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{{History of England}}
The territory today known as [[England]] became inhabited more than 800,000 years ago, as the discovery of stone tools and footprints at [[Happisburgh]] in Norfolk have indicated.<ref name=alexburg>{{cite news|last=Sample|first=Ian|title=First humans arrived in Britain 250,000 years earlier than thought|url=https://www.theguardian.com/science/2010/jul/07/first-humans-britain-stone-tools|access-date=29 January 2014|newspaper= The Guardian|date= 7 July 2010|postscript=none}}; {{cite news|last=Wade|first=Nicholas|title=Clues of Britain's First Humans|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/08/science/08flint.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220102/https://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/08/science/08flint.html |archive-date=2 January 2022 |url-access=limited |url-status=live|access-date=22 December 2011|newspaper=The New York Times|date=7 July 2010|postscript=none}}{{cbignore}}; [https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-26025763 "Earliest footprints outside Africa discovered in Norfolk"]. (2014). BBC News. Retrieved 7 February 2014.</ref> The earliest evidence for early modern humans in [[Northwestern Europe]], a jawbone discovered in Devon at [[Kents Cavern]] in 1927, was re-dated in 2011 to between 41,000 and 44,000 years old.<ref>{{cite web|title=Jawbone Is Earliest Evidence Of Modern Humans In NW Europe|date=2 November 2011 |url=http://earthsky.org/human-world/jawbone-is-earliest-evidence-of-modern-humans-in-europe|access-date=17 August 2021}}</ref> Continuous human habitation in England dates to around 13,000 years ago (see [[Creswellian]]), at the end of the [[Last Glacial Period]]. The region has numerous remains from the [[Mesolithic]], [[Neolithic]] and [[Bronze Age Britain|Bronze Age]], such as [[Stonehenge]] and [[Avebury]]. In the [[British Iron Age|Iron Age]], all of Britain south of the [[Firth of Forth]] was inhabited by the [[Celts|Celtic]] people known as the [[Celtic Britons|Britons]], including some [[Belgae|Belgic]] tribes (e.g. the [[Atrebates]], the [[Catuvellauni]], the [[Trinovantes]], etc.) in the south east. In AD&nbsp;43 the [[Roman conquest of Britain]] began; the [[Ancient Rome|Romans]] maintained control of their [[Roman Britain|province of Britannia]] until the early 5th century.

The [[end of Roman rule in Britain]] facilitated the [[Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain]], which historians often regard as the origin of England and of the [[English people]]. The [[Anglo-Saxons]], a collection of various [[Germanic peoples]], established several kingdoms that became the primary powers in present-day England and parts of southern [[Scotland]].<ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/anglo_saxons/saxons.shtml The Anglo-Saxons], BBC – History</ref> They introduced the [[Old English]] language, which largely displaced the previous [[Common Brittonic|Brittonic language]]. The Anglo-Saxons warred with British successor states in western Britain and the ''[[Hen Ogledd]]'' (Old North; the [[Brythonic languages|Brittonic]]-speaking parts of northern Britain), as well as with each other. Raids by [[Vikings]] became frequent after about AD&nbsp;800, and the [[Norsemen]] settled in large parts of what is now England. During this period, several rulers attempted to unite the various Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, an effort that led to the emergence of the [[Kingdom of England]] by the 10th century.

In 1066, a [[Norman conquest of England|Norman expedition invaded and conquered England]]. The [[House of Normandy|Norman dynasty]], established by [[William the Conqueror]], ruled England for over half a century before the period of succession crisis known as [[the Anarchy]] (1135–1154). Following the Anarchy, England came under the rule of the [[House of Plantagenet]], a dynasty which later inherited claims to the [[Kingdom of France]]. During this period, [[Magna Carta]] was signed and Parliament became established. Anti-Semitism rose to great heights, and in 1290, England became the first country to permanently [[Edict of Expulsion|expel the Jews]].{{sfn|Roth|1964|p=90}}<ref>{{cite book |first1=Colin |last1=Richmond |author1-link=Colin Richmond |editor1-last=Kushner |editor1-first=Tony |title=The Jewish Heritage in British History |date=1992 |publisher=Frank Cass |isbn=0-7146-3464-6 |pages=42–59 |chapter=Englishness and Medieval Anglo-Jewry}}</ref>{{rp|44–45}}<ref>{{cite book |last1=Skinner |first1=Patricia |editor1-last=Skinner |editor1-first=Patricia |title=Jews in Medieval Britain |date=2003 |publisher=Boydell Press |location=Woodbridge |isbn=0-85115-931-1 |pages=1–11 |chapter=Introduction}}</ref>{{rp|1}}{{sfn|Huscroft|2006|p=12}} A succession crisis in France led to the [[Hundred Years' War]] (1337–1453), a series of conflicts involving the peoples of both nations. Following the Hundred Years' Wars, England became embroiled in its own succession wars between the descendants of [[Edward III of England|Edward III's]] five sons. The [[Wars of the Roses]] broke out in 1455 and pitted the descendants of the second son (through a female line) [[Lionel of Antwerp, Duke of Clarence|Lionel of Antwerp]] known as the [[House of York]] against the [[House of Lancaster]] who descended from the third son [[John of Gaunt]] and his son Henry IV, the latter of whom had overthrown his cousin [[Richard II of England|Richard II]] (the only surviving son of Edward III's eldest son [[Edward the Black Prince]]) in 1399. In 1485, the war ended when Lancastrian [[Henry VII of England|Henry Tudor]] emerged victorious from the [[Battle of Bosworth Field]] and married the senior female Yorkist descendant, [[Elizabeth of York]], uniting [[House of Tudor|the two houses]].

Under the Tudors and the later [[Stuart dynasty]], England became a colonial power. During the rule of the Stuarts, the [[English Civil War]] took place between the Parliamentarians and the Royalists, which resulted in [[Execution of Charles I|the execution]] of [[Charles I of England|King Charles I]] (1649) and the establishment of a series of republican governments—first, a Parliamentary republic known as the [[Commonwealth of England]] (1649–1653), then a military dictatorship under [[Oliver Cromwell]] known as [[the Protectorate]] (1653–1659). The Stuarts returned to the restored throne in 1660, though continued questions over religion and power resulted in the deposition of another Stuart king, [[James II of England|James II]], in the [[Glorious Revolution]] (1688). England, which had subsumed Wales in the 16th century under [[Henry VIII]], united with Scotland in 1707 to form a new sovereign state called [[Kingdom of Great Britain|Great Britain]].<ref>[http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/pathways/citizenship/rise_parliament/uniting.htm Uniting the kingdom?] nationalarchives.gov.uk, accessed 2 July 2011</ref><ref>[http://www.ltscotland.org.uk/scotlandshistory/unioncrownsparliaments/unionofparliaments/index.asp The Union of the Parliaments 1707] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120102060414/http://www.ltscotland.org.uk/scotlandshistory/unioncrownsparliaments/unionofparliaments/index.asp |date=2 January 2012 }} [[Learning and Teaching Scotland]], accessed 2 July 2011</ref><ref>Union with England Act 1707, Article II</ref> Following the [[Industrial Revolution]], which started in England, Great Britain ruled a colonial [[British Empire|Empire]], the largest in recorded history. Following a process of [[decolonisation]] in the 20th century, mainly caused by the weakening of Great Britain's power in the two World Wars, almost all of the empire's overseas territories became independent countries. Today, England remains a part of the [[United Kingdom]], a constitutional monarchy, and elects [[List of MPs for constituencies in England (2024–present)|543 members to the Parliament of the United Kingdom]]. 

==Prehistory==
{{main|Prehistoric Britain}}

{{For timeline|Timeline of English history}}

===Stone Age===
{{Main article|Neolithic British Isles}}

[[File:Stonehenge Closeup.jpg|thumb|[[Stonehenge]], erected in several stages from c.3000–2500 BC]]

The time from Britain's first inhabitation until the [[Last Glacial Maximum]] is known as the Old Stone Age, or [[Paleolithic|Paleolithic era]]. Archaeological evidence indicates that what was to become England was colonised by humans long before the rest of the British Isles because of its more hospitable climate between and during the various [[glacial period]]s of the distant past. This earliest evidence, from Happisburgh in Norfolk, includes the oldest hominid artefacts found in Britain, and points to dates of more than 800,000 [[Before Present|RCYBP]].<ref name="alexburg"/> These earliest inhabitants were [[hunter-gatherer]]s. Low sea-levels meant that Britain was attached to the continent for much of this earliest period of history, and varying temperatures over tens of thousands of years meant that it was not always inhabited.<ref name="Francis Pryor 2003">Francis Pryor, ''Britain BC'', 2003.</ref>

[[File:Silbury 1.jpg|thumb|[[Silbury Hill]], c. 2400 BC]]

England has been continuously inhabited since the last Ice Age ended around 9000&nbsp;BC, the beginning of the Middle Stone Age, or [[Mesolithic|Mesolithic era]]. Rising sea-levels cut off Britain from the continent for the last time around 6500&nbsp;BC. The population by then, as in the rest of the world, was exclusively [[anatomically modern humans]], and the evidence suggests that their societies were increasingly complex and they were manipulating their environment and prey in new ways, possibly selective burning of then-omnipresent woodland to create clearings for herds to gather and hunt. Hunting was mainly done with simple projectile weapons such as the  [[javelin]] and possibly the [[sling (weapon)|sling]]. The [[bow and arrow]] was known in Western Europe since at least 9000&nbsp;BC. The climate continued to warm and the population probably rose.<ref>V Gaffney, S Fitch and D Smith 2009, ''Europe's Lost World: The Rediscovery of Doggerland''.</ref>

The New Stone Age, or [[Neolithic British Isles|Neolithic era]], began with the introduction of farming, ultimately from the Middle East, around 4000&nbsp;BC. A 2019 study found that the [[Early European Farmers|Neolithic farmers of the British Isles]] had entered the region through a [[Pre-modern human migration|mass migration]] c. 4100 BC. They were closely related to Neolithic peoples of Iberia.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Brace |first1=Selina |last2=Diekmann |first2=Yoan |display-authors=1 |date=15 April 2019 |title=Ancient genomes indicate population replacement in Early Neolithic Britain |journal=[[Nature Ecology and Evolution]] |publisher=[[Nature Research]] |volume=3 |issue=5 |pages=765–771|doi=10.1038/s41559-019-0871-9 |pmid=30988490 |pmc=6520225 |bibcode=2019NatEE...3..765B }}</ref> People began to lead a more settled lifestyle. Monumental collective tombs were built for the dead in the form of chambered cairns and long barrows. Towards the end of this period, other kinds of monumental stone alignments begin to appear, such as [[Stonehenge]]; their cosmic alignments show a preoccupation with the sky and planets. Flint technology produced a number of highly artistic pieces as well as purely practical. More extensive woodland clearance was done for fields and pastures. The [[Sweet Track]] in the [[Somerset Levels]] is one of the oldest [[timber trackway]]s known in Northern Europe and among the oldest roads in the world, dated by [[dendrochronology]] to the winter of 3807–3806&nbsp;BC; it is thought to have been a primarily religious structure.<ref name="Francis Pryor 2003"/> Archaeological evidence from [[North Yorkshire]] indicates that salt was being manufactured there in the Neolithic.<ref>{{Cite web|date=31 March 2021|title=How new archaeological discovery in Yorkshire could rewrite British prehistory|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/archaeology/yorkshire-salt-archaeology-neolithic-britain-b1824440.html|access-date=19 April 2021|website=The Independent|language=en}}</ref>

===Later Prehistory===
{{Main article|Bell Beaker culture|Bronze Age Britain|British Iron Age}}

====Bronze Age====
[[File:Bush Barrow.jpg|thumb|Artefacts from [[Bush Barrow]] at Stonehenge. [[Wessex culture]], [[Bronze Age Britain|Early Bronze Age]], {{circa|1900 BC}}]]

The [[Bronze Age Britain|Bronze Age]] began around 2500&nbsp;BC with the appearance of bronze objects. This coincides with the appearance of the characteristic [[Bell Beaker culture]], following migration of new people from the continent. According to Olalde et al. (2018), after 2500&nbsp;BC Britain's Neolithic population was largely replaced by this new Bell Beaker population, that was genetically related to the [[Corded Ware culture]] of central and eastern Europe and the [[Yamnaya culture]] of the eastern European [[Pontic-Caspian Steppe]].<ref>Olalde etal. (2018), [https://www.nature.com/articles/nature25738 ''The Beaker phenomenon and the genomic transformation of northwest Europe''], Nature</ref><ref>The Guardian, [https://www.theguardian.com/science/2018/feb/21/arrival-of-beaker-folk-changed-britain-forever-ancient-dna-study-shows ''Arrival of Beaker folk changed Britain for ever, ancient DNA study shows'']</ref> While the migration of these Beaker peoples must have been accompanied by a language shift, the Celtic languages were probably introduced by later Celtic migrations.<ref>{{Cite news | url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-43115485 | title=Ancient Britons 'replaced' by newcomers| work=BBC News| date=21 February 2018| last1=Rincon| first1=Paul}}</ref>

The Bronze Age saw a shift of emphasis from the communal to the individual, and the rise of increasingly powerful elites whose power came from their prowess as hunters and warriors and their controlling the flow of precious resources to manipulate tin and copper into high-status bronze objects such as swords and axes. Settlement became increasingly permanent and intensive. Towards the end of the Bronze Age, many examples of very fine metalwork began to be deposited in rivers, presumably for ritual reasons and perhaps reflecting a progressive change in emphasis from the sky to the earth, as a rising population put increasing pressure on the land. England largely became bound up with the [[Atlantic Bronze Age|Atlantic trade system]], which created a cultural continuum over a large part of Western Europe.<ref name="ReferenceA">Francis Pryor, ''Britain BC'', 2003</ref> It is possible that the [[Celtic languages]] developed or spread to England as part of this system; by the end of the Iron Age there is much evidence that they were spoken across all England and western parts of Britain.<ref>Barry Cunliffe, ''The Ancient Celts'', 1997</ref>

====Iron Age====
[[File:Maiden Castle, Dorchester..jpg|thumb|View of the ramparts of the hillfort of [[Maiden Castle, Dorset|Maiden Castle]] (450 BC), as they look today]]
[[File:London - British Museum - 2453.jpg|thumb|left|The [[Battersea Shield]] (detail), 350 BC.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/H_1857-0715-1 |title=The Battersea Shield |website=British Museum}}</ref>|255x255px]]

The [[British Iron Age|Iron Age]] is conventionally said to begin around 800&nbsp;BC. At this time, the [[British people|Britons]] or Celtic Britons were settled in England. The Celtic people of early England were the majority of the population, beside other smaller ethnic groups in Great Britain. After some time, the [[Celtic Britons]] diverged into the multiple distinct ethnic groups such as Welsh, Cornish and Breton, but they were still tied by language, religion and culture. They spoke the Brittonic language, a Celtic language which is the ancestor of the modern Brittonic languages. The Atlantic trade system had by this time effectively collapsed, although England maintained contacts across the channel with France, as the [[Hallstatt culture]] became widespread across the country. Its continuity suggests it was not accompanied by substantial movement of population; crucially, only a single Hallstatt burial is known from Britain, and even here the evidence is inconclusive. On the whole, burials largely disappear across England, and the dead were disposed of in a way which is archaeologically invisible: [[excarnation]] is a widely cited possibility. [[Hillfort]]s were known since the Late Bronze Age, but a huge number were constructed during 600–400&nbsp;BC, particularly in the South, while after about 400&nbsp;BC new forts were rarely built and many ceased to be regularly inhabited, while a few forts become more and more intensively occupied, suggesting a degree of regional centralisation.

[[File:The Great Torc - Snettisham Hoard - geograph.org.uk - 2395380.jpg|thumb|Gold [[torc]] from [[Snettisham Hoard|Snettisham]], 70 BC|220x220px]]

Around this time the earliest mentions of Britain appear in the annals of history. The first historical mention of the region is from the [[Massaliote Periplus]], a sailing manual for merchants thought to date to the 6th century&nbsp;BC, and [[Pytheas]] of [[Massilia]] wrote of his voyage of discovery to the island around 325&nbsp;BC. Both of these texts are now lost; although quoted by later writers, not enough survives to inform the archaeological interpretation to any significant degree.

{{blockquote|''Britain, we are told, is inhabited by tribes which are autochthonous and preserve in their ways of living the ancient manner of life. They use chariots, for instance, in their wars, even as tradition tells us the old Greek heroes did in the Trojan War.''| [[Diodorus Siculus]], ''[[Bibliotheca historica]]'', 60–30 BC.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Diodorus_Siculus/5B*.html|title=The Library of History of Diodorus Siculus|chapter=Book 5, chapter 24}}</ref>}}

Contact with the continent was less than in the Bronze Age but still significant. Goods continued to move to England, with a possible hiatus around 350 to 150&nbsp;BC. There were a few armed invasions of hordes of migrating Celts. There are two known invasions. Around 300&nbsp;BC, a group from the Gaulish [[Parisii (Gaul)|Parisii]] tribe apparently took over East Yorkshire, establishing the highly distinctive [[Arras culture]]. And from around 150–100&nbsp;BC, groups of Belgae began to control significant parts of the South.

