History

• A single Empire in Europe would take over a quarter of the planet's land and population
• The foundations of the British Empire began on the lands of England with a powerful British Monarchy igniting an extraordinary story of exploration and world domination
• The British Empire saw the greatest stories of human achievement and Triumph but also saw the worst sides of humanity
• After the discovery of America around 500 years ago, the British ventured out into the oceans and encountered unknown civilizations creating historic Partnerships and rivalries
• Within four centuries, the Empire would be worth over $600 billion
• King Alfred the Great had to defend his small Anglo-Saxon Kingdom from the invading Danish Vikings in 878 AD
• Alfred's victory at Edington


  1. Defeated the Viking leader Guam

  2. Forced Guam to sign the Treaty of wedmore

  3. Established the Dane law

  4. Secured peace between the Vikings and the Anglo-Saxons
• Alfred began the process of unifying all of the Anglo-Saxon Kingdom which his grandson athlan would finish in 924 when athlan ascended to the throne of Wessex
• In 927 AD, athlan managed to conquer North Umbria and effectively unite England under his rule, making him the first king of England
• King Henry II accompanied by knights and soldiers sailed from England to Waterford Ireland to assert his authority and establish English control over Ireland

  1171
• The Senate of Cashel in 1171 recognized Henry II as The Sovereign ruler of Ireland, making Ireland the first colony of England
• Edward I's conquest of Wales


  1. First Welsh war in 1277

  2. Invasion into gwynned

  3. Defeated the Welsh Defenders

  4. Compelled Prince lellan to submit to Edward's Authority

  5. Constructed a network of fortresses across Wales

  6. Second Welsh War in 1282
• The 100-year War from 1337 to 1453 weakened both the English and French Empires
• The War of the Roses from 1455 to 1487 resulted in the Lancastrians winning and King Henry V 6 being declared King
• Christopher Columbus sailed the ocean blue in 1492 and landed in the Bahamas, exploring several islands in the Caribbean and the coasts of present day Central and South America
• King Henry VII granted Italian Giovani kaboto (John Cabot) a patent to explore and claim any lands he might discover for the English crown
• John Cabot's voyages


  1. Set sail from Bristol England in May 1497

  2. Arrived on the eastern coast of North America

  3. Claimed the land for England

  4. Returned to England in August 1497
• King Henry VII's marriage to Catherine of Aragon only yielded a single surviving child, Princess Mary, leading him to seek an annulment from the Pope
• The Pope refused to grant the annulment, so Henry VII broke away from the Roman Catholic church and established the Church of England in 1534
• Henry VIII's daughter Mary I, nicknamed "Bloody Mary", tried to reestablish Catholicism, but her reign was short-lived as her half-sister Elizabeth I soon took over and redeclared England a Protestant State
• Under King Phillip II, the Spanish established colonies across South America, while the Portuguese had settlements along the Brazilian Coast and the French established northern colonies in Quebec and Florida
• Queen Elizabeth I commissioned an army of seafarers known as the "Sea Dogs" to pillage and loot all Spanish ships, with the hopes of creating British dominance on the global stage
• John Hawkins made voyages to Africa, capturing and selling enslaved people in the Caribbean, becoming wealthy from the slave trade
• In 1588, the Spanish Armada, consisting of around 130 ships and over 30,000 soldiers, sailors and marines, sailed towards England with the intention of making it a colony of the Spanish Empire
• The defeat of the Spanish Armada


  1. The English used smaller, more agile ships to attack the Armada from the rear

  2. The English sent fire ships towards the Armada, disrupting their formation

  3. The decisive battle of grav lines resulted in the battered and disoriented Armada attempting to retreat back to Spain
• Ireland was divided into two main regions, the pale under English control and the galic Irish regions
• The English Fleet engaged the Spanish Armada in a fierce and prolonged battle

  1588
• English naval tactics


  1. Ship boarding techniques involving grappling hooks

  2. Small arms fire to engage the enemy at close quarters
• After a full day of intense fighting

  The Spanish Armada battered and disoriented attempted to regroup
• The English were relentless in their pursuit


  With dwindling supplies and morale, the Armada began to retreat
• The journey back to Spain

  Harsh storms and strong currents took their toll on the already weakened fleet
• By the time the remnants of the Armada reached Spain, it was but a shadow of its former self
• Ireland was divided into two main regions: the Pale and the Gaelic Irish regions
• The Pale, located under the greater Dublin region, was under English control and authority
• The Gaelic Irish regions were largely autonomous and operated under traditional Brehon law
• The English sought to assert more control over the island of Ireland and imposed policies that threatened the Irish way of life
• Hugh O'Neal, the Earl of Tyrone


  A man of noble birth and strong convictions, torn between his loyalty to the English Crown and his love for the land and its people
• Hugh O'Neal raised his banner, calling upon other Gaelic Lords to join him in a resistance
• Hugh O'Donnell, the Earl of Tyrone, was a fierce and noble warrior who rallied to O'Neal's cause
• The rebellion earned the name of the 9 Years' War