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Conversation 3· 20 min read·5 scenes

Romans, Normans, kings, and a long argument with France

The longest conversation, because history is the largest part of the test. Stonehenge to King Charles III, told as a story.

Cast

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Mrs. Khan

Retired ESOL teacher, Birmingham

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Marco

Software engineer, ILR applicant

Scene 1 of 5

Scene 1: Stones, Romans, and Anglo-Saxons

Mrs. Khan opens a battered book of British history. Marco shifts uncomfortably.

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Mrs. Khan

Five thousand years ago, before there were Britons, before there were Romans, somebody dragged enormous stones across southern England and stood them up in a circle. We call it Stonehenge.

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Marco

Five thousand years. That is older than the pyramids.

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Mrs. Khan

Some of it, yes. Then in 55 BC, Julius Caesar took a look. He left. Almost a hundred years later, in AD 43, the Emperor Claudius came back with an army and stayed. Romans ruled most of Britain for about four hundred years.

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Marco

What did they build?

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Mrs. Khan

Towns. Roads. And Hadrian's Wall, across the north of England. They could not subdue the tribes in Scotland, so they walled off the line. Around AD 410 the Romans left. Anglo-Saxons came from northern Europe, settled, brought the language that became English. Then from the late 700s, Vikings raided.

Ancient Britain dates

●Stonehenge, about 5,000 years ago
●Julius Caesar,55 BC (failed first attempt)
●Claudius invades, AD 43
●Romans leave, about AD 410
●Hadrian's Wall, northern frontier of Roman Britain

Scene recap, in case anything slipped past you

›Stonehenge ~5,000 years old.
›Romans ruled Britain AD 43 to ~410.
›Hadrian's Wall = Roman northern frontier.
›Anglo-Saxons brought what became the English language.

Scene 2 of 5

Scene 2: 1066 and a piece of paper called Magna Carta

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Mrs. Khan

Now. The single most famous date in English history.

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Marco

1066?

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Mrs. Khan

1066. Battle of Hastings. William, Duke of Normandy, beat King Harold and became William the Conqueror, King of England. The Norman Conquest changed law, language, architecture. Twenty years later, William ordered a great survey of land and property, the Domesday Book.

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Marco

Like a census?

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Mrs. Khan

Far more thorough than a census. Who owned what, what it was worth, how many pigs. 1086. Memorise it.

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Marco

And Magna Carta?

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Mrs. Khan

1215. King John was a difficult man and his barons were tired of him. They forced him to sign Magna Carta at Runnymede. It limited the king's power. It is the seed of the rule of law. Many Westerners will tell you it is the most important document ever signed in English.

Norman and medieval dates

●1066, Battle of Hastings, William the Conqueror
●1086, Domesday Book completed
●1215, Magna Carta signed by King John at Runnymede
●1348, Black Death reaches Britain (kills ~⅓ of population)
●1415, Battle of Agincourt (Henry V), Hundred Years War

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Marco

Hundred Years War, between England and France?

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Mrs. Khan

Yes. And actually 116 years. 1337 to 1453. England and France argued for over a century. Agincourt in 1415 was a famous English victory under Henry V.

Scene recap, in case anything slipped past you

›1066 = Battle of Hastings, Norman Conquest.
›1086 = Domesday Book.
›1215 = Magna Carta, limited king's power.
›Hundred Years War = England vs France, 1337 to 1453.
›Black Death = 1348, killed about a third of population.

Scene 3 of 5

Scene 3: Tudors, six wives, and a king who lost his head

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Mrs. Khan

1485. Henry VII wins the Battle of Bosworth. The Tudor era begins. His son Henry VIII, the famous one, had six wives.

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Marco

Six?

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Mrs. Khan

Six. He fell out with the Pope over a divorce, broke from Rome, made himself head of the Church of England in the 1530s. After his death, eventually his daughter Elizabeth I came to the throne in 1558.

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Marco

Spanish Armada?

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Mrs. Khan

1588. Defeated under Elizabeth. Big year. Same era, Shakespeare writing his plays. English exploration beginning.

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Marco

Then what?

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Mrs. Khan

Elizabeth dies childless in 1603. James VI of Scotland becomes James I of England. Two crowns united. His son Charles I quarrelled badly with Parliament. Civil War. 1642 to 1651. Parliament's army under Oliver Cromwell beat the king. Charles I was executed in 1649.

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Marco

So Britain had no king?

