BEFORE CHRIST
1900 Construction of Stonehenge begins around this time
12-1300 Invasion of England by Celtic-speaking peoples
55-54 Julius Caesar’s expeditions reach England
THE OLD ENGLISH PERIOD
5-40 Reign of Cunobelinus (Cymbeline)
43 Roman conquest of England
122 Romans begin construction of Hadrian’s Wall to defend Britain against invasions from the north
313 Christianity introduced in England
350 Invasion of Angles, Saxons, and Jutes begins
429 Withdrawal of Roman legions from England is complete by this date or earlier
5?? Arthur defeated and killed in Civil War
597 St. Augustine re-establishes the Roman Church in England
663 Roman Christianity is endorsed by the Synod of Whitby (instead of Celtic Christianity)
731 Bede, An Ecclesiastical History of the English People ["Caedmon's Hymn"]
757 Offa, King of Mercia, begins his reign
802 Egbert, King of Wessex
856-75 Viking raids at their peak
871-99 King Alfred the Great of Wessex (defeater of the Danes)
900-950 An English state is established
978 Ethelred the Unready reigns; Danish invasions resume
____ The Dream of the Rood
Beowulf
The Battle of Maldon
The Wanderer
Beowulf
The Battle of Maldon
The Wanderer
1016 Canut of Denmark rules England, Denmark, and Norway
1042 King Edward the Confessor (Wessex line)
1066 William the Conqueror (NORMANDY) defeats Harold II in The Battle of Hastings
1086 The Doomsday Book
1087 William II (third son of William) King
1100 William II shot in ambush. Henry I (youngest son of William) King
1135 Stephen (BLOIS–grandson of William I by daughter) competes with Empress Matilda for throne (“The Anarchy”)
1154 Henry II (PLANTAGENT– grandson of Henry I by daughter)
1170 Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, murdered in the cathedral
Oxford University founded at about this time
Oxford University founded at about this time
1169 Conquest of Ireland is begun
1189 Richard I, Coeur de Lion (son of Henry II) King
1190 Richard goes on Crusade, to return in 1194
1199 John Lackland (son of Henry II, brother of Richard) King
THE MIDDLE ENGLISH PERIOD
1210 Cambridge University founded at about this time
1215 Magna Carta
1216 Henry III (son of John) King (builder of Westminster Abbey)
1272 Edward I, Longshanks, Prince of Wales King (son of Henry III)
1284 Conquest of Wales
1290 Jews Expelled from England
1307 Edward II (son of Edward I) King; deposed and murdered in 1327 by Queen Isabella and Mortimer
1327 Edward III of Windsor (son of Edward II, grandson of John) King
1337 100 Years War Begins (Edward III’s claim to crown of France)
1346 Battle of Crecy, England defeats France’s feudal armies
1348 The Black Death Strikes England
1362 William Langland, The Vision of Piers Plowman
English officially replaces French as the language of the court
English officially replaces French as the language of the court
1375 Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
1377 Richard II (grandson of Edward III) King
1381 Peasant’s Revolt
1386 Chaucer, Canterbury Tales
1393 Julian of Norwich, Book of Showings, contains her visions from God
____ The Second Shepherds’ Play
1399 Henry IV (LANCASTER–grandson of Edward III) King
1400 Welsh revolt under Owen Glendower
1403 Henry Percy (Shakespeare’s Hotspur) defeated at Shrewsbury
1413 Henry V, Prince Hal (son of Henry IV) King
1415 Battle of Agincourt; five years later, Henry recognised as heir to French crown
1422 Henry VI (Son of Henry V)
1431 Joan of Arc is burned
1432 Margery Kempe, The Book of Margery Kempe
1453 Hundred Years War ends with conquest of of Guienne by the French
1455 The War of The Roses Begins–Lancaster vs. York
1461 Edward IV (YORK–Great-great-grandson Edward III) King, temporarily deposes Henry VI
