold Godwinson and his brother Tostig of Northumberland attack Wales. | Led the English army against the Welsh in 1063. His infantry pursued the Welsh into the rocky and wooded districts. The Welsh found that their natural strongholds no longer protected them from the enemy. It is said that Harold's army killed every adult Welsh male they could find. The country was almost completely depopulated. | Anglo Saxon | 11th |
| 1064 | Earl Harold's homage to William of Normandy | Harold was knighted by William at Bayeux. During the ceremony Harold took an oath that he would do his best to help William to become king when Edward the Confessor died. Harold also agreed to marry William's daughter, Eadmer. In return, William promised Harold half the realm of England. | Anglo Saxon | 11th |
| 1065 | Revolt of the Northern Earls | Harolds brother Tostig is replaced as Earl of Northumbria | Anglo Saxon | 11th |
| 1066 | Battle of Hastings | William of Normandy says that not only did Edward the Confessor name him as heir, but he also claims that Harold once promised to support him as successor to Edward. Harold denies it. William prepares to mount an invasion. | Norman | 11th |
| 1066 | King Edward died | Edward dies childless, apparently recommending Harold Godwinson as successor. | Anglo Saxon | 11th |
| 1066 | Harold II reign begins | Son of Godwine Earl of Wessex reigns for 10 months and is then killed in battle | Anglo Saxon | 11th |
| 1066 | William I reign begins | Crown obtained by conquest. Son of Robert I Duke of Normandy | Norman | 11th |
| 1066 | Winchester surrenders to King William I | The submission is sent by Queen Edith, widow of King Edward. William I extends the Saxon royal palace and builds a castle | Norman | 11th |
| 1067 | English rebellions | General resistance caused by the Norman invasion | Norman | 11th |
| 1067 | Norman construction of The Tower of London begins | The site of the present Tower of London built during the Norman period and added to over time was begun soon after the Norman invasion | Norman | 11th |
| 1069 | The Harrying of the North | The Normans ravage the North of England. Anglo-Saxon brother and earls, Edwin of Mercia and Morcar of Northumbria fought and lost the battle for the north in 1066 but the earls were in rebellion by 1069 and William attacked and laid waste to the north. | Norman | 11th |
| 1070 | Bishop Stigand last Anglo Saxon bishop of Winchester died | Stigand served King Cnut as a chaplain and continued to advice his sons. Under Edward the Confessor he became England's main administrator. He was excommunicated for holding the sees of both Winchester and Canterbury. Despite growing pressure for his deposition, Stigand continued to attend the royal court and to consecrate bishops, until in 1070 he was deposed by papal legates and imprisoned at Winchester where he died. | Norman | 11th |
| 1075 | Construction of Windsor castle started by William the Conqueror. | Windsor Castle became one of the major royal residences and today is the longest occupied palace in Europe. | Norman | 11th |
| 1077 | Canterbury Cathedral rebuilt | St Augustine, the first Archbishop of Canterbury, arrived on the coast of Kent as a missionary to England in 597 AD. He was given a church at Canterbury by the local King, Ethelbert whose Queen, was already a Christian. By 1077, Archbishop Lanfranc had rebuilt it as a Norman church | Norman | 11th |
| 1079 | Construction of Winchester Cathedral commences | Winchester Cathedral as we know it today was begun just 13 years after the Norman invasion but it was not the first church on the site. It was built alongside Old Minster which was later demolished | Norman | 11th |
| 1079 | New Forest created by William I as a Royal hunting Reserve. | King William I and his men used the area of the New Forest as his personal deer and wild boar hunting grounds and it was thus designated as land to be used for royal privileges. It was bound over by Laws of the Forest. | Norman | 11th |
| 1080 | The city of Newcastle was founded | The city of Newcastle Upon Tyne was founded at the lowest place the Tyne could be easily crossed. The Normans built a wooden fort to safeguard the crossing. They also erected a wooden bridge. The 'new castle' was rebuilt in stone in the 12th century. | Norman | 11th |
| 1086 | Doomsday Book | The Domesday Book is a great land survey, commissioned by William the Conqueror to assess the extent of the land and resources being owned in England at the time, and the extent of the taxes he could raise. | Norman | 11th |
| 1087 | First leprosy hospital in London | St James's Palace became London's first leprosy hospital, when the Bishop of London contracted the disease. Lepers were banned from the city and St James's became a hospital for lepers. | Norman | 11th |
| 1087 | William II (Rufus) reign begins | Third son of William I. Rufus briefly King killed in hunting accident by noble. He is buried below the Tower in Winchester Cathedral | Norman | 11th |
| 1087 | Year of failed harvests | "Also in the same year, before harvest, the holy minster of St.Paul, the episcopal see in London, was completely burned, with many other minsters, and the greatest part, and the richest of the whole city. So also, about the same time, full nigh each head-port in all England was entirely burned. Alas! rueful and woeful was the fate of the year that brought forth so many misfortunes. " | Norman | 11th |
| 1088 | Rebellion in support of Robert Curthose, Duke of Normandy | Robert son of William, recognized as heir to Normandy but suppressed by his father had the support of others to rule Normandy | Norman | 11th |
| 1090 | Construction of Southampton Castle | Southampton Castle erected on a mound overlooking the western shore. It served not just as a stonghold but a royal storehouse particularly of wine. | Norman | 11th |
| 1090 | William leads an invasion of Normandy. | The invasion is an attempt to subdue his brother, Robert. | Norman | 11th |
| 1092 | First Norman Bishop of Bangor consecrated | The bishopric of Bagnor is one of the oldest in Britain | Norman | 11th |
| 1093 | Donald III (Donalbane) King of Scots | Donald was the brother of Malcolm III and following Queen Margaret's death he invaded and laid seige to Edinburgh castle. Malcolm's sons by Margaret of Wessex were exiled to England. Donald was briefly disposed by his nephew, Duncan II in 1094. However, later that year he was removed from power and imprisoned. | Norman | 11th |
| 1093 | Anselm becomes Archbishop of Canterbury | William II appointed the Italian Monk Anslem to be Archbishop of Canterbury, following a serious illness. He hoped the appointment would bring a divine intervention and save his life. | Norman | 11th |
| 1093 | Malcolm III and the Scots invade England | Peace had broken down in 1092 and arguments over where the borders between England and Scotland once again flared up. | Norman | 11th |
| 1095 | The Council of Claremont | Pope Urban preached to to an assembly of Frankish nobles and clerics about the defilement of the Holy Land by the Muslims. Christian expansion would benefit the papacy and the French nobles were full of zeal. They took the cross and so began the first crusade. | Norman | 11th |
| 1095 | William suppresses revolt in Northumbria | Robert de Mowbray, Earl of Northumbria refused to attend the Curia Regis, a council led by the King with his senior Lords. William led an army against Robert, defeating and imprisoning him. | Norman | 11th |
| 1096 | Evidence of teaching at Oxford | There is no clear date of foundation, but teaching existed at Oxford in some form in 1096 and developed rapidly from 1167, when Henry II banned English students from attending the University of Paris. | Norman | 11th |
| 1096 | Oxford University was by now established | Oxford University was quite probably acting as a base for scholars before the Norman Conquest but by 1096 there is evidence of scholars at Oxford. In 1188, the historian, Gerald of Wales, gave a public reading to the assembled Oxford dons. By 1201, the University was headed by a magister scolarum Oxonie, on whom the title of Chancellor was conferred in 1214, and in 1231 the masters were recognised as a universitas or corporation. | Norman | 11th |
| 1096 | First Crusade embarks for the Holy Land | In 1095, Pope Urban II began to preach a crusade to regain Jerusalem. This after the defeat of the Byzantian army at Manzikert by the Muslim Turks. After the sermon at Clermont by the Pope, the knights and nobles rallied to the cause and the first crusade was begun made up of mainly french noble men. | Norman | 11th |
| 1097 | Great Council Assembly at Winchester | King William Rufus convened an assembly at Winchester where he and Archbishop Anselm met for the last time | Norman | 11th |
| 1097 | Archbishop Anselm exiled | Anselm and King William argue and William exiled him to Rome and then seized his estates | Norman | 11th |
| 1098 | Crusaders take Antioch | Having marched from Constantinople through the Byzantine Empire the crusaders arrived in Antioch in October 1097. After an eight month long siege the crusaders finally captured the city which would become one of the six Crusader States | Norman | 11th |
| 1098 | King Magnus III of Norway conquers the Orkney Island, Hebrides and the Isle of Man. | Magnus sought to re-establish Norwegian influence in the Irish Sea. He led a fleet to the Isle of Man and then on to Puffin Island in Wales where they fought with the Norman army, fatally wounding the Earl of Shrewsbury. After conquering the Isle of Man, he took the title King of Man. | Norman | 11th |
| 1098 | William suppresses a Welsh rebellion against the Marcher Lords | William empowered Marcher lords as he realized he would not be able to conquer the Welsh. Castles were built on the border. | Norman | 11th |
| 1099 | Capture of Jerusalem during 1st Crusade | States established in Syria and Palestine | Norman | 11th |
| 1100 | William Rufus is killed by an arrow | King William Rufus went hunting with a party in the New Forest. Amongst those present were Walter Tyrell and William Rufus' younger brother Henry. During the hunt, Walter Tyrell fired an arrow at a stag. The arrow missed the animal and hit William Rufus in the chest. | Norman | 12th |
| 1100 | Henry I (Beauclerk) reign he is 4th son of William I | Henry inherited the crown by accident of fate or a darker political plot, on the death of his brother William II (Rufus.) | Norman | 12th |
| 1100 | College Garden Westminster Abbey planted | Benedictine monks established what is now the oldest continuously planted garden in England. College Garden as it is now called included an infirmary garden to grow medicinal herbs for the Abbey. | Norman | 12th |
| 1100 | Henry issues a Charter of Liberties | The Church and the barons distrust Henry,they tell Henry that if he wants the crown, he has to guarantee he will protect their liberties and so the Charter of Liberties is established. The charter includes, ending the plunder of the church and affirming that the church is free, ending the King's unlimited financial demands on his barons; and restoring the law of King Edward with all its rights and liberties. They also demand that the King himself must obey the law of the land and this promise changes the course of history. | Norman | 12th |
| 1101 | Duke Robert of Normandy invades | Duke Robert of Normandy lands at Portsmouth in July 1101 intent on seizing the crown from Henry. | Norman | 12th |
| 1102 | Slavery of Britons ends | King Henry and Anselm meet in London on the small island of Thorney, where the abbey of Edward the Confessor stands. At the Council of Westminster the British clergy condemn slavery as contrary to Christ's teaching and declare, "Let no one hereafter presume to engage in that nefarious trade in which hitherto in England men were usually sold like brute animals." | Norman | 12th |
| 1102 | Henry I introduces the measurement the yard | Henry I introduces a measure of length equal to the length of his arm and calls it the yard | Norman | 12th |
| 1106 | Battle of Tinchebray | Henry's older brother invades England to seize the throne, and is joined by many Norman nobles, but Henry's English subjects support him, and win a decisive victory on Norman soil at Tenchebray. | Norman | 12th |
| 1106 | Introduction of Judges circuits | Following his victory at Tinchebray, Henry makes many English his sheriffs and judges. He creates a royal court representing all his vassals. Members of his court of justice and court of exchequer resolve payment disputes by making a circuit of the shires to hear disputes. This is the beginning of judges' circuits. | Norman | 12th |
| 1110 | Chapel added to Windsor Castle | Henry III founded a chapel dedicated to St Edward the Confessor in the lower ward at Windsor. It was served by four priests and connected to an adjacent palace complex by a cloister. | Norman | 12th |
| 1113 | Knights of St John | The Knights of St John of Jerusalem become an established order under papal protection | Norman | 12th |
| 1120 | Knights Templar Order founded | The Knights Templar were set up as a charitable military order whose mission was to protect the crusaders in their relgious wars and to further their cause through social, political and economic development. | Norman | 12th |
| 1120 | Henry I's son and heir, William, is drowned | Henry's son and heir, William, is drowned at sea when returning from Normandy in The White Ship which strikes a rock and sinks. Henry’s daughter, Matilda, becomes heir. | Norman | 12th |
| 1123 | St Bartholemew's Hospital founded | Founded by Rahere, a favourite courtier of Henry I following a vision he had when in Rome suffering from malaria | Norman | 12th |
| 1124 | Priory St Denis Southampton founded | The Augustine priory of St. Denis was founded by Henry I.The foundation charter, directed to Bishop Gifford, William de Ponte Arche, the sheriff, and the burgesses of Southampton, granted to God and the church of St. Denis and the canons serving God there, for the health of his soul and of the souls of his father and mother, Maud his wife and William his son, a parcel of land between Portswood and the Itchen, | Norman | 12th |
| 1126 | Adelard translates Astronomical Tables | Adelard of Bath, English scholar, translates astronomical Tables by Al-Khowarizmi from the Arabic at this time he also translates the Liber ysagogarum alchorismi a work about arithmetic | Norman | 12th |
| 1126 | Militarization of the Hospital of St John | The Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem had existed in Jerusalem before the first crusade, but purely as a hospital which cared for pilgrims the Hospital was employing mercenaries to protect pilgrims from bandits, it then took on the defence of part of the frontier against the Muslims. | Norman | 12th |
| 1128 | Matilda marries Count of Anjou | Matilda, Henry's only surviving legitimate child, marries Geoffrey Plantagenet, Count of Anjou. | Norman | 12th |
| 1129 | The first Gothic church with flying buttresses constructed | Abbey Suger starts construction on the abbey church of St Dennis, the first Gothic church with flying buttresses | Norman | 12th |
| 1129 | Henry de Blois Bishopric of Winchester by Henry I | He would hold both post for 40 years. he was a key figure in the period , the richest prelate in England and part responsible for his brother stephen becoming King after Henry I. | Norman | 12th |
| 1130 | Henry de Blois built Wolvesey Castle Winchester | Wolvesey Castle, or Old Wolvesey Palace as it is sometimes known, has been the site of the Palace of the Bishops of Winchester since Saxon times. The present building is largely Norman in date, but the old Saxon buildings were excavated some years ago. The Norman castle was built around 1110, it was greatly expanded, beautified and fortified by Henry de Blois, Bishop of Winchester during the Civil Military War of King Stephen's reign. | Norman | 12th |
| 1131 | Charter of Freedom granted to citizens of London and their heirs | Henry I recognizes the rights of the citizens of London to appoint their own sheriffs and judges, to limit their taxes, to arrange their own lands, pledges, and debts, to transport their goods free of tolls; and to be free of having soldiers billeted on them. | Norman | 12th |
| 1135 | Death King Henry I | Henry I dies in Rouen, France, as a result of food poisoning | Norman | 12th |
| 1135 | Stephen I's Reign Begins | He married Matilda daughter of Eustace, count of Boulogne in 1141. held captives by adherents of Matilda daughter of Henry I, who contested the crown until 1153. | Norman | 12th |
| 1135 | Bishops Waltham Palace built by Henry des Blois | Home of Bishops of Winchester opulent built by Henry to exceed the opulence of Bishop of Canterbury. a seat of power. | Norman | 12th |
| 1136 | The Earl of Norfolk leads the first rebellion against Stephen | The Earl of Norfolk leads the first rebellion against Stephen starting civil war known as 'The Anarchy'. | Norman | 12th |
| 1138 | Robert, Earl of Gloucester deserts Stephen | Robert, Earl of Gloucester, an illegitimate son of Henry I, deserts Stephen and pledges allegiance to Matilda. | Norman | 12th |
| 1138 | The English defeat the Scots at Cowton Moor | On 22 August 1138 the English armies defeated the Scottish at nearby Cowton Moor in the Battle of the Standard. The Scottish army were led by King David I of Scotland | Norman | 12th |
| 1139 | Matilda leaves France and lands in England. | The Empress Matilda, daughter of Henry I, landed at Portsmouth with a small force of Knights to assert her rights to the Crown. | Norman | 12th |
| 1141 | Empress Matilda fortifies Wherwell Abbey | Empress Matilda's forces fortified the abbey, but they were defeated by King Stephen's troops. Matilda's men fled into the abbey, which was then fired by Stephen's troops. | Norman | 12th |
| 1141 | Stephen taken prisoner at the Battle of Lincoln | Matilda’s forces take Stephen prisoner at the Battle of Lincoln, and Matilda is proclaimed queen. | Norman | 12th |
| 1141 | Empress Matilda rules for seven months | Matilda takes control over England whilst Stephen is imprisoned, although she is never crowned and is shorlty overthrown again when Stephen regains his freedom. | Norman | 12th |
| 1144 | Gothic Style | Introduced in France in the building of the abbey church of St Denis near Paris | Norman | 12th |
| 1145 | The Second Crusade | The Second Crusade was the second crusade summoned by the Pope to defeat the Muslims who were still threatening to retake the Holy Lands. | Norman | 12th |
| 1147 | Henry Plantagenet invades England | Matilda's son Henry Plantagenet (later Henry II) invades England but runs out of money. Stephen pays for Henry's return to Normandy | Norman | 12th |
| 1150 | The Tournai Font given to East Meon church by Henry de Blois | There are only 4 Tournai Fonts in the country, one of the others being at Winchester Cathedral. This richly carved black marble font was brought to East Meon from Belgium by Henry de Blois | Norman | 12th |
| 1151 | Henry II Plantagenet, succeeds as Count of Anjou. | Matilda dies and her son, Henry Plantagenet, succeeds his father as Count of Anjou. | Norman | 12th |
| 1153 | Henry and Stephen agree terms for ending the civil war. | Henry II and Stephen agree terms for ending the civil war. Under the terms of the Treaty of Westminster, Stephen is to remain King for life, but thereafter the throne passes to Henry. | Norman | 12th |
| 1154 | Death of Stephen | On 25th October of a possible heart attack | Norman | 12th |
| 1154 | Henry II reign begins | Son of Matilda and Geoffrey Count of Anjou. Married Eleanor of Acquitaine and Murdered Thomas a Beckett | Plantagenets | 12th |
| 1160 | The Winchester Bible Illumnated Bible is created | The Winchester Bible is the largest and finest of all surviving 12th-century English bibles. A single scribe wrote out its text in Latin, while artists worked its exquisitely illuminated capital letters. Probably commissioned by Henry de Blois, the work carried out in the Cathedral scriptorium | Plantagenets | 12th |
| 1160 | St Mary the Virgin church, Knights Templar church Fordingbridge built | The church has a C13th chapel that belonged to the Knights Templar and a sword sharpening stone | Plantagenets | 12th |
| 1162 | Archbishop Thomas Becket | Thomas Becket, Lord Chancellor to Henry II, is forced by the king to accept the vacant post of archbishop of Canterbury | Plantagenets | 12th |
| 1163 | Assize of Clarendon | Henry II establishes the Grand Jury, and invites 12 men from each hundred and four men from each township to testify under oath about the facts of criminal acts to his travelling circuit justices. | Plantagenets | 12th |
| 1164 | Thomas Beckett forced into exile | Thomas Beckett found guity of violating Constitutions of Clarendon by Henry II forced into exile | Plantagenets | 12th |
