The territory of modern England at the time of the invasion of Julius Caesar in 55 BC, d . e . , as a century later, at the time of capture of the Emperor Claudius , was inhabited by Celtic tribes , called the Britons . As a result, capturing the entire southern part of the island (modern England and Wales) became part of the Roman Empire until its dissolution in the V century BC. e .
Without the help of the Roman legions Roman Britain could not long resist the Germans barbarians who appeared in V-VI centuries . , As evidenced by the chronicles , at the invitation of the Britons themselves , who use them to protect themselves from the expected Celtic tribes from the north - the Picts and Scots .
The aliens were the three groups - the Jutes , Saxons and Angles . Having mastered the territory of the Britons , these Germans began to press them into the territory of Wales and Cornwall.
Over time, the lands occupied by the German newcomers to form a separate kingdom , which formed , in particular, the "Anglo -Saxon heptarchy " ( union of seven kingdoms ) . From time to time one of the seven Anglo- Saxon kings , called " Britvalda ," which can be loosely translated as "the ruler of Britain" , gained control of almost the whole of England , so it's hard to name the point at which England was finally reunited.
According to some descriptions, the association has come together with the invasion of Danish Vikings , who have seized the eastern part of England. Egbert , king of Wessex (d. 839 ) , often referred to as the first king of all England , although the title "King of England " came just two generations later - during the reign of Alfred the Great ( 871-899 ) .
Some historians begin the countdown to the rulers of the Norman Conquest in 1066 , the numbering of English monarchs also used the event as a reference point (eg , Edward I, crowned in the XIII century , was the first king of that name - but he was the first in 1066 by Edward . ) . However, William the Conqueror was not founded and united country, and just grabbed the existing England, having spread the Franco -Norman control.
At the end of the XIII century, the neighboring principality Wales was finally conquered England and became part of the English kingdom. English history as an independent nation goes through the Middle Ages and the Renaissance to the reign of Elizabeth I, the last queen of the Tudor dynasty , which reigned after James I, King of Scotland, the former under the name of James VI.
The Union of England and Scotland was supplemented by a century later, the Act of Union (1707 ) , which finally united England and Scotland in the United Kingdom