Life in UK - Study Notes

Notes for Life in UK test :smile:

Table of contents

Life in UK - Study Notes
Chapter 1: The values and principles of the UK
Chapter 2: What is the UK?
Chapter 3: A long and illustrious history
Chapter 4: A modern, thriving society
Chapter 5: The UK government, the law and your role
External References

Chapter 1: The values and principles of the UK

The fundamental principles of British life include:

Democracy
The rule of law
Individual liberty
Tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs
Participation in community life.

There is no place in British society for extremism or intolerance.

Chapter 2: What is the UK?

UK is made up of Great Britain (England, Scotland, Wales) and Northern Ireland.
The Channel Islands and the Isle of Man are closely linked with the UK but are not part of it
- They have their own governments and are called ‘Crown dependencies’
- The Channel Islands are near France, comprising two main bailiwicks: Jersey and Guernsey, with key islands including Alderney, Sark, and Herm
British Overseas Territories (BOTs)
- 14 territories linked to the UK but outside the British Isles, like Bermuda, Cayman Islands, Falklands, Gibraltar, British Virgin Islands, and St Helena,
- each with self-governance but the UK responsible for defence and foreign affairs, forming part of the UK’s sovereign territory.
The UK is governed by the parliament sitting in Westminster.
- Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland also have parliaments or assemblies of their own, with devolved powers in defined areas.

The Channel Islands British Overseas Territories {width:400px}

Chapter 3: A long and illustrious history

Early Britain

Stone Age (10_000 years) -> Iron Age (AD 43)

Stone Age
- First people to live in Britain : Hunter-gatherers who followed herds of deer and horses
- Britain was connected by land bridge to continent, 10_000 years ago separated from continent via a Channel
- 6,000 years ago : first farmers arrived, whose ancestors came from South-East Europe.
  - Build houses, tombs and monuments
  - Stone age monument - Stonehedge in Wiltshire, probably a gathering place for seasonal ceremonies
- Skara Brae on Orkney - best preserved prehistoric village in northern Europe about life at the end of Stone Age
  - Orkney Island is situated off the north coast of Scotland

Bronze Age
- 4,000 years ago
- People lived in roundhouses and buried their dead in tombs called round barrows.
- Made beautiful objects in bronze and gold, including tools, ornaments and weapons.
Iron Age
- People learned to make weapons and tools out of iron
- People still lived in roundhouses, grouped together into larger settlements, and sometimes defended sites called Hill Forts.
  - Hill fort -> Maiden Castle in the English county of Dorset.
  - Most people were farmers, craft workers or warriors.
  - The language they spoke was part of the Celtic language family.
- Related languages are still spoken today in some parts of Wales, Scotland and Ireland.
- Made the first coins to be minted in Britain, some inscribed with the names of Iron Age kings.

The Romans (BC 55 - AD 410)

BC 55 : Unsuccessful invasion by Julius Caesar.
100 years Britain remained separate from the Roman Empire.
AD 43 : Roman invasion by Emperor Claudius occupied almost all of Britain.
- One of the tribal leaders who fought against the Romans was Boudicca, the queen of the Iceni in what is now eastern England.
- Statue of her on Westminster Bridge in London, near the Houses of Parliament.
Scotland were never conquered by the Romans.
Emperor Hadrian built a wall in the north of England to keep out the Picts (ancestors of the Scottish people).
- Parts of Hadrian’s Wall, including the forts of Housesteads and Vindolanda, can still be seen.
- UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Romans remained in Britain for 400 years.
- They built roads and public buildings, created a structure of law, and introduced new plants and animals.
- Roman army left Britain in AD 410 to defend other parts of the Roman Empire and never returned.
First Christian communities began to appear in Britain during the 3rd and 4th centuries AD.

The Anglo-Saxons (AD 410 - AD 789)

Britain was again invaded by tribes from northern Europe: the Jutes, the Angles and the Saxons.
By about AD 600, Anglo-Saxon kingdoms were established in Britain.
The burial place of one of the kings was at Sutton Hoo in modern Suffolk.
- was buried with treasure and armour, all placed in a ship which was then covered by a mound of earth.
Wales and Scotland, remained free of Anglo-Saxon rule.
Anglo-Saxons were not Christians when they first came to Britain.
- missionaries came to Britain to preach about Christianity.
- Missionaries from Ireland spread the religion in the north
  - St Patrick : Patron saint of Ireland
  - St Columba : Founded a monastery on the island of Iona, Scotland.
- Missionaries from Rome spread the religion in the South
  - St Augustine : First Archbishop of Canterbury.

