English History Forum:
English History in a Few Paragraphs?!

Okay, so here we go.
First, pre-historic Britain. Well, there were Celtic-Gaelic peoples who inhabited the British Isles. Languages like Welsh, Gaelic (Scots and Irish), Manx, owe their histories to these peoples. Is there a Cornish language? That would be another. You've heard of Stonehenge? That dates to these times as well.
Then in 55BC Gaius Julius Caesar invaded Britain and while he didn't stay the Celto-Britons certainly became aware of the Romans and their dangerous military might. It wasn't until Emperor Claudius returned with several legions in the AD40's that Rome took over for good. The native Britons resisted heroically under their venerable Queen Boudicca. It was during Roman rule (40-400) that we see places like Bath come into existence. The Romans undertook many pacifying campaigns in Britain but could never establish control over the furthest flung areas of the island - Scotland, Wales, even Cornwall. They never touched Ireland. Again you've probably heard of Hadrian's Wall? The border of effective Roman control in Britain. It was the Romans that really put London on the map as well.
By the turn of the 5th century, the Empire itself was fast crumbling and the entire Roman garrison was recalled from Britain never to return leaving a new Romano-British people behind. This was the stock of the semi-legendary King Arthur as he fought the incursions of the next invaders: Angles, Saxons, and Jutes from northern Europe. These peoples established themselves on Britain creating several small kingdoms the most famous of which were Kent, Northumbria, Mercia, East Anglia, and Wessex. This was all roughly between 410 and 800. Certainly by 800 all of these were well established. For the most part Northumbria and Mercia were pre-dominant. From this time period we get Mercian King Offa whom Charlemagne considered an equal. Missionary efforts were begun by the Roman Catholic Church into England at this time also and many of the Saxon peoples were becoming Christianized.
Along came the Vikings, Norse, Northmen, Danes starting in the late 8th century. The Vikings concentrated on the coasts from Scotland clear around to Wales while the Danes hit SE England. In no time the Saxon kingdoms went the way of the dodo EXCEPT Wessex. There we had Alfred the Great who held them at bay. Until the Norman Conquest in 1066 the Scandinavian influence in English history was enormous and England even became part of a vast Norwegian Kingdom. We have Norwegian kings in England and even the Normans were Viking descendants. Hence the historical connections and invasion.
Part One

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