This Sceptred Isle Read online

  Christopher Lee is a writer, historian and broadcaster, best-known for writing the radio history series This Sceptred Isle for the BBC. Lee was the first Quatercentenary Fellow in Contemporary History and Gomes Lecturer at Emmanuel College, Cambridge. He researched The History of Ideas at Birkbeck, University of London. He has written nearly thirty books and more than one hundred radio plays.

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  First published in the UK by BBC Books, 1997

  This updated edition published by Constable, an imprint of Constable & Robinson Ltd., 2012

  Copyright © Christopher Lee 1997, 2012

  The right of Christopher Lee to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988

  Extracts from A History of the English-speaking Peoples by Sir Winston S. Churchill reproduced with permission of Curtis Brown Group Ltd © Sir Winston S. Churchill

  All rights reserved. This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, re-sold, hired out or otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

  A copy of the British Library Cataloguing in Publication data is available from the British Library

  ISBN 978-1-84529-994-1

  eISBN 978-1-84901-939-2

  Printed and bound in the UK

  1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2

  For

  Charlie, George and Elizabeth

  Contents

  Author’s Note

  Timeline

  Acknowledgements

  Introduction

  CHAPTER ONE 700,000 BC–AD 570

  CHAPTER TWO 570–886

  CHAPTER THREE 886–1065

  CHAPTER FOUR 1066–87

  CHAPTER FIVE 1087–1165

  CHAPTER SIX 1166–89

  CHAPTER SEVEN 1189–99

  CHAPTER EIGHT 1199–1216

  CHAPTER NINE 1217–72

  CHAPTER TEN 1272–1307

  CHAPTER ELEVEN 1307–30

  CHAPTER TWELVE 1331–76

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN 1377–99

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN 1399–1454

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN 1455–85

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN 1485–1515

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN 1516–46

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN 1547–58

  CHAPTER NINETEEN 1558–87

  CHAPTER TWENTY 1588–1602

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE 1603–25

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO 1625–39

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE 1640–49

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR 1649–60

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE 1660–81

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX 1682–5

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN 1685–6

  CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT 1687–8

  CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE 1689–1702

  CHAPTER THIRTY 1702–6

  CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE 1707–14

  CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO 1714–20

  CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE 1721–6

  CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR 1727–46

  CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE 1746–56

  CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX 1756–60

  CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN 1760–68

  CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT 1769–70

  CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE 1770–81

  CHAPTER FORTY 1782–93

  CHAPTER FORTY-ONE 1793–1800

  CHAPTER FORTY-TWO 1800–1805

  CHAPTER FORTY-THREE 1805–8

  CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR 1809–19

  CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE 1820–23

  CHAPTER FORTY-SIX 1824–7

  CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN 1828–32

  CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT 1834–7

  CHAPTER FORTY-NINE 1837–41

  CHAPTER FIFTY 1841–53

  CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE 1854–7

  CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO 1857–60

  CHAPTER FIFTY-THREE 1861–70

  CHAPTER FIFTY-FOUR 1870–85

  CHAPTER FIFTY-FIVE 1886–1901

  CHAPTER FIFTY-SIX A Question of Identity

  Index

  Author’s Note

  British Isles appears to be a late sixteenth-century phrase, sometimes attributed to John Dee. Please accept the inaccuracy of British Isles when used in the work for periods earlier than the Elizabethans. It is convenient and hopefully offends no one. I have used BC as a personal preference to BCE although some readers may prefer the latter. I have also, with acknowledgement to the Venerable Bede, used Anno Domini.

