Life in the UK - all Flashcards
What are the fundamental principles of British life?
- Democracy
- The rule of law
- Individual liberty
- Tolerance for those with different faiths and beliefs
- Participation in community life
What is the pledge that must be sworn as part of the citizenship ceremony?
I will give my loyalty to the United Kingdom and respect its rights and freedoms. I will uphold its democratic values. I will observe its laws faithfully and fulfil my duties and obligations as a British citizen.
What countries make the UK?
England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
What countries make up Great Britain?
England, Scotland and Wales
Which are the British Crown Dependencies?
the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man
What type of econimic human societies first inhabited Britain and when?
Hunter-gatherers in the Stone Age.
How did the first humans arrive in Britain?
By land, while Britain was still attached to Europe, in the early Stone Age.
When did Britain permanently become an island?
About 10,000 years ago.
When did the first farmers arrive in Britain and where did their ancestor probably come from?
About 6,000 ago.
South-east Europe.
What tipy of economic society built Stonehenge. In what county is this monument located?
Agricultural.
Wiltshire.
What and where is the best preserved prehistoric village in northern Europe? What period is it from?
Skara Brae on the island of Orkney, off the north coast of Scotland.
Late Stone Age.
When did the Bronze Age start in Britain?
About 4,000 years ago.
What shapes were most houses in Britain in the Bronze Age?
Round
What are round borrows?
Bronze age tombs
What period came after the Bronze age?
The Iron age
What’s Maiden Castle and where is it?
An Iron Age hill fort in Dorset.
What were the main occupations of men in the Iron Age?
Farmer, crafsman or warrior.
What language family was spoken in Iron Age Britain?
Where can related languages still be heard today?
Celtic.
Parts of Wales, Scotland and Ireland.
What activity marks the beguining of British history and in what period?
The minting of the first coins, incribed with the names of Iron Age kings.
What major event happened in 55BC?
Julius Caesar led a Roman invasion of Britain but was unsuccessful.
When was the second Roman invasion of Britain; who led it and what was the outcome?
AD 43 by Emperor Claudius. The Romans permanently occupied most of Britain (Scotland remained mostly unnocupied).
What political figure from the second Roman invasion of Britain is remembered with a statue on Westminister Bridge, near the Houses of Parliament?
Boudicca
What ancient tribes are the ancestors of the Scottish people?
The Picts
Who built the wall in the north of England to keep out the Picts?
Emperor Hadrain
Name two of the numerous forts bult allong Hadrian’s wall; that can still be seen today.
The fort of Housesteads anf the fort of Vindolanda.
What does UNESCO stand for?
United Nations Edication, Scientific and Cultural Organization.
What tittle did the UNESCO bestow on the areas surrounding the forts of Housesteads and Vindolanda?
World Heritage Site
How did the Romans stay in Britain for?
About 400 years.
What are some good things the Romans did during their occupation of Britain?
They bult roads and oublic buildings, created a framework of law, and introduced new plants and animals.
In what centuries did the first Christian communities start appearing in Britain?
3rd and 4th AD
In what year did the Roman Army leave Britain and why?
AD 410 to defend other parts of the Empire; but they never returned.
Which tribes invaded Britain when the Romans left? Where were they from and what modern language came from their languages?
The Jutes, the Angles and the Saxons. They were from northern Europe.
English.
Who dominated England by AD 600?
Anglo-Sanxon kingdoms
What’s Sutton Hoo and where it is?
The burial site of an Anglo-Saxon king, located in Suffolk.
Which notable parts of England remained free from Anglo-Saxon rule?
Scotland and Wales
Who was St Patrick
An Irish missionary who spead the Christian doctine in the north of Britain; and then became the Patron Saint of Ireland.
Who was St Columba?
An Irish missionary who founded a monastary on the island of Iona, off the coast of modern-day Scottland.
Who was the first Archibishop of Canterburry? Where was he from and what did he do of note?
St Augustine.
He was from Rome and helped spead the Christian faith in the south of England.
Where did the Vikings come from and when did they first come to the UK and why?
AD 789.
Denmark and Norway.
To raid coastal towns and take away slaves and goods.
Where were the fisrt Viking communities established in Britain?
East coasts of Scotland and England
How did the Anglo-Saxons react to the Viking invasions and settlements - what was the outcome?
Their kingdoms united under King Alfred the Great.
They defeated the invaders.
What is Danelaw?
An area in the north and east of England, marked by having many reagions named in the Viking language - such as Grimsby and Scunthorpe.
Did the Viking leave Britain completely?
No, some stayed, mixed with the locals and converted to Christianity.
What was the name of the first Danish king in England?
Did the Danish kings last?
Cnut or Canute.
No, they only ruled for a relatively short period.
What was the political outcome of the Viking invasions in the north of Britain?
The people united under one king: Kenneth MacAlpin and the term Scotland began being used to describe that kingdom/county.
What is the Bayeux Tapestry and where is it?
A large/great piece of embroidery depicting the conquest of England by William the Conqueror in 1066.
