England

==History==
{{Main|History of England}}
{{For timeline|Timeline of English history}}

=== Prehistory ===
{{Main|Prehistoric Britain}}
[[File:Stonehenge, Condado de Wiltshire, Inglaterra, 2014-08-12, DD 18.JPG|alt=Sun shining through row of upright standing stones with other stones horizontally on the top.|thumb|[[Stonehenge]], a [[Neolithic]] monument]]

The earliest known evidence of human presence in the area now known as England was that of ''[[Homo antecessor]]'', dating to approximately 780,000 years ago. The oldest proto-human bones discovered in England date from 500,000&nbsp;years ago.<ref>{{Cite web |date=24 May 2007 |title=500,000 BC&nbsp;– Boxgrove |url=http://www.archaeology.co.uk/the-timeline-of-britain/boxgrove.htm |access-date=20 December 2010 |website=Current Archaeology |publisher=Current Publishing}}</ref> Modern humans are known to have inhabited the area during the [[Upper Paleolithic]] period, though permanent settlements were only established within the last 6,000 years.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Palaeolithic Archaeology Teaching Resource Box |url=http://www.personal.rdg.ac.uk/~sgs04rh/SWRivers/Palaeolithic%20Archaeology%20Teaching%20Resource%20Box_Lifestyles_Basic.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210505012542/http://www.personal.rdg.ac.uk/~sgs04rh/SWRivers/Palaeolithic%20Archaeology%20Teaching%20Resource%20Box_Lifestyles_Basic.pdf |archive-date=5 May 2021 |access-date=20 December 2010 |publisher=Palaeolithic Rivers of South-West Britain Project (2006)}}; {{Cite web |title=Chalk east |url=http://www.geo-east.org.uk/special_projects/eco_culture.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110305032854/http://www.geo-east.org.uk/special_projects/eco_culture.htm |archive-date=5 March 2011 |access-date=20 December 2010 |publisher=A Geo East Project}}</ref> After the [[Last glacial period|last ice age]] only large mammals such as [[mammoth]]s, [[bison]] and [[woolly rhinoceros]] remained. Roughly 11,000&nbsp;years ago, when the [[ice sheets]] began to recede, humans repopulated the area; genetic research suggests they came from the northern part of the [[Iberian Peninsula]].{{Sfn|Oppenheimer|2006|p=173}} The sea level was lower than the present day and Britain was connected by [[land bridge]] to Ireland and [[Eurasia]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Tertiary Rivers: Tectonic and structural background |url=http://www.qpg.geog.cam.ac.uk/research/projects/tertiaryrivers/tectonics.html |access-date=9 September 2009 |publisher=University of Cambridge}}</ref>
As the seas rose, it was separated from Ireland 10,000&nbsp;years ago and from Eurasia two millennia later.

The [[Beaker culture]] arrived around 2,500&nbsp;BC, introducing drinking and food vessels constructed from clay, as well as vessels used as reduction pots to smelt copper ores.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Function and significance of Bell Beaker pottery according to data from residue analyses |url=http://tp.revistas.csic.es/index.php/tp/article/viewFile/5/5 |access-date=21 December 2010}}</ref> It was during this time that major [[Neolithic]] monuments such as [[Stonehenge]] (phase III) and [[Avebury]] were constructed. By heating together tin and copper, which were in abundance in the area, the Beaker culture people made [[bronze]], and later iron from iron ores. The development of iron [[smelting]] allowed the construction of better [[plough]]s, advancing agriculture (for instance, with [[Celtic field]]s), as well as the production of more effective weapons.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Reid |first=Struan |url={{GBurl|id=bn88JPk_Fr0C|q=inventions in trade}} |title=Inventions and Trade. P.8 |date=1994 |publisher=James Lorimer & Company |isbn=978-0-921921-30-1 |access-date=23 December 2010}}</ref>

[[File:London_-_British_Museum_-_2453.jpg|thumb|255x255px|The [[Battersea Shield]] is one of the most significant pieces of ancient [[Celtic art]] found in Britain.]]
During the [[British Iron Age|Iron Age]], [[Celts|Celtic culture]], deriving from the [[Hallstatt culture|Hallstatt]] and [[La Tène culture]]s, arrived from Central Europe. [[British language (Celtic)|Brythonic]] was the spoken language during this time. Society was tribal; according to [[Ptolemy]]'s {{Lang|la|[[Geographia]]}} there were around 20 tribes in the area. Like other regions on the edge of the Empire, Britain had long enjoyed trading links with the Romans. Julius Caesar of the [[Roman Republic]] attempted to [[Caesar's invasions of Britain|invade twice]] in 55&nbsp;BC; although largely unsuccessful, he managed to set up a [[Roman client kingdoms in Britain|client king]] from the [[Trinovantes]].

