Introduction
When I was writing this history of Bristol I realised that it was important to put the history of the city in some sort of relationship to events occurring elsewhere. This is not a comprehensive history of the world - I wouldn't even know where to begin such an undertaking, writing the history of the city is bad enough - but I've chosen key events to show how events fitted in with what was happening in other places around the world, the United Kingdom and Bristol.
The Timeline
8,000 BC - Glaciers in what was later to become Britain.
5,000 BC - Last of the ice sheets sweep away the land bridge that joins Britain to mainland Europe.
2,700 BC - Work started on the Great Pyramids in Egypt.
1,900 BC - British Bronze Age begins, Stonehenge started.
1,230 BC - Exodus of the Israelites from Egypt.
650 BC - The Celts arrive and settle in Southeast Britain.
509 BC - Roman Republic founded.
500 BC - British Iron Age begins.
480 BC - Death of Buddha.
479 BC - Death of Confucius.
390 BC - Gauls invade Rome.
356 BC - Alexander the Great born - by the age of 30 he's master of most of the known world.
275 BC - Rome dominates Italy.
218 BC - Hannibal crosses the Alps.
214 BC - Great Wall of China completed.
201 BC - The Romans dominate the whole of the Western Mediterranean.
146 BC - Romans hold Africa and Greece.
129 BC - Romans reach Asia.
73 BC - Sparticus (him from the film) organises the slave revolt. Two years later it was all over.
58 BC - Romans conquer the Gauls.
55 BC - Romans invade Britain. A year later (54 BC) they try again.
43 AD - Romans invade Britain again.
64 AD - Nero fiddles while Rome burns.
79 AD - Vesuvius erupts, Pompeii and Herculaneum destroyed.
117 AD - Roman Empire at its greatest.
122 AD - Hadrians Wall built to keep the Scots out.
142 AD - Antonine Wall built - the purpose is the same as Hadrians Wall.
196 AD - Trouble at home (the Decline has started) for the Romans. The Barbarians take over Northern England.
208 AD - Romans return to Britain - The Barbarians get a thrashing.
230 AD - Japanese history emerges from legends.
287 AD - Carausius declares the 'Empire of Britain' - 10 years later it's all but forgotten.
367 AD - The Picts, Scots and Saxons all decide to invade Britain. This must have been a very busy year for everyone.
369 AD - Romans restore order throughout Britain - this was another year where it was probably advisable to be elsewhere - anywhere but Britain.
406 AD - Constantine III removes Roman forces from Britain to support his claims to be Emperor.
410 AD - The Goths attack Rome, Emperor Honorius tells the Britons that they are now responsible for their own defence.
432 AD - Saint Patrick begins his mission in Ireland.
446 AD - Britons make their last appeal to Rome for aid - "The Groans of the Britons".
455 AD - Rome pillaged by the Vandals.
476 AD - The end of the Roman Empire. The Empire had lasted nearly 800 years.
515 AD - Saxon advances finally halted by the Britons.
570 AD - Birth of Mohammed.
577 AD - Battle of Deorham (Dyrham near Pucklechurch), Saxon advance into the West of England. This battle is mentioned in Birth of the City and marks the earliest possible date for the establishment of Bristol.
605 AD - China's Grand Canal built.
618 AD - T'ang Dynasty in China formed.
632 AD - Death of Mohammed. The whole of Arabia is Muslim.
634 AD - Battle of Heavenfield, the Celtic Christian Oswald becomes King of Northumbria.
663 AD - Roman Christianity dominates over Celtic Christianity in Britain.
685 AD - End of Northumbrian dominance in England.
692 AD - The district of Henbury enters documented history.
793 AD - Viking and Dane attacks on Britain begin.
795 AD - End of Mercian dominance in England.
843 AD - France and Germany evolve as separate states.
844 AD - Kenneth MacAlpin becomes King of the Picts as well as the Scots.
862 AD - The Vikings found a state in what is now Russia.
866 AD - Viking invasion of Britain starts in earnest.
868 AD - Books first printed in China.
899 AD - Alfred the Great dies.
937 AD - Battle of Brunanburh. The Saxons now rule Britain.
978 AD - Coins minted in Bristol. See Birth of the City.
982 AD - Norsemen discover Greenland.
991 AD - Battle of Maldon - a major Viking victory - they renew the raids on England.
1000 - Leif Ericsson discovers North America.
1002 - Massacre of St. Brice's Day. Ethelred attempted to exterminate the Danes in Britain.
