The Project Gutenberg eBook ofBiographical Outlines: British HistoryThis ebook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this ebook or online atwww.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this eBook.Title: Biographical Outlines: British HistoryAuthor: AnonymousRelease date: February 17, 2013 [eBook #42120]Language: EnglishCredits: Transcribed from the [1879] B. Harris & Co. edition by David Price*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BIOGRAPHICAL OUTLINES: BRITISH HISTORY ***
This ebook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this ebook or online atwww.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this eBook.
Title: Biographical Outlines: British HistoryAuthor: AnonymousRelease date: February 17, 2013 [eBook #42120]Language: EnglishCredits: Transcribed from the [1879] B. Harris & Co. edition by David Price
Title: Biographical Outlines: British History
Author: Anonymous
Author: Anonymous
Release date: February 17, 2013 [eBook #42120]
Language: English
Credits: Transcribed from the [1879] B. Harris & Co. edition by David Price
*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BIOGRAPHICAL OUTLINES: BRITISH HISTORY ***
Transcribed from the [1879] B. Harris & Co. edition by David Price, email ccx074@pglaf.org
BRITISH HISTORY.
London:
B. HARRIS & Co.,
4,Great Marlborough Street, W.
PAGE
à-Becket, Thos.
10
Abercrombie, Sir Ralph
56
Addison, Joseph
37
Agricola
3
Alban, Saint
3
Alfred, King
6
Arkwright, Sir Richard
52
Arthur, King
4
Asser
7
Augustine, Saint
5
Bacon, Francis
29
Bacon, Roger
11
Barbauld, Mrs.
67
Bede, Venerable
6
Black Prince
17
Blackstone, Sir William
49
Blake, Admiral
32
Boadicea
2
Brindley, James
46
Bruce, Sir Robert
14
Brunel, Sir I. K.
81
Bunyan, John
35
Burke, Edmund
54
Butler, Joseph
41
Byron, Lord
67
Cabot, Sebastian
24
Cæsar, Julius
1
Campbell, Thomas
74
Canute
8
Caractacus
2
Caxton, William
20
Cecil, William
26
Chantrey, Sir Francis
73
Chaucer
18
Clive, Lord
46
Coleridge, Samuel Taylor
72
Constantine
4
Cook, Captain
48
Cornwallis, Lord
57
Cowper, William
56
Crabbe, George
69
Cranmer, Thomas
23
Davy, Sir Humphrey
68
Defoe, Daniel
40
Dickens, Charles
84
Drake, Sir Francis
25
Dunstan, Saint
8
Dryden, John
35
Edgeworth, Maria
77
Edward I.
3
Edward III.
16
Evelyn, John
36
Fielding, Henry
42
Flamstead, John
37
Flaxman, John
68
Franklin, Sir John
76
Fry, Mrs. Elizabeth
74
Fox, Charles James
60
Gainsborough, Thos.
51
Garrick, David
48
Gibbon, Edward
53
Gildas the Wise
5
Goldsmith, Oliver
47
Gower, John
18
Hampden, John
30
Harvey, Dr.
33
Hastings, Warren
63
Hengist and Horsa
4
Henry V.
18
Herschel, Sir William
65
Hogarth, William
43
Hume, David
47
Jenner, Dr.
66
Johnson, Dr.
49
Jones, Inigo
32
Jonson, Ben
30
Keats, John
64
Keble, John
83
Kemble, John
66
Ken, Bishop
36
Langton, Cardinal
11
Laud, William
31
Lawrence, Sir Thomas
69
Lely, Sir Peter
34
Llewellyn
13
Locke, John
36
Marlborough, Duke of
38
Milton, John
34
Montfort, Simon de
12
Moore, Sir John
62
Moore, Thomas
80
More, Hannah
71
More, Sir Thomas
22
Mortimer, Roger
15
Nelson, Lord
57
Neville, Earl of Warwick
19
Newton, Sir Isaac
40
O’Connell, Daniel
75
Palmerston, Lord
82
Park, Mungo
61
Paulinus
2
Peel, Sir Robert
77
Peter the Hermit
9
Philippa, Queen
16
Pitt, Lord Chatham
47
Pitt, William
59
Pope, Alexander
41
Raleigh, Sir Walter
28
Reynolds, Sir Joshua
53
Richard Cœur de Lion
10
Richardson, Samuel
43
Rodney, Lord
52
Rogers, Samuel
80
Scott, Sir Walter
70
Shakespeare
28
Shelley, Sir Percy
65
Sheridan
62
Sidney, Sir Philip
24
Smollett
45
Southey
73
Spenser, Edmund
27
Steele
40
Sterne
44
Stephenson, Sir Robert
81
Stuart, James
44
Stuart, Charles Edward
49
Swift, Dean
41
Taylor, Jeremy
83
Thackeray, William M.