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Mrs. Khan

Briefly. Republic, called the Commonwealth, under Cromwell. The monarchy was restored in 1660 with Charles II. Then in 1688, the Glorious Revolution. James II was removed. William of Orange and his wife Mary came in. From that point on, the king or queen had to rule with the consent of Parliament.

Tudor and Stuart dates

●1485, Battle of Bosworth, start of Tudor era (Henry VII)
●1530s, Henry VIII breaks with Rome, founds Church of England
●1588, Spanish Armada defeated under Elizabeth I
●1603, James VI of Scotland becomes James I of England
●1649, Charles I executed
●1660, Restoration of the monarchy (Charles II)
●1688, Glorious Revolution (William and Mary)

Scene recap, in case anything slipped past you

›Henry VIII = 6 wives, broke from Rome, Church of England.
›Elizabeth I = Spanish Armada 1588.
›Civil War 1642 to 51, Cromwell, Charles I executed 1649.
›Glorious Revolution 1688 = monarch must rule with Parliament's consent.

Scene 4 of 5

Scene 4: Industrial Revolution and a very large empire

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Mrs. Khan

Late 1700s. James Watt improves the steam engine. Britain industrialises before anyone else. Cities explode. Factories everywhere. The country goes from agricultural to industrial in a century.

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Marco

And the British Empire?

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Mrs. Khan

By the nineteenth century, the largest empire in history. About a quarter of the world's land surface. Queen Victoria reigned 1837 to 1901. Sixty-three years. Wealth, science, social reform, and also a great deal of poverty and exploitation.

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Marco

Slavery?

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Mrs. Khan

The slave trade was abolished in the British Empire in 1807. Slavery itself, by 1833. William Wilberforce was a leading campaigner, his name is one to remember.

Three abolition dates

1807 = slave trade abolished. 1833 = slavery itself abolished in most of the empire. William Wilberforce led the campaign. The test loves to mix up these two dates, so be careful.

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Marco

And women voting?

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Mrs. Khan

Some women got the vote in 1918, those over 30 with property. Equal voting rights with men came in 1928, all women aged 21 and over.

Scene recap, in case anything slipped past you

›Industrial Revolution from late 1700s, James Watt + steam engine.
›Victoria reigned 1837 to 1901 (63 years).
›1807 = slave trade abolished. 1833 = slavery itself. Wilberforce led campaign.
›1918 = some women vote (over 30). 1928 = equal voting rights.

Scene 5 of 5

Scene 5: World wars and the modern UK

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Mrs. Khan

First World War, 1914 to 1918. Enormous British and Commonwealth losses. Remembrance Day on the eleventh of November marks the end of that war and honours all who have died serving.

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Marco

And the Second World War?

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Mrs. Khan

1939 to 1945. Sir Winston Churchill became Prime Minister in 1940 and led Britain through most of the war. The Battle of Britain in 1940 was a famous defensive air campaign. D-Day in June 1944 was the Allied invasion of Normandy, the turning point in liberating Western Europe.

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Marco

And after the war?

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Mrs. Khan

1948, two huge things. The NHS was founded, providing free healthcare. And the ship Empire Windrush arrived, bringing Caribbean migrants to help rebuild Britain. The Windrush generation.

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Marco

Margaret Thatcher?

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Mrs. Khan

First female Prime Minister. 1979 to 1990. The UK joined the European Economic Community, later the EU, in 1973. Left it in 2020. Queen Elizabeth II reigned for seventy years until 2022. Longest in British history. King Charles III is the current monarch.

Modern dates

●1914 to 1918, First World War
●1939 to 1945, Second World War (Churchill PM 1940)
●1944, D-Day, Allied invasion of Normandy
●1948, NHS founded; Empire Windrush arrives
●1973, UK joins EEC (later EU)
●1979, Margaret Thatcher, first female PM
●2020, UK leaves the EU
●2022, Queen Elizabeth II dies; King Charles III

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Marco

OK. That is a lot.

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Mrs. Khan

It is. We will go through it again tomorrow. And the day after. By week four it will be reflex.

Scene recap, in case anything slipped past you

›WWI 1914 to 1918, Remembrance Day 11 November.
›WWII 1939 to 1945, Churchill PM from 1940, D-Day June 1944.
›NHS 1948. Empire Windrush 1948.
›Thatcher first female PM 1979.
›UK left EU 2020. Elizabeth II reigned 70 years (1952 to 2022). Charles III now.

Conversation finished. Now consolidate.

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