  Timeline

  2.4–2.1 billion years BC

  Huronian Glacial (Ice) Age

  850–630 million years BC

  Cryogenian Ice Age

  460–430 million BC

  Andean-Sahara Ice Age

  360–260 million BC

  Karoo Ice Age

  c.2 million–c.10,000 BC

  Old Stone Age (Palaeolithic)

  c.10,000 BC–c.5,500 BC

  Middle Stone Age (Mesolithic)

  c.5,500–c.2,500 BC

  New Stone Age (Neolithic)

  3,150 BC–1,200 BC

  The Seven Bronze Ages

  c.1,200 BC–c.580 BC

  Iron Age

  55 BC

  Caesar’s first exploratory invasion

  54 BC

  Caesar’s second invasion opposed by Cassivellaunus

  AD 43

  Conquests starts and Caratacus defeated at the Medway

  61

  Invasion of Wales and slaughter of the Druids; rebellion of Boudicca

  75–7

  Julius Agricola, Roman governor of Britain

  84

  Battle of Mons Graupius (Romans defeat Picts led by Calgacus)

  c.122–30

  Hadrian’s Wall

  166

  The first Christian church in England

  293

  Division of Roman Empire

  304

  Martyrdom of St Alban

  306–37

  Constantine the Great

  410

  Withdrawal of Roman legions and the virtual end of Roman rule; beginning of the Dark Ages

  449

  Angles, Saxon and Jute invaders; Hengist and Horsa; St Patrick in Ireland

  476

  Defeat of last Roman Emperor Romulus Augustulus by the German, Odoacer

  477

  Ælle conquers Sussex

  494

  Jutes conquer Kent

  518

  King Arthur defeat Saxons at Mount Badon

  c.550

  St David’s Mission to Wales

  563

  Columba establishes the Iona community

  597

  St Augustine lands in Kent

  c.607

  The first St Paul’s Church in London

  635

  Lindisfarne monastery

  664

  Synod of Whitby

  c.685

  Foundation of Saxon Winchester Cathedral

  731

  Book of Kells

  c.783

  Offa’s Dyke

  787

  Start of Danish raids

  829

  Egbert, overlord of England

  c.840

  Dublin built by Danes

  c.850

  Kenneth MacAlpin, first King of Scotia

  871

  Alfred the Great

  c. 891

  The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle

  924

  King Athelstan

  939

  Edmund I

  959

  King Edgar

  978

  Corfe Castl
e and Edward the Martyr

  978

  Æthelred (Ethelred) the Unready

  991

  Ælfric’s Life of the Saints

  994

  Danes besiege London

  c.1000

  Offshore and deep-sea fishing starts

  1002

  St Brice’s Day Massacre

  1007

  Danegeld

  1016

  Cnut

  1017

  England split into four earldoms

  1034

  Duncan I of Scotland

  1035

  Harold I of England

  1039

  Gruffudd ap Llywelyn

  1040

  Harthacnut

  1040

  Macbeth, King of Scots

  1042

  Edward the Confessor

  1058

  Malcolm III Canmore, King of Scots

  1064

  Earl Harold’s homage to William of Normandy

  1066

  Harold II and Battle of Hastings; King William I; Hereward the Wake

  1067

  First Marcher Lord (Hereford); Tower of London started

  1079

  Norman Winchester Cathedral started

  1086

  Domesday started

  1087

  William Rufus; Rhys ap Tewdwr

  1093–7

  Donald III Bane, King of Scots

  1097

  Edgar, King of Scots

  1100

  Henry I; marries Matilda

  1107

  Alexander I, King of Scots

  c.1110

  Miracle Plays first performed (Dunstable)

  1120

  White Ship; death of Henry I’s son, William

  1124

  David I

  1135–54

  King Stephen

  1138

  David I invades England

  1153

  Malcolm IV, King of Scots

  1154

  Henry II; Adrian IV – only English Pope

  1165

  William, the Lion of the Scots

  1166

  Rory O’Connor drives Dermot MacMurrough from Ireland

  c.1167

  Foundation of Oxford University

  1170

  Strongbow lands in Ireland; murder of Becket

  1177

  John Lackland, titular Lord of Ireland; founding of Belfast

  1179

  The Grand Assize

  1189

  Richard I, Coeur de Lion

  1190

  Massacre of Jews, York

  c.1191

  Lord Mayor of London (Henry fitz Ailwin)

