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E U R O P E A N N A T I O N S

GREAT BRITAIN

A REFERENCE GUIDE

FROM THE RENAISSANCE TO THE PRESENT

Richard S. Tompson

Frank J. Coppa, General Editor

Great Britain: A Reference Guide from the Renaissance to the Present

Copyright © 2003 by Richard S. Tompson

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any

information storage or retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher. For information contact:

Facts On File, Inc.

132 West 31st Street

New York NY 10001

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Tompson, Richard S.

Great Britain : a reference guide from the Renaissance to the present / by Richard S. Tompson.

p. cm. — (European nations series)

Includes bibliographical references (p. ) and index. ISBN 0-8160-4474-0

1. Great Britain—History—Bibliography. I. Title. II. Series. Z2016.T66 2003

[DA30] 941’.003—dc212002192540

Facts On File books are available at special discounts when purchased in bulk quantities for businesses, associations, institutions, or sales promotions. Please call our Special Sales Department in New York at (212) 967-8800 or (800) 322-8755.

You can find Facts On File on the World Wide Web at http://www.factsonfile.com

Text design by David Strelecky

Cover design by Semadar Megged

Maps by Dale Williams © Facts On File

Printed in the United States of America

VB FOF 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

This book is printed on acid-free paper.

CONTENTS

Foreword

iv

Introduction

v

History of Great Britain

1

EARLY BRITAIN

3

THE END OF THE MIDDLE AGES, 1399–1509

11

BRITAIN REFORMED, 1509–1603

20

BRITISH REVOLUTIONS, 1603–1707

33

A NEW SOCIETY, 1707–1850

45

THE BRITISH EMPIRE, 1850–1914

56

WORLD POWER, 1899–1945

69

DECLINE AND DEVOLUTION SINCE 1945

83

Historical Dictionary A–Z

97

Chronology

429

Appendices

489

MAPS

491

GENEALOGIES

501

ENGLISH SOVEREIGNS FROM 899

511

UNITED KINGDOM PRIME MINISTERS FROM 1721

515

Bibliography

517

Index

526

FOREWORD

This series was inspired by the need of high school and college students to have a concise and readily available history series focusing on the evolution of the major European powers and other influential European states in the modern age—from the Renaissance to the present. Written in accessible language, the projected volumes include all of the major European countries: France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, and Russia, as well as other states such as Spain, Portugal, Austria, and Hungary that have made important intellectual, political, cultural, and religious contributions to Europe and the world. The format has been designed to facilitate usage and includes a short introduction by the author of each volume, a specialist in its history, providing an overview of the importance of the particular country in the modern period. This is followed by a narrative history of each nation from the time of the Renaissance to the present. The core of the volume consists of an A–Z dictionary of people, events, and places, providing coverage of intellectual, political, diplomatic, cultural, social, religious, and economic developments. Next, a chronology details key events in each nation’s development over the past several centuries. Finally, the end matter includes a selected bibliography of readily available works, maps, and an index to the material within the volume.

—Frank J. Coppa, General Editor

St. John’s University

IV

INTRODUCTION

Great Britain is the largest offshore island in the North Sea. Geography helps to explain its history, its internal structure, and its relation to the world outside. Britain was for centuries the destination or target of continental migrations and invasions—Roman, Saxon, Christian, and Scandinavian. From about A.D. 1100 there was a period of five centuries of struggles with French, Spanish, and papal powers on the continent. By A.D. 1600 there were clear signs of political, religious, and economic independence in Britain. These were accompanied by a reversal of the flow of power and influence, and a British empire took shape in the 17th century, with outposts in the Americas, Asia, and Africa. That great international enterprise grew in size and strength until the 20th century, and then it rapidly shrank. As the empire contracted, the British entered a new stage of relations with Europe, joining that continent’s new community structure in 1972 and fitfully enlisting in the new institutions of Europe from then on.