It is in France.
Who did the Duke of Normandy defeat in the battle of Hastings and what was the political outcome?
He defeated Harold, the Saxon king of England.
William the Conqueror (the Duke) became king of England.
Where is Normandy
In the north of France
What was the last successful foreing invasion of Englang?
The Norman conquest.
How did the Norman conquest influence the language spoken in England?
Norman French, tha language of the new ruling class, influenced the development of modern English.
How did the Norman conquest affect Wales and Scotland?
Wales was initially conquered but gradually gained its territory back.
The normans and Scots fought border battles. The Normans took over some land on the border but did not invade Scotland.
What’s the Domesday Book?
A sensus of all the towns and villages of England - with all the people who lived in them, who owned the land and what animals they owned.
During what year were the British Middle Ages/medieval period? What marked it?
From 1066 to 1485.
Almost constant war.
What happened between England and Wales during the medieval period?
England was able to dominate/establish rule over Wales.
What’s the Statute of Rhuddlan?
A law passed by King Edward I of England, in 1284, annexing Wales to the Crown of England.
Why were the castles of Conwy and Caernarfon built?
To impress the English power in Wales over the Welsh.
When were the last Welsh rebellions supressed? What was the outcome?
Mid-15th century.
English law and language were introduced.
What was the battle of Bannockburn? What was the outcome?
A battle in 1314 between the Scotish (led by Robert the Bruce) and England.
Scotland remained unconquered by the English.
Why did the English first go to Ireland? What was the outcome?
They went to help the Irish king and ended up staying and building their own settlements.
What was the Pale?
The area around Dublin, which the English ruled by the year 1200.
Were the English only influential in the Pale?
No, some important lords around Ireland accepted the authority of the English king.
How long did the Hundred Years War last?
116 years
Which was the most famous battle of the Hundred Years War and when was it fought?
The battle of Agincourt, in 1415.
What a very high-level summary of the battle of Agincourt?
King Henry V’s vastly outnumbered English army defeated the French.
When did the English leave France?
The 1450s
Explain the land ownership system used by the Normans?
Feudalism - in which the king gave land to his lords in return to help in war.
Landowers had to send certain numbers of men to serve in the army.
Under feudalism, what was the lot of most peasants?
Some owned land but most were serfs.
What was serfdom?
Peasants had a small area of their lord’s land where they could grow food. In returnm they had to work for their lord and could not move away.
Where else in the UK was serfdom prevalent?
Southern Scotland.
In Northern Scotland and Ireland the land was owned by the members of the clans (prominent ancient families).
When did the Black Death arrive in Britain? What was the outcome?
1348 and it killed 1/3 of the populations of the 3 British counties.
What was the socioecomonic outcome of the 14th century plage?
The reduced population meant that there was less demand for cereal crops but, at the same time, there was a labour shortage; so peasants started demanding higher wages. New social classed started to emerge, such as the gentry (owners of large areas of land). The shortage of field-labour (less demand for cereal crops) made people move from the countryside to town. In the towns, growing wealth led to the development of a strong middle class.
How did the Black Death affect the pale?
The redcuded population meant that English area of influence diminished for a while.
Where can the origins of Parleament be traced to?
The king’s councel of advisers in the middle ages, which included important noblemen and the Church.
What was the Magna Carta?
A document established in 1215 when the noblemen forced King John to sign it. It stipulated that the king needed to respect limits on his power ove his people and specially the nobility.
Originally, why were parliaments called?
For the king to consult his nobles, particularly when the king needed to raise money.
How many chambers (Houses) did the parleament grow to?
2 Houses. The House of Lords and the House of Commons.
Who originally sat in the House of Lords?
The nobility, great landwoners and bishops.
Who originally sat in the House of Commons?
Knights (usually smaller land owners) and wealthy people, ususally from the towns and cities, who were elected as representatives.
What proportion of the population could join in electing a memeber of the house of Commons?
Only a very small proportion.
How many chambers did the medieval Scotish parliament have and what were their names?
- The Lords, the commons and the clergy.
What importang judicial tenet began to emerge in the middle ages?
The notion that judges had to be independent from the government.
What’s the main difference between Scotish and English legal systems?
English law is based on precedence (common law) while Scotish law is based on a legal code (written down).
What medieval languare are the words “park” and “beauty” derived from?
Norman French.
What medieval languare are the words “cow”, “apple” or “summer” derived from?
Anglo-Saxon
What’s the etymology of the words “demand” and “ask”?
“Demand” is French in origin while “ask” is Anglo-Saxon.
When did English ( roughly as we know it today) become the prefered language of royal court and official documents?
By about AD 1400
Who was the fist person in England to print books using a printing press?
What was one of the first and more notable works he printed?
William Caxton.
The Canterbury Tales, by Geoffrey Chaucer
Who is John Barbour?
A poet that wrote The Bruce - a poem about the Battle of Bannockburn - in the Scots language.
What language, besides Scots, did many people speak in Scotland?
Gaelic
What architectural style dominated the middle ages’ nobility and clergy?
