“Angle-land,” which later became
“England.”
The Normans, a people from France,
conquered England in 1066. They ruled
until 1154, when Henry II came to
power. Henry began a new line of
Sheep graze in a field in the Cotswolds, a hilly part of south-central England.
140 England BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA
English kings and gained new territory
for the country.
The early kings struggled for power with
the Roman Catholic church and the
nobles. King John was a cruel and
unpopular ruler. The nobles joined
together to try to limit his power. In
1215 they forced King John to agree to a
document called the Magna Carta. The
Magna Carta gave rights to the English
people. Later in the 1200s Parliament,
the English lawmaking body, was
formed.
During the reign of Queen Elizabeth I
(1558–1603) England became a great
power at sea. English ships defeated a
fleet sent from Spain. The country’s
power soon spread to other parts of the
world as well. English merchants began
to set up trading posts in faraway places,
including India and North America.
In the 1600s the English kings fought
with Parliament. They did not want to
share power. This conflict led to civil
war in 1642. People who supported the
king fought people who supported Parliament.
Parliament won. From 1649 to
1660 England had no king. England
welcomed a new king in 1660. But from
then on, the power of English kings and
queens was more limited.
Over hundreds of years England gradually
took control of neighboring territory.
Wales was united with England in
1536. In 1707 Scotland merged with
England andWales to form the kingdom
of Great Britain. In 1801 Ireland
was joined to England, Scotland, and
Wales to form the United Kingdom.
Most of Ireland broke away in 1921, but
Northern Ireland remained part of the
United Kingdom.
#More to explore
Anglo-Saxon • Celt • Elizabeth I
• English Channel • London • Magna
Carta • Norman Conquest • Northern
Ireland • Parliament • Scotland • United
Kingdom •Wales
English Channel
The English Channel is a narrow arm of
the Atlantic Ocean. It separates the
southern coast of England (part of the
United Kingdom, or Great Britain) from
northern France. In French, the channel
is called La Manche (The Sleeve).
The English Channel is 350 miles (560
kilometers) long. At its widest point it is
150 miles (240 kilometers) across. At its
narrowest it is only 21 miles (34 kilometers)
across.
The channel and the North Sea are connected
at the Strait of Dover in the east.
BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA English Channel 141
The main islands are the Isle ofWight
and the Channel Islands (a collection of
islands including Jersey, Guernsey,
Alderney, and Sark).
Sandy beaches and a good climate have
led to the development of many tourist
resorts on the shores of the channel.
These include Deauville in France and
Brighton in England. There are many
important ports on both sides of the
channel as well. Southampton in
England and Le Havre in France are two
examples.
Historically, the English Channel has
been more than just a body of water to
sail on. It has sometimes made it difficult
for invaders from the European
mainland to reach Britain. At other
times it has served them as a travel
route. When the Roman leader Julius
Caesar invaded in 55 BC, for example,
he crossed at the Dover Strait.
As long ago as the 1800s, people
thought of building a tunnel under the
channel to connect England and France.
In 1978 the British and French national
railways reached an agreement on the
idea. The Channel Tunnel, or “Chunnel,”
as it is sometimes nicknamed,
opened in 1994.
#More to explore
Atlantic Ocean
Enlightenment
The Enlightenment, or the Age of Reason,
began in Europe in the 1700s and
spread to many parts of the world. The
thinkers of the Enlightenment objected
to the absolute power of the royal rulers
and of the Roman Catholic church.
They used reason, or logical thinking,
and science to attack this power. Their
ideas helped bring about the American
Revolution and the French Revolution.
Background
For hundreds of years most European
countries were ruled by kings and
queens. The countries’ royal rulers, or
monarchs, were the sons and daughters
of earlier kings and queens. These rulers
claimed their powers to be given by
God. The monarchs, the leaders of the
church, and the wealthiest families had
always held all the power and all the
advantages.
But in the 1500s, during a period
known as the Renaissance, the number
of educated people in Europe began to
grow. Many of these scholars adopted
the ideas of the ancient Greeks and
Romans. These ideas focused on the
The first person
to swim
across the
English Channel
was Matthew
Webb in
1875. Since
then hundreds
of people have
done it.
The French Encyclopedie (Encyclopedia)
was one of the main works of the Enlightenment.
Many thinkers met to discuss this
project.
142 Enlightenment BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA
importance of all people and on their
ability to reason. Scholars encouraged
the study of science. The Renaissance
led to important discoveries in the
1600s. Galileo proved that Earth moved
around the sun. Isaac Newton explained
the laws of gravity.