[[File:Bronze coins of Cunobelin 1 to 42 CE.jpg|thumb|Bronze coins of [[Cunobelin]], called "King of the Britons" by [[Suetonius]]. 1–42 AD.|220x220px]]

These invasions constituted movements of a few people who established themselves as a warrior elite atop existing native systems, rather than replacing them. The Belgic invasion was much larger than the Parisian settlement, but the continuity of pottery style shows that the native population remained in place. Yet, it was accompanied by significant socio-economic change. Proto-urban, or even urban settlements, known as [[oppida]], begin to eclipse the old hillforts, and an elite whose position is based on battle prowess and the ability to manipulate resources re-appears much more distinctly.<ref>Barry Cunliffe, ''Iron Age Communities in Britain'', 2005</ref>

In 55 and 54&nbsp;BC, [[Julius Caesar]], as part of [[Gallic Wars|his campaigns in Gaul]], [[Julius Caesar's invasions of Britain|invaded Britain]] and claimed to have scored a number of victories, but he never penetrated further than Hertfordshire and could not establish a province. However, his invasions mark a turning-point in British history. Control of trade, the flow of resources and prestige goods, became ever more important to the elites of Southern Britain; Rome steadily became the biggest player in all their dealings, as the provider of great wealth and patronage. In retrospect, a full-scale invasion and annexation was inevitable.<ref>Guy de la Bedoyere, ''Roman Britain: A New History'', 2010</ref>

==Roman Britain==
{{main|Roman Britain}}

[[File:The Great Bath in Bath (UK).jpg|thumb|Remains of the Roman baths at [[Roman Baths (Bath)|Bath]], England.]]
[[File:Hadrian's Wall west of Housesteads 3.jpg|thumb|Remains of [[Hadrian's Wall]]]]
After Caesar's expeditions, the Romans began a serious and sustained attempt to [[Roman conquest of Britain|conquer Britain]] in AD&nbsp;43, at the behest of Emperor [[Claudius]]. They landed in Kent with four legions and defeated two armies led by the kings of the [[Catuvellauni]] tribe, [[Caratacus]] and [[Togodumnus]], in battles at the Medway and the Thames. Togodumnus was killed, and Caratacus fled to Wales. The Roman force, led by [[Aulus Plautius]], waited for Claudius to come and lead the final march on the Catuvellauni capital at [[Camulodunum]] (modern [[Colchester]]), before he returned to Rome for his triumph. The Catuvellauni held sway over most of the southeastern corner of England; eleven local rulers surrendered, a number of client kingdoms were established, and the rest became a Roman province with Camulodunum as its capital.<ref>Henry Freeman, ''Roman Britain: A History From Beginning to End'' (2016).</ref> Over the next four years, the territory was consolidated and the future emperor [[Vespasian]] led a campaign into the Southwest where he subjugated two more tribes. By AD&nbsp;54 the border had been pushed back to the Severn and the Trent, and campaigns were underway to subjugate Northern England and Wales.

But in AD&nbsp;60, under the leadership of the warrior-queen [[Boudicca]], the tribes rebelled against the Romans. At first, the rebels had great success. They burned Camulodunum, [[Londinium]] and [[Verulamium]] (modern-day Colchester, London and St. Albans respectively) to the ground. There is some archaeological evidence that the same happened at Winchester. The Second Legion [[Legio II Augusta|Augusta]], stationed at [[Exeter]], refused to move for fear of revolt among the locals. Londinium governor [[Suetonius Paulinus]] evacuated the city before the rebels sacked and burned it; the fire was so hot that a ten-inch layer of melted red clay remains 15 feet below London's streets.<ref>{{cite book |title=Making Europe: The Story of the West, Volume I to 1790 |date=2013 |page=162}}</ref> In the end, the rebels were said to have killed 70,000 Romans and Roman sympathisers. Paulinus gathered what was left of the Roman army. In the [[Boudican revolt|decisive battle]], 10,000 Romans faced nearly 100,000 warriors somewhere along the line of [[Watling Street]], at the end of which Boudicca was utterly defeated. It was said that 80,000 rebels were killed, but only 400 Romans.

Over the next 20 years, the borders expanded slightly, but the governor Agricola incorporated into the province the last pockets of independence in Wales and Northern England. He also led a campaign into Scotland which was recalled by Emperor Domitian. The border gradually formed along the [[Stanegate]] road in Northern England, solidified by [[Hadrian's Wall]] built in AD&nbsp;138, despite temporary forays into Scotland.

The Romans and their culture stayed in charge for 350 years. [[Roman sites in Great Britain|Traces of their presence]] are ubiquitous throughout England.

==Anglo-Saxon period==
{{main|History of Anglo-Saxon England}}

===Anglo-Saxon migrations===
{{main|Sub-Roman Britain}}

{{further|Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain}}
[[File:2004 sutton hoo 01.JPG|thumb|Anglo-Saxon helmet from the [[Sutton Hoo]] ship burial, 625 AD (replica)]]

In the wake of the breakdown of Roman rule in Britain from the middle of the fourth century, present day England was progressively settled by [[Germanic peoples|Germanic]] groups. Collectively known as the [[Anglo-Saxons]], these included [[Angles (tribe)|Angles]], [[Saxons]], [[Jutes]], and [[Frisians]]. The [[Battle of Deorham]] was critical in establishing Anglo-Saxon rule in 577.<ref>{{cite web |author=Hamerow, Helena |url=http://www.arch.ox.ac.uk/wessex.html |title=The Origins of Wessex |publisher=University of Oxford |access-date=18 November 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120702185330/https://www.arch.ox.ac.uk/wessex.html |archive-date=2 July 2012 }}</ref> Saxon mercenaries existed in Britain since before the late Roman period, but the main influx of population probably happened after the fifth century. The precise nature of these invasions is not fully known; there are doubts about the legitimacy of historical accounts due to a lack of archaeological finds. [[Gildas]]' ''De Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae'', composed in the 6th century, states that when the Roman army departed the Isle of Britannia in the 4th century AD, the indigenous Britons were invaded by [[Picts]], their neighbours to the north (now Scotland) and the [[Scoti|Scots]] (now Ireland). Britons invited the [[Saxons]] to the island to repel them but after they vanquished the Scots and Picts, the Saxons turned against the Britons.
[[File:Britain peoples circa 600.svg|thumb|Kingdoms and tribes in [[Britain in the Middle Ages|Britain]], c. AD&nbsp;600]]

[[File:Beowulf Cotton MS Vitellius A XV f. 132r.jpg|thumb|left|The epic poem ''[[Beowulf]]'', set in 6th century Scandinavia, composed c. 700–1000 AD.|239x239px]]

Seven kingdoms are traditionally identified as being established by these migrants. Three were clustered in the South east: [[Sussex]], [[Kingdom of Kent|Kent]] and [[Kingdom of Essex|Essex]]. The Midlands were dominated by the kingdoms of [[Mercia]] and [[Kingdom of East Anglia|East Anglia]]. To the north was [[Kingdom of Northumbria|Northumbria]] which unified two earlier kingdoms, [[Bernicia]] and [[Deira]]. Other smaller kingdoms seem to have existed as well, such as [[Kingdom of Lindsey|Lindsey]] in what is now Lincolnshire, and the [[Hwicce]] in the southwest. Eventually, the kingdoms were dominated by Northumbria and Mercia in the 7th century, Mercia in the 8th century and then [[Wessex]] in the 9th century. Northumbria eventually extended its control north into Scotland and west into Wales. It also subdued Mercia whose first powerful King, [[Penda of Mercia|Penda]], was killed by [[Oswiu of Northumbria|Oswy]] in 655. Northumbria's power began to wane after 685 with the defeat and death of its king [[Ecgfrith of Northumbria|Aegfrith]] at the hands of the Picts. Mercian power reached its peak under the rule of [[Offa of Mercia|Offa]], who from 785 had influence over most of Anglo-Saxon England. Since Offa's death in 796, the supremacy of Wessex was established under [[Egbert of Wessex|Egbert]] who extended control west into [[Cornwall]] before defeating the Mercians at the [[Battle of Ellendun]] in 825. Four years later, he received submission and tribute from the Northumbrian king, [[Eanred of Northumbria|Eanred]].<ref>Stenton, Frank. "Anglo-Saxon England". OUP, 1971</ref>

Since so few contemporary sources exist, the events of the fifth and sixth centuries are difficult to ascertain. As such, the nature of the Anglo-Saxon settlements is debated by historians, archaeologists and linguists. The traditional view, that the Anglo-Saxons drove the Romano-British inhabitants out of what is now England, was subject to reappraisal in the later twentieth century. One suggestion is that the invaders were smaller in number, drawn from an elite class of male warriors that gradually acculturated the natives.<ref>Francis Pryor, ''Britain AD'', 2004.</ref><ref>Ward-Perkins, Bryan. "Why did the Anglo-Saxons not become more British?." The English Historical Review 115.462 (2000): page 523.</ref><ref>Higham, Nicholas J. and Ryan, Martin J. ''The Anglo-Saxon World'' (Yale University Press, 2013).</ref>

An emerging view is that the scale of the Anglo-Saxon settlement varied across England, and that as such it cannot be described by any one process in particular. Mass migration and population shift seem to be most applicable in the core areas of settlement such as East Anglia and Lincolnshire,<ref>Stefan Burmeister, ''Archaeology and Migration'' (2000): " ... immigration in the nucleus of the Anglo-Saxon settlement does not seem aptly described in terms of the "elite-dominance model.To all appearances, the settlement was carried out by small, agriculture-oriented kinship groups. This process corresponds more closely to a classic settler model. The absence of early evidence of a socially demarcated elite underscores the supposition that such an elite did not play a substantial role. Rich burials such as are well known from Denmark have no counterparts in England until the 6th century. At best, the elite-dominance model might apply in the peripheral areas of the settlement territory, where an immigration predominantly {{sic|comprised |hide=y|of}} men and the existence of hybrid cultural forms might support it."</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Dark|first=Ken R.|title=Large-scale population movements into and from Britain south of Hadrian's Wall in the fourth to sixth centuries AD|year=2003|url=https://www.reading.ac.uk/web/files/GCMS/RMS-2003-03_K._R._Dark,_Large-scale_population_movements_into_and_from_Britan_south_of_Hadrian's_Wall_in_the_fourth_to_sixth_centuries_AD.pdf}}: "In fact, part of eastern Britain may have already been losing a significant portion of its rural population, as evidence from East Anglia – amassed and analyzed by local archaeologists –  may suggest. In this area at least, and possibly more widely in eastern Britain, large tracts of land appear to have been deserted in the late fourth century, possibly including whole "small towns" and villages. This does not seem to have been a localised change in settlement location, size or character but genuine desertion ... The areas where we have most indications of an intrusive Germanic culture are precisely those where we have most evidence of late fourth-century abandonment."</ref><ref>Toby F. Martin, ''The Cruciform Brooch and Anglo-Saxon England'', Boydell and Brewer Press (2015), pp. 174–178: "There is by now, however, an admission that no single model is suitable for Anglo-Saxon England in its entirety. Regional variation may well provide the key to resolution, with something more akin to mass migration in the southeast, gradually spreading into elite dominance in the north and west. I accord with this compromise between the debates insofar as large-scale migration seems highly likely for at least East Anglia and parts of Lincolnshire. At the same time, however, it is dubious that these people migrated as a coherent Anglian group."</ref><ref>Catherine Hills, "The Anglo-Saxon Migration: An Archaeological Case Study of Disruption," in ''Migrations and Disruptions'', ed. Brenda J. Baker and Takeyuki Tsuda, pp. 45–48: "In a fairly precisely defined region in eastern England, centered on Norfolk and Lincolnshire, a significant number of people from the other side of the north sea do seem to have arrived in the fifth century and established territories where Germanic material culture and, especially, burial practices were dominant. This forms the basis for the "Anglian" zone of later Anglo-Saxon England. The population may indeed have included a substantial number of people with Germanic ancestry as well as an as yet unspecifiable proportion of the native British population ... There was not one "Anglo-Saxon migration" that had the same impact in all of England ..."</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Coates|first=Richard|title=Celtic whispers: revisiting the problems of the relation between Brittonic and Old English|url=https://ul.qucosa.de/api/qucosa%3A31804/attachment/ATT-0/}}: "... I believe that the linguistic evidence favors the traditional view, at least for the south-east and for the southern North Sea coastal lands, i.e. East Anglia."</ref> while in more peripheral areas to the northwest, much of the native population likely remained in place as the incomers took over as elites.<ref name="Härke, Heinrich 2011">Härke, Heinrich. "Anglo-Saxon Immigration and Ethnogenesis." ''Medieval Archaeology'' 55.1 (2011): 1–28: "A third model, that of "elite transfer," has been suggested for Bernicia where a small group of immigrants may have replaced the British elite and took over the kingdom as a going concern."</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Kortlandt|first=Frederik|title=Relative Chronology|year=2018|url=https://www.kortlandt.nl/publications/art320e.pdf}}: "The second migration, which attracted incomers from other Germanic tribes, offers a different picture for Northumbria, and more specifically Bernicia, where there was a noticeable Celtic contribution to art, culture and possibly socio-military organisation. It appears that the immigrants took over the institutions of the local population here."</ref> In a study of place names in northeastern England and southern Scotland, Bethany Fox concluded that Anglian migrants settled in large numbers in river valleys, such as those of the Tyne and the Tweed, with the Britons in the less fertile hill country becoming acculturated over a longer period. Fox interprets the process by which English came to dominate this region as "a synthesis of mass-migration and elite-takeover models."<ref>{{cite web|last=Fox |first=Bethany |title=The P-Celtic Place Names of North-East England and South-East Scotland |website=The Heroic Age |date=2007 |url=http://www.heroicage.org/issues/10/fox.html}}</ref>

===Genetic markers of Anglo-Saxon migrations===
{{see also|Genetic evidence of Anglo-Saxon migration in Britain}}
[[File:Sutton Hoo Schliesse 1 7 Jhd.JPG|thumb|Shoulder clasp from [[Sutton Hoo]], 625 AD]]
Genetic testing has been used to find evidence of large scale immigration of [[Germanic peoples]] into England. [[#Weale|Weale ''et al.'' (2002)]] found that English Y DNA data showed signs of a mass [[Anglo-Saxon]] immigration from the European continent, affecting 50%–100% of the male gene pool in central England. This was based on the similarity of the DNA collected from small English towns to that found in [[Frisia|Friesland]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=E. |first1=Weale |last2=A. |first2=Weiss |last3=F. |first3=Jager |last4=Neil |first4=Bradman |last5=G. |first5=Thomas |title=Y Chromosome Evidence for Anglo-Saxon Mass Migration|journal=Molecular Biology and Evolution |date=July 2002 |volume=19 |issue=7 |pages=1008–1021 |doi=10.1093/oxfordjournals.molbev.a004160 |pmid=12082121 |url=https://academic.oup.com/mbe/article/19/7/1008/1068561}}</ref> A 2003 study with samples coming from larger towns, found a large variance in amounts of continental "Germanic" ancestry in different parts of England.<ref>{{cite journal |first1=C. |last1=Capelli |first2=N. |last2=Redhead |first3=J.K. |last3=Abernethy |first4=F. |last4=Gatrix |first5=J.F. |last5=Wilson |first6=T. |last6=Moen |first7=T. |last7=Hervig |first8=M. |last8=Richards |first9=M.P.H. |last9=Stumpf |first10=P.A. |last10=Underhill |first11=P. |last11=Bradshaw |first12=A. |last12=Shaha |first13=M.G. |last13=Thomas |first14=N. |last14=Bradman |first15=D.B. |last15=Goldstein |year=2003 |title=A Y chromosome census of the British Isles |journal=Current Biology |volume=13 |issue=11 |pages=979–984 |doi=10.1016/S0960-9822(03)00373-7 |pmid=12781138 |bibcode=2003CBio...13..979C |s2cid=526263 |url=https://www.pure.ed.ac.uk/ws/files/10690515/A_Y_chromosome_census_of_the_British_Isles.pdf |access-date=3 September 2020 |archive-date=8 July 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210708152834/https://www.pure.ed.ac.uk/ws/files/10690515/A_Y_chromosome_census_of_the_British_Isles.pdf |url-status=live}}</ref> In the study, such markers typically ranged from 20% and 45% in southern England, with East Anglia, the east Midlands, and Yorkshire having over 50%. North German and Danish genetic frequencies were indistinguishable, thus precluding any ability to distinguish between the genetic influence of the Anglo-Saxon source populations and the later, and better documented, influx of Danish Vikings.<ref>{{Cite web|title=A Y Chromosome Census of the British Isles|url=https://www.csueastbay.edu/museum/files/docs/exhibit/dna/dna-chrom-isles.pdf}}</ref> The mean value of continental Germanic genetic input in this study was calculated at 54 per cent.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Härke|first1=Heinrich|last2=Thomas|first2=Mark G|last3=Stumpf|first3=Michael P H|title=Integration versus apartheid in post-Roman Britain: A response to Pattison|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/23135029}}</ref>

In response to arguments, such as those of [[Stephen Oppenheimer]]<ref name="oppenheimer">Oppenheimer, Stephen (2006). The Origins of the British: A Genetic Detective Story: Constable and Robinson, London. {{ISBN|978-1-84529-158-7}}.</ref> and [[Bryan Sykes]], that the similarity between English and continental Germanic DNA could have originated from earlier prehistoric migrations, researchers have begun to use data collected from ancient burials to ascertain the level of Anglo-Saxon contribution to the modern English gene pool.

