A Brief History of England and Its Royal Dynasties

The territory on which modern England is located, in 55 BC, when Julius Caesar's troops invaded it, was inhabited by Celtic tribes who called themselves Britons. As a result of the invasion, the entire southern part of the island became part of the Roman Empire. The entire territory, which now houses modern England and Wales, was called Roman Britain. Further, the history of England is already connected with the Germanic tribes. In the fifth century AD, the Roman Empire collapsed, and then the Britons turned to the German barbarians to protect them from the invasions of the Celtic tribes from the north, the Scots and Picts.

The coming German tribes consisted of three groups: Saxons, Angles and Utahs. Germans quickly mastered the territory of the Britons and gradually began to crowd them into the territory of Wales and Cornwall. Gradually, separate kingdoms were formed on the lands occupied by the German aliens. Subsequently, these kingdoms formed an alliance of seven kingdoms, which was called the "Anglo-Saxon heptarchy." One of these seven Anglo-Saxon kings from time to time gained control over most of the territory of England. This king was called the "Britwald", which in translation is close in meaning to the title "Ruler of Britain".

This went on for a long time, so the history of England can not accurately determine the date when the final unification of the state took place. Some historians believe that the unification came at a time when the Danish Vikings invaded the eastern part of England during their invasion, which forced all the British kingdoms to unite their forces for protection. The first king of all England is often called King Wessex Egbert, who died in 839. However, the history of England suggests that the title "King of England" arose only two generations later - at a time when Alfred the Great ruled the islands (871-899).

Some historians conduct their calculations, paying attention to important historical events and wars in England. For example, the rulers of the state count from the Norman conquest in 1066. This date is usually used when numbering the English monarchs as a zero point. For example, Eduard I, crowned in the 13th century, was not really the first king to bear such a name, but he was the first Edward, if counted from 1066 onwards. In this year the Duke of Normandy, William the Conqueror, captured England and became King William I, thereby establishing the dynasty of Anglo-Normans. However, William the Conqueror is not the founder of England and he did not unite the country, he only seized the already existing England, having introduced in it the Franco-Norman rule.

Then came to power a dynasty, called Plantagenet (1154-1485). At this time, the history of England is significant for the longest Hundred Years War with France (1337-1453). From 1485 to 1603 in England, the Tudor dynasty ruled. This was the era of centralized power and the strengthening of English absolutism, the period of the Reformation. The Tudor dynasty ended with the reign of Elizabeth I, who approved the Anglican church. In 1603 the dynasty of the Stuarts came to power in England, which was a dynasty of Scottish and English kings. King James I succeeded on the state throne of Elizabeth I. This period of government was marked by a civil war that arose as a result of the revolutionary crisis led by Oliver Cromwell.

Despite the fact that later the restoration of the Stuart dynasty took place, Hanover came to power in 1714. During their reign, the British army won the June 18, 1815 victory in the Battle of Waterloo over the troops of Napoleon. From 1837 to 1901, the reign was transferred to Queen Victoria. This period is rightly considered the pinnacle of the heyday of Britain. Since 1917, the ruling dynasty in the kingdom was the Windsor dynasty.