1016 - Canute becomes king of England. A resurgence for the Danes - for a while at least.
1041 - Edward I becomes king, but was later replaced by King Harold.
1066 - The Norman Conquest of England by William I. King Harold was defeated at the Battle of Hastings.
1068 - Bristol attacked by an Irish raiding party led by the son of exiled Earl of Swegen. The building of Bristol Castle followed shortly after.
1086 - Domesday Book compiled. This is a complete 'snapshot in time' of the English.
1099 - The First Crusade, Godfrey of Bouillon captures Jerusalem.
1100 - William Rufus falls off his horse (he also had an arrow in the back) in the New Forest and dies, King Henry I comes to power, he died in 1135.
1106 - Henry I gets control of Normandy and captures his brother Robert. St Peter's church, Castle Green built by Robert FitzHamon.
1119 - Knights Templar formed.
1135 - Stephen succeeds Henry I as king, even though he isn't entitled to. Civil war and anarchy follow.
1140 - Work starts on what is now Bristol Cathedral.
1148 - The Second Crusade fails to take Damascus.
1154 - Henry of Anjou (Henry II) succeeds Stephen - he's the first of the Plantagenet kings.
1155 - Henry II grants a charter to Bristol affirming their rights as freemen.
1161 - The Chinese use gunpowder in warfare.
1170 - Thomas Becket murdered in Canterbury Cathedral.
1189 - Start of the Third Crusade. They capture Acre in 1191. John is left in charge of England.
1190 - Water piped from Knowle to St. Mary Redcliffe.
1192 - Third Crusade, Jerusalem not retaken by them. Richard I (Richard Lionheart) is captured on the way home.
1199 - King Richard I (Lionheart) killed, John becomes king.
1202 - Fourth Crusade.
1204 - Fourth Crusade takes Constantinople. King John loses Normandy to France.
1206 - Genghis Khan and his Mongols begin to capture Central Asia.
1208 - First Albigensian Crusade against Christians.
1212 - The Children's Crusade.
1215 - Magna Carta signed by King John.
1216 - King John killed, Henry III king. First Mayor of Bristol takes office.
1220 - St Marks, the Lord Mayors Chapel founded.
1239 - New Frome channel started.
1245 - New Bristol bridge started.
1247 - New Frome channel finished, as was the new Bristol bridge.
1264 - Civil War in England.
1265 - Bristol falls to Royalist forces.
1272 - Edward I becomes King.
1284 - Wales conquered.
1290 - Jews banished from England.
1306 - Extensive rebuilding of what was to become Bristol Cathedral starts.
1307 - Edward II becomes King.
1312 - Knights Templar suppressed by the Pope.
1313 - Bristol rebels against taxes.
1314 - Battle of Bannockburn gives Scots independance.
1316 - Bristol falls to Royalist forces (again).
1327 - Bristol falls to Isabella, rebuilding starts on St. Mary Redcliffe. Edward II murdered, Edward III becomes king.
1338 - Start of 100 Years War with France.
1344 - Little Red Book of the Guilds opened.
1349 - Black Death (Bubonic Plague) reaches England.
1362 - English becomes the official language of England.
1368 - Ming Dynasty in China.
1373 - Great Red Book (a sort of land registry) opened, Bristol becomes a county.
1377 - Death of Edward III, Richard II becomes King.
1381 - Peasant's Revolt led by Wat Tyler.
1399 - Richard II deposed by Henry IV.
1401 - Burning of Heretics in England made legal.
1413 - Henry IV dies, Henry V becomes King.
1415 - Battle of Agincourt against France.
1422 - Henry V dies, Henry VI King.
1431 - Joan of Arc burned.
1440 - First printing using moveable type, Gutenburg.
1446 - Spire of St. Mary Redcliffe collapses across the nave.
1449 - French retake Normandy.
1453 - End of 100 Years War with France.
1455 - Start of the War of the Roses.
1460 - Knights of St. John finish Temple Church.
1461 - Louis XI becomes king of France.
1470 - Edward IV is dethroned.
1471 - Edward IV regains the throne.
1476 - Caxton sets up printing press at Westminster.
1486 - Henry VII visits Bristol.
1489 - The mathematical symbols + and - first used.
1485 - Start of English Tudor period.
1490 - Henry VII revisits Bristol.
1492 - Christopher Columbus discovers the West Indies.
1497 - John Cabot discovers Newfoundland and North America.
1498 - Sea route to India found.
1499 - Parts of South America mapped by Amerigo Vespucci.
