Mr. Varuna De Saram
Barrister – at – Law (Eng & Wales)
Attorney – at – Law (Sri Lanka)
Why British History ?????
 Understanding the evolution of the history in an
important step for anyone learning English Law
 It explains
 The mindset of the people
 How the laws were created
 Why the laws were created
The United Kingdom
• Consists of
four nations;
•England
•Wales
•Scotland
•Northern Ireland
•Over a period of time these
four kingdoms united as the
“United Kingdom of Great
Britain & Northern Ireland”
The ‘UNION JACK’
Ancient History …
 Inhabited over 800,000 years ago
 Numerous remains from
 Mesolithic
 Neolithic
 Bronze Age
 During the Iron Age
 Inhabited by Celtics – The Britons
 Celtic Priests – known as Druids – Stonehenge
The Roman Conquests …
 Period between 55 BC and 410 AD
 Two attempted conquests by Julius Caesar
 55 BC and 54 BC
 Invasion by Emperor Claudius
 The revolt of Queen Boudicca
 After the death of her husband – led a revolt against the
Romans
 Barbarian Invasions – withdrawal of the Romans
The Barbarians …
 The Vandals – An East Germanic Tribe
 Originating from Poland
 Destroyed the mighty Roman Empire
 The Romans had to leave in a hurry
 Leaving Britain unprotected against all the war
mongering tribes of Northern Europe and Scandinavia
 The Angles, The Saxons, The Jutes
Anglo Saxon England
 The Angles & the Saxons inter mingled
 The Viking Invasions – from Denmark
 The Vikings were defeated by King Alfred the Great
 Some Danes settled down in England
 Further invasions by the Vikings – resulting in
 All of England being ruled by the Vikings
 King Canute ruled England, Norway & Denmark
Reign of
King St. Edward the Confessor
 From 1042 – 1066
 Son of Ethelred II ‘The Unready’ & Emma, daughter of
Richard I of Normandy
 Family was exiled in Normandy after the Danish Invasion
of 1013
 Returned the following year and negotiated Ethelred’s
reinstatement
 After Ethelred’s death (1016) the Danes again took
control of England
 In exile until 1041 – returned to London to join his
brother
 Became King in 1042
Fight for the Crown
 Death of St. Edward the Confessor
 had already promised the Crown to William, Duke of
Normandy
 Named his wife’s brother - Harold as successor
 Harold became the last Anglo – Saxon king of England
Defining moment of
British History
 The Battle of Hastings
 Between the Norman-French army of Duke William II
of Normandy & an English army under the Anglo Saxon King Harold II
 Death of King Harold
 Crowning of William on Christmas Day 1066
William the Conqueror
 The First of the Current Line of Monarchs
 Ruled through a network of friends (Barons)
 Each built a castle in a
strategic location
 Vital task of collecting taxes
 William himself built a castle for
himself -
The Tower of London
 English Kings have resided in the Palace / Castle for
over 500 years
 Currently houses
the Crown Jewels
th
12
Century
 The Kings held council with the Bishops where
matters were discussed – taxation
 After some time
 Knights began to represent counties
 Involving commoners in the process
 Signing of the Magna Carta
 Forced upon the King by a group of his subjects
 Attempt to limit his powers by law and protect their
rights
Model Parliament - 1295
 Summoned by King Edward I
 Considered the first Representative Assembly
The BLACK death
 One of the most devastating pandemics in human
history
 Peaking in Europe between 1348 & 1350
 Killed between 75 Million and 200 Million people
Evolution of Parliament
 1341: Separation of Commons & Lords
 The Commons met separately from the Lords for the first
time
 The Commons consisted of Representatives of the cities,
towns & counties
 The Lords consisted of the Lords of the Nobility & the Clergy
 1407: Commons given power over Taxation
 1414: Full equality on Legislation between Commons &
Lords
 1523: First known request by a Speaker for Free Speech –
Thomas Moore
100 Year War & War of Roses
 100 Year War
 Series of battles with France for the throne of England
 War of Roses
 A series of dynastic wars between supporters of two rival
branches of the Royal House of Plantagenet


House of Lancaster
House of York
- Red Rose
- White Rose
Richard III
 When Edward IV dies
 His son was a young boy
 His brother Edward, Duke of Gloucester was made
Regent
 Edward had his nephew locked up in a tower – from
where he disappeared
 Richard became King Richard III
 Defeated by Earl of Richmond at the Battle of Bosworth
 Earl of Richmond was crowned King Henry VII
Tudor Monarchs …
 Henry VII – Earl of Richmond
 Henry VIII – 6 wives
 Bloody Mary – Daughter of Henry VIII
 Elizabeth I
Henry VIII
 Had six wives
 Catholic Church would not allow him to divorce his 1st
wife – Queen Catherine
 Breaks away from the Roman Catholic Church, closes
down most of the Monasteries and takes their riches as
his own
 Appoints himself the head of the Church of England
 Separated the Church of England from the Church of
Rome
Bloody Mary …
 The Church had moved further towards the Protestant
version of Christianity
 Blood bath for over 5 years
 Reverse England back to Catholicism
 Over 300 Protestants burnt at the stake
 Married King Philip II of Spain to gain a Catholic ally
Elizabeth I
 Golden Era in England
 Defeat of the Spanish Armada
 Expansion of Trade & Exploration
 Execution of her cousin –
Mary Queen of Scots
The King v Parliament - 1642
 King Charles I enters the House of Commons
 Therein he attempts to arrest 5 leading members of
the Commons for treason
 The speaker voices his allegiance to Parliament and
not to the King
“May it please Your Majesty, I have neither eyes to see,
nor tongue to speak in this place, but as the house is
pleased to direct me”
 No monarch has entered the House of Commons since
The Civil War
 Royalists v Republicans
 The execution of King Charles I
Britain – A Republic
 Under the rule of the Lord Protector – Oliver Cromwell
 The House of Lords was abolished
1660
 After Cromwell’s death
 Charles II crowned the king
 House of Lords re-established
Bill of Rights
 One of the most important documents in the political
history of Britain
 As a result the monarch has not held absolute power
The Act of Union - 1707
 Political union of England & Scotland
 In accordance with the Treaty of Union
 As ratified by the Act of Union 1707
 Created the new State of ‘Great Britain’
 Shared a single constitutional monarch
 Single parliament of Great Britain - Westminster
Death of Queen Anne …
 No successors
 Closest relative in Hanover (Now Germany)
 George ascended the throne as the 1st monarch of the
House of Hanover
 What happens when the Monarch cannot speak
English?
The Prime Minister
 Position created to deal with the issue of the Monarch
not speaking English
 Led to the creation of political parties
 Whigs
 Tories
Colonies …
 1776
 American War of Independence
 Britain loses the colony of America
 1789
 The French Revolution
 New colonies acquired through the British East India
Company
Battle of Trafalgar - 1805
Battle of Waterloo - 1815