The Vikings (AD 789 - AD 1066)

Vikings came from Denmark and Norway in AD 789
They came to raid coastal towns and take away goods and slaves.
Began communities in the east of England and Scotland.
King Alfred the Great defeated the Vikings.
- Anglo-Saxon kingdoms in England united under King Alfred the Great.
Viking invaders stayed in east and north of England.
- Stayed in area known as the Danelaw (many places names there, such as Grimsby and Scunthorpe, come from the Viking languages).
Anglo-Saxon kings continued to rule, except for a short period when there were Danish kings.
- First of these was Cnut, also called Canute. (Danish King)
In the north, the threat of attack by Vikings had encouraged the people to unite under one king, Kenneth MacAlpin.
- The term Scotland began to be used to describe that country.

Norman Conquest (AD 1066 - AD 1154)

1066 : Invasion led by William, the Duke of Normandy (from France) defeated Harold (Saxon King of England) in Battle of Hastings.
- William became king of England and is known as William the Conqueror.
- Battle is commemorated in a great piece of embroidery, known as the Bayeux Tapestry, which can still be seen in France today.
Domesday Book : William sent people to draw up lists of all the towns and villages.
- The people who lived there, who owned the land and what animals they owned were also listed.
Norman Conquest was the last successful foreign invasion of England.

The Middle Ages (Medieval Era 1200-1450)

War at home and abroad

Time of almost constant war in Britain for land.
- WALES
  - 1284 : King Edward I introduced the Statute of Rhuddlan in Wales (Wales under Crown of England)
    - Huge castles, including Conwy and Caernarvon, were built to maintain this power.
  - 15th century : Last Welsh rebellions had been defeated.
    - English laws and the English language were introduced.
- SCOTLAND
  - 1314 : Robert the Bruce, defeated the English at the Battle of Bannockburn, and Scotland remained unconquered by the English.
- NORTHERN IRELAND
  - English first went to Ireland as troops to help the Irish king.
  - 1200 : English ruled an area of Ireland known as the Pale, around Dublin.
  - Some of the important lords in other parts of Ireland accepted the authority of the English king.
Also fought Wars Abroad
- Hundred Years War with France lasted 116 years.
- 1415 : Battle of Agincourt
  - King Henry V’s vastly outnumbered English army defeated the French.
- English left France in the 1450s.

The Black Death

Normans used a system of land ownership known as feudalism.
- The king gave land to his lords in return for help in war.
- Landowners had to send certain numbers of men to serve in the army.
- Some peasants had their own land but most were serfs.
In the north of Scotland and Ireland, land was owned by members of the ‘clans’ (prominent families).
1348 : plague, came to Britain. This was known as the Black Death.
- One third of the population of England died and a similar proportion in Scotland and Wales.
- This was one of the worst disasters ever to strike Britain.
- There were labour shortages and peasants began to demand higher wages.
People left the countryside to live in the towns.
- In the towns, growing wealth led to the development of a strong middle class.

Legal and political changes

Parliament began to develop.
There were few formal limits to the king’s power until 1215.
1215 : charter of rights called the Magna Carta (which means the Great Charter)
- even the king was subject to the law.
- protected the rights of the nobility and restricted the king’s power to collect taxes or to make or change laws.
- King John
Parliaments called for the king in England had two separate parts, known as Houses, were established.
- House of Lords : The nobility, great landowners and bishops
- House of Commons : Smaller landowners, and wealthy people from towns and cities were elected
Similar Parliament developed in Scotland. It had three Houses, called Estates: the lords, the commons and the clergy.
Legal System
- In England, judges developed ‘common law’ by a process of precedence (that is, following previous decisions) and tradition.
- In Scotland, the legal system developed slightly differently and laws were ‘codified’ (that is, written down).

A distinct identity

By 1400, in England, official documents were being written in English, and English had become the preferred language of the royal court and Parliament.
Geoffrey Chaucer wrote a series of poems in English about a group of people going to Canterbury on a pilgrimage.
- This collection of poems is called The Canterbury Tales.
- It was one of the first books to be printed by William Caxton, the first person in England to print books using a printing press.
In Scotland, poets began to write in the Scots language.
- One example is John Barbour, who wrote The Bruce about the Battle of Bannockburn.
Castles were made, many are now ruins
- Windsor and Edinburgh, are still in use.
Great cathedrals – for example, Lincoln Cathedral – were also built, and many of these are still used for worship.
- Several of the cathedrals had windows of stained glass, telling stories about the Bible and Christian saints.
- The glass in York Minster is a famous example.
England was an important trading nation. English wool became a very important export.