1500 - Brazil discovered by Pedro Cabral.
1503 - Leonardo da Vinci paints the Mona Lisa.
1508 - Michelangelo paints the Sistine Chapel.
1509 - Henry VIII becomes king.
1513 - James IV of Scotland defeated at Flodden by the English.
1521 - Martin Luther condemned as a heretic.
1522 - Magellan sails around the world.
1526 - Foundation of the Mogul Empire.
1532 - Robert and Nicholas Thorne found Bristol Grammar School.
1533 - Ivan the Terrible (Ivan IV) becomes Tsar.
1534 - Henry VIII controls the English Church.
1539 - St. Augustine's Abbey surrendered to Henry VIII.
1542 - St. Augustine's Abbey becomes Bristol Cathedral. The Portuguese reach Japan.
1547 - Henry VIII dies, Edward VI comes to the thrown.
1549 - First English book of Common Prayer.
1558 - Elizabeth becomes Queen Elizabeth I.
1564 - Shakespeare born.
1574 - Queen Elizabeth I visits Bristol.
1577 - Drake's circumnavigation of the world.
1582 - Gregorian Calendar introduced by Pope Gregory XIII.
1587 - Execution of Mary, Queen of Scots.
1588 - The Spanish Armada tries to attack England.
1600 - English East India Company founded.
1603 - Union of English and Scottish Crowns, James VI of Scotland, James I of England.
1605 - Guy Fawkes and the Gunpowder Plot to destroy Parliament.
1607 - Virginia colonised.
1614 - Mathematical Logarithms introduced by Napier.
1616 - Inquisition against Galileo's astronomy.
1620 - Pilgrim Fathers settle in New England.
1628 - The circulation of blood explained by Harvey.
1629 - Charles I begins personal rule of England.
1640 - Charles I defeated by the Scots, start of the Long Parliament.
1642 - Start of the English Civil War.
1645 - The Prince of Wales, later King Charles II, visits Bristol. The Battle of Naseby, Royalist army defeated by the New Model Army.
1649 - Charles I executed, England ruled as a commonwealth.
1651 - Cromwell rules the whole of England.
1654 - Samuel Pepys visits Bristol.
1660 - Monarchy restored, Charles II on thrown.
1661 - English non-conformists persecuted.
1665 - Bristol Castle demolished. Great Plague of London.
1666 - Great fire of London, Newton discovers the Laws of Gravity.
1673 - Test Acts, Catholics and non-conformists removed from high office.
1674 - Ralph Ollive becomes Mayor. Persecution of the Quakers continues.
1681 - King Charles II gives the Penn family 45,000 square miles of America. Bristol's Quakers meeting places wrecked.
1685 - Monmouth's Rebellion crushed by James II at Sedgemoor.
1695 - Hotwells water gains popularity. Freedom of the press in England.
1707 - English and Scottish Parliaments united.
1709 - Riots over the price of wheat.
1714 - More riots - this time poitically motivated.
1715 - The Jacobite Uprising.
1720 - Collapse of the "South Sea Bubble". Slavery reaching it peak.
1727 - The introduction of tollgates around Bristol sparks off rioting.
1737 - Bristol Infirmary opens - the Royal was added in 1850.
1739 - John Wesley arrives in Bristol. War of Jenkin's Ear.
1743 - Last British Monarch, George II, to command an army in the field, defeats the French.
1748 - Wesley founds a school at Kingswood.
1752 - Thomas Chatterton born.
1756 - The Bristol Slave Trade hits a peak.
1766 - Thomas Farr builds the folly Blaise Castle.
1768 - Bristol Bridge rebuilt.
1772 - The City Council starts worshipping in St Marks Chapel rather than the Cathedral.
1803 - Work begins on the Floating Harbour.
1824 - Samuel Plimsoll born.
1831 - The Bristol Reform Riots.
1833 - The Slavery Abolition Act passed by British Parliament on 24th August.
1834 - The Slavery Abolition Act becomes law on 1st August.
1836 - Bristol has to share Bishop with Gloucester, work started on Clifton Suspension Bridge.
1837 - SS Great Western launched.
1841 - First train from London to Bristol.
1843 - SS Great Britain launched.
1864 - Clifton Suspension Bridge opens.
1890 - The Cliff Railway opens.
1897 - Bristol regains its Cathedral, Cabot Tower built.
1920 - The Red Lodge becomes the property of the City.
1935 - Henbury becomes incorporated into the City of Bristol.
1940 - Sunday 24th November, an air raid destroys most of the city centre.