Page "History of England" Paragraph 2

In 1066, the Normans invaded and conquered England.

There was much civil war and battles with other nations throughout the Middle Ages.

The Kingdom of England was a sovereign state until the reign of Richard I who made it a vassal of the Holy Roman Empire in 1194.

In 1212 during the reign of his brother John Lackland the Kingdom instead became a tribute-paying vassal of the Holy See until the 16th century when Henry VIII broke from the Catholic Church.

During the Renaissance, England was ruled by the Tudors.

England had conquered Wales in the 12th century and was then united with Scotland in the early 18th century to form a new sovereign state called Great Britain.

Following the Industrial Revolution, Great Britain ruled a worldwide Empire, the largest in the world.

Following a process of decolonization in the 20th century the vast majority of the empire became independent ; however, its cultural impact is widespread and deep in many countries of the present day.