Key Events: Great Britain

DATE

EVENT

c. 8000 BC	End of Ice Age; retreat of ice caps and rise in sea level creates British Isles.
c. 4000 BC	Mesolithic cultures superseded by Neolithic cultures from continental Europe.
c. 3000 BC	Iberian (Long Skull) groups farming in southern England.
c. 2800 BC	Avebury Circle built.
c. 2200 BC	Beaker Folk cultures established in Britain, introducing copper forging and farming improvements. Most important phase of construction at Stonehenge.
c. 650 BC	Invasion of British Isles by Celts, bringing Iron Age technology and Druidic religion. Hill forts built.

DATE

EVENT

55-54 BC	Expeditions of Julius Caesar to Britain.
AD 43	Emperor Claudius initiated Roman conquest of Britain.
49	Roman London founded.
60	Boudicca's revolt against Roman rule.
70-84	Conquest of Wales and Scotland.
122-133	Construction of Hadrian's Wall.
140-142	Construction of Antonine Wall.
155	Major Pictish attacks breached Roman walls.
211	Roman campaign pacified Caledonia.
306	Constantine the Great proclaimed emperor in York.
409	Last Roman troops withdrew from Britain. Irish tribes (Scoti) harassed England and Wales.
c. 430	Christian presence in Ireland.

DATE

EVENT

449	Anglo-Saxon invasions began in force.
461	Death of St Patrick.
c. 500	Invasion of Scotland by Celts from Ireland.
c. 550	Angles overran lowland Scotland.
563	St Columba arrived in Scotland from Ireland.
590	Ethelbert made King of the Britons.
596	Pope Gregory I sent missionaries under Augustine of Canterbury to Britain.
597	Ethelbert welcomed Augustine's mission and was baptized.
664	Synod of Whitby unified English Christianity.
685	Picts in Scotland defeated the invading Northumbrians.
757	Offa became king of Mercia.
c. 790	First Danish raids.
825	Conquest by Egbert of south-east England.
841-846	Kenneth I conquered Pictish kingdom and became first king of Scotland.
870	Major Danish invasions. St Edmund murdered.
871	Accession of Alfred the Great as King of Wessex.
878	Alfred defeated Danes at Edington; creation of Danelaw.
937	Victory of Athelstan over Norse and allies at Brunanburh.
960	St Dunstan became Archbishop of Canterbury and restored church.
978	Accession of Ethelred II the Unready.
1002	Brian Boru acknowledged chief king of Ireland.
1014	Deposition of Ethelred by Sweyn I of Denmark. Irish forces led by King Brian Boru permanently broke Viking power in Ireland in Battle of Clontarf.
1016	Canute II defeated Edward II Ironside and incorporated Britain into his Scandinavian empire.
1018	Malcolm II of Scotland defeated Northumbrians in Battle of Carham, securing whole territory of Scotland.
1034	Accession of Duncan I of Scotland.
1040	Murder of Duncan I by Macbeth.
1042	Accession of Edward the Confessor.
1057	Macbeth deposed and killed by Duncan I's son, later Malcolm III of Scotland; Anglicization of Scottish institutions.
1062	Harold Godwinson (later Harold II) invaded Wales.

DATE

EVENT

1066	Harold II succeeded Edward. Norman Conquest, death of Harold and accession of William I. Wholesale reform of English and Welsh society; introduction of feudalism.
1086	Domesday Book survey conducted.
1087	Accession of William II Rufus.
1094	Welsh revolted against Normans and liberated much of Wales.
1097	Accession of Edgar I of Scotland; Anglicization of Scottish institutions accelerated.
1100	Accession of Henry I.
1117	First establishment of University of Oxford.
1135	Stephen of Blois seized throne; civil war in England.
1153	Invasion of England by Henry Plantagenet.

