Three years later the empire would ask its loyal subjects to line up for king and country. Millions did from Ireland and India. ibid.
From the Roman occupation of two thousand years ago to our own day the story of Britain is revealed through art. David Dimbleby, Seven Ages of Britain 1/7: Age of Conquest, BBC 2010
The Romans changed the face of England. ibid.
The British Isles was emerging as a cultural force in its own right. ibid.
Nordic invaders – the Vikings – sailed across the North Sea to plunder Britain's riches. ibid.
The Middle Ages: a time of faith and a time of fear. In Hereford monks created a work of art designed to make sense of the unknown. This is Mapa Mundi: a map of the world as it was known around 1300. David Dimbleby, Seven Ages of Britain 2/7: Age of Worship 1170 to 1400
They thought they had solved a problem for the King [Henry II] but his troubles were only beginning. The murder met with outrage in the Christian world. The King tried to make amends ... It was Round One to the Church. ibid.
As the Middle Ages unfolded a new way of seeing the world emerged that would unite church and crown. It was inspired by heroic tales and ancient legends. They called it Chivalry. ibid.
The Crusades: Temple Church, London. One order of crusading knights, the Knights Templar, had their own church in London where they honoured the fallen. ibid.
King Richard II wanted the crown itself to be an object of worship. His vanity and ambition created an era of magnificence. The artistic pinnacle of the Middle Ages. ibid.
Henry spent more money on palaces than any other monarch before or since. David Dimbleby, Seven Ages of Britain III: Age of Power
During the early years of his reign, England and France were at war. ibid.
It is said this is the waistcoat that King Charles I wore when he knelt for the executioner’s axe on 30th January 1649, the day this country killed its King. David Dimbleby, Seven Ages of Britain, Age of Revolution
James actually believed he was as a god. He told his parliament, Even God calls kings god. ibid.
Events moved so quickly that few predicted the outcome. It began with the protests of the Puritans – extreme Protestants who set themselves against the luxury of the court. ibid.
It all came to a head in the winter of 1642. ibid.
In the early hours of Sunday 2nd September 1666 fire broke out at a Pudding Lane bakery. ibid.
He [Wren] wanted to create a monumental structure to rival St Peter’s in Rome. ibid.
Prosperity led to the creation of the Bank of England. A storehouse of the nation’s wealth. David Dimbleby: Seven Ages of Britain: Age of Money
The potters used to suffer from terrible diseases – partly the lead in the glaze which gave them lung disease called potters’ rot. ibid.
Chippendale published catalogues of his work to enable consumers to choose exactly which ornate design would look right in their homes. ibid.
In 1755 Johnson’s great masterpiece was published ... It was this two-volume Dr Johnson’s dictionary of the English language. ibid.
Most Scots strongly objected to the Act of Union. ibid.
For a time Scotland was the intellectual powerhouse of Europe. ibid.
In the middle of the eighteenth century with naval and commercial victories oversees Britain was entering a new imperial era. It drew us into a different way of thinking about the world. Led from the top by the Royal Family, the figureheads of the nation. David Dimbleby, Seven Ages of Britain: Age of Empire
It wasn’t long before the settlers were confident enough not to need the motherland. In 1776 America declared its independence from Britain and war broke out between them. For eight years the country was drenched in blood. A defining moment in its history and an enduring inspiration for its art. Against all expectations the British Crown was defeated by its own colony. Back in Britain many felt the loss of America was a national humiliation. They were determined the same thing should not happen again. Britain’s focus now moved to the east and to its interests in India. ibid.
It is reported that there was then such perfect peace in Britain, wheresoever the dominion of King Edwin extended, that, as is still proverbially said, a woman with her newborn babe might walk throughout the island, from sea to sea, without receiving any harm. Venerable Bede, Ecclesiastical History of the English People II:16
A war with no sign of an end. The Romans have stirred up a ferocious foe – our ancestors. The Romans consider Britain a land of barbarians. The British I: Treasure Island, Sky Atlantic 2012
One of many invasions that will shape who we are. ibid.
In A.D. 58 one of Rome’s most feared generals lands on British soil. ibid.
A fertile land kept warm and wet by the Gulf Stream. ibid.
The Druids foment resistance to the Roman invasion. ibid.
Britain is transformed – new roads are built. ibid.
Urbanised Britons begin dressing and behaving like Romans. ibid.
It’s a slow death but Roman authority in Britain is collapsing. ibid.
Britain is an island of warring factions. ibid.
Over 150,000 people die or flee their homes. Alongside murder comes the devastation of Anglo-Saxon lands ... William destroys all resistance. The British II: People Power
A network of castles appears across the land. ibid.
The Black Death ... This is now the bubonic plague. ibid.
From London revolt spreads to towns and villages across the country. ibid.
King Henry’s relationship with the Church has broken down at home and abroad since his divorce from Catherine of Aragon. The British III: Revolution
This is the first time the English language comes to the printed page. ibid.
In this raid, [Sir Francis] Drake seized eighty pound in weight of gold. And more than twenty-six tons in silver bars ... It’s one of the biggest heists in history. ibid.
London’s most successful playwright William Shakespeare is preparing for a royal premiere. ibid.
Cromwell’s New Model Army will eventually defeat the forces of the King. ibid.
How this small group of islands becomes a superpower. The British IV: Dirty Money
The worst inferno in London until the Blitz. ibid.
Samuel Pepys has lived in London his entire life. His diary documents the fear of half a million Londoners. ibid.
Britain becomes the world’s largest slave trader. ibid.
July 1769 the South Pacific: Lieutenant James Cook is on a secret mission for the British government: his orders to go in search of the fabled southern continent. The British V: Superpower
Britain is already a world power. ibid.
Travelling with Cook is a young botanist – Joseph Banks. ibid.
Lancaster 1768 ... They are trying to build a machine to stretch and spin cotton perfectly. ibid.
The Luddites are now doomed: they cannot resist the power of the state or the advance of the machine. ibid.
Lancashire’s cotton mills will employ 120,000 people. ibid.
By 1830 Britain is producing four-fifths of all the coal sold anywhere in the world. And from coal you can make steam. ibid.
The railways transform British life. ibid.
24-year-old engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel designs a suspension bridge to span the gorge. ibid.
Britain earns itself a new title – the Workshop of the World. ibid.
Refrigeration increases food supply and brings down prices. ibid.
1851 London: in the reign of Queen Victoria – the Great Exhibition. Six million visitors come to see 100,000 exhibits. Showcasing the British Empire at its height. The British VI: Tale of Two Cities
Britain leads the world in manufacture, trade and engineering. But at a terrible human cost. ibid.
From this moment the expression ‘to spend a penny’ was said to enter the English language. Jennings’ invention is a huge success. ibid.
In the London slums, half of all babies die before their first birthday. ibid.
Cholera: Snow wants to prove there is a link between the victims ... All the victims drank from the Broad Street pump ... He still has a pub in Soho named after him. ibid.
Britain begins the most radical clean-up in our history ... Pure uncontaminated water is available for all. ibid.