Two studies published in 2016, based on data collected from skeletons found in Iron Age, Roman and Anglo-Saxon era graves in Cambridgeshire and Yorkshire, concluded that the ancestry of the modern English population contains large contributions from both Anglo-Saxon migrants and Romano-British natives.<ref>{{Cite journal|title=Iron Age and Anglo-Saxon genomes from East England reveal British migration history|year=2016 |doi=10.1038/ncomms10408 |last1=Schiffels |first1=Stephan |last2=Haak |first2=Wolfgang |last3=Paajanen |first3=Pirita |last4=Llamas |first4=Bastien |last5=Popescu |first5=Elizabeth |last6=Loe |first6=Louise |last7=Clarke |first7=Rachel |last8=Lyons |first8=Alice |last9=Mortimer |first9=Richard |last10=Sayer |first10=Duncan |last11=Tyler-Smith |first11=Chris |last12=Cooper |first12=Alan |last13=Durbin |first13=Richard |journal=Nature Communications |volume=7 |article-number=10408 |pmid=26783965 |pmc=4735688 |bibcode=2016NatCo...710408S |s2cid=14795869 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Martiniano |first1=Rui |last2=Caffell |first2=Anwen |last3=Holst |first3=Malin |author-link3=Malin Holst |last4=Hunter-Mann |first4=Kurt |last5=Montgomery |first5=Janet |last6=Müldner |first6=Gundula |last7=McLaughlin |first7=Russell L. |last8=Teasdale |first8=Matthew D. |last9=Van Rheenen |first9=Wouter |last10=Veldink |first10=Jan H. |last11=Van Den Berg |first11=Leonard H. |last12=Hardiman |first12=Orla |last13=Carroll |first13=Maureen |last14=Roskams |first14=Steve |last15=Oxley |first15=John |year=2016 |title=Genomic signals of migration and continuity in Britain before the Anglo-Saxons |journal=Nature Communications |volume=7 |article-number=10326 |bibcode=2016NatCo...710326M |doi=10.1038/ncomms10326 |pmc=4735653 |pmid=26783717 |s2cid=13817552 |last16=Morgan |first16=Colleen |last17=Thomas |first17=Mark G. |last18=Barnes |first18=Ian |last19=McDonnell |first19=Christine |last20=Collins |first20=Matthew J. |last21=Bradley |first21=Daniel G.}}</ref>

===Heptarchy and Christianisation===
{{main|Northumbria|Mercia|Offa of Mercia|Heptarchy|Gregorian mission|Anglo-Saxon Christianity}}

[[File:Ruthwell Cross Christ on south side.jpg|thumb|left|The [[Ruthwell Cross]], 8th century AD|202x202px]]
[[File:LindisfarneFol27rIncipitMatt.jpg|thumb|Folio 27r from the [[Lindisfarne Gospels]], c. 720 AD]]

Christianisation of Anglo-Saxon England began around 600 AD, influenced by [[Celtic Christianity]] from the northwest and the [[Roman Catholic Church]] from the southeast. [[Augustine of Canterbury|Augustine]], the first [[Archbishop of Canterbury]], took office in 597. In 601, he baptised the first Christian Anglo-Saxon king, [[Æthelberht of Kent]]. The last [[Anglo-Saxon paganism|pagan]] Anglo-Saxon king, [[Penda of Mercia]], died in 655. The last pagan [[Jutes|Jutish]] king, [[Arwald]] of the [[Isle of Wight]] was killed in 686. The [[Anglo-Saxon mission]] on the continent took off in the 8th century, leading to the Christianisation of practically all of the [[Frankish Empire]] by 800.

Throughout the 7th and 8th centuries, power fluctuated between the larger kingdoms. [[Bede]] records Æthelberht of Kent as being dominant at the close of the 6th century, but power seems to have shifted northwards to the kingdom of Northumbria, which was formed from the amalgamation of Bernicia and Deira. [[Edwin of Northumbria]] probably held dominance over much of Britain, though Bede's Northumbrian bias should be kept in mind. Due to succession crises, Northumbrian hegemony was not constant, and [[Mercia]] remained a very powerful kingdom, especially under Penda. Two defeats ended Northumbrian dominance: the Battle of the Trent in 679 against Mercia, and Nechtanesmere in 685 against the [[Picts]].<ref>Frank Merry Stenton, ''Anglo-Saxon England'' (1971).</ref>

The so-called "Mercian Supremacy" dominated the 8th century, though it was not constant. Aethelbald and [[Offa of Mercia|Offa]], the two most powerful kings, achieved high status; indeed, Offa was considered the overlord of south Britain by [[Charlemagne]]. His power is illustrated by the fact that he summoned the resources to build [[Offa's Dyke]]. However, a rising Wessex, and challenges from smaller kingdoms, kept Mercian power in check, and by the early 9th century the "Mercian Supremacy" was over.

This period has been described as the [[Heptarchy]], though this term has now fallen out of academic use. The term arose because the seven kingdoms of [[Northumbria]], [[Mercia]], [[Kingdom of Kent|Kent]], [[Kingdom of East Anglia|East Anglia]], [[Kingdom of Essex|Essex]], [[Kingdom of Sussex|Sussex]] and [[Kingdom of Wessex|Wessex]] were the main polities of south Britain. Other small kingdoms were also politically important across this period: [[Hwicce]], [[Magonsaete]], [[Kingdom of Lindsey|Lindsey]] and Middle Anglia.<ref>Peter Hayes Sawyer, ''From Roman Britain to Norman England'' (Routledge, 2002).</ref>

===Viking challenge and the rise of Wessex===
{{main|Danelaw|Viking Age|Alfred the Great}}

[[File:England 878.svg|thumb|England in 878]]

The first recorded landing of [[Viking]]s took place in 787 in [[Dorset]]shire, on the south-west coast.<ref>{{cite book|last=Rees|first=Rosemary|title=The Vikings|url=https://archive.org/details/vikings0000rees|url-access=registration|year=2002|publisher=Heinemann|isbn=978-1-4034-0100-7|page=[https://archive.org/details/vikings0000rees/page/45 45]}}</ref> The first major attack in Britain was in 793 at [[Lindisfarne]] monastery as given by the ''[[Anglo-Saxon Chronicle]]''. However, by then the Vikings were almost certainly well-established in [[Orkney]] and [[Shetland]], and many other non-recorded raids probably occurred before this. Records do show the first Viking attack on [[Iona]] taking place in 794. The arrival of the Vikings (in particular the Danish [[Great Heathen Army]]) upset the political and social geography of Britain and Ireland. In 867 [[Kingdom of Northumbria|Northumbria]] fell to the Danes; [[Kingdom of East Anglia|East Anglia]] fell in 869. Though [[Wessex]] managed to contain the Vikings by defeating them at [[Battle of Ashdown|Ashdown]] in 871, a second invading army landed, leaving the Saxons on a defensive footing. At much the same time, [[Æthelred I, King of Wessex|Æthelred]], king of Wessex died and was succeeded by his younger brother [[Alfred the Great|Alfred]]. Alfred was immediately confronted with the task of defending Wessex against the Danes. He spent the first five years of his reign paying the invaders off. In 878, Alfred's forces were overwhelmed at Chippenham in a surprise attack.<ref>Albany F. Major, ''Early wars of Wessex'' (Hildreth Press, 2008).</ref>

[[File:The Alfred Jewel.jpg|thumb|The [[Alfred Jewel]], late 9th century|234x234px]]

It was only now, with the independence of Wessex hanging by a thread, that Alfred emerged as a great king. In May 878 he led a force that defeated the Danes at [[Battle of Edington|Edington]]. The victory was so complete that the Danish leader, [[Guthrum]], was forced to accept Christian baptism and withdraw from [[Mercia]]. Alfred then set about strengthening the defences of Wessex, building a new navy—60 vessels strong. Alfred's success bought Wessex and Mercia years of peace and sparked economic recovery in previously ravaged areas.<ref>Richard P. Ables, ''Alfred the great: war, kingship and culture I'm Anglo-Saxon England'' (1998).</ref>

Alfred's success was sustained by his son [[Edward the Elder|Edward]], whose decisive victories over the Danes in East Anglia in 910 and 911 were followed by a crushing victory at Tempsford in 917. These military gains allowed Edward to fully incorporate Mercia into his kingdom and add East Anglia to his conquests. Edward then set about reinforcing his northern borders against the Danish [[kingdom of Northumbria]]. Edward's rapid conquest of the English kingdoms meant Wessex received homage from those that remained, including [[Gwynedd]] in Wales and Scotland. His dominance was reinforced by his son [[Æthelstan]], who extended the borders of Wessex northward, in 927 conquering the [[Kingdom of York]] and leading a land and naval invasion of [[Scotland]]. These conquests led to his adopting the title 'King of the English' for the first time.

The dominance and independence of England was maintained by the kings that followed. It was not until 978 and the accession of [[Æthelred the Unready]] that the Danish threat resurfaced. Two powerful Danish kings ([[Harold Bluetooth]] and later his son [[Sweyn Forkbeard|Sweyn]]) both launched devastating invasions of England. Anglo-Saxon forces were resoundingly defeated at [[Battle of Maldon|Maldon]] in 991. More Danish attacks followed, and their victories were frequent. Æthelred's control over his nobles began to falter, and he grew increasingly desperate. His solution was to pay off the Danes: for almost 20 years he paid increasingly large sums to the Danish nobles to keep them from English coasts. These payments, known as [[Danegeld]]s, crippled the English economy.<ref>{{Cite journal |jstor = 569175|title = The Collection of Danegeld and Heregeld in the Reigns of Aethelred II and Cnut|journal = The English Historical Review|volume = 99|issue = 393|pages = 721–738|last1 = Lawson|first1 = M. K.|year = 1984|doi = 10.1093/ehr/XCIX.CCCXCIII.721}}</ref>

[[Æthelred the Unready|Æthelred]] then made an alliance with [[Normandy]] in 1001 through marriage to the Duke's daughter [[Emma of Normandy|Emma]], in the hope of strengthening England. Then he made a great error: in 1002 he ordered the massacre of all the Danes in England. In response, Sweyn began a decade of devastating attacks on England. Northern England, with its sizable Danish population, sided with Sweyn. By 1013, London, Oxford, and Winchester had fallen to the Danes. Æthelred fled to [[Normandy]] and Sweyn seized the throne. Sweyn suddenly died in 1014, and Æthelred returned to England, confronted by Sweyn's successor, [[Cnut the Great|Cnut]]. However, in 1016, Æthelred also suddenly died. Cnut swiftly defeated the remaining Saxons, killing Æthelred's son [[Edmund Ironside|Edmund]] in the process. Cnut seized the throne, crowning himself King of England.<ref>Thames Cussans, ''Kings and Queens of the British Isles'' (The Times Books, 2002), pp.32–35.</ref>

===English unification===
{{main|Æthelstan|Edgar of England}}

[[File:Athelstan (cropped).jpg|thumb|Frontispiece of [[Bede]]'s ''Life of St Cuthbert'', showing King Æthelstan presenting a copy of the book to the saint himself. c. 930|280x280px]]

[[Alfred of Wessex]] died in 899 and was succeeded by his son [[Edward the Elder]]. Edward, and his brother-in-law [[Æthelred, Lord of the Mercians|Æthelred]] of (what was left of) Mercia, began a programme of expansion, building forts and towns on an Alfredian model. On Æthelred's death, his wife (Edward's sister) [[Æthelflæd]] ruled as "Lady of the Mercians" and continued expansion. It seems Edward had his son [[Æthelstan]] brought up in the Mercian court. On Edward's death, Æthelstan succeeded to the Mercian kingdom, and, after some uncertainty, Wessex.

Æthelstan continued the expansion of his father and aunt and was the first king to achieve direct rulership of what we would now consider England. The titles attributed to him in [[Anglo-Saxon charters|charters]] and on coins suggest a still more widespread dominance. His expansion aroused ill-feeling among the other kingdoms of Britain, and he defeated a combined Scottish-Viking army at the [[Battle of Brunanburh]]. However, the unification of England was not a certainty. Under Æthelstan's successors [[Edmund I|Edmund]] and [[Edred of England|Eadred]] the English kings repeatedly lost and regained control of Northumbria. Nevertheless, [[Edgar of England|Edgar]], who ruled the same expanse as Æthelstan, consolidated the kingdom, which remained united thereafter.

===England under the Danes and the Norman conquest===
{{main|Ethelred the Unready|Canute the Great|Eiríkr Hákonarson|Norman conquest of England}}

There were renewed Scandinavian attacks on England at the end of the 10th century. [[Æthelred the Unready|Æthelred]] ruled a long reign but ultimately lost his kingdom to [[Sweyn I of Denmark|Sweyn of Denmark]], though he recovered it following the latter's death. However, Æthelred's son [[Edmund II Ironside]] died shortly afterwards, allowing [[Cnut the Great|Cnut]], Sweyn's son, to become king of England. Under his rule the kingdom became the centre of government for the [[North Sea Empire|North Sea empire]] which included Denmark and Norway.

Cnut was succeeded by his sons, but in 1042 the native dynasty was restored with the accession of [[Edward the Confessor]]. Edward's failure to produce an heir caused a furious conflict over the succession on his death in 1066. His struggles for power against [[Godwin, Earl of Wessex]], the claims of Cnut's Scandinavian successors, and the ambitions of the [[Normans]] whom Edward introduced to English politics to bolster his own position caused each to vie for control of Edward's reign.

[[File:Hexateuch king.jpg|thumb|Anglo-Saxon king with his [[Witan]]. Biblical scene in the [[Old English Hexateuch]] (11th century)]]

[[Harold Godwinson]] became king, probably appointed by Edward on his deathbed and endorsed by the [[Witan]]. But [[William of Normandy]], [[Harald Hardrada|Harald Hardråde]] (aided by Harold Godwin's estranged brother [[Tostig Godwinson|Tostig]]) and [[Sweyn II of Denmark]] all asserted claims to the throne. By far the strongest hereditary claim was that of [[Edgar the Ætheling]], but due to his youth and apparent lack of powerful supporters, he did not play a major part in the struggles of 1066, although he was made king for a short time by the Witan after the death of Harold Godwinson.

In September 1066, [[Harald III of Norway]] and [[Earl Tostig]] [[Harald III Hardrada#Invasion of England|landed in Northern England]] with a force of around 15,000 men and 300 [[longship]]s. [[Harold Godwinson]] defeated the invaders and killed Harald III of Norway and Tostig at the [[Battle of Stamford Bridge]].

On 28 September 1066, [[William of Normandy]] [[Norman Conquest#Norman invasion|invaded England]] in a campaign called the [[Norman Conquest]]. After marching from [[Yorkshire]], Harold's exhausted army was defeated and Harold was killed at the [[Battle of Hastings]] on 14 October. Further opposition to William in support of [[Edgar the Ætheling]] soon collapsed, and William was crowned king on Christmas Day 1066. For five years, he faced a series of rebellions in various parts of England and a half-hearted Danish invasion, but he subdued them and established an enduring regime.

==Norman England==
{{redirect|Norman England|the writer|Godfrey Webb}}
{{Further|England in the High Middle Ages|Government in Norman and Angevin England}}
[[File:Odo bayeux tapestry.png|thumb|Depiction of the [[Battle of Hastings]] (1066) on the [[Bayeux Tapestry]]]]

The [[Norman conquest of England|Norman Conquest]] led to a profound change in the history of the English state. William ordered the compilation of the [[Domesday Book]], a survey of the entire population and their lands and property for tax purposes, which reveals that within 20 years of the conquest the English ruling class had been almost entirely dispossessed and replaced by Norman landholders, who monopolised all senior positions in the government and the Church. William and his nobles spoke and conducted court in [[Norman French]], in both Normandy and England. The use of the [[Anglo-Norman language]] by the aristocracy endured for centuries and left an indelible mark in the development of modern English.

Upon being crowned, on Christmas Day 1066, William immediately began consolidating his power. By 1067, he faced revolts on all sides and spent four years crushing them. He then imposed his superiority over Scotland and Wales, forcing them to recognise him as overlord.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/people/history/british-and-irish-history-biographies/william-i-conqueror|title=William I|author=John Cannon|website=encyclopedia.com|access-date=27 March 2024}}</ref> Economic growth and state finances were aided by the [[History of the Jews in England (1066–1290)|beginning of Jewish settlement in London]].{{sfn|Roth|1964|p=4}}

The English [[Middle Ages]] were characterised by [[civil war]], international war, occasional insurrection, and widespread political intrigue among the aristocratic and monarchic elite. England was more than self-sufficient in cereals, dairy products, beef and mutton. Its international economy was based on [[Wool#History|wool trade]], in which wool from the [[sheepwalk]]s of northern England was exported to the textile cities of [[Flanders]], where it was worked into cloth. Medieval foreign policy was as much shaped by relations with the Flemish textile industry as it was by dynastic adventures in western France. An English textile industry was established in the 15th century, providing the basis for rapid English [[capital accumulation]].

