Flashcards on History of the United Kingdom
History of the United Kingdom: A Student's Guide & Summary
Tap to flip · Swipe to navigate
British history
35 cards
Card 1
Question: What was the significance of the Magna Carta (1215)?
Answer: It established that the King is subject to the law and that no "free man" could be imprisoned without a trial by his peers; considered the foundation
Card 2
Question: Why did King John sign the Magna Carta in 1215?
Answer: Barons forced him to sign at Runnymede because he was a disastrous ruler who lost lands in France and heavily taxed his barons.
Card 3
Question: What was the Hundred Years’ War (1337–1453)?
Answer: A dynastic struggle between the Plantagenet kings of England and the Valois kings of France.
Card 4
Question: What was the outcome and social effect of the Hundred Years’ War for English identity?
Answer: Although England eventually lost its French territories, the war forced the English elite to stop seeing themselves as French and start identifying as
Card 5
Question: Which famous battle occurred in 1415 during the Hundred Years’ War and why was it notable?
Answer: The Battle of Agincourt (1415), where English longbowmen under Henry V decimated the French cavalry.
Card 6
Question: Who was Richard the Lionheart and what did he do?
Answer: Richard the Lionheart (1189–1199) was a notable figure who spent most of his reign leading the Third Crusade.
Card 7
Question: What were the Wars of the Roses (1455–1485)?
Answer: A 30-year civil war between the House of York (white rose) and the House of Lancaster (red rose) that began when Henry VI became too ill to rule.
Card 8
Question: How did the Wars of the Roses end and what dynasty resulted?
Answer: It ended at the Battle of Bosworth where Henry VII (Lancastrian) defeated Richard III; Henry VII married Elizabeth of York, uniting the houses and cre
Card 9
Question: How did the Tudor period move Britain into the Early Modern era?
Answer: Through radical religious shifts (the Reformation) and the birth of global naval power.
Card 10
Question: Why did Henry VIII break with Rome and what law formalized it?
Answer: When the Pope refused to annul his marriage to Catherine of Aragon, Henry passed the 1534 Act of Supremacy, breaking England away from Rome and making