1469 Sir Thomas Malory (Morte D’arthur)
1471 Henry VI murdered
1483 Edward V (son of Edward IV) King and murdered
Richard III, Crookback King
Richard III, Crookback King
1485 Richard III dies in battle at Bosworth–The War of the Roses ends
Henry VII King (TUDOR– married Elizabeth, daughter of Edward IV)
Henry VII King (TUDOR– married Elizabeth, daughter of Edward IV)
____ Everyman
THE 16th CENTURY
1509 Henry VIII (son of Henry VII) King
1516 Sir Thomas Moore’s Utopia
(also wrote History of King Richard III; he was killed for his Catholic faith)
(also wrote History of King Richard III; he was killed for his Catholic faith)
1517 Reformation Begins
1533 Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterburry, validates Henry’s marriage to Anne Boleyn
1534-5 Papal authority abolished in England; Moore executed; Act of Supremacy
____ John Skelton, “Colin Clout”
1534 Henry VIII acknowledged “supreme Head on Earth” by Anglican Church
1537 Howard, Earl of Surrey (“My Friend, the Things That Do Attain”) imprisoned
1538 Great English Bible
1541 Wyatt (“Whoso List to Hunt”) imprisoned
1547 Edward VI King
1553 Mary I, “Bloody Mary” Queen (daughter of Henry VIII)
Attempts to restore Catholicism, repeals anti-papal legislation
Attempts to restore Catholicism, repeals anti-papal legislation
1554 Lady Jane Grey executed
1558 Mary I dies childless. Elizabeth I (daughter Henry VIII) Queen
1559 Act of Supremacy restores Anglican Church
1560 Anglo-Scottish Alliance in Treaty of Edninburgh
1561 Mary Queen of Scotts (Catholic) begins rule in Scotland
Sir Thomas Hoby, translation of The Courtier
Sir Thomas Hoby, translation of The Courtier
1563 The Thirty-Nine Articles of the Anglican Church
1564 Shakespeare is born
1567 Mary Queen of Scots imprisoned in England (driven from throne by Calvinists)
1578 John Lyly, Euphues: The Anatomy of Wit
1587 Elizabeth beheads Mary Queen of Scots for Catholic plots
1588 Defeat of the Spanish Armada
1590 Edmund Spencer, The Faerie Queen
1591 Sir Philip Sidney, “Astrophil and Stella”
1592 Christopher Marlowe, Dr. Faustus and Hero and Leander
Thomas Nashe, Pierce Penniless, His Supplication to the Devil
Thomas Nashe, Pierce Penniless, His Supplication to the Devil
1593 Richard Hooker defends existing practices in Of the Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity
1598 Revolt in Ireland
1601 Essex executed for rebellion
Thomas Campion (“My Sweetest Lesbia.” “Rose-Cheeked Laura,” “Fain Would I Wed”)
Shakespeare begins Hamlet about this time
Thomas Campion (“My Sweetest Lesbia.” “Rose-Cheeked Laura,” “Fain Would I Wed”)
Shakespeare begins Hamlet about this time
EARLY 17th CENTURY
1603 Elizabeth dies. James I (STUART), James VI of Scotland King
1605 The Gunpowder Plot
Francis Bacon writes The Advancement of Learning (In 1620 Novum Organum)
Francis Bacon writes The Advancement of Learning (In 1620 Novum Organum)
1606 Ben Jonson’s play Volpone published
1611 King James Bible Published
1615 John Donne (“The Ecstasy”, “The Canonization”, etc.) becomes Anglican priest
1616 Shakespeare dies
1618 30 Years War begins in Europe
1620 Pilgrims depart for New England
1600′s John Webster publishes his play The Duchess of Malf
1625 Charles I (son of James I) King
1629 Charles I dissolves parliament
1633 George Herbert, The Temple (“Jordan”, “The Pulley”, “Love”, etc.)
1638 Scottish revolt over imposition of Laudian liturgy
1640 Charles I, in need of tax money for war, convenes “The Long Parliament”
Izaak Walton, The Life of Donne
Thomas Carew, “A Rapture”
Izaak Walton, The Life of Donne
Thomas Carew, “A Rapture”
1641 Irish revolt
1642 English Civil War
Theaters closed
Sir John Denham, “Cooper’s Hill”
Theaters closed
Sir John Denham, “Cooper’s Hill”
