When and how did England become a kingdom, and how it is shaping today's British lives?

Wrote by my 13 years old daughter and she is year 8 student (Edited and outlines by Chy Shahin)

Various ethnic entities ruled England before 927CE, then it was united as a single country, given the name of 'Englaland' or 'Angland' by the Anglo Saxons, which means 'the land of angles'. The history of England and Britain is impacting all our lives. Many aspects of the civic, economic, religious and political ideas were debated and reformed under the British monarchy. However, the journey through the twenty-first century was not smooth and always peaceful. Magna Carta, War of roses, reformation, unification as the United Kingdom, civil wars and the first and second world Wars were crucial factors that shaped the English and British monarchy.

England became the kingdom of England in 927 CE, it was called Englaland or Angland, both named by the Anglo Saxons, meaning 'the land of angles'. The inhabitants of this land before the Saxons were known as Celts (also known as Britons by the Roman Empire). They named the area 'Pretani', which meant painted people, or 'Albion'. A few years later, the Anglos set off from a place in Germany on boats to conquer the land. The Roman Empire had already set off to help the main area of their territory, Rome, which left 'Britannia' (which was what they named the land at the time) with a considerable drop in the population. The Saxons first set on England in 410CE. They loved to fight and were ready for action. They knew it would be easy taking Britannia because the Romans had left. After a few centuries of settling in, the West Saxon kings began to extend their power to the southern of (what is now) England. However, Vikings had already entered and started their conquest to take over the land during the process. King Alfred sent a peace treaty to the Viking King to solve this problem.

The first king to rule the Kingdom of England was Athelstan (the grandson of King Alfred the Great). He was known as a good and wise king. Athelstan took the kingdom of York and kept it as England's territory. They also sent military aid and more to the Norwegians, which they took very gratefully. He was killed brutally by Floki (a boat-builder) at the age of 45 whilst praying.

The new kingdom of England had a more powerful government and was more organised thanks to another king named Edgar 'the peaceful' between 959-975.

When Richard I came into power on the 3rd of September 1189, he became part of the Crusades. The Crusade's mission was to restore the holy land of Jerusalem that was once their own. Many attempts were made to take back Jerusalem but none of the plots succeeded. Richard I, also battled against Phillip II, which led to his death. In 1199, his little brother John came into power of the crown. According to historical writings, John was known to be an evil king and his ignorance of the Magna Carta. Not only did he cause a lot of conflict between the Pope but also with his barons. His 25 Barons agreed to have a 'Magna Carta', which was waxed by King John. The Magna Carta contained 63 clauses and rules containing citizens' legal rights, land ownership and taxes. However, he broke the law by withdrawing the Pope's rights, leading to severe problems. Furthermore, he raised taxes for wars that he lost, which were terrible for England's economy.

The war of roses is a crucial event in British Monarchy. In 1455, the battle for the heir of the throne began between Richard from York and Richmond from Lancaster. However, Richard would not be able to begin his royal legacy after he was killed in the war of roses. Richmond was crowned and was named King Henry VII.

In 1509, Henry VIII was crowned England's king. Henry was a Catholic Christian who did not deeply follow the church. His first wife, Catherine of Aragon, was also Catholic. They had six children, and all except one died at birth otherwise at a very young age. The surviving daughter was called Mary I, later known as 'Bloody Mary'. Conversely, Henry was desperate for a boy, and that inspired him to go against the Roman Catholic Churches. Instead, he created the Church of England so that he could divorce Catherine and marry Anne Boleyn. He was also influenced by the English Church Reformer, who encouraged him to separate England from Rome for religious purposes. Henry probably truly loved Catherine, but he was desperate to have a bloodline to the throne. However, after that, he mainly cared about politics and wealth as he made his income from his new institution. In around 1534-1537, the official England Reformation began when England's Catholicism converted into Protestantism. During Elizabeth I reign, Protestantism was institutionalised, which was a turning point in British and world history. Ecclesiastical institutions were removed from civic society, and secular institutions and political systems were established.

Before Mary I was executed in 1587, Elizabeth I promised that when Elizabeth finished her reign, she would make sure that James, the son of Mary and nephew of Elizabeth I, would be the next heir to the throne. When Elizabeth 1died, James I ascended to the throne 1603, who was king of Scotland and son of queen Mary I, thereby he united England, Ireland and Scotland in single realm.