===Ancient history===

The Romans invaded Britain in 43 AD during the reign of Emperor [[Claudius]], subsequently [[Roman conquest of Britain|conquering much of Britain]], and the area was incorporated into the Roman Empire as [[Roman Britain|Britannia province]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Burke |first=Jason |date=2 December 2000 |title=Dig uncovers Boudicca's brutal streak |work=The Observer |location=London |url=http://observer.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,6903,406152,00.html |url-status=dead |access-date=5 September 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20031022061846/http://observer.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0%2C6903%2C406152%2C00.html |archive-date=22 October 2003}}</ref> The best-known of the native tribes who attempted to resist were the [[Catuvellauni]] led by [[Caratacus]]. Later, an uprising led by [[Boudica]], Queen of the [[Iceni]], ended with Boudica's suicide following her defeat at the [[Defeat of Boudica|Battle of Watling Street]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Cornelius Tacitus, The Annals |url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Tac.+Ann.+14.37&redirect=true |access-date=22 December 2010 |publisher=Alfred John Church, William Jackson Brudribh, Ed}}</ref> The author of one study of Roman Britain suggested that from 43 AD to 84 AD, the Roman invaders killed somewhere between 100,000 and 250,000 people from a population of perhaps 2,000,000.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Goldsworthy |first=Adrian |title=Pax Romana: War, Peace and Conquest in the Roman World |date=2016 |publisher=Hachette UK |page=276}}</ref> This era saw a [[Greco-Roman]] culture prevail with the introduction of [[Roman law]], [[Roman architecture]], [[List of aqueducts in the Roman Empire|aqueducts]], [[Sanitation in ancient Rome|sewers]], many agricultural items and silk.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Bedoyere |first=Guy |title=Architecture in Roman Britain |url=http://heritage-key.com/publication/architecture-roman-britain |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090703012351/http://heritage-key.com/publication/architecture-roman-britain |archive-date=3 July 2009 |access-date=23 December 2010 |website=Heritage Key}}; {{Cite book |url={{GBurl|id=bylBAAAAIAAJ|q=roman law after roman invasion of britain|p=276}} |title=The History of Progress in Great Britain |volume=2 |first=Robert |last=Philip |access-date=23 December 2010 |date=1860}}; {{Cite book |url={{GBurl|id=1qiFEQ1tAHQC|q=roman occupation brought to britain a sewage system|pg=PT119}} |title=Medicine through time |publisher=Heinemann |first1=Bob |last1=Rees |first2=Paul |last2=Shute |first3=Nigel |last3=Kelly |access-date=24 December 2010 |isbn=978-0-435-30841-4 |date=9 January 2003}}</ref> In the 3rd century, Emperor [[Septimius Severus]] died at [[Eboracum]] (now [[York]]), where [[Constantine the Great|Constantine]] was subsequently proclaimed emperor a century later.{{Sfn|Rankov|1994|p=16}}

There is debate about when Christianity was first introduced; it was no later than the 4th century, probably much earlier. According to [[Bede]], missionaries were sent from Rome by [[Pope Eleuterus|Eleutherius]] at the request of the chieftain [[Lucius of Britain]] in 180 AD, to settle differences as to Eastern and Western ceremonials, which were disturbing the church. There are traditions linked to Glastonbury claiming an introduction through [[Joseph of Arimathea]], while others claim through Lucius of Britain.{{Sfn|Wright|2008|p=143}} By 410, during the [[decline of the Roman Empire]], Britain was left exposed by the [[end of Roman rule in Britain]] and the withdrawal of Roman army units, to defend the frontiers in continental Europe and partake in civil wars.<ref name="james_anglosaxons" /> Celtic Christian monastic and missionary movements flourished. This period of Christianity was influenced by ancient Celtic culture in its sensibilities, polity, practices and theology. Local "congregations" were centred in the monastic community and monastic leaders were more like chieftains, as peers, rather than in the more hierarchical system of the Roman-dominated church.<ref name="Lehane">{{Cite book |last=Lehane |first=Brendan |title=Early Christian Christianity |date=1968 |publisher=John Murray}}</ref>

===Middle Ages===
{{Main|England in the Middle Ages}}
[[File:Sutton Hoo replica (face).jpg|thumb|alt=Studded and decorated metallic mask of human face.|Replica of the 7th-century ceremonial [[Sutton Hoo helmet]] from the [[Kingdom of East Anglia]]]]