| 1166 | Assize of Clarendon | The whole of England was divided into circuits. Judges visited each circuit, assessing taxes, inspecting the work of sheriffs and making sure the King's rights were being upheld. | Plantagenets | 12th |
| 1169 | Henry II conquest by England of Ireland | There were numerous incursions into Ireland by the Normans, sometimes by invitation other times not. In 1169 King Henry landed with a large army in Ireland to establish control over both the Anglo-Normans and the Irish. The Norman lords handed their conquered territory to Henry. | Plantagenets | 12th |
| 1170 | Murder of Archbishop Thomas Becket | The complicated relationship between the state and the church resulted in the murder of the Archbishop of Canterbury and the greatest humiliation of an English monarch | Plantagenets | 12th |
| 1174 | Henry II embarks at Portsmouth | Henry II. embarked at Portsmouth, taking with him to Normandy as a prisoner, William the Lion, King of Scotland. | Plantagenets | 12th |
| 1175 | Treaty of Windsor | A treaty signed by Henry II and Rory O'Connor allowing O'Connor control of the areas of Ireland other than Leinster, Meath, Waterford and Dublin which were controlled by the English King. | Plantagenets | 12th |
| 1175 | Henry II returns to England from France | Henry II. returned from Normandy with his victorious army and landed at Portsmouth. | Plantagenets | 12th |
| 1177 | Army assembles at Portsmouth and Southampton | The greater part of the shipping of England and Normandy was assembled at Portsmouth and Southampton to transport an army to Barfleur. The military expedition was however stood down | Plantagenets | 12th |
| 1182 | Henry II writes his will at Portsmouth | Henry II., prior to his departure for France, made his will by the sea-side at Portsmouth. | Plantagenets | 12th |
| 1184 | Statute of Forest Law | The object of the forest laws was the protection of ‘the beasts of the forest’ (red, roe, and fallow deer, and wild boar) and the trees and undergrowth which afforded them shelter. | Plantagenets | 12th |
| 1187 | The army of the Kingdom of Jerusalem annihilated by Saladin | After 88 years of Christian rule, Jerusalem surrendered to Saladin and his army | Plantagenets | 12th |
| 1188 | Imposition of the Saladin Tithe in England | The Saladin Tithe was important not only because it was a tithe taken of rent and movables to provide funds for the Third Crusade, it also set in motionn the idea that 'movables' can be taxed. | Plantagenets | 12th |
| 1189 | The 3rd Crusade | The 3rd Crusade was launched to retake Jerusalem after its fall to the Muslim leader Saladin in 1187. The three leaders were Frederick I Barbarossa, King of Germany and Holy Roman Emperor. The 3rd Crusade recaptured Acre, but failed to take Jerusalem. | Plantagenets | 12th |
| 1189 | Richard I lands in Portsmouth | On the death of his father, Henry II, Richard hastened home and landed at Portsmouth on 12th Aug | Plantagenets | 12th |
| 1189 | Richard I reign begins | Richard known as the Couer de Lion | Plantagenets | 12th |
| 1189 | Anti Jewish attacks take place throughout the country | A number of the principal Jews of England presented themselves to do homage to Richard I, when he was crowned at Westminster at Westminster; but there appears to have been a superstition against Jews being admitted to such a holy ceremony, and they were repulsed. The rumour spread from Westminster to the City of London that the king had ordered a massacre of the Jews and the anti-semitic found vent for their prejudices. | Plantagenets | 12th |
| 1199 | John Lackland becomes King John | John 5th son of Henry II. Married Isabella daughter of William Earl of Gloucester, whom he later divorced. Then marries Isabella daughter of Aymer Count of Angouleme | Plantagenets | 12th |
| 1206 | England placed under interdict by Pope Innocent III | Pope Innocent III presses the monks of Canterbury to elect Stephen Langton Archbishop. King John refuses to allow him to enter England. The Pope and the King struggle over the selection for six years. England is placed under an interdict, which means no one can be baptised, married, or buried in church, and John is excommunicated. The money that would normally go to Rome goes to John. | Plantagenets | 13th |
| 1207 | Prince Henry was born at Winchester Castle and baptised at Winchester Cathedral | Henry was known as 'Henry of Winchester' and had a high regard of the castle on which he spent £10,000 on restoration and improvements | Plantagenets | 13th |
| 1207 | Odiham Castle built | King John paid £1000 to have the castle built at Odiham, said to be his favourite castle | Plantagenets | 13th |
| 1208 | Six and a half million pennies were counted in the Winchester Treasurey | Henry centralized financial administration. Before him, financial reserves were simply kept in a strong castle, while current funds were stored in the king's own bedchamber. Henry sent three of his chamberlains to the Winchester castle, along with the current funds. One official became the treasurer, while his assistants were the chamberlains of the exchequer, maintaining better control of central finances. | Plantagenets | 13th |
| 1209 | Oxford scholars arrive in Cambridge | After turbulent quarrels with townspeople, a number of Oxford students decamp to East Anglia where they establish Cambridge University. | Plantagenets | 13th |
| 1212 | Establishment of docks in Portsmouth | King John commanded the sheriff of Southampton “to cause our docks at Portsmouth to be enclosed by a good and strong wal. Storehouses were built against this wall. No royal ships were built yet but the King’s sailing vessels and galleys were frequently under repair with timber brought from the forest of Portchester. Skilled carpenters and shipwrights had to be recruited from the Cinque ports. | Plantagenets | 13th |
| 1212 | The Childrens Crusade | The Children's Crusade is the name given to a disastrous Crusade by European Catholic children to expel Muslims from the Holy Land | Plantagenets | 13th |
| 1212 | Domus Dei Monastic Hospital founded in Portsmouth by Peter de Rupibus Bishop of Winchester | One of several 'Houses of God', built along the coast of Southern England to receive and welcome Pilgrims on crusade and other pilgrimages and to care for the old and needy in the local community. It continued in it's role until the Dissolution. It became the Royal Garrison Church the oldest garrison church in the world. | Plantagenets | 13th |
| 1213 | 5th Crusade | The 5th Crusade was another attempt to take back the city of Jerusalem but there was a reluctance amongst Christians because of the failures of the 3rd and 4th Crusades. | Plantagenets | 13th |
| 1213 | Future Edward III is born | Edward the future king of England was born at Windsor Castle and was known as Edward Windsor. | Plantagenets | 13th |
| 1216 | King Henry III reign begins | He was 9 on his accession. England is ruled temporarily by two regents, Hubert de Burgh and William the Marshal His counsellors managed well after civil Military War. He married eleanor of Provence. The REFORMS of OXFORD were key in reducing the powers of the King to act in his own sole interests. The rule of a wider council. He was dethroned by Simon de Montfort. | Plantagenets | 13th |
| 1216 | Prince Louis captures Winchester Castle | May 1216, watchmen on the coast of Thanet saw the sails of a French fleet. Prince Louis had arrived to claim England, encouraged by the rebel barons. King John decided to escape to Winchester. Louis entered London with little resistance and in no time headed for Winchester and John. | Plantagenets | 13th |
| 1216 | Siege of Odiham Castle | The castle was under siege from Prince Louis, when it was defended by 13 men for 15 days. When the castle finally capitulated, 3 knights, 3 esquires and 7 soldiers marched out with full honours of war | Plantagenets | 13th |
| 1222 | King Henry III, modernises the castle at Winchester and builds the Great Hall | The great hall is 110feet long, 55 feet wide and 55 feet high. For a great deal of it's past it has been used as a law court. | Plantagenets | 13th |
| 1228 | 6th Crusade secured recovery of Jerusalem by treaty | The 6th Crusade was very important because it managed to secure Jerusalem, not so much by military means but by diplomacy. | Plantagenets | 13th |
| 1230 | Robert Grosseteste describes scientific principles for establishing knowledge | Grosseteste is inspired by the idea that the natural world can be observed and facts can be proved. From Aristotle he takes the idea of deducing universal laws from particular observations, and then predicting particulars from universal laws. Grosseteste calls this "resolution and composition". | Plantagenets | 13th |
| 1231 | Cambridge University founded | Founded in 1209 and granted a Royal Charter by King Henry III in 1231 | Plantagenets | 13th |
| 1244 | Muslim reconquest of Jerusalem | After the 6th Crusade the Christians had control of the city but not much else and it wasn't long before local tribes took back the city for their own. | Plantagenets | 13th |
| 1253 | Decimal system introduced in England | John of Halifax introduces a decimal system into England | Plantagenets | 13th |
| 1256 | Portsmouth allowed to form a Merchants Guild | Allowance was made for the punishment of anyone interfering with their liberties of the guild with a prohibitive fine of £10. How the governing body was composed remains obscure throughout the Middle Ages. According to the ‘Customs and Usages’, dating probably from the late 13th century, it then consisted of a mayor, a bailiff, two constables, two sergeants and 12 jurats | Plantagenets | 13th |
| 1258 | Provisions of Oxford Reforms imposed on Henry III | Simon de Montfort leads baronial revolt resulting in the issuing of the provisions of Oxford. Governing council responsible to the barons in Parliament. | Plantagenets | 13th |
| 1261 | Provisions of Westminster repeals Oxford under Henry III | Sets in motion divisions between gentry and aristocracy and this leads to the Baron's War | Plantagenets | 13th |
| 1264 | 2nd Barons War | Civil war between Henry III and the Barons led by Simon de Montfort. The rebellion was caused by increased financial demands made by Henry III | Plantagenets | 13th |
| 1264 | Battle of Lewes | This battle turned the country towards Civil War.Faced with Baronial opposition over his rejection of the Provisions of Oxford, Henry III had deployed with his forces to Lewes in order to rest and reinforce his army. However Simon de Montfort, marched to intercept and in the subsequent battle defeated and captured the King. | Plantagenets | 13th |
| 1264 | Simon de Montfort summons Parliament | This assembly included members of the clergy and the aristocracy, as well as representatives from the various counties and boroughs. Each county returned two knights, two burgesses were elected from each borough, and each city provided two citizens. | Plantagenets | 13th |
| 1264 | Merton College Oxford University founded | Founded by Walter de Merton, sometime Chancellor of England and later Bishop of Rochester | Plantagenets | 13th |
| 1265 | Portsmouth sacked and burnt during the second Baron's Military War | The city was on the receiving end of a serious raid by the Barons of the Cinque Ports. After scattering the defenders theY seized various ships and cargo and burned the town | Plantagenets | 13th |
| 1265 | Battle of Evesham | This battle reignited the Civil War. The captured Prince Edward escaped and Montfort's main army was attacked at Evesham. Prince Edward's army had an easy victory and Montfort's outnumbered army was slaughtered. After Simon de Montfort had been killed, his body was mutilated. His head was cut off and displayed round the country as a warning of what happened to people who rebelled against their king. | Plantagenets | 13th |
| 1265 | First representative English Parliament Summoned | Simon de Monfort summons the first parliament in England | Plantagenets | 13th |
| 1266 | Roger Bacon wrote Opus Maius treatise on natural science | Pope Clement issued a mandate ordering Bacon to write to him concerning the place of philosophy within theology. As a result Bacon sent the Pope his Opus Majus, which presented his views on how the philosophy of Aristotle and the new science could be incorporated into a new Theology | Plantagenets | 13th |
| 1271 | 9th Crusade, led by Edward I | Originally part of the Eighth Crusade, following the death of King Louis IX of France, Edward I (then Prince Edward) sailed on to Acre. Edward managed some impressive defeats against Baibars, but ultimately the crusade failed as Edward was forced to return home. it signalled the start of the end for the Crusader states. Edward learns that he has succeeded to the throne on his way home from the Crusade | Plantagenets | 13th |
| 1272 | Edward I King reign | Known as Edward Longshanks. Married Eleanor daughter of King Ferdinand of Castille and then Margaret daughter of Phillip III of France | Plantagenets | 13th |
| 1274 | Edward I is crowned in Westminster Abbey | Edward was on crusade when he acceded to the throne and he was eventually crowned at Westminster | Plantagenets | 13th |
| 1277 | Robert Bacon imprisoned for heresy | English scientist and philosopher arguing that a more accurate experimental knowledge of nature would be of great value in confirming the Christian faith. He joined the Franciscan order in 1247. He was condemned to prison 1277 by his fellow Franciscans because of suspected novelties in his teaching. | Plantagenets | 13th |
| 1280 | University College Oxford founded | Owes its origins to William of Durham. It began life as a small and poor College, with enough funds to support just four Fellows reading Theology | Plantagenets | 13th |
| 1282 | Edward I invades Wales and defeats Llywelyn the Last, Prince of Wales | Edward I invades Wales to subdue the rebellious Welsh people. | Plantagenets | 13th |
| 1282 | Balliol College Oxford | John Balliol, was King of Scots 1292-1296. He was a wealthy man with extensive estates in England and France. About 1260, with guidance with guidance from the Bishop of Durham, he decided to carry out a substantial act of charity. This he did by renting a house in the suburbs of Oxford, and maintaining in it some poor students. The foundation date of the College which grew from this is traditionally reckoned as 1263. | Plantagenets | 13th |
| 1284 | Independence of the Welsh is ended by the Statute of Rhuddlan | Edward I organizes his new dominion by extending the English shire system into Wales and by appointing officials to oversee the system | Plantagenets | 13th |
| 1290 | Margaret 'Maid of Norway' died on voyage to Scotland | Margaret's death left a void in the claim to the Scottish throne and instead of civil war, Edward I was asked to arbitrate | Plantagenets | 13th |
| 1290 | Jews leave Winchester | Having been so influential and important to the commercial life in Winchester, the expulsion of it's Jewish community saw the decline of Winchester. | Plantagenets | 13th |
| 1290 | Jews expelled from England | King Edward I issued an edict expelling all Jews from England. Lasting for the rest of the Middle Ages, it would be over 350 years until it was formally overturned in 1656 | Plantagenets | 13th |
| 1291 | Fall of Acre signalling end of Crusader States | The Fall of the city of Acre to the Muslims, is considered one of the most important battles of the crusader period. Although the crusading movement continued for several more centuries, the capture of the city marked the end of further crusades | Plantagenets | 13th |
| 1292 | John Balliol nominated to become King of scotland | Robert Bruce's grandfather was one of the claimants to the Scottish throne during a succession dispute in 1290 - 1292. The English king, Edward I, was asked to arbitrate and chose John Balliol to be king. Both Bruce and his father refused to back Balliol and supported Edward I's invasion of Scotland in 1296 to force Balliol to abdicate. Edward then ruled Scotland as a province of England. | Plantagenets | 13th |
| 1295 | Edward I summons Model Parliament | Edward I standardized the calling of Parliament.This was to become known as the Model Parliament, because its representation of two knights from each county and two burgesses from each town became normal for almost all future Parliaments. | Plantagenets | 13th |
| 1295 | Scots allied with France march on England | Balliol the chosen king was constantly undermined by Edward and he determined to take England | Plantagenets | 13th |
| 1296 | Conquest of Scotland | English victory at Dunbar | Plantagenets | 13th |
| 1297 | Battle of Stirling Bridge Scots defeat English under lead of William Wallace | The Battle of Stirling Bridge was a battle of the First War of Scottish Independence. The forces of Andrew Moray and William Wallace defeated the combined English forces on the River Forth. | Plantagenets | 13th |
| 1301 | First English Prince of Wales | Edward I son, Edward of Caernarvorn was made Prince of Wales | Plantagenets | 14th |
| 1303 | Edward I of England invades Scotland | Edward I of England invades Scotland again, aiming to subjugate it. | Plantagenets | 14th |
| 1303 | Unum sanctam published restablishing Papal authority over Kings | Concerned about kings taxing church property, Pope Boniface VIII has issued a papal decree, Unam Sanctam, to maintain Church authority over kings. King Philip IV of France fears that he will be excommunicated and sends men to seize Boniface from one of his palaces. Boniface is rescued but shaken, and he dies soon afterward. | Plantagenets | 14th |
| 1305 | The English statute Acre is defined | The English acre is defined as 4840 sq yards | Plantagenets | 14th |
| 1306 | Robert the Bruce Crowned King of Scotland | Robert was born into an aristocratic Scottish family with a claim to the scottish throne. After many disputes and uprisings, Bruce proclaimed his right to the throne and on 27th March was crowned king at Scone. | Plantagenets | 14th |
| 1307 | Edward II reign begins | Edward was born on 25 April 1284, the fourth son of Edward I of England. He was the first English prince to hold the title prince of Wales, which was bestowed on him by his father in 1301. | Plantagenets | 14th |
| 1308 | Dante begins Divine Comedy | The Divine Comedy is an epic poem written by Dante Alighieri between 1308 and his death in 1321. It is widely considered the preeminent work of Italian literature and is seen as one of the greatest works of world literature | Plantagenets | 14th |
| 1310 | Parliament sets up a committee of Lords Ordainers to control the King | The Ordinances were a series of regulations imposed upon King Edward II by the peerage and clergy of the Kingdom of England to restrict the power of the king.The 21 signatories of the Ordinances are referred to as the Lords Ordainers. | Plantagenets | 14th |
| 1310 | The Knights of St. John flee the Middle East | The Knights of St. John (a crusading order established in Jerusalem in 1113) have fled the Middle East and they conquer the island of Rhodes. | Plantagenets | 14th |
| 1312 | Knights Templar disbanded | The Knights Templar concentrated on the administration of their territories in France which constituted a threat to the crown and they were disbanded | Plantagenets | 14th |
| 1312 | Piers Gaveston is kidnapped by the King’s opponents | Gaveston was favourite of Edward II and had huge influence over him. He so provoked the nobility that he was sent into exile. Upon his return his behaviour became even more offensive, and by the Ordinances of 1311 it was decided that Gaveston should be exiled again. When he did return in 1312, he was hunted down and executed by a group of magnates led by Thomas of Lancaster and Guy de Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick. | Plantagenets | 14th |
| 1314 | Mappa Mundi Hereford Cathedral | The map bears the name of its author 'Richard of Haldingham.It is drawn on a single sheet of vellum. The geographical material of the map is contained within a circle measuring 52" in diameter and reflects the thinking of the medieval church with Jerusalem at the centre of the world. Superimposed on to the continents are drawings of the history of humankind and the marvels of the natural world. | Plantagenets | 14th |
| 1314 | Bannockburn Scots defeated Edward II | Edward took the battle to Scotland to try and suppress revolt amongst the Scottish barons but the Scots led by Robert Bruce defeated the English army assuring Scottish independence. | Plantagenets | 14th |
| 1314 | Famine in Europe | A widespread famine across northern europe resulted in thousands starving to death. A combination of poor harvests and bad weather was the precursor to disease | Plantagenets | 14th |
