swuklink: History of England

England is the largest, most populous, and the most densely populated of the nations that make up the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

"England" is frequently and erroneously confused with the United Kingdom, Great Britain and the British Isles, the word frequently being used to describe all three to the offence of the other nations which comprise the United Kingdom.

The name "England" is derived from "Engla-lond", "land of the Angles" who originated from the area around the mouth of the river Elbe and, "Darke Ages" between the departure of the Romans in 410 and the Norman conquest of 1066 established themselves in East Anglia and Lincolnshire, conquered Yorkshire and settled round the river Tweed from 500 to 540. It was also the Angles to lent their name to the currency of the UK, the "pound sterling" being the pound of the "Easterlinges".

England is not an independent nation state. It has no national government, no currency of its own, no armed forces, and is not represented internationally in events such as the Olympic Games. This has caused some minor discontent among the English since the devolution of power to Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland which have their own national assemblies with legislative powers while the Members of the UK Parliament from these nations vote on matters pertaining to England which might otherwise be dealt with by its own assembly if such existed.

With the Act of Union of 1707 which created the Kingdom of Great Britain, England ceased to exist as a significant political entity although it dominated the union.

The country of England, as distinct from the provinces and states which had previously occupied the same territory, emerged through the rising spuremacy of "Wessex, kingdom of the West Saxons, over the other Saxon kingdoms, the Angles, the Jutes and the Danelaw between the 7th and the ninth centuries. Egbert, King of Wessex (d.839) is frequently regarded as the first king of England although he became Bretwalda by conquest, literally "Overlord of Britain") and was technically the "first among equals" amongst the English rulers who swore allegiance to him. Alfred the Great who ruled two generations later (871�899), was the first sovereign to be styled "King of England".

For a time, some school histories of England began with the Norman conquest of 1066 when William the Conqueror defeated Harold II, last of the Saxon kings of England. Although William largely replaced the Saxon aristocracy and, while he did a great deal to curb the power of the great earldoms established by the Danish kings, he cannot be attributed as having "founded" or "unified" England. The Norman conquerors, while dominant, comprised only a minority of English society. The Conqueror left much of the existing Anglo-Saxon infrastructure and promised to keep the laws of the Confessor (1042-1066) before his coronation as king of England.

More recently, school histories begin with the geographical area which would one day become England, with reference first to the various waves of Celtic and Gallic invaders who settled in the British Isles before the attempted invasion of Julius Ceasar and the later conquest of Britain by the Roman legions. These studies of the history of the place which would later become "England" before it had gained the name, help us to understand the later developments of the English nation and state.

The flag of St George, patron saint of England, adopted as the national flag.

It became a symbol of the crusade in the thirteenth century and was used as a national flag until 1606 when it became a component of the union flag of Great Britain, rightfully only known as the "Union Jack" when flown by a ship of the Royal Navy.

At the same time, the same flag was in use as the national flag of the Republic of Guinea.

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1536		Act of Union between England and Wales Wales incorporatedw with England; Welsh with same rights as English; English land laws applied to Wales
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1606		Creation of the first Union Flag of Britain to replace the flag of St George which had been used as the flag of England
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1707		Act of Union; English and Scottish parliaments united with the formation of the Kingdom of Great Britain
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