82
Tyndale, William
23
Tyrrell, Sir Walter
9
Vandyke
31
Wallace, Sir William
13
Walsingham, Sir Francis
25
Watt, James
64
Wedgwood, Josiah
53
Wellington, Duke of
79
Wesley, John
51
Whitfield, George
45
Wilberforce, William
71
Wilkie, Sir David
72
Wolfe, General
42
Wolsey, Cardinal
20
Wordsworth, William
78
Wren, Sir Christopher
39
B.C.100–44.
Thisgreatest of the Roman generals, and afterwards the first Roman emperor, having subdued the whole of Gaul, beyond and on this side the Alps (now France, Switzerland, and part of Italy), invaded Britain, and landing near Deal, defeated the Britons and obliged them to pay tribute,B.C.55. The next year he led a second and larger army to Britain, and having conquered the British tribes in several battles, he took possession of the southern provinces, and paved the way for the total occupation of Britain by the Romans.
DiedA.D.43.
A brave British general (son of a native king, Cunobolin) who resisted the Romans when, under the Emperor Claudius, they extended their conquests in Britain. Taken prisoner to Rome, and led in triumph, he expressed his surprise that a nation possessed of such magnificence could covet his humble cottage in Britain.
DiedA.D.59.
A Roman general sent to Britain under the Emperor Nero. He attacked and destroyed the Druids in the island of Anglesea, and so roused the Britains that, under their queen, Boadicea, they defeated the Romans with great slaughter, and burned London.
DiedA.D.61.
Queen of the Iceni, who occupiedNorfolk and the valley of the great Ouse. She and her daughter being shamefully and cruelly treated by the Romans, under Paulinus, attacked and defeated them and burned London. She was, however, soon after defeated by them in Essex, and eighty thousand Britons were slain, when in despair she poisoned herself.
DiedA.D.78.
A Roman general under the Emperor Vespasian, conquered most of Britain and part of Scotland (called Caledonia). He taught the Britons Roman arts and customs, made roads, and built two walls to keep out the unsubdued tribes in the far north. His sailors sailed round Great Britain, and so discovered it to be an island.
DiedA.D.303.
A British officer of the Roman army, who became the first Christian martyrin England at Verulam, now called St. Albans.
BornA.D.309.—DiedA.D.337.
The first Christian Roman emperor. The son of the Emperor Constantius, who came over to Britain, had married a British princess, and died at YorkA.D.309; where Constantine assumed the rank of emperor. He is said by some historians to have been born in England. He greatly promoted Christianity.
A.D.449.
Two Saxon chiefs, who came over at the invitation of the Britons, under their chief, Vortigern, to help them drive back the Picts and Scots, who, coming from the north, invaded the country when the Romans abandoned Britain.
Reigned 508–533.
When the Romans left Britain,A.D.409, the country split up into principalities and petty kingdoms, under chiefs. Vortigern brought in the Saxons to help him reign, and they took possession of most of southern England. King Arthur is said to have stemmed the invasion and conquered them in twelve pitched battles, and to have formed a league of chiefs reaching from Somersetshire to the Frith of Forth. Beautiful legends have been written about this league and the chiefs who joined in it. Arthur’s reign lasted twenty-five years.
A.D.570.
The first British historian. A native of Wales, and a monk. He diedA.D.570.
DiedA.D.596.