[[File:Tower of London (8081574351).jpg|thumb|The [[White Tower (Tower of London)|White Tower]] of the [[Tower of London]], built in 1078]]

[[Henry I of England|Henry I]], the fourth son of [[William I the Conqueror]], succeeded his elder brother [[William II of England|William II]] as [[King of England]] in 1100. Henry was also known as "Henry Beauclerc" because he received a formal education, unlike his older brother and [[heir apparent]] [[William II of England|William]] who got practical training to be king. Henry worked hard to reform and stabilise the country and smooth the differences between the Anglo-Saxon and [[Anglo-Normans|Anglo-Norman]] societies. The loss of his son, [[William Adelin]], in the wreck of the ''[[White Ship]]'' in November 1120, undermined his reforms. This problem regarding succession cast a long shadow over English history.

Henry I had required the leading barons, ecclesiastics and officials in Normandy and England, to take an oath to accept [[Empress Matilda|Matilda]] (also known as Empress Maud, Henry I's daughter) as his heir. England was far less than enthusiastic to accept an outsider, and a woman, as their ruler.

There is some evidence that Henry was unsure of his own hopes and the oath to make Matilda his heir. Probably Henry hoped Matilda would have a son and step aside as Queen Mother. Upon Henry's death, the Norman and English barons ignored Matilda's claim to the throne, and thus through a series of decisions, [[Stephen I of England|Stephen]], Henry's favourite nephew, was welcomed by many in England and Normandy as their new king.

[[File:Durham MMB 02 Cathedral.jpg|thumb|[[Durham Cathedral]]. The Norman cathedral was built 1093–1133]]

On 22 December 1135, Stephen was anointed king with implicit support by the church and nation. Matilda and her own son waited in France until she sparked the civil war from 1139 to 1153 known as [[the Anarchy]]. In the autumn of 1139, she invaded England with her illegitimate half-brother [[Robert, 1st Earl of Gloucester|Robert of Gloucester]]. Her husband, [[Geoffrey Plantagenet, Count of Anjou|Geoffroy V of Anjou]], conquered Normandy but did not cross the channel to help his wife. During this breakdown of central authority, nobles built [[adulterine castle]]s (i.e. castles erected without government permission), which were hated by the peasants, who were forced to build and maintain them.

Stephen was captured, and his government fell. Matilda was proclaimed queen but was soon at odds with her subjects and was expelled from London. The war continued until 1148, when Matilda returned to France. Stephen reigned unopposed until his death in 1154, although his hold on the throne was uneasy. As soon as he regained power, he began to demolish the adulterine castles, but kept a few castles standing, which put him at odds with his heir. His contested reign, [[the Anarchy|civil war]], and lawlessness saw a major swing in power towards [[feudal]] [[baron]]s. In trying to appease Scottish and Welsh raiders, he handed over large tracts of land.

==England under the Plantagenets==
{{Further|House of Plantagenet}}

===The first Angevins===
{{main|Angevin kings of England}}

[[File:Richard1TombFntrvd.jpg|thumb|Tomb of Richard I of England and Isabella of Angoulême]]
[[Empress Matilda]] and [[Geoffrey Plantagenet, Count of Anjou|Geoffrey]]'s son, Henry, resumed the invasion; he was already Count of Anjou, Duke of Normandy and Duke of Aquitaine when he landed in England. When Stephen's son and heir apparent [[Eustace IV, Count of Boulogne|Eustace]] died in 1153, Stephen made an agreement with Henry of [[County of Anjou|Anjou]] (who became [[Henry II of England|Henry II]]) to succeed Stephen and guarantee peace between them. The union was retrospectively named the [[Angevin Empire]]. Henry II destroyed the remaining adulterine castles and expanded his power through various means and to different levels into Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Flanders, Nantes, Brittany, Quercy, Toulouse, Bourges and Auvergne.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://www.hist.cam.ac.uk/sites/default/files/2020-03/special-b-_angevin_empire_special_subjec_2019-20.pdf |title=THE 'ANGEVIN EMPIRE', 1150s–1230s |year=2019 |pages=1–2}}</ref>

The reign of Henry II represents a reversion in power from the barony to the monarchical state in England; it also saw a similar redistribution of legislative power from the Church, again to the monarchical state. This period also presaged a properly constituted legislation and a radical shift away from [[feudalism]]. In his reign, new [[Anglo-Angevin]] and [[Anglo-Aquitanian]] aristocracies developed, though not to the same degree as the [[Anglo-Normans|Anglo-Norman]] once did, and the Norman nobles interacted with their French peers.<ref>{{cite journal|url=https://commons.emich.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=&httpsredir=1&article=1133&context=honors|title=Feudal Strength!: Henry II and the struggle for royal control in England|author=Jordan Paul Carr|year=2007|journal=Senior Honors Theses & Projects|volume=134|publisher=Eastern Michigan University|access-date=18 March 2024}}</ref>

Henry's successor, [[Richard I of England|Richard I]] "the Lion Heart" (also known as "the absent king"), was preoccupied with foreign wars, taking part in the [[Third Crusade]], being captured while returning and pledging fealty to the [[Holy Roman Empire]] as part of his ransom,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Richard-I-king-of-England/Imprisonment|title=Imprisonment of Richard I|publisher=Encyclopaedia Britannica|access-date=18 March 2024}}</ref> and defending his French territories against Philip II of France.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Gillingham |first=John |title=The Angevin Empire |date=1984 |publisher=Edward Arnold |isbn=0-7131-6249-X |edition=1st |location=London}}</ref> His successor, his younger brother [[John, King of England|John]], lost much of those territories including Normandy following the disastrous [[Battle of Bouvines]] in 1214,<ref>* {{cite book|last=France |first=John |chapter=The Battle of Bouvines 27 July 1214 |title=The Medieval Way of War: Studies in Medieval Military History in Honor of Bernard S. Bachrach |editor-first=Gregory I. |editor-last=Halfond|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tTjWBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA251 |year=2015|pages=251–271 |location=Farnham, Surrey|publisher=Ashgate Publishing|isbn=978-1-4724-1958-3 }}</ref> despite having made the [[Kingdom of England]] a tribute-paying vassal of the [[Holy See]] in 1212,<ref name="pope innocent iii na">{{cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/08013a.htm|title=Pope Innocent III|encyclopedia=Catholic Encyclopedia|access-date=18 March 2024}}</ref> which it remained until the 14th century when the Kingdom rejected the overlordship of the Holy See and re-established its sovereignty.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://medievalchurch.org.uk/pdf/e-books/patterson/church-of-england_patterson.pdf|title=A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND|author=Rev. M. W. Patterson|publisher=Longmans, Green and Co.|year=1929|access-date=18 March 2024}}</ref> The first anti-Semitic pogroms occurred in the wake of Richard's crusades, in 1189–90, in York and elsewhere. In York, 150 Jews died.{{sfn|Maier|2022}}

From 1212 onwards, John had a constant policy of maintaining close relations with the Pope, which partially explains how he persuaded the Pope to reject the legitimacy of [[Magna Carta]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.concordatwatch.eu/the-pope-cancels-the-magna-carta-1215--t41481|title=The Pope cancels the Magna Carta (1215)|publisher=Concordat Watch|access-date=18 March 2024}}</ref>

===Magna Carta===
{{main|Magna Carta}}

[[File:Magna Carta (British Library Cotton MS Augustus II.106).jpg|thumb|One of only four surviving [[Exemplified copy|exemplifications]] of the 1215 text, ''Cotton MS. Augustus II. 106'', property of the [[British Library]]]]
[[File:Dover Castle from the north.jpg|thumb|[[Dover Castle]], 12th–13th century]]
Over the course of his reign, a combination of higher taxes, unsuccessful wars and conflict with the Pope made King John unpopular with his barons. In 1215, some of the most important barons rebelled against him. He met their leaders along with their French and Scot allies at [[Runnymede]], near London on 15 June 1215 to seal the Great Charter ([[Magna Carta]] in [[Latin]]), which imposed legal limits on the king's personal powers. But as soon as hostilities ceased, John received approval from the Pope to break his word because he had made it under duress. This provoked the [[First Barons' War]] and a French invasion by [[Louis VIII of France|Prince Louis of France]] invited by a majority of the English barons to replace John as king in London in May 1216. John travelled around the country to oppose the rebel forces, directing, among other operations, a two-month siege of the rebel-held [[Rochester Castle]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Magna-Carta|title=Magna Carta|author=Doris Mary Stenton|website=Encyclopedia Brittanica|access-date=8 November 2023}}</ref>

===Henry III===
{{main|Henry III of England}}

John's son, [[Henry III of England|Henry III]], was only 9 years old when he became king (1216–1272). He spent much of his reign fighting the barons over Magna Carta<ref>{{cite web|title=Library of Congress: Magna Carta: Muse and Mentor|website=[[Library of Congress]] |date=6 November 2014 |url=https://www.loc.gov/exhibits/magna-carta-muse-and-mentor/confirmation-by-kings-and-parliament.html|access-date=17 August 2021}}</ref> and the royal rights, and was eventually forced to call the first "[[Parliament of England|parliament]]" in 1264. He was also unsuccessful on the continent, where he endeavoured to re-establish English control over [[Normandy]], [[County of Anjou|Anjou]], and [[Aquitaine]].<ref name="Carpenter 2004 310">{{Cite book |last=Carpenter |first=David A. |title=The Struggle for Mastery: The Penguin History of Britain 1066–1284 |date=2004 |publisher=Penguin |isbn=978-0-14-014824-4 |location=London |page=310}}</ref><ref>{{cite ODNB |url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/printable/12950 |title=Henry III (1207–1272) |publication-date=September 2010 |year=2004 |last=Ridgeway |first=Huw W. |access-date=17 August 2013 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130818075022/http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/printable/12950 |archive-date=18 August 2013 |mode=cs2 |doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/12950 |url-status=dead  }}</ref>

His reign was punctuated by many rebellions and civil wars, often provoked by incompetence and mismanagement in government and Henry's perceived over-reliance on French courtiers (thus restricting the influence of the English nobility). One of these rebellions—led by a disaffected courtier, [[Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester|Simon de Montfort]]—was notable for its assembly of one of the earliest precursors to [[Parliament of the United Kingdom|Parliament]]. In addition to fighting the [[Second Barons' War]], Henry III made war against Louis IX and was defeated during the [[Saintonge War]], yet Louis did not capitalise on his victory, respecting his opponent's rights.<ref name="Carpenter 2004 310"/>

Henry III's policies towards Jews began with relative tolerance, but became gradually more restrictive. In 1253 the [[Statute of Jewry]] reinforced physical segregation and demanded a previously notional requirement to wear square white badges.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Hillaby |first1=Joe |title=The Palgrave Dictionary of Medieval Anglo-Jewish History |last2=Hillaby |first2=Caroline |date=2013 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |isbn=978-0-23027-816-5 |location=Basingstoke |page=104}}</ref> Henry III also backed an accusation of child murder in Lincoln, ordering a Jew Copin to be executed and 91 Jews to be arrested for trial; 18 were killed. Popular superstitious fears were fuelled, and Catholic theological hostility combined with Baronial abuse of loan arrangements, resulting in [[Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester|Simon de Montfort]]'s supporters targeting of Jewish communities in their [[Second Barons' War|revolt]]. This hostility, violence and controversy was the background to the increasingly oppressive measures that followed under Edward I.<ref name="Hillaby 2013 104–107"/>

===14th century===
{{main|Edward I of England|Edward II of England|Edward III of England|Richard II of England}}

[[File:Mob Quad from Chapel Tower.jpg|thumb|The [[Mob Quad]] of [[Merton College, Oxford|Merton College]], [[University of Oxford]], 13th–14th century]]
The reign of [[Edward I of England|Edward I]] (reigned 1272–1307) was rather more successful. Edward enacted numerous laws strengthening the powers of his government, and he summoned the first officially sanctioned [[Parliaments of England]] (such as his [[Model Parliament]]).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.parliament.uk/about/living-heritage/evolutionofparliament/originsofparliament/birthofparliament/overview/edward/#:~:text=Model%20Parliament&text=The%20next%20time%20the%20burgesses,(almost)%20all%20future%20Parliaments.|title=Changes under Edward I
|website=parliament.uk|access-date=27 March 2024}}</ref> He [[Conquest of Wales by Edward I|conquered Wales]]<ref>{{cite book |last=Morris |first=John E. |title= The Welsh Wars of Edward I. a Contribution to Mediaeval Military History, Based on Original Documents |publisher=Clarendon Press
 |location=Oxford, UK |year=1901 |oclc= 562375464 }}</ref> and attempted to use a succession dispute to gain control of the [[Kingdom of Scotland]], though this developed into a costly and drawn-out military campaign.

Edward I is also known for his policies first persecuting Jews, particularly the 1275 [[Statute of the Jewry]]. This banned Jews from their previous role in making loans, and demanded that they work as merchants, farmers, craftsmen or soldiers. This was unrealistic, and failed.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Huscroft |first=Richard |title=Expulsion: England's Jewish solution |date=2006 |publisher=Tempus |isbn=978-0-752-43729-3 |location=Stroud |pages=112–139}}</ref> Edward's solution was to [[History of the Jews in England (1066–1290)#Edward I and the Expulsion|expel Jews from England]].<ref name="Hillaby 2013 104–107">{{harvnb|Hillaby|Hillaby|2013|pp=104–107}}</ref><ref name="Jacobs 1903">{{cite Jewish Encyclopedia |title=England |first=Joseph |last=Jacobs |url=http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/5764-england |volume=5 |page=161-174}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Huscroft|2006|pp=140–160}}</ref> This was the first statewide, permanent expulsion in Europe.{{sfn|Roth|1964|p=90}}{{sfn|Richmond|1992|pp=44-45}}{{sfn|Skinner|2003|p=1}}{{sfn|Huscroft|2006|p=12}}

His son, [[Edward II of England|Edward II]], was considered a disaster by other nobles. A man who preferred to engage in activities like thatching and ditch-digging<ref>{{cite book|title=Edward II: The Unconventional King|author=Kathryn Warner|date=19 February 2015|publisher=Amnberley Publishing|isbn=978-1-4456-4120-1}}</ref> and associating with the lower class rather than the activities considered appropriate for the upper class such as jousting, hunting, or the usual entertainments of kings, he spent most of his reign trying in vain to control the nobility, who in return showed continual hostility to him. Meanwhile, the Scottish leader [[Robert the Bruce|Robert Bruce]] began retaking all the territory conquered by Edward I. In 1314, the English army was disastrously defeated by the Scots at the [[Battle of Bannockburn]]. Edward also showered favours on his companion [[Piers Gaveston, 1st Earl of Cornwall|Piers Gaveston]], a knight of humble birth. While it has been widely believed that Edward was homosexual because of his closeness to Gaveston, there is no concrete evidence of this. The king's enemies, including his cousin [[Thomas of Lancaster]], captured and murdered Gaveston in 1312.

The [[Great Famine of 1315–1317]] may have resulted in half a million deaths in England due to hunger and disease, more than 10 per cent of the population.<ref name="famine">"''[https://books.google.com/books?id=eGsCGAdH4YQC&pg=PA66 The savage wars of peace: England, Japan and the Malthusian trap]''". Alan Macfarlane (1997). p.66. {{ISBN|0-631-18117-2}}</ref>
[[File:Ellesmere Chaucer, mssEL 26 C 9, folio 153v, warmer image.jpg|left|thumb|180x180px|[[Geoffrey Chaucer]], {{circa|1340s}}–1400, author of [[The Canterbury Tales]]]]
[[File:Canterbury Cathedral Nave 1, Kent, UK - Diliff.jpg|thumb|[[Canterbury Cathedral]] nave, 1377]]

Edward's downfall came in 1326 when his wife, [[Isabella of France|Queen Isabella]], travelled to her native France and, with her lover [[Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March|Roger Mortimer]], [[Edward II of England#Invasion|invaded England]]. Despite their tiny force, they quickly rallied support for their cause. The king fled London, and his companion since Piers Gaveston's death, [[Hugh Despenser the younger|Hugh Despenser]], was publicly tried and executed. Edward was captured, charged with breaking his coronation oath, [[Edward II of England#Abdication|deposed]] and imprisoned in Gloucestershire until he was murdered some time in the autumn of 1327, presumably by agents of Isabella and Mortimer.