[[Military of ancient Rome|Roman military]] withdrawals left Britain open to invasion by pagan, seafaring warriors from north-western continental Europe, chiefly the Saxons, [[Angles (tribe)|Angles]], [[Jutes]] and Frisians who had long raided the coasts of the Roman province. These groups then began to settle in increasing numbers over the course of the fifth and sixth centuries, initially in the eastern part of the country.<ref name="james_anglosaxons">{{Cite web |last=James |first=Edward |title=Overview: Anglo-Saxons, 410 to 800 |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/anglo_saxons/overview_anglo_saxons_01.shtml |access-date=3 December 2010 |publisher=BBC}}</ref> Their advance was contained for some decades after the Britons' victory at the [[Battle of Badon|Battle of Mount Badon]], but subsequently resumed, overrunning the fertile lowlands of Britain and reducing the area under [[Britons (historical)|Brittonic]] control to a series of separate enclaves in the more rugged country to the west by the end of the 6th century. Contemporary texts describing this period are extremely scarce, giving rise to its description as a [[Dark Age]]. Details of the [[Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain]] are consequently subject to considerable disagreement; the emerging consensus is that it occurred on a large scale in the south and east but was less substantial to the north and west, where Celtic languages continued to be spoken even in areas under Anglo-Saxon control.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Dark |first=Ken R. |date=2003 |title=Large-scale population movements into and from Britain south of Hadrian's Wall in the fourth to sixth centuries AD |url=https://www.reading.ac.uk/web/files/GCMS/RMS-2003-03_K._R._Dark%2C_Large-scale_population_movements_into_and_from_Britan_south_of_Hadrian%27s_Wall_in_the_fourth_to_sixth_centuries_AD.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210601080017/https://www.reading.ac.uk/web/files/GCMS/RMS-2003-03_K._R._Dark%2C_Large-scale_population_movements_into_and_from_Britan_south_of_Hadrian%27s_Wall_in_the_fourth_to_sixth_centuries_AD.pdf |archive-date=1 June 2021 |access-date=20 June 2020}}; {{Cite book |first=Toby F. |last=Martin |title=The Cruciform Brooch and Anglo-Saxon England |publisher=Boydell and Brewer Press |date=2015 |pages=174–178}}; {{Cite web |last=Coates |first=Richard |title=Celtic whispers: revisiting the problems of the relation between Brittonic and Old English |url=https://ul.qucosa.de/api/qucosa%3A31804/attachment/ATT-0/ }}; {{Cite web |last=Kortlandt |first=Frederik |year=2018 |title=Relative Chronology |url=https://www.kortlandt.nl/publications/art320e.pdf }}; {{Cite web |last=Fox |first=Bethany |title=The P-Celtic Place Names of North-East England and South-East Scotland |url=http://www.heroicage.org/issues/10/fox.html }}</ref><ref name="Härke, Heinrich 2011">{{Cite journal |last=Härke |first=Heinrich |date=2011 |title=Anglo-Saxon Immigration and Ethnogenesis |journal=Medieval Archaeology |volume=55 |issue=1 |pages=1–28 |doi=10.1179/174581711X13103897378311 |s2cid=162331501}}</ref> Roman-dominated Christianity had, in general, been replaced in the conquered territories by [[Anglo-Saxon paganism]], but was reintroduced by missionaries from Rome led by [[Augustine of Canterbury|Augustine]] from 597.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Christian Tradition |url=http://www.picturesofengland.com/history/england-history-p4.html |access-date=5 September 2009 |website=PicturesofEngland.com}}</ref> Disputes between the Roman- and Celtic-dominated forms of Christianity ended in victory for the Roman tradition at the [[Council of Whitby]] (664), which was ostensibly about [[tonsure]]s (clerical haircuts) and the date of Easter, but more significantly, about the differences in Roman and Celtic forms of authority, theology, and practice.<ref name="Lehane" />

During the settlement period the lands ruled by the incomers seem to have been fragmented into numerous tribal territories, but by the 7th century, when substantial evidence of the situation again becomes available, these had coalesced into roughly a dozen kingdoms including [[Northumbria]], [[Mercia]], [[Wessex]], [[Kingdom of East Anglia|East Anglia]], [[Kingdom of Essex|Essex]], [[Kingdom of Kent|Kent]] and [[Kingdom of Sussex|Sussex]]. Over the following centuries, this process of political consolidation continued.{{Sfn|Kirby|2000|p=4}} The 7th century saw a struggle for hegemony between Northumbria and Mercia, which in the 8th century gave way to Mercian preeminence.{{Sfn|Lyon|1960|p=23}} In the early 9th century Mercia was displaced as the foremost kingdom by Wessex. Later in that century escalating attacks by the [[Danes (Germanic tribe)|Danes]] culminated in the conquest of the north and east of England, overthrowing the kingdoms of Northumbria, Mercia and East Anglia. Wessex under [[Alfred the Great]] was left as the only surviving English kingdom, and under his successors, it steadily expanded at the expense of the kingdoms of the [[Danelaw]]. This brought about the political unification of England, first accomplished under [[Æthelstan]] in 927 and definitively established after further conflicts by [[Eadred]] in 953. A fresh wave of Scandinavian attacks from the late 10th century ended with the conquest of this united kingdom by [[Sweyn Forkbeard]] in 1013 and again by his son [[Cnut the Great|Cnut]] in 1016, turning it into the centre of a short-lived [[North Sea Empire]] that also included [[Kingdom of Denmark|Denmark]] and [[Norway]]. However, the native royal dynasty was restored with the accession of [[Edward the Confessor]] in 1042.