DATE

EVENT

1154	Death of Stephen; Henry acceded as Henry II, first Plantagenet king of England.
1162	Thomas à Becket was appointed Archbishop of Canterbury.
1164	Henry II presented Constitutions of Clarendon to Becket, who repudiated them, instigating Church-State crisis.
1169	Dermot MacMurrough, exiled king of Leinster, invaded Ireland with Norman English mercenaries.
1170	Martyrdom of Thomas à Becket.
1172	Henry II accepted homage of Norman leaders in Ireland and authorized their conquest of further Irish territories; he was reconciled with papacy over Becket's death.
1173	Rebellion of Henry II's sons.
1174	William the Lion of Scotland was taken prisoner and forced to swear fealty to English monarchy.
1189	Accession of Richard I. Richard surrendered English claims over Scotland.
1190	Richard I left England for Crusades.
1192	Richard imprisoned by Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV.
1194	Richard released and returned to England; reconciled with John; left England for campaigns in France.
1199	Accession of King John.
1204	John lost Normandy.
1209	Foundation of University of Cambridge.
1210	John led expedition to Ireland to subdue rebellious Norman Irish lords.
1215	John was forced by barons to accept Magna Carta.
1216	Accession of child Henry III.
1220	Building of Salisbury Cathedral began.
1227	Henry III declared of age.
1237	Alexander II of Scotland renounced Scottish claims to Northumbrian lands; Peace of York established Anglo-Scots border.
1258	Barons imposed Provisions of Oxford on Henry, forcing him to submit government to their supervision.
1264	Outbreak of war between Henry III and barons led by Simon de Montfort; Henry captured.
1265	Battle of Evesham: death of Simon de Montfort, liberation of Henry.
1266	Alexander III of Scotland recovered Isle of Man and Hebrides from Norway.
1267	Llywelyn ab Gruffudd secured recognition from all Welsh principalities as Prince of Wales.
c.1270	Roger Bacon wrote early scientific masterpiece Opus Majus.
1272	Accession of Edward I.
1273	Llywelyn ab Gruffudd, Prince of Wales, refused to pay homage to Edward I of England.
1276	Edward invaded Wales and forced Llewellyn to accept fealty.
1278	Roger Bacon arrested for heresy, and reading of his works was banned.
1282	Llywelyn ab Gruffudd rebelled against English but was killed by invading English army under Edward.
1283	Llywelyn's brother David ab Gruffudd killed.
1284	Wales made English principality; castles built to control Welsh territory.
1286	Death of Alexander III of Scotland left 13 claimants to Scottish throne; Edward I of England intervened to press claims of John de Balliol.
1292	Edward led army into Scotland and proclaimed John de Balliol king of Scotland.
1295	Model Parliament assembled nobility, clergy, and representatives of shires and boroughs. John de Balliol allied with France and Norway against England.
1296	Edward defeated John de Balliol at Battle of Dunbar and annexed Scotland.
1297	Sir William Wallace led Scottish uprising against Edward and defeated English army at Battle of Stirling Bridge.
1298	Edward led fresh army into Scotland and defeated Wallace at Battle of Falkirk; Wallace retreated to mountains to wage guerrilla war.
1301	Edward proclaimed his son Edward Prince of Wales. John Duns Scotus became professor of divinity at Oxford University.
1305	Wallace betrayed to English and executed.
1306	Robert Bruce crowned Robert I of Scotland and led national uprising against English.
1307	Accession of Edward II.
1311	Barons forced Edward's agreement to supervision by committee of 21 Lords Ordainers.
1312	Edward's favourite Piers Gaveston executed.
1314	Battle of Bannockburn: English disastrously defeated, Scotland's independence preserved.
1322	Edward threw off Lords Ordainers' control: repeal of 1311 ordinances confirmed that all English parliamentary legislation depended on approval by king and parliament
1326	Edward's queen Isabella invaded England with baronial forces led by Roger Mortimer. Meeting of first Scottish parliament.
1327	Edward deposed in favour of his son, Edward III, and murdered in Berkeley Castle, Gloucestershire.
1328	Scotland's independence acknowledged by England in Treaty of Northampton, approved by Edward III's regents.
1330	Edward III seized power: Roger Mortimer killed, Isabella imprisoned.
1332	Pretender Edward de Balliol invaded Scotland and seized throne, before being evicted again.
1333	Edward invaded Scotland; English victory at Halidon Hill and occupation of south-eastern Scotland.
1337	Hundred Years' War with France began over French aid for Scotland and Edward's claim on French throne.