Castles and cathedrals
Name medieval castles and cathedrals that are still in use?
Windsor and Edinburgh castles and Lincoln Cathedral
Name a famus example of a Cathedral with stained glass?
York Minster.
What was a major export of England in the medieval period?
Wool.
What was England’s status an a trading nation internationally during the middle ages?
It was an important trading nation.
What types of skilled migrants came to England in the medieval period and from where?
Weavers from France; engineers from Germany; glass manufacturers from Italy and canal builders from Holland.
When was there a war between the Houses of Lancaster and York?
1455
What were the symbols of the two beligerent sides in the War of the Roses?
House of Lancaster: red rose.
House of York: white rose.
What and when was the last battle of the War of the Roses? What was the outcome?
The battle of Bosworth Field, in 1485.
King Richard III (House of York) was killed and Henry Tudor (House of Lancaster) became king Henry the VII.
How did Kind Henry VII unite the houses of Lancaster and York?
He married the former king Richard’s niece, Elizabeth of York.
Who was the first king in the Tudor dinasty (House of Tudor)? What was the symbol of this house?
King Henry VII.
A red rose with a while rose inside it.
How did the House of Tudor weaken the nobility?
By striving to centralise power as much as possible.
What’s Henry VIII claim to fame?
Breaking with the Church of Rome and marying 6 times
Who was Catherine of Aragon?
Henry VIII first wife -a Spanish princess- with whom he had many children but only one, Mary, survived.
He divorced her when she became to old to give him more children.
Who was Anne Boleyn?
Henry VIII’s second wife; with whom he had one child, Elizabeth. Anne was unpopular in the country and suspected of adultery so she was executed at the Tower of London.
Who’s Jane Seymour?
Henry VIII’s third wife. She died shortly after giving birth to Edward.
Who’s Anne of Cleves?
Henry VIII’s fourth wife. She was a German princess, married for political reasons but divorved shortly after.
Who was Catherine Howard?
Henry VIII’s fifth wife and cousin to Anne Boleyn. Also accused of adultery and executed.
Who was Catherine Parr?
Henry’s sixt wife. She was a widdow and married him later in her life. She survived Henry and remaried but died shortly after.
Why was the Church of England established.
Because the Pope didn’t give his consent to Henry’s divorcing his first wife.
How was the Church of England different from the Church of Rome?
In the Church of England the king, rather than the Pope, would appoint the clergy (bishops) and determine how peple worshiped.
What was protestantism and when and where did it arise?
A movement across Europe against the authority of the Papacy and the ideas and practices of the Roman Catholic Church.
What were some of the non-conformist ideas and activities protestants believed or carried out?
They believed that a person’s own relationship with God was more important than submitting to the authority of the Church. They formed their own churches, read the bible own languages rather than in Latin and they did not pray for saints or believed in shrines.
When did protestant ideas gain traction in Britain?
During the 16th century.
What lead to rebellion in Ireland during the 16th century?
Attempts by the English to enforce protestantism; alongside efforts to introduce the English system of land inheritance laws.
What was the Act for the Government of Wales?
The act, during the reign of Henry VIII, by which Wales became formally united to the England.
What happened after the Act for the Government of Wales was passed?
Wales sent representatives to the House on Commons in London and the Welsh legal systems was reformed.
Who succeded Henry VIII to the throne?
Edward VI
What was Edward VI’s religious bent?
Strongly protestant
During whose rain was the book of common prayers written; and why?
Edward VI’s; to be used by the Curch of England
How long did Edward VI reign and how old was he when he died?
He reigned 6 years and died at age 15.
Who was Bloody Mary?
Strongly catholic queen of England who succeded Edward VI and prosecuted protestants.
Who was Elizabeth I?
Successor to the throne of England after her half-sister Mary died (after a short reign). Daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn.
Why did Spain try to invade England and when?
In 1588, they wanted to re-establish catholicism, since the queen was a Protestant and established laws about religious services and customs.
Where there any internal conflicts during the reign of Elizabeth I? Why?
No, because, even tho she was Protestant, she was conciliatory with all factions.
When was Catholicism abolished from Scotland?
1560
What was the main difference between the Church of England and the Church of Scotland?
The Scottish Church was independent from the state.
Who was Mary, Queen of Scots?
A Catholic queen who spent her childhood in France and fled to England because she was suspected of having been involed in her husband’s murder. In England, Elizabeth I, her first cousin, kept her prisoner for 20 years and then had her executed.
What marked the Elizabethan era?
A growing sense of nationalism and pride of being English.
Who was Francis Drake?
The innaugurator of the England’s naval tradition.
Who was Francis Drake?
One of the commanders of the defeat of the Spanish Armada and the innaugurator of England’s naval tradition.
What’s the Golden Hind
One of Francis Drake’s ships and one of the first to circumnavigate the world.
During who’s reign was America start being settled?
Elizabeth I
When was William Shakepeare birth and death years? Where was he born?
1564-1616
Stratford-upon-Avon