A Benedictine monk, who was sent over from Rome by Pope Gregory the Great, at the invitation of theSaxon king Ethelbert, to preach the Gospel in Britain. Two of the kings were soon converted to Christianity, who pulled down the heathen temples and began to build churches.
Born 672.—Died 735.
A Benedictine monk of great learning, and an early author and historian; he translated the Scriptures into Anglo-Saxon. DiedA.D.735.
Born 849.—Died 901.—Ethelwulf.—Ethelbald—Ethelbert.—Ethelred.—Alfred.
This extraordinary man, who has with justice been called the greatest of all the line of English kings, was the son of Ethelwulf and Osburga, and was born at Wantage in Berkshire. He learnt to read at six years old, and steadily set himself to gain and spread the love of learning, when he began his reign at seventeen. The Danes overran his kingdom, and he was forced to take refuge inthe Isle of Athelney, between the rivers Parret and Tone; it was then that he was set to watch the cakes baking in the ashes, in a hut in which he had asked shelter. After he had subdued the Danes, Alfred enlarged his fleet, and sent envoys to other countries to obtain a knowledge of their state and productions. His name was well known at Rome, Constantinople, Bagdad, and even in India. Alfred first sketched out the English Constitution in his Code of Laws. He built and endowed schools, had books written and chained in the churches, and invented a wax-candle clock, which measured the time by burning an inch of wax in twenty minutes. After a reign of thirty-four years, spent in unceasing toil for the good of his people, Alfred died in 901.
Died 909.
A native of Wales, a learned monk, and Bishop of Sherbourne, who wastutor to King Alfred. He afterwards wrote his life. DiedA.D.909.
Born 945.—Died 978.
A Saxon nobleman, who became a Benedictine monk, Abbot of Glastonbury Abbey, and Archbishop of Canterbury, was the most learned man of his time. He learnt every art then known, and first used stained glass and organs in England. He lived for some time in a cave, and is said to have had personal battles with Satan, who appeared under different shapes to tempt him.
Reigned 1017–1035.
A Danish king who came to the throne in 1017, he ruled over England, Norway, Sweden and Denmark, and was therefore called “The Great.” He rebuked his courtiers, who flattered him, by commanding the waves to retire, and when theywetted his feet reminded them that there was only One who could say to the ocean, “Thus far shalt thou go, and no farther.” He diedA.D.1035.
Died 1115.
A poor French priest who, on his return from a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, went about from country to country persuading princes and people to join in the crusades against the Saracens with great enthusiasm.
William II.
All that we read of this character is the story of his accidentally shooting King William II. while they were hunting together in the New Forest. It is supposed by many historians that the arrow was aimed intentionally at the king. By most modern authors the story is entirely discredited.
Born 1117.—Died 1170.—Henry I.—Stephen.—Henry II.
Chancellor to Henry II. and tutor to his son, he became a great favourite with the king, who afterwards made him Archbishop of Canterbury. He then espoused the cause of the clergy against the king, and so exasperated him by turning against him, that he was murdered in Canterbury Cathedral by four knights, in whose presence the king had a short time previously rashly exclaimed: “Is there nobody that will rid me of this turbulent priest?”
Reigned 1189–1199.
Son of Henry II.; succeeded his father in 1189 as King Richard I. Of the ten years of his reign, six months only were spent in England; his life was passed in the crusades in the Holy Land, when after taking Acre he attacked Jerusalem, but without success. On his returnthrough Germany, after being shipwrecked, he was imprisoned by the emperor, and was not released until he had paid a heavy ransom. Shortly after his return he was besieging a castle in France, when he was shot by an arrow.
Born 1151—Died 1228.—John.
Stephen Langton, English Chancellor of the University of Paris, was made Archbishop of Canterbury, but, owing to the king’s opposition, did not enter into possession till 1213, when John was obliged to give way. Langton formed a solemn league with the English barons against the king’s tyranny; and the Great Charter of English liberty which they drew up was signed by John at Runnymead, near Windsor, in 1215. In the Great Charter the first idea of the House of Lords is drawn out.