| 1315 | Edward Bruce invades Ireland | Edward Bruce landed in Ulster in an attempt to bring down English rule in Ireland | Plantagenets | 14th |
| 1316 | Famine in western Europe following crop failure in the previous year 1315 | A climate change has taken place, and this year in Europe rains are continuous, with people talking about the return of the flood described in Genesis. Crops are ruined and famine begins in some areas. | Plantagenets | 14th |
| 1326 | Oriel College Oxford university founded | Soon after the foundation in 1326 the ‘College of the Blessed Virgin Mary’ was given a property called ‘La Oriole’, on the site of the present Front Quadrangle, and gradually the college came to be called by that name. Oriel was the fifth college to be founded at Oxford. | Plantagenets | 14th |
| 1327 | Edward III reign begins | Eldest son of Edward II and Isabella | Plantagenets | 14th |
| 1329 | Edward III recognizes Scotland as an independent nation | The Treaty of Edinburgh and Northampton Isabel and Mortimer agreed that they, in the name of King Edward III, renounced all pretensions to sovereignty over Scotland. Joanna, the six-year-old sister of Edward III, was promised in marriage to the four-year-old David, the son of Robert Bruce. | Plantagenets | 14th |
| 1330 | Edward III assumes government | He assumed the government in 1330 from his mother, through whom in 1337 he laid claim to the French throne and thus began the Hundred Years' War. He imprisons his mother for the rest of her life. | Plantagenets | 14th |
| 1330 | Mortimer executed | Edward III seizes power and arrests and executes Mortimer | Plantagenets | 14th |
| 1330 | Edward, the Black Prince of Wales, is born | He was called Edward of Woodstock after his birthplace, more recently been known as the Black Prince. An exceptional military leader, his victories over the French at the Battles of Crécy and Poitiers made him very popular. In 1348 he became the first Knight of the Garter, of whose Order he was one of the founders. EdMilitary Ward died one year before his father, becoming the first English Prince of Wales not to become King of England. The throne passed instead to his son Richard II, a minor, upon the death of EdMilitary Ward III. | Plantagenets | 14th |
| 1332 | Parliament is divided into two houses, Lords and Commons. | Following the division of parliament into the Commons and the Lords, English becomes the court language replacing Norman French. | Plantagenets | 14th |
| 1337 | Hundred Years War | The Hundred Years War was a term adopted in the late 19th century and applied to the Anglo-French Wars. These were re-initiated in 1337 when under pressure from Flemish Allies Edward III assumed the title King of France and despite the superior wealth and size of France neither Philip VI or John II could outwit and defeat Edward III politically or militarily. Specific battles will be listed on this table and maybe cross referenced to the overall sequence of related events. | Plantagenets | 14th |
| 1338 | French invaders burn down most of the town of Portsmouth | The French and Genoese attacked the town of Portsmouth, setting fire to it's buildings and scattering it's inhabitants | Plantagenets | 14th |
| 1338 | French and Genoese invaders raid Southampton | The south coast was threatened again and again by French fleets supported by Genoese mercenaries. In 1338 they succeeded in raiding and burning the town, driving the inhabitants away. | Plantagenets | 14th |
| 1341 | The Manner of Holding Parliament written | Commons and Lords meet separately for the first time | Plantagenets | 14th |
| 1341 | Queen's College Oxford university founded | The “Hall of the Queen’s Scholars at Oxford” was founded by Robert de Eglesfield, a chaplain in the household of Queen Philippa, who named it in her honour | Plantagenets | 14th |
| 1342 | Edward III renounces debts to Peruzzi bankers | Peruzzis with other bad debts were bankrupted and threw Florence into economic chaos | Plantagenets | 14th |
| 1343 | Geoffrey Chaucer born, best known for his 'Canterbury Tales' | Chaucer considered to be the greatest medieval poet and the first to be buried at Poets Corner Westminster Abbey was aslo author, philosopher, alchemist and astronomer. | Plantagenets | 14th |
| 1346 | Edward III and The Black Prince sail from Southampton for the Battle of Crecy | King Edward III with his son, the Black Prince, against Philip VI, King of France. | Plantagenets | 14th |
| 1346 | Battle of Crecy won by Edward III against French aided by Longbow and Welsh troops | The English army numbered some 4,000 knights and men-at-arms, 7,000 Welsh and English archers and some 5,000 Welsh and Irish spearmen. Numbers in the French army are uncertain but may have been as high as 80,000 | Plantagenets | 14th |
| 1347 | Black Death reaches Europe | Estimated 45% of total population of Europe was wiped out starting with Sicilyy Constantinople Naples Genoa and Marseille | Plantagenets | 14th |
| 1348 | Creation of the Order of The Garter | On St. George's Day at Windsor Castle, the Order of the Garter was created. | Plantagenets | 14th |
| 1348 | Black Death kills quarter of population | The Black Death, bubonic plague which caused the skin to turn black, kills one-third of the English population. It leaves an acute shortage of labour for agriculture and armies. | Plantagenets | 14th |
| 1348 | Black death strikes Portsmouth for the first time | Conditions in Portsmouth were bad at the best of times, ports suffered early on as the disease came in from the continent on board ships | Plantagenets | 14th |
| 1348 | Black death kills quarter of population of Southampton | Trade in Southampton was badly hit by the disease as people fled from the areas worst affected | Plantagenets | 14th |
| 1348 | Black death strikes Winchester killing half of it's population | Especially badly hit were the priests, leaving no one to offer last rites to the dying | Plantagenets | 14th |
| 1350 | Treason Act 1350 | It is one of the earliest English statutes still in force, although it has been very significantly amended | Plantagenets | 14th |
| 1351 | Statute of Labourers | Edward III set up the statute that required all labourers to labour for and be bound to a master where needed at set wages and terms. Starting a process that would lead 30 years hence to the Peasants Revolt | Plantagenets | 14th |
| 1353 | Southampton appointed port for all merchandise coming from Winchester | Southampton was appointed as the port of embarkation for all merchandise coming from the Staple at Winchester, and was already participating in the trade with the Mediterranean. | Plantagenets | 14th |
| 1360 | Edward III campaigns in France and agrees Treaty of Callais | Treaty of Calais, signed between Edward III of England and John II of France. Edward agreed to give up his claim to the throne of France in exchange for the territory of Aquitaine. | Plantagenets | 14th |
| 1363 | Sumptuary Law decreeing dress and diet for non- aristocrats | Sumptuary laws are intended to maintain class distinctions, to repress luxury and discourage extravagance, especially among the lower classes, by means of regulations regarding ostentatious expenditure on food, dress, furniture, and ornament. Occasionally legislation of an entirely different character, such as Queen Elizabeth's political Lent to encourage the North Sea fisheries, the regulations regarding the wearing of linen in Scotland and of woollens in England, is called sumptuary; but this is really protective legislation. | Plantagenets | 14th |
| 1364 | Edward III falls ill | John Gaunt returns from French wars and takes control of the government as Edward III shows signs of increasing senility. | Plantagenets | 14th |
| 1369 | 100 Years War Restarts | The 100 years war was in two phases. A treaty signed on May 25, 1360, between King Edward III of England and King John II (the Good) of France marked the end of the first phase of the Hundred Years’ War. It was resumed in 1369 by Charles V of France. The Black Prince, son of Edward III of England, refused an illegal summons from the French king demanding he come to Paris, and Charles responded by declaring war. His successor, Charles VI, made peace with Richard II, son of the Black Prince, in 1389. This truce was extended many times until the war was resumed in 1415. | Plantagenets | 14th |
| 1376 | The Good Parliament | This saw the election of the first Speaker to represent the Commons, it attacked the high taxes and criticised the King's advisers. The ageing King withdrew to Windsor for the rest of his reign, eventually dying at Sheen Palace, Surrey. | Plantagenets | 14th |
| 1377 | Richard II reign begins | Son of Edward the Black Prince and grandson of Edward III. Married Anne daughter of Emperor Charles IV and then Isabelle daughter of Charles VI of France. | Plantagenets | 14th |
| 1377 | Poll tax introduced | A Poll Tax is levied, a shilling a head for the entire male population | Plantagenets | 14th |
| 1379 | New College Oxford University founded | After the Black Death many priests had died and there was a great need to educate new members to the clergy. Bishop William Wykeham of Winchester established Winchester College at about the same time as establishing a new college at Oxford as 'the college of St Mary of Winchester in Oxford', it was the largest college in Oxford at that time. | Plantagenets | 14th |
| 1380 | Chaucer begins writing the 'Canterbury Tales' | The Canterbury Tales is a collection of stories written by Geoffrey Chaucer.The tales are presented as part of a story-telling contest by a group of pilgrims as they travel together on a journey from Southwark to the shrine of Saint Thomas Becket at Canterbury Cathedral. The prize for this contest is a free meal at the Tabard Inn at Southwark on their return. | Plantagenets | 14th |
| 1381 | Widespread disorder in this Summer in Hampshire towns and countryside. | The peasants revolt spreads into some towns in Hampshire, both middle and lower classes are involved | Plantagenets | 14th |
| 1381 | Peasants Revolt Suppressed by King Richard 1381 | Revolt surpressed by renaging King history, arguably the start of large-scale organised labour | Plantagenets | 14th |
| 1381 | Richard II Ends Peasants Revolt | The leader of the revolt Watt Tyler is killed by the Mayor of London at Smithfield fearing for the life of the King. Richard promises that the taxes will be repealed, but as the rebels return they are hunted and executed. | Plantagenets | 14th |
| 1382 | Bishop William of Wykeham founds Winchester College | Among the main reasons for the foundation of Winchester college was the necessity to provide well educated clergy to replace those lost in the plague | Plantagenets | 14th |
| 1382 | Lollard reform movement established | Lollardy was a late medieval reform movement The movement was based on the writings and teachings of the Oxford University theologian, John Wyclif. The movement started from Oxford and spread. | Plantagenets | 14th |
| 1387 | The Lords Appellant launches a rebellion against Richard II | Led by the Earl of Oxford, Richard de Vere, the Lords Appellant undertook armed rebellion against King richard in protest of the influence of his court favourites. They defeated the king at Radcot Bridge and effectively took control over the government with Richard as a figurehead. | Plantagenets | 14th |
| 1388 | Merciless Parliament | The Lords Appellant convicted many of King Richard's favourites of treason. The Lord Chief Justice, Sir Robert Tresilian, was executed, as were Sir Nicholas Brembre, Lord Mayor of London, John Beauchamp of Holt, Sir James Berners, and Sir John Salisbury. Others had their property confiscated or were convicted in their absence. | Plantagenets | 14th |
| 1388 | Old Poor Law Formed | Statute of Cambridge was start of the Old Poor Law. Drew distinction between beggars capable of work and the old and infirm and introduced the principle and attempt to keep the poor settled in a fixed place | Plantagenets | 14th |
| 1397 | Medici bank Florence is founded. | The wealthy Medici family in Italy established a financial institution that would become the largest and most respected bank in Europe during its prime. | Plantagenets | 14th |
| 1398 | Richard (Dick) Whittington becomes Lord Mayor of London | Richard Whittington, a wealthy merchant became Lord Mayor of London | Plantagenets | 14th |
| 1399 | Richard II deposed | Richard, who is away fighting at Leinster in Ireland, returns, but is deposed and imprisoned in Pontefract Castle, where he dies in 1400 | Plantagenets | 14th |
| 1399 | Henry IV reign begins | Son of John Gaunt who is fourth son of Edward III and Blanche, daughter of Henry Duke of Lancaster | House Of Lancaster | 14th |
| 1400 | Owain Glyn Dwr Rebellion | Owain Glyn Dwr leads a Welsh rebellion against English rule | House Of Lancaster | 15th |
| 1402 | King Henry IV marries Joan of Navarre | Henry marries Joan of Navarre, daughter of King Charles II of Navarre, in Winchester Cathedral | House Of Lancaster | 15th |
| 1413 | Henry V reign begins | Eldset surviving son of Henry IV. Married Catherine daughter of Charles VI of France | House Of Lancaster | 15th |
| 1415 | Henry V's army set sail for France from Southampton | Henry set sail for France, capturing Harfleur | House Of Lancaster | 15th |
| 1415 | Battle of Agincourt | Henry V's victory crippled France and started a new period in the war, during which, first, Henry married the French king's daughter and, second, his son, Henry VI, was made heir to the throne of France | House Of Lancaster | 15th |
| 1415 | Southampton Plot against Henry V | This was a conspiracy against Henry V by leading nobles looking to put Edward Mortimer on the throne. They planned to murder Henry in Southampton and encourage rebellions across the country | House Of Lancaster | 15th |
| 1416 | Henry V fortifies Portsmouth | Henry V, aware of the strategic value of Portsmouth, commences a 6yr building programme, costing more than £1,000, involving the fortification of the entrance to the estuary with a round tower and a chain boom. Their main function was to safeguard the King’s ships, not the local inhabitants. | House Of Lancaster | 15th |
| 1422 | Henry VI reign begins | Henry was eight months old when he succeeded to the English throne, and shortly afterMilitary Wards, by the death in 1422 of his maternal grandfather, Charles VI, he became titular king of France. Unlike his father, Henry was disinclined to Military Warfare, and when Joan of Arc revived French patriotism the English gradually began to lose their French possessions. By 1453 only Calais remained of his father's conquests.Son of Henry V. Married Margaret daughter of Duke of Anjou | House Of Lancaster | 15th |
| 1429 | Henry VI is crowned King of England | Born at Windsor Castle, Henry VI succeeded to the thrones of England and France before the age of one, when his father Henry V and his grandfather Charles VI of France died within months of each other | House Of Lancaster | 15th |
| 1431 | Henry VI of England is crowned King of France in Paris | His grandfather Charles VI of France died | House Of Lancaster | 15th |
| 1440 | Eton College founded | Eton college founded giving free education to 70 scholars | House Of Lancaster | 15th |
| 1445 | Printing Press introduced in Europe by Gutenberg | Johann Gutenberg holds the distinction of being the inventor of the movable-type printing press. | House Of Lancaster | 15th |
| 1449 | Portsmouth placed under Greater Excommunication as a result of the murder of Adam Moleyns the Bishop of Chichester | Bishop of Chichester, Adam Moleyns was murdered outside the Domus Dei in Portsmouth | House Of Lancaster | 15th |
| 1453 | Battle of Castillon | This ends Hundred Years War | House Of Lancaster | 15th |
| 1453 | Henry VI becomes mentally ill. | Richard, Duke of York, was made Protector in 1454. The King recovered in 1455, but civil war between the Yorkist and Lancastrian factions broke out (the Wars of the Roses). | House Of Lancaster | 15th |
| 1455 | Gutenberg Bible Printed | In 1455, Gutenberg produced what is considered to be the first book ever printed: a Latin language Bible, printed in Mainz, Germany | House Of Lancaster | 15th |
| 1455 | War of the Roses | Margaret of Anjou, was determined to fight, rather than negotiate a compromise, for the Lancastrian cause of her husband and son. Pitted against Henry was the Duke of York, asserting his legitimate claim to the throne descended as he was, through his mother, from Edward III's second surviving son (Henry VI was descended from Edward's third surviving son). The Wars of the Roses were therefore a struggle to decide if the succession should keep to the male line or could pass through females. | House Of Lancaster | 15th |
| 1458 | Magdalen College Oxford university | Set to be the biggest college at Oxford, it was founded by by William Waynflete, Bishop of Winchester, and Lord Chancellor. He wanted a College on the grandest scale, with 40 Fellows, 30 scholars and a large choir for his Chapel. | House Of Lancaster | 15th |
| 1460 | Richard Duke of York killed | The Duke of York was killed at the Battle of Wakefield | House Of Lancaster | 15th |
| 1461 | Henry VI deposed March 1461 | Edward, son of Richard, an able commander, defeated the Lancastrians at the Battle of Towton (out of the 120,000 men who fought, 28,000 died). London opened its gates to the Yorkist forces; Henry and his queen fled to Scotland. | House of York | 15th |
| 1461 | Edward IV reign begins | The unpopularity of the government, especially after the loss of the English conquests in France, encouraged Richard, Duke of York, to claim the throne, and though York was killed 1460, his son Edward IV proclaimed himself king 1461. | House of York | 15th |
| 1465 | Henry VI captured | Henry was captured and imprisoned in the Tower of London | House of York | 15th |
| 1469 | Warwick Kingmaker switches Allegiance to Lancastrian King Henry VI | Edward fell out with Warwick, hence Warwick's switch of allegiance | House of York | 15th |
| 1470 | Henry VI restored to the throne and Edward IV deposed | Supporters of the House of Lancaster continued to fight to restore Henry VI to the throne, Warwick's switch of allegiance helped Henry's restoration | House of York | 15th |
| 1471 | Battle of Tewkesbury | The Battle of Tewkesbury, was one of the decisive battles of the Wars of the Roses. The House of Lancaster were completely defeated by the House of York under their monarch, King Edward IV. The Lancastrian heir to the throne, Edward, Prince of Wales, was killed during the battle.The Lancastrian King, Henry VI, who was a prisoner in the Tower of London, died or was murdered shortly after the battle. Tewkesbury restored political stability to England until the death of Edward IV in 1483. | House of York | 15th |
| 1483 | Edward V reign begins | Edward was just twelve years old when his father Edward IV died. He was deposed just 3 months after acceding to the throne. He was never crowned and is believed to have been murdered in the Tower of London by his uncle (Richard III) | House of York | 15th |
| 1483 | Murder of Two Princes in Tower of London | Sons of Edward IV are believed to have been murdered in the Tower by their uncle Richard | House of York | 15th |
| 1485 | Battle of Bosworth | The Battle of Bosworth was the last significant battle of the Wars of the Roses, the battle was won by the Lancastrians. Their leader Henry Tudor, Earl of Richmond, became the first English monarch of the Tudor dynasty by his victory. His opponent, Richard III, the last king of the House of York, was killed in the battle | House of York | 15th |
| 1486 | King Henry VII's son Arthur is baptised at Winchester Cathedral | Arthur Prince of Wales (1486-1503), the eldest son of Henry VII, was born at Winchester on 19 Sept. 1486. | House of Tudor | 15th |
| 1490 | Leonardo da Vinci discovers capillary action | Leonardo da Vinci notes that liquids in tubes with a small diameter tend to crawl up the tubes, thus noting capillary action | House of Tudor | 15th |
| 1492 | Christopher Cloumbus notices variations in his compass with changes in longitude | Christopher Columbus disvovers on his first voyage to the Americas that his magnetic compass changes the direction in which it points with longitude | House of Tudor | 15th |
| 1492 | Martin Behaim makes the first globe map of the Earth | Martin Behaim makes the first globe map of the Earth, omitting the about to be discovered Americas and Pacific Ocean | House of Tudor | 15th |
| 1494 | Vagabonds & Beggars Act 1494 | Punitive Stocks introduced for even suspicion of vagrancy | House of Tudor | 15th |
| 1495 | Britains first dry dock built at Portsmouth | Englands first dry dock made the building of The Mary Rose possible. | House of Tudor | 15th |
