Events
Anglo-Saxon Conquest of Britons beginsSt. Augustine of Canterbury's mission to Kent- beginning of Anglo-Saxon's conversion to ChristianityCædmon's Hymn (earliest poem recorded in English)BeowulfFirst Viking raids on EnglandBede bornBede diesNorman conquest by William IBegin CrusadesEnd CrusadesGeoffrey of Monmouth's "Latin History of Kings of Britain" - beginning of Arthurian legendsMarie de France's Breton Lais (ends in 1180)Layamon's Brut (Legend of King Arthur)Sir Gawain and the Green KnightJohn Wycliffe's translation of the Bible into English (1st translation)Chaucer's Canterbury TalesBlack PlagueEnglish first used in law courts and ParliamentPeople's uprising takes control of London before being suppressedHenry IV takes the throneRichard II murderedWakefield's Second Shepherd's PlaySir Thomas Malory works on Morte DarthurCaxton publishes Morte Darthur (1st book to be printed in English)Wars of the Roses beginsWars of the Roses endsCaxton sets up first printing press in EnglandMilton's Paradise LostNewton's A LetterAphra Behn's OroonokoHobbe's LeviathanJohn Dryden's A Song for St Cecilia's DayWilliam Congreve's The Way of the WorldAddison and Steele's SpectatorJonathan Swift's Gulliver's TravelsThomas Gray's Elegy Written in a Country CourtyardWilliam Collins's Ode on the Poetical CharacterCharles II takes the throneAct of Uniformity requires all clergy to obey the Church of EnglandTest Act requires all officeholders to swear allegiance to AnglicanismCharles II dissolves ParliamentDeath of Charles II- James II (Catholic brother) takes throneGlorious Revolution/William III takes throneQueen Anne (Protestant daughter of James II) takes throneDeath of Queen Anne- George I takes throneGeorge I dies - George II succeedsBeginning of Seven Years' WarGeorge III succeeds throneJames Thomson's AutumnSamuel Johnson's RamblerAccession of Henry VII inaugurates TudorDeath of Henry VII, accession of Henry VIISir Thomas More's UtopiaMartin Luther's 95 ThesesThomas Wyatt's poems circulatingWilliam Tyndale's English translation of the BibleThomas More's A Dialogue Concerning HeresiesHenry VIII divorces Catherine of AragonMore beheadedJohn Calvin's The Institution of Christian ReligionEstablishment of Calvin's theocracy at GenevaAnne Askew's ExaminationsDeath of Henry VIII- Edward VI (Protestant) takes throneDeath of Edward VI- Lade Jane Grey (Protestant) - Queen Mary (Catholic)John Foxe's Acts and MonumentsQueen Mary dies- Elizabeth I (Protestant)The London Playhouse's The Red LionRoger Ascham's The SchoolmasterElizabeth I excommunicated by Pope Pius VJames Burbage's playhouse, The Theater, is builtEdmund Spenser's The Faerie Queene (1-3)Shakespeare begins writing playsSir Philip Sydney's Astrophil and StellaJohn Donne's earliest poems begin circulatingSpenser's The Faerie Queene (4-6)Globe Theater opensChristopher Marlowe's The Passionate ShepherdElizabeth I dies- James I takes throneChristopher Marlowe's Doctor FaustusShakespeare's SonnetsKJV Bible (authorized version)Aemelia Lanyer's Salve Deus Rex JudaeorumBen Jonson's WorksBeginning of Thirty Years' WarLady Mary Wroth's Pamphilia to AmphilanthusJohn Donne appointed of St. Paul's CathedralDeath of James I- Charles I takes throne (marries Henrietta Maria)John Donne's PoemsGeorge Herbert's The TempleParliament closes the theatresAccession of Lous XIV of FranceRobert Herrick's Hesperides and Noble NumbersRichard Lovelace's To Lucasta, Going to the WarsTrial and execution of Charles IHenry Vaughan's Silex ScintillansRestoration of Charles II to throneThe Great PlagueThe Great FireAndrew Marvell's poems publishedThomas Traherne's Wonder
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