Born 1214.—Died 1294.
A Franciscan monk, born at Ilchester,in Somersetshire. A natural philosopher and man of science. He is acknowledged to have introduced the study of chemistry into England, and was the first to combine the ingredients of gunpowder, though he did not foresee to what the discovery would lead.
Died 1265.—Henry III.
Earl of Leicester, headed a rebellion against King Henry III., whom he defeated and took prisoner, with his son, Prince Edward, in a battle at Lewes. During the king’s imprisonment he called together a Parliament, the first to which the boroughs sent members. Prince Edward soon after this escaped, and collecting an army, attacked Montfort near Evesham, who, although he was an experienced general, was utterly defeated, and he and one of his sons were killed and almost torn to pieces.
Died 1282.—Henry III.—Edward I.
The last king of Wales, who refusing to do homage to King Edward I., was attacked by him, and taken prisoner to London. He was released on paying a heavy tribute and giving up the whole of Wales, excepting the island of Angelsea; resisting the heavy yoke put upon him, he was surprised and slain a few years afterwards, in 1282.
Born 1276.—Died 1305.—Henry III.—Edward I.
A brave Scottish warrior who resisted the English under Edward I. He gained a great victory over the English near Stirling, and for several years kept the English at bay. He was, however, at length defeated, betrayed and sent to London, and beheaded in 1305.
Reigned 1272–1307.
Son of Henry III. Married (1)Eleanor of Castile and (2) Margaret of France. Annexed Wales to England. Began the conquest of Scotland, and removed the block of marble on which the Scottish kings were crowned, from Scone (now in Westminster Abbey). The nobles, asserting the privileges of the Great Charter, began to assemble and act in this reign as the first House of Lords; and by creating “Barons by writ” Edward broke in upon the monopolies of the nobles, and laid the foundations of the House of Commons.
Born 1274.—Died 1320.—Edward I.—Edward II.
Who had been educated in King Edward I.’s household, succeeded Wallace as leader of the Scots against Edward I. Having slain his rival claimant the Red Comyn in the Grey Friars Church at Dumfries, Bruce borrowed robes, chain, and gold rim from some saint’s image,and had himself crowned King of Scotland at Scone. After the most romantic escapes and adventures, and retaking all the castles Edward I. had gained, except Stirling, Bruce defeated Edward II. at the great battle of Bannockburn, not far from Stirling, and freed Scotland from the English yoke.
Born 1287.—Died 1330.—Edward I.—Edward II.—Edward III.
Earl of March. The wicked queen of Edward II. (Isabella) having joined with Mortimer, Earl of March, in the murder of her husband at Berkeley Castle, they governed England as they pleased. Mortimer set up a new order of Knights of the Round Table, in imitation of King Arthur. Edward III., still only a boy, surprised the guilty queen’s favourite in Nottingham Castle, and after a trial by his peers, Mortimer was hanged at Tyburn, 1330.
Reigned 1327–1377.
Son of Edward II. First claimed the crown of France. Won the battles of Cressy (1346) and Poitiers (1356), and took Calais. Great part of France made over to the (Black) Prince of Wales. First Speaker of House of Commons (1376), and great development of the Commons’ privileges. Edward III. reigned half a century, and was one of the wisest, ablest, and most useful of the English kings.
Mar. 1327.—Died 1369.—Edward III.
Philippa of Hainault, the queen of Edward III., was the sister of the Count of Hainault in Flanders (Belgium). She was a most religious, wise, and able woman, who ruled the country while the king was at war in France as well as he did himself. She went with the army against the Scots, and defeated them at Nevil’s Cross, close to Durham, 1346. Afterthe siege of Calais Queen Philippa begged the lives of Eustace de St. Pierre and five other French gentlemen, whom the king had condemned to death. When Queen Philippa died, Edward fell under the power of a wretched woman, and lost the confidence of his nobles and people.
Born 1330.—Died 1376.—Edward III.