1645 Edmund Waller, “Go, Lovely Rose!”
1646 Richard Crashaw, “Steps to the Temple”, “The Flaming Heart”
Sir John Suckling, “Loving and Beloved”
Sir John Suckling, “Loving and Beloved”
1648 30 Years War Ends
Robert Herrick, Hesperides (“The Vine”) and Noble Numbers (sacred)
Robert Herrick, Hesperides (“The Vine”) and Noble Numbers (sacred)
1649 Charles I beheaded. Council of State rules (Commonwealth/Protectorate)
Richard Lovelace “To Althea, from Prison” and “To Lucasta, Going to the Wars”
Richard Lovelace “To Althea, from Prison” and “To Lucasta, Going to the Wars”
1650 Henry Vaughn, “Silex Scintillans”
1651 Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan
1653 Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector
____ First appearance of women on stage
___ First performance of an English opera
___ First performance of an English opera
1656 Abraham Cowley, “Ode: Of Wit”
1658 Richard Cromwell, “Tumble-down Dick” (son of Oliver), Lord Protector
____ Andrew Marvell, “To His Coy Mistress”
Samuel Pepys (diary later published in 1825)
Samuel Pepys (diary later published in 1825)
THE RESTORATION AND 18th CENTURY
1660 The Restoration (Charles II)
1662 Royal Society of London incorporated to promote arts and sciences
1663 Samuel Butler, “Hudibras”
John Milton, Paradise Lost
John Milton, Paradise Lost
1665 The Plague breaks out
1666 The Great Fire of London
1673 Test Act requires office holders to accept rites of the Anglican Church
1675 John Bunyan writes Pilgrim’s Progress during second imprisonment
Christopher Wren is chosen to design St. Paul’s
Christopher Wren is chosen to design St. Paul’s
1676 Sir George Etherege, The Man of Mode
1677 John Dryden, All For Love
1678 Titus Oates exposes the details of a fictious Popish Plot to kill the King
1680 Exclusion Bill Crisis
1681 John Dryden, “Absalom and Achitophel”
1682 Thomas Otway, Venice Preserv’d
1685 James II King
1687 Isaac Newton, Principles of Mathematics
1688 The Glorious Revolution
1689 Bill of Rights passed
1690 John Locke, Essay Concerning Human Understanding
1696 Sir John Vanbrugh, The Relapse
1700 William Congreve, The Way of the World
1701 Act of Settlement stipulates that Anne, Protestant daughter of James II, is to succeed William
1702 Anne (second daughter of James II) Queen
1704 The Duke of Marlborough’s victory at Blenheim against the French
1707 George Farquhar, The Beaux’ Stragem
Act of Union (Scotland + England = “Great Britain”)
Act of Union (Scotland + England = “Great Britain”)
1709-11 Addison (paper Tattler)
1711 Alexander Pope’s “An Essay on Criticism” (later wrote “An Essay on Man”)
1711-2 Steele’s paper Spectator
1713 Treaty of Utrecht ends the war with Louis XIV
1714 George I (HANOVER–son of granddaughter of James I) King
Alexander Pope, “Rape of the Lock”
Alexander Pope, “Rape of the Lock”
1715 First Jacobite Rebellion:
“The Old Pretender” (son of James II) attempts to restore Stuart rule
“The Old Pretender” (son of James II) attempts to restore Stuart rule
1719 Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe is published – the first novel in english
1726 Jonathan Swift, Gulliver’s Travels
1727 George II
1728 John Gay, The Beggar’s Opera
1729 John Wesley founds Methodist Society
1730 James Thomson, “The Seasons”
1731 Henry Fielding, Tom Thumb
1739 War of Jenkin’s Ear (with Spain) begins (to 1741)
1746 Second Jacobite rebellion crushed at Culloden
(Bonnie Prince Charles–grandson of James II–tried to regain the throne)
William Collins (“Ode on the Poetical Character”)
(Bonnie Prince Charles–grandson of James II–tried to regain the throne)
William Collins (“Ode on the Poetical Character”)
1740 – Pamela, or Virtue Rewarded is an epistolary novel by Samuel Richardson, first published in 1740. It tells the story of a maid named Pamela whose master, Mr. B, makes unwanted advances towards her. She rejects him continually, and her virtue is eventually rewarded when he shows his sincerity by proposing an equitable marriage to her. In the second part of the novel, Pamela attempts to accommodate herself to upper-class society and to build a successful relationship with him. The story was widely mocked at the time for its perceived licentiousness
1741 - An Apology for the Life of Mrs. Shamela Andrews, or Shamela, as it is more commonly known, is a satirical novel written by Henry Fielding and first published under the name of Mr. Conny Keyber. (Fielding never owned to writing the work but it is widely considered to be his.) It is a direct attack on the then-popular novel Pamela by Fielding’s contemporary and rival, Samuel Richardson and is composed, like Pamela, in epistolary form.
