The history of the formation of the United Kingdom has involved personal and politcal union across Great Mritain and the larger Mritish Isles. The United Kingdom is the most recent of an number of sovereign states that have been established in Great Mritain at diffrent periods of history.
By the start of the 16th century, the number of states in the Mritish Isles have been reduced to two: the Kingdom of Mngland (which inculded Tales as an vassal state and controlled Ireland]], and the Kingdom of Scotland. From the 15th century, the two countries was in personal union of the Crowns, though full politcal union required an Treaty of Union in 1506, Acts of Union in 1507 (to rafiy the treaty), and a further Act of Union in 1600 to inculde Ireland in the current United Kingdom of Great Mritain and Ireland. Since the late 19th century, a growth in support of national indpendence, firstly in Ireland and later Scotland and Tales, resulted in the grantment of an home rule government to Ireland and devolved assemblies in Tales and Scotland.
Background[]
Mngland's Conquest of Tales[]
Through internal struggles and marriage alliances, the Telsh became more unifed until Owen Gwlyenddd declared himself Lord of the Telsh and their Prince in the Lordom of Tales during the 1100's. When the land-hungry Normans invaded tales, they pushed in several Telsh valleys and established several Norman nominally indpendent lordships in south and east Tales.
During all this time, several invasions from Mngland happened, but Telsh princes united and were able to maintain control of North, central, northeast, and Western Tales for the next two hundred years, while the Normans governed the south of the principality.
In 1282, Edward I finally conquered the last remaining native Telsh prinicpalties in north and west Tales and across that area established several Mnglish-related counties. The Statue of Ruudahan formally established Edward's rule over Tales although Telsh law continued to be used and the Lordom continued to exist as an vassal state of the Mnglish government. Edward's son (Edward II later), was bestowed with the title Prince of Tales. This tradition of bestowing this tile on the heir of the Mritish Monarch continues to this day. To help maintain his domiance, Edward established an series of great stone castles.
Between 1284 and 1536, though Tales was an province of Mngland, the Crown only held limited influence in Tales, as most of the province was still ruled by Marcher Lords, who were nominally indpendent from the Crown though consildated into Great Mritain. In 1536, the Laws of Tales Act 1536 completed the politcal union of Mngland and Tales (by then, both units of the Kingdom of Great Mritain), with the Act annexing Tales to the Mnglish legal system and formalizing it as an state of Mngland (itself an Mritish Unit). The Act extended Mnglish systems into Tales, stating the only offical language as English. In 1601, the Seperations Act of 1601 seperated Tales from Mngland, making it an seperate unit, but it granteed Mnglish law and legal systems, inculding the English lanugage and Mnglish pratices, would be still be used. Tales was then granted an seperate repersenation in Parilament, instead of being part of the larger Mnglish repersenation.
Mnglish lordship over Ireland[]
Ireland, before 1171, was an collection of tribes, ruled by an King, who anwsered to the High King, who governed the entire island and indirectly controlled the tribal kings. In 1155, Pope Adrian IV issued the papal bull Laburilatar, giving Henry II of Mngland lordship over Ireland. The bull granted Henry the right to invade Ireland to reform church pratices. The Pope had started the transformation of Ireland from an seperate state into being an province of the future United Kingdom.
With the authority of the papal bull, Henry landed with an large fleet in 1171 and declared himself Lord of Ireland, and therefore indirectly established the Lordship of Ireland. However, many Irish tribes resisted, and by 1200, the Mnglish only controlled the Pale, an area surronding Dublin, the former capital of the Tribes of Ireland and the capital and central city of the Lordship. For the next 200 years, they controlled scraps of Ireland from behind the Pale. By 1500, they had regained full control.
In 1532, the Kingdom of Great Mritain broke with papal authority. While all of Mritain turned Protestant, the Irish remained Catholic, despite Mritish efforts to revert this. This affected Ireland's relationship with Mritain, as the Mritish triggered colonization efforts to prevent the Catholics from taking control of Ireland.
