Introduction

There are many web sites describing the English Kings and Queens. Where this one differs is the addition of a background history of Europe of which England is very much a part. Also we have included the men and women, many of whom had a bigger impact on history than any member of the Royal Family. These pages are a much more detailed account of the History of England than the quick timeline guide which is designed to give only a rapid overview for those new to the history of England.

Kings and Queens Quick Chronological Guide

For those only interested in a list and description of the Kings and Queens of England, that is with no European and Middle East element;

Click Here

Introduction and Background

ENGLAND or the Land of the Angles did not exist until about 500 AD when, after the Romans left the western Germanic tribe the Angles invaded. So to commence the History of England we must have a snapshot of Europe leading up to this time.

The Romans called the land we now call England plus the adjacent territories Wales and Scotland, Britannium.

2000 years ago.

The Romans had set foot on Britain, had not yet settled but were ruling all of Europe south of the Rhine and Danube Rivers from Gaul (France) through North Africa as far east as Palestine (Judea) and tentatively Baghdad.

Religion. From Pagans to Christians.

Jesus lived and taught in Judea under Roman rule from about 5 BC to 30 AD and his message of peace and kindness was revolutionary at the time when slavery was the norm and cruelty and murder commonplace. A key part of his message was that a poor man (for example a slave) had more chance of going to heaven than his rich boss. At the time Romans and Jews (Israelites) alike had slaves to do the hard work. The Romans, including the Romans ruling in faraway Britain did not change en mass from their pagan religion to Christianity, coupled with its moral code, until some 300 years after Jesus death.

The Roman Empire and its enemies.

Roman territory we have seen included present day England in the west to present day Baghdad in the east and from North Africa in the south to the banks of the rivers Rhine and Danube in the north. East of these boundaries were the mighty Persians (Iran) and north and North East were a large number of semi nomadic tribes stretching from the Atlantic coast in the west right through to the Mongolian steppes in the east. The further east you go the more skilled the tribes were in using horses in battle including the art of shooting arrows from bows when ones horse is in full gallop. From about 200 AD onwards there was a steady migration westwards, as the warlike peoples of Mongolia put pressure on their next door neighbours eventually causing those, thousands of miles west, on the Atlantic sea board to take to their boats in search of new land. These tribes are listed here, in order from the Atlantic west to the far east, as they were in 500 AD.

500 AD

The tribes below, originally from present day Germany, advanced into the now undefended Roman Empire in the West and were by 500 AD ruling:

Tribe By 500 AD

Franks    Were ruling Germany and old Gaul to be called France

Saxons    Ruled south east England and north to the Humber (York)

Angles) ::

Jutes) ::

Lombards

Alemanni

Vandals    Ruled north Africa controlling the wheat fields of Cathage.

Visigoths    Ruled Spain except for the Basque area.

Ostrogoths    Ruled Italy, but the small Papal area remained intact.

Tribes from modern day south Russia.

Huns Had moved into the Balkans taking land from the Byzantiums.

Byzantium was the name given to the Eastern Roman Empire which was still intact and ruled from Constantinople (Istanbul)

Tribes from central and eastern Asia

Turks) Were still east of the Aral Sea.

Mongals).

Older historians seem to describe the fall of the Roman Empire circa 400-475 AD as the collapse of all things Roman coupled with the loss of their skills and civilising rule. In fact the East Roman (or Byzantium) lands were still intact from the Balkans through to Baghdad and south to Egypt and the Nile. The Holy Land was still in Christian/Roman “safe” hands. The Jews had left their home land in Judea after AD 70 when the Romans made life intolerable for them and specifically destroyed their Temple the “Temple of Jerusalem”.

The Jewish Diaspora.

Jews are important to English History so it is useful to learn why they left Jerusalem in such large numbers: See separate section on Jews.

Jews whose religion supported both academic learning and learning how to make a living tended to be very useful to any community but were quite often seem to be too cleaver by far by the local less well educated leaders.

The Roman Empire in 500 AD

All the viable remaining large cities in the old Roman Empire were now only to be found in the Byzantium East. Viz. Constantinople (now Istanbul), Antioch in the north Levant and Alexandria in Egypt. Antioch was the Mediterranean end of the Silk Road from China and a large port for spices via the Persian Gulf and India. Alexandria was an alternative port for Spices from India and Indonesia and wheat, Linens and Papyrus (writing paper) from Egypt. Both these ports fed Constantinople which monopolised trade to the rest of Europe which included England.

Note The Byzantiums never called themselves as such, always Romans even though they eventually spoke only Greek rather than Latin. They referred to (Western) Romans or “Italian” Romans as Latins.

The theological centre of the Christian Church was Constantinople and not Rome and “Roman” laws and customs were rigidly adhered to and their engineering, art and military expertise remained locked in the east until the Renaissance some 1000 years after the fall of Rome.

Populations.

The old Roman cities of Constantinople, Antioch and Alexandria were all larger than a half million people. Rome once of similar size was by 500 AD down to only a few hundred people even including the Popes supporters. Any remnants of the Roman elite were living in the small towns of Milan and Ravenna. There were no other towns of any significance in Western Europe. Constantinople remained the largest city in Europe until over taken by London in the 18th century.

The population of the whole of Europe fell drastically during this period (200-500) by perhaps 30 to 50%. Looking back there was no apparent obvious cause other than continuous wars and perhaps climate change. (Wetter and colder). There was significant loss of land due to sea level rise. (Which would imply it was getting warmer)
England