In 1642, the son of King James, Charles I was accused of treason by Oliver Cromwell leading to a civil war in England, the parliament against the royalty. Oliver Cromwell was a strong chief lieutenant of his army and had a victorious battle at the battle of Naseby. After that, the parliament became the strongest institution in the land.

On the 22nd of July 1706, a treaty union was agreed upon, which enabled the creation of the 'Kingdom of Great Britain'. However, it didn't last very long when England and Scotland gained their independence in May 1707.

After the reformation, civic society was installed under those two conditions, which prospered and modernised England. During the Victorian Era, full-scale modernisation had begun regarding social, civic, political and technological innovations. Modern medicine was invented, which allowed people lived longer and healthier. The number of deaths decreased, and death became a rare occurrence. Technological innovations took place, that enabled steam engines and machines replaced manual labour. This was the turning point of human history, and Britain was leading the changes worldwide. Enlightenment and Emancipation issues became political activism, slave trade legally abolished in 1808, poor law was enacted 1834, women could divorce husband by 1857, and majority women could participate to vote and election by 1928. Britain expanded its borders worldwide and ruled most of the world, which consequent the British Empire. Through colonies, British empire established transnationalism which was based on race. Minorities were humiliated and subjugated in occupied land. Densely populated regions, which were occupied, were directly rule rather than colonised, India was an example. British civic, religious, political, and cultural institution established on empire territories. later when those territories gained independence from Britain, choose to continue with imported institutions.

During WW1 and WW2, Britain became weaker despite winning both wars. It was almost impossible to continue imperialism on economic and political sense. Nationalism became more assertive in regions of imperialism, like in India. After the Second World War, Britain allowed many countries to become independent. In changing geopolitics, the empire seemed weakened, and occupied regions and countries aspired to become free and independent nations. Britain had to allow countries and regions to become independent and self-governing to prevent escalation and war. After Second World War, Britain focused on domestic and regional economic and political cooperation rather than imperialism, also, exploited less densely African nation for economic purposes. Many of those occupied regions, became independent nation-states and bonded with commonwealth nations, and queen Elizabeth II was head of that organisation.

During Elizabeth's reign, Britain joined the European Union and provided a long time of peace, stability, and prosperity. Many social, political and civic changes have happened. Many ex-colonies and migrants from other parts of the world had moved to Britain for a better life. Authority is trying to accommodate multi-ethnic peoples in a single civic and political environment under umbrella of multiculturalism, and trying to find social cohesion, and cultural and religious toleration within one umbrella.

To summarise what has happened from the 10th century to the present day, Kings and Queens ruled England and enforced new laws, abolishing or even ignoring laws. Each ruler has a story to tell. All have gone through hardships during their reign. However, the parliament became more powerful after the civil war, which led to more positive social and political changes. In the 19th century, Britain colonised and ruled various regions and countries. After the first world war, the downfall of the Ottoman Empire, Britain became the largest empire in the world. After the Second World War, Britain could not continue full-scale imperialism despite winning both wars, allowing many occupied areas to become independent nation-states. Under Elizabeth II long reign, Britain has prospered, and her leadership provided peace, continuity, and stability. However, there are some instances of possibilities arose to disintegration of the kingdom, especially the Scottish referendum election.

Monarchs were the most influential leaders in the country until Oliver Cromwell's civil war against Charles I. From then on, and the parliament had enough power they need to change, enforce, or abolish laws within the country. The British monarchy provides continuity and stability as a head of state. The history of English and British monarchy is related to social, political, cultural, religious and technological transformation in the last 1500 years not only in Britain but impacted the whole world, in terms of modernity, technological innovation, civic institution, enlightenment, emancipation, etc.

Wikipedia, Kingdom of England https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_of_England Wikipedia, England https://www.cs.mcgill.ca/~rwest/wikispeedia/wpcd/wp/e/England.htm

British Library, Anglo Saxon: How was the Kingdom of England Formed https://www.bl.uk/anglo-saxons/articles/how-was-the-kingdom-of-england-formed

History, Victorian era timeline

https://www.history.com/topics/19th-century/victorian-era-timeline

On Empire and Decolonisation

John Darwin, 'After Tamerlane, The Rise & Fall of Global Empires', 1400-2000, (London: Penguin Books, 2007)

Eric, J. Hobsbawm, THE AGE OF EXTREMES, (London: Abacus, 1994)