1340	English victory in sea fight at Sluis against French.
1341	Scots liberated Edinburgh and most occupied areas of south-eastern Scotland.
1346	English invasion of France and victory at Battle of Crécy. David II of Scotland led invasion of England, but defeated and captured at Battle of Neville's Cross.
1347	English captured French port of Calais.
1349	Outbreak of Black Death in Britain; population reduced by around 30 per cent.
1351	Statute of Labourers enforced wage rates on English peasants and workers.
1356	English victory against French at Battle of Poitiers: Edward the Black Prince captured John II of France and brought him back to England. Edward de Balliol surrendered Scotland to English.
1357	David II of Scotland released in return for huge ransom.
1360	Peace of Brétigny awarded Aquitaine to England; Edward III renounced claim to French throne.
1362	Edward the Black Prince made Prince of Aquitaine.
1366	Norman Irish parliament passed Statute of Kilkenny in vain attempt to halt assimilation of Irish Normans.
1367	Black Prince led expedition to Spain to restore Peter the Cruel.
1374	Aquitaine lost to French.
1376	Black Prince and parliament curbed influence of king's brother John of Gaunt on government; death of Black Prince.
1377	Accession of Richard II as a minor.
1378	John Wycliffe and associates made English translation of Vulgate (Latin Bible).
1380	Wycliffe sent out Poor Preachers to spread his beliefs.
1381	Peasants' Revolt: uprising under Wat Tyler quickly suppressed with personal intervention by Richard.
1382	John Wycliffe condemned as heretic by Archbishop of Canterbury and forced into retirement.
1388	Appearance and dissemination of Wycliffe's English Bible. Richard's courtiers attacked by powerful barons (Lords Appellant). Battle of Otterburn ended in Scots defeat.
1389	Richard declared himself of age; took control with help of John of Gaunt.
1394	Richard led English expedition to subdue Ireland.
1397	Richard executed and imprisoned principal Lords Appellant; John of Gaunt's son Henry Bolingbroke exiled.
1399	Richard led second Irish expedition, and was captured on his return by forces of Bolingbroke, and forced to abdicate in favour of Bolingbroke, now Henry IV; accession of House of Lancaster.
1400	Deposed Richard died in prison at Pontefract Castle. Rebellion of Welsh under Owain Glyn Dwr.
1402	Scots forces defeated by English at Homildon Hill.
1403	Percy family in the north rebelled under Sir Henry Percy (Hotspur); defeated at Battle of Shrewsbury.
1405	Prince Henry (later Henry V) defeated Owain Glyn Dwr.
1406	English captured Prince James of Scotland, who succeeded his father Robert III later in the year.
1410	Prince Henry took control of royal council during king's illness.
1413	Accession of Henry V.
1414	Sir John Oldcastle's Lollard rising against Henry.
1415	English won Battle of Agincourt against French.
1417	English invaded Normandy.
1419	Capture of Rouen completed English conquest of Normandy.
1420	Treaty of Troyes gave Henry right of succession to Charles VI of France and hand of his daughter, Catherine of Valois.
1421	French uprising against English rule in Normandy; Henry returned to France for fresh campaign.
1422	Accession of Henry VI as minor.
1423	English released James I of Scotland.
1424	James I returned to Scotland and was formally crowned.
1429	St Joan of Arc led French to victory against English at Orléans. James I of Scoland forced Scots nobility to submit to royal control.
1431	St Joan burned as a heretic at Rouen by the English after her capture and interrogation.
1437	James I of Scotland murdered.
1450	French completed liberation of Normandy from English control.
1453	French forces overran Gascony; temporary insanity of Henry VI.
1455	Outbreak of the Wars of the Roses: defeat of Henry's Lancastrian forces at St Albans by those of rival claimant to the throne, Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York.
1460	Lancastrian forces defeated at Northampton; Richard of York killed at Battle of Wakefield.
1461	Richard's son Edward defeated Lancastrians at Battle of Mortimer's Cross; proclaimed Edward IV by parliament. Henry VI deposed; accession of House of York.
1464	Henry returned from exile in Scotland to join rebellion against Edward.
1465	Henry captured and imprisoned in Tower of London.
1469	Rebellion of prominent nobles against Edward.
1470	Edward temporarily deposed; Henry restored to throne; brief Lancastrian revival.
1471	Edward returned and recovered throne; death of Henry VI; remaining Lancastrian opposition crushed.
1477	William Caxton produced first book printed in England.
1483	Accession of Edward V; deposed by Richard III and murdered.