[[File:King Henry V at the Battle of Agincourt.jpg|thumb|upright|alt=King Henry V at the Battle of Agincourt, 1415.|[[King Henry V of England|King Henry V]] at the [[Battle of Agincourt]], fought on [[Saint Crispin's Day]] and concluded with an English victory against a larger French army in the [[Hundred Years' War]]]]
A dispute over the succession to Edward led to an unsuccessful Norwegian Invasion in September 1066 close to York in the North, and the successful [[Norman Conquest]] in October 1066, accomplished by an army led by [[William the Conqueror|Duke William of Normandy]] invading at Hastings late September 1066.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Overview: The Normans, 1066–1154 |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/normans/overview_normans_01.shtml |access-date=3 December 2010 |publisher=BBC}}</ref> The [[Normans]] themselves originated from [[Scandinavia]] and had settled in Normandy in the late 9th and early 10th centuries.<ref>{{harvnb|Crouch|2006|pp=2–4}}</ref> This conquest led to the almost total dispossession of the English elite and its replacement by a new French-speaking aristocracy, whose speech had a profound and permanent effect on the English language.<ref>{{Cite news |date=20 February 2008 |title=Norman invasion word impact study |publisher=BBC News |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/mid/7254446.stm |access-date=3 December 2010}}</ref>

Subsequently, the [[House of Plantagenet]] from [[Duchy of Anjou|Anjou]] inherited the English throne under [[Henry II of England|Henry II]], adding England to the budding [[Angevin Empire]] of fiefs the family had inherited in France including [[Duchy of Aquitaine|Aquitaine]].<ref name="Bartlett p124">{{harvnb|Bartlett|1999|p=124}}.</ref> They reigned for three centuries, some noted monarchs being [[Richard I of England|Richard I]], [[Edward I of England|Edward I]], [[Edward III of England|Edward III]] and [[Henry V of England|Henry V]].<ref name="Bartlett p124" /> The period saw changes in trade and legislation, including the signing of [[Magna Carta]], an English legal charter used to limit the sovereign's powers by law and protect the privileges of freemen. Catholic [[monasticism]] flourished, providing philosophers, and the universities of Oxford and Cambridge were founded with royal patronage. The [[Principality of Wales]] became a Plantagenet fief during the 13th century<ref>{{Cite web |title=Edward I (r. 1272–1307) |url=http://www.royal.gov.uk/OutPut/Page61.asp |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080624181028/http://www.royal.gov.uk/OutPut/Page61.asp |archive-date=24 June 2008 |access-date=21 September 2009 |website=Royal.gov.uk}}</ref> and the [[Lordship of Ireland]] was given to the English monarchy by the Pope. During the 14th century, the Plantagenets and the [[House of Valois]] claimed to be legitimate claimants to the [[House of Capet]] and of France; the two powers clashed in the [[Hundred Years' War]].{{Sfn|Fowler|1967|p=208}} The [[Black Death]] epidemic [[Black Death in England|hit England]]; starting in 1348, it eventually killed up to half of England's [[Medieval demography|inhabitants]].<ref>{{harvnb|Ziegler|2003|p=230}}; {{harvnb|Goldberg|1996|p=4}}.</ref>

Between 1453 and 1487, a civil war known as the [[War of the Roses]] waged between the two branches of the royal family, the [[House of York|Yorkists]] and [[House of Lancaster|Lancastrians]].{{Sfn|Crofton|2007|p=111}} Eventually it led to the Yorkists losing the throne entirely to a Welsh noble family the [[House of Tudor|Tudors]], a branch of the Lancastrians headed by [[Henry VII of England|Henry Tudor]] who invaded with Welsh and Breton mercenaries, gaining victory at the [[Battle of Bosworth Field]] where the Yorkist king [[Richard III of England|Richard III]] was killed.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Richard III (r. 1483–1485) |url=http://www.royal.gov.uk/output/Page50.asp |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080710093939/http://www.royal.gov.uk/output/Page50.asp |archive-date=10 July 2008 |access-date=21 September 2009 |website=Royal.gov.uk}}</ref>