| 1502 | Spanish ship slaves to Cuba for 1st time starts slave trade | Starts triangular Trade between Europe Africa and Americas | House of Tudor | 16th |
| 1510 | Mary Rose built | Mary Rose built in Portsmouth dockyard | House of Tudor | 16th |
| 1513 | Battle Flodden | Fought near the village of Branxton, in Northumberland when a Scottish army under the command of king James IV of Scotland invaded England in support of their French alliance as king Henry VIII of England was otherwised engaged on the continent. | House of Tudor | 16th |
| 1515 | Warblington Castle built | Warblington Castle was built by Margaret Pole, Countess of Salisbury, a staunch Catholic and very influential person whose family opposed King Henry VIII marriage to Anne Boleyn and who were executed for the conspiracies they plotted against the King. | House of Tudor | 16th |
| 1517 | May Day Riots, Stepney London | Foreign Owned Property Attacked 135 Flemmings killed | House of Tudor | 16th |
| 1518 | Royal College of Physicians established | The Royal College of Physicians is established in London | House of Tudor | 16th |
| 1520 | Henry VIII met Francis I at Field of Cloth of Gold | This elaborate and extravagant meeting between Henry VIII and Francis I of France occurred near Calais and was to become known to history as the Field of Cloth of Gold. It was an extended meeting of two great kings. It was a political and diplomatic extravaganza. | House of Tudor | 16th |
| 1521 | Execution Duke Buckingham | Edward Stafford, third Duke of Buckingham was executed. The main seat of the Staffords was at Thornbury, in Gloucestershire and their possessions in south Hampshire consisted of Buriton, Petersfield and Corhampton. | House of Tudor | 16th |
| 1522 | Round Table in Winchester Cathedral created | The table, which hangs on the wall of the great hall at Winchester Castle, depicts King Arthur and his knights. It was painted in the Tudor colours of green and white for the visit of Charles V of Spain in 1522 | Plantagenets | 13th |
| 1522 | Henry VIII entertains Emperor Charles V in the Great Hall at Winchester. | He has his own image painted on the Round Table | House of Tudor | 16th |
| 1522 | First book on arithmetic in England | Cuthbert Tunstall publishes the first book on arithmetic in England | House of Tudor | 16th |
| 1526 | Subsidy Tax Imposed | Wolsey imposed a Subsidy Tax to pay for the war with France | House of Tudor | 16th |
| 1531 | The building of Basing House was begun | Basing House was built from 1531 as a new palace for William Paulet, 1st Marquess of Winchester, treasurer to King Edward VI, Queen Mary I and Queen Elizabeth I. | House of Tudor | 16th |
| 1531 | Concerning Punishment of Beggars & Vagabonds | Treatment of the idle worsened and Beggards had to be licensed, the first form of means testing? | House of Tudor | 16th |
| 1531 | Southampton was in financial ruin | The corporation of Southampton was nearly bankrupt chiefly because of the absence of foreign trade | House of Tudor | 16th |
| 1534 | Act of Supremacy passed | Henry VIII declared head of the Church in England causing a break with Rome | House of Tudor | 16th |
| 1536 | Punishment of Sturdy Vagabonds & Beggars | Statute enacted in same year as dissolution of monasteries begins part of the Old Poor Law | House of Tudor | 16th |
| 1536 | Beggars Act | This was a brutal and uncaring law which stated that those caught outside of their parish without work would be punished by being whipped through the streets | House of Tudor | 16th |
| 1538 | Ordered that every incumbent of each church will keep registers of births, marriages and deaths | Thomas Cromwell orders that all births, marriages and deaths should be recorded by each incumbent. Some of the new registers are bound in the bindings of the old Latin missal and liturgical books that had been destroyed in the Reformation | House of Tudor | 16th |
| 1538 | Royal commissioners destroy St Swithun's shrine, Winchester Cathedral | The commissioners Wriothesley, Pollard and Williams and the Mayor of Winchester destroyed the shrine of St Swithun but they had to do it in the middle of the night as they feared the ctizens of Winchester would react violently at such desecration. | House of Tudor | 16th |
| 1544 | Thomas Wriothesley becomes first Earl of Southampton | He was a politician of the Tudor period born in London to William Wrythe and Agnes Drayton. was a politician of the Tudor period born in London to William Wrythe and Agnes Drayton. Entering the service of Thomas Cromwell and Cardinal Thomas Wolsey at an early age, Wriothesley soon made himself very useful to his masters, and he was richly rewarded when the monasteries were dissolved, obtaining extensive lands between Southampton and Winchester. | House of Tudor | 16th |
| 1545 | Chantry Act passed | The Act stated that all chantries and their properties would belong to the King for as long as he should live. Along with the dispersal of the monasteries, the act was designed to help Henry relieve the monetary pressures of the war with France. | House of Tudor | 16th |
| 1545 | The Mary Rose sinks in the Solent | King Henry VIII looks on from Southsea Castle as his flagship the Mary Rose sinks in front of him. | House of Tudor | 16th |
| 1547 | Repeal of the Chantry Act | Edward VI, had a new Act issued in 1547, which completely suppressed most chantries and guilds it also authorized inquiries to determine all of their possessions. Although the act called for the monies to go to "charitable" ends and the "public good," most of it appeared to have gone to Edward VI's advisors. | House of Tudor | 16th |
| 1547 | Punishment of Vagabonds & relief of the Poor and impotent Persons Statute | Henry VIII just dead, Edward King in name only futher draconian law from behind the figurhead? | House of Tudor | 16th |
| 1550 | Punishment of Vagabonds and other idle persons | Repealed 1547 and 1531 restored poor children put to service impotent to be relieved and not to beg unless licensed | House of Tudor | 16th |
| 1551 | Histories of the Animals | Histories of the Animals published by Swiss Physician Conrad Gesner forming the basis of Modern Zoology | House of Tudor | 16th |
| 1555 | Relief of the Poor | Provision for licensed beggars to wear badges | House of Tudor | 16th |
| 1555 | Bishop Latimer and Bishop Ridley burnt at the stake and martyred | Latimer and Ridley were two important Protestant bishops who, along with Archbishop Cranmer, made up the Oxford Martyrs | House of Tudor | 16th |
| 1555 | Muscovy Company granted charter | The Muscovy company was the first major chartered joint stock company that had a monopoly on trade between England and Russia and existed until the Russian Revolution, 1917 | House of Tudor | 16th |
| 1556 | Nature of Metals published | Foundation of Minerology, Nature of Metals published posthumously by Georgius Agricola | House of Tudor | 16th |
| 1558 | Elizabethan Settlement | Following the religious turmoil of the previous Tudor monarchs the Elizabethan Settlement was an attempt to unite the country. It was designed to settle the divide between Catholics and Protestants and address the differences in services and beliefs. | House of Tudor | 16th |
| 1558 | French forces capture Calais | French troops captured Calais, England's last remaining territory on the European mainland | House of Tudor | 16th |
| 1559 | New Act of Supremacy and Act of Uniformity are passed | Public officials had to swear an oath of loyalty to the monarch as the supreme governor of church. The heresy laws were repealed and the Act of Uniformity made attendance at church and the use of an adapted version of the 1552 Book of Common Prayer compulsory. | House of Tudor | 16th |
| 1562 | Statute of Artificers | In an attempt to regulate wages the Statute of Artificers sought to fix prices, impose maximum wages, restrict workers' freedom of movement and regulate training | House of Tudor | 16th |
| 1563 | Foxe's Book of Martyrs | John Foxe’s Book of Martyrs has been called “The most important Christian work ever printed outside of the Bible itself.” It documents the martyrdom of all of history’s recorded saints from the original Apostles of the First Century, to the mid-16th Century Reformation. | House of Tudor | 16th |
| 1563 | Relief of the Poor | Additions to 1555 introducing fines for failure to contribute alms. | House of Tudor | 16th |
| 1567 | French refugees | St Juliens Chapel Southampton granted to Walloon French refugees for religious services | House of Tudor | 16th |
| 1568 | Mary, Queen of Scots, arrives in England and is imprisoned | Mary was fleeing Scotland following accusations of the murder of Lord Darnley. She landed in Cumbria and was taken into custody in Carlisle Castle | House of Tudor | 16th |
| 1569 | The Rising of the North, against Queen Elizabeth I | Catholic nobles in the North of England attempt to overthrow Queen Elizabeth I. | House of Tudor | 16th |
| 1570 | Mercator map | Mercator creates new mapping view of world shapes view of the world maps | House of Tudor | 16th |
| 1571 | Ridolfi Plot | A plot to replace Elizabeth I with Mary as Queen of England with the help of Spanish troops and the Duke of Norfolk | House of Tudor | 16th |
| 1572 | Supernova observed | Supernova observed by Danish Astronomer Tycho Brahe | House of Tudor | 16th |
| 1572 | Punishment of Vagabonds and for relief of the poor and impotent | This repeals earlier legislation and introduces whipping and burning of ear marks on vagabonds plus JPs to account for poor and enforce alms collection and control of poor | House of Tudor | 16th |
| 1576 | Setting the Poor on Work and the Avoidance of Idleness | Provides for local stock of materials for poor to work upon. | House of Tudor | 16th |
| 1581 | Francis Drake knighted by Queen Elizabeth | Francis Drake was knighted on the deck of the Golden Hind for services to England during his campaigns against Spanish ships in Europe and the Caribbean. | House of Tudor | 16th |
| 1582 | Revolt in Munster led by Gerald FitzGerald, Earl of Desmond | This revolt was in reaction to English attempts to control Ireland. It resulted in 30,000 dead Irish due to scorch earth techniques | House of Tudor | 16th |
| 1583 | Throckmorton Plot | The Throckmorton Plot was a Catholic plan to murder Elizabeth I and replace her with Mary, Queen of Scots. The plot is named after the key conspirator, Sir Francis Throckmorton | House of Tudor | 16th |
| 1583 | John Bodey was executed at Andover for his Roman Catholic faith | John Brodey attended Winchester College and Oxford and was an English Roman Catholic academic jurist and theologian. He is a Catholic martyr, beatified in 1929. | House of Tudor | 16th |
| 1585 | Treaty of Nonsuch | Following the death of William the Silent, Prince of Orange and a new Catholic alliance, Elizabeth decided to send troops to prevent Catholic domination in the Low Countries, instead supporting an independent Dutch kingdom. | House of Tudor | 16th |
| 1586 | Babington Plot | The Badington plot was led by Sir Anthony Babington and supported by the Spanish who wanted to replace Elizabeth with Mary, Queen of Scots | House of Tudor | 16th |
| 1586 | Munster plantations | Munster Plantation beginnings in Ireland | House of Tudor | 16th |
| 1586 | Walter Raleigh introduces smoking tobacco into England | Walter Raleigh introduces the habit of smoking of tobacco from Virginia into England | House of Tudor | 16th |
| 1587 | Sir Francis Drake raids Cadiz | As part of Drake's campaign against the Spanish he raids the port town of Cadiz, Spain | House of Tudor | 16th |
| 1587 | Mary, Queen of Scots is exectued | Mary was accused of being part of the Babington plot and she was convicted of treason and executed, removing a Catholic threat in England | House of Tudor | 16th |
| 1588 | Spanish Armada Defeated | Sir Francis Drake defeats the Spanish Armada | House of Tudor | 16th |
| 1594 | Lord Chamberlain's Men theatre company founded | The company was set up by Baron Hunsdon for royal entertaiment and was the main performer of William Shakespeare's plays | House of Tudor | 16th |
| 1596 | Oxford Rising | The harvests had failed the weather was bad and there was no relief for the poor in Elizabeth's England. So it was that a group of disgruntled and starving people developed a plan to seize weapons and armour and march on London, hoping to attract hundreds more as they went. They failed in their attempt and some were hanged for their treason. | House of Tudor | 16th |
| 1598 | Relief of the Poor | Parish organisation of curch wardens and overseers, JPs to keep accounts moderate tax between areas begging forbidden except in parish for food | House of Tudor | 16th |
| 1598 | Punishment of Rogues Vagabonds and Sturdy Beggars | Vagabonds to be whipped and returned to birthplace for 1 year with prison for dangerous rogues | House of Tudor | 16th |
| 1600 | Portsmouth receives a Royal Charter from Elizabeth I | The charter gave Portsmouth it's first definite status as a Royal Borough under a mayor elected by burgesses. The grant must not in any way impede the business or power of the Captain of Portsmouth thus emphasizing it's importance as the centre of the Navy and as a garrison town. | House of Tudor | 17th |
| 1601 | Queen Elizabeth I visits Basing House | With 360 rooms, Basing House was at one time the largest private house in England. | House of Tudor | 17th |
| 1603 | Clean water for the City of London | The New River Head Construction supplied clean water to City of London. Designed by engineer High Middleton and King James I who funded the amazing engineering project that saw 38 miles of engineering works to deliver the water, predating the canals by several centuries. | House of Stuart | 17th |
| 1603 | Sir Walter Raleigh tried for treason | Sir Walter Raleigh tried for treason in the Great Hall Winchester but is later reprieved. | House of Tudor | 17th |
| 1604 | Guy Fawkes plot foiled and he was executed | Guy Fawkes and other Catholic dissidents attempt to blow up King and Parliament in The Gunpowder Plot. They were betrayed and arrested and the four plotters were executed in St Pauls churchyard. | House of Stuart | 17th |
| 1604 | Charitable relief for plague sufferers. | Charitable relief and ordering of persons infected with the Plague. Rates levy for infected and penalties for those leaving infected households | House of Stuart | 17th |
| 1607 | Flight of the Roman Catholic earls | Flight of the Roman Catholic earls and lay leadership in fear of the Plantation of Ulster, this was the plantation of protestants a form of ethnic clensing, and resulted in the renaming of Derry to London Derry. | House of Stuart | 17th |
| 1608 | King James I grants Royal Charter for the Inns of Temple | One condition of this was that the Inns must maintain the church. The Temple and the church are still governed by that charter. In gratitude, the Inns gave King James a fine gold cup. Some years later, in the Civil war, his son Charles I needed funds to keep his army in the field. The cup was sold in Holland and has never been traced.Temple originated from Knights Templar, became 2 Inns of Court. At end of 16th century, the two Inns of Court had erected many fine buildings at the Temple, yet their position as tenants was insecure. To avoid future royal whims they petitioned the King for an improved tenure. The two Inns of Court are Inner and Middle Temple | House of Stuart | 17th |
| 1609 | Derry Ireland | Derry renamed Londonderry source of much Protestant/Catholic sectarianism and also the Scot/Irish connections. | House of Stuart | 17th |
| 1610 | Wadham College Oxford University founded | Wadham College was founded by Nicholas and Dorothy Wadham. Nicholas Wadham's entire fortune was left to endow a college at Oxford but it was not going to be easy. His greater family wanted to share his fortune between themselves but his widow Dorothy negotiated the entire proceedings determined that his will be done. She saw to all the building works and even appointed the first Warden, the Fellows and Scholars, as well as the college cook, to such effect that the college was ready for opening within four years of Nicholas's death, at this point she was nearly 80 years old. She added considerably to the endowment from her own resources, and kept tight control of its affairs until her death in 1618, although she never actually visited Oxford from her home in Devon. It became a magnet for the science thinkers of the day and became the regular meeting place for the natural scientists who, after 1660, became the founder members of the Royal Society. | House of Stuart | 17th |
| 1610 | Henry Hudson discovers Hudson Bay | Discovery of Hudson Bay, the result of the search for the north West Passage. | House of Stuart | 17th |
| 1610 | Galileo observes Moons of Jupiter | Galileo observes Moons of Jupiter with improved design of telescope. | House of Stuart | 17th |
| 1611 | King James Bible 1st Published | scholars 17 westminster abbey, 15 each Cambridge and Oxford University | House of Stuart | 17th |
| 1611 | Trees for the Navy | First recorded felling of timber for the Navy in the New Forest | House of Stuart | 17th |
| 1612 | Last heretics burned | Heretics are burned at the stake for the last time in England. | House of Stuart | 17th |
| 1613 | James I deliberate settlement of many Scottish Protestants in Ireland | This created a Catholic underclass and underpins the religious troubles that persisted to this day | House of Stuart | 17th |
| 1614 | Logarithmic Tables | Mathematician John Napier published Logarithmic Tables | House of Stuart | 17th |
| 1618 | 5 Articles of Perth imposed by James VI on the Kirk | Partially successful attempt to make Scottish Kirk more like Church of England, includes obligation to observe Christmas & Easter. | House of Stuart | 17th |
| 1618 | Raleigh fails in his expedition and is executed for treason at Westminster. | Raleigh fails in his expedition and on his return is executed for alleged treason at Westminster. | House of Stuart | 17th |
| 1619 | 20 African Slaves sold to English Settlers in Jamestown Virginia | The start of the slave trade in US | House of Stuart | 17th |
| 1620 | Departure of the Pilgrim Fathers in the Mayflower and Speedwell | The Pilgrim Fathers set sail for America in the Mayflower. They land at Cape Cod and found New Plymouth. | House of Stuart | 17th |
| 1624 | Pembroke College Oxford university founded | Pembroke College has it's origins in Broadgates Hall, which served as a hostel for law students. An Abingdon merchant, Thomas Tesdale, and a Berkshire clergyman, Richard Wightwick, provided the endowment for the transformation of Broadgates Hall into Pembroke College. It was to serve Abingdon, providing places for boys from Abingdon School. On 1624 King James I signed the letters patent to create the present college, which was named after the third Earl of Pembroke, Lord Chamberlain and Chancellor of the University, who had done much to promote the foundation. | House of Stuart | 17th |
| 1627 | Petition of Right 1627 the foundation of Civil Liberties across the world | Whilst Charles I reneged on it's provisions this was a foundation document of civil liberties and is echoed in the American Consitution | House of Stuart | 17th |
| 1628 | John Bunyan born | John Bunyan was an English Christian writer and preacher, who is well known for his book The Pilgrim's Progress | House of Stuart | 17th |
| 1628 | Sickness in the Navy | The seaman in Portsmouth are in a great state of mutiny, much sickness and mortality and their general provisions are appalling. The fleet stood at 60 ships and 3934 men | House of Stuart | 17th |
| 1635 | King Charles I seizes Londonderry | King Charles I seizes Londonderry and causes fury in London and with settlers. Another error that raises the fury of the merchants and livery companies | House of Stuart | 17th |
| 1637 | Arminian influenced Prayer Book Imposed by Charles I | Arminian view followed duthc namesake that we choose to be good or eveil note predetermined as per Calvanists. | House of Stuart | 17th |
| 1637 | Harvard University | Named after it's 1st benefactor, the young minister John Harvard of Charlestown, who upon his death in 1638 left his library and half his estate to the institution. | House of Stuart | 17th |
| 1638 | 1st Printing Press to USA on Vessel John of London | 1638, the John of London set sail from Hull, England, bound for the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Harvard historian Samuel Eliot Morison called the John of London “the publishing fraternity’s Mayflower.” The press belonged to Puritan Minister Joseph Glover and his wife Elizabeth. Joseph died on the transatlantic journey but his wife and the press continued. | House of Stuart | 17th |
