B) 1500BC - 43 AD Britain as a country of small tribes living in hill fort

BRITISH HISTORY

The British Isles have a rich history going back thousands of years. For this history lecture, we shall divide the period of British history into four main chunks, and each of these four main chunks then subdivided into bite sized chapters that try to explain the way that things happened.

History is an interweaving of events and people, and its not just about kings and queens, its about ordinary people and how events influenced them, and on occasions how they influenced events.

Also one has to realise that Britain is not one nation, but a hodge podge of different peoples who tend to remain distinct in spite of a millenium or more of intermarriage. We will therefore look at Ireland, Scotland and Wales briefly, each with its own history in separate chapters.

I. 4000 BC to 1066, the Dawn of Civilisation to the Norman Conquest

4000 to 1500 BC stone age man, the first farmers, Stonehenge

1500 BC to 43 AD the age of hill forts and the Celts

43 AD to 410 AD Roman Britain, they came, they saw, they conquered

410 to 1066 the Romans leave, the Anglo-Saxons arrive, the Normans conquer

II. 1066 to 1660, the Norman Conquest to Cromwell

1066 to 1154 the Normans consolidate their conquest

1154 to 1485 the Middle Ages, who wants to be king?

1485 to 1603 Henry VIII, Elizabeth I and the Tudors

1603 to 1660 the divine right of kings to rule, then chop off their

heads

III. 1660 to 1918, Cromwell to the end of World War I

1660 to 1715 Restoration and Revolution, the beginning of Empire

1600 to 1783 Britain in North America - we would rather forget

1715 to 1815 The German Georges rule Britain

1815 to 1914 Peace and prosperity, the growth of Empire

IV. Britain in the 20th Century

1914 to 1918 The First World War, carnage without a cause

1918 to 1939 the after effects of World War I, the General Strike

1939 to 1945 Hitler's War

1945 to 2000 Post War Britain - loses an Empire, looks for a role

V. Scotland through the ages

VI. Wales through the ages

VII. Ireland through the ages

I. 4000 BC to 1066, the Dawn of Civilisation to the Norman Conquest

4000 to 1500 BC stone age man, the first farmers, Stonehenge

1500 BC to 43 AD the age of hill forts and the Celts

43 AD to 410 AD Roman Britain, they came, they saw, they conquered

410 to 1066 the Romans leave, the Anglo-Saxons arrive, the Normans conquer

This chapter covers the period of time from the dawn of civilization in Britain (around 4000 BC) up to the Norman conquest. It is a period that is largely ignored in British history books, apart from the Roman invasion and occupation. But lots of interesting things happened. The sub divisions that we are going to use, to help you make sense of what happened are:

A) 4000BC - 1500BC The first farmers, Stonehenge and other relics

Man migrated to Britain whilst it was still joined to the rest of Europe by a land bridge. Stonehenge and Avebury Ring are the most spectacular monuments from this period, but there are others. Stone Age man possessed great skills, but left behind only his archeology.

b) 1500BC - 43 AD Britain as a country of small tribes living in hill fort

As the Stone Age progressed to the Bronze Age and Iron Age, more tools became available. Farming became an economic proposition. Extended families lived in hill forts that they could defend. They could trade with Europe. Then the Romans arrived.

Date: 2016-01-14; view: 1057