Major time periods of the British Isles

Every country around the world has different time periods that define a particular era in that country’s history. A time period is named after the ruling class or a technology significant enough to change civilization as a whole, such as the invention of metal when all we had to work with was stone. These eras can have multiple rulers with different last names, but are still defined by a single term which isn’t always the ruler’s last name unless, during their reign, enough inventions and advancement were made within society to advance the nation as a whole into a new era. The following major time periods of the British Isles contained the most changes not only for the country as a whole but for the normal lives of its citizens.

Current Era – 1910 to present

Rulers – George V, Edward VIII, George VI, Elizabeth II

Significant Advancements – Combine harvesters, Warfare advancements, new element and metal alloy discoveries, mass production, Electronics, and engine technology.

The current era is divided into two main parts, the Modern A (1910 – 1945) and Modern B (1945 — present) periods. After the Second World War, advancements in peace led to the development of a huge amount of technology which in turn greatly accelerated further research. The Modern A period was very heavily industrial-based and suffered from a lack of efficient machinery, medicine, and social stability, but all this changed by the end of the war.

Victorian Era – 1837 to 1901

Rulers – Queen Victoria I ( Alexandrina Victoria)

Significant Advancements – Public schools, the industrial revolution, mass production, liquid fuel engines, huge warfare advancements.

Queen Victoria’s reign saw Britain involved in more individual wars than any other monarch, but Britain won the majority of these wars which made the country, and in turn its ruler insanely rich and powerful. All the money taken from British Overseas Territories found its way back to the homeland and into the purse of the British government and royalty. It is perhaps for this reason of being successful in war that provided the ability to create social projects like free public schools and progression in the production industries.

Georgian – 1714 to 1837

Rulers – King George I, II, III, IV

Significant Advancements – Blast Furnaces, the first electric motor, percussion cap weaponry, element discovery, astrology, and vessel navigational equipment.

The four King Georges ruled during an age when we were less than friendly with our neighboring countries and wars with France and Spain went on for many years. During the reign of George III, Britain lost control of North America after it declared independence from Britain, a war that would host a very different world today if Britain had won. After losing the American continent, Britain turned its attention to mainland Europe and the defeat of Napoleon before setting out on a global mission to capture territories wherever it could.

Stuart – 1603 to 1714

Rulers – James I and IV, Charles I, Oliver Cromwell, Richard Cromwell, Charles II, James II and VII of Scotland, William III, Anne I.

Significant advancements – Political and ruling class reforms

This era is best known for a man named Oliver Cromwell, who is either a hero or a war criminal, depending on your perspective. During the early part of the Stuart period, the crown had ultimate power in the country and basically, if the king wanted something to happen, then it was going to happen or people would pay for their disobedience. This angered so many people who decided they wanted more say in how their country was run and demanded more power as a government. When the king refused a civil war broke out between the royalists and the parliamentarians who ended up winning. Cromwell was so successful in his campaign because it happened at a time when gunpowder weaponry was just becoming advanced and available enough for him to have a number of cannons in his army.

The royalists were mostly lords, many of which lived in castles and still considered them the power center of a region. A sitting stone castle is easy work for a line of cannons and a series of lords surrendering took place which led to the end of the war and a victory for Cromwell who managed to avoid a single lengthy siege. If you ever visit a ruined castle anywhere in the UK or southern Ireland, there’s a very high chance it was destroyed by Cromwell in an act called slighting, the process of destroying a castle to the point where it would be useless as a defensive structure.

Tudor – 1485 to 1603

Rulers – Henry VII, Henry VIII, Edward VI, Mary I, Elizabeth I

Significant advancements – Social (public theaters), printed newspapers, Global sailing ships, plumbing (sewer works and the flushing toilet), accurate clocks, playing cards, tennis, and Dissolution of the Monasteries.

Henry VIII is probably the most famous English king to have lived, and along with Elizabeth I were the two most powerful monarchs ever to wear the crown. Both rulers possessed ultimate and unquestionable power in the country and both won important wars with other nations. The biggest single advancement during this era was the Dissolution of the Monasteries which reformed the power structure across the whole country. The act was designed to take power away from the church and give it to the crown because up until this point, the church could rule against the king or queen and actually block their decisions. After the act was passed and enforced, this led to power falling into the hands of the crown which passed down into a series of lords and barons who upheld the crown’s decisions, in exchange for lands and the wealth that came from them.

Medieval – 1066 to 1485

Rulers – William I and II, Henry I, Stephen I, Henry II, Richard I, John I, Henry III, Edward I, II and III, Richard II, Henry IV, V and VI, Edward IV and V, Richard III.

Significant advancements – The Norman Invasion, the Domesday survey, last names for commoners, Castles, first use of gunpowder.

The medieval period started with the Norman invasion led by William the Conqueror in 1066. He quickly took over the country after defeating King Harold II at the Battle of Hastings on 14th October in the same year he landed. William put in place a new political system that for the first time was able to manage the country as a whole. The Domesday survey was one of his more interesting ideas which involved sending people around the entire country to record every single building, road, farm, and basically anything built by man. This survey led to more efficient methods of management and observation, securing the country as one and allowing for advancements in other areas like road building and architecture.

