In 1337 the Hundred Years War began between England and France. At the beginning of the war England controlled extensive lands throughout France. They won an early victory at Crecy in 1346 when King Edward III used the English Longbow to crush a much larger French army. In 1348 the Black Plague swept across Europe, devastating already war-torn England and France. The number of sick that died from the disease varies in different sources from less than a third to over half of the population. It was nothing less than catastrophic. The war dragged on. The English scored smashing victories at Poitiers in 1356, when the Black Prince again destroyed a larger French army, and at Agincourt, when King Henry V won a third great victory, but these victories were not enough to win. By 1453 the war drew to a close and the French had managed to regain the entire mainland except for Calais. However, England lost this as well in 1558.

In 1455 civil war broke out in England. The two great houses of York and Lancaster began to fight for the throne, unleashing the “Wars of the Roses.” The war did not fully end until 1487, but it was Henry Tudor’s victory over King Richard III in 1485 at the battle of Bosworth that brought a serious end to the debate. Henry was crowned King Henry VII, becoming the first Tudor king. This ended the Plantagenet dynasty and also largely brought an end to the Middle Ages in England.

In 1497 John Cabot, sailing under the English flag, found North America. It was just the beginning of England’s interests there. In 1509 Henry VIII inherited the throne. King Henry became infamous for divorcing or executing his wives as they failed, one after the other, to produce a male heir for his crown. In 1533 he began by divorcing Catherine of Aragon and marrying Anne Boleyn. The Catholic church did not approve of this, but Henry’s response was simply to break off from the Catholic church. In 1534 he made himself the head of the Church of England. In 1553 King Henry VIII’s daughter, Mary Tudor, became ruling queen (not to be confused with her cousin, Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots, who would later be executed by Queen Elizabeth in order to protect her occupancy of the English throne). Mary attempted to re-instate the Catholic church, persecuting the Protestants and earning for herself the nickname “Bloody Mary.” In 1558 Mary died and Queen Elizabeth took the throne. Elizabeth was not Catholic and continued to follow Henry VIII’s anti-Catholic policies. This led to excommunication in 1570.

From 1577 to 1580 Sir Francis Drake circumnavigated the globe, bringing Elizabeth and England much prestige. In 1588. England further cemented her name in history by destroying a vastly superior Spanish armada sailing to invade her shores.

In 1603 James I became king, beginning the Stuart line. During his reign the Jamestown Colony was founded in 1607 and the King James Bible was completed in 1611.

In 1625 Charles I became king. His reign was cut short when civil war once again broke out in England. This time it was Parliament against the king. King Charles was overcome and in 1649 he was executed. For a short time England was ruled by Parliament, but ultimately by the rule of Oliver Cromwell, who declared himself Lord Protector of England in 1653. The English people grew weary of Parliamentary rule and the throne was re-instated to Charles II, son of Charles I, in 1660.

In 1665 a last bout of the Bubonic Plague hit London, followed by a terrible fire the following year. In 1670 the Hudson Bay Company was founded. This company would play a large role in British expansion in the Americas.

In 1688 the “Glorious Revolution” took place. King James II, and with him the Stuart line, were removed from power and King William of Orange and Queen Mary were established as the new monarchs. Under their rule the Bill of Rights was passed, guaranteeing more freedoms. John Wesley founded the Methodist Church in 1739 as well.

In 1715 the Jacobites, supporters of King James II and the Stuarts, rose up in a revolt in Scotland. The revolt was quickly subdued, but thirty years later, in 1745, a second Jacobite revolt took place, this time led by Charles Edward Stuart or “Bonnie Prince Charlie,” grandson of James II. Charles led an army into England and got as far as Derby before turning back. He was pursued into Scotland and defeated at the battle of Culloden in 1746.

The Seven Years War began in 1756 and racked the European nations with violence and bloodshed until 1763. However, for England and her allies who came out on top, it was a great victory. England now controlled large amounts of new land, especially in the Americas. Here, however, she was forced to surrender her rights and grant freedom to her American colonies in 1783 after the American Revolution.

Throughout the end of the eighteenth century Britain went through an industrial revolution, helping prepare her for the new age that was beginning. In 1807 she also abolished the slave trade and in 1833 abolished slavery throughout the entire British Empire.

In the wars with Napoleonic France England won many great victories. In 1805 her fleet, led by the National Hero Horatio Nelson, won the battle of Trafalgar and in 1815 her armies, led by the Duke of Wellington, defeated Napoleon in his final battle at Waterloo.

England was at her peak! She controlled the seas without any serious opposition. Her Empire stretched from the Americas to India, from Africa to Australia. Her armies were feared and her power was tremendous. In 1837 Queen Victoria ascended the throne and began one of the greatest periods in all of England’s history.

In 1851 the Great Exhibition was held in London. From 1854 to 1856 England and France helped the Ottoman Empire defeat Russia in the Crimean War. From 1899 to 1902 England fought and defeated the Boers in Africa as well.

Her role in both World Wars was extensive and vital, especially in the second. If it were not for Britain’s courageous stand against Nazi Germany when the rest of Western Europe lay crushed in defeat, the war could have ended in a dramatically worse scenario. But British tenacity, under the leadership of Winston Churchill, helped carry the Allies through the war and to ultimate victory.

England, which is now part of the United Kingdom, has declined significantly since her glorious days in the past. She no longer has numerous, extensive colonies in other parts of the world; she has given freedom to her various protectorates. At the same time other countries have risen to take their turn on the stage of world power and dominance. But even if her strength is not at the same level as it once was, the prowess and grace, power and majesty, glory and influence of England still lives on, and it will never be forgotten. The Lord God Almighty has used this country to reach nearly every corner of the world and while she may have arrived in some places as a tyrant and conqueror, everywhere her armies marched there followed the soft, quiet steps of missionaries like William Carey in India, or the humble Pilgrims in America. From her people books such as The King James Bible, Paradise Lost, and the Origin of Species have come, and through these British authors, for good or ill, all of mankind has been impacted. We must never underestimate what God can do, nor limit Him to being used only by a missionary, the Bible, or the like. Even if we are unaware that He is moving, we must strive to become aware that God uses everything on earth for the bettering of His Kingdom and for His Glory―even earthly kingdoms and empires.