[[Edward III of England|Edward III]], son of Edward II, was crowned at age 14 after his father was [[deposition (politics)|deposed]] by his mother and [[Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March|Roger Mortimer]]. At age 17, he led a successful coup against Mortimer, the ''de facto'' ruler of the country, and began his personal reign. [[Edward III of England|Edward III]] reigned 1327–1377, restored royal authority and went on to transform England into the most efficient military power in Europe. His reign saw vital developments in legislature and government—in particular the evolution of the English parliament—as well as the ravages of the [[Black Death]]. After defeating, but not subjugating, the [[Kingdom of Scotland]], he declared himself rightful heir to the French throne in 1338, but his claim was denied due to the [[Salic law]]. This started what would become known as the [[Hundred Years' War]].<ref>Edward first styled himself "King of France" in 1337, though he did not officially assume the title until 1340; Prestwich (2005), pp. 307–8.</ref> Following some initial setbacks, the war went exceptionally well for England; victories at [[Battle of Crécy|Crécy]] and [[Battle of Poitiers (1356)|Poitiers]] led to the highly favourable [[Treaty of Brétigny]]. Edward's later years were marked by international failure and domestic strife, largely as a result of his inactivity and poor health.

For many years, trouble had been brewing with [[Crown of Castile|Castile]]—a Spanish kingdom whose navy had taken to raiding English merchant ships in the [[English Channel|Channel]]. Edward won a [[Battle of Winchelsea|major naval victory]] against a Castilian fleet off [[Winchelsea]] in 1350.<ref name="FletcherGenet2015">"...major victories such as Sluis (1340) and Winchelesea (1350)..." {{cite book|editor1=Christopher Fletcher|editor2=Jean-Philippe Genet|editor3=John Watts|title=Government and Political Life in England and France, c.1300–c.1500|author1=Steven Gunn|author2=Armand Jamme|chapter=Kings, Nobles and Military Networks|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jlm3BwAAQBAJ&pg=PA48|date=2015|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-1-107-08990-7|page=48}}</ref> Although the Castilian crossbowmen killed many of the enemy,<ref>{{cite book |last1=Grant |first1=R. G. |title=1001 Battles That Changed the Course of History |date=2017 |page=195}}</ref> the English gradually got the better of the encounter. In spite of Edward's success, however, Winchelsea was only a flash in a conflict that raged between the English and the Spanish for over 200 years,<ref>{{cite book |last1=Lavery |first1=Brian |title=The Conquest of the Ocean |date=2013 |page=61}}</ref> coming to a head with the defeats of the [[Spanish Armada]] and the [[English Armada]] in 1588 and 1589.<ref>{{Cite EB1911 |wstitle=English History |volume=9 |page=535 |first=Samuel Rawson |last=Gardiner |author-link=Samuel Rawson Gardiner}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Elliott |first1=J H |title=Europe Divided (1559–1598) |page=351 |date=1982 |publisher=Cornell University Press |isbn=978-84-8432-669-4}}</ref>

In 1373, England signed an [[Anglo-Portuguese Alliance|alliance with the Kingdom of Portugal]], which is claimed to be the oldest alliance in the world still in force.

Edward III died of a stroke on 21 June 1377, and was succeeded by his ten-year-old grandson, [[Richard II of England|Richard II]]. He married [[Anne of Bohemia]], daughter of [[Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor]] in 1382, and ruled until he was deposed by his first cousin [[Henry IV of England|Henry IV]] in 1399.
In 1381, a [[Peasants' Revolt]] led by [[Wat Tyler]] spread across large parts of England. It was suppressed by Richard II, with the death of 1500 rebels.

===A Time of Turmoil===
{{main|Black Death in England}}

[[The Black Death]], an epidemic of [[bubonic plague]] that spread all over Europe, arrived in England in 1348 and killed as much as a third to half the population. Military conflicts during this period were usually with domestic neighbours such as the Welsh, Irish, and Scots, and included the [[Hundred Years' War]] against the French and their [[Scottish people|Scottish]] allies. Notable English victories in the Hundred Years' War included [[Battle of Crécy|Crécy]] and [[Battle of Agincourt|Agincourt]]. The final defeat of the uprising led by the Welsh prince, [[Owain Glyndŵr]], in 1412 by Prince Henry (who later became [[Henry V of England|Henry V]]) represents the last major armed attempt by the Welsh to throw off English rule.

[[Edward III of England|Edward III]] gave land to powerful noble families, including many people of royal lineage. Because land was equivalent to power, these powerful men could try to claim the crown. When Edward III died in 1377, he was succeeded by his grandson, [[Richard II of England|Richard II]]. Richard's autocratic and arrogant methods only served to alienate the nobility more, and his forceful dispossession in 1399 by [[Henry IV of England|Henry IV]] increased the turmoil.

Henry spent much of his reign defending himself against plots, rebellions and assassination attempts.

Rebellions continued throughout the first ten years of Henry's reign, including the revolt of [[Owain Glyndŵr]], who declared himself [[Prince of Wales]] in 1400, and the rebellion of [[Henry Percy, 1st Earl of Northumberland]]. The king's success in putting down these rebellions was due partly to the military ability of his eldest son, [[Henry V of England|Henry of Monmouth]],<ref>{{Cite EB1911 |wstitle=English History |volume=9 |page=511 |first=Charles |last=Oman |author-link=Charles Oman}}</ref> who later became king (though the son managed to seize much effective power from his father in 1410).

===15th century – Henry V and the Wars of the Roses===
{{further|Lancastrian War|Wars of the Roses|Great Slump (15th century)}}
{{House of Lancaster|henry4}}
[[Henry V of England|Henry V]] succeeded to the throne in 1413. He renewed hostilities with France and began a set of military campaigns which are considered a new phase of the [[Hundred Years' War]], referred to as the [[Lancastrian War]]. He won several notable victories over the French, including the [[Battle of Agincourt]]. In the [[Treaty of Troyes]], Henry V was given the power to succeed the current ruler of France, [[Charles VI of France]]. The Treaty also provided that he would marry Charles VI's daughter, [[Catherine of Valois]]. They married in 1421. Henry died of dysentery in 1422, leaving a number of unfulfilled plans, including his plan to take over as King of France and to lead a crusade to retake Jerusalem from the Muslims.

Henry V's son, [[Henry VI of England|Henry VI]], became king in 1422 as an infant. His reign was marked by constant turmoil due to his political weaknesses. While he was growing up, England was ruled by the [[Regency government, 1422–1437|Regency government]].

The Regency Council tried to install Henry VI as the King of France, as provided by the Treaty of Troyes signed by his father, and led English forces to take over areas of France. It appeared they might succeed due to the poor political position of the son of Charles VI, who had claimed to be the rightful king as [[Charles VII of France]]. However, in 1429, [[Joan of Arc]] began a military effort to prevent the English from gaining control of France. The French forces regained control of French territory.

In 1437, Henry VI came of age and began to actively rule as king. To forge peace, he married French noblewoman [[Margaret of Anjou]] in 1445, as provided in the [[Treaty of Tours]]. Hostilities with France resumed in 1449. When England lost the [[Hundred Years' War]] in August 1453, Henry fell into mental breakdown until Christmas 1454.

Henry could not control the feuding nobles, and a series of civil wars known as the [[Wars of the Roses]] began, lasting from 1455 to 1485. Although the fighting was very sporadic and small, there was a general breakdown in the power of the Crown. The royal court and Parliament moved to Coventry, in the Lancastrian heartlands, which thus became the capital of England until 1461. Henry's cousin [[Edward IV of England|Edward, Duke of York]], deposed Henry in 1461 to become Edward IV following a [[House of Lancaster|Lancastrian]] defeat at the [[Battle of Mortimer's Cross]]. Edward was later briefly expelled from the throne in 1470–1471 when [[Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick]], brought Henry back to power. Six months later, Edward defeated and killed Warwick in battle and reclaimed the throne. Henry was imprisoned in the Tower of London and died there.

Edward died in 1483, only 40 years old, his reign having gone a little way to restoring the power of the Crown. His eldest son and heir [[Edward V]], aged 12, could not succeed him because the king's brother, [[Richard III of England|Richard III, Duke of Gloucester]], declared Edward IV's marriage bigamous, making all his children illegitimate. Richard III was then declared king, and Edward V and his 10-year-old brother Richard were [[Princes in the Tower|imprisoned]] in the Tower of London. The two were never seen again. It was widely believed that Richard III had them murdered and he was reviled as a treacherous fiend, which limited his ability to govern during his brief reign. In summer 1485, [[Henry VII of England|Henry Tudor]], the last Lancastrian male, returned from exile in France and landed in Wales. Henry then defeated and killed Richard III at [[Bosworth Field]] on 22 August, and was crowned Henry VII.

{{See also|English historians in the Middle Ages|List of English chronicles|Bayeux Tapestry}}

==Tudor England==
{{main|Tudor period}}

{{further|Early Modern Britain|English Renaissance}}

=== Henry VII ===
[[File:Henry_VII_and_Family.jpg|thumb|Portrait of the [[House of Tudor|Royal Tudors]]. At left, Henry VII, with Prince Arthur behind him, then Prince Henry (later Henry VIII), and Prince Edmund, who did not survive early childhood. To the right is Elizabeth of York, with Princess Margaret, then Princess Elizabeth who didn't survive childhood, Princess Mary, and Princess Katherine, who died shortly after her birth.]]
The [[Tudor period]] coincides with the dynasty of the [[House of Tudor]] in England that began with the reign of [[Henry VII of England|Henry VII]]. Henry engaged in a number of administrative, economic and diplomatic initiatives. He paid very close attention to detail and, instead of spending lavishly, concentrated on raising new revenues.<ref>Sydney Anglo, "Ill of the dead: The posthumous reputation of Henry VII", ''Renaissance Studies'' 1 (1987): 27–47. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/24410008 online]</ref><ref>Steven Gunn, ''Henry VII's New Men and the Making of Tudor England'' (2016)</ref> Henry was successful in restoring power and stability to the nation's monarchy following the civil war. His supportive policy toward England's wool industry and his standoff with the [[Low Countries]] had long-lasting benefit to the economy of England. He restored the nation's finances and strengthened its judicial system.<ref>{{cite web |date=5 February 2012 |title=Henry VII |url=http://tudorhistory.org/henry7/ |access-date=17 October 2013 |publisher=Tudorhistory.org}}</ref> The [[Renaissance]] reached England through Italian courtiers, who reintroduced artistic, educational and scholarly debate from classical antiquity.<ref>{{cite book |last=Hay |first=Denys |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jzm2Vu9h-CYC&q=italian+influence+on+the+english+renaissance&pg=PA165 |title=Renaissance essays |publisher=A&C Black |year=1988 |isbn=978-0-907628-96-5 |page=65 |access-date=26 December 2010}}</ref> England began to develop [[English Navy|naval skills]], and exploration intensified in the [[Age of Discovery]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Royal Navy History, Tudor Period and the Birth of a Regular Navy |url=http://www.royal-navy.org/lib/index.php?title=Tudor_Period_and_the_Birth_of_a_Regular_Navy_Part_Two |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120118040146/http://www.royal-navy.org/lib/index.php?title=Tudor_Period_and_the_Birth_of_a_Regular_Navy_Part_Two |archive-date=18 January 2012 |url-status=usurped |access-date=24 December 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Smith |first=Goldwin |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RdOTQUDgH54C&q=england+under+the+tudors+by+goldwin+smith |title=England Under the Tudors |publisher=Forgotten Books |isbn=978-1-60620-939-4 |page=176 |access-date=26 December 2010}}</ref>

With [[Henry VII of England|Henry VII]]'s accession to the throne in 1485, the Wars of the Roses came to an end, and Tudors would continue to rule England for 118 years. Traditionally, the [[Battle of Bosworth Field]] is considered to mark the end of the Middle Ages in England, although Henry did not introduce any new concept of monarchy, and for most of his reign his hold on power was tenuous. He claimed the throne by conquest and God's judgement in battle. Parliament quickly recognised him as king, but the Yorkists were far from defeated. Nonetheless, he married Edward IV's eldest daughter Elizabeth in January 1486, thereby uniting the houses of York and Lancaster.

Most of the European rulers did not believe Henry would survive long, and were thus willing to shelter claimants against him. The first plot against him was the [[Stafford and Lovell rebellion]] of 1486, which presented no serious threat. But Richard III's nephew [[John de la Pole, Earl of Lincoln]], hatched another attempt the following year. Using a peasant boy named [[Lambert Simnel]], who posed as [[Edward, Earl of Warwick]] (the real Warwick was locked up in the Tower of London), he led an army of 2,000 German mercenaries paid for by [[Margaret of York|Margaret of Burgundy]] into England. They were defeated and de la Pole was killed at the difficult [[Battle of Stoke]], where the loyalty of some of the royal troops to Henry was questionable. The king, realizing that Simnel was a dupe, employed him in the royal kitchen.

A more serious threat was [[Perkin Warbeck]], a Flemish youth who posed as Edward IV's son Richard. Again with support from Margaret of Burgundy, he invaded England four times from 1495 to 1497 before he was captured and imprisoned in the Tower of London. Both Warbeck and the Earl of Warwick were dangerous even in captivity, and Henry executed them in 1499 before Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain would allow their daughter Catherine to come to England and marry his son Arthur.

In 1497, Henry defeated Cornish rebels marching on London. The rest of his reign was relatively peaceful, despite worries about succession after the death of his wife [[Elizabeth of York]] in 1503.

Henry VII's foreign policy was peaceful. He had made an alliance with Spain and the Holy Roman Emperor [[Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor|Maximilian I]], but in 1493, when they went to war with France, England was dragged into the conflict. Impoverished and his hold on power insecure, Henry had no desire for war. He quickly reached an understanding with the French and renounced all claims to their territory except the port of Calais, realizing also that he could not stop them from incorporating the Duchy of Brittany. In return, the French agreed to recognize him as king and stop sheltering pretenders. Shortly afterwards, they became preoccupied with adventures in Italy. Henry also reached an understanding with Scotland, agreeing to marry his daughter Margaret to that country's king [[James IV of Scotland|James IV]].

Upon becoming king, Henry inherited a government severely weakened and degraded by the Wars of the Roses. The treasury was empty, having been drained by Edward IV's Woodville in-laws after his death. Through a tight fiscal policy and sometimes ruthless tax collection and confiscations, Henry refilled the treasury by the time of his death. He also effectively rebuilt the machinery of government.

In 1501, the king's son [[Arthur, Prince of Wales|Arthur]], having married [[Catherine of Aragon]], died of illness at age 15, leaving his younger brother [[Henry, Duke of York]] as heir. When the king himself died in 1509, the position of the Tudors was secure at last, and his son succeeded him unopposed.

===Henry VIII===
[[File:After Hans Holbein the Younger - Portrait of Henry VIII - Google Art Project.jpg|thumb|King [[Henry VIII of England|Henry VIII]]]]

[[Henry VIII of England|Henry VIII]] began his reign with much optimism. The handsome, athletic young king stood in sharp contrast to his wary, miserly father. Henry's lavish court quickly drained the treasury of the fortune he inherited. He married the widowed [[Catherine of Aragon]], and they had several children, but none survived infancy except a daughter, [[Mary I of England|Mary]].

In 1512, the young king started a [[War of the League of Cambrai|war in France]]. Although England was an ally of Spain, one of France's principal enemies, the war was mostly about Henry's desire for personal glory, despite his sister [[Mary Tudor, Queen of France|Mary]] being married to the French king [[Louis XII]]. The war accomplished little. The English army suffered badly from disease, and Henry was not even present at the one notable victory, the [[Battle of the Spurs]]. Meanwhile, [[James IV of Scotland]] (despite being Henry's other brother-in-law), activated his alliance with the French and declared war on England. While Henry was dallying in France, Catherine, who was serving as regent in his absence, and his advisers were left to deal with this threat. At the [[Battle of Flodden]] on 9 September 1513, the Scots were completely defeated. James and most of the Scottish nobles were killed. When Henry returned from France, he was given credit for the victory.

Eventually, Catherine was no longer able to have any more children. The king became increasingly nervous about the possibility of his daughter Mary inheriting the throne, as England's one experience with a female sovereign, Matilda in the 12th century, had been a catastrophe. He eventually decided that it was necessary to divorce Catherine and find a new queen. To persuade the Church to allow this, Henry cited the passage in the [[Book of Leviticus]]: "If a man taketh his brother's wife, he hath committed adultery; they shall be childless". However, Catherine insisted that she and Arthur never consummated their brief marriage and that the prohibition did not apply here. The timing of Henry's case was very unfortunate; it was 1527 and the Pope had been imprisoned by emperor [[Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor|Charles V]], Catherine's nephew and the most powerful man in Europe, for siding with his archenemy [[Francis I of France]]. Because he could not divorce in these circumstances, Henry seceded from the Church, in what became known as the [[English Reformation]].

The newly established [[Church of England]] amounted to little more than the existing Catholic Church, but led by the king rather than the Pope. It took a number of years for the separation from Rome to be completed, and many were executed for resisting the king's religious policies.