===Early modern period===
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During the [[Tudor period]], England began to develop [[English Navy|naval skills]], and exploration intensified in the [[Age of Discovery]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Royal Navy History, Tudor Period and the Birth of a Regular Navy |url=http://www.royal-navy.org/lib/index.php?title=Tudor_Period_and_the_Birth_of_a_Regular_Navy_Part_Two |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120118040146/http://www.royal-navy.org/lib/index.php?title=Tudor_Period_and_the_Birth_of_a_Regular_Navy_Part_Two |archive-date=18 January 2012 |access-date=24 December 2010}}; {{cite book |last=Smith |first=Goldwin |url={{GBurl|id=RdOTQUDgH54C|q=england under the tudors by goldwin smith}} |title=England Under the Tudors |page=176 |publisher=Forgotten Books |access-date=26 December 2010 |isbn=978-1-60620-939-4}}</ref> [[Henry VIII]] broke from communion with the Catholic Church, over issues relating to his divorce, under the [[Acts of Supremacy]] in 1534 which proclaimed the monarch head of the [[Church of England]]. In contrast with much of European [[Protestantism]], the [[English Reformation|roots of the split]] were more political than theological.{{Efn|As [[Roger Scruton]] explains, "The Reformation must not be confused with the changes introduced into the Church of England during the "Reformation Parliament" of 1529–36, which were of a political rather than a religious nature, designed to unite the secular and religious sources of authority within a single sovereign power: the Anglican Church did not make substantial change in doctrine until later."{{Sfn|Scruton|1982|p=470}}}} He also legally incorporated his ancestral land Wales into the Kingdom of England with the [[Laws in Wales Acts 1535–1542|1535–1542 acts]]. There were internal religious conflicts during the reigns of Henry's daughters, [[Mary I of England|Mary I]] and [[Elizabeth I]]. The former took the country back to Catholicism while the latter broke from it again, forcefully asserting the supremacy of [[Anglicanism]]. The [[Elizabethan era]] is the epoch in the Tudor age of the reign of Queen Elizabeth I ("the Virgin Queen"). Historians often depict it as the [[Golden age (metaphor)|golden age]] in English history that represented the apogee of the English Renaissance and saw the flowering of great art, drama, poetry, music and literature.<ref>From the 1944 Clark lectures by [[C. S. Lewis]]; Lewis, ''English Literature in the Sixteenth Century'' (Oxford, 1954) p. 1, {{OCLC|256072}}</ref> England during this period had a centralised, well-organised, and effective government.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Tudor Parliaments |url=https://spartacus-educational.com/TUDparliament.htm |access-date=4 April 2021 |website=Spartacus Educational |language=en}}</ref>

Competing with [[Spanish Empire|Spain]], the first English colony in the Americas was founded in 1585 by explorer [[Walter Raleigh]] in [[Virginia]] and named [[Roanoke Colony|Roanoke]]. The Roanoke colony failed and is known as the lost colony after it was found abandoned on the return of the late-arriving supply ship.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ordahl |first=Karen |url={{GBurl|id=W8cr4Vgt9ekC|q=roanoke colony}} |title=Roanak:the abandoned colony |date=25 February 2007 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield publishers Inc |isbn=978-0-7425-5263-0 |access-date=24 December 2010}}</ref> With the [[East India Company]], England also competed with the [[Dutch Empire|Dutch]] and [[French colonial empire|French]] in the East. During the Elizabethan period, England was at war with Spain. An [[Spanish Armada|armada]] sailed from Spain in 1588 as part of a wider plan to invade England and re-establish a Catholic monarchy. The plan was thwarted by bad coordination, stormy weather and successful harrying attacks by an English fleet under [[Charles Howard, 1st Earl of Nottingham|Lord Howard of Effingham]]. This failure did not end the threat: Spain launched two further armadas, in [[2nd Spanish Armada|1596]] and [[3rd Spanish Armada|1597]], but both were driven back by storms.

===Union with Scotland===
{{further|Union of the Crowns|Treaty of Union}}

The political structure of the island changed in 1603, when the [[King of Scots]], [[James VI of Scotland|James VI]], a kingdom which had been a long-time rival to English interests, inherited the throne of England as James I, thereby creating a [[Union of the Crowns|personal union]].<ref name="Britons">{{harvnb|Colley|1992|p=12}}; {{Cite web |title=Making the Act of Union |work=Act of Union 1707  |url=http://www.parliament.uk/actofunion/01_background.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080609075346/http://www.parliament.uk/actofunion/01_background.html |archive-date=9 June 2008 |access-date=5 September 2009 |publisher=UK Parliament}}</ref> He styled himself [[King of Great Britain]], although this had no basis in English law.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hay |first=Denys |title=The term "Great Britain" in the Middle Ages |url=http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/adsdata/PSAS_2002/pdf/vol_089/89_055_066.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090325061737/http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/adsdata/PSAS_2002/pdf/vol_089/89_055_066.pdf |archive-date=25 March 2009 |access-date=19 February 2009 |website=ads.ahds.ac.uk}}{{dead link|date=February 2024}}</ref> Under the auspices of James VI and I the Authorised [[King James Version]] of the Holy Bible was published in 1611. It was the standard version of the Bible read by most Protestant Christians for four hundred years until modern revisions were produced in the 20th century.