Dark Ages – 425 to 1066

Rulers – Egbert, Aethelwulf, Aethelbald, Aethelbert, Aethelred, Alfred the Great, Edward, Athelstan, Edmund, Eadred, Eadwig, Edgar, Edward the Martyr, Aethelred II, Edmund II, Canute the Dane, Harold I, Harthacaunte, Edward the Confessor, Harold II.

Significant Advancements – Trade with neighboring countries and population increase with little else.

The dark ages are named as such because for some reason huge periods during this era don’t have any surviving records of any kind to tell us who was in charge and what happened, as if history went dark during this time. The kings listed above as ruling during this time only did so between 827 and 1066, before this it is unknown who sat on which throne as the country was divided into a number of smaller kingdoms until King Egbert consolidated power and brought forward the kingdom of Wessex as the richest and most powerful single Saxon kingdom. After the Romans left Britain in 425, history stopped being recorded for over 400 years, most likely due to a series of minor wars caused by a power vacuum created by the withdrawal of the Romans.

Roman – 43 to 425

Significant advances – paved roads, bathhouses, mass-produced coins, steel, new political structure, and the introduction of many fruits, vegetables, and animals.

Before the arrival of the Romans in 43 AD, the British Isles were ruled by many independent tribes and consisted of dozens of territories, each of which had its own ruler. After the Romans defeated the resisting forces they were able to put in place their own version of doing things, which were advanced in many ways to the tribal methods of the Celtic people. For the first time ever, England and Wales were ruled by a single united faction, and the stability this created led to the building of thousands of miles of roads, some of which are still in place today.

Iron Age – 800 BC to 43 AD

Significant advancements – Iron, the plow

The reason this age was so significant was due to the discovery of how to melt iron. Up until around the year 800 BC, no one knew how to melt iron because the traditional methods of melting copper didn’t work with iron ore. It wasn’t until someone worked out that a special smelter had to be built along with the use of a set of bellows to increase the temperature. Iron just gave people a stronger version of the bronze they already had, but its strength allowed for the creation of an effective plow, which in turn allowed for the mass production of grain. Everything had to be done by hand up until the plow came along and there were only so many hours people could spend working in the field. One person with an ox-pulled plow could do the same amount of work as 30 people, allowing for more to be grown and traded, but more importantly to support the quickly rising population in the country.

Bronze Age – 2500 BC to 800 BC

Significant advancements – Metal tools and weapons

Bronze is made by combining copper and tin to form a new metal alloy that’s stronger than either of the metals on its own. Bronze allowed for the creation of swords and armor along with any type of tool or weapon that couldn’t be made from stone. A bronze axe that can cut down a tree 10 times faster than a stone one is a much more important invention than it may seem. Saving time on everyday tasks allowed people to spend that time trading and fighting with other factions and developing better farming and building techniques.

Copper age – 0 to 300 years prior to the Bronze Age

Significant Advancements – from stone tools and weapons to the first versions of metal

Copper ore is easy to recognize and can be melted in the center of a large fire. It isn’t the strongest metal by any means but it didn’t shatter like flint did and could be re-smelted back into shape. Copper tools and weapons were around for a very short time due to the discovery of Bronze, but it took a while before someone worked out that bronze is made by adding tin to the copper. Tin has a very low melting temperature and would be very easy to melt, but there’s no way of knowing who discovered the combination and how quickly that knowledge spread around the country.

Stone Age – 2.5 million BC to 2500 BC

Significant advancements – The discovery of how to produce and control fire, and stone tools.

The Stone Age is split into three major periods, the Paleolithic period (30,000 BC – 10,000 BC), the Mesolithic period( 10,000 BC – 8,000 BC), and the Neolithic period (8,000 BC – 2,500 BC). During the Paleolithic period, the world was plunged into an ice age which started to end about 12,000 BC. The middle and last Stone Age periods saw the invention of pottery, thatching, and farming. Up until 4,000 BC, communities relied entirely on hunting and gathering for their food but increasing populations demanded a more efficient and reliable method, and so farming was born. It is thought that our ancestors first came to the British Isles around 700,000 BC and at 130,000 BC, Neanderthals were the dominant human species in the country, but when we evolved into the humans we recognize today or whether we came here later on from mainland Europe already as humans is not known.

Pre – 2.5 million BC

The first of the major time periods of the British Isles was when people weren’t exactly people. Homo-erectus is believed to be the oldest known species that the current human could have evolved from, but they have only existed for about 2 million years. Before this, the world went through several ice ages with warmer interglacial periods and could have created life during any of them, just like it’s doing now. Most people don’t realize we are currently in the middle of an ice age and it didn’t end in the typical sense 12,000 years ago when the earth began to warm up, but instead went into an interglacial period where it temporarily gets warmer.

When it comes to talking about an ice age the word temporary can be used to describe anything up to several million years because some ice ages have lasted for more than 60 million years. The most common estimation for the ending of this warm period is around 1,500 years when the world will plunge into another cold period and the land will be covered with glaciers once again.