DATE

EVENT

1485	Death of Richard III at Battle of Bosworth Field, extinction of House of York and Plantagenet dynasty. Henry Tudor, Earl of Richmond, made Henry VII.
1487	Abortive anti-Tudor rebellion under Lambert Simnel; Henry reorganized Court of Star Chamber.
1488	Murder of James III of Scotland.
1494	Henry VII appointed Sir Edward Poynings as viceroy in Ireland; Parliament of Drogheda reduced power of Norman Irish nobility and subordinated Irish parliament to English crown.
1497	Pretender Perkin Warbeck invaded England and was captured by Henry's forces.
1503	James IV of Scotland married Margaret Tudor, daughter of Henry VII of England.
1509	Accession of Henry VIII, who married his brother's widow Catherine of Aragón by special papal dispensation.
1511	Henry joined Holy League against France.
1513	Successful English expedition to northern France. James IV of Scotland led invasion of England to assist French allies, but was killed and his army routed at Battle of Flodden Field.
1514	Henry married his sister Mary to Louis XII of France and arranged French alliance.
1515	Thomas Wolsey appointed Lord Chancellor of England.
1520	Henry's meeting with Francis I of France in magnificently staged Field of Cloth of Gold.
1522	Henry renewed hostilities with France.
1525	Riots in England against further taxation for military purposes; Henry made peace with France.
1527	Henry announced intention to divorce Catherine of Aragón, who failed to produce a male heir.
1528	Pope Clement VII appointed Wolsey to hear Henry's case against Catherine of Aragón in England.
1529	Wolsey forced into failed appeal to Rome in Henry's divorce case and was stripped of titles and estates; Sir Thomas More appointed Lord Chancellor in his place.
1530	Wolsey died on his way to London to face treason charges.
1532	English clergy compelled to acknowledge Henry as head of church in England.
1533	Thomas Cranmer appointed Archbishop of Canterbury and declared Henry's marriage to Catherine of Aragón void; Henry married Anne Boleyn. Thomas Cromwell made Chancellor: instigated Tudor 'revolution in government'.
1534	Act of Supremacy declared Henry VIII head of Church of England.
1535	Introduction of English translation of Bible by Miles Coverdale into England; Sir Thomas More and Cardinal John Fisher executed.
1536	Dissolution of the monasteries; Pilgrimage of Grace from northern England in protest. Anne Boleyn executed on charges of incest and adultery; Henry married Jane Seymour. First Act of Union formally united Welsh Marches and England.
1537	Jane Seymour died after giving birth to Prince Edward.
1540	Cromwell arranged Henry's marriage alliance with Germany through Anne of Cleves, but he soon divorced her and married Catherine Howard. Cromwell executed.
1541	Irish parliament acknowledged Henry as King of Ireland.
1542	James V of Scotland invaded England but was defeated at Battle of Solway Moss. Henry executed Catherine Howard for unchastity and adultery. Second Act of Union completed English incorporation of Wales.
1543	War with France recommenced. Henry married Catherine Parr.
1544	English forces captured Boulogne from French.
1546	Execution of Scottish religious reformer George Wishart in St Andrews.
1547	Accession of Edward VI. English defeated Scots at Battle of Pinkie.
1549	First English Book of Common Prayer.
1551	Scottish religious reformer John Knox appointed royal chaplain in England.
1552	Preparation of articles of religion of Church of England; later reduced to Thirty-Nine Articles.
1553	Accession of Mary I. Abortive attempt by John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland, to secure accession of Lady Jane Grey. John Knox fled to Geneva.
1554	Restoration of papal supremacy in England; Cranmer arrested and forced into recantations. Lady Jane Grey beheaded. Mary married Philip II of Spain. Sir Thomas Wyatt led abortive rebellion in favour of Princess Elizabeth, who was imprisoned on false accusations of complicity.