In 1530, Catherine was banished from court and spent the rest of her life (until her death in 1536) alone in an isolated manor home, barred from contact with Mary. Secret correspondence continued thanks to her ladies-in-waiting. Their marriage was declared invalid, making Mary an illegitimate child. Henry married [[Anne Boleyn]] secretly in January 1533, just as his divorce from Catherine was finalised. They had a second, public wedding. Anne soon became pregnant and may have already been when they wed. But on 7 September 1533, she gave birth to a daughter, Elizabeth. The king was devastated at his failure to obtain a son after all the effort it had taken to remarry. Gradually, he came to develop a disliking of his new queen for her strange behaviour. In 1536, when Anne was pregnant again, Henry was badly injured in a jousting accident. Shaken by this, the queen gave birth prematurely to a stillborn boy. By now, the king was convinced that his marriage was hexed, and having already found a new queen, Jane Seymour, he put Anne in the Tower of London on charges of witchcraft. Afterwards, she was beheaded along with five men (her brother included) accused of adultery with her. The marriage was then declared invalid, so that Elizabeth, just like her half sister, became a bastard.

Henry immediately married [[Jane Seymour]], who became pregnant almost as quickly. On 12 October 1537, she gave birth to a healthy boy, Edward, which was greeted with huge celebrations. However, the queen died of [[puerperal sepsis]] ten days later. Henry genuinely mourned her death, and at his own passing nine years later, he was buried next to her.

The king married a fourth time in 1540, to the German [[Anne of Cleves]] for a political alliance with her Protestant brother, the [[Duke of Cleves]]. He also hoped to obtain another son in case something should happen to Edward. Anne proved a dull, unattractive woman and Henry did not consummate the marriage. He quickly divorced her, and she remained in England as a kind of adopted sister to him. He married again, to a 19-year-old named [[Catherine Howard]]. But when it became known that she was neither a virgin at the wedding, nor a faithful wife afterwards, she ended up on the scaffold and the marriage declared invalid. His sixth and last marriage was to [[Catherine Parr]], who was more his nursemaid than anything else, as his health was failing since his jousting accident in 1536.

In 1542, the king started a new campaign in France, but unlike in 1512, he only managed with great difficulty. He only conquered the city of Boulogne, which France retook in 1549. Scotland also declared war and at [[Battle of Solway Moss|Solway Moss]] was again totally defeated.

Henry's paranoia and suspicion worsened in his last years. The number of executions during his 38-year reign numbered tens of thousands. His domestic policies had strengthened royal authority to the detriment of the aristocracy, and led to a safer realm, but his foreign policy adventures did not increase England's prestige abroad and wrecked royal finances and the national economy, and embittered the Irish.<ref name=twsBucholz1>Robert Bucholz, Newton Key, via Google Books, John Wiley & Sons Publishers, 31 December 2019 – History – 472 pages, {{ISBN|978-1-4051-6275-3}}, [https://books.google.com/books?id=KfjYvfVOYwoC&dq=wreck+royal+finances&pg=PA101 Early Modern England 1485–1714: A Narrative History], retrieved 27 March 2020, see pages 102, 104, 107, 122–3</ref> He died in January 1547 at age 55 and was succeeded by his son, Edward VI.

===Edward VI and Mary I===
[[File:Circle of William Scrots Edward VI of England.jpg|thumb|Portrait of [[Edward VI]], {{circa|1550}}]]

Although he showed piety and intelligence, [[Edward VI]] was only nine years old when he became king in 1547.<ref name=twsBucholz1/> His uncle, [[Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset]] tampered with [[Will of Henry VIII of England|Henry VIII's will]] and obtained [[letters patent]] giving him much of the power of a monarch by March 1547. He took the title of Protector. While some see him as a high-minded idealist, his stay in power culminated in a crisis in 1549 when many counties of the realm were up in protest. [[Kett's Rebellion]] in Norfolk and the [[Prayer Book Rebellion]] in [[Devon]] and [[Cornwall]] simultaneously created a crisis while invasion from Scotland and France were feared. Somerset, disliked by the Regency Council for being autocratic, was removed from power by [[John Dudley, Earl of Warwick|John Dudley]], who is known as [[Lord President Northumberland]]. Northumberland proceeded to adopt the power for himself, but he was more conciliatory and the Council accepted him. During Edward's reign England changed from being a Catholic nation to a Protestant one, in schism from Rome.

Edward showed great promise but fell violently ill of [[tuberculosis]] in 1553 and died that August, at the age of 15 years, 8 months.<ref name=twsBucholz1/>

Northumberland made plans to place [[Lady Jane Grey]] on the throne and marry her to his son, so that he could remain the power behind the throne. His plot failed in a matter of days, Jane Grey was beheaded, and [[Mary I of England|Mary I]] (1516–1558) took the throne amidst popular demonstration in her favour in London, which contemporaries described as the largest show of affection for a Tudor monarch. Mary had never been expected to hold the throne, at least not since Edward was born. She was a devoted Catholic who believed that she could reverse the Reformation.<ref>Ann Weikel, "Mary I (1516–1558)", ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', online edition, Jan 2008 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/18245, accessed 25 Aug 2011]</ref>

Returning England to Catholicism led to the burnings of 274 Protestants, which are recorded especially in [[John Foxe]]'s ''[[Book of Martyrs]]''. Mary then married her cousin [[Philip II of Spain|Philip]], son of [[Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor|Emperor Charles V]], and King of Spain when Charles abdicated in 1556. The union was difficult because Mary was already in her late 30s and Philip was a Catholic and a foreigner, and so not very welcome in England. This wedding also provoked hostility from France, already at war with Spain and now fearing being encircled by the Habsburgs. Calais, the last English outpost on the Continent, was then taken by France. King Philip (1527–1598) had very little power, although he did protect Elizabeth. He was not popular in England, and spent little time there.<ref>Glyn Redworth, "Philip (1527–1598)", ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', online edition, May 2011 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/22097, accessed 25 Aug 2011]</ref> Mary eventually became pregnant, or at least believed herself to be. In reality, she may have had [[uterine cancer]]. Her death in November 1558 was greeted with huge celebrations in the streets of London.

===Elizabeth I===
{{main|Elizabethan era}}

[[File:Elizabeth I Rainbow Portrait3.jpg|thumb|[[Elizabeth I of England|Elizabeth I]]]]
After Mary I died in 1558, [[Elizabeth I]] came to the throne. Her reign restored a sort of order to the realm after the turbulent reigns of Edward VI and Mary I. The religious issue which had divided the country since Henry VIII was in a way put to rest by the [[Elizabethan Religious Settlement]], which re-established the [[Church of England]]. Much of Elizabeth's success was in balancing the interests of the [[Puritans]] and Catholics; historian Robert Bucholz paraphrasing historian Conrad Russell, suggested that the genius of the Church of England was that it "thinks Protestant but looks Catholic."<ref name=twsBucholz1/> She managed to offend neither to a large extent, although she clamped down on Catholics towards the end of her reign as war with Catholic Spain loomed.<ref>J. B. Black ''The Reign of Elizabeth, 1558–1603'' (Oxford History of England) (2nd ed. 1959) [https://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=3769587 online edition] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120522071347/http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=3769587 |date=22 May 2012 }}</ref><ref>J. A. Guy, ''Tudor England'' (1990) [https://www.amazon.com/Tudor-England-John-Guy/dp/0192852132/ excerpt and text search]</ref>

Despite the need for an heir, Elizabeth declined to marry, despite offers from a number of suitors across Europe, including the Swedish king [[Erik XIV]]. This created endless worries over her succession, especially in the 1560s when she nearly died of smallpox. It has been often rumoured that she had a number of lovers (including [[Francis Drake]]), but there is no hard evidence.

Elizabeth maintained relative government stability. Apart from the [[Revolt of the Northern Earls]] in 1569, she was effective in reducing the power of the old nobility and expanding the power of her government. Elizabeth's government did much to consolidate the work begun under [[Thomas Cromwell]] in the reign of Henry VIII, that is, expanding the role of the government and effecting common law and administration throughout England. During the reign of Elizabeth and shortly afterwards, the population grew significantly: from three million in 1564 to nearly five million in 1616.<ref>[http://www.enotes.com/shakespeare-atoz/population] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080523191332/http://www.enotes.com/shakespeare-atoz/population|date=23 May 2008}}</ref>

The queen ran afoul of her cousin [[Mary, Queen of Scots]], who was a devoted Catholic and so was forced to abdicate her throne (Scotland had [[Scottish Reformation|recently become Protestant]]). She fled to England, where Elizabeth immediately had her arrested. Mary spent the next 19 years in confinement, but proved too dangerous to keep alive, as the Catholic powers in Europe considered her the legitimate ruler of England. She was eventually tried for treason, sentenced to death, and beheaded in February 1587.

====Elizabethan era====
[[File:Elizabeth I, Procession Portrait..jpg|thumb|The Procession Picture, {{circa|1600}}, showing Elizabeth I borne along by her courtiers]]

The Elizabethan era was the epoch in English history of Queen [[Elizabeth I]]'s reign (1558–1603). Historians often depict it as the [[Golden age (metaphor)|golden age]] in English history. The symbol of [[Britannia]] was first used in 1572 and often thereafter to mark the Elizabethan age as a renaissance that inspired national pride through classical ideals, international expansion, and naval triumph over the hated Spanish foe. In terms of the entire century, the historian [[John Guy (historian)|John Guy]] (1988) argues that "England was economically healthier, more expansive, and more optimistic under the [[Tudor dynasty|Tudors]]" than at any time in a thousand years.<ref>John Guy (1988) ''Tudor England'', Oxford University Press, p. 32 {{ISBN|0192852132}}</ref>

This "golden age"<ref>From the 1944 Clark lectures by [[C. S. Lewis]]; Lewis, ''English Literature in the Sixteenth Century'' (Oxford, 1954) p. 1, {{OCLC|256072}}</ref> represented the apogee of the [[English Renaissance]] and saw the flowering of poetry, music and literature. The era is most famous for [[Elizabethan theatre|theatre]], as [[William Shakespeare]] and many others composed plays that broke free of England's past style of theatre. It was an age of exploration and expansion abroad, while back at home, the Protestant [[Reformation]] became more acceptable to the people, most certainly after the [[Spanish Armada]] was repulsed. It was also the end of the period when England was a separate realm before its royal union with Scotland.

The Elizabethan Age is viewed so highly largely because of the periods before and after. It was a brief period of largely internal peace after the horrible violence and disorder of the [[Wars of the Roses]], and battles between Catholics and Protestants during the [[English Reformation]]; and it preceded the violent turmoil of the [[English Civil War]] and battles between [[Parliament of England|parliament]] and the monarchy during the 17th century. The Protestant/Catholic divide was settled, for a time, by the [[Elizabethan Religious Settlement]], and parliament was not yet strong enough to challenge royal absolutism.

England was also well off compared to the other nations of Europe. The [[Italian Renaissance]] had ended due to foreign domination of the peninsula. France was embroiled in religious battles until the [[Edict of Nantes]] in 1598. Also, the English had been expelled from their last outposts on the continent. Due to these reasons, the centuries long conflict with France was largely suspended for most of Elizabeth's reign. England during this period had a centralised, organised and effective government, largely due to the reforms of [[Henry VII of England|Henry VII]] and [[Henry VIII]]. Economically, the country began to benefit greatly from the new era of [[Transatlantic crossing|trans-Atlantic]] trade.

[[File:Expedición de Francis Drake 1585-1586.jpg|thumb|Sir Francis Drake's voyage 1585–86]]
In 1585 worsening relations between [[Philip II of Spain]] and Elizabeth erupted into war. Elizabeth signed the [[Treaty of Nonsuch]] with the Dutch and permitted [[Francis Drake]] to maraud in response to a Spanish embargo. Drake surprised [[Vigo]], Spain, in October, then proceeded to the [[Caribbean]] and [[Battle of Santo Domingo (1586)|sacked Santo Domingo]] (the capital of Spain's American empire and the present-day capital of the Dominican Republic) [[Battle of Cartagena de Indias (1586)|and Cartagena]] (a large and wealthy port on the north coast of Colombia that was the centre of the silver trade). Philip II tried to invade England with the [[Spanish Armada]] in 1588 but was famously defeated.

The Armada was not just a naval campaign. The build-up of land forces to resist a Spanish invasion has been described as an administrative feat of massive scope. A survey taken in November and December 1587 showed 130,000 men in the militia, of whom 44,000 were members of the trained bands, being drilled and led by experienced captains and sergeants. By May 1588 the London bands were drilling weekly. To give warning of the enemy's approach, beacons were built, manned twenty-four hours a day by four men. Once the beacons were lit, 72,000 men could be mobilised on the south coast, with another 46,000 protecting London. For the many Englishmen caught up in the Armada the experience must have been very profound and frightening. Some shared the intimacy of beacon watching, hoping for the best, but ready to light their warning fires in case of the worst.<ref name=Carlton>{{cite book |last1=Carlton |first1=Charles |title=This Seat of Mars: War and the British Isles, 1485–1746 |url=https://archive.org/details/thisseatmarswarb00carl |url-access=limited |date=2011 |page=[https://archive.org/details/thisseatmarswarb00carl/page/n80 42]|publisher=Yale University Press |isbn=978-0-300-13913-6 }}</ref> [[Deloney]], a London silkweaver, played on their fears in his {{lang|enm|italic=no|"New Ballet [Ballad] on the strange whippes which the Spanyards had prepared to whippe English men"}} (1588).<ref name=Carlton/> The political philosopher [[Thomas Hobbes]] recalled that his mother was so frightened that she prematurely gave birth to twins, of whom he was one.<ref name=Carlton/> All were terrified about what might happen if the Spanish invaded.<ref name=Carlton/> Stories of the [[Sack of Antwerp]] in 1576, in which the Spanish led by [[Sancho d'Avila]] raped, tortured and murdered as many as 17,000 civilians, were grist for playwrights and pamphleteers such as [[George Gascoigne]] and [[Shakespeare]].<ref name=Carlton/> The former remembered seeing civilians at [[Antwerp]] drowned, burned, or with guts hanging out as if they had been used for an anatomy lesson.<ref name=Carlton/> Few Englishmen, women and children doubted they faced similar fates had the Armada landed.<ref name=Carlton/>

[[File:English Ships and the Spanish Armada, August 1588 RMG BHC0262.jpg|thumb|left| The Spanish Armada and English ships in August 1588, (unknown, 16th-century, English School)]]

====Foreign affairs====
In foreign policy, Elizabeth played against each other the major powers France and Spain, as well as the papacy and Scotland. These were all Catholic and each wanted to end Protestantism in England. Elizabeth was cautious in foreign affairs and only half-heartedly supported a number of ineffective, poorly resourced military campaigns in the Netherlands, France and Ireland. She risked war with Spain by supporting the "[[Elizabethan Sea Dogs|Sea Dogs]]", such as [[Walter Raleigh]], [[John Hawkins (naval commander)|John Hawkins]] and Sir [[Francis Drake]], who preyed on Spanish merchant ships carrying gold and silver from the New World. Drake himself became a hero—being the first [[Francis Drake's Circumnavigation|Englishman to circumnavigate the world]] between 1577 and 1580, having plundered Spanish settlements and treasure ships.

The [[Anglo-Spanish War (1585–1604)|major war came with Spain, 1585–1603]]. When Spain tried to invade and conquer England it was a fiasco, and the defeat of the [[Spanish Armada]] in 1588 associated Elizabeth's name with what is popularly viewed as one of the greatest victories in English history. Her enemies failed to combine and Elizabeth's foreign policy successfully navigated all the dangers.<ref>Charles Beem, ''The Foreign Relations of Elizabeth I'' (2011) [https://www.amazon.com/Foreign-Relations-Elizabeth-Queenship-Power/dp/0230112145/ excerpt and text search]</ref> The following year, an [[English Armada]], also known as the Counter Armada or the Drake–Norris Expedition, of a similar size to the Spanish one, was sent against Spain in order to drive home the advantage that England had gained. Led by [[Sir Francis Drake]] as admiral and [[John Norris (soldier)|Sir John Norris]] as general, it was however also a disaster.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Elliott |first1=J H |title=Europe Divided (1559–1598) |page=351 |date=1982 |publisher=Cornell University Press |isbn=978-84-8432-669-4}}</ref> In 1596, England sent their [[Capture of Cádiz|second Armada]] to Cádiz, led by [[Charles Howard, 1st Earl of Nottingham|Charles Howard]] and the [[Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex|Earl of Essex]] the campaign was a signal victory. In revenge, Spain sent their [[second Spanish Armada]] to England a few months later, but this was met with disaster by storms before it saw England. Undeterred, a [[third Armada]] was sent the following year but near the English coast another storm dispersed the fleet, losing more ships sunk or captured.<ref>{{citation |last=Bicheno |first=Hugh |title=Elizabeth's Sea Dogs: How England's Mariners Became the Scourge of the Seas |year=2012 |pages= 289–293|publisher=Conway |author-link= Hugh Bicheno |isbn=978-1-84486-174-3}}</ref>

The War ended with both sides seeking peace in order to stop the costly conflict with the [[Treaty of London, 1604|Treaty of London]] in 1604, which validated the [[status quo ante bellum]].<ref name="Morgan">Hiram Morgan, 'Teaching the Armada: An Introduction to the Anglo-Spanish War, 1585-1604', ''History Ireland'', Vol. 14, No. 5 (Sep. - Oct. 2006), p. 43.</ref><ref name=":1">Paul Allen, ''Philip III and the Pax Hispanica, 1598-1621'' (New Haven, 2000).</ref> It amounted to an acknowledgement by Spain that its hopes of restoring [[Roman Catholicism]] in England were at an end and it had to recognise the [[Protestant]] monarchy in England. In return, England ended its financial and military support for the Dutch rebellion, ongoing since the [[Treaty of Nonsuch]] (1585), and had to end its wartime disruption of Spanish trans-Atlantic shipping and colonial expansion.

