A portrait of great Britain
Britain has been assiduous in preserving its traditions, but offers the visitor much more than stately castles and pretty villages. A diversity of landscape, culture, literature, art and architecture, as well as its unique heritage, result in a nation balancing the needs of the present with those of its past.
Britain's character has been shaped by its geographical position as an island. Never successfully invaded since 1066, its people have developed their own distinctive traditions. The Roman invasion of AD 43 lasted 350 years but Roman culture and language were quickly overlain with those of the northern European settlers who followed. Ties with Europe were loosened further in the 16th century when the Catholic church was replaced by a less dogmatic established church.
The landscape is varied from the craggy mountains of Wales, Scotland and the north, through the flat expanses of the Midlands and eastern England to the soft, rolling hills oft eh south and west. The long, broad beaches of East Anglia contrast with the picturesque rocky inlets along much of the west coast.
A typical village is built around an ancient church and a small, friendly pub. Here the pace of life slows. To drink a pint of ale in a cozy, village inn and relax before a fire is a time honored British custom.
In the 19th and early 20th centuries, trade with teh extensive British Empire, fueled by abundant coal supplies, spurred manufacturing and created wealth. Thousands of people moved from the countryside to towns and cities near mines, mills and factories. By 1850 Britain was the wold's strongest industrial nation. Now many of these old industrial centers have declined, and today manufacturing employ only 10 percentage of the labor force, while 75 work in the growing service sector. These service industries are located mainly in the southeast, close to London, where modern office buildings bear witness to comparative prosperity.
British cities are melting pots for people not just from different parts of the country but also from overseas...racial tensions can occasionally arise. British's class structure still intrigues and bewilders many visitors, based as it is on a subtle mixture of heredity and wealth. Even though many of the great inherited fortunes no longer exist, some old landed families still live on their large stages, and may now open them to the public. Class divisions are further entrenched by the education system. While more than 90% of children are educated free by the state, richer parents often opt for private schooling, and the products of theses private schools are disproportionately represented in the higher echelons of government and business.
The monarchy's position highlights the dilemma of a people seeking to preserve its most potent symbol of national unity in an age that is suspicious of inherited privilege. Without real political power though still head of the Church of England, the Queen and her family are subject to increasing public scrutiny and some citizens advocate the abolition of the monarchy.
Democracy has deep foundations in Britain: there was even a parliament of sorts in London in the 13 century.
Culture and the Arts
Britain has a famous theatrical tradition stretching back to the 16th century and William Shakespeare. His plays have been performed on stage almost continuously since he wrote them.
Stately Homes
The grand country house reached its zenith in the 18th and 19th centuries, when the old landed families and the new captains of industry enjoyed their wealth, looked after by retinue of servants. By the 16th century, when the opulent tasted of the European Renaissance spread to England, houses became centers of pleasure and showplaces for fine art. The Georgians favored chaste Classical architecture with rich interiors, the Victorians flamboyant Gothic.
Heraldry and the aristocracy
The British aristocracy has evolved over 900 years from the feudal obligations of noblemen to the Norman kings, who conferred privileges of rank and land in return for armed support. Subsequent monarchs bestowed titles and property on their supporters, establishing new aristocratic dynasties. The title of "earl" dates from the 11th century; that of "duke "from the 14th century. Soon the nobility began to choose their own symbols, partly to identify a knight concealed by his armour: thse were often painted on the knight's coat.
Rural Architecture
For many, the essence of British life is found in villages. Their scale and serenity nurture a way of life envied by those who line in towns and cities. The pattern of British villages dates back some1500 years, when the Saxons cleared forests and established settlements, usually centered around a green or pond. The settlements evolved organically around a church or manor; the cottages and gardens were created from local materials. Today, a typical village will contain structures of various dates, from the Middle Ages onward.
Prehistoric Britain: Britain was part of the European landmass until the end of the last Ice Age, around 6000 BC, when the English Channel was formed by melting ice.
Early Settlers: a race of nomadic hunter-gatherers were the earliest inhabitants. By about 3000 BC tribes of Neolithic people had crossed the water from Europe, now Spain.
The Celtic tribes arre ancestors of the highland Scots, the Irish and the els, and their languages are the basics of both modern Welsh and Gaelic.