1555	Start of Mary's persecution of English Protesedants. Nicholas Ridley and Hugh Latimer burned at stake.
1556	Cranmer burned as heretic, affirming Protestant beliefs; Reginald Pole appointed Archbishop of Canterbury.
1557	England joined in war with France at Philip's insistence.
1558	Calais lost to French. Death of Mary and Reginald Pole; accession of Elizabeth I.
1559	Elizabeth's first parliament convened and began passage of Elizabethan Compromise, establishing Anglican doctrine. Treaty of Cateau-Cambrésis concluded war with France. John Knox led Scottish Protestant revolt against French regency of Mary Queen of Scots.
1560	Protestant Confession of Faith, written by Knox, accepted by Scottish parliament. New English standard coinage issued. Mysterious death of Amy Robsart, wife of Elizabeth's favourite Robert Dudley.
1561	Mary Queen of Scots returned to Scotland.
1564	Robert Dudley created Earl of Leicester.
1565	Mary married her cousin Henry Stewart, Lord Darnley.
1566	Royal Exchange opened in London. Darnley arranged murder of Mary's secretary David Rizzio.
1567	Darnley murdered and Mary married James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell; outraged Scots nobles defeated Mary's forces at Carberry Hill; Mary forced to abdicate in favour of her son James VI.
1568	Mary escaped from prison at Lochleven, was defeated by James VI's regents, and fled to English court.
1569	Abortive Catholic Northern Rebellion against Elizabeth.
1570	Papacy issued bull excommunicating and deposing Elizabeth.
1572	William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley, made Lord High Treasurer of England.
1573	Rebellion in Ireland.
1577	Sir Francis Drake departed Plymouth on mission against Spanish in Pacific Ocean.
1578	Sir Walter Raleigh sailed to America.
1580	Arrival of first clandestine Jesuit missionaries in England. Sir Francis Drake returned, having circumnavigated the world. Raleigh helped suppress uprising in Ireland.
1581	James VI of Scotland threw off regents and took control of government.
1582	James VI kidnapped by Scottish Protestant nobles and compelled to sign Presbyterian covenant.
1583	James VI escaped from captivity.
1585	Elizabeth sent Leicester with expedition to assist Netherlands revolt against Spain. Drake sailed against Spanish American possessions and brought tobacco back to England. Raleigh sponsored failed English colony in America at Roanoke Island.
1586	Plot by Anthony Babington, page of Mary Queen of Scots, to assassinate Elizabeth discovered; Mary implicated and sentenced to death for conspiracy against Elizabeth. Battle of Zutphen in Netherlands, death of Sir Philip Sidney.
1587	Elizabeth signed warrant of execution for Mary Queen of Scots, who was beheaded. Sir Francis Drake burned Spanish fleet in harbour of Cádiz.
1588	Spanish Armada sailed to invade England, but was routed by English naval action and storms.
1590	First volumes of Edmund Spenser's The Faerie Queene published.
1591	Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, led English forces to assist Henry IV of France against Spain. William Byrd's My Lady Nevells Booke published.
1596	Essex commanded victorious English expedition against Cádiz. Death of Sir Francis Drake in abortive expedition against Spanish West Indies.
1598	Building of Globe Theatre began.
1599	Irish rebellion: Essex despatched as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland and was defeated at Arklow, then made private peace with rebels and returned to London to lead abortive conspiracy against Elizabeth. William Shakespeare's company investigated but cleared of complicity.
1600	Essex stripped of titles and estates. East India Company chartered. Abortive Gowrie conspiracy against James VI led to repression of extreme Protestants in Scotland.
1601	Essex beheaded for inciting insurrection. Spanish landings in Ireland; Hugh O'Neill defeated by English forces at Kinsale.