| 1638 | National Covenant rejects Episcopacy in favour of Presbyterianism | Presbyterianism gives no special status to individuals under God. Ministers of equal status, as councils national and local with lay elders, it was opposed to divine rights. | House of Stuart | 17th |
| 1641 | Cathloic uprising in Ireland with savage reprisals on Plantation Settlers and mutual atrocities. | Catholics strike back in Ireland savage reprisals and atrocities on both sides. The Catholics made-up of Gaelic and Old English against Protestant Governement. | House of Stuart | 17th |
| 1642 | English Civil Military War Begins at Nottingham | Outbreak of Civil Military War. Charles raises his standard at Nottingham. The Royalists win a tactical victory the Parliamentary army at the Battle of Edgehill but the outcome is inconclusive. | House of Stuart | 17th |
| 1642 | Tasmania discovered by Dutch Explorer Abel Tasman | Also known as Van Diemans land. | House of Stuart | 17th |
| 1642 | Federation of Kilkenny after Catholic Revolt set-up own government against English rule | After Royalist defeat attracted increasing royalist support and maintatined control until Cromwell Invasion of 1649 | House of Stuart | 17th |
| 1643 | During the Civil War Basing House is besieged | During the English Civil War parliament soldiers attempted to take control of Basing House, which was owned by the King's supporter, the Marquis of Winchester. This attempt failed, as did another a year later. | House of Stuart | 17th |
| 1644 | Battle of Cheriton | The Battle of Cheriton was a victory for the Parliamentarians and gave them the confidence and resolve to defeat King Charles | House of Stuart | 17th |
| 1645 | Parliament replaces Prayer book with Directory of worship | In 1644 the Westminster Assembly began preparing a Directory of Worship to replace the Book of Common Prayer, which had been abolished. Three years were spent over the preparation of the Westminster Confession of Faith, which set out the creed of the reformed Church of England. | House of Stuart | 17th |
| 1646 | Charles II surrenders to the Scots, who hand him over to Parliament. | Negotiations take place between King and Parliament. King conspires with Scots to invade England on his behalf. | House of Stuart | 17th |
| 1646 | Parliament declares Episcopacy abolished. | This is the abolition of government by the Bishops. | House of Stuart | 17th |
| 1649 | Cromwell invades Ireland | Cromwell winds and defeats Catholic and Royalist opposition | House of Stuart | 17th |
| 1649 | Interregnum | Commonwealth declared on 19th May 1649 | House of Stuart | 17th |
| 1649 | Government by a council of state | With the new Commonwealth established the country was now ruled by The Council of State. This was appointed by Parliament on 14 and 15 February 1649, with further annual elections. The Council's duties were to act as the executive of the country's government in place of the King and the Privy Council | House of Stuart | 17th |
| 1651 | Navigation Ordinance | Navigation Ordinance, barring imports of goods into England by non English vessels | House of Stuart | 17th |
| 1651 | Cromwell orders destruction of Winchester Castle | The castle was used by the Royalists in the English Civil War, eventually falling to Parliamentarians in 1646, and then being demolished on Oliver Cromwell's orders in 1649 | House of Stuart | 17th |
| 1652 | Irish Roman Catholic resistance to English invasion ends | Large-scale confiscation of Catholic lands ensues. | House of Stuart | 17th |
| 1653 | Instrument of Government | First written constitution in England | House of Stuart | 17th |
| 1654 | Large-scale Confiscation of Catholic Lands throughout Ireland by English. | Former owners forcibly moved to Connaught Galway and Clare with much new settlement by ex-parliamentarian soldiers. | House of Stuart | 17th |
| 1660 | Oxford and Cambridge discriminate against Nonconformists | It would take until the C19th before discrimination against dissenters was abolished. Education was the principal area of discrimination remaining against dissenters. They were excluded from Oxford and Cambridge by religious tests. | House of Stuart | 17th |
| 1662 | Earl of Sandwich arrives at Spithead with the fleet conveying Catherine of Braganza. Charles II marries her at Portsmouth | The marriage of Charles II and Catherine of Braganza took place in Government House, the Royal Garrison Church, Portsmouth. | House of Stuart | 17th |
| 1662 | Revised Prayer Book made Mandatory | About 2000 clergy refuse the revised book. | House of Stuart | 17th |
| 1662 | Act of Uniformity | The Act of Uniformity compels Puritans to accept the doctrines of the Church of England or leave the church. | House of Stuart | 17th |
| 1665 | London Gazette founded | Fascinating history of what is claimed to be the longest running newspaper but it is not really a newspaper as such but a publication that records statutory notices such as bankruptcy that have to be published. As such it is a wonderful source for family historians and can be searched digitally. It started life as the Oxford Gazette when the court of King Charles II left London because of the plague and would not handle any papers from London for fear of contracting the disease. When the court returned to London the paper came with them and was renamed, The London Gazette. | House of Stuart | 17th |
| 1665 | Five Mile Act | The Five Mile Act was intended to prevent nonconformist ministers from coming within five miles of any corporation that returned members of parliament, or any parish where they had been the minister or preached since 1660. Offenders risked a £40 fine or six months’ imprisonment. | House of Stuart | 17th |
| 1669 | Tea arrives in Britain | First importation of tea from India by The East India Company | House of Stuart | 17th |
| 1669 | Coffee arrives in Europe | Coffee introduced to Italy and then rest of Europe | House of Stuart | 17th |
| 1669 | John Worlidge of Petersfield recommended sowing turnips and "several new Species of Hay or Grass," and floating water meadows, to improve fodder for sheep for the wool industry | John Worlidge was one of the first British agriculturalists to discuss the importance of farming as an industry. In his most notable book, Vinetum britannicum, Worlidge advocated the production of cider over that of wine in Great Britain because it was better suited to the climate and resources. | House of Stuart | 17th |
| 1670 | Dissenting academies established | Dissenting academies established to teach law, medicine, commerce, engineering and arts. They are the forerunners to our current universities and former polytechnics. | House of Stuart | 17th |
| 1673 | First Test Act | The First Test Act, requiring all holders of offices to repudiate Catholicism and Dissent | House of Stuart | 17th |
| 1675 | Quaker meetings held. | Quaker monthly meetings for Sufferings established | House of Stuart | 17th |
| 1675 | Greenwich Royal Observatory founded | Greenwich Royal Observatory founded by King Charles II | House of Stuart | 17th |
| 1675 | First Astronomer Royal | John Flamsteed as first Astronomer Royal | House of Stuart | 17th |
| 1678 | The Popish Plot | The Popish Plot is fabricated by Titus Oates. He alleges a Catholic plot to murder the King and restore Catholicism. The Government over-reacts, and many Catholic subjects are persecuted. | House of Stuart | 17th |
| 1678 | Second Test Act | Second Test Act banning all Catholics from Parliament | House of Stuart | 17th |
| 1679 | Habeas Corpus Act | The Habeas Corpus act passed which forbids imprisonment without trial, is one of Britains most important acts giving rights to the individual which many countries even today do not uphold. | House of Stuart | 17th |
| 1680 | Penny Post Service started in London | Although Oliver Cromwell had affirmed a system for the delivery of letters in 1654 it was not until 1680 that the London Penny Post began. Letters could, on payment of one penny be delivered to the city of London, Westminster and Southwark. Anywhere within a 10 mile radius cost another penny. | House of Stuart | 17th |
| 1682 | Foundation of the Royal Hospital Chelsea | Foundation of the Royal Hospital Chelsea by King Charles II for veteran soldiers | House of Stuart | 17th |
| 1683 | Ashmolean Museum in Oxford founded | Establishment of the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford based on the collection of Elias Ashmole | House of Stuart | 17th |
| 1685 | Bloody Assize at Winchester Castle | The castle at Winchester was used a s a law court, most notably by Judge Jeffries, who held his Bloody Assize there. | House of Stuart | 17th |
| 1689 | Toleration Act | Non jurors refused to accept William & mary as Monarch, they were High Church clerics. | House of Stuart | 17th |
| 1689 | Toleration Act 1689 | Toleration of the dissenters this was the start of state supported religious tolerance. | House of Stuart | 17th |
| 1690 | James II defeated ends Catholic hopes of regaining power | Defeat ends Catholic Catholic hopes of regaining power. Legislation ensues designed to deny them wealth and/or influence. | House of Stuart | 17th |
| 1691 | Death George Fox | George Fox was the founder of the Quaker Movenment | House of Stuart | 17th |
| 1699 | Systema Agriculturae published | Worlidge wrote extensively about all aspects of agriculture in Hampshire, including, cider making, bee keeping and gardening | House of Stuart | 17th |
| 1700 | Charity schools for the poor established | The charity schools were a recognition that education for children had fallen to the lowest following the closure of the monasteries post reformation education for the poor was virtually non existent. | House of Stuart | 18th |
| 1703 | Great Storm of 1703 | A rare tropical cyclone found its way onshore in southern England on 26 November. Property was destroyed in London and it is reported that 2,000 chimney stacks collapsed in London alone and great damage was done in the New Forest, where 4,000 of its valuable oak trees were lost. | House of Stuart | 18th |
| 1703 | Birth John Wesley | John Wesley founder of the Methodist Movement. | House of Stuart | 18th |
| 1706 | Sun Fire Insurance COmpany office is founded in London | Sun Fire Insurance, the lead insignia can still be seen attached to the outside of some houses | House of Stuart | 18th |
| 1707 | Acts of Union | The Acts of Union, passed by the English and Scottish Parliaments in 1707, led to the creation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain | House of Stuart | 18th |
| 1709 | Parliamentary enclosure of land has begun | The first act of Parliamentary enclosure in Hampshire begins with an Act to enclose 500 acres of land at Ropley Commons in the manors of Ropley and Bishops Sutton | House of Stuart | 18th |
| 1712 | Thomas Newcomen patents his atmospheric (steam) engine | 1st commercially successful steam engine. Able to keep deep coal mines clear of water, this was 1st significant power source since wind and water. | House of Stuart | 18th |
| 1712 | Jonas Hanway was born in Portsmouth | Jonas Hanway was an English traveller and philanthropist becoming a founder of the marine society, a scheme inspired by his work and knowledge of abandoned children in the Portsmouth docks. | House of Stuart | 18th |
| 1717 | Free Masons Grand Lodge of England founded | Although there were earlier records of the making of 'Freemasons' Organised Freemasonry began with the founding of the Grand Lodge of England on 24 June 1717, the first Grand Lodge in the world. | Georgian | 18th |
| 1720 | The Haymarket theatre | The love of theatre going meant many theatres were established in this period. The Haymarket theatre opened in London. | Georgian | 18th |
| 1720 | Gilbert White was born in Selborne | Gilbert White was born in his grandfathers house in Selborne. He studied at Oxford before becoming ordained and eventually writing as a naturalist. | Georgian | 18th |
| 1723 | Workhouse Act | This Act had a "workhouse test" a person who wanted to receive poor relief had to enter a workhouse and undertake a set amount of work. The test was intended to prevent irresponsible claims on a parish's poor rate. | Georgian | 18th |
| 1727 | First Coffee Plantation founded | First coffee Plantation in Brazil | Georgian | 18th |
| 1734 | LLoyds List first published | LLoyds List first started publishing shipping news, this was from a coffee house in London | Georgian | 18th |
| 1740 | George Anson circumnavigates the globe | While Great Britain was at war with Spain in 1740, Commodore George Anson led a squadron of eight ships on a mission to disrupt or capture Spain's Pacific possessions. Returning to England in 1744 by way of China and thus completing a circumnavigation | Georgian | 18th |
| 1740 | Jacobite threat faded | Jacobite threat faded and official repression of Cathlics starts to be relaxed | Georgian | 18th |
| 1743 | Northampton spinning factory | Wyatt and Paul open a spinning factory in Northampton with 5 machines of 50 spindles | Georgian | 18th |
| 1744 | Meeting of Methodist Preachers. | First Conference of Methodist Preachers. | Georgian | 18th |
| 1745 | Jacobite Rebellion | The Jacobite dream of ruling Great Britain flared up again a generation later, under the leadership of the Old Pretender’s son, Charles. Known as “Bonnie Prince Charlie”. He saw his chance to rebel against the British as its military was engaged overseas in Europe and elsewhere around the world.He wanted an uprising that would regain the British throne for his father, James Francis Edward Stuart. | Georgian | 18th |
| 1749 | Bow Street Runners | Londons 1st professional police force is founded by Henry Fielding, to start with this was just 8 men taking direct action against the criminal fraternity | Georgian | 18th |
| 1756 | 7 Years War | Hanover Britain and Prussia clash with France Austria and Russia. It will cost Britain dearly and take years to replenish the treasury. | Georgian | 18th |
| 1757 | Battle of Plassey | Clive of India defeats Bengalis at Battle of Plassey, start of the British Empire.Secures Bengal for British East India Company and control over much of India | Georgian | 18th |
| 1760 | Academy for the Deaf | Thomas Braidwood's Academy for the Deaf opened in Edinburgh | Georgian | 18th |
| 1761 | James Brindley's Bridgewater Canal opens | Sometimes described at England's earliest canal this is not strictly true but still an incredible feat of engineering. The Duke of Bridgewater, was looking for ways to transport coal from his mines at Worsley into Manchester. His father had looked at the idea of making the Worsley Brook navigable to connect with the Mersey and Irwell Navigation but nothing was done. The Duke had seen examples of canals in France and this gave him the idea to create a waterway that was independent from a river route. In 1758 the Duke called in James Brindley to look at ways of constructing a canal and of improving the drainage of the mines. The Duke decided to combine the two aims by linking the mines to the canal by an underground canal. It became an extravagant engineering project. The Duke's first proposal was for a canal from Worsley to Ordsall in Salford. Later, this was amended in favour of a more bold proposal, to cross the Mersey and Irwell Navigation at Barton and run to the edge of central Manchester. This route needed no locks but involved the construction of an aqueduct across the Irwell at Barton. No aqueduct on this scale had been constructed before in England. | Georgian | 18th |
| 1763 | William Cobbett was born | William Cobbett, journalist, politician and farmer. Cobbett rode all over Hampshire and wrote his book Rural Rides. | Georgian | 18th |
| 1763 | Treaty of Paris confirmed British Supremacy in Americas | The Seven Years War had taken it's toil on Britain, France and their allies. The Treaty of Paris Seven Years’ War between Great Britain and France, brought the war to a conclusion. France gave up all its territories in mainland North America, effectively ending any foreign military threat to the British colonies there. | Georgian | 18th |
| 1765 | Stamp Act | The Stamp Act imposed a tax to raise revenue for defending the colonies of North America and West Indies. It ultimately led to the Boston Tea Party and American rebellion | Georgian | 18th |
| 1767 | Townsend Act | This act Chancellor imposed taxes on goods imported to America. It was later repealed except for on tea | Georgian | 18th |
| 1769 | Spitalfield Riots during decline of Silk Industry quashed with extreme force and punishment | 2 men an Irish weaver and a Huguenot are hanged in front of Salmon and Ball Pub in Bethnall Green | Georgian | 18th |
| 1772 | Staffordhsire & Worcester Canal opens | This llinked partially completed Grand Trunk to Severn at Stourport. | Georgian | 18th |
| 1773 | Boston Tea Party | The Boston Tea Party was the result of the colonies refusal to pay the levies required by the Townsend Acts claiming they had no obligation to pay taxes imposed by a Parliament in which they had no representation. In response, Parliament retracted the taxes with the exception of a duty on tea. This was a demonstration of Parliament's ability and right to tax the colonies.Beginning of the end of British rule in America war in 1774. Although the tax to be levied was small, if the colonists paid it, they would still be bowing to the rule of the British, something they were not prepared to accept. | Georgian | 18th |
| 1774 | Steam engine factory opened in Bimingham | Matthew Boulton and James Watt open their steam engine factory in Soho Birmingham | Georgian | 18th |
| 1774 | Repeal of the Calico Act | Government permits use and wear of of any new manufactured stuffs wholly made of cotton, ending years of prohibitive restrictions and duties | Georgian | 18th |
| 1775 | American War of Independence | The American War of Independence had supporters on both sides of the Atlantic, it was an inevitable war, political and economic concerns led the inhabitants of Britain’s 13 American colonies to rebel and although the conflict led to the loss of Britain’s American territories, not everyone supported the rising and it divided families and communities across North America. It led to the American Declaration of Independence in 1776. | Georgian | 18th |
| 1776 | Portsmouth Dockyard set ablaze | Jack the Painter set fire to Portsmouth Dockyard because he was sympathetic to the cause of the American Revolution. Jack was hung on Portsmouth waterfront | Georgian | 18th |
| 1779 | 1st iron bridge built near Coalbrookdale | East Shropshire was an important industrial area thanks to coal deposits near the surface. By 1635 annual production from Broseley and Benthall was around 100,000 tons per year mainly for export, but also for fuelling local clay industries and lead. The world's first cast iron bridge was built over the River Severn at Coalbrookdale to further exploit and develop these resources. | Georgian | 18th |
| 1780 | Gordan Riots in London | The riots based on anti -Catholic feeling in Britain were the closest the country came to anarchy. | Georgian | 18th |
| 1780 | Derby horse race | First running of the Derby horse race at Epsom | Georgian | 18th |
| 1781 | Battle of Yorktown | Battle of Yorktown Washington Republicans and French defeated British | Georgian | 18th |
| 1782 | Foundation of the Foreign Office | The Foreign Office was formed by combining the Southern and Northern Departments of the Secretary of State, each of which covered both foreign and domestic affairs in their parts of the Kingdom. | Georgian | 18th |
| 1782 | Gilberts Act | Gilberts Act 1782 an attempt to improve humanitarian basis of poor law | Georgian | 18th |
| 1783 | American War of Independence ends with treaty of Paris | With much reluctance the Treaty of Paris was signed The Treaty of Paris by representatives of King George III of Great Britain and representatives of the United States of America on September 3, it ended the American Revolutionary War. | Georgian | 18th |
| 1784 | The India Act | The Pitt’s India Act, 1784 also called the East India Company Act, 1784 was passed by the British Parliament to correct the defects of the Regulating Act of 1773. This act resulted in dual control of British possessions in India by the British government and the Company with the final authority resting with the government. This act continued in effect until 1858. | Georgian | 18th |
| 1784 | First mail coach | First mail coach runs from Bristol to London | Georgian | 18th |
| 1787 | Edmund Cartwright opens the first weaving shed | Edmund Cartwright opens the first weaving shed in Doncaster powered by a bull, two years later a steam engine is installed | Georgian | 18th |
| 1787 | First fleet of convicts sets sail | First fleet of convicts sets sail from Portsmouth bound for New South Wales | Georgian | 18th |