The Prince of Wales, son of King Edward III., called the Black Prince from the colour of his armour, was knighted on the sands at La Hogue, in the midst of the war between England and France about the succession to Bretagne (Brittany). He distinguished himself with extraordinary valour at the battles of Cressy and Poitiers, and the siege of Calais. He married Joan of Kent, and held his court chiefly at Bordeaux, and having ruined his health by an excessive love of fighting, his last years were spent in a sick room.
Born 1321.—Died 1400.—Edward II.—Edward III.—Richard III.
Born in London, and called the first English poet, wrote the twenty-fourCanterbury Tales. The scene is laid in the Tabard inn, Southwark, and the characters of noble, knight, yeoman, prioress, pardoner, parson, clerk of Oxford, reeve or steward, and Robin the miller, etc., give the best pictures of the Plantagenet times that exist.
Born 1325.—Died 1402.—Edward II.—Edward III.—Richard II.—Henry IV.—Henry V.
An early English poet, born in Yorkshire, who flourished about the same time as Chaucer. His poems are chiefly on moral subjects, the first edition of them being printed by Caxton. He was a liberal benefactor to the church of St. Saviour, Southwark, and died in London.
Reigned 1413–1422.
Son of Henry IV. When Prince ofWales called “Madcap Hal.” Invaded France and fought the battle of Agincourt. Was acknowledged Regent of France and successor to the crown. Lived chiefly in Paris, and died at Vincennes, when in the full glory of his reign.
Born about 1420.—Died 1471.—Harry V.—Henry VI.—Edward IV.
Earl of Warwick (the king maker). This famous nobleman, also known as the last of the Barons, was the son of the Earl of Salisbury, and first cousin of Edward IV., son of the Duke of York. After the first great battle of the Rose wars (St. Albans) Warwick joined the Yorkists. After the battles of Bloreheath, Northampton, Wakefield, and Mortimer’s Cross, Warwick was defeated in the second battle of St. Albans. He again won the bloodiest struggle of the Rose wars, Towton, but was slain at Barnet, fighting against Edward IV. With him English feudalism died.
Born 1410.—Died 1491.—Henry IV.—Henry V.—Henry VI.—Edward IV.—Edward V.—Richard III.—Henry VII.
William Caxton was born in Kent. He seems to have begun authorship long before printing. He went to Bruges in 1468 with the English bride of Duke Charles of Burgundy, and translated for her theRecueil des Histoires de Troye, by the duke’s chaplain. Having learnt in Germany (Cologne) to print, he brought out this translation in 1471. He removed in 1474 to Westminster, where he lived in the Reed Pale, near the Almonry, and set up his printing-press there. The first book printed there wasThe Game and Playe of the Chesse,translated out of the French. When he died in 1491, Wynkyn de Worde and Richard Pynson worked the press.
Born 1471.—Died 1530.—Edward IV.—Edward V.—Richard III.—Henry VII.—Henry VIII.
Thomas Wolsey, the son of abutcher at Ipswich, became a fellow of Magdalen College in Oxford. He was a friend of the famous Erasmus, and helped him in pushing the study of Greek. While Bursar of Magdalen College he built the college chapel tower. He was sent as envoy to Bruges on a negociation of marriage between Margaret of Savoy, daughter of the Emperor Maximilian, and Henry VII., and was rewarded for the speed of his journey by the deanery of Lincoln. Under Henry VIII. Wolsey was successively made king’s almoner, chancellor of the garter, archbishop of York, cardinal legate, and lord chancellor of England. His splendour and state surpassed that of any minister ever seen in England. York Place (now Whitehall), Esher, and Hampton Court were his residences in and near London. He built Christ Church College in Oxford, and a grammar school at Ipswich. When Wolsey failed to induce Cardinal Campeggio to annulHenry’s marriage with Katherine of Arragon, the king refused to see him again. The great seal was taken from him, and he was ordered to retire to York. He was arrested for high treason, and on his way to London, died in Leicester Abbey, wishing he had served God as faithfully as he had the king.
Born 1480.—Died 1535.—Edward IV.—Edward V.—Richard III.—Henry VII.—Henry VIII.
