英国王朝的沿革

Brief history of the Great Britain

1. The British Isles before the Norman Conquest

1) Early Celtic civilization

The earliest settlers of the British Isles were the Celts, who originally lived in the upper Rhineland and migrated to the British Isles about 600 B.C. About 400 to 300 B.C., the Bretons, a branch of the Celts, came to the British Isles and from them came the name Britain. The culture of the Celts belonged to an early stage of the Iron Age. They knew how to make iron swords and grow crops.

2) The Roman occupation

From 55 B.C. to 407 A.D. the British Isles were under the rule of the Roman Empire. (At that time the Roman Empire ruled over Europe and had a high level of civilization). The Romans defeated the Celts and became the masters of the British Isles. It was during the Roman occupation that London was founded. The Romans ruled over Britain for three and a half centuries. They built forty or fifty walled towns and whenever a town today has a name ending in “chester” (Manchester) or “caster” (Lancaster), we may be sure that it is on the site of a Roman military settlement, because the word is derived from Latin “castra”, which means “fort”.

3) The Anglo-Saxon invasion

About 450 A.D., waves of the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes invaded the British Isles. They settled in England, and drove the Celts into Wales, Scotland, and Ireland. The Angles and Saxons were Germanic tribes occupying parts of the coast of modern Denmark and modern Germany. The Anglo-Saxons defeated the Celts, although the latter resisted bravely. They became the new masters of the British Isles and were the ancestors of the present English people.

(It was around 500 A.D., in the struggle against Cerdic, the founder of the kingdom of Wessex, that the Celtic king Arthur, a legendary figure, is said to have acquired his name. At Camelot in Somersetshire, which was his capital, he gathered around him the bravest of his followers, who were known as the Knights of the Round Table and for twenty four years he fought bravely for his kingdom against the Anglo-Saxon invaders, and about whom many English romances were composed.)

Before their migration from the continent the Anglo-Saxons were apparently still in the latter stage of tribal society. After their settlement in Britain, their tribal society gradually disintegrated and feudal society came into being. At the close of the 6th century there were seven prominent Saxon kingdoms in England.

4) The Danish invasion and the Norman Conquest

Beginning from the latter part of 8th century, the Danes, or the Vikings, came to invade England, at first along the eastern coast, but later they threatened to overrun the whole country. In the second half of the 9th century King Alfred the

Great of Wessex (849-899) led the Anglo-Saxon kings to defeat the invaders by uniting their forces. However, it was not until the reign of his great grand son Edgar (ca. 94-975) that England was united under one king.

In the early 11th century all England was conquered by the Danes for 23 years. Then the Danes were expelled, but in 1066 the Normans came from Normandy in northern France to attack England under the leadership of the Duke of Normandy who claimed the English throne. For the last Saxon king, Harold, had promised that he would give his kingdom to William, Duke of Normandy, as an expression of his gratitude for protecting his kingdom during the invasion by the Danes. This is known as the Norman Conquest.

Hence, the English people are a nation of mixed blood consisted of Celts, Bretons, Romans, Anglo-Saxons, the Danes, and the French-speaking Normans.

2. Genealogical Chart of English Dynasties after the Norman Conquest

1) The House of Normandy (founded by William I the Conquer): 1066-1154;

2) The House of Anjou (or the Plantagenets, founded by Henry II—Richard II): 1154-1399;

3) The House of Lancaster: 1399-1471;

4) The House of York: 1471-1485;

5) The House of Tudor: 1485-1603, founded by Henry VII, including Henry VIII; Edward VI, Mary I; Queen Elizabeth I;

6) The House of Stuart: 1603-1714, including James I; Charles I; Charles II; James II; Mary II & William III; Queen Anne;

7) The House of Hanover: 1714-1901; George I; George II; George III; George IV; William IV; Queen Victoria (who married her cousin, the German Prince Albert Saxe-Coburge-Gotha);

8) The House of Saxe-Coburge-Gotha: 1901-1917, Edward VII (the only king);

7) The House of Windsor: 1917-today, founded by George V; including Edward VIII (gave up his crown for Mr. Simpson in 1936 and became Duke of Windsor in 1937); George VI; Queen Elizabeth II