[[File:Charles II of England.jpeg|thumb|upright|right|alt=Painting of seated male figure, with long black hair wearing a white cape and breeches.|The [[English Restoration]] restored the monarchy under King [[Charles II of England|Charles&nbsp;II]] and peace after the [[English Civil War]].]]
Based on conflicting political, religious and social positions, the [[English Civil War]] was fought between the supporters of [[Long Parliament|Parliament]] and those of King [[Charles I of England|Charles I]], known colloquially as [[Roundhead]]s and [[Cavalier]]s respectively. This was an interwoven part of the wider multifaceted [[Wars of the Three Kingdoms]], involving [[Kingdom of Scotland|Scotland]] and [[Kingdom of Ireland|Ireland]]. The Parliamentarians were victorious, [[execution of Charles I|Charles I was executed]] and the kingdom replaced by the [[Commonwealth of England|Commonwealth]]. Leader of the Parliament forces, [[Oliver Cromwell]] declared himself [[Lord Protector]] in 1653; a period of [[the Protectorate|personal rule]] followed.<ref name="O Cromwell">{{Cite web |title=Oliver Cromwell (English statesman) |url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/143822/Oliver-Cromwell |access-date=8 August 2009 |website=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]}}</ref> After Cromwell's death and the resignation of his son [[Richard Cromwell|Richard]] as Lord Protector, [[Charles II of England|Charles II]] was invited to return as monarch in 1660, in a move called the [[English Restoration|Restoration]]. With the reopening of theatres, fine arts, literature and performing arts flourished throughout the Restoration of the "Merry Monarch" Charles II.<ref>Lyndsey Bakewell, "[https://web.archive.org/web/20200212175057/https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/5c52/dfd2b876951f2d9ca982a2aa2460f52c228f.pdf Changing scenes and flying machines: re-examination of spectacle and the spectacular in Restoration theatre, 1660–1714]" (PhD. Diss. Loughborough University, 2016).</ref> After the [[Glorious Revolution]] of 1688, it was constitutionally established that King and Parliament should rule together, though Parliament would have the real power. This was established with the [[Bill of Rights 1689|Bill of Rights]] in 1689. Among the statutes set down were that the law could only be made by Parliament and could not be suspended by the King, also that the King could not impose taxes or raise an army without the prior approval of Parliament.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Adler |first1=Philip J. |url={{GBurl|id=mPoqfoiIp4sC|q=with the restoration it was not constitutionally established that king and parliament should rule together|p=340}} |title=World Civilization |last2=Pouwels |first2=Randall L. |date=27 November 2007 |publisher=Cengage Learning |isbn=978-0-495-50262-3 |page=340 |access-date=24 December 2010}}</ref> Also since that time, no British monarch has entered the [[House of Commons of the United Kingdom|House of Commons]] when it is sitting, which is annually commemorated at the [[State Opening of Parliament]] by the British monarch when the doors of the House of Commons are slammed in the face of the monarch's messenger, symbolising the rights of Parliament and its independence from the monarch.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/democracylive/hi/guides/newsid_81000/81909.stm "Democracy Live: Black Rod"]. BBC. Retrieved 6 August 2008; {{cite EB1911|wstitle=Black Rod|volume=4}}</ref> With the founding of the [[Royal Society]] in 1660, science was greatly encouraged.

In 1666 the [[Great Fire of London]] gutted the city of London, but it was rebuilt shortly afterward with many significant buildings designed by Sir [[Christopher Wren]].<ref>{{cite news |title=London's Burning: The Great Fire |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/civil_war_revolution/great_fire_02.shtml |accessdate=25 September 2009 |work=BBC News}}</ref> By the mid-to-late 17th century, two political factions had emerged – the [[Tory|Tories]] and [[Whig (British political faction)|Whigs]]. Though the Tories initially supported Catholic king [[James II of England|James II]], some of them, along with the Whigs, during the [[Glorious Revolution|Revolution of 1688]] invited the Dutch [[Prince William of Orange]] to defeat James and become the king. Some English people, especially in the north, were [[Jacobitism|Jacobites]] and continued to support James and his sons. Under the [[House of Stuart|Stuart dynasty]] England expanded in trade, finance and prosperity. The Royal Navy developed Europe's largest merchant fleet.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The History Press {{!}} The Stuarts |url=https://www.thehistorypress.co.uk/the-stuarts |access-date=11 April 2021 |website=www.thehistorypress.co.uk |language=en}}</ref> After the parliaments of England and Scotland agreed,<ref name="Union with Scotland" /> the two countries joined in [[political union]], to create the [[Kingdom of Great Britain]] in 1707.<ref name="Britons" /> To accommodate the union, institutions such as the law and national churches of each remained separate.{{Sfn|Gallagher|2006|p=14}}