===End of Tudor era===
In all, the [[Tudor period]] is seen as a decisive one which set up many important questions which would have to be answered in the next century and during the [[English Civil War]]. These were questions of the relative power of the monarch and Parliament and to what extent one should control the other. Some historians think that Thomas Cromwell affected a "Tudor Revolution" in government, and it is certain that Parliament became more important during his chancellorship. Other historians argue that the "Tudor Revolution" extended to the end of Elizabeth's reign, when the work was all consolidated. Although the [[Privy Council of England|Privy Council]] declined after Elizabeth's death, it was very effective while she was alive.

Elizabeth died in 1603 at the age of 69.

==17th century==
{{main|Early modern Britain}}

===Union of the Crowns===
[[File:JamesIEngland.jpg|thumb|[[King James I of England]]]]

When Elizabeth died, her closest male Protestant relative was the [[King of Scots]], [[James VI and I|James VI]], of the [[House of Stuart]], who became King James I of England in a [[Union of the Crowns]], called James I and VI. He was the first monarch to rule the entire island of Britain, but the countries remained separate politically. Upon taking power, James made peace with Spain, and for the first half of the 17th century, England remained largely inactive in European politics. Several assassination attempts were made on James, notably the [[Main Plot]] and [[Bye Plot]]s of 1603, and most famously, on 5 November 1605, the [[Gunpowder Plot]], by a group of Catholic conspirators, led by [[Robert Catesby]], which caused more antipathy in England towards Catholicism.

===Colonies===
{{further|English overseas possessions}}

In 1607 England built an [[Jamestown, Virginia|establishment at Jamestown]]. This was the beginning of colonialism by England in North America. Many English settled then in North America for religious or economic reasons. Approximately 70% of English immigrants to North America who came between 1630 and 1660 were [[indentured servant]]s. By 1700, [[Chesapeake Bay|Chesapeake]] planters transported about 100,000 indentured servants,<ref>"[https://web.archive.org/web/20030906153421/http://www.pbs.org/race/000_About/002_04-background-02-03.htm Africans, Slavery, and Race]". Public Broadcasting Service (PBS).</ref> who accounted for more than 75% of all European immigrants to Virginia and Maryland.<ref>"[http://www.virtualjamestown.org/essays/horn_essay.html Leaving England: The Social Background of Indentured Servants in the Seventeenth Century]", The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation.</ref>

===English Civil War===
{{further|English Civil War}}
[[File:Battle of Marston Moor 1644 by John Barker.png|thumb|First English Civil War at the Battle of Marston Moor, 1644]]
[[File:English civil war map 1642 to 1645.JPG|thumb|Maps of territory held by [[Cavalier|Royalists]] (red) and [[Roundhead|Parliamentarians]] (green) during the [[English Civil War]] (1642–1645)]]
[[File:King Charles I after original by van Dyck.jpg|thumb|[[Charles I of England|King Charles I]], who was beheaded in 1649]]
The [[First English Civil War]] broke out in 1642, largely due to ongoing conflicts between James' son, [[Charles I of England|Charles I]], and [[Parliament of England|Parliament]]. The defeat of the Royalist army by the [[New Model Army]] of Parliament at the [[Battle of Naseby]] in June 1645 effectively destroyed the king's forces. Charles surrendered to the Scottish army at Newark. He was eventually handed over to the English Parliament in early 1647. He escaped, and the [[Second English Civil War]] began, but the New Model Army quickly secured the country. The capture and trial of Charles led to the [[execution of Charles I]] in January 1649 at [[Whitehall]] Gate in London, making England a republic. This shocked the rest of Europe. The king argued to the end that only God could judge him.

The New Model Army, commanded by [[Oliver Cromwell]], then scored decisive victories against Royalist armies in Ireland and Scotland. Cromwell was given the title [[Lord Protector]] in 1653, making him 'king in all but name' to his critics. After he died in 1658, his son [[Richard Cromwell]] succeeded him in the office but he was forced to abdicate within a year. For a while it seemed as if a new civil war would begin as the New Model Army split into factions. Troops stationed in Scotland under the command of [[George Monck]] eventually marched on London to restore order.

According to [[Derek Hirst]], outside of politics and religion, the 1640s and 1650s saw a revived economy characterised by growth in manufacturing, the elaboration of financial and credit instruments, and the commercialisation of communication. The gentry found time for leisure activities, such as horse racing and bowling. In the high culture important innovations included the development of a mass market for music, increased scientific research, and an expansion of publishing. All the trends were discussed in depth at the newly established coffee houses.<ref>[[Derek Hirst]], "Locating the 1650s in England's seventeenth century" ''History'' (1996) 81#263 pp 359–83 [https://www.jstor.org/stable/24423269 online]</ref>

===Restoration of the monarchy===
[[File:Charles II by John Michael Wright.jpg|thumb| [[Charles II of England|King Charles II]] ]]
[[File:Great Fire London.jpg|thumb|The Great Fire London, 1666.]]

The monarchy was restored in 1660, with King [[Charles II of England|Charles II]] returning to London. However, the power of the crown was less than before the Civil War. By the 18th century, England rivaled the Netherlands as one of the freest countries in Europe.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Sandifer |first1=Preston |title=Perspectives on 17th Century West European History |date=2011 |publisher=McNash |location=New York |page=1229}}</ref>

In 1665, London was swept by the [[Great Plague of London|plague]], and in 1666 by the [[Great Fire of London|Great Fire]] for 5 days which destroyed about 15,000 buildings.

===Glorious Revolution===
In 1680, the [[Exclusion Crisis]] consisted of attempts to prevent accession of James, heir to Charles II, because he was Catholic. After Charles II died in 1685 and his younger brother, [[James II and VII]] was crowned, various factions pressed for his Protestant daughter [[Mary II of England|Mary]] and her husband [[William III of England|Prince William III of Orange]] to replace him in what became known as the [[Glorious Revolution]].

In November 1688, William [[William III of England#Invasion of England|invaded England]] and succeeded in being crowned. James tried to retake the throne in the [[Williamite War]], but was defeated at the [[Battle of the Boyne]] in 1690.

In December 1689, one of the most important constitutional documents in English history, the [[Bill of Rights 1689|Bill of Rights]], was passed.<ref name=vdk114>Van der Kiste, 114–115</ref> The Bill, which restated and confirmed many provisions of the earlier [[Declaration of Right, 1689|Declaration of Right]], established restrictions on the [[royal prerogative]]. For example, the Sovereign could not suspend laws passed by Parliament, levy taxes without parliamentary consent, infringe the right to petition, raise a standing army during peacetime without parliamentary consent, deny the right to bear arms to Protestant subjects, unduly interfere with parliamentary elections, punish members of either House of Parliament for anything said during debates, require excessive bail or inflict cruel and unusual punishments.<ref name="davies">[[Norman Davies|Davies, Norman]], ''The Isles: A History'' (1999) {{ISBN|0-19-513442-7}}, p.614.</ref> William was opposed to such constraints, but chose to avoid conflict with Parliament and agreed to the statute.<ref>Troost, 212–214</ref>

In parts of Scotland and Ireland, Catholics loyal to James remained determined to see him restored to the throne, and staged a series of bloody uprisings. As a result, any failure to pledge loyalty to the victorious King William was severely dealt with. The most infamous example of this policy was the [[Massacre of Glencoe]] in 1692. [[Jacobite rebellions]] continued into the mid-18th century until the son of the last Catholic claimant to the throne, [[James III and VIII]], mounted a [[Jacobite rising of 1745|final campaign in 1745]]. The Jacobite forces of Prince [[Charles Edward Stuart]], the "Bonnie Prince Charlie" of legend, were defeated at the [[Battle of Culloden]] in 1746.

==Formation of Great Britain and the United Kingdom==
The [[Acts of Union 1707|Acts of Union]] between the [[Kingdom of England]] and the [[Kingdom of Scotland]] were a pair of Parliamentary Acts passed by both parliaments in 1707, which dissolved them in order to form a [[Kingdom of Great Britain]] governed by a unified [[Parliament of Great Britain]] according to the [[Treaty of Union]]. The Acts joined the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Scotland (previously separate independent states, with separate legislatures but [[Personal union|with the same monarch]], starting with James I of England (also James VI of Scotland)) into a single kingdom.<ref>[http://www.parliament.uk/actofunion/ Welcome] parliament.uk. Retrieved 7 October 2008.</ref>

The two countries had shared a monarch since the [[Union of the Crowns]] in 1603, when [[King James VI of Scotland]] inherited the English throne from his double first cousin twice removed, Queen [[Elizabeth I]]. Although described as a Union of Crowns, until 1707 there were in fact two separate Crowns resting on the same head. There had been three attempts in 1606, 1667, and 1689 to unite the two countries by Acts of Parliament, but it was not until the early 18th century that the idea had the will of both political establishments behind them, albeit for rather different reasons.

The Acts took effect on 1 May 1707. On this date, the English Parliament and the Scottish Parliament united to form the Parliament of Great Britain, based in the [[Palace of Westminster]] in London, the home of the English Parliament.<ref>[[s:Act of Union 1707|Act of Union 1707]], Article 3</ref> Hence, the Acts are referred to as the '''Union of the Parliaments'''. On the Union, historian [[Simon Schama]] said "What began as a hostile merger, would end in a full partnership in the most powerful going concern in the world ... it was one of the most astonishing transformations in European history."<ref>{{cite episode |title=Britannia Incorporated|series= A History of Britain |series-link= Simon Schama's A History of Britain |credits= [[Simon Schama]] (presenter) |network= [[BBC One]] |airdate= 22 May 2001 |number=10 |minutes=3}}</ref>

In 1714 ended the reign of [[Anne, Queen of Great Britain|Queen Anne]], the last monarch of the [[House of Stuart]]. She was succeeded by her [[second cousin]], [[George I of Great Britain|George I]], of the [[House of Hanover]], who was a descendant of the Stuarts through his maternal grandmother, [[Elizabeth Stuart, Queen of Bohemia|Elizabeth]], daughter of [[James I of England|James VI & I]].<ref name="Lodge78">Lodge (1832), pp. 7–8</ref> A series of [[Jacobite rebellions]] broke out in an attempt to restore the Stuart monarchy, but failed. Several [[Invasion of Great Britain|planned French invasions]] were attempted, also with the intention of placing the Stuarts on the throne.
[[File:coaltub.png|160px|thumb|The first general laws against child labour, the [[Factory Acts]], were passed in Britain in the first half of the 19th century. Children younger than nine were not allowed to work and the work day of youth under the age of 18 was limited to twelve hours.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/education/resources/1833-factory-act/|title=1833 Factory Act|publisher=The National Archives|access-date=16 July 2014}}</ref>]]
The [[Acts of Union 1800|Act of Union of 1800]] formally assimilated Ireland within the British political process and from 1 January 1801 created a new [[Sovereign state|state]] called the [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland]], which united Great Britain with the [[Kingdom of Ireland]] to form a single political entity. The English parliament at Westminster became the parliament of the Union.

==Modern England, 18th–19th centuries==
{{Main|History of the United Kingdom}}

{{further|English society|History of local government in England#The evolution of modern local government (1832–1974)}}

Following the formation of Great Britain, the history of England is no longer the history of a sovereign nation, but rather the history of one of the [[countries of the United Kingdom]].

===Industrial Revolution===
{{main|Economic history of the United Kingdom}}

In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, technological advances and mechanisation resulted in the [[Industrial Revolution]] which transformed a largely agrarian society and caused considerable social upheaval. [[Economies of scale]] and increased output per worker allowed steam-based factories to undercut production of traditional cottage industries. Much of the agricultural workforce was uprooted from the countryside and moved into large urban centres of production. The consequent overcrowding into areas with little supporting infrastructure saw dramatic increases in mortality, crime, and social deprivation. (Many Sunday schools for pre-working-age children (5 or 6) had funeral clubs to pay for each other's funeral arrangements.) The process of industrialisation threatened many livelihoods, which prompted some to sabotage factories. These saboteurs were known as "[[Luddism|Luddites]]".

===Local governance===
{{further|History of local government in England}}
[[File:Microcosm of London Plate 009 - Billingsgate Market (tone).jpg|thumb|right|The [[Billingsgate Fish Market]] in London in the early 19th century]]
[[File:Louise Rayner Chester Eastgate Street.jpg|thumb|[[Chester]], {{circa| 1880}}]]
The [[Local Government Act 1888]] was the first systematic attempt to impose a standardised system of local government in England. The system was based on the existing counties (today known as the [[Historic counties of England|historic counties]], since the major boundary changes of 1974). Later, the [[Local Government Act 1894]] created a second tier of local government. All administrative counties and county boroughs were divided into either rural or urban districts, allowing more localised administration.

During the 1800s, the need for local administration greatly increased, prompting piecemeal adjustments. The sanitary districts and parish councils had legal status, but were not part of the mechanism of government. They were run by volunteers; often no-one could be held responsible for the failure to undertake the required duties. Furthermore, the increased "county business" could not be handled by the [[quarter sessions]], nor was this appropriate. Finally, there was a desire to see local administration performed by elected officials, as in the reformed municipal boroughs. By 1888, these shortcomings were clear, and the [[Local Government Act 1888|Local Government Act]] was the first systematic attempt to create a standardised system of local government in England.

The system was based on the existing counties (now known as the [[Historic counties of England|historic counties]], since the major boundary changes of 1974). The counties themselves had had some boundary changes in the preceding 50 years, mainly to remove enclaves and exclaves. The act called for the creation of statutory counties, based on the ancient/historic counties, but completely corrected for enclaves and exclaves, and adjusted so that each settlement was completely within one county. These statutory counties were to be used for non-administrative functions: ''"[[high sheriff|sheriff]], [[Lord-lieutenant|lieutenant]], [[custos rotulorum]], justices, militia, coroner, or other"''. With the advent of elected councils, the offices of lord lieutenant and sheriff became largely ceremonial.

The statutory counties formed the basis for the so-called 'administrative counties'. However, it was felt that large cities and primarily rural areas in the same county could not be well administered by the same body. Thus, 59 "counties in themselves", or 'county boroughs', were created to administer the urban centres of England. These were part of the statutory counties, but not part of the administrative counties.

[[Local Government Act 1894|In 1894, the Local Government Act]] created a second tier of local government. Henceforth, all administrative counties and county boroughs would be divided into either rural or urban districts, allowing more localised administration. The municipal boroughs reformed after 1835 were brought into this system as special cases of urban districts. The urban and rural districts were based on, and incorporated the [[sanitary district]]s which created in 1875 (with adjustments, so that districts did not overlap two counties).

The Act also provided for the establishment of [[civil parish]]es. The 1894 Act formed an official system of civil parishes, separated from the ecclesiastical parishes, to carry on some of these responsibilities (others being transferred to the district/county councils). However, the civil parishes were not a complete third tier of local government. Instead, they were 'community councils' for smaller, rural settlements, which did not have a local government district to themselves. Where urban parish councils had previously existed, they were absorbed into the new urban districts.

==20th and 21st centuries==
{{Main|Social history of Postwar Britain (1945–1979)|Political history of the United Kingdom (1979–present)}}

A prolonged agricultural depression in Britain at the end of the 19th century, together with the introduction in the 20th century of increasingly heavy levels of taxation on inherited wealth, put an end to agricultural land as the primary source of wealth for the upper classes. Many estates were sold or broken up, and this trend was accelerated by the introduction of protection for agricultural tenancies, encouraging outright sales, from the mid-20th century.

===General history and political issues===
[[File:Ve Day Celebrations in London, England, UK, 8 May 1945 D24586.jpg|thumb|[[Victory in Europe Day]] celebrations in London, 8 May 1945]]
Following years of political and military agitation for 'Home Rule' for Ireland, the Anglo-Irish treaty of 1921 established the [[Irish Free State]] (now the [[Republic of Ireland]]) as a separate state, leaving [[Northern Ireland]] as part of the United Kingdom. The country's official name thus became "The [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland]]".

England, as part of the UK, joined the [[European Economic Community]] in 1973, which became the [[European Union]] in 1993. The UK left the EU in 2020.

There is a movement in England to create a [[devolved English Parliament]]. This would give England a local Parliament like those already functioning for Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales. This issue is referred to as the [[West Lothian question]].