1751 Thomas Gray, “Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard”
Henry Fielding, Amelia
Henry Fielding, Amelia
1755 Samuel Johnson finishes his Dictionary (James Boswell later writes his biography)
1756 The Seven Years’ War (French and Indian Wars) begins
1759 Wolfe captures Quebec
1760 George III (grandson of George II) King
1761 William Pitt resigns as Prime Minister when his colleagues refuse to fight Spain
1763 Treaty of Paris ends the Seven Years War
The First Gothic Novel…
1764 – Horace Walpole’s Gothic novel, The Castle of Otranto
1768 Cook’s voyage to Australia
1770 Oliver Goldsmith, “The Deserted Village”
1771 Richard Cumberland, The West Indian
1773 Oliver Goldsmith, She Stoops to Conquer
1775 War for American Independence Begins
Jane Austen is born
Jane Austen is born
1776 Adam Smith, The Wealth of Nations
Gibbon, Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (first volume)
Gibbon, Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (first volume)
1777 Richard Brinsley Sheridan, The School for Scandal
1783 William Pitt (younger) prime minister
1785 William Cowper, “The Task”
1790 - A Sicilian Romance – Ann Radcliffe
1791 - The Romance of the Forest - Ann Radcliffe
1794 William Godwin’s “Things as They Are or The Adventures of Caleb Williams” – the first thriller – and a real page turner
794 – The Mysteries of Udolpho – Ann Radcliffe
1796 – The Italian – Ann Radcliffe
THE ROMANTIC PERIOD
1786 Robert Burns: Poems, Chiefly in the Scotish Dialect
1789 *The French Revolution begins*
1790 Songs of Innocence and Experience by William Blake
1792 Mary Wollstonecraft, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman
1793 Bastille stormed. Louis XVI executed. Reign of Terror under Robespierre.
England wars with France; the Napoleonic Wars begin
England wars with France; the Napoleonic Wars begin
1798 Wordsworth and Coleridge publish Lyrical Ballads
1801 Great Britain and Ireland Unite as the “United Kingdom“
1804 Napoleon crowned emperor
1805 Battle of Trafalgar
1811 The Regency
Prince of Wales acts as regent for George III, who has been declared incurably insane
Prince of Wales acts as regent for George III, who has been declared incurably insane
1812 War with the United States
1813 Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice
1815 Napoleon defeated at Waterloo
1817 William Hazlitt, critic, On Gusto
Jane Austen dies
Jane Austen dies
1818 Lord Byron begins “Don Juan”
Mary (Wollstonecraft) Shelly, Frankenstein
Mary (Wollstonecraft) Shelly, Frankenstein
1819 John Keats “Ode to a Nightingale”
Sir Walter Scott, Ivanhoe
Peterloo Massacre
Sir Walter Scott, Ivanhoe
Peterloo Massacre
1820 George IV (son of George III) King
Thomas Love Peackock, critic The Four Ages of Poetry
Percy Shelley “To a Skylark” and “Adonais”
Thomas Love Peackock, critic The Four Ages of Poetry
Percy Shelley “To a Skylark” and “Adonais”
1821 Thomas De Quincey Confessions of an English Opium Eater
1823 Charles Lamb, Christ Hospital Five and Thirty Years Ago
1829 Catholic Emancipation Act
1830 William IV (3rd son of George III) King
Thomas Moore Life of Byron
Thomas Moore Life of Byron
THE VICTORIAN AGE / 19th CENTURY
1832 First Reform Bill
1834 Poor Law Reform Act
1837 Victoria (daughter of 4th son of George III) Queen
Thomas Carlyle publishes The French Revolution
Thomas Carlyle publishes The French Revolution
1841 Peel Prime Minister
1845 Great Potato Famine
1846 Corn Laws repealed (i.e the tariff on grains)
1847 Charlotte Bronte, Jane Eyre
Anne Bronte, Agnes Gray
William Thackery, Vanity Fair
Anne Bronte, Agnes Gray
William Thackery, Vanity Fair
1848 Emily Bronte Wuthering Heights
Macaulay, History of England
Macaulay, History of England
1850 Tennyson publishes “In Memoriam” and succeeds Wordsworth as poet laureate
1851 Matthew Arnold, “Dover Beach”
Charles Dickens, Bleak House
Charles Dickens, Bleak House
1854 Crimean War
1855 Robert Browning, “Men and Women”
1856 John Ruskin ,”On the Pathetic Fallacy”
1857 Elizabeth Barret Browning, “Aurora Leigh”
Anthony Trollope, Barchester Towers
Indian Mutiny