===Late modern and contemporary periods===
[[File:CanalettoSomersetHouseTerrace.jpg|thumb|The [[River Thames]] during the [[Georgian period]] from the Terrace of Somerset House looking towards St. Paul's, {{Circa|1750}}]]

Under the newly formed Kingdom of Great Britain, output from the Royal Society and other [[English Enlightenment|English initiatives]] combined with the [[Scottish Enlightenment]] to create innovations in science and engineering, while the enormous growth in [[Triangular trade|British overseas trade]] protected by the [[Royal Navy]] paved the way for the establishment of the [[British Empire]]. Domestically it drove the [[Industrial Revolution]], a period of profound change in the [[socioeconomics|socioeconomic]] and cultural conditions of England, resulting in industrialised agriculture, manufacture, engineering and mining, as well as new and pioneering road, rail and water networks to facilitate their expansion and development.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hudson, Pat |title=The Workshop of the World |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/victorians/workshop_of_the_world_01.shtml |access-date=10 December 2010 |publisher=BBC}}</ref> The opening of Northwest England's [[Bridgewater Canal]] in 1761 ushered in the [[History of the British canal system|canal age in Britain]].<ref name="Briton20015">{{Harvnb|Office for National Statistics|2000|p=5}}; {{harvnb|McNeil|Nevell|2000|p=4}}.</ref> In 1825 the world's first permanent steam locomotive-hauled passenger railway – the [[Stockton and Darlington Railway]] – opened to the public.<ref name="Briton20015" />
[[File:Turner, The Battle of Trafalgar (1822).jpg|alt=multi-storey square industrial buildings beyond a river|thumb|The [[Battle of Trafalgar]] was a naval engagement between the [[Royal Navy]] and the combined fleets of France and Spain during the [[Napoleonic Wars]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=28 July 2014 |title=Department of History – Napoleonic Wars |url=http://www.westpoint.edu/history/SitePages/Napoleonic%20Wars.aspx |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140728203458/http://www.westpoint.edu/history/SitePages/Napoleonic%20Wars.aspx |archive-date=28 July 2014 |access-date=8 April 2021}}</ref>]]
During the [[Industrial Revolution]], many workers moved from England's countryside to new and expanding urban industrial areas to work in factories, for instance at [[Birmingham]] and [[Manchester]],<ref>{{Harvnb|McNeil|Nevell|2000|p=9}}.; {{Cite web |last=Birmingham City Council |author-link=Birmingham City Council |title=Heritage |url=http://www.visitbirmingham.com/arts_and_culture/heritage/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120426080011/http://www.visitbirmingham.com/arts_and_culture/heritage/ |archive-date=26 April 2012 |access-date=4 October 2009 |website=visitbirmingham.com}}</ref> with the latter the world's first industrial city.<ref name="Industrial city">{{Cite web |title=Manchester – the first industrial city |url=http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/on-line/energyhall/page84.asp |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120309184810/http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/on-line/energyhall/page84.asp |archive-date=9 March 2012 |access-date=17 March 2012 |publisher=Entry on Sciencemuseum website}}</ref> England maintained relative stability throughout the [[French Revolution]], under [[George III]] and [[William Pitt the Younger]]. The [[Regency era|regency of George IV]] is noted for its elegance and achievements in the fine arts and architecture.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Regency {{!}} British Architectural Dates and Styles {{!}} Property {{!}} UK {{!}} Mayfair Office |url=https://www.mayfairoffice.co.uk/members-home/British-Architectural-Styles/British-Architectural-Styles-Regency |access-date=8 April 2021 |website=www.mayfairoffice.co.uk}}</ref> During the [[Napoleonic Wars]], [[Napoleon]] planned to [[Napoleon's planned invasion of the United Kingdom|invade from the south-east]]; however, this failed to manifest and the Napoleonic forces were defeated by the British: at sea by [[Horatio Nelson]], and on land by [[Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington|Arthur Wellesley]]. The major victory at the [[Battle of Trafalgar]] confirmed the naval supremacy Britain had established during the course of the eighteenth century.<ref>Bennet, Geoffrey (2004). ''The Battle of Trafalgar''. England: Pen & Sword Books Limited, CPI UK, South Yorkshire.</ref> The Napoleonic Wars fostered a concept of [[Britishness]] and a united national [[British people]], shared with the English, Scots and Welsh.<ref name="Colley1">{{Harvnb|Colley|1992|p=1}}.</ref>