The Romans: British recorded history begins with the Roman invasion. Julius Caesar first crossed the English Channel and arrived in Britain in 55 Bc but meeting resistance and bad weather, he returned to Gaul. A successful invasion didn't take place until nearly a century later, in AD43, headed by the Emperor Claudius. When the Romans left, nearly 400 years later, to defend Rome against the barbarians, they left behind a network of towns, mostly walled,many on the sites of Celtic settlements or their own military camps, and a good road network. Yet their influence faded surprisingly fast. Building crumbled through lack of repair and language, literacy and religion soon disappeared.
Roman Britain: Throughout the 350-year Roman occupation, Britain was ruled as a colony. After the defeat of rebellous local tribes, the Romans remained an unassimilated occupying power. Their legacy is in military and civil construction forts, walls, towns and public buildings. Their long, straight roads, built for easy movement of troops, are still a feature of the landscape. (Where to see Roman Britain? York, Bath (baths) and London.
Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms: By the mid-5th century, Angles and Saxons from Germany had started to raid the eastern shores of Britain. Increasingly the decided to settle, and within 100 years Saxon kingdoms, including Wessex, Mercia and Northumbira, were established over the entire country. Viking raids throughout the 8th and 9th centuries were largely contained, but in 1066, the last invasion of England saw William the Conqueror from Normandy defeat the Anglo-Saxon King Harold at the Battle of Hastings/ William then went on to assume control of the whole country.
Anglo-Saxon Assault
The new waves of invaders from central Europe, Saxons, Angles and Jutes, gradually pushed the native Celts westward into Wales and north into Scotland. In the mid-9th century Vikings who had been raiding the country for almost a century and taking their booty home, decided it was time to settle. Alfred was the only one strong enough to defeat them and come to a relatively amicable agreement.The Danes who established a large settlement in York, were to control the north and east of the country, while Alfred would rule the rest. Alfred is know as the father of the British navy as he founded a strong fleet which first beat the Danes at sea, then protected the coasts and encouraged trade.
After the great king's death, in 980 Viking invasions recommenced..
Norman Conquest: Edward (1042-1066) known as the Confessor was pious man who built Westminster Abbey to the glory of God. He spent most of his life Normandy, the part of France settled by the Viking.He is far more Norman than Saxon and soon upset his father-in-law, Earl Godwin, by filling his court with "foreign favorites and appointing a Norman priest Archbishop of Canterbury.
The Middle Ages: Remains of Norman castles on English hill tops bear testimony to the military might used by the invaders to sustain their conquest- Although Wales and Scotland resisted for centuries. The Normans operated a feudal system, creating an aristocracy that treated native Anglo-Saxons as serfs. The ruling class spoke French until the 13th century, when it mixed with the Old English used by the peasants. The medieval church's power is shown in the cathedrals that grace British cities today.
Tudor Renaissance: After years of debilitating civil war, the Tudor monarchs established peace and national self-confidence, reflected in the split from the church of Rome-due to Henry VIII's divorce from Catherine of Aragon- and the consequent closure of the monasteries. Henry's daughter, Mary I, tried to re-establish Catholicism but under her half-sister, Elizabeth I, the Protestant church secured its position. Overseas exploration began, provoking clashes with other European powers seeking to exploit the New World. The Renaissance in arts and learning spread from Europe to Britain, with playwright William Shakespeare adding his own unique contribution.
Stuart Britain
The end of Elizabeth I's reign signaled the start of internal turmoil. The throne passed to James I. whose belief that kings ruled by divine right provoked clashes with Parliament. Under his son Charles I. the conflict escalated into Civil War that ended with his execution. In 1660 Charles II regained the throne. ut after his death James II was ousted for Catholic leanings. Protestantism was reaffirmed with the reign of William and Mary, who surpassed the Catholic Jacobites.
Georgian Britain
The 18th century saw Britain, now recovered from the trauma of its Civil War, develop as commercial and industrial powerhouse. London became a center of banking, and a mercantile and professional class grew up. Continuing supremacy at seas laid the foundations of an empire; steam engines, canals and railways heralded the Industrial Revolution. Growing confidence was reflected in stately architecture and elegant fashions but, as cities became more crowded, conditions for the underclass grew worse.
Victorian Britian
When Victoria became Queen in 1837, she was only 18/ Britain was in he throes of its transformation from an agricultural country to the world's most powerful industrial nation. The growth of the Empire fueled the country's confidence and opened up markers for Britain's manufactured goods. The accelerating growth of cities created problems of health and housing and a powerful labor movement began to emerge. But by the end of Victoria's long and popular reign in 1901, conditions had begun to improve as more people got the vote and universal education was introduced.