Anthony Trollope, Barchester Towers
Indian Mutiny
1858 William Morris “The Defense of Guenevere”
1859 Charles Darwin, Origin of Species
Edward Fitzgerald “The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam”
George Eliot, Adam Bede
Edward Fitzgerald “The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam”
George Eliot, Adam Bede
1861 John Stuart Mill, Representative Government
1865 Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland
1866 Algernon Swinburne, “The Triumph of Time” (“Poems and Ballads”)
1867 Second Reform Act
1868 Walter Pater, Aesthetic Poetry Gladstone Prime Minister
1870-1 Franco Prussian War
1871 George Eliot, Middlemarch
Religious tests at Universities Abolished
Religious tests at Universities Abolished
1872 Christina Rossetti, “Goblin Market”
____ Thomas Henry Huxley gives his “Science and Culture” lectures
Dante Gabriel Rosetti, “The House of Life”
Dante Gabriel Rosetti, “The House of Life”
1874 Disraeli Prime Minsiter
Thomas Harding, Far From the Madding Crowd
Thomas Harding, Far From the Madding Crowd
1875 William Ernest Henley, “In Hospital–Waiting”
Gilbert and Sullivan, Trial by Jury
Britain acquires Suez Canal
Gilbert and Sullivan, Trial by Jury
Britain acquires Suez Canal
1877 Gerard Manley Hopkins, “God’s Grandeur”
Victoria declared Empress of India
Victoria declared Empress of India
1879 George Meredith, The Egoist
1884 Third Reform Act
1886 Salsibury Prime Minister
1888 Kipling, Plain Tales from the Hills
1891 Thomas Hardy, Tess of the D’Urbevilles
TWENTIETH CENTURY
1894 Rudyard Kipling, Jungle Books
1895 Oscar Wilde, The Importance of Being Earnest
1899 Boer War
1900 Joseph Conrad, Lord Jim
1901 Edward VII (son of Victoria–SAXE-COBURG AND GOTHA)
1902 William Butler Yeats “Adam’s Curse”
Balfour Prime Minister
Balfour Prime Minister
1903 Henry James, The Ambassadors
1905 H.G. Wells, Kipps
1908 E.M. Forster, A Room With A View
1910 George V (2nd son of Ed VII–WINDSOR)
1913 D.H. Lawrence, Sons and Lovers
Vachel Lindsay, General William Booth Enters Into Heaven
Vachel Lindsay, General William Booth Enters Into Heaven
1914 World War I
Ezra Pound organizes the Imagists
Ezra Pound organizes the Imagists
1916 Lloyd George Prime Minister
1918 Gerard Manley Hopkins’s poetry published after death
Siegfried Sassoon “Glory of Women”; Wilfred Owen “Dulce Et Decorum Est”
Women (age 30 or over) get right to vote; universal male suffrage
Siegfried Sassoon “Glory of Women”; Wilfred Owen “Dulce Et Decorum Est”
Women (age 30 or over) get right to vote; universal male suffrage
1920 Partition established in Government of Ireland Act
1922 T.S. Eliot, The Wasteland
James Joyce, Ulyssess
James Joyce, Ulyssess
1923 George Bernard Shaw, Saint Joan
1924 First Labour Government
1925 Virignia Wolf, Mrs. Dalloway
1930 Evelyn Waugh publishes Vile Bodies
1932 Aldous Huxley, Brave New World
1933 A.E. Housman, The Name and Nature of Poetry
1934 Robert Graves, I, Claudius
1936 Edward VIII (son of Geroge V) King then abdicates
George VI (2nd son of George V) King
Spanish Civil War Begins
Keynes, General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money
George VI (2nd son of George V) King
Spanish Civil War Begins
Keynes, General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money
1937 W.H. Auden, “Spain, 1937″
Louis Macneice, “Carrickfergus”
Chamberlain Prime Minister
Louis Macneice, “Carrickfergus”
Chamberlain Prime Minister
1938 Graham Greene Brighton Rock
C.S. Lewis, Out of The Silent Planet
C.S. Lewis, Out of The Silent Planet
1939 World War II
1940 Churchill Prime Minister
1945 George Orwell, Animal Farm
Henry Reed, “Naming of Parts”
Henry Reed, “Naming of Parts”
1947 Independence granted to India and Pakistan
1952 Elizabeth II (daughter of George VI); Samuel Beckett, Waiting for Godot
1954 William Golding, The Lord of the Flies
1955 Philip Larkin, “Church Going”
1956 Suez Crisis
1957 Stevie Smith, “Not Waving But Drowning” ; Ghana obtains independence
1960 Ted Hughes, “Relic”
1979 Thatcher Prime Minsiter
Great job !
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