DATE

EVENT

1603	Accession of James VI of Scotland as James I of England. Hugh O'Neill formally submitted to England. Sir Walter Raleigh sentenced to death, but sentence commuted to imprisonment.
1604	James convened Hampton Court Conference, authorizing new translation of Bible (King James version). War with Spain ended.
1605	Gunpowder Plot discovered. Francis Bacon's Advancement of Learning published.
1606	London and Plymouth Companies chartered to colonize America.
1607	James's plans for union of England and Scotland failed. Irish chieftains fled to Rome, and their lands were confiscated by the English crown.
1610	First British East India Company factories established in Madras (now Chennai).
1611	King James Bible published.
1613	James's daughter Elizabeth married Protestant Frederick V, Elector of the Palatine.
1616	Death of William Shakespeare. Raleigh led abortive expedition to Guiana.
1618	James's favourite George Villiers made Marquess of Buckingham. Raleigh beheaded.
1619	Frederick V chosen as King of Bohemia.
1620	Frederick deposed as King of Bohemia, and forced into exile with Elizabeth. Pilgrim Fathers crossed to America. Francis Bacon's Novum Organum published.
1623	Buckingham attempted to arrange marriage of James's heir Prince Charles to Spanish infanta, and received dukedom. First Folio of Shakespeare's plays published.
1624	Height of Buckingham's ascendancy. War declared against Spain.
1625	Accession of Charles I, who maintained Buckingham's ascendancy.
1626	Charles dissolved parliament to protect Buckingham from impeachment.
1627	Buckingham led failed expedition to relieve Protestants besieged at Île de Ré, France.
1628	Buckingham assassinated. Parliament presented Petition of Right to Charles in protest against irregular taxes to finance wars. William Harvey published work on blood circulation. First volume of Sir Edward Coke's Institutes of the Laws of England published.
1629	Charles dismissed parliament and arrested some MPs.
1632	Sir Thomas Wentworth appointed Lord Deputy of Ireland.
1633	William Laud became Archbishop of Canterbury.
1637	Riots in St Giles Cathedral, Edinburgh, over Laud's attempt to introduce revised prayer book in Scotland triggered national Protestant uprising.
1638	Scots Protestant lords formed Solemn League and Covenant; Scottish General Assembly defied Charles and rejected Anglican bishops.
1639	First Bishops' War: Charles failed to subdue Scotland; new Scottish parliament repeated earlier rejections. Sir Thomas Wentworth returned to England and became Charles' chief counsellor.
1640	Wentworth made 1st Earl of Strafford. Charles summoned, then dismissed, Short Parliament. Second Bishops' War: Scots invaded England and defeated Charles's army at Newburn. Charles summoned Long Parliament: impeachment of Strafford and Laud.
1641	Abolition of prerogative courts and arbitrary taxation. Charles visited Scotland; plot against leading Covenanters. Strafford executed. Uprising of Catholics in Ireland, massacres of Protestant settlers. Parliament issued Grand Remonstrance calling for further powers.

DATE

EVENT

1642	Charles attempted to arrest John Pym and four other parliamentarians, then withdrew from London. First English Civil War began: inconclusive Battle of Edgehill.
1643	Royalists took south-west England; Charles agreed peace with Irish to liberate more forces, but thrown back from Gloucester and Yorkshire. Parliamentarians appealed to Scots; Solemn League and Covenant promised Scottish help in return for extension of Presbyterianism to England.
1644	Scottish army entered England; Parliamentarians victorious at Battle of Marston Moor.
1645	Self-Denying Ordinance removed old parliamentary leadership from army command. Oliver Cromwell raised New Model Army and crushed Royalists at Battle of Naseby. Royalist uprising of Scottish Highland clans under James Graham, Marquess of Montrose, defeated. Archbishop Laud beheaded. 'Clubmen' defended regions against troops of both sides.
1646	Charles surrendered to Scottish army; end of First Civil War. Anglican episcopal system and Book of Common Prayer abolished. Scots left England.
1647	Army resisted parliamentary measures and put terms for renewed royal power ('Heads of the Proposals') to Charles, who refused and fled to Isle of Wight, where he was imprisoned in Carisbrooke Castle. End of alliance between Irish Catholics and lords of the Pale.
1648	Charles negotiated secretly with Scots, promising to embrace Presbyterianism. Second Civil War: Scots invasion supported by popular anti-Parliamentarian risings, all defeated by New Model Army; Battle of Preston. Pride's Purge by army removed moderates from Long Parliament (henceforth Rump Parliament). James Butler, 12th Earl of Ormonde, secured Ireland for Charles.
1649	Charles tried and executed; English Commonwealth established, Oliver Cromwell led English army to suppress Irish royalists: massacre of populations of Drogheda and Wexford, and land confiscations by Protestants.
1650	Cromwell crushed Scots at Battle of Dunbar.
1651	Charles II accepted Scottish crown at Scone; his forces crushed at Battle of Worcester, completing Cromwell's subjugation of Scotland. First Navigation Act passed, confining trade with English colonies to English ships.
1652	First Anglo-Dutch War began.
1653	Cromwell dissolved Rump Parliament and replaced it with Barebone's Parliament, then dissolved this and became Lord Protector.
1654	England victorious in First Anglo-Dutch War.
1655	Penruddock's Rising: abortive Royalist insurrection in favour of Charles. Jamaica conquered from Spain.
1657	Cromwell refused offer of throne in 'Humble Petition and Advice'.
1658	Death of Cromwell; succeeded by his son Richard Cromwell.
1659	Army toppled Richard Cromwell, Rump Parliament restored. Growing calls for restoration.