The Wars of the Roses

1455 : Civil war to decide king of England.
- fought between the supporters of two families:
  - the House of Lancaster - red rose
  - the House of York - White rose
- This war was called the Wars of the Roses
1485 : The war ended with the Battle of Bosworth Field
- House of York King Richard III was killed
- House of Lancaster won, King Henry VII (Henry Tudor)
  - First ever king of this family
- Henry then married King Richard’s niece, Elizabeth of York, and united the two families.
  - The symbol of the House of Tudor was a red rose with a white rose inside it as a sign that the Houses of York and Lancaster were now allies.

The Tudors and Stuarts

King Henry VII (Henry Tudor) after winnning the war of roses.
- Made Policy of centralising power to make sure his position as king was secure.
His son Henry VIII continued the policy of centralising power.
Henry VIII was most famous for breaking away from the Church of Rome and marrying six times.
- To divorce his first wife, Henry needed the approval of the Pope.
- When the Pope refused, Henry established the Church of England.
- In this new Church, the king, not the Pope, would have the power to appoint bishops and order how people should worship.
During the reign of Henry VIII,
- Wales became formally united with England by the Act for the Government of Wales.
- Henry VIII took the title ‘King of Ireland’.

six wives of Henry VIII

Catherine of Aragon - daughter Mary survided. King decided to divorce once Catherine was too old to give child. King Henry VIII wanted son as Heir.
Anne Boleyn - Had daughter Elizabeth. Anne was accused of taking lovers and executed at the Tower of London.
Jane Seymour - Gave son Edward, but Jane died after giving birth.
Anne of Cleves - Political reasons and then divorced
Catherine Howard - cousin of Anne Boleyn, also accused of taking lovers and executed.
Catherine Parr - was a widow, after king she married again and then died.

Religious conflicts

Reformation was happening across Europe.
- movement against the authority of the Pope and the ideas and practices of the Roman Catholic Church.
- The Protestants formed their own churches.
- They read the Bible in their own languages instead of in Latin; they did not pray to saints or at shrines; and
- they believed that a person’s own relationship with God was more important than submitting to the authority of the Church.
Edward VI - Henry VIII was succeeded by his son Edward VI, who was strongly Protestant.
- Book of Common Prayer was written to be used in the Church of England
- Edward died at the age of 15 after ruling for just over six years
Queen Mary : devout Catholic and persecuted Protestants that’s why known as Bloody Mary
Elizabeth I : was a Protestant
- one of the most popular monarchs in English history.
- 1588 : when the English defeated the Spanish Armada (a large fleet of ships), which had been sent by Spain to conquer England and restore Catholicism.

Mary, Queen of Scots

The queen of Scotland, Mary Stuart (‘Mary, Queen of Scots’) was a Catholic.
She was only a week old when her father died and she became queen.
Much of her childhood was spent in France.
She gave her throne to her Protestant son, James VI of Scotland.
Mary was Elizabeth I’s cousin and hoped that Elizabeth might help her,
- but Elizabeth suspected Mary of wanting to take over the English throne, and kept her a prisoner for 20 years.
- Mary was eventually executed, accused of plotting against Elizabeth I.

Exploration, Poetry and Drama

Elizabeth I time was growing patriotism
Sir Francis Drake (Commander to defeat Spannish Armada)
- His ship the Golden Hind was one of first to sail right around the world.
Started colonise eastern coast of America

William Shakespeare

Most famous plays

Midsummer Night’s Dream
Hamlet,
Macbeth
Romeo and Juliet

Lines from his plays and poems which are often still quoted include:

Once more unto the breach (Henry V)
To be or not to be (Hamlet)
A rose by any other name (Romeo and Juliet)
All the world’s a stage (As You Like It)
The darling buds of May (Sonnet 18 – Shall I Compare Thee To a Summer’s Day)

James VI and I

Elizabeth I never married and so had no children of her own to inherit her throne.
When she died in 1603 her heir was her cousin James VI of Scotland.
He became King James I of England, Wales and Ireland but Scotland remained a separate country.
new translation of the Bible into English. This translation is known as the ‘King James Version’ or the ‘Authorised Version’
James I and his son Charles I were less skilled politically.
- Both believed in the ‘Divine Right of Kings’: the idea that the king was directly appointed by God to rule.

Chapter 4: A modern, thriving society

Chapter 5: The UK government, the law and your role