A PRIMARY HISTORY OF THE BRITISH ISLES BOOK I Edited and updated by J. Parnell McCarter from A Child’s History of England by Charles Dickens, as well as other sources. “And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious. And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea.” - Isaiah 11:10-11 Dedicated to the memory of the Lollards, the Puritans, and the Covenanters of the British Isles. ©2003 J. Parnell McCarter. All Rights Reserved. 6408 Wrenwood Jenison, MI 49428 (616) 457-8095 The Puritans’ Home School Curriculum www.puritans.net 2 A PRIMARY HISTORY OF THE BRITISH ISLES TABLE OF CONTENTS BOOK I Chapter 1: Before the Romans..………….………………..………….p. 6 Chapter 2: Roman Sovereignty……………………………………….p. 11 Chapter 3: The Saxon Invasion …………...………..……………….p. 16 Chapter 4: England under the Great Saxon, Alfred………..……...p.21 Chapter 5: England under Athelstan and the Six Boy-Kings…....p.25 Chapter 6: England under Canute the Dane ………….…………p.33 Chapter 7: England under Harold Harefoot, Hardicanute, and Edward the Confessor………...p.35 Chapter 8: England under Harold the Second, and Conquered by the Normans…...p.40 Chapter 9: England under William the First, the Norman Conqueror..p. 44 Chapter 10: England under William the Second, called Rufus………...p.50 Chapter 11: England under Henry the First, called Fine-Scholar…...p.55 Chapter 12: England under Matilda and Stephen ………….…………p.63 Chapter 13: England under Henry the Second…..………..………….p. 66 Chapter 14: England under Richard the First, called the Lion-Heart...p.82 Chapter 15: England under King John, called Lackland……………...p.89 Chapter 16: England under Henry the Third, called, of Winchester…p.98 3 BOOK II Chapter 17: England under Edward the First, called Longshanks….p. 6 Chapter 18: England under Edward the Second…………….……….p. 18 Chapter 19: England under Edward the Third.…..………………….p. 26 Chapter 20: The Morningstar of the Reformation……….………...p.36 Chapter 21: England under Richard the Second………..………....p.48 Chapter 22: England under Henry the Fourth, called Bolingbroke……p.53 Chapter 23: England under Henry the Fifth………………………...p.57 Chapter 24: England under Henry the Sixth………………………...p.66 Chapter 25: England under Edward the Fourth...…..…………….p. 80 Chapter 26: England under Edward the Fifth...…..……………….p. 86 Chapter 27: England under Richard the Third…………………...p.90 Chapter 28: England under Henry the Seventh………………....p.94 Chapter 29: England under Henry the Eighth, called the Bluff King………….p. 103 4 BOOK III Chapter 30: England under Edward the Sixth………….…..………….p. 6 Chapter 31: England under Bloody Mary… ………………………….p. 10 Chapter 32: Protestantism’s Firm Roots During the Reign of Elizabeth in England……...……………….p. 19 Chapter 33: England under James the First………..……………………...p.36 Chapter 34: England under Charles the First ………………….…………p.45 Chapter 35: England under Cromwell……………..……………….……...p.71 Chapter 36: England under Charles the Second, called the Merry Monarch………………………………..p.83 Chapter 37: England under James the Second..…………..……………….p. 99 Chapter 38: The Reigns of William and Mary, and then Queen Anne...p.108 Chapter 39: The Reign of the Four Georges………….………………....p.111 Chapter 40: The Victorian Era…………………………..…….…………p.114 Chapter 41: The Twentieth Century ………….....……….…………….p. 115 Bibliography………………………………………………………………...p.119 5 CHAPTER 1 - BEFORE THE ROMANS IF you look at a Map of the World, you will see, in the left-hand upper corner of the Eastern Hemisphere, two Islands lying in the sea. They are England and Scotland, and Ireland. England and Scotland form the greater part of these Islands. Ireland is the next in size. The little neighboring islands, which are so small upon the Map as to be mere dots, are chiefly little bits of Scotland. Long before Our Savior was born on earth and lay asleep in a manger, a Great Flood had covered the earth. God had judged the wickedness of men on earth, but in mercy had spared Noah’s family from the flood of destruction. When the waters of the Flood had receded, Noah’s family - which at that time was all of humanity then living on earth - settled in lands a great distance to the east of our Islands. The stormy sea roared round our then desolate Islands, just as it roars now. But the sea was not alive, then, with great ships and brave sailors, sailing to and from all parts of the world. It was very lonely. The Islands lay solitary, in the great expanse of water. The foaming waves dashed against 6 their cliffs, and the bleak winds blew over their forests; but the winds