TIME CHART


 

Year

Event

AD 1

43 Claudius, the Roman emperor, invades Britain

 

 

410 The last of the Roman legions leave Britain
449 The arrival of the Angles, Saxons and Jutes in Britain

500

563–97 St Columba comes from Ireland to Christianise Scotland
597 St Augustine brings Roman Christianity to the Anglo-Saxons

627 Edwin King of Northumbria converts to Christianity

787 Vikings begin to raid Britain

886 Boundaries of Danelaw agreed and King Alfred the Great occupies London
c. 891 Monks write the history of England in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle

1000

1017 The Danish king Canute (or Cnut) crowned king of England


1066 William the Conqueror, Duke of Normandy, is crowned king after Harold is defeated at the battle of Hastings
1096–99 First Crusade (‘Holy war’ against the Muslim Turks in Jerusalem)

1100

 

1147–49 Second Crusade


1189–92 Third Crusade

1200

1204 King John loses Normandy to the French crown

 

 

 

1300

1337 Start of the Hundred Years’ War between England and France
?1340–1400 Life of Geoffrey Chaucer
1348–50 The Black Death
1362 Statute of Pleadings: English made the official language of legal proceedings in England

1400

 


1453 The fall of Constantinople (Istanbul): The Byzantine (Eastern Roman) Empire falls to the Turks
1476 William Caxton introduces printing to England

1500

c. 1500 Start of the Renaissance in Britain
1532 Henry VIII breaks from papal authority and declares himself the head of the church in England
1564–1616 Life of Shakespeare

1600

1600–14 The English, Dutch, Danish and French East India Companies founded
1611 The Authorised (King James) version of the Bible printed
1620 Arrival of the ‘Pilgrim Fathers’ in America
1642–52 English Civil War between the Parliamentarians and Royalists
1660 The Restoration of the British Monarchy

1700

 


1763 The Treaty of Paris: Britain becomes the dominant power in India
1773 The Boston Tea Party
1776 The American ‘Declaration of Independence’
1786 Francis Light arranges with the Sultan of Kedah to lease Penang

1800

1819 Stamford Raffles arranges with the Sultan of Johore to lease Singapore
1824 Anglo-Dutch Treaty: Malacca passes from Dutch to British hands
1826 Singapore, Malacca and Penang incorporated into the Straits Settlement
1857–58 The Indian Mutiny: The East India Company is abolished in 1858
1867 Canada becomes a dominion, a self-governing nation in the British empire
1876 Queen Victoria proclaimed Empress of India
1895 The formation of the Federated Malay States under British control

1900

1901 The formation of the Commonwealth of Australia
1914–18 First World War (‘The Great War’)
1939–45 Second World War
1947 Independence of India: East and West Pakistan carved out
1957 Independence of Malaya (‘Merdeka’)
1963 The Federation Malaysia formed (including Singapore, Sabah and Sarawak)
1965 Singapore secedes from the Federation of Malaysia

 

Note on language:

You might have noticed that where verbs with tense are used, I have selected present tense in this time chart (eg ‘Malacca passes from Dutch to British hands’). On other occasions, I use the passive form, but elide the auxiliary (helping) verbs that normally precede the main verb (eg ‘English made the official language’ rather than ‘English is made …’). On other occasions, there is just a nominalisation (egStart of the Hundred Years’ War’, ‘Independence of Malaya’). This is because I am using the general convention associated with ‘headline’ language. You might want to check this against the language of headlines in newspapers.

In essays and other situations of continuous prose, you should generally use the past tense to describe a past or historical event (eg ‘In 1824, Malacca passed from Dutch to British hands’).

 

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© 2001 Peter Tan