While engaging in these long phases of international relations, the countries and peoples within Britain were constantly evolving and defining themselves. It was over four centuries after the end of Roman occupation before centralized kingdoms emerged in England and Scotland (A.D. 850–900). Wales, on the other hand, was ruled by tribal leaders, as was Ireland; both were subjected to English intervention and eventual domination. Scotland, on the other hand, was able to survive a period of “wars of independence” in the early 1300s. While England built a wealthy and centralized kingdom by 1400, it took 300 years more to assert English power firmly over its near neighbors.

By the end of the 20th century there were two major measurements of the importance of British history: first, in the evidence of the many British “exports” that spread across the globe; and second, in the complex and contradictory position of Britain in the world. The major exports were represented by emigrants, the English language and literature, and institutions of government. Beginning in the age of the American rebellion, there was rapid population growth in Britain. The increase continued through the 19th century, and by 1900 the number of people who had emigrated was greater than the entire population of Britain in 1801. These emigrants and exiles carried British influence in their luggage and in their lives. They used a language which became a universal medium before the end of the 20th century. With that language came a literary heritage of immense power, with Chaucer, Shakespeare, Milton, and Dickens. The British migration paralleled the construction of empire. And in

V

vi Great Britain

that enterprise political and legal institutions, shaped primarily in England, were exported to the colonies. Even in places where the colonists later rejected the authority of the crown, their parliaments and statutes and their form of courts and common law typically survived as the essential fabric of government.

But the British Empire did decline and almost disappear. In its finale, this once mighty institution was transformed. Perhaps the experience of defeat in America in 1781 gave Britain a sense that imperial losses could be profitable. For from that situation, the once-dependent colonies became a stalwart and powerful ally by the 20th century. Indeed, there developed what some called a “special relationship”—a cultural and political alliance of unusual closeness. Also, in the course of the century after the American revolt, the more mature, white-dominated British colonies evolved into “dominions” of the crown, with virtual independence in domestic affairs. African and Asian peoples did not receive the same treatment. Nevertheless, those colonial peoples were encouraged by the grants of autonomy made to Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. When Britain and the United States proclaimed as their war aims “self-deter- mination of nations” (1918) and “four freedoms” (1914), the road to liberation seemed to be open.

The British formal title is “The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.” This name was created in 1922 with the foundation of the Irish Free State, itself a dominion government. That event ended a period of over seven centuries of English rule of Ireland. Ironically, in the years since 1922 the leaders in Northern Ireland have fought to maintain union with Britain. But elsewhere, the trend was all in the opposite direction. The vestiges of empire are visible today in the Commonwealth of Nations. Originally made up of the dominions, the Commonwealth met at first in colonial conference and formed imperial committees during World War I. After the war the dominions insisted on looser ties, which were ratified by statute in 1931. By 1957 the adjective “British” was dropped from the name of the Commonwealth, and it became an international organization for trade and other relations.

As Britain forged new relations with its commonwealth nations in the aftermath of World War II, there also had to be new ties to Europe. The destruction of Germany in 1945 brought terrible misery to much of the continent, and the ambition of one of her conquerors—the Soviet Union—was to take advantage of that weakness. Western Europe was fortified by aid from the United States (the Marshall Plan, the International Monetary Fund, and the World Bank) and a new joint military force in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). By 1957, in the Treaty of Rome, a new idea of European cooperation was adopted. But Britain declined full participation at first, out of a concern for her historic trade partners in the empire and commonwealth. This position was reversed in 1972 when Britain joined the Common Market. Still, Britain remains deeply divided as to her relation with Europe.

Great Britain has always included a group of linked national histories. For many years these were overshadowed by English rule and English history. In the last century the histories of Ireland, Scotland, and Wales have gained

Introduction vii

greater prominence. Meanwhile the United Kingdom has had vital and changing relations with Europe and the world, especially the United States. Thus in Britain we can see an array of shifting national and imperial identities. Britain’s history is our key to understanding the roots of the culture and institutions which have had such enormous influence around the world.

—Richard S. Tompson

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