Britain has been assiduous in preserving its traditions, but offers the visitor much more than stately castles and pretty villages. A diversity of landscape, culture, literature, art and architecture, as well as its unique heritage, result in a nation balancing the needs of the present with those of its past.
Britain's character has been shaped by its geographical position as an island. Never successfully invaded since 1066, its people have developed their own distinctive traditions. The Roman invasion of AD 43 lasted 350 years but Roman culture and language were quickly overlain with those of the northern European settlers who followed. Ties with Europe were loosened further in the 16th century when the Catholic church was replaced by a less dogmatic established church.
The landscape is varied from the craggy mountains of Wales, Scotland and the north, through the flat expanses of the Midlands and eastern England to the soft, rolling hills oft eh south and west. The long, broad beaches of East Anglia contrast with the picturesque rocky inlets along much of the west coast.
A typical village is built around an ancient church and a small, friendly pub. Here the pace of life slows. To drink a pint of ale in a cozy, village inn and relax before a fire is a time honored British custom.
In the 19th and early 20th centuries, trade with teh extensive British Empire, fueled by abundant coal supplies, spurred manufacturing and created wealth. Thousands of people moved from the countryside to towns and cities near mines, mills and factories. By 1850 Britain was the wold's strongest industrial nation. Now many of these old industrial centers have declined, and today manufacturing employ only 10 percentage of the labor force, while 75 work in the growing service sector. These service industries are located mainly in the southeast, close to London, where modern office buildings bear witness to comparative prosperity.
British cities are melting pots for people not just from different parts of the country but also from overseas...racial tensions can occasionally arise. British's class structure still intrigues and bewilders many visitors, based as it is on a subtle mixture of heredity and wealth. Even though many of the great inherited fortunes no longer exist, some old landed families still live on their large stages, and may now open them to the public. Class divisions are further entrenched by the education system. While more than 90% of children are educated free by the state, richer parents often opt for private schooling, and the products of theses private schools are disproportionately represented in the higher echelons of government and business.
The monarchy's position highlights the dilemma of a people seeking to preserve its most potent symbol of national unity in an age that is suspicious of inherited privilege. Without real political power though still head of the Church of England, the Queen and her family are subject to increasing public scrutiny and some citizens advocate the abolition of the monarchy.
Democracy has deep foundations in Britain: there was even a parliament of sorts in London in the 13 century.
Culture and the Arts
Britain has a famous theatrical tradition stretching back to the 16th century and William Shakespeare. His plays have been performed on stage almost continuously since he wrote them.
Stately Homes
The grand country house reached its zenith in the 18th and 19th centuries, when the old landed families and the new captains of industry enjoyed their wealth, looked after by retinue of servants. By the 16th century, when the opulent tasted of the European Renaissance spread to England, houses became centers of pleasure and showplaces for fine art. The Georgians favored chaste Classical architecture with rich interiors, the Victorians flamboyant Gothic.
Heraldry and the aristocracy
The British aristocracy has evolved over 900 years from the feudal obligations of noblemen to the Norman kings, who conferred privileges of rank and land in return for armed support. Subsequent monarchs bestowed titles and property on their supporters, establishing new aristocratic dynasties. The title of "earl" dates from the 11th century; that of "duke "from the 14th century. Soon the nobility began to choose their own symbols, partly to identify a knight concealed by his armour: thse were often painted on the knight's coat.
Rural Architecture
For many, the essence of British life is found in villages. Their scale and serenity nurture a way of life envied by those who line in towns and cities. The pattern of British villages dates back some1500 years, when the Saxons cleared forests and established settlements, usually centered around a green or pond. The settlements evolved organically around a church or manor; the cottages and gardens were created from local materials. Today, a typical village will contain structures of various dates, from the Middle Ages onward.
The History of Great Britain
When French and British construction workers met beneath the English Channel in 1990, Britain became linked to Continental Europe for the first time in 7,000 years.Prehistoric Britain: Britain was part of the European landmass until the end of the last Ice Age, around 6000 BC, when the English Channel was formed by melting ice.
Early Settlers: a race of nomadic hunter-gatherers were the earliest inhabitants. By about 3000 BC tribes of Neolithic people had crossed the water from Europe, now Spain.
The Celtic tribes arre ancestors of the highland Scots, the Irish and the els, and their languages are the basics of both modern Welsh and Gaelic.