DATE

EVENT

1660	General George Monck forced dissolution of Rump Parliament; Long Parliament reconvened and voted own dissolution. Charles returned to England. Samuel Pepys began his diary.
1661	Coronation of Charles II. Cavalier Parliament led reaction against Puritan legacy.
1662	Restoration of Church of England; Parliament and intransigent Puritans failed to compromise; Act of Uniformity imposed Anglicanism; persecution of Scots Covenanters. Incorporation by charter of the Royal Society.
1663	Parliament defeated Charles's attempt to secure toleration for Puritans and Catholics.
1664	Dutch surrendered New Amsterdam (later New York) to English.
1665	Second Anglo-Dutch War began. Last major outbreak of plague. 'Clarendon Code' of anti-Nonconformist legislation completed.
1666	Great Fire of London.
1667	Dutch successes forced end to Second Anglo-Dutch War; collapse of ministry of Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon. Publication of John Milton's Paradise Lost.
1668	Charles formed Triple Alliance with Sweden and Netherlands against France.
1669	First great meeting of Society of Friends (Quakers) under George Fox.
1670	Charles concluded secret Treaty of Dover with Louis XIV of France. Hudson's Bay Company incorporated.
1672	Third Anglo-Dutch War began because of Charles's secret alliance with Louis XIV. Royal Africa Company incorporated to control slave trade between Africa and the Americas.
1673	Parliament passed Test Acts in reaction to Charles's attempt to secure toleration for Catholics.
1674	Third Anglo-Dutch War ended.
1678	Titus Oates 'revealed' Popish Plot: execution of implicated Catholics.
1679	Exclusion Crisis began over moves by Whig party to exclude Catholic James, Duke of York, from royal succession; Charles dissolved parliament. John Graham, Viscount of Dundee, eradicated Covenanters.
1682	Charles founded Chelsea Hospital.
1683	Rye House Plot to assassinate Charles and James, Duke of York, uncovered: Lord William Russell and Algernon Sidney executed.
1684	Charles's son by Nell Gwyn created Duke of St Albans.
1685	Accession of James II: Monmouth's Rebellion under Charles's illegitimate son James Scott, Duke of Monmouth, failed.
1687	Declaration of Indulgence in favour of Catholics. Isaac Newton's Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica published.

DATE

EVENT

1688	Birth of James's son raised prospect of Catholic royal dynasty. Glorious Revolution: William of Orange and James's Protestant daughter Mary drove James out of England.
1689	William and Mary accepted English crown and Bill of Rights as William III and Mary II; Toleration Act in favour of Protestant Nonconformists; Scottish parliament accepted William and Mary. Richard Talbot, Earl of Tyrconnel, raised Ireland for James, and restored land to Catholics. England joined League of Augsburg against France. British East India Company established 'presidencies' to rule areas of Bengal, Madras (now Chennai), and Bombay (now Mumbai). Nine Years' War with France began. Vain victory of James II's supporters in Scotland at Battle of Killiecrankie.
1690	James's invasion of Ireland with French support defeated at Battle of the Boyne. English forces retired after siege of Limerick. New British East India Company factory established at Calcutta. French naval victory over British at Battle of Beachy Head. Scottish bishoprics abolished.
1691	English forces defeated Irish army at Battle of Aughrim; Limerick capitulated. Treaty of Limerick allowed some toleration for Irish Catholics.
1692	Massacre of Glencoe: MacDonald clan massacred by Campbells with government complicity as an example to Scottish clans. Attempted French invasion of England failed.
1694	Incorporation of the Bank of England; Mary died of smallpox.
1697	Peace of Ryswick concluded Nine Years' War: Louis XIV recognized William as English sovereign.
1701	Outbreak of War of the Spanish Succession; William led second Grand Alliance against France; Act of Settlement conferred English royal succession on Protestant descendants of the House of Hanover (failing a Protestant Stuart heir). Jethro Tull developed seed drill.
1702	Accession of Queen Anne.
1704	John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, crushed Franco-Bavarian army at Battle of Blenheim; English captured Gibraltar from Spain.
1705	Thomas Newcomen developed steam pumping engine.
1706	Marlborough defeated French at Ramillies.
1707	Act of Union formally combined England and Scotland; Scottish parliament dissolved.
1708	Marlborough and Eugene of Savoy defeated French at Oudenarde. Minorca seized from Spain. Jacobite rebellion in Scotland.
1709	Marlborough and Eugene defeated French at Battle of Malplaquet.
1713	Peace of Utrecht ended War of Spanish Succession.