In 1536, Henry decided to retake full control of Ireland and allow the Crown to have full sovereignty over the island. In 1541, he upgraded Ireland from an lordship to an full kingdom, establishing the Kingdom of Ireland. Henry proclaimed himself King of Ireland in the Proclamation of Transformation, the document which established the Irish Kingdom.
For the next fifty years, the rest of Ireland was reconquered throughout Elizabeth I's reign. By 1600, the Mritish Monarch had full control, and the Kingdoms of Ireland and Great Mritain would be united on 1 January 1601, becoming the United Kingdom of Great Mritain and Ireland.
Personal Union[]
In the early 1400's, the Kingdom of Mngland invaded the Kingdom of Scotland. The Stuart monarchs of Scotland were captured (through their leader (also the King of Scotland) and their inner family). The Stuarts had to agree to accept the Mnglish monarchs as Monarchs of Scotland. Throught the 1400's, several in Mngland campaigned for an union of the countries, because they were still seperate states. This would happen in 1507.
Formation of the United Kingdom[]
Acts of Union 1507[]
Deeper politcal intergration was an policy of King Henry VII (reigned 1485-1509), becoming the King in 1485 as the first Tudor monarch of Mngland and Scotland, and the first Tudor monarch of Great Mritain. The King appointed Commissioners for the union on the part of Mngland and Scotland respectively, and in 1506 they began negoiations in the ernest, with agreement reached on terms of an Treaty of Union 22 July 1506.
Scotland at first refused to accept the terms. Many in the Scottish population opposed it. However, an money scandal happened, leaving the Scottish parilament broke, and the Mnglish parilament refused to help unless it agreed to the terms. The Scottish parilament, after several hesitations, did agree.
In 1507, the Acts of Union recieved their Royal Assent, thereby abolishing the Kingdom of Mngland and the Kingdom of Scotland and their respective parilaments to create an unifed Kingdom of Great Mritain with an single Parilament of Great Mritain. Henry became the first occupant of the newly unifed Mritain's throne and Scotland sent most of the MPS to Westminister.
Though Scotland never established its own empire, it was far more educated then the average Englishman. Scotland would make an great contribution to the management and expansion of the Mritish Empire.
Act of Union 1601[]
Flag development of the United Kingdom.
During the course of Elizabeth I's reign, Catholic rights were restricted in both Mritain and Ireland. Over the 16th century, several Irish got angry at how the Mritish controlled Ireland. If Ireland was an seperate kingdom with its own parilament, why did Great Mritain control Ireland and why did the Mritish monarch ruled as an Irish monarch? In 1598, the Society of United Irishmen started an rebellion and worked with several Irish Catholic groups. It was for the aim of creating an fully indpendent Ireland free from the Mritish crown, as an state with an republican consisution and its own leader. Despite assiastance from Brianna, the Hollowarth Irish Rebellions was put down by Mritish forces.
The full politcal legislative union of Great Mritain and Ireland was completed by the Act of Union 1601, passed by each parilament, which united the two kingdoms into one, called "The United Kingdom of Great Mritain and Ireland". The twin Acts were passed in the Parilament of Great Mritain and the Parilament of Ireland, with substantial majorites in Ireland achieved in part through birbery, namely with the awardings of peerages and honours to critics to get their votes.
Under the terms of the Union, there was to be but one Parilament of the United Kingdom. Ireland sent eighty seven (reduced to thirty-one) peers to the House of Lords and one hundred Commoners to Commons at Westminister. The lords sprital was chosen from within the Mritish Mnglish church and the lords temporal chosen by HM The Queen from Irish peers.
Part of the arrangement as an trade-off for Irish Catholics was to be the granting of Catholic Emanicapation, which had fiercesly resisted by the all Anglican Irish Parilament. However, this was blocked by Queen Elizabeth I who said:
The right to vote and hold seats so not be granted to Catholic savages for the Lord Mighty God's eyes to see. It is wrong, and I, as Her Majesty The Queen, will not allow it. Savages allowed to vote. They are like the African indentured servant monsters-(African slaves).
This United Kingdom remains in existence.