The Normans & the Middle Ages (1066–1485)
The year 1066 changed England forever. William the Conqueror defeated King Harold at the Battle of Hastings (famously depicted on the Bayeux Tapestry) and established Norman rule. The Normans brought feudalism, stone castles (Tower of London, Windsor Castle), and the French language — the English vocabulary doubled and still contains thousands of French loanwords (restaurant, government, parliament).
The Middle Ages were a time of castles, cathedrals, and conflicts: The Magna Carta (1215) was the first document to limit the king's power and became the foundation of all modern democracies. The Hundred Years' War (1337–1453) against France, the Wars of the Roses (1455–1487) between the houses of Lancaster (red rose) and York (white rose), the Plague (1348, killed a third of the population) — a century of chaos that ended with the Tudor dynasty.
In Scotland, William Wallace (1297, Stirling Bridge) and Robert the Bruce (1314, Bannockburn) fought for independence — successfully. Wales was annexed to the English kingdom in 1282 after the conquest by Edward I; its castles (Caernarfon, Conwy, Harlech) are UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