DATE

EVENT

1714	Accession of George I; Henry St John, 1st Viscount Bolingbroke, fled to France after intriguing in favour of Stuart restoration under the Old Pretender, James Francis Edward Stuart.
1715	Abortive Jacobite uprising of nobles in Scotland and northern England in favour of the Old Pretender. Robert Walpole became Chancellor of the Exchequer. First volumes of Alexander Pope's verse translation of Homer's Iliad published.
1717	George concluded new Triple Alliance with France and Netherlands.
1718	Transportation Act established principle of transportation of criminals to colonies.
1720	Collapse of South Sea Bubble ruined many speculators; new Walpole administration protected court and Whig party.
1722	Atterbury Plot, abortive Jacobite conspiracy.
1727	Accession of George II.
1738	John Wesley underwent religious awakening; beginning of Methodist movement.
1739	Britain began War of Jenkins' Ear with Spain.
1740	Outbreak of War of the Austrian Succession.
1742	Resignation of Robert Walpole as prime minister.
1743	George II led allies to victory over France at Battle of Dettingen.
1745	Forty-Five Rebellion: Jacobites under Charles Edward Stuart, the Young Pretender, overran Scotland and invaded England.
1746	Jacobites crushed by William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland, at Battle of Culloden; severe repression follows throughout Scotland.
1748	Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle ended War of the Austrian Succession.
1751	Second Carnatic War in India between British and French colonial forces; Robert Clive secured British victory with capture of Arcot.
1752	Britain adopted Gregorian calendar.
1754	French and Indian War broke out with defeat of British troops in North America under George Washington by French.
1755	Samuel Johnson's Dictionary of the English Language published.
1756	Seven Years' War began.
1757	William Pitt the Elder formed government; Robert Clive won Battle of Plassey in India.
1759	General James Wolfe defeated French in Québec. Josiah Wedgwood opened pottery works in Staffordshire.
1760	Accession of George III. Last French forces in Canada surrendered at Montreal.
1761	Resignation of Pitt the Elder. Fall of Pondicherry, capital of French India, to British.
1763	Seven Years' War ended with Treaty of Paris, securing global British colonial predominance.
1765	Stamp Act passed, causing outrage in American colonies.
1766	Stamp Act repealed.
1767	Townshend Acts dissolved New York assembly and imposed new customs duties on American colonies.
1768	Massachusetts legislature dissolved by British crown. James Cook departed on first great voyage to South Pacific.
1769	James Watt patents improved steam engine. James Cook landed in New Zealand and claimed islands for Britain.
1770	James Cook landed in Australia and claimed New South Wales for Britain. Boston Massacre of five Boston citizens by British troops.
1772	Warren Hastings appointed governor of Bengal. James Cook sailed on second expedition.
1773	Warren Hastings made first governor-general of India. Boston Tea Party protested against British tea tax in America. James Cook made first crossing of Antarctic Circle.
1774	'Intolerable Acts' passed to punish rebellious Massachusetts; first American Continental Congress convened.
1775	First engagements of American War of Independence: Lexington and Concord.
1776	American Declaration of Independence. Publication of Adam Smith's The Wealth of Nations and first volume of Edward Gibbon's The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.
1778	France recognized independence of the United States. James Cook discovered Hawaii. Catholic Relief Act passed by Parliament. General William Howe resigned as commander of British forces in America.
1779	James Cook killed by Hawaiian islanders. Gibraltar attacked by France and Spain to relieve British pressure on the United States.
1780	Gordon Riots against Catholic Relief Act: temporary anarchy in London.
1781	Charles Cornwallis, commander of British forces in America, surrendered at Yorktown: end of serious hostilities in American War of Independence.
1782	Charles James Fox resigned as foreign secretary.
1783	Britain signed Treaty of Paris, formally recognizing United States. William Pitt the Younger appointed prime minister.
1784	India Act established political control of Britain's Indian colonies.
1786	Robert Burns's Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect published.
1787	First Fleet of convicts shipped to Australia.
1788	George III lapsed into dementia; regency bill passed. Impeachment of Warren Hastings by Edmund Burke and others began.
1789	George recovered sanity. Jeremy Bentham's Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation published.
1790	Edmund Burke's Reflections on the Revolution in France published.
1791	Thomas Paine's