  1194

  Richard I ransomed

  1199

  King John; Wars in France over English possessions

  1209

  Cambridge University

  1214

  Alexander II of the Scots

  1215

  Magna Carta; First Barons’ War; Louis of France invades England

  1216

  Henry III; Forest Charter

  1218

  Llywelyn ap Iorwerth; Treaty of Worcester

  1220

  Salisbury Cathedral

  1225

  Magna and Forest Charters re-issued

  1227

  Henry III declared of age

  1242

  Battle of the Saintes

  1249

  Alexander III of the Scots

  1258

  Provisions of Oxford

  1264

  Second Barons’ War

  1266

  Treaty of Perth. Norway cedes Western Isles and Isle of Man

  1267

  Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, Prince of Wales

  1271

  Marco Polo travels to China

  1272

  Edward I

  1278

  Jews arrested for gold-clipping

  1279

  Statute of Mortmain limiting church landowning

  1286

  Margaret, Queen of Scots

  1290

  Expulsion of Jews

  1292

  John Balliol, King of Scots

  1295

  Model Parliament

  1297

  William Wallace defeats English at Stirling Bridge

  1305

  William Wallace executed

  1306

  Robert I, King of Scots

  1307

  Edward II

  1308

  Edward II weds Isabella of France

  1309

  Papacy to Avignon

  1310

  Lords Ordainers

  1312

  Gaveston executed

  1314

  Bannockburn

  1318

  Despensers

  1325

  Queen Isabella flees to France

  1326

  Isabella and Roger de Mortimer imprison Edward II

  1327

  Edward II assassinated; Edward III

  1329

  David II, King of Scots

  1337

  Hundred Years War begins

  1340

  Battle of Sluys

  1346

  Battle of Crécy

  1347

  Calais

  1348

  Order of the Garter

  1356

  Poitiers

  c.1362

  William Langland’s Piers Plowman

  1376

  Death of Edward, the Black Prince

  1377

  Richard II

  1378

  The Great Schism splits Church

  1381

  Peasants’ Revolt

  1388

  Otterburn

  1390

  Robert III, King of Scots

  c.1390

  Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales

  1399

  Death of John of Gaunt; Bolingbroke seizes crown

  1399

  Henry IV

  1400

  Richard II murdered(?)

  1401

  First Lollard Martyr

  1403

  Percy’s Revolt; Henry Percy killed at Shrewsbury

  1406

  James I of Scots

  1409

  Owen Glyndŵr

  1411

  Foundation of Guildhall in London

  1413

  Henry V

  1415

  Agincourt

  1420

  Treaty of Troyes; Paston Letters

  1422

  Henry VI

  1429

  Joan of Arc at Orléans

  1437

  James II of Scots

  1450

  Cade’s Rebellion

  1453

  End of Hundred Years War; Gutenberg Bible

  1455

  Wars of the Roses begin

  1460

  James III of Scots

  1461

  Edward IV

  c.1474

  Caxton prints first book in English

  1483

  Richard III

  1485

  Henry VII; founding of the Yeomen of the Guard

  1488

  James IV of Scots

  1492

  Christopher Columbus reaches America

  1509

  Henry VIII marries Catherine of Aragon

  1513

  James V of Scots

  1519

  Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor

  1527

  Henry VIII fails in attempt to divorce Catherine of Aragon

  1533

  Henry VIII marries Anne Boleyn; Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury

  1536

  Henry VIII marries Jane Seymour; Wales annexed to England

  1540

  Henry VIII marries and divorces Anne of Cleves; marries Catherine Howard

  1540

  Henry VIII, King of Ireland

  1
542

  Mary, Queen of Scots

  1547

  Edward VI

  1549

  First Book of Common Prayer

  1553

  Mary I

  1556

  Cranmer executed

  1558

  Elizabeth I

  1561

  Mary, Queen of Scots returns to Scotland from France

  1562

  British slave trade starts

  1567

  James VI, King of Scotland

  1571

  First anti-Catholic Penal Law

  1580

  Drake’s circumnavigation