Was born in Milk Street, London, brought up in the household of Cardinal Morton under Henry VII. He was early distinguished by great attainments, wit, and dauntless love of truth. When Speaker of the House of Commons, he came into collision with Wolsey upon a loan of £800,000 demanded by the king. As not a member would open his lips, Wolsey appealed to More, who said that unless all the statues around him could put their wits into his head, he could not answer His Grace. Morerefused to take the oath of supremacy to Henry VIII. as head of the English Church, and he was executed on Tower Hill. His daughter, Margaret Roper, rescued his head. He was a man of deep and various learning, and hisUtopia, or romance of a model republic, is well known.
Born 1447.—Died 1536.—Henry VI.—Edward IV.—Edward V.—Richard III.—Henry VII.—Henry VIII.
Was born in Wales, educated at Cambridge, and with Miles Coverdale made a new translation of the New Testament, the Pentateuch, and the book of Jonah. He was strangled and burnt at the stake at Vilvoord, in consequence of the success of his translations of the Bible.
Born 1489.—Died 1556.—Henry VII.—Henry VIII.—Edward VI.—Mary.
Born at Aslacton, in Nottinghamshire, was a tutor at Cambridge, and was made at one bound Archbishopof Canterbury. He owed his rise to his clever suggestions for enabling Henry VIII. to divorce Queen Katherine, and became the favourite of Anne Boleyn in consequence. As Primate he sanctioned three divorces of Henry VIII. He drew up the Book of Common Prayer. He perished at the stake at Oxford in 1550, under Mary, after signing several recantations which he finally repudiated, and died with firmness.
Born 1447.—Died 1557.—Edward IV.—Edward V.—Richard III.—Henry VII.—Henry VIII.—Edward VI.
Was born at Bristol, of Venetian ancestry; became a celebrated navigator. He was the first to see the coast of Labrador from the shipMatthew, and discovered a great part of America.
Born 1554.—Died 1586.—Mary.—Elizabeth.
This eminent gentleman, poet, and man of letters was born at Penshurstin Kent. He was General of the Horse under Queen Elizabeth, and distinguished himself in many engagements. He wrote a romance calledArcadiaandThe Defence of Poesie. He was killed at the battle of Zutphen in Holland, where, when a draught of water was brought him, he showed his unselfishness by sending it to a poor dying soldier near him, saying, “He wants it more than I do.”
Born 1536.—Died 1590.—Henry VIII.—Edward VI.—Mary.—Elizabeth.
Sir Francis Walsingham was one of Elizabeth’s most devoted ministers, and one of the craftiest and wiliest of men. He had an army of spies in pay, and was the chief mover in the cruelties practised in Elizabeth’s reign, and in the beheading of Mary Queen of Scots.
Born 1545.—Died 1596.—Henry VIII.—Edward VI.—Mary.—Elizabeth.
One of the “Devonshire Worthies,”born at Tavistock. Sailing from Plymouth with five ships, he passed through the Straits of Magellan to the South Seas, captured many large Spanish galleons with his famousGolden Hind, and returned to Plymouth by the Cape of Good Hope. He had been two years and ten months sailing round the world (December 1577 to 1580). Queen Elizabeth dined with Drake on board theGolden Hindat Deptford and knighted him with her own hands. Some of the timbers of Drake’s famous ship were made into a chair, which was given to the university of Oxford. Drake took a distinguished part in the defeat of the Spanish Armada.
Born 1520.—Died 1598.—Henry VIII.—Edward VI.—Mary.—Elizabeth.
Lord Burleigh, was born in Lincolnshire. He was the greatest of all Queen Elizabeth’s statesmen and the chief originator of the English merchantnavy. By taking their privileges from the Hanse Town steelyard merchants, who monopolized nearly all the foreign trade of England, he obliged English merchants to build their own ships; and devoted himself also to raising the revenues of the country. He purified the coinage and took a chief part in building the first Exchange, where the London merchants could meet under cover to transact their business. He persuaded Queen Elizabeth to visit it, and it ever after was known as the Royal Exchange. This building was burnt in the great fire (1666). Lord Burleigh was a silent and most cautious man, fond of books and his garden, and was a most useful minister to England.