- •The ancient population of Britain.
- •Neolithic Period
- •Prehistoric monuments. Causeway Camps
- •Long Barrows
- •Passage Graves
- •Stone Circles
- •Paganism on the territory of Britain.
- •The Roman Invasion
- •The Romans on the territory of Britain. Queen Bodiciea`s revolt.
- •The Anglo-Saxon Invasion.
- •Christianity on the territory of Britain. Augustine and his mission.
- •Anglo-Saxon England.
- •Alfred the Great and his role in the history of the country.
- •Edward the Confessor, Westminster Abbey
- •William the Conqueror and his feudal state. The structure of the state after the Norman Invasion.
- •William Rufus, Henry I.
- •Stephen and Matilda, the wars for the throne.
- •Henry II and the Plantagenet dynasty. Thomas Becket and his opposition to the king.
- •Richard the Lion Heart and crusades. John Lackland and Magna Carta.
- •Henry III. Simon de Monfort`s opposition. The first parliament.
- •Edward I and his wars in Wales and Scotland. Edward II. EdwardIii. The first stage of the Hundred Years` War.
- •England's economy in the 14th and 15th centuries. Richard II and Wat Tyler's rebellion...
- •Henry IV. Henry V and the continuation of the Hundred Years` War.
- •The Wars of the Roses. (Henry VI, Edward IV, V)
- •Richard III. Henry VII- the first monarch of the Tudor dynasty.
- •22. Henry VIII and the reformation of the church.
- •23. Edward VI, Jane Grey.
- •24. Mary I. Elizabeth I. Foreign policy and economy of the country in the 16th century.
- •25. England at the beginning of the 17th century. Charles I and his conflict with Parliament.
- •26. The Civil Wars. England after the Civil Wars. The economic situation during and after the Civil Wars. Oliver Cromwell and his Protectorate.
- •27. Restoration of the monarchy. Charles II, the Merry Monarch and his reign.
- •1660-85. Early Life
- •28. James II.
- •29. The Glorious Revolution and its meaning. Mary II and William III.
- •30. Queen Anne. The Unity of England and Scotland.
- •31. The economic development of the country in the 18th century.
- •32. The economic development of the country in the 19th century.
- •33. Science and culture in the 19th century.
- •34. Edward VII. England before World War I.The results of World War I.
- •35. Britain between the World Wars. The Results of World War II. Loss of colonies.
- •Ideological impact:
- •36. Britain at the end of 20th century.
- •37. Britain today: economy, political influence, role in the world.
- •Dates to be remembered
Richard the Lion Heart and crusades. John Lackland and Magna Carta.
When Henry II died in 1189, he was succeeded by his son Richard I the Lion Heart (1157-1199). His coronation in September 1189 was the first documentarily fixed event of this kind. Richard was a well-educated man. He is remembered as an ideal king and a symbol of knighthood, who devoted his life to the 3rd Crusade to the Holy Land. He was a born adventurer, during the 10 years of his reign he was always away. He wanted to attack the Turks who had occupied Jerusalem and prevented Christian pilgrims from coming to the Holy Sepulcher. The Crusade proved to be a failure, though Richard managed to yield Acre, a town on the Mediterranean Sea and had a meeting with Saladin, the sultan. The latter promised Richard to let English pilgrims visit the Holy Place. In 1192 Richard started for England. He was shipwrecked in the Adriatic and on his way through the territory of Germany the Duke of Austria captured and then sold him to Henry VI, the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. Richard had to spend 14 months in captivity. He returned to England in 1194 only when a large sum of money was paid for him as a ransom.
During his absence his brother Prince John tried to seize the throne. He made a coalition with the French king and was on the point of proclaiming himself the king. He lost many territories in Ireland and the north. Richard forgave John and did his best to win back the territories lost by his brother. Richard was mortally wounded in 1199 during the siege of Limoges. Richard was succeeded by his brother John, known as John the Lackland. John was Henry II`s younger son. He had three elder brothers, so his chances to get the throne were rather slim. After Richard`s death there was another possible heir to the throne, his nephew Prince Arthur, who was his sister`s son. He had support of many of the most noble barons in the kingdom. John ascended the throne at 33 in 1199 and Prince Arthur was a boy of 12. John tried to get back the provinces of Anjou, Aquitaine, Normandy, where Arthur had most of his supporters. There is an opinion that Arthur was murdered by the king`s order. The prince`s death deprived John of even more of his supporters. After it the king continued to fight with the king of France and his barons. Battles followed one another and in 1205 John lost not only Normandy but many other territories. At this period John also found himself in opposition to the Pope. The reason for it was John`s refusal to receive the new Archbishop of Canterbury appointed by the Pope. The king wanted to see his man on the post, so he objected to the candidate Pope Innocent III suggested. The Pope declared the king of England deposed and the whole country excommunicated. The churches were closed, no sermons took place. It provoked the French Invasion and set the king in a deeper conflict with his subjects of all ranks. The Church was highly taxated, which aggravated the clerics` enmity to the king. In 1213 John had to surrender to the Pope and follow his recommendations about the Archbishop of Canterbury and appointment of bishops. In 1215 the richest and most powerful sections of English society formed a coalition against the king.
At Runnymede, a small island in the Thames near Windsor, John`s opponents made him agree to the terms of the Magna Carta or The Great Charter. It was a charter of liberties directed against John`s use of feudal, judicial and other governmental powers. The history and preconditions of the document had a long run. Earlier kings, Henry I, Stephen and Henry II issued charters making concessions to their barons. But those concessions were not granted directly by the king. During the reign of Richard I and John constant wars and the crusade put the king into dependence on his barons. The Charter consisted of 63 clauses or parts. Their contents were divided into 9 groups, each of which was dedicated to a certain sphere of life, e.g., the church, the possession of lands and the rights of tenant farmers. According to this point, if the king violated the demands of the charter, a council of 25 barons should have the ultimate right to declare war on him. The Magna Carta was a first chapter in English history to what later will be called parliamentarism. Though the document was signed, the war with the barons continued... In October 1216 the king found himself in the Swineshead Abbey in Norfolk, where he died several days later.