INTRODUCTION TO THE HISTORY OF BRITAIN (BBNAN12500)
LECTURE COURSE AND EXAM FOR SECOND-YEAR STUDENTS
Examiner: Pintér Károly
Availability: during office hours and by email: pinter.karoly@btk.ppke.hu
Form of Exam: Written.
Rules of Exam:
Registration: You have to register for each exam occasion on Neptun until 12 p.m. (noon) of the day
before exam day. No one is allowed to take the exam without registration, since I will not be
able to enter your grade into Neptun without you having been registered for that exam day. The
maximum limit for each exam day depends on the capacity of the hall the test is written in as
well as the overall number of registered students, therefore it cannot be modified upwards! It
is strictly forbidden to register for more than one day since these people take places away
from others. The make-up exam on the last week of the exam period is reserved primarily
for failed students, therefore it will not be opened until all the other exam occasions have been
finished. If you decide to take the exam for the first time on the make-up exam date, you
automatically lose the opportunity for a resit and your mark will be final.
Changing or cancelling registration: You are free to change your mind after registration until 12 p.m.
(noon) of the day before the exam day. You may only register for places left free on other days;
if all places are occupied, you can only postpone your exam to the day of the make-up exam
(see previous point).
Examination day: All people who have registered should appear by official beginning time.
Latecomers forfeit their right to be examined.
Form and Content of the Exam: The written examination consists of two parts: test questions and
discussion of a historical source text.
1. The test questions are intended to find out whether the student has acquired the basics of British
history. The questions may include multiple-choice questions, sentence completions, definitions of
events or concepts, matching exercises (dates with events, people with dates, people with events,
concepts with definitions, etc.). The minimal requirements are specified in the form of a short list
of dates and events, most important personalities (whose career students should be familiar with in
some detail) and most important historical concepts; they are provided below.
2. The list of historical source texts will be provided prior to the exam. Students will be given one
text or an excerpt of it and will be asked several questions about it. You don’t have to translate any
portion of the text but should know what it is about, what historical context it belongs to, what
significance it had in British history, or what significant event(s) it reports about.
Evaluation of the exam: Students receive one grade for the whole exam text. Pass level is defined as
55 % of the maximum score, and each grade matches the next 10% bracket, so 85% is required for an
excellent (5) grade.
40 Events and Dates:
43–409: Britannia Roman province in the territory of modern England and Wales
597: Augustine arrived in the kingdom of Kent and began the conversion of the Anglo-Saxons; beginning of
Roman Christianity in England
865: Danish invasion of in East Anglia; the first permanent Viking settlement in England
954: The last Viking king of York was killed: the first unification of England under the Wessex dynasty
(King Edgar)
1066: Edward the Confessor died without an heir. Harold Godwinson was elected king. Harold defeated and
killed Harald Hardrada, King of Norway in the battle of Stamford Bridge. William, Duke of Normandy, defeated
and killed Harold at the battle of Hastings: the Norman conquest of England
1169: First invasion of Ireland by the English kings; occupation of Dublin and area and a permanent claim of
supremacy over Ireland
1215: John issued Magna Carta, considered the earliest document of the English constitutional tradition
1284: Edward I occupied Wales and united it with England
1314: Battle of Bannockburn, in which Robert Bruce finally defeated Edward II; Scotland preserved its
independence against England
1339–1453: The Hundred Years' War; a series of wars in which England occupied territories in France but
eventually lost them all
1348–49: The Black Death; the most devastating plague epidemic in European history
1455–85: The Wars of the Roses, a series of civil wars between two rival dynasties and their supporters
1485: The Battle of Bosworth, in which Henry Tudor, Duke of Richmond defeated and killed Richard III; end
of the civil war and beginning of the House of Tudor
1534: Act of Royal Supremacy; the beginning of the Prostestant Church of England
1588: Defeat of the Spanish Armada
1603: Death of Queen Elisabeth and succession of James I, King of Scotland; England and Scotland are united
under the same ruler; beginning of the House of Stuart
1607: The foundation of Virginia colony, the first permanent English colony in North America
1642–1646: The Civil War between King and Parliament
1649: Charles I was executed and England declared a Commonwealth
1660: Charles II was recalled to the throne: Restoration of the Monarchy
1688–1689: The Glorious Revolution without bloodshed: Mary II, James II’s daughter and his husband, the
Dutch William III of Orange were invited to the English throne; the Bill of Rights: the establishment of the
constitutional monarchy in England
1707: Act of Union: the independent Scottish government was abolished and Great Britain was created
1801: Unification of the kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland: Creation of the United Kingdom
1805: Nelson destroyed the French navy at Trafalgar
1815, June 18: Battle of Waterloo, the final defeat of Napoleon by British and Prussian forces
1832: First Reform Act: about 20% of the adult male population of Britain may vote (twice as many as before):
enfranchisement of new industrialists and the rich middle class
1845–47: The Potato Famine in Ireland, which had devastating consequences on the population of Ireland
1846: Repeal of the Corn Law in order to reduce food prices and calm popular unrest
1867: Second Reform Act: the size of the electorate was doubled, the middle class and some of the urban
working class enfranchised
1884: Third Reform Act: 63% of the adult male population was enfranchized
1914 August 4-1918 November 11: Britain involved in World War I
1918: Fourth Reform Act: all men over 21 and women over 30 were enfranchised; size of the electorate
almost tripled
1919–1921: Civil War in Ireland, followed by the Anglo-Irish Treaty; Southern Ireland was turned into the
Irish Free State with dominion status; six Northern counties refused to join and remained part of the UK
1929–32: The Great Depression
1939 Sept 3-1945 May 9: Britain involved in World War II
1947: The Indian colonies became independent
1968: Beginning of the Northern Irish ’Troubles’: riots and terrorist acts between Catholics and Protestants
1973: Britain joined the European Economic Community (EEC)
1997: Devolution in Scotland and Wales: an autonomous Scottish Parliament and a Welsh Assembly was
created following a referendum in both countries
1998: The Good Friday Agreement: established a Northern Irish Assembly and a regional government based
on power sharing (representation of both Catholics and Protestants)
20 Persons:
Alfred
William the Conqueror
Henry II
John I Lackland
Edward I
Henry VIII
Elizabeth I
James I
Charles I
Oliver Cromwell
Charles II
William III of Orange
Sir Robert Walpole
Horatio Nelson
Victoria
Benjamin Disraeli
William Gladstone
David Lloyd George
Winston Churchill
Margaret Thatcher
20 Concepts (+ those already listed among Dates and Events):
Lollards
Puritans
divine right
Commonwealth (17th century)
Tories
Whigs
Jacobites
Dissenters/Nonconformists
splendid isolation
Corn Law
Liberal Party
Conservative Party
Reform Acts
Home Rule
Labour Party
Entente
appeasement
Allies
Commonwealth (20th century)
devolution