and waves brought no adventurers to land upon the Islands. The whole country was covered with forests, and swamps. The greater part of it was very misty and cold. There were no roads, no bridges, no streets, no houses. But in the centuries and millennia that followed those desolate times, peoples would come in waves to our Islands, just as the waves of the water come upon shore. We are told in the ancient Anglo-Saxon Chronicle that five nations of peoples came to settle these islands before the Normans under William the Conqueror in 1066 AD: the Scottish, Welsh (or British), Pictish, Latin (or Romans), and English (or Germanic peoples like the Angles, Saxons and Jutes). You may think it an oversight that the Irish are not mentioned, but the reason for the omission is that the Scots and the Irish are one and the same people: the Scots that migrated to what we now know as Scotland retained their ancient name, but the Scots in the homeland of Ireland became known to us as Irish. Ancient Irish chronicles trace the ancestry of the Scots back to Magog, son of Noah and co-founder along with Ashchenaz of the ancient Scythian nation. The very root word of ‘Scot’ is the same as Scythian, the root of both being Sct. It would seem there were three major colonization efforts in Ireland before the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The first such colonization, led by one named Partholan, occurred even before the colonization of Britain by the Britons. Records suggest it took place in 1484 BC, but ended approximately three hundred years later with a deadly plague throughout the colony. The second colonization effort in Ireland around 1145 BC, led by Nemedh, began in the same century that Britons began to colonize Britain. The appearance of Magog's name in the ancestry of Nemedh is of great significance, for Magog was the founder, or co-founder, of the Scythian peoples, and the early Irish chroniclers were emphatic in their claim that the Irish were descended from Scythian stock. And finally in 504 BC a colony of former Milesians landed in Ireland. These had made the long journey from Miletus, on the coast of present day Turkey. These Milesians were apparently of mixed Scythian and Phoenician stock, like the population of their city of origin. As I have already mentioned, the history of the early Britons (the Welsh people of today) can be carried back to the 12th century BC. The story is told of how a colony once landed on these shores, a colony led by one Brutus (Bryttys in the Welsh chronicle) from Greece. It was from this Brutus that the British people derived their name. According to the ancient account, Brutus led a group of Trojans from their homeland, having fled subjugation by the Greeks. When they arrived they found some peoples already residing on the island of Britain, but these were quickly displaced by the newcomers. Brutus founded the city of Trinovantum, or New Troy, which was later to become the city of London. Brutus, the first king of the Britons, reigned over his people in this island for twenty three years, i.e. from ca 1104-1081 BC. 7 Brutus is said to have had three sons - Locrinus, Kamber and Albanactus. Upon the death of Brutus, Kamber and Albanactus inherited Wales (Cambria) and Scotland (Albany) respectively, and Locrinus became king of Loegria, the land named after him, which consisted of present-day England minus Cornwall. (The modern Welsh still know England as Loegria). Cornwall in southwest Britain was ruled over by a Briton named Corineus, from which the region derives its name. The thousand year rule of the Britons leading up to the conquest of Britain by the Romans under Julius Caesar, was a combination of growth, accomplishments, and wicked intrigues. I will not go into all of its details, but highlight some of its more notable events. There is the story of Mempricius, who killed his brother to get the throne. He became a tyrant who abandoned his wife in pursuit of unnatural vices, and generally misruled the kingdom.Then there is Ebraucus, who sacked Gaul and founded the city named after him, Kaerbrauc, which the later Romans were to Latinize as Eboracum, present-day York. There was Hudibras, who came to the throne in circa 920 BC, established peace in the realm and founded the cities of Kaerreint (Canterbury), Kaerguenit (Winchester), and Paladur (Shaftesbury). There was Leir who reigned 861- 801 BC. He founded the city of Kaerleir (Leicester) and lost his kingdom when he attempted to divide it amongst his three daughters.