The English Reformation

Norman Conquest of England

Reign of Alfred the Great

From the fifth century onwards of small kingdoms emerged in England. These gradually evolved into fewer, larger groupings - particularly Northumbria in the north, Mercia in the midlands and Wessex in the south.

During the ninth century Vikings from Scandinavia overran all these kingdoms except Wessex, where Alfred the Great, who reigned. from 871 to 899, successfully resisted the invaders. In the tenth century the Wessex dynasty came to rule the whole of England. The present Royal Family is partly descended from the royal line of Wessex.

The last successfu1 foreign invasion of England took place in 1066, when Duke William of Normandy defeated the English at the Battle of Hastings. The Norman Conquest led to closer links with the mainland of Europe. Normans and others from France came to settle, and French became the language of the nobility, bishoprics and the law courts for the next three centuries.

Magna Carta and the beginnings of Parliament

In 1215 King John signed Magna Carta (Great Charter) in the face of demands by barons. It secured feudal rights and established areas over which the King had no jurisdiction, and has been interpreted throughout English history as guaranteeing certain political and civil liberties.

The rest of the 13th century saw the development of Parliament as a gathering of feudal barons and representatives of counties and towns summoned by the King. By the end of the century, it had adopted its basic make-up of Lords and Commons, and it had established the right to approve taxation. It also soon acquired the right to approve new laws.

Between 1534 and 1540 King Henry VIII of the Tudor dynasty broke with the Papacy in Rome, heralding the English Reformation and the establishment of the Church of England. Despite the suppression of the monasteries, the Church remained largely unaffected until the reign of his son Edward VI (1547-53), when Protestantism became the official religion of England.

Popular hostility to the Papacy remained widespread for centuries. In Ireland, differences between the religious traditions remain very marked to this day.

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