[Misc] Most important people, concepts and events in English history?

[Blazing Apostle]

1066
Battle of Bosworth
Henry VIII dissolution of church
Magna Carta
Black Death
Great Reform Bill
Waterloo
Industrial Revolution
WW1
Battle of Britain
NHS
Thatcherism
Brexit
The end

 

[Wardy's twin]

There was no England in the Roman period.

in the context that England might refer to the 'land of the Angles' there is some genetic argument that they were here before the Romans though with a different set of borders to what we currently have

 

[ConfusedGloryHunter]

This should sort the monarchs out for you.

 

[1066familyman]

There was no England in the Roman period.

But weren't Colchester United still playing at Layer Road?

 

[AmexRuislip]

I'm studying English at Lund University because a) I'm lazy (and education is free over here), and b) I want to improve my grammar.

However the course started with a two week thing about English history and I've not exactly done what I should be doing (reading) and the exam is tomorrow.

Apparently the exam is quite small and a bit different - (somewhat random) English people and events will be listed and we're going to describe them with a few sentences. On the exam from last year, these were the things on the list:

The Roman Period
William the Conquerer
Education in the Middle Ages
Henry VIII
The Puritans
Robert Walpole
The Victorian Period
The Suffragettes
The Auld Alliance

I would'nt have passed that as I could only describe three or four of those. This year it will obviously be different ones and as I'm unlikely to read the 400 pages that I should be reading... so if you could just bombard me with stuff that I should Wikipedia the shit out of, I probably have a better chance (5 percent?) of making it.

Regards, ze Swanmeister.

The Suffragettes are a post modern rock band from the 70's, and were quite influential on HWT musical choices

 

[Sid in the Sharknado]

The Auld Alliance has nothing to do with England - it's a treaty made between Scotland and France. It's totally weird that's on the list

And Education in the Middle Ages and The Puritans look a strange addition.

It's missing the Civil War and England's short-lived republic and the subsequent Glorious Revolution and Bill of Right (it's also missing the Wars of the Roses)

There are also no Acts of Union and, while it mentions the Suffragettes, there's no mention of the Chartists and the Reform Acts)

I don't think you'll learn a huge amount of English history from that list

To be fair, the Auld Alliance was largely an alliance against England. You can probably bundle quite a lot of medieval English history under that topic.

You can also throw the civil war in with the Puritans, although that obviously misses out a lot of other causes.

It's pretty random, but all history course syllabuses look weird when they have to pick a few topics to cover within a single term.

Assuming it's set by Swedes, I'm surprised they don't include the Battles of Copenhagen every year just for a laugh.

 

[sparkie]

Just try and get a copy of "1066 and All That".

Everything you need to know is in there.


https://www.goodreads.com/work/quot...originally Irish,,in brackets) and vice versa.

 

[Stato]

.

... Lloyd invented the patent crop rotator

I knew it! I bloody knew it!

 

[Gwylan]

People mentioning Magna Carta are considerably over-stating its importance. It had little effect on the lives of 99% of the population and, besides, most of its articles were repealed within a couple of years.

It was an attempt to rein in the power of the monarch but, as was seen 300 years later, kings could do as they please - even defying the Pope. The Civil War and the Bill of Rights were much more of a constraint

 

[Cheshire Cat]

Was there any education in the Middle Ages, other than "you are a peasant, so do what you are told and I may decide not to kill you".

 

[heathgate]

Alfred the Great
Henry viii
Elizabeth I
Industrial Revolution
Churchill

Get some background on these, you will crack the core of the evolution of our nation.


Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk

 

[Cheshire Cat]

As an academic, I take the view that anyone who uses Wikipedia as their main sauce is a lazy timewaster.

I found this to be indispensable, and gained several degrees by shameless plagiarism.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/cbbc/shows/horrible-histories

 

[heathgate]

Peasants Revolt (1st Poll Tax)
Ketts' Rebellion
The Levellers and the Putney debates
London Correspondence Society and the Combination acts.
Tolpuddle
Peterloo
The Chartists
The Great Dock Strike and the Match girls
1919
The General Strike
Battle of Cable Street
The creation of the Welfare State
The Miners Strikes '72, '74, '84/85
The Poll Tax Revolt
Don't forget the history of those at the bottom of British society. Whilst the winners write the history, it doesn't mean it's true!

The lefty angst is strong in this one.

Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk

 

[Curious Orange]

Is the decade spent as a republic in the 1600s worth a mention.

 

[KeegansHairPiece]

If anyone hasn't visited Runnymeade, well worth a visit just off the A30 near Staines. Really enjoyed a walk around the monuments, the 'Writ in Water' architectural artwork piece by Mark Wallinger is well worth a look. Next to the Thames, boat hire, nice day out.

https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/runnymede/features/turner-prize-winning-artist-to-create-new-work-to-celebrate-magna-carta

 

[Garry Nelson's Left Foot]

This is exactly the kind of thread this place has been missing for years.

Some stuff that may or may not be of use and of varying importance.

Lindisfarne. A favourite raiding place of your ancestors. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lindisfarne

The Magna Carta. A pretty important political document limiting the arbitrary power of kings and upholding the rights of the indivdual(kind of). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magna_Carta

The War of the Roses. Northerners fighting over control of England.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wars_of_the_Roses

Agincourt. Henry V and a couple of Knights plus half a dozen archers destroyed several billion frenchman. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Agincourt

The 100 years war. With France. Difficult to call it an English win, but I manfully claim it as an away draw. Agincourt was part of this war. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hundred_Years'_War

The East India Company. This is the mental/ridiculous way that Britain ended up colonising large parts of Asia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_India_Company

I have no idea if any of this will be remotely useful. Good luck!

 

[KZNSeagull]

I would go with:

William the Conqueror wasn't French
William of Orange wasn't orange
William Wallace did not impregnate Edward II's wife
Will I Am is not English
William, It Was Really Nothing

That should cover it.

 

[Garry Nelson's Left Foot]

It might be worth knowing about William Caxton who brought the printing press, his translations into English and his affect on the standardisation of the English Language.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Caxton#Caxton_and_the_English_language

 

[KeegansHairPiece]

Agincourt. Henry V and a couple of Knights plus half a dozen archers destroyed several billion frenchman. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Agincourt

Joking aside, I did actually enjoy the Netflix film The King, despite reviews and complaints of historical accuracy.

 

[PILTDOWN MAN]

If anyone hasn't visited Runnymeade, well worth a visit just off the A30 near Staines. Really enjoyed a walk around the monuments, the 'Writ in Water' architectural artwork piece by Mark Wallinger is well worth a look. Next to the Thames, boat hire, nice day out.

https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/runnymede/features/turner-prize-winning-artist-to-create-new-work-to-celebrate-magna-carta


View attachment 140389

There's also one acre of land there which is officially US of A's given to them so their memorial is sited on American soil.