===Political history and local government===
{{Further|History of local government in England}}

A [[Local Government Commission for England (1958–1967)|Local Government Commission]] was wound up in 1966, and replaced with a Royal Commission (known as the [[Redcliffe-Maud Report|Redcliffe-Maud commission]]). In 1969 it recommended a system of single-tier [[unitary authorities]] for the whole of England, apart from three metropolitan areas of [[Merseyside]], [[Greater Manchester|Selnec]] (Greater Manchester) and [[West Midlands (county)|West Midlands]] ([[Birmingham]] and the [[Black Country]]), which were to have both a metropolitan council and district councils. This report was accepted by the [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour Party]] government of the time despite considerable opposition, but the [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative Party]] won the [[1970 United Kingdom general election|June 1970 general election]], and on a manifesto that committed them to a two-tier structure.

The reforms arising from the [[Local Government Act 1972|Local Government Act of 1972]] resulted in the most uniform and simplified system of local government which has been used in England. They effectively wiped away everything that had gone before, and built an administrative system from scratch. All previous administrative districts—statutory counties, administrative counties, county boroughs, municipal boroughs, counties corporate, civil parishes—were abolished.

The aim of the act was to establish a uniform two tier system across the country. Onto the blank canvas, new counties were created to cover the entire country; many of these were obviously based on the [[Historic counties of England|historic counties]], but there were some major changes, especially in the north.

This uniform two-tier system lasted only 12 years. In 1986, the metropolitan county councils and Greater London were abolished. This restored autonomy (in effect the old county borough status) to the metropolitan and London boroughs. The Local Government Act (1992) established a commission ([[Local Government Commission for England (1992)|Local Government Commission for England]]) to examine the issues, and make recommendations on where unitary authorities should be established. It was considered too expensive to make the system entirely unitary, and also there would doubtlessly be cases where the two-tier system functioned well. The commission recommended that many counties be moved to completely unitary systems; that some cities become unitary authorities, but that the remainder of their parent counties remain two-tier; and that in some counties the ''status quo'' should remain.

The [[rate-capping rebellion]] was a campaign within English local councils in 1985 which aimed to force the Conservative government of [[Margaret Thatcher]] to withdraw powers to restrict the spending of councils. The campaign's tactic was that councils whose budgets were restricted would refuse to set any budget at all for the financial year 1985–86, requiring the Government to intervene directly in providing local services, or to concede. However, all 15 councils which initially refused to set a rate eventually did so, and the campaign failed to change Government policy. Powers to restrict council budgets have remained in place ever since.

In 1997, the [[Lieutenancies Act 1997|Lieutenancies Act]] was passed. This firmly separated all local authority areas (whether unitary or two-tier), from the geographical concept of a county as high level spatial unit. The lieutenancies it established became known as [[ceremonial counties]], since they were no longer administrative divisions. The counties represent a compromise between the [[historic counties of England|historic counties]] and the counties established in 1974.

While the 1997 Labour government devolved power to [[Senedd Cymru – Welsh Parliament|Wales]], [[Scottish Parliament|Scotland]] and [[Northern Ireland Assembly|Northern Ireland]], it refused to create a devolved Assembly or [[Devolved English parliament|parliament for England]], planning instead to introduce eight regional assemblies around England to devolve power to the regions. In the event, only a [[London Assembly]] (and directly elected [[Mayor]]) was established. Rejection in a referendum of a proposed North-East Assembly in 2004 effectively scrapped those plans. A pre-condition of having a regional assembly was for the whole area to move to unitary authority status. Since the [[2005 United Kingdom general election|2005 general election]] the government has floated the idea of voluntary mergers of local councils, avoiding a costly reorganisation but achieving desired reform. For instance, the guiding principles of the government's "New Localism" demand levels of efficiency not present in the current over-duplicated two-tier structure.

===Recent changes===
In 2009, [[2009 structural changes to local government in England|new changes to local government]] were made whereby a number of new [[unitary authority|unitary authorities]] were created in areas which previously had a 'two-tier' system of [[Metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties of England|counties]] and [[Districts of England|districts]]. In five [[Non-metropolitan county|shire counties]] the functions of the county and district councils were combined into a single authority; and in two counties the powers of the county council were absorbed into a significantly reduced number of districts.

The abolition of [[regional development agency|regional development agencies]] and the creation of [[local enterprise partnership]]s were announced as part of the [[June 2010 United Kingdom budget]].<ref name="Budget June 2010">{{cite book | url=http://www.direct.gov.uk/prod_consum_dg/groups/dg_digitalassets/@dg/@en/documents/digitalasset/dg_188581.pdf | date=22 June 2010 | access-date=7 October 2010 | publisher=HM Treasury | author=Mark Hoban | title=Budget 2010 | archive-url=http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20121015000000/http://www.direct.gov.uk/prod_consum_dg/groups/dg_digitalassets/%40dg/%40en/documents/digitalasset/dg_188581.pdf | archive-date=15 October 2012 }}</ref> On 29 June 2010 a letter was sent from the [[Department of Communities and Local Government]] and the [[Department for Business, Innovation and Skills]] to local authority and business leaders, inviting proposals to replace regional development agencies in their areas by 6 September 2010.<ref name="DCLG 1626854">{{cite web | url= http://www.communities.gov.uk/localgovernment/local/localenterprisepartnerships/ | title= Local enterprise partnerships | publisher=Department of Communities and Local Government | date=29 June 2010 | access-date=7 October 2010 }}</ref>

On 7 September 2010, details were released of 56 proposals for [[local enterprise partnership]]s that had been received.<ref name="NDS 415344">{{cite news | url=http://nds.coi.gov.uk/content/Detail.aspx?ReleaseID=415344&NewsAreaID=2 | title=New Local Enterprise Partnerships criss-cross the country | publisher=Department for Business, Innovation and Skills | date=7 September 2010 | access-date=7 October 2010 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100913050625/http://nds.coi.gov.uk/content/Detail.aspx?ReleaseID=415344&NewsAreaID=2 | archive-date=13 September 2010 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.gov.uk/government/policies/supporting-economic-growth-through-local-enterprise-partnerships-and-enterprise-zones |title=Supporting economic growth through local enterprise partnerships and enterprise zones|publisher= gov.uk| access-date= 30 April 2013}}</ref> On 6 October 2010, during the Conservative Party Conference, it was revealed that 22 had been given the provisional 'green light' to proceed and others may later be accepted with amendments.<ref name="LGC 5020212">{{cite news | url=http://www.lgcplus.com/leps-22-bald-men-fighting-over-a-comb/5020212.blog | title=LEPs: 22 bald men fighting over a comb? | publisher=Local Government Chronicle | author=Allister Hayman | date=6 October 2010 | access-date=7 October 2010 }}</ref> Twenty-four bids were announced as successful on 28 October 2010.<ref name="sub-national">{{cite web | url=http://regenandrenewal.blogspot.com/2010/10/live-blog-sub-national-economic-growth.html | title=Live blog: Sub-national economic growth white paper | date=28 October 2010 | access-date=28 October 2010 }}</ref>

==See also==
{{Div col|colwidth=30em|rules=yes}}
* [[Parliament of England]]
* [[Parliament of the United Kingdom]]
* [[Monarchs of England]]
** [[English monarchs family tree]]
* [[Prime Minister of the United Kingdom]]
* [[List of rulers of the United Kingdom and predecessor states]]
{{Div col end}}

===Related historical overviews===
{{Div col|colwidth=30em|rules=yes}}
* [[Bretwalda]]
* [[Commonwealth of Nations]]
* [[Danelaw]]
* [[History of the foreign relations of the United Kingdom]]
* [[History of the British constitution]]
* [[History of the British Isles]]
* [[History of the United Kingdom]]
* [[History of Scotland]]
* [[History of Ireland]]
* [[History of Wales]]
* [[Kingdom of Great Britain]]
* [[Politics of the United Kingdom]]
* [[Administrative geography of the United Kingdom]]
* [[List of articles about local government in the United Kingdom]]
* [[Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics]]
{{Div col end}}

===Historical lists and timelines===
{{Div col|colwidth=30em|rules=yes}}
* [[List of British monarchs]], [[British monarchs' family tree]]
* [[Timeline of English history]]
* [[Timeline of British diplomatic history]]
* [[Historical and alternative regions of England]]
{{Div col end}}

===Overviews of significant historical eras===
{{Div col|colwidth=30em|rules=yes}}
* [[House of Plantagenet]]
* [[House of Lancaster]]
* [[House of York]]
{{Div col end}}
''Note: Be sure to check the box in the upper right corner of this entry, providing a list of all notable eras within the history of England.''

===Related English history topics===

====Societal overviews====
{{Div col|colwidth=30em|rules=yes}}
* [[English people]]
* [[Population of England]] – historical estimates
* [[Culture of England]]
* [[Politics of England]]
* [[Social history of England]]
{{Div col end}}

====Local government====
{{Div col|colwidth=30em|rules=yes}}
* [[History of local government in England]]
* [[2009 structural changes to local government in England]]
* [[Regions of England]]
* [[Subdivisions of England]]
* [[Unitary authorities of England]]
{{Div col end}}

====Historical subtopics====
{{Div col|colwidth=30em|rules=yes}}
* [[History of education in England]]
* [[History of the Jews in England]]
* [[Military history of England]]
* [[English nationalism]]
* [[Anglo-Saxon England]]
{{Div col end}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Sources==
* {{Citation |last=Maier |first=Christoph T. |title=Crusaders and Jews: The York Massacre of 1190 Revisited |date=2022 |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/anglonorman-studies-xliv/crusaders-and-jews-the-york-massacre-of-1190-revisited/D2B8B4113DC5412D28727F50A6E5966F |work=Anglo-Norman Studies XLIV: Proceedings of the Battle Conference 2021 |pages=105–120 |editor-last=Church |editor-first=Stephen D. |publisher=Boydell & Brewer |isbn=978-1-80010-631-4}}
* {{cite book |last1=Roth |first1=Cecil|author1-link=Cecil Roth |title=A history of the Jews in England |date=1964 |publisher=Clarendon Press |location=Oxford |isbn=978-0-19-822488-4 |edition=Second}}

==Further reading==
{{Refbegin|32em}}
* ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (2004) [http://www.oxforddnb.com/search/people/index.jsp online]; short scholarly biographies of all the major people
* Bédarida, François. ''A social history of England 1851–1990''. Routledge, 2013.
* [[Norman Davies|Davies, Norman]], ''The Isles, A History'' Oxford University Press, 1999, {{ISBN|0-19-513442-7}}.
* Black, Jeremy. ''A new history of England'' (The History Press, 2013).
* Broadberry, Stephen et al. ''British Economic Growth, 1270–1870'' (2015)
**  [https://www.jstor.org/stable/43966742 Review by Jeffrey G. Williamson online]
* Clapp, Brian William. ''An environmental history of Britain since the industrial revolution'' (Routledge, 2014)
* Clayton, David Roberts, and Douglas R. Bisson. ''A History of England'' (2 vol. 2nd ed. Pearson Higher Ed, 2013).
* Ensor, R. C. K.  ''England, 1870–1914'' (1936), comprehensive survey. [https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.49856 online]
* [[Simon Schama|Schama, Simon]], ''[[A History of Britain (TV series)|A History of Britain]]: At the Edge of the World, 3500&nbsp;BC – 1603&nbsp;AD'' BBC/Miramax, 2000 {{ISBN|0-7868-6675-6}}; TV series ''A History of Britain, Volume 2: The Wars of the British 1603–1776'' BBC/Miramax, 2001 {{ISBN|0-7868-6675-6}}; ''A History of Britain – The Complete Collection'' on DVD BBC 2002 {{OCLC|51112061}}
* Tombs, Robert, ''The English and their History'' (2014) 1040 pp [https://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/nov/17/the-english-and-their-history-review-robert-tombs-resounding-importance online review]
* [[George Macaulay Trevelyan|Trevelyan, G.M.]] ''Shortened History of England'' (Penguin Books 1942) {{ISBN|0-14-023323-7}} very well written; reflects perspective of 1930s; 595pp
* Woodward, E. L. ''The Age of Reform: 1815–1870'' (1954) comprehensive survey [https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.179823 online]
{{Refend}}

===Historiography===
{{Refbegin|32em}}
* Cannon, John. ''The Oxford Companion to British History'' (2nd ed. 2002) 1142pp
* Elton, G.R. ''Modern Historians on British History 1485–1945: A Critical Bibliography 1945–1969'' (1970) [https://www.amazon.com/dp/0415576679/ excerpt], highly useful bibliography of 1000+ scholarly books, articles and book reviews published before 1970.
* Furber, Elizabeth Chapin, ed. ''Changing Views on British History'' (1966)
* Loades, David, ed. ''Reader's Guide to British History'' (2 vol 2003), 1610pp
* Schlatter, Richard, ed. ''Recent Views on British History: Essays on Historical Writing Since 1966'' (1984)
{{Refend}}

===Primary sources===
{{Refbegin|32em}}
* ''English historical documents'' London: Methuen; 12 vol to 1957; reprinted 2011; the most comprehensive collection on political, constitutional, economic and social topics
** Douglas, David Charles. ed. ''English historical documents, 1042–1189'' (Vol. 2. Psychology Press, 1995, Reprint)
** Myers, Alec Reginald, ed. ''English historical documents. 4.[Late medieval]. 1327–1485'' (Vol. 4. Psychology Press, 1995, Reprint)
** Rothwell, Harry, ed. ''English Historical Documents: 1189–1327'' (Taylor & Francis, 1995, Reprint)
** Whitelock, Dorothy. ''English Historical Documents, 500–1042'' (Vol. 1. Psychology Press, 1996, Reprint)
** Williams, Charles H. ''English Historical Documents: Volume 5 1485–1558'' (Routledge, 1995, Reprint)
** Archer, Ian W., and F. Douglas Price, eds. ''English Historical Documents: 1558–1603'' (Routledge, 2011, reprint)
** Coward, Barry, and David Charles Douglas, eds. ''English historical documents. 5:[Early modern]:(B). 1603–1660'' (Routledge, 2010 reprint)
** Browning, Andrew. ed. ''English Historical Documents, 1660–1714'' (Vol. 6. Psychology Press, 1995, reprint)
** Horn, David Bayne, and Mary Ransome, eds. ''English historical documents, 1714–1783'' (Vol. 7. Routledge, 1996, reprint)
** Aspinall, Arthur. ed. ''English historical documents, 1783–1832'' (Vol. 8. Psychology Press, 1995, reprint)
** Handcock, William D., and George Malcolm Young. eds. ''English Historical Documents, 1833–1874'' (Vol. 9. Psychology Press, 1995, reprint)
** Douglas, D. C. ed. ''English historical documents, 1874–1914'' (Methuen 1995)
* Beard, Charles, ed. ''An introduction to the English historians''  (1906) excerpts
* Cheyney, Edward P. ''Readings in English History Drawn from the Original Sources Intended to Illustrate a Short History of England'' (1935), 850 pp. (strongest on political & constitutional topics)
* Harmer, Florence Elizabeth. ed. ''Select English historical documents of the ninth and tenth centuries'' (Cambridge University Press, 2011)
* Henderson, Ernest Flagg, ed. ''Select historical documents of the Middle Ages'' (1907) [https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=lang_en|lang_fr&id=wV5BAQAAMAAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PR5&dq=stubbs++historical+documents&ots=H6iBdcVRcf&sig=wR5aOigmAwGyk3acu_JdyCwLOm8 online]
* Leach, Arthur F. ed. ''Educational Charters and Documents 598 to 1909'' (1911) 640pp; [https://www.questia.com/library/1311511/educational-charters-and-documents-598-to-1909 online] over 400 pp. on Middle Ages
* [[Carl Stephenson (historian)|Stephenson, Carl]] and Frederick G. Marcham, eds. ''Sources of English Constitutional History'' (2nd ed. 1990)
* Stubbs, William, ed. ''Select charters and other illustrations of English constitutional history from the earliest times to the reign of Edward the First'' (Clarendon Press, 1870) [https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=lang_en|lang_fr&id=F7eHAAAAMAAJ online]
* Weiner, Joel H. ed. ''Great Britain Foreign Policy & Span of Empire, 1689–1971'' (4 Vol, 1983), 3425 pp.
* Wiener, Joel H. ed. ''Great Britain: the lion at home; a documentary history of domestic policy, 1689–1973'' (4 vol 1974), 1396 pp.
{{Refend}}

===External sources===
* [https://archive.today/20030904145427/http://exlibris.colgate.edu/help/findingprimarybritish.htm "Finding primary resources for modern British history"]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20171015212303/http://www.connectedhistories.org/Search_results.aspx?dtf=1500-01-01&dtt=1899-12-31&pc=london Connected Histories]
* <cite>Letters of the Kings of England, now first collected from the originals in royal archives, and from other authentic sources, private as well as public</cite> by J O Halliwell-Phillipps, London, H. Colburn, 1846. [https://archive.org/details/letterskingseng02hallgoog <!-- quote="Letters of the Kings of England". --> vol. 1] — [[Google Books]]

{{History of the British Isles|bar=yes}}
{{History of Europe}}
{{European history by country}}
{{England topics}}
{{United Kingdom topics}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:History Of England}}
[[Category:History of England| ]]
[[Category:History of the United Kingdom by topic]]