The Romans: British recorded history begins with the Roman invasion. Julius Caesar first crossed the English Channel and arrived in Britain in 55 Bc but meeting resistance and bad weather, he returned to Gaul. A successful invasion didn't take place until nearly a century later, in AD43, headed by the Emperor Claudius. When the Romans left, nearly 400 years later, to defend Rome against the barbarians, they left behind a network of towns, mostly walled,many on the sites of Celtic settlements or their own military camps, and a good road network. Yet their influence faded surprisingly fast. Building crumbled through lack of repair and language, literacy and religion soon disappeared.
Roman Britain: Throughout the 350-year Roman occupation, Britain was ruled as a colony. After the defeat of rebellous local tribes, the Romans remained an unassimilated occupying power. Their legacy is in military and civil construction forts, walls, towns and public buildings. Their long, straight roads, built for easy movement of troops, are still a feature of the landscape. (Where to see Roman Britain? York, Bath (baths) and London.
Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms: By the mid-5th century, Angles and Saxons from Germany had started to raid the eastern shores of Britain. Increasingly the decided to settle, and within 100 years Saxon kingdoms, including Wessex, Mercia and Northumbira, were established over the entire country. Viking raids throughout the 8th and 9th centuries were largely contained, but in 1066, the last invasion of England saw William the Conqueror from Normandy defeat the Anglo-Saxon King Harold at the Battle of Hastings/ William then went on to assume control of the whole country.
Anglo-Saxon Assault
The new waves of invaders from central Europe, Saxons, Angles and Jutes, gradually pushed the native Celts westward into Wales and north into Scotland. In the mid-9th century Vikings who had been raiding the country for almost a century and taking their booty home, decided it was time to settle. Alfred was the only one strong enough to defeat them and come to a relatively amicable agreement.The Danes who established a large settlement in York, were to control the north and east of the country, while Alfred would rule the rest. Alfred is know as the father of the British navy as he founded a strong fleet which first beat the Danes at sea, then protected the coasts and encouraged trade.
After the great king's death, in 980 Viking invasions recommenced..
Norman Conquest: Edward (1042-1066) known as the Confessor was pious man who built Westminster Abbey to the glory of God. He spent most of his life Normandy, the part of France settled by the Viking.He is far more Norman than Saxon and soon upset his father-in-law, Earl Godwin, by filling his court with "foreign favorites and appointing a Norman priest Archbishop of Canterbury.
The Middle Ages: Remains of Norman castles on English hill tops bear testimony to the military might used by the invaders to sustain their conquest- Although Wales and Scotland resisted for centuries. The Normans operated a feudal system, creating an aristocracy that treated native Anglo-Saxons as serfs. The ruling class spoke French until the 13th century, when it mixed with the Old English used by the peasants. The medieval church's power is shown in the cathedrals that grace British cities today.
Tudor Renaissance: After years of debilitating civil war, the Tudor monarchs established peace and national self-confidence, reflected in the split from the church of Rome-due to Henry VIII's divorce from Catherine of Aragon- and the consequent closure of the monasteries. Henry's daughter, Mary I, tried to re-establish Catholicism but under her half-sister, Elizabeth I, the Protestant church secured its position. Overseas exploration began, provoking clashes with other European powers seeking to exploit the New World. The Renaissance in arts and learning spread from Europe to Britain, with playwright William Shakespeare adding his own unique contribution.
Stuart Britain
The end of Elizabeth I's reign signaled the start of internal turmoil. The throne passed to James I. whose belief that kings ruled by divine right provoked clashes with Parliament. Under his son Charles I. the conflict escalated into Civil War that ended with his execution. In 1660 Charles II regained the throne. ut after his death James II was ousted for Catholic leanings. Protestantism was reaffirmed with the reign of William and Mary, who surpassed the Catholic Jacobites.
Georgian Britain
The 18th century saw Britain, now recovered from the trauma of its Civil War, develop as commercial and industrial powerhouse. London became a center of banking, and a mercantile and professional class grew up. Continuing supremacy at seas laid the foundations of an empire; steam engines, canals and railways heralded the Industrial Revolution. Growing confidence was reflected in stately architecture and elegant fashions but, as cities became more crowded, conditions for the underclass grew worse.
Victorian Britian
When Victoria became Queen in 1837, she was only 18/ Britain was in he throes of its transformation from an agricultural country to the world's most powerful industrial nation. The growth of the Empire fueled the country's confidence and opened up markers for Britain's manufactured goods. The accelerating growth of cities created problems of health and housing and a powerful labor movement began to emerge. But by the end of Victoria's long and popular reign in 1901, conditions had begun to improve as more people got the vote and universal education was introduced.
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