[[File:Frith A Private View.jpg|thumb|The [[Victorian era]] is often cited as a [[Golden Age]]. Painting done by [[William Powell Frith]] to show cultural divisions. ]]
London became the largest and most populous metropolitan area in the world during the [[Victorian era]], and trade within the British Empire – as well as the standing of the British military and navy – was prestigious.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Haggard |first=Robert F. |url={{GBurl|id=53VUwDw_UYMC|q=prestige of the british empire in victorian times|p=13}} |title=The persistence of Victorian liberalism:The Politics of Social Reform in Britain, 1870–1900 |publisher=Greenwood Publishing |year=2001 |isbn=978-0-313-31305-9 |page=13 |access-date=26 December 2010}}</ref> Technologically, this era saw many innovations that proved key to the United Kingdom's power and prosperity.<ref name="Atterbury 2011">{{Cite web |last=Atterbury |first=Paul |date=17 February 2011 |title=Victorian Technology |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/victorians/victorian_technology_01.shtml |access-date=13 October 2020 |publisher=BBC}}</ref> Political agitation at home from radicals such as the [[Chartism|Chartists]] and the [[suffragette]]s enabled legislative reform and [[universal suffrage]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Crawford, Elizabeth |title=Women: From Abolition to the Vote |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/abolition/abolition_women_article_01.shtml#five |access-date=10 December 2010 |publisher=BBC}}</ref>

Power shifts in east-central Europe led to World War I; hundreds of thousands of English soldiers died fighting for the United Kingdom as part of the [[Allies of World War I|Allies]].{{Efn|Figure of 550,000 military deaths is for England and Wales.{{Sfn|Cox|1970|p=180}}}} Two decades later, in [[World War II]], the United Kingdom was again one of the [[Allies of World War II|Allies]]. Developments in warfare technology saw many cities damaged by air-raids during [[the Blitz]]. Following the war, the British Empire experienced rapid [[decolonisation]], and there was a speeding-up of technological innovations; automobiles became the primary means of transport and [[Frank Whittle]]'s development of the [[jet engine]] led to wider [[air travel]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Golley, John |date=10 August 1996 |title=Obituaries: Air Commodore Sir Frank Whittle |work=The Independent |location=London |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituaries-air-commodore-sir-frank-whittle-1309015.html |access-date=2 December 2010}}</ref> Residential patterns were altered in England by private motoring, and by the creation of the [[National Health Service (England)|National Health Service]] in 1948, providing [[publicly funded health care]] to all permanent residents free at the point of need. Combined, these prompted the reform of [[local government in England]] in the mid-20th century.<ref>{{Harvnb|Clark|Steed|Marshall|1973|p=1}}; {{Harvnb|Wilson|Game|2002|p=55}}.</ref>

Since the 20th century, there has been significant population movement to England, mostly from other parts of the [[British Isles]], but also from the [[Commonwealth of Nations|Commonwealth]], particularly the [[Indian subcontinent]].<ref>{{harvnb|Gallagher|2006|pp=10–11}}.</ref> Since the 1970s there has been a large move away from manufacturing and an increasing emphasis on the [[service industry]].<ref name="Thatcher" /> As part of the United Kingdom, the area joined a [[common market]] initiative called the [[European Economic Community]] which became the [[European Union]]. Since the late 20th century the [[politics of the United Kingdom|administration of the United Kingdom]] has moved towards [[devolution|devolved governance]] in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Keating |first=Michael |author-link=Michael Keating (political scientist) |date=1 January 1998 |title=Reforging the Union: Devolution and Constitutional Change in the United Kingdom |journal=Publius: The Journal of Federalism |volume=28 |issue=1 |page=217 |doi=10.1093/oxfordjournals.pubjof.a029948}}</ref> [[England and Wales]] continues to exist as a jurisdiction within the United Kingdom.<ref name="BBC Wales">{{Cite web |year=2009 |title=The coming of the Tudors and the Act of Union |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/history/sites/themes/guide/ch11_part2_coming_of_the_tudor.shtml |access-date=9 September 2009 |website=[[BBC Wales]] |publisher=BBC News}}</ref> Devolution has stimulated a greater emphasis on a more English-specific identity and patriotism.<ref>{{harvnb|Kenny|English|Hayton|2008|p=3}}; {{Harvnb|Ward|2004|p=180}}.</ref> There is no devolved English government, but an attempt to create a similar system on a sub-regional basis was rejected by [[2004 North East England devolution referendum|referendum]].<ref name="The Times 2004-11-05" />