migration-nutshells

• Study of medieval migration starts

  AD 800
• Study of medieval migration ends

  AD 1500
• During this time, England was ruled first by Anglo-Saxons and Vikings then by the Normans and their descendents
• England was attractive to migrants

  • It was possible to settle and do well there
  • The climate was good for farming
  • England was rich in natural resources, including silver, iron and salt
  • England had increasingly strong trade links with Europe
• Vikings in England


  1. Raided at first

  2. Eventually began to invade and settle in order to farm and trade
• Following the Treaty of Wedmore in AD 878, Vikings ruled the north and east of England while the Saxons ruled the south. This boundary was known as the Danelaw
• Viking King Cnut unified England in 1016 and ended the ongoing wars between Saxons and Danes (Vikings)
• King Edward the Confessor oversaw a long period of stability
• In 1066, King Edward the Confessor died without an heir. Duke William of Normandy led a Norman invasion of England because he believed he had been promised the English throne. The Normans conquered England after the Battle of Hastings in October 1066
• Jews were invited to settle in England as moneylenders because Christians were forbidden to take part in usury (charging interest on loans)
• European merchants and bankers began to migrate to England in the 13th and 14th centuries. Some were fleeing conflict, others were migrating to benefit from England's growing towns and markets. Lombardy bankers came to compete with Jewish moneylenders
• Vikings and Normans


  • Had a significant impact on the way English society was organised and governed
  • The Viking system of government provided the basis for modern parliamentary democracy
  • The Normans introduced castles, stone churches and cathedrals and the feudal system
• The English language, place names, landscape and architecture were all greatly impacted by the Vikings and Normans
• European craftsmen helped turn England into a prosperous primary economy by spinning English wool into cloth before exporting it to Europe
• Jewish money was essential to England's prosperity. Jewish lenders supported monarchs and stimulated the growth of businesses and trade. Despite this, they were expelled by Edward I and his Parliament in 1290
• Study of Early Modern migration starts

  AD 1500
• Study of Early Modern migration ends

  AD 1700
• During this period, British merchants and explorers began to build an overseas empire, which led to an increase in the movement of goods and people around the world
• Britain was responsible for the transportation of enslaved people from West Africa to the Americas. Some of these enslaved people were brought to England
• Europe faced huge religious conflict during this period following the birth of Protestantism in 1517. Protestants from northern Europe, including Palatines and French Huguenots, fled to England following the ascension of the Protestant Queen Elizabeth I in 1558 and the St Bartholomew's Day Massacre of 1572
• As the East India Company expanded its influence in India throughout the 17th century, its ships increasingly returned to England carrying lascars (Indian sailors) and ayahs (Indian nannies). E.I.C men sometimes returned with Indian wives and house servants
• Following the English Civil War (1642-1649), Oliver Cromwell invited Jews back into England (they had been expelled in 1290) to help stimulate the economy through their expertise in money lending and banking
• There was also an increase in the number of black African migrants at this time. This was a diverse group, ranging from John Blanke, one of Henry VIII's royal trumpeters, to refugee Moriscos escaping persecution in southern Spain
• Huguenots


  • They had a range of useful skills, from weaving silk and cloth to banking and financial services
  • They were white Protestant Europeans and therefore had a lot in common with the English population
  • The first governor of the Bank of England, Sir James Houblon, was a Huguenot
• Jews


  • They were often also successful, particularly as financiers and merchants
  • The Moses family and Franks family are good examples of extremely successful Jewish migrants who used their money and connections to fund the building of synagogues, support European artists and even supply the British Army
• Palatines, as well as gypsy, traveller and roma people


  • They had a less positive experience
  • Palatines had few useful skills and so they were eventually transported to Ireland and America
  • Gypsy, traveller and roma migrants were feared and hated; laws were passed to try and keep them out of England
• Migrants had a significant impact on England during this period. Huguenots played a major role in strengthening England's economy, while Dutch engineers led by Cornelius Vermuyden drained the Fens and created useful farmland in East Anglia. Migrant artists and writers also influenced English culture, including Polydore Vergil who wrote 26 books on English history which continue to influence our understanding to this day
• Britain underwent enormous change because of the Industrial Revolution


  18th and 19th century
• There was huge internal migration as the population moved from rural farming jobs into urban industrial jobs in factories, mills and mines
• The campaign to abolish slavery and the campaign for greater voting rights for working men, led by the Chartists, were heavily influenced by migrants
• The British Empire reached its peak during the 19th century, adding a considerable number of African territories as well as taking over formal control of India from the East India Company in 1858. Trading slaves was not outlawed around the British Empire until 1833
• The Industrial Revolution created a lot of low-skilled and low-paid jobs. Migrant groups often took on manual labour jobs that others did not want, such as the Irish and Italian navvies who built the canals. Irish migration was also driven by the potato blight of 1845-46
• In the early part of this period, Britain became increasingly attractive for Jewish migrants. Anti-Semitic laws were removed and Britain seemed safer than countries like Russia where pogroms against Jews were common. However, as the number of Jewish migrants increased rapidly in the late 19th century, attitudes towards Jewish migrants worsened and anti-Semitism increased
• Britain's connection with India meant that migration of Indians to Britain continued and increased. As well as ayahs, lascars and domestic servants, Indian students and wealthy Indian families forced out of India by the East India Company began to migrate to Britain
• This period also saw an increase in German and Italian migrants who were often fleeing conflict and political unrest in their own countries. German migrants tended to be successful, bringing diverse skills, ideas and businesses. Karl Marx (political thinker), Ludwig Mond (chemist) and John Merz (electrical engineers) were all successful migrants. Italian migrants often found work in street entertainment of making and selling ice cream
• Formerly enslaved Africans became a major part of Britain's abolition movement. Perhaps most famously, Olaudah Equiano settled in Britain and his autobiography raised awareness of the horrors of slavery
• Two prominent Chartists (campaigners for working men to get the vote) came from immigrant families. Feargus O'Connor was an Irish migrant who became a Chartist leader. William Cuffay, the son of a former slave, became the president of the London Chartists
• Major British companies were established by migrants during this period, including Marks and Spencer, which was started by Michael Marks, a Russian Jew fleeing persecution
• Britain has changed rapidly and dramatically

  c.1900
• This has largely been driven by three things: The two World Wars, the collapse of the British Empire and a technological revolution. All three factors contributed significantly to migration