| 1788 | First British convict fleet arrives in Australia | Penal colony established at Sydney | Georgian | 18th |
| 1789 | Publication of Gilbert White's 'The Natural History and Antiquities of Selborne' | A compilation of letters sent to to Thomas Pennant, the leading British zoologist of the day, and the Hon. Daines Barrington, an English barrister and another Fellow of the Royal Society. These letters contained the discoveries made by White of local birds, animals and plants | Georgian | 18th |
| 1790 | Grand Cross completed | The Grand Cross is completed with the opening of the Coventry and Oxford Canal. Links Thames between them with Grand Trunk Canal | Georgian | 18th |
| 1791 | School for the Blind | School for Instruction for the Indigent Blind established in Liverpool. | Georgian | 18th |
| 1791 | Canal mania | Canal mania as more than 40 canals are planned and built over the next decade. | Georgian | 18th |
| 1792 | French King Louis XVI overthrown and executed | Reign of Terror led by Robespierre begins | Georgian | 18th |
| 1792 | Mary Wollstonecraft publishes Vindication of the Rights of Women | Makes case for egalitarian ideas and rights of women in Britain. | Georgian | 18th |
| 1793 | French Revolution | War was taking its toll and British government was in fear of the potential for revolutionary zeal being spread to Britain. The fear was of radicals at home combining with forces from France in particular with the London Corresponding Society. Problems in Britain were so bad that Pitt suspended Habeaus Corpeus. Leading radicals were arrested and Horne Took, Thomas Hardy and others were accused of treason. In 1795 Britain secured the Indian Trade Route by seizing Cape Town from the Dutch. The late 18th and early 19th Centuries were troubled times, much of which would originate from disputes over control of trade routes, colonies and the intense pursuit of economic exploitation of he resources of those territories. | Georgian | 18th |
| 1795 | Food sterilization | Nicolas Appert developed a process for preserving food in airtight bottles after sterilization. Napoleon had realized that in order to feed his troops effectively they needed to eat well and therefore encouraged the process of sterilisation | Georgian | 18th |
| 1797 | Great mutiny at Spithead | In 1797, 16 ships-of-the-line of the Channel fleet refused to sail, and mounted a collective mutiny at Spithead. Their demands were concerned with improved pay and conditions, and better treatment in general. The Nore Mutiny a month later was even more serious. | Georgian | 18th |
| 1798 | The Battle of the Nile | This was a critical Battle against the French. Bonaparte sought to invade Egypt as the first step in a campaign against British India, part of a greater effort to drive Britain out of the French Revolutionary Wars. The chase was on across the Mediterranean, Nelson who had been sent from the British fleet in the Tagus to learn the purpose of the French expedition and to defeat it. He chased the French for more than two months until finally he faced the French fleet at at Aboukir Bay on the Mediterranean coast off the Nile Delta of Egypt from the 1st to the 3rd of August. It was a victory for Nelson. | Georgian | 18th |
| 1799 | First anaesthetic | Humphry Davy discovers nitrous oxide first effective anaesthetic. | Georgian | 18th |
| 1800 | Act of Union | The Act of Union with Ireland created United Kingdom | Georgian | 19th |
| 1801 | Trevithick built a full-size steam road locomotive | Trevithick named his carriage 'Puffing Devil' and on Christmas Eve that year, he demonstrated it by successfully carrying several men up Fore Street and then continuing on up Camborne Hill, to the nearby village of Beacon. This is widely recognised as the first demonstration of transportation powered by steam. | Georgian | 19th |
| 1802 | Treaty of Amiens between England and France | The treaty brings a temporary halt to the Napoleonic War bringing much needed relief to British manufacturing industries | Georgian | 19th |
| 1802 | Mass production block making machines installed Portsmouth Naval Base | Marc Brunel designed a block making machine having learned of the Royal Navy's problem sourcing 100,000 blocks each year for it's ships. | Georgian | 19th |
| 1802 | Richard Trevithick builds first high pressure steam engine | Freed of Watt's patent constraints Trevithick makes an advance with high pressure steam engine design | Georgian | 19th |
| 1802 | Treaty of Amiens between England and France at the end of the French Revolutionary War | British hoped this treaty would provide sound basis for peace, French intended to set the scope for their complete domination of Europe and foundation for further expansion in the Mediterranean and America. It's failure resulted in the Napoleonic Wars. | Georgian | 19th |
| 1802 | Peel's Factory Act | This is the first of the Factory Acts in which modest regulations are imposed on working conditions | Georgian | 19th |
| 1803 | Britain declared war on France | Napoleonic War resumes after Britain refuses to cede Malta to France. The French army is encamped at Boulogne threatening invasion of England | Georgian | 19th |
| 1803 | napoleonic wars | National assembly formed and Paris is under mob rule | Georgian | 19th |
| 1803 | West India Docks Established providing berths for larger ships | The West India Docks were allowed by an act of parliament in 1799 and were the idea of Robert Milligan a wealthy trader and businessman whose family ran sugar plantations in Jamaica. He got so fed up losing money in London as his ships were delayed in the London port or had their cargo stolen that he headed a group of powerful businessmen, including the chairman of the London Society of West India Planters and Merchants, George Hibbert. They set to to promote the creation of a wet dock circled by a high wall. The group planned and built West India Docks, lobbying Parliament to allow the creation of a West India Dock Company. The area of the West India Docks in now Canary Wharf, a development of offices, retail and residential living. | Georgian | 19th |
| 1803 | Caledonian Ship Canal | An amazing engineering achievement, the Caledonian Ship Canal was dug across Scotland via the Great Glen | Georgian | 19th |
| 1804 | A Richard Trevithick locomotive runs in Wales | The Trevithick locomotive is installed at the Penydarren Mine hauling 10 tonnes at a speed of 5m.p.h. for 8 miles | Georgian | 19th |
| 1805 | Nelson's fleet sails from Portsmouth for the Battle of Trafalgar | Nelson sailed the fleet off the coast of Spain and took on the combined navys of France and Spain. He was victorious and in part that was due to the skill of Nelson himself as he departured from the prevailing naval tactical orthodoxy of the day. He lost his life during the battle but the fate of the French and Spanish fleet had been sealed. | Georgian | 19th |
| 1805 | William Cobbett farmer / journalist | William Cobbett chiefly remembered for his account of travels through rural England, 'Rural Rides'. He was also a journalist who wrote about the poverty and injustice he saw on his travels. He was keen to become a successful farmer and landowner and in the 15 years he lived in Hampshire, that is what he set out to do. | Georgian | 19th |
| 1805 | Grand Junction Canal | Grand Junction Canal links Birmingham and London | Georgian | 19th |
| 1805 | 2nd Maratha War | British East India Company troops were waging war concerning the politics and control of the Maratha Confederacy. The company's attempt to control central and southern India laid the ground for further subsequent conflict. | Georgian | 19th |
| 1806 | Birth of Isambard Kingdom Brunel in Portsmouth | This great engineer, son of Marc Brunel was born in Portsmouth into the heart of the Royal Navy and docks. | Georgian | 19th |
| 1806 | East India Docks Established London | The East India Docks were largely established by the East India Company and was a very profitable dock, with the tea trade alone worth £30 million per year. Other goods traded through the dock included spices, indigo, silk and Persian carpets. Spice merchants and pepper grinders were situated in the general vicinity of the dock, ready to receive the goods to process and sell. | Georgian | 19th |
| 1807 | Parochial Schools Bill | The Parochial Schools Bill made provision for educating the labouring classes | Georgian | 19th |
| 1807 | Oystermouth Railway. | The Oystermouth Railway was the first horse-powered railway to carry passengers | Georgian | 19th |
| 1808 | Lancashire riots call for a minimum wage | Riots throughout Lancashire as the Napoleonic War tightens it's grip causing a recession. They call for a minimum wage and burn down Rochdale prison releasing prisoners. A volunteer force is deployed against Stockport weavers | Georgian | 19th |
| 1809 | Weavers minimum wage bill rejected by Commons | 6000 weavers assemble on St Georges fields Manchester. Dragoons and police clear the field | Georgian | 19th |
| 1809 | Peninsular War begins | The Peninsular War was part of the Napoleonic War between Napoleon's empire and Bourbon Spain, for control of the Iberian Peninsula during the Napoleonic Wars. | Georgian | 19th |
| 1810 | Improvement Commissioners | A body of men called Improvement Commissioners is formed to pave, clean and light the streets in market towns. | Georgian | 19th |
| 1810 | Tin Canning process invented | A method of preserving animal food, vegetable food and other perishable articles using various vessels made of glass, pottery, tin or other suitable metals. The preservation procedure was to fill up a vessel with food and cap it. Vegetables were to be put in raw, whereas animal substances might either be raw or half-cooked. Then the whole item was to be heated by any means, such as an oven, stove or a steam bath, | Georgian | 19th |
| 1810 | Kennet & Avon Canal | This lovely canal comprises a canalised section of the river Kennet from the Thames in Reading to Newbury, a canalised section of the river Avon from Bath to Bristol, and an entirely man-made section of canal linking Newbury and Bath. The Canal is 86.6 miles (139.2 km) long and has 107 locks. | Georgian | 19th |
| 1811 | Calvanistic Methodists split from established church | Wales at this time was dominated by the older Dissenting movements of the Independents and Baptists and the newer Calvinistic and Wesleyan Methodists. The Calvinists became the largest Nonconformist denomination in Wales, the movement separated from the Church of England in 1811 and established a Confession of Faith in 1823. | Georgian | 19th |
| 1811 | Huddersfield Canal built | This canal was an outstanding feat of engineering history. Work on the construction of the Huddersfield Narrow Canal began in 1794. The direct route chosen involved a daring plan for a tunnel more than 3 miles long under the Pennines at Standedge, longer than any other canal tunnel. The scheme faltered for many reasons, it was beset with flooding problems, lack of organisation and it had never been done before. Benjamin Outram, the original engineer did not have time to commit to the project and when he resigned Thomas Telford was called in to complete the project. | Georgian | 19th |
| 1812 | Luddite riots | Rioters attack steam driven weaving sheds | Georgian | 19th |
| 1812 | Birth of Charles Dickens in Portsmouth | Charles Dickens, author and social reformer was born in Portsmouth in 1812, where his father John worked in the Navy Pay Office in the dockyard. | Georgian | 19th |
| 1813 | First canning factory in London | Canning Factory Donkin, Hall and Gamble set up first canning factory in London | Georgian | 19th |
| 1813 | Highways Act | Highways Act to improve British roads | Georgian | 19th |
| 1813 | Russian War with Persia | War is triggered by Russian expansionism and annexation of Georgia and Karabakh. Territorial and imperial tensions are building in the Middle East. | Georgian | 19th |
| 1814 | British and Foreign School Society | British and Foreign School Society founded by liberal Anglicans, Roman Catholics and Jews as an alternative to the National Society | Georgian | 19th |
| 1814 | Grand union Canal opened | The Grand Union Canal is a major canal starting in London and ending in Birmingham. It stretches for 137 miles with 166 locks. It connects places including Leicester, Slough, Aylesbury, Wendover and Northampton. | Georgian | 19th |
| 1815 | First crushed and consolidated stone road built | John Macadam uses a new technique of using crushed stones to build better roads | Georgian | 19th |
| 1815 | Battled of Waterloo Napolean Defeated | Wellington's army which consisted of two thirds soldiers who were not British fought this defining battle that brought an end to the bloody war with Napolean. The allied forces, consisting of British, Dutch, Belgian and German soldiers, thwarted the attempts of European dominance by Napoleon Bonaparte. The battle marked the end of the Napoleonic Wars (1803-1815), which took the lives of 5 million people. | Georgian | 19th |
| 1815 | Trouble in the countryside post Waterloo | Bands of de-mobbed soldiers roam the Hampshire countryside, camping in an area of the Forest of Bere, now known as Waterloovill | Georgian | 19th |
| 1815 | Miners safety lamp | Sir Humphrey Davy invents a lamp that will not cause explosions in the mines | Georgian | 19th |
| 1817 | Blanketeers March | Reformers meet at St Peter's Fields Manchester to plan a march on London of handloom weavers to deliver a petition to the Government demanding reform to pay and conditions | Georgian | 19th |
| 1818 | Border between US and Canada | The border between the US and Canada west of the Great Lakes is fixed at the 49th parallel. | Georgian | 19th |
| 1818 | First blood transfusion | First blood transfusion by British Obstetrician James Blundell, conducted using a Syringe to transfer the blood between patients | Georgian | 19th |
| 1819 | Singapore founded | Founded by Sir Stamford Raffles as Britain expands its Empire into Malaya. | Georgian | 19th |
| 1822 | Caledonian Canal opened | This Thomas Telford canal is surely one of the most impressive and the most useful of canals. It connects the east and west coast of Scotland. The east coast at Inverness with the west coast at Corpach near Fort William. | Georgian | 19th |
| 1823 | Portsmouth & Arundel Canal | The canal was cut to join the Arun Navigation at Ford, north of Littlehampton, East Sussex, to Chichester Harbour; by dredged channels round Thorney and Hayling Islands, and across Langstone Harbour; and finally a cut across Portsea Island to Portsmouth. The route gave give access to London, through the Arun Navigation, Wey and Arun Canal, Wey Navigation, and River Thames. | Georgian | 19th |
| 1824 | Thames and Medway Canal | This was always a difficult canal, it leaked quite badly and the hoped for commercial success of transporting hops from the Kent hop fields never materialised. | Georgian | 19th |
| 1825 | Liverpool Institute opened | The Liverpool mechanics Institute was founded to provide education to working men mainly through evening classes. | Georgian | 19th |
| 1825 | Self Acting Mule invented for Cotton industry invented by Richard Roberts | Reduces costs of production by 15% compared to semi-manual mules | Georgian | 19th |
| 1825 | Stockton to Darlington Railway | George Stephenson was employed as engineer to the railway | Georgian | 19th |
| 1825 | Universities Act | This was an Act of Parliament which provided for officers of police constable status to be employed within Cambridge and Oxford Universities. | Georgian | 19th |
| 1825 | Invention of the electro-magnet by William Sturgeon | The electro-magnet invented by William Sturgeon was the springboard for many other inventions and innovations | Georgian | 19th |
| 1826 | Liverpool Manchester line commenced by Stephensons father and son | They used the Rocket at opneing Member of Board of Trade killed at opening misjudged speed and breaking distance what a start... | Georgian | 19th |
| 1828 | Ring Spinning for Cotton industry patented in US by J Thorpe | Does not cross Atlantic until 1860s not wide adopted for some time makes spinning continuous and can be worked by women at high speed quality does not suit english conditions? | Georgian | 19th |
| 1828 | Protestant Nonconformists allowed to hold public office. | English and welsh Protestants who do not belong to the Church of England are Nonconformists, old dissenters and Quakers and had previously been banned from holding public office. | Georgian | 19th |
| 1828 | Navy purchased the Weevil Brewery at Gosport. | It became the Royal Clarence victualing yard providing beer and biscuits for the Navy | Georgian | 19th |
| 1829 | Birth of John Everett Millais | Millais was born in Southampton, the son of John William Millais, a wealthy gentleman from an old Jersey family. His mother's family were prosperous saddlers. Considered a child prodigy, he came to London in 1838. He was sent to Sass's Art School, and won a silver medal at the Society of Arts | Georgian | 19th |
| 1829 | King's College London established | King's College London King's was established by King George IV and Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, when it received its first royal charter (as a university college), and claims to be the fourth oldest university institution in England | Georgian | 19th |
| 1829 | Catholic Emancipation (Relief) Act | This Act enabled Catholics to hold most public offices. Originated in response to as Co Clare elections. It destroyed the administration of Peel and Wellington. The Monarch until this government has not been allowed to be a Catholic, this will be resolved in forthcoming legislation together with equality of gender in the line of succession. | Georgian | 19th |
| 1830 | Swing riots | The fall out after the Napoleonic War led to great instability in terms of employment and wages. The term Swing riots refer to the general uprising of agricultural workers from the eastern and southern parts of England in 1830. Rioters, impoverished and landless peasants, sought to put an end to the wage reductions imposed by the advent of threshers on farms. The rioters sought higher wages and the end to mechanisation. | Georgian | 19th |
| 1830 | Beer Act | The 1830 Beer Act allowed any ratepayer to buy a licence to brew and sell beer. It was difficult for magistrates to control beer was still viewed as nutritious but polite society were concerned at the increase in drunkenness and complained about the Act. | Georgian | 19th |
| 1830 | Indian Removal Act | Allowed for the permanent removal of American Indians from their land. | Georgian | 19th |
| 1831 | Macclesfield Canal | The Macclesfield canal was one of the last to be built in Britain. It links the Peak Forest Canal with the Trent and Mersey Canal and forms part of the "Cheshire Ring. | Georgian | 19th |
| 1832 | British Representation of the People Act | The Reform Act gave one million people the right to vote | Georgian | 19th |
| 1833 | Southampton Chain Pier is opened | The Duchess of Kent opened Southampton's Chain Pier which heralded the rapid development of the port | Georgian | 19th |
| 1833 | British Abolition of Slavery Act 1833 | This Act reached out across the entire British Empire, not just the home territories. | Georgian | 19th |
| 1833 | British Emancipation Act 1833 | The William Wilberforce campaign resulted in legislation giving all slaves in the British empire their freedom, albeit after a set period of years. They received no compensation for their enslavement whereas plantation owners received compensation for the 'loss of their slaves' in the form of a government grant set at £20,000,000. The slaves did then receive a wage for their work on the plantations but they were extremely low. | Georgian | 19th |
| 1833 | Kebble's Assizes sermon triggers the Oxford Movement | Kebble was a High Church cleric a leader of the Anglo Catholics, which led to the Oxford Movement. Kebble College Oxford is named after him. Even in recent times it is this body that is anti-ordination of women and again the church faces similar challenges with the Anglo-Catholics. | Georgian | 19th |
| 1834 | Poor Law Amendment Act | Poor relief much more harshly administered. | Georgian | 19th |
| 1835 | Birmingham & Liverpool Canal | Another vital transport connection in the heart of the industrial Midlands but the age of the railway is just around the corner and the canals become less important. | Georgian | 19th |
| 1836 | Home and Colonial Institution founded to establish infant schools | It was an Anglican institution, founded “for the Improvement and Extension of the Infant School System and Home and Abroad, and for the Education of Teachers”, | Georgian | 19th |
| 1836 | Railway Mania | The first wave of railway mania developed from the steam engine and trams used in mines. | Georgian | 19th |
| 1836 | Southampton Dock Company incorporated | Act of Parliament was passed authorizing the newly-formed Southampton Dock Company to construct a dock at Southampton. The foundation stone of the new docks was subsequently laid on 12 October 1838. The Dock Company managed the affairs of the docks until 1892 when ownership passed into the hands of the London and South Western Railway Company. | Georgian | 19th |
| 1837 | Louis Daguerre's first daguerreotype photographic image | The first image that was fixed and did not fade and needed under thirty minutes of light exposure. | Victorian | 19th |
| 1837 | Normal School of Design established in London | The Normal School of Design would become the Royal College of Art | Victorian | 19th |
| 1838 | People's Charter Published | This very important document was written mainly by a man called William Lovett of the London Working Men’s Association and it stated the ideological basis of the Chartist movement. It rapidly gained support across the country and its supporters became known as the Chartists. | Victorian | 19th |
| 1838 | First Afghan War | The First Anglo-Afghan War was a complax affair involving the East India Company and politics of the British at the height of Empire. It began when the British launched an invasion of Afghanistan from India with the aim of overthrowing the Afghan ruler, Amir Dōst Moḥammad Khān, and replacing him with the supposedly pro-British former ruler, Shāh Shujāʻ. At first it seemed that the British were going to be successful. They installed Shāh Shujāʻ as ruler in Jalalabad and forced Dōst Moḥammad to flee the country. But in 1841 Dōst Moḥammad returned to Afghanistan to lead an uprising against the invaders and Shāh Shujāʻ. In one of the most disastrous defeats in British military history, in January 1842 an Anglo-Indian force of 4,500 men and thousands of followers was annihilated by Afghan tribesmen. The British then sent a larger force from India to exact retribution and to recover hostages, before finally withdrawing in October 1842. It was a humiliating and costly mistake one that the British would repeat several times. | Victorian | 19th |
| 1838 | Irish church tithes | Catholic and Dissenters obligation to pay tithe to Church of Ireland is ended | Victorian | 19th |
| 1838 | The Morton seed drill is developed | Increased efficiency spreading seed, less waste higher yields, producing more food for the population | Victorian | 19th |
| 1839 | Newport Rising by Chartists | Thousands of Chartists had marched on Newport in Wales in what has become known as the Newport Rising. Estimates of the numbers vary. Some say there were as many as 20,000 men but likely is it was closer to 5,000. The marchers arrived in Newport on 4th November 1839 they discovered that the authorities had made more arrests and were holding several Chartists in the Westgate Hotel. The Chartists marched to the hotel and began chanting "surrender our prisoners". Twenty-eight soldiers had been placed inside the Westgate Hotel and when the order was given they began firing into the crowd. Afterwards it was estimated that over twenty men were killed and another fifty were wounded.Frost and others involved in the march on Newport were arrested and charged with high treason. Several of the men, including John Frost, were found guilty and sentenced to be hanged, drawn and quartered. | Victorian | 19th |
| 1839 | Education Department established | The Education Department was set up to regulate and manage schools. | Victorian | 19th |
| 1839 | Custody of Infants Act 1839 | Mothers of unblemished character under 7 could claim custody in event of marital separation. | Victorian | 19th |
| 1840 | Grammar Schools Act | Grammar Schools Act allowed endowments to be spent on modern and commercial subjects | Victorian | 19th |
| 1841 | Five school sites act passed | The next 11 years saw the purchase of land for school buildings and allowed for Parliamentary Grants for the education of the poor | Victorian | 19th |
| 1842 | Miners Act | The Miners Act prevented women, girls and children under 10 years old from working down mines. | Victorian | 19th |
| 1843 | Free Church of Scotland formed in the Disruption | Major upheaval of Church of scotland. More than 40% of clergy leave to form Free Chuch of Scotland | Victorian | 19th |
| 1843 | Thames Tunnel opened | Opening of the Thames Tunnel, constructed by Sir Marc Brunel and his son Isambard. | Victorian | 19th |
| 1844 | Railway Act 1844 | After the massive expansion of the railway network there needed to be some form of control for the travelling public to set a minimum standard for rail passenger travel. The railways were meant to be for all people, to expand the British economy. The Act then demanded the railway companies to provide compulsory services at a price affordable to poorer people to enable them to travel to find work | Victorian | 19th |
| 1846 | Irish potato famine | A fungus ruined the potato crop in Europe which led to starvation for many people in Ireland. The same the following year accompanied by an outbreak of typhoid | Victorian | 19th |
| 1847 | Peerage of Anthony de Rothschild | Anthony de Rothschild member of the dynastic Jewish family was made the the 1st Baronet de Rothschild, of Tring Park by Queen Victoria. The close involvement of the family with the financing of European and international governments highly influential. This was a landmark peerage. Queen Victoria had previously refused to bestow a peerage to a member of the dynasty previously. | Victorian | 19th |
| 1847 | Institution of Mechanical Engineers founded | The institution was founded in Birmingham with George Stephenson as its first president | Victorian | 19th |
| 1847 | Practical anaesthesia | Scottish Doctor Use Chloroform for the first time. A primitive contraption of a Chloroform Inhaler administers the Chloroform. | Victorian | 19th |
| 1848 | Gold in California | Gold is discovered in California prompting a massive gold rush. | Victorian | 19th |
| 1848 | Queen's College London | Queen's College was set up in Harley Street London as a college for women | Victorian | 19th |
| 1850 | Libraries Act 1850 | This act gave local boroughs the right to open free libraries thus giving access to books as never before. | Victorian | 19th |
| 1851 | Great Exhibition | The Great Exhibition was a showcase for British inventiveness and design | Victorian | 19th |
| 1851 | Sheffield Womens Political Association formed | Sheffield Womens Political Association formed. It was the first suffragette organisation set up in the country. | Victorian | 19th |
| 1851 | Mayhews Social Survey of London's Poor | Mayhews 'Social Survey of London's Poor' was first published by the Morning Chronicle. This ground breaking survey eventually became a book, ' London Labour and the London Poor'. | Victorian | 19th |
| 1852 | New Houses of Parliament | The old Palace of Westminster was burned down in 1834. The new was designed by Sir Charles Barry. | Victorian | 19th |
| 1852 | Burial Act | The Burial Act closed the city's burial grounds and purpose built cemeteries were established on the fringes of the metropolitan area. | Victorian | 19th |
| 1852 | Funeral of the Duke of Wellington | The 'Iron Duke' was 83 years old when he died. His funeral was attended by tens of thousands of people | Victorian | 19th |
| 1853 | New towns being built in New Zealand and Australia | Britain was developing important settlements with the view to trading with these countries. | Victorian | 19th |
| 1853 | Crimean War | Britain fought in the Crimean War and will long be remembered because of the bravery of the soldiers who fought and Florence Nightingale who nursed there. The war was fought by an alliance of Britain, France, Turkey and Sardinia against Russia. The background to the war. Initially an invasion of Moldavia and Walachia against the Ottoman Turks because o their rejection of Russia's demands for a protectorate over Orthodox Christians living within their borders. The Turks encouraged by French support declared war on Russia. Britain joined with France in a declaration of war in 1854. It was a war ruled by incompetence on the British side, under-funded as usual after a period of peace the British forces were ll-prepared and under equipped. This war would see British Battles including Balaclava and the ill-fated disasterous Charge of the Light Brigade. 4600 died in battle, 13,000 were wounded and a staggering 17,000 died of disease. The appalling conditions were real but really no worse than other campaigns of the period. The difference was largely communications, in that the British public were informed and aware due to the 1st War Correspondent W H Russell reporting in the \times, photographers like roger Fenton and the work promoted for better medical care by Florence Nightingale. The outcome of this Crimean War as much more favourable in terms of containing Russia than subsequent attempts by Napoleon and Hitler would prove to be. But when you see the details its far to easy to ask why was Britain fighting this war. But look to the Crimea now...in 2015. Russian expansionism at work again under Putin playing out old stories. | Victorian | 19th |
| 1854 | Hampshire becomes home to the British Army | Government buy 10,000 acres of land around the small village of Aldershot to establish an army camp | Victorian | 19th |
| 1855 | Henry Bessemer filed a patent for the 'Bessemer Converter'. A means of producing mild steel | Cold air is blasted into molten iron in the Bessemer Converter, thus reducing the amount of carbon in the iron, making a stronger more versatile product | Victorian | 19th |
| 1856 | Victoria Cross instituted | Awards for Crimean heroes. Queen Victoria instituted the Victoria Cross as the highest British award for valour. | Victorian | 19th |
| 1857 | Industrial Schools Act | Under the Industrial Schools Act children aged between 7 and 14, convicted of vagrancy could be put into an Industrial School until the age of 16. However not all children came through the courts, some entered voluntarily and some were already in the 'ragged school' system which morphed into Industrial Schools. | Victorian | 19th |
| 1859 | Matrimonial Causes Act | The need for an Act of Parliament for divorce grant was abolished and a womens right to sue was partly enabled if they can prove 2 of 3 charges, men can divorce with just one. | Victorian | 19th |
| 1860 | First English Tramway | The first English tramway was built in Birkenhead. | Victorian | 19th |
| 1861 | First London Tramway | The first London Tramway was in Bayswater. | Victorian | 19th |
| 1862 | Hartley Institute founded. | Hartley Institute founded in Southampton, later to become Southampton University | Victorian | 19th |
| 1862 | King Alfred's College founded | The Diocesan Training College King Alfred's College was founded in Winchester Hampshire, It was one of the first of 27 teacher training colleges established in England by the Church of England. | Victorian | 19th |
| 1862 | American Civil War | During the American Civil War 200,000 free black men and escaped slaves fought for the Union. They were excluded from Victory Parade in Washington DC. | Victorian | 19th |
| 1863 | American Emancipation Proclamation | Declared during the Civil Military War that slaves were free in the Confederacy (Confederate States.) | Victorian | 19th |
| 1863 | Metropolitan railway opened | The Metropolitan Railway opened the world's first underground railway on 10 January between Paddington (Bishop's Road) and Farringdon Street. | Victorian | 19th |
| 1865 | Ku Klux Klan formed by Confederate Veterans | The aim of the Ku Klux Klan was to maintain white control by terrorising the black community. States passed Black Codes to restrict rights of freed slaves. | Victorian | 19th |
| 1865 | Carriers Act | Restricted the speed of steam carriages to 4m.p.h on country roads and 2m.p.h in towns. | Victorian | 19th |
| 1865 | Assassination of Abraham Lincoln | Abraham Lincoln was shot dead by an actor named John Wilkes Booth | Victorian | 19th |
| 1865 | Female doctors. | Elizabeth Garrett Anderson became the first licensed female doctor. | Victorian | 19th |
| 1865 | J. Mills 'Representative Government' published | Representative Government written by J S Mill asserts equality of women and right to the Franchise | Victorian | 19th |
| 1867 | London Society for Womens Suffrage founded | London Society for Womens Suffrage formed following defeat of 2nd Amendment to the Reform Bill. Societies also formed in Birmingham Bristol Manchester and Edinburgh. | Victorian | 19th |
| 1868 | Public Schools Act | Many of the Public schools in Britain at this time had been established by charitable endowments for the education of a certain number of poor scholars, but were also educating many sons of the English upper and upper-middle classes on a fee-paying basis. It was felt at the time that there was a considerable abuse of the system and this bill was to allow investigation that would regulate and reform them. This act gave them independence from direct jurisdiction. The public schools were Rugby, Winchester College, Eton, Harrow, Charterhouse, Westminster and Shrewsbury. | Victorian | 19th |
| 1869 | Debtors Act | An Act for the Abolition of Imprisonment for Debt, for the punishment of fraudulent debtors, and for other purposes. | Victorian | 19th |
| 1869 | Habitual Criminals Act | However persistent criminals start to give false names to thwart the Act. The search is on for a reliable identification system. This would result in fingerprinting becoming compulsory for all convicted persons in 1902. | Victorian | 19th |
| 1869 | Municipal Corporation Act | The Municipal Corporation Act, enabled single women to vote in municipal elections. | Victorian | 19th |
| 1869 | Steam trains travel throughThames Tunnel. | First steam trains travel through the Brunels' Thames Tunnel. | Victorian | 19th |
| 1870 | Elementary Education Act | Elementary Education Act enabled women rate-payers to be elected to and vote in school board elections. | Victorian | 19th |
| 1870 | Girls admitted to Oxford Local Examinations | Women had studied at Oxford since the 1870s. But until 1920, they were not admitted as full members, and were not even entitled to claim the degrees they had earned. | Victorian | 19th |
| 1870 | Married Womens Property act | Women can retain £200 of own earnings not all is now in ownership of husband beginnings of enabling women to retain money and property | Victorian | 19th |
| 1870 | Religious tests abolished for Oxbridge University entrance | Ends Anglican monopoly of Oxbridge (Oxford and Cambridge University. | Victorian | 19th |
| 1870 | 233 miles of Tramway added in England and Wales | The tramway system was introduced to ease traffic congestion in our increasingly urbanised cities | Victorian | 19th |
| 1872 | Central Committee for Womens Suffrage formed | Central Committee for Womens Suffrage formed to co-ordinate campaign. Emmeline Goulden later Pankhurst attends suffrage meeting addressed by Lydia Parker | Victorian | 19th |
| 1873 | Custody of Infants Act | The Custody of Infants Act extends rights of custody of children to all women in the event of separation or divorce | Victorian | 19th |
| 1875 | Female Poor Law Guardians | Women could now be elected as Poor Law guardians | Victorian | 19th |
| 1876 | Empress of India | Queen Victoria was declared Empress of India by Prime Minister Disraeli. | Victorian | 19th |
| 1876 | Mary Sumner founds the Mother's Union | Mary Sumner founded an organisation for women that brought together rich and poor to build a network that would support mothers of all kinds as they brought up their children in Christian faith. | Victorian | 19th |
| 1878 | Matrimonial Causes Act 1878 revised | To enable women to receive maintenace, be granted custody and protected from husbands convicted of aggravated assault | Victorian | 19th |
| 1878 | Lady Margaret Hall College Oxford University founded | Founded in 1878 Lady Margaret Hall College was the first college to be established for women to enter Oxford. | Victorian | 19th |
| 1878 | London University accepts women | London University opens all it's examinations and degrees to women | Victorian | 19th |
| 1879 | Somerville College Oxford founded | Somerville College opened with just 12 young women but it was determined to champion the rights of women to have an education and to gain a degree from Oxford. It was also the first Oxford College to be non-denominational and it remains religiously non-aligned to this day. | Victorian | 19th |
| 1880 | Channel Tunnel | Excavation on both sides of the channel began with the Beaumont & English tunnel boring machine. | Victorian | 19th |
| 1880 | First Underground Tube tunnel | Opening of the first Tube tunnel, from the Tower of London to Bermondsey. | Victorian | 19th |
| 1880 | Steam and Trams | Horsedrawn trams replaced by steam and then electric Trams | Victorian | 19th |
| 1882 | Married Womens Act | The Married Womens Act allowed wives to claim maintenance on desertion by their husbands. | Victorian | 19th |
| 1884 | Machine Gun invented | Machine Gun developed by Maxim makes mass slaughter possible for first time | Victorian | 19th |
| 1886 | Guardianship of Infants Act | Guardianship of Infants Act makes women sole guardian of their children in event of husbands death | Victorian | 19th |
| 1886 | Canadian Pacific Railway | The Atlantic and Pacific Oceans were linked by railway for the first time. | Victorian | 19th |
| 1888 | A Study in Scarlet published | Arthur Conan Doyle writes his first Sherlock Holmes book, 'A Study in Scarle' in Portsmouth | Victorian | 19th |
| 1888 | Local Government Act | Local Government Act 1888 Women could vote for the new County & County Borough Councils | Victorian | 19th |
| 1889 | Eiffel Tower Built in Paris | The plan was to build a tower for the World Fair and so a competition was held to build a tower 125m across and 300 m tall. From many entries it was the design of Gustave Eiffel, an entrepreneur, Maurice Koechlin and Emile Nouguier, both engineers, and Stephen Sauvestre, an architect, that was accepted. | Victorian | 19th |
| 1890 | The first electric underground railway is opened in South London | The City and South London Railway opened the world's first deep-level electric railway on 18 December, from King William Street in the City of London, under the River Thames to Stockwell. | Victorian | 19th |
| 1892 | Ellis Island | Ellis Island immigration reception centre opened in New York. | Victorian | 19th |
| 1893 | School leaving age raised to eleven | It was recognized that children needed longer in education in order to improve their chances of finding meaningful employment. | Victorian | 19th |
| 1893 | St Hilda's College Oxford University founded | St Hilda's was the last of the women’s colleges established in Oxford to give women the right to continue their education. | Victorian | 19th |
| 1894 | Manchester Ship Canal | The Manchester Ship Canal was opened in 1894 and was the largest river navigation canal in the world. It took six years to build and cost £15 million. It was 58km long and started at the Mersey estuary in Liverpool and terminated at the dock in Manchester. | Victorian | 19th |
| 1895 | Summary Jurisdiction (Married Women) act 1895 | Magistrates could grant protection orders to wives driven from homes by cruelty or failure to maintain by their husbands. | Victorian | 19th |
| 1895 | Kiel Canal opens | Under Kaiser wilhelm II the German navy wanted to link its bases in the Baltic and the North Sea without the need to sail around Denmark and to meet commercial needs. It took 8 years to build and was widened during 1907-1914 to accommodate the larger Dreadnought Warships which in agreement with Britain it was now permitted to build. | Victorian | 19th |
| 1897 | Sub atomic particle discoved | Joseph Thomson discovered sub atomic particles | Victorian | 19th |
| 1897 | National Union of Womens Suffrage Societies formed | Local women's suffrage groups came together to form a National Union | Victorian | 19th |
| 1898 | Chamberlain attempt to negotiate Anglo-German Alliance Fails | The alliance proposed was to defend British interests in the Far East but Germany refuses to be drawn into potential war with Russia on behalf of the British. This is the start of problems in the Middle East before WW1. German Navy Bill begins build-up for a battle fleet under Wilhelm II. Germany under his leadership looks to race a German Railway from Berlin to Baghdad and positions itself as the protector of Muslim peoples, both regarded as a direct challenge and threat to British interests in the Middle East. The Middle East is the gateway to India and Britain's Empire, plus the need for control of Oil as well as access to India and control of the Ottoman Empire would soon heighten tensions and rivalry. Against this backdrop it is difficult to understand why the Chamberlain's continue to back a path of Appeasement | Victorian | 19th |
| 1899 | School leaving age raised to twelve | Another rise in the school leaving age to improve the quality of education in Britain. | Victorian | 19th |
| 1899 | Aspirin invented | The German dye manufacturer Friedrich Bayer & Co in Elberfeld, investigated the synthesis of acetylsalicylic acid and then prepared the first sample of pure acetylsalicylic acid on 10 August 1897. This was marketed in 1899 under the registered trademark of Aspirin. | Victorian | 19th |
| 1900 | Gold Standard Act in the US | The US goes on Gold Standard as the only standard for redeeming money, previously silver had also been allowed. | Victorian | 20th |
| 1900 | Labour Representation Committee | Created for the promotion of working class candidates for parliamentary seats and the establishment of an independent labour group in the House of Commons. | Victorian | 20th |
| 1900 | Married women to vote in London Council Elections | Married women allowed from 1900 to vote in London Council Elections | Victorian | 20th |
| 1900 | World Exhibition in Paris | The World Fair was held to celebrate achievements over the past century and to look at design and innovation going into the next. | Victorian | 20th |
| 1900 | London Underground Central Line Opens | This tube line was known as the Central London Railway, the line was extensively extended in the 1940s and is the longest line on the network. | Victorian | 20th |
| 1900 | German Navy Bill | German Navy Bill provides the platform in the years leading to WW1 for an expanding battle fleet. | Victorian | 19th |
| 1900 | The Khaki Election | The Khaki Election in which a Conservative Unionist government were confirmed in power. | Victorian | 20th |
| 1901 | Scott's Discovery Expedition leaves for Antarctica | Scott sets off on the Discovery expedition to Antarctica undertaking a substantial survey of the continent. | Victorian | 20th |
| 1903 | Womens Social and Political Union formed | Womens Social and Political Union formed to campaign with deeds not words via direct action | Edwardian | 20th |
| 1904 | Entente Cordial | The deterioration in relations between the European great powers led Britain and France to negotiate the Entente Cordiale. This was a settlement of disputes between the two powers in all parts of the world. | Edwardian | 20th |
| 1905 | Death of Dr Banardo | He opened his first home in 1867 in Stepney London. Over 100,000 children entered them. | Edwardian | 20th |
| 1905 | 1st Suffragette Imprisonments detained after Liberal Rally in Manchester | Annie Kenney and Christabel Pankhhurst were detained | Edwardian | 20th |
| 1905 | Mud March | The Mud March was held in the rain, hence it's name , was a procession organised by the National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies (NUWSS) and took place on 9 February 1907. Around 3,000 women, representing 40 organisations, took part..They marched from Hyde Park Corner to Exeter Hall. | Edwardian | 20th |
| 1906 | Dreadnoughts | Dreadnought Class British ship Launched. Armed with the largest guns rather than a variety of sizes, initially powered by steam but subsequently supported by Churchill converted for power by oil making the ships faster, this was a new class of Naval warfare in the making. This first ship was designed and built in just a year, a record then and since. within 10 years the class would be replaced with Super Dreadnoughts but the naval arms race had begun with Britain having the upperhand. | Edwardian | 20th |
| 1907 | White Star Line Company started Trading | White Star Line commenced sailings from Southampton | Edwardian | 20th |
| 1907 | German Naval Programme | Germany introduces and accelerates its Naval Programme and Ship Building under leadership of Admiral Tirpitz | Edwardian | 20th |
| 1907 | Womens Freedom League breakaway group from Pankhursts led miltant WSPU formed | Charlotte Despard and Teresa Billington-Grieg were the leaders. They were anti-militancy of the Pankhursts | Edwardian | 20th |
| 1907 | Qualification of Women County and Borough Councils Act | Qualification of Women County and Borough Councils Act 1907 made women eligible to vote. Women could also be Mayor or Chairman of the Council from that date | Edwardian | 20th |
| 1908 | The Underground name first appeared | The Underground name first appeared on London stations. | Edwardian | 20th |
| 1908 | Ford Motor COmpany | Ford begins mass production of the Model T Motor Car | Edwardian | 20th |
| 1908 | Childrens Act | Part of a Liberal reform and one of the most important acts surrounding care and protection of children. It was a far reaching act and included the establishment of juvenile courts, the registration of foster parents, thus regulating baby-farming and wet-nursing and trying to stamp out infanticide. Local authorities were also granted powers to keep poor children out of the workhouse and protect them from abuse. The act also prevented children working in dangerous trades and prevented them from purchasing cigarettes and entering pubs. Children had been subject to centuries of abuse and neglect, this act began to reverse the process. | Edwardian | 20th |
| 1908 | Hyde Park demonstration | Women's Demonstration in Hyde Park attended by estimated 250,000 | Edwardian | 20th |
| 1908 | Pankkhursts and Flora Drummond arrested | Pankkhursts and Flora Drummond arrested for obstruction attempting to march on Parliament. They received 3 months imprisonment in Holloway Prison | Edwardian | 20th |
| 1909 | Bleriot flies the Channel | The Frenchman took off in his monoplane from Calais and 31 mins later crossed the English cliffs near Dover. | Edwardian | |
| 1909 | People's Budget | Constitutional crisis of the People's budget | Edwardian | 20th |
| 1909 | Marion Wallace Dunlop on Hunger strike | Public outcry at force-feeding by Prison authorities of Marion Wallace Dunlop on Hunger strike. Marions hunger strike was in protest at detainment as criminal as opposed to political prisoner. | Edwardian | 20th |
| 1909 | Britain accelerates ship building | Britain build 18 Battleships to Germany's 9 a huge acceleration in British Shipbuilding.The bitter battle for Naval ships against the People's budget had been partly resolved and Britain's industrial might got set tow work building 18 warships in just 3 years. | ||
| 1910 | Conciliation Bill defeated | Black Friday Violence between Police and Suffragettes outside Parliament. Confrontation followed defeat of the 1st Conciliation Bill which was an all-party measure which would have given women householders the vote | WIndsor | 20th |
| 1911 | Agadir Crisis | French-German rivalry reaches boiling point in Morocco. France was annexing Morocco under the guise of assisting the Sultan to resist a local rebellion Germany reacted quickly and in a hostile manner by the despatch of its warship anther to the area. Britain feared that Germany would build a naval base at Agadir and threatened war in response. An international conference resolved the dispute temporarily, giving territory in the Congo to Germany as compensation. The French continued control of Morocco and the British and French drew diplomatically closer. Britain and France agreed that in the event of war France would deploy its navy in the Mediterranean and Britain would defend its Northern coast via the Channel. The defence of France had in one stroke become central to British foreign policy and further alienated Germany from Britain. | WIndsor | 20th |
| 1912 | British Antartic Expedition | The British Antarctic Expedition under the command of Captain Robert Falcon Scott left England in 1910. They reached the Pole only to discover the Norwegian explorer Amundsen had got there a month earlier. The party perished on the return journey. | WIndsor | |
| 1912 | Sinking of the Titanic | On her maiden voyage the largest ship afloat was steaming full speed ahead when she struck an iceberg and sank . 1513 people lost their lives. | WIndsor | |
| 1912 | Suffragettes Riot following Defeat of 2nd Concilliation Bill in Londons west end | Shop windows Smashed Emmeline Pankhurst arrested Christabel flees to Paris France | WIndsor | 20th |
| 1913 | Prisoners Temporary Discharge Act introduced by Liberal Government | Provision to enable hunger strikers to be released until they were well enough again to serve their sentances | WIndsor | 20th |
| 1913 | Britain urges Germany to halt ship building | Britain requests mutual halt to naval reconstruction programmes but ignored by Germany | WIndsor | 20th |
| 1913 | WSPU commits Arson and Bombing following Abandonment of General electoral Reform Bill | Emmeline Pankhurst imprisoned for 3 years for burning LLoyd Georges residence and considered herself a prisoner of Military War | WIndsor | 20th |
| 1913 | Death of Emily Davison | Emily Davison dies after throwing herself under the Kings Horse at Epsom. Status of matyr conferred on her by WPSU | WIndsor | 20th |
| 1914 | WWI Archduke Fran Ferdinand assasinated at Sarajevo | Austria-Hungary seek to exploit blaming Serbia. Reaction across Europe leads o multiple declarations of War between Jul-Aug. When Germany invaded neutral Belgium Britain declared war on Germany.This single act fuels the firs of Military War. | WIndsor | 20th |
| 1914 | Chance to head off war | False dawn of hope of avoiding war when Britain and Germany discuss Africa and reach Agreement on Southern Persia. It was hoped these negotiations would head-off war but that was not to be the case. | WIndsor | 20th |
| 1914 | Womens Militant Campaign Suspended at outbreak of War for duration of WWI Pankhurst released | Mrs Pankhurst becomes a patriot and encourages womens Military War service in industrial employment | WIndsor | 20th |
| 1916 | Easter Rising | Carefully orchestrated move the rising was launched by Irish republicans to end British rule in Ireland and establish an independent Irish Republic while the United Kingdom was heavily engaged in the First World War. | Windsor | |
| 1917 | Speakers Conference on electoral reform | Speakers Conference on electoral reform recommends a limited number of women given the votes | WIndsor | 20th |
| 1917 | Balfour Declaration | A short letter with arguably massive consequences or at least symbol of the Middle east protracted conflict in Palestine that continues to this day. It was a letter written to a British member of the Rothschilds who was representative of British Jewish Society and at least sympathetic to the Zionist cause. Follow this site and watch our Middle East collection for more to follow on the importance of a single short letter written and redrafted many times, agreed by the British Cabinet which set momentous events in motion. | WIndsor | 20th |
| 1919 | Paris Peace Conference and Treaty of Versailles | The treaty agreed by the Allies after WW1 but with the exception of the USA which withdrew its support for the treaty due to a backlash against President Wilson's policy by the American congress. Britain had want a more balanced settlement but the eventual punitive agreement imposed very harsh terms on Germany and was part of what would contribute in the years that followed to the conditions that at least least that led to WW2, with the resentment by Germany of the loss of all its territories as part of a treaty it had no say in and argued it had never agreed to as part of the terms of surrender in 1918. | WIndsor | 20th |
| 1923 | Matrimonial Causes Act | Matrimonial Causes act 1923 allows Adultery alone as just grounds for women to sue for divorce | WIndsor | 20th |
| 1926 | General Strike | Britain's miners walked out and in a move of solidarity, other industry workers joined them, this was the first ever general strike in Britain | WIndsor | 20th |
| 1928 | Representation of the People Act (equal franchaise) | Men and women given equality in voting. It gave the vote to all women over 21 years old, regardless of property ownership. | WIndsor | 20th |
| 1929 | Stock Market Crash | The stock market crash of 1929 was a four-day collapse of stock prices that began on October 24, 1929. It was the worst decline in U.S. history. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 25 percent. It lost $30 billion in market value. The 'Great Slump' began in 1929 and then deepened for 3 - 4 years. In Britain it broke the second Labour government and in America it led to Franklin Roosevelt and the New Deal. In Germany it led to Hitler. | WIndsor | 20th |
| 1930 | Tramways began to be abandoned | Tramways began to be abandoned by Local authorities for Motor Bus services | WIndsor | 20th |
| 1933 | Diagrammatic Underground map | First London underground map in diagrammatic form, devised by Harry Beck. | WIndsor | 20th |
| 1933 | Nazi rally at Nuremberg | Vast and theatrically staged rallies were a feature of the Nazi party's rise and continued after Hitler was made Chancellor in 1933. | ||
| 1935 | Anglo German Naval agreement | A compromise agreement between Germany and Britain enabling Germany post Treaty of Versailles to increase its naval tonnage to up to 35% of the British capital ships and up to 45% of Britain's submarines. This was part and parcel of Appeasement and the circumstances that would build-up to the 2nd world war known as the Appeasement led by Stanley Baldwin and Neville Chamberlain as Britain's Prime Ministers. | WIndsor | 20th |
| 1936 | Anglo-Egyptian Treaty | This treaty formally ended British occupation of Egypt. whilst Britain retained a garrison and control over the Suez Canal Zone. Britain retained the right to occupy again in the event of war and unrestricted use of roads, ports and airports if required. This legitimised the use of Egypt as a pivotal base for Middle East operation in WW2. | WIndsor | 20th |
| 1937 | Matrimonial Causes act | Matrimonial Causes act 1937 adds desertion and insanity as grounds for divorce | WIndsor | 20th |
| 1938 | Chamberlain returned from Munich | Hitler began his invasions of his European neighbours. After Austrian came Czechoslovakia. France was bound by treaty to Czechoslovakia and Britain to France. War seemed inevitable but then Hitler agreed to meet Chamberlain who came away with a piece of paper signed by Hitler which he accepted as a 'No more War' pledge. | ||
| 1939 | Outbreak of World War II | The second great war of the C20th in which countries all over the world aligned to either the Allies or the Axis. | WIndsor | 20th |
| 1945 | Family allowance act | Family allowance act 1945 allows allowance to be paid directly to mothers | WIndsor | 20th |
| 1945 | First atomic bomb dropped | On the morning of 6th August a US aircraft dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima Japan. Nearly 200,000 people were killed and injured. | ||
| 1948 | National Health Service was founded | The National Health Service was born out of Sir William Beveridge’s report, Social Insurance and Allied Services, proposes major changes to create the foundations for a welfare system and, in its support, a national health service | WIndsor | 20th |
| 1949 | Legal Aid act | Legal Aid act makes divorce possible for those previously deterred by expense | WIndsor | 20th |
| 1967 | Abortion act | Abortion act 1967 allows termination of pregnancy on social and /or medical ground | WIndsor | 20th |
| 1969 | Divorce Reform Act | The Divorce Reform Act was a major step forward. It allowed couples to divorce after they had been separated for two years (or five years if only one of them wanted a divorce). A marriage could be ended if it had irretrievably broken down, and neither partner no longer had to prove "fault". | WIndsor | 20th |
| 1969 | Ordination of women in Scotland | Church of Scotland ordains women as ministers | WIndsor | 20th |
| 1969 | Creation of United Reform Church | The United Reformed Church was a union of the Presbyterian Church of England and the majority of churches in the Congregational Church in England and Wales. | WIndsor | 20th |
| 1970 | Equal Pay Act | Equal Pay Act 1970 women must be paid same if doing the same or broadly similar job to a man | WIndsor | 20th |
| 1973 | Britain joined Common Market | Britain joined the Common Market along with Denmark and Ireland. The Common Market became the European Union. | WIndsor | 20th |
| 1975 | Social Security Pensions Act | Social Security Pensions Act 1975 secures womens right to earn a full pension | WIndsor | 20th |
| 1975 | Employment Protection Act | Employment Protection Act 1975 gives statutory rights to maternity leave protection for unfair dismissal and the right to go back to same job after a maternity leave period | WIndsor | 20th |
| 1975 | Sex Discrimination Act | Sex Discrimination Act made it illegal to discriminate against women for Education housing employment and any public services etc | WIndsor | 20th |
| 1976 | Queen Elizabeth II's Silver Jubilee | The Queen's Jubillee celedrating 25 years of her reign was celebrated by the whole country. | WIndsor | 20th |
| 1982 | Falklands War | The Falkland Islands are a remote UK colony in the South Atlantic. O 2nd April Argentina invaded the islands with the intention of reclaiming sovereignty of the islands which it said it had inherited them from Spain in the 1800s. The British govenrment were not prepared to allow that to happen to the islands which it had ruled for 150 years. A task force was sent to reclaim the islands, 8,000 miles away. In the fighting that followed, 655 Argentine and 255 British servicemen lost their lives, as did three Falkland Islanders. | WIndsor | 20th |
| 2003 | Iraq War | A us led coalition that invaded Iraq with the intention of overthrowing the government of Saddam Hussein. | WIndsor | |
| 2008 | Global financial crisis | World economics will never be the same again | WIndsor | |
| 1812 | Anglo American War | Anglo American War also known as the American War of 1812. The British were attempting, far from their own shores to 'press' (press-gang) American sailors on their own ships arguing that they were by rights British and therefore subject to the right to pressed into Naval service for Britain. The Americans were fighting the British blockade of France during the Napoleonic wars as well as seeking to further their own territorial ambitions and in particular border disputes concerning Canada. | ||
| 1895 | Ahglo German rivalry | Anglo German Rivalry. Two Empires and the buildup to War. A series of events that many historians believe to have been key factors in the origins of WW1. One imperial power and industrial power on the rise Germany and Britain in relative decline. | Victorian | 19th |
| 1895 | The calamitous Jameson Raid | The failure of the Jameson Raid on Kruger's Transvaal Republic The subject of the Kruger Telegram and a British botched raid conducted under the leadership Dr Storr Jameson, Administrator of the British South African Company. Jameson was captured, Rhodes had to resign (as in Rhodes Scholars) and Joseph Chamberlain was exonerated but subsequently evidence shows he may have supported and approved the attack as Colonial Secretary. But there was more to his raid than just wanting to create an uprising. Rhodes had merged his De Beers diamond business with Beit and they wanted to combine their Diamond business with Gold Mining in the Transvaal. Hard cash drove their enterprise with Beit funded to the tune of £400k a large sum at that time. The Kruger Telegram sent by Kaiser Wilhelm to President Kruger of the declared Transvaal Republic. Wilhelm II was the grandson of Queen Victoria. He sen this telegram o the South AFrican Boer leader congratulating him on the outcome Jameson Raid. It was an act, if somewhat foolish one designed to urge Britain to join the German led Triple Alliance. Not only did it fail but it raised British public opinion against Germany and made clear the need for Britain to escape from the diplomatic isolation as the world's greatest imperial power in decline from diplomatic isolation. | ||
| 1954 | Suez Crisis | The Suez Canal was vital to Britain after WWII. It was central to maintaining links with its remaining overseas possessions and the main source of oil in the Middle East. Britain had retained a series of military bases in Egypt located along the length of the canal in an area known as the Canal Zone. The Egyptians became increasingly frustrated by the continuing British presence and started to attack these posts. Political events inside Egypt intensified Egyptian demands to control of the Suez Canal and seized all European-owned property. Two years later, Britain agreed to withdraw its troops from the Canal